Chapter 320: Untitled
Chen De arranged to et Cheng Anya at a cafe not too far from the hospital. With Ye Zhenhua still hospitalized, he could not afford to be away for too long. When Cheng Anya and Third Young Master Ye reached, Chen De’s coffee had cooled. It was clear that he had been here for a long ti.
Until Cheng Anya and Third Young Master Ye reached, Chen De was deep in thought. He then looked up and stood up. “Third young master.” He first greeted Third Young Master Ye.
“Uncle Chen, take a seat. It’s okay,” Third Young Master Ye said gently as his cold gaze contained too many feelings that had to be clarified. Chen De was the key to these feelings.
“Go ahead with your conversation. I’ll be there.” As the coffee shop was not wide but long, Cheng Anya and Chen De sat at one end whilst Third Young Master Ye was at the other end. While he was very curious about what happened, he was gentlemanly enough to allow Chen De to have a one-on-one conversation with Cheng Anya.
As the waiter ca around, Cheng Anya ordered a latte.
Chen De looked at her with a few hints of liking and perplexity. While Third Young Master Ye did simply ntion the possibility, she did not get a concrete answer. They did not associate him with Lin Xiaoyue.
Cheng Anya could not help but size Chen De up. With whitened sideburns, this nice old man was not too different from any other elderly person. rciful and gentle, yet wise.
When Cheng Anya recalled that this old man had followed Ye Zhenhua for decades, she subconsciously realized that this might just be an impression. Third Young Master Ye’s experiences would certainly cast a cynical twist to any matters surrounding the Ye family.
“If I may ask, what brings you to this eting?” Cheng Anya gave a big grin.
“Didn’t Third Young Master tell you?” Chen De smiled kindly.
“Since Mister Chen has taken the ti to et , it would be better that you tell .” Cheng Anya responded gently. It was so gentle that while lukewarm, her smile was a tad cold.
As Chen De was a veteran in many settings, he naturally understood Cheng Anya’s attitude: she was very defensive. “While you resemble your maternal grandmother, your character is a hundred eighty from hers.” He smiled.
Lin Xiaoyue was a gentle, kind woman who had the gentleness typical of won from Jiangnan. Whilst Cheng Anya was pure and beautiful, she was arrogant, cold, and resilient.
Cheng Anya did not seem the least surprised and remained smiling. “People, like leaves, are different too. Lin Xiaoyue and you will naturally be different.”
“I am Chen De!” he said. While introducing oneself after the conversation had started seed a little atypical, it seed that such an introduction was more fitting for the conversation at hand.
Cheng Anya remained expressionless and rely looked at him. “Lin Xiaoyue’s husband.” He smiled lovingly.
“Ah Chen told on the way here that you were Chen De, and you could be my grandfather,” Cheng Anya said. “Now that you’ve put it across, it’s not surprising. However sincerely Ye Zhenhua treated you, I guess he did not even fathom that you were Lin Xiaoyue’s husband.”
While she coldly sniggered in her heart, Cheng Anya had concealed her feelings well. The rest of the world would assu that her calm deanor and gentle smile was untouchable. It was exactly her warm smile that was the facade that never gave way.
She rarely showed her mockery this publicly.
Maternal grandfather, how laughable!
While he was not directly related to her, a relationship in blood was not as thick as how many would describe it. What mattered the most was the feelings developed since young. That was the reason why Third Young Master Ye and Ye Zhenhua beca enemies and her lack of feelings for Chen De. While she did not hate him, she did bear so grudge against him.
She did not know what happened years ago and how Chen De beca Lin Xiaoyue’s husband. However, after Lin Xiaoyue’s death, Chen De also disappeared. Her mother and auntie then were only teenagers who were unable to fend for themselves. How could he?
If he did not leave, her mother would not have brought her auntie along and lived a difficult life for ten-over years before dying of exhaustion. Cheng Anya would be lying if she said she did not bla Chen De for it.
“Yes, he does not know!” Chen De replied politely. He did not expect Cheng Anya to call him her maternal grandfather. While he smiled gently at Cheng Anya, he did not seem to care about how Cheng Anya felt.
He also did not show his sadness.
Maybe he really did not care, Cheng Anya thought to herself. He did not look like he could feign this gaze.
“So what brings you to look for ?” Cheng Anya cut to the chase.
“A few days ago, I unintentionally overheard Old Master Ye ntion the fact that Third Young Master and you were cousins. I then realized, in shock, that you were Xiaoyun’s daughter. I really did not know that beforehand.”
When Cheng Anya heard that, her heart was slightly at ease. “I still thought that you know since a long ti ago but did not appear as you were afraid of Ye Zhenhua,” she said as a matter-of-factly.
Chen De, who seed to have expected that statent from her, smiled and did not mind. Cheng Anya had no ill intent. While her grudge against him still remained, she would not speak nastily toward a nice old man who had done nothing wrong to her.
“In that case, are we cousins?” Cheng Anya asked. Only Chen De could answer her question.
“Didn’t Third Young Master and you not give a hoot?” Chen De asked in reply.
“It’s one thing to not give a hoot, and the fact quite another thing. You should have known that Ah Chen and I have a son. While we are not quite bothered about our relationship, whether we are really cousins will be a deciding factor in whether I will bear more children,” Cheng Anya replied as a matter-of-factly.
Third Young Master Ye sat at the corner and read the newspaper whilst having his coffee. He would have certainly leaped from his seat and kissed Cheng Anya if he had heard what she had just said.
Chen De looked down and sighed. “If you do not mind, allow to tell a story.”
“Please go ahead.” Cheng Anya knew that he was going to tell her what happened those years ago. She also wanted to know what actually happened. Just how did Chen De beco Lin Xiaoyue’s husband, and how did he end up becoming Ye Zhenhua’s butler?
Years ago, Chen De was the son of the old butler of the Ye family and was of the sa age as Ye Zhenhua. Although Ye Zhenhua was the master of the family, they were as good as brothers. Chen De was honest, faithful, and smart. He had contributed asurable help when Ye Zhenhua was at the busiest of his career.
This young man was, however, ashad to face Ye Zhenhua as he had taken a liking to Lin Xiaoyue, his master’s fiancée. In all those years, he quietly watched over her like her knight.
Even when Lin Xiaoyue betrayed Ye Zhenhua and fell in love with Yang Yun, Chen De was the first to learn of that fact. His faithfulness toward Ye Zhenhua was to a fault. He, in his impulse, would have wanted to kill Yang Yun to end it all if it weren’t for Lin Xiaoyue stopping him.
Later, Lin Xiaoyue oscillated between Ye Zhenhua and Yang Yun. As she oscillated between her feelings and righteousness, she was barely able to endure the torture and complained to Chen De daily.
As nobody would want to hear the person whom they loved share about how they loved another person, Chen De was also in a lot of pain.
Ye Zhenhua, in his youth, focused on his career and inevitably alienated Lin Xiaoyue. Chen De even tried to convince Ye Zhenhua to spend more ti with Lin Xiaoyue whilst he single-handedly ran the business. An adept businessman, Chen De was just born poorer. He, however, was Ye Zhenhua’s capable assistant for those ten-over years.
What was done out of goodwill made him the unintentional sinner. Ye Zhenhua discovered that Lin Xiaoyue committed adultery with Yang Yun.
As Lin Xiaoyue was a conservative and pure person, Chen De was shocked at her pregnancy. After so sleuthing, he discovered that Yang Yun was the culprit. As Lin Xiaoyue oscillated between them too, she almost wanted to give up her romance for reason and star with Ye Zhenhua, her childhood love. When Yang Yun knew that she would be unfazed after making up her mind, he spiked her drink and impregnated her.
The innocent Lin Xiaoyue, however, thought they rely had sex after one drink too many. Chen De, who was much more stoic than Ye Zhenhua and Yang Yun, calmly approached the problem. While he did consider hiding the problem, he could not help but say the truth when he saw Lin Xiaoyue hurt Ye Zhenhua once again.
With Lin Xiaoyue despondent, she agreed to Yang Yun’s suggestion that they eloped. She, however, wanted Chen De to bring her away. This led to the scene where she gave up on Yang Yun and took a bullet from Ye Zhenhua and fell into the water. Chen De, who was prepared, brought her away.
Chen De did not expect her to leave in such a tragic manner. Had he known that would happen, he would have never agreed to it.
While Lin Xiaoyue was a gentle person, she was exceptionally stubborn. When she gave up, she gave everything up thoroughly. With her child lost in a miscarriage from that incident, Lin Xiaoyue decided to leave that place of sadness for good and return to her mother’s hotown.
Chen De, who was smitten with her, saw her determination and left with her. Since she was without kin nor friend, he was worried about her.
Ye Zhenhua, who had lost both Lin Xiaoyue and Chen De, was exceptionally sad.
That was how Chen De and Lin Xiaoyue left City A and lived a peaceful life. With his sincerity eventually touching her, Chen De won Lin Xiaoyue’s heart and they had a daughter. After Lin Xiaoyue’s death, Chen De started considering returning to Ye Zhenhua.
In these ten-over years, he was ashad to face Ye Zhenhua. To Chen De, Ye Zhenhua was not only his master but only his brother. Lin Xiaoyue was ashad to face him, and keeping that fact from him for that few, happy years was a debt that had to be repaid.
After struggling for so ti, Chen De left all his spending money for his two daughters. Chen Nianyun was slightly older than ten years old, and Chen De ran a small wholesale business that did pretty well. As Chen Nianyun followed him, she learned quite a bit from him. When he thought that his daughter would be able to live independently, and that he had sent money back all along, he did not expect Chen Nianyun to leave the village with her sister and not leave a trace.
As Cheng Anya heard that, the grudge in her heart eased a little. When she knew that he did not deliberately abandon her mother, she was much more at ease. Knowing that she was not related to Yang Yun by blood made her even more at ease. To top it all off, her heart was very much at ease when she knew that she was not related to Third Young Master Ye by blood.
“It was your fault that you abandoned Mommy those years back despite all that guilt and loyalty you had for Ye Zhenhua. If you had not left that early, Mommy would not have died that early. You could have waited until Mommy was fully independent before leaving. Since so many years had already passed, would waiting an additional year or two make a difference?” Cheng Anya gently accused.
“My first thought then was to return to the Ye family and send money back to bring up my two daughters. I did not expect a massive flood to happen in my hotown in the year that I had left, and Xiaoyun leaving with iling. When I returned, I searched for them for a long ti but to no avail.” Chen De bitterly smiled as he recalled the past. He only wanted to tell Cheng Anya about the past, not wanting her forgiveness.
Cheng Anya looked out of the window with a tense face and did not speak for an hour. This was life. Sotis, plans cannot keep up with changes. As ‘if’ did not co to mind, that was what gave life its ups and downs.
“I am sure that you asked for a eting today not simply for this, right?” Cheng Anya was smart and ticulous in her thoughts. Since this involved Third Young Master Ye, she did not feign blurriness. Since that old man did not give her too bad of a vibe and was related to her, she had no need to pretend in front of him and instead clearly express her intentions.
Whether that would work out was an answer away.
“How have you been all these years?” Chen De kindly asked.
Cheng Anya smiled indifferently. Playing the kinship card, huh? Sorry, your granddaughter wouldn’t fall for that since she was ten. “I am good and am leading a very comfortable life—highly educated, highly paid, with an adorable son and a man who loves my son and .”
What Chen De knew about Third Young Master Ye and her was all hearsay. It was just that he did not expect her to be his granddaughter. With people aplenty, the chances of eting one’s kin were extraordinarily slim.
She was indeed a very wise girl.
Like waxed paper, she did not give away her thoughts or feelings.
Whilst her smile was comfortable at first glance, it beca sowhat distant the next second. She was different from Xiaoyue and Xiaoyun. She was stronger, more opinionated, and even smarter.
It was a brilliance that did not reveal itself. Instead, it seed like restrained wisdom.
“I’ve heard that Third Young Master is a very good man who is very hard to co by,” Chen De said.
Cheng Anya raised her brows and smiled. “This is the first ti I hear sobody describe him as a very good man.”
Chen De gently laughed. After so interactions, he was sowhat able to make out Cheng Anya’s character. “MBS International has collapsed and the old master has been hospitalized. Could I ask you to intercede on my behalf and end the battle? Third Young Master has had the revenge he should.” Chen De slowly spoke.
“You are really loyal toward Ye Zhenhua,” Cheng Anya said plainly. Given today’s society, Chen De would have been one-of-a-kind. While she respected his loyalty, she could not agree with his loyalty. “I cannot answer you on that, and I will not ask Ah Chen to stop. Why don’t you ask him yourself? He is just there.”
“Third Young Master won’t listen to on this.” Chen De broke into a friendly smile. “The old master is of advanced age, and with MBS International in tatters, he is like the walking dead. Third Young Master should really stop driving him up the wall.”
“Ah Chen never wants Ye Zhenhua dead. If he were dead, life would not be any more fun as more awaits him.” Cheng Anya smiled coldly. “That is sothing you are beholden to him that I am not. We are not related, so settle whatever you owe him personally and don’t implicate .”
Cheng Anya eventually made her stand.
Chen De looked at her and smiled. It seed as though he had no more intention to convince her, but just let her understand.
“If you are unwilling to, then I’ll not force it upon you. I just wanted to see you today. As for this, you are right that we are not related. I have t my match,” Chen De plainly replied.
Cheng Anya took a glance at Third Young Master Ye, who was reading the newspapers with his back facing them. “What actually happened in the Ye family back then?” she asked on impulse.
Chen De’s kind smile froze. As he was about to speak, Cheng Anya suddenly interrupted him. “It’s okay. Just take it that I did not ask anything, and I do not want to know anything.”
“You are a really good child.”
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