BDBE 47

Chapter 47: The Interrogation

Between the second and third ring roads in Qiongying City lay a green park that encompassed a lake. Because it was planted with many sycamore trees, it was known as Wutong (sycamore) Garden. Part of Wutong Garden was open to the public and was a somewhat famous photo spot, while another part consisted of private residences, no trespassing allowed.

Zhou Ruolin and his husband Tan Jinshan’s old family home was located within Wutong Garden.

Zhou Hui took the gift he had bought in a hurry after the inspection out of the trunk and turned to walk into the house.

After changing his shoes, Zhou Hui peeked inside to check. When he saw that the person sitting in the living room on the first floor was not Zhou Ruolin but Tan Jinshan, he breathed a slight sigh of relief and walked over.

Tan Jinshan was wearing a pair of reading glasses and looking at his phone. Upon hearing the noise, he looked up and saw his son, carrying a gift box and moving furtively.

By age, he was already sixty-five this year, but thanks to good self-care and regular exercise, his physique hadn’t lost its shape, so he didn’t look a day over sixty. Moreover, with his fine features, the wrinkles on his face didn’t diminish his charm; instead, they gave him the air of a fine, aged wine.

Zhou Ruolin was an artist, and his obsession with looks ran deep. If Tan Jinshan hadn’t been so handsome, a real heartthrob in his youth, Zhou Hui might never have been born.

“Father,” Zhou Hui whispered, “what’s going on with my dad? Why did he suddenly call me back? Did something happen?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Tan Jinshan said. “Oh, right. I heard stolen contentyou recently stopped working with the Chen family. Why is that?”

Tan Jinshan couldn’t possibly know nothing about company matters; he was only asking so he could hear it from Zhou Hui’s own mouth.

Zhou Hui briefly recounted what had happened, and Tan Jinshan snorted coldly.

“That old fool Chen Yu doesn’t keep a tight rein on his family, and he’s hardly a man of integrity. It’s better not to work with him.”

Zhou Hui agreed, “Yes, doing business is like being a person, working with someone of poor character always carries a higher risk.”

“You’re quite the expert when it comes to judging others’ character, but what about yourself?”

Zhou Ruolin’s voice suddenly came from above. He slowly descended the stairs, step by step, his expression more serious than Zhou Hui had seen in years.

In that moment, Zhou Hui felt as though he had been transported back nearly twenty years, to the day Zhou Ruolin first learned that he had marked Shen Wanchao.

Back then, having only recently come of age, they believed everything was a natural progression of love. Zhou Ruolin, however, felt they were still too young to bear the weight of a lifelong vow. He believed that marking so rashly was irresponsible toward each other, and he flew into a terrible rage.

Zhou Hui was locked in the study by Zhou Ruolin and made to kneel as punishment. He knelt for an entire day, promising over and over again that he would never let Shen Wanchao down in this lifetime, but Zhou Ruolin wouldn’t let him up.

It wasn’t until Shen Wanchao heard about it and ran over to kneel outside the door [stolen content]that Zhou Ruolin reluctantly gave in.

Zhou Hui suddenly felt a twinge of pain in his knees and stood up. He greeted him weakly: “Dad.”

Tan Jinshan raised his phone again to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.

Zhou Ruolin cut straight to the point: “Do you remember what you promised me twenty years ago while kneeling in the study? You said you could shoulder your own responsibilities, that you would never let Xiao Wan down, and that you would spend the rest of your life with him.”

Zhou Hui’s knees hurt even more. “Of course I remember,” he said, confused. “But why are you suddenly bringing this up?”

“You remember?” Zhou Ruolin snorted. “I thought you’d long since forgotten those words!”

Zhou Hui was even more confused. He could only think of the incident with Han Zhen, but he’d already explained to Zhou Ruolin that those were all baseless rumors and had earned Zhou Ruolin’s trust.

Zhou Ruolin’s next words finally cleared up his confusion:

“Half a month ago, I saw you at the hotel entrance getting into a car with a young man in your arms. Do you admit that this happened?”

Zhou Hui: “……” Ahahaha.

Tan Jinshan was hearing about this for the first time as well. ​Read on​He looked at Zhou Hui in disbelief: “Is what your dad said really true?”

Zhou Hui grimaced; he had no idea what to say.

Zhou Ruolin sat down on the sofa and said, “I advise you not to try to deny it. I saw it with my own eyes; there’s no way it could be a lie.”

“Last time, I heard rumors about you and Secretary Han, and you explained it to me, so I believed you,” Zhou Ruolin said. “But I never imagined this was all a ruse you set up. You usd someone who’s easy to explain away as a cover, while secretly hiding your real lover!”

Zhou Hui: “……” I’m not that devious.

“After seeing your dirty little secret, I held back. I looked into that person on my own, but I couldn’t find a single thing.” Zhou Ruolin grew angrier as he spoke. “You really do treat him like a treasure and hid him so well. Who is he?”

Zhou Hui: “……” If I told you he was your own son-in-law, would you believe me?

“Answer!” Zhou Ruolin slammed his fist on the table. “Don’t play dumb!”

Tan Jinshan quickly grabbed Zhou Ruolin’s hand, concerned. “If you’re angry, just be angry. Why are you hitting the table? What if you hurt yourself?”

Then he turned to Zhou Hui and urged, “Hurry up and explain! What’s going on?”

Over the years, Zhou Hui had attended countless meetings, big and small, hosted many global press conferences, and could even improvise a few lines on a talk ​unauthorized copy​show stage. Yet, faced with this very moment, he found himself with a complete mental blank for a long time.

He had never imagined Zhou Ruolin would see it. In an instant, what had been a playful moment between a couple turned into a bomb capable of sparking a family war.

Zhou Hui could have simply admitted that the person in question was Shen Wanchao.

But setting aside whether Zhou Ruolin would believe him, if he revealed Shen Wanchao’s true identity now, Zhou Mingchen would find out soon enough.

How would Zhou Mingchen react? Would he believe it? And would it render all of Shen Wanchao’s efforts over the past period completely futile?

Even setting all that aside, since this involved Shen Wanchao, Zhou Hui really didn’t want to go ahead and reveal his identity without his consent.

So Zhou Hui could only say, looking slightly pale, “It’s a misunderstanding.”

“A misunderstanding?” Zhou Ruolin couldn’t stay calm. “I saw you hugging and cuddling with that person with my own eyes, and you’re telling me it’s a misunderstanding?”

Zhou Hui thought quickly as he steeled himself to say, “Trust me, I absolutely haven’t done anything to betray Xiao Wan.”

When he heard this, Zhou Ruolin seemed to finally realize something. His expression grew increasingly grim as he asked emotionally,

“Answer me honestly, have you already divorced Xiao Wan?”

Zhou Hui, who had been making up excuses, suddenly stumbled: “Huh?”

“You think I don’t know? Wen Hua already told me, the mark between you and Xiao Wan is long gone.” Zhou Ruolin clutched his chest. “I called Xiao Wan at noon, and between the lines, he still showed no intention of coming back to the country. If you two have already divorced, then all of this makes sense.”

“No wonder, no wonder Xiao Wan has stayed abroad for so long to clear his head. No wonder you’ve been acting so differently and aven’t once thought to go find him…” Zhou Ruolin’s eyes reddened. “So you’ve already divorced, and you’ve found someone new.”

Wow, is Dad Sherlock Holmes? Every detail is spot on.

Although the conclusion was completely wrong.

Tan Jinshan helped his spouse sit down and softly urged him not to get worked up.

Zhou Hui couldn’t bear to see his dad in such distress, so he quickly reassured him: “Dad, you’re overthinking this. I swear to God I haven’t done anything to betray Xiaowan. As for that person…”

Zhou Hui clenched his teeth: “I did go to a hotel with him, but our relationship isn’t what you think it is. He’s not some secret lover I have to hide. I can’t tell you the truth yet, but when the time is right, I’ll bring him to meet you myself and let him explain exactly what happened.”

Zhou Ruolin closed his eyes and leaned against Tan Jinshan’s shoulder, adopting an attitude of indifference as he dismissed him: “Forget it. Do whatever you want. Your son is almost an adult now, what business is it of mine? Do whatever you please.”

Zhou Hui truly had no way to express his anguish.

After a moment’s pause, Zhou Ruolin stood up again and walked toward the elevator.

“I’m tired. You should go home. I won’t be keeping you for dinner.”

With that, the elevator doors opened, and Zhou Ruolin stepped inside, heading upstairs to his room.

Zhou Hui sighed to himself. This was not something he could explain in a short time. He could only greet Tan Jinshan and leave on an empty stomach.

After Zhou Hui left, Tan Jinshan opened the door to the master bedroom. Zhou Ruolin was lying on his side on the bed. He asked, “Is he gone?”

“He’s gone.” Tan Jinshan sat down beside him. “He didn’t even eat. You prepared that spread, and the two of us can’t finish it all.”

“He deserves to go hungry for doing something like that. He can forget about eating a single bite here from now on!” Zhou Ruolin said petulantly.

Tan Jinshan asked again, “Do you really think Xiao Hui did something to wrong Xiao Wan?”

Zhou Ruolin frowned. “He says he didn’t do it, and he doesn’t sound like he’s lying. If it’s really as he says, he and Xiao Wan would probably have divorced long ago, and he met that person after the divorce.”

“If that’s the case, then he really hasn’t wronged Xiao Wan.” Tan Jinshan sighed.

Zhou Ruolin didn’t see it that way: “Who knows why they got divorced? Maybe that bastard really did something outrageous, which led to this situation today!”

“He even said he’d bring that person to meet me when the time is right.” Zhou Ruolin started getting angry again. “Does he plan to marry that young man?”

Zhou Ruolin gritted his teeth: “If that bastard Zhou Hui dares to bring that person to meet me, I’ll make sure he learns what it means when they say ‘experience counts’!”

Tan Jinshan: ?

Aren’t we supposed to be reading a lighthearted, slice of life story? How did we suddenly jump into a soap opera?

…

That night, at 2:30 a.m., the entire city of Qiongying had gradually fallen asleep, and the world was silent.

Shen Wanchao was sleeping, but he suddenly felt himself falling into an embrace with a familiar scent, warm and comfortable, as if tailor-made for him. He let out a small sigh of contentment, then opened his eyes.

He turned his head and, in the darkness of the night, saw Zhou Hui’s dark eyes. His mind gradually cleared.

“Hmm… what are you doing here?”

After playing the role of Shen Chao for so long, Shen Wanchao could no longer distinguish his current identity.

In the eyes of others, he was now high school student Shen Chao, not the other master of this household, Shen Wanchao.

That was why Zhou Hui shouldn’t be in his room, lying in his bed, with his hand wandering on his waist without restraint.

“Don’t move.” Zhou Hui tightened his arms. “I took the blame for you today; you have to make it up to me.”

As he spoke, Zhou Hui buried his face in Shen Wanchao’s neck, and greedily inhaled the subtle scent of mint from his glands.

Shen Wanchao obediently tilted his chin up, and placed one hand on Zhou Hui’s cheek.

Only after Zhou Hui lifted his head, satisfied, did Shen Wanchao ask, “What’s going on?”

“It’s my dad,” Zhou Hui sighed. “He saw us when we left the hotel together last time.”

Shen Wanchao was fully awake. “So he must have misunderstood?”

Zhou Hui chuckled softly, “Right, so he called [stolen content]me over specifically today to give me a lecture. He didn’t even let me stay for dinner.”

Shen Wanchao turned to face him to find evidence of his distress on his face.

Zhou Ruolin was a gentle man when matters didn’t involve principles, always smiling, seemingly easygoing. But once his bottom line was crossed, he would immediately become stern and unyielding, with not even his own son being an exception.

Shen Wanchao had experienced this firsthand.

After a long moment, Shen Wanchao said softly, “Why don’t I go and explain it to Dad?”