Chapter 174

I don't want to see him; that big shot basically doesn't deserve it. Whenever I think of what he did in Niushiling, I get angry. If you can give him money, that's already good enough. If he dies, I won't go cry. Shi Jinhe said angrily.

Those are all past events, you still remember them, right? Jinghe, today I'm chatting with you about these things; I have something very important to tell you, and only you can know—even Shi Yong cannot know. I said while looking at Shi Jinhe.

Shi Jinhe hurriedly asked, "What's up, brother? It's that serious."

I pointed at Xiao Shitou, who was playing with his phone not far away, and said, "Xiao Shitou, go play in another dorm; I need to discuss something important with Uncle Jinhe."

Xiao Shitou then took his phone and went out.

After Xiao Shitou went out,

Only then did I slowly say, "Today I want to talk to you about Xiao Shitou's background."

"Xiao Shitou's background— isn't this Xiao Shitou your son?" Shi Jinhe asked.

"Jinghe, Xiao Shitou was brought here by Zhou Wei; you forgot." I took a puff of a cigarette.

"Right, I really forgot. When he came, Xiao Shitou had just started kindergarten. I know this: Xiao Shitou isn't your biological son, and neither are Daming and Zhengzheng your biological sons,"

"What are you trying to do? Do you want to tell the kids all this?"

"Not telling them, telling them wouldn't make sense either. They're all grown up now; what could they do even if they knew? Daming already knows I'm not his biological father."

"It easily creates estrangement."

"Why do I want you to hear these things today, and chat about past people and events? It's because I want to tell you Xiao Shitou's background; Zhou Wei is also in a vegetative state, and this secret is known only to me."

"I want you to know as well, so there's another witness." I said.

Shi Jinhe laughed,

"Alright, I also want to hear this story."

"This story is long; do you remember that Zhang Zong from before?" I asked.

"Which Zhang Zong?" Shi Jinhe scratched his head.

"It's the Zhang Zong of Jian'an Company in Lanling County; we used to follow him. He's chubby and not tall. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, I remember now—that Zhang Zong. I certainly remember; he even went to Niushiling for a ribbon-cutting, and I shook hands with him." Shi Jinhe said.

"Zhou Wei used to be a technician at Niushiling; why did she go there to be a technician? Because she was Zhang Zong's lover, and his wife wasn't willing, so she wanted to deal with Zhou Wei, thus Zhang Zong arranged for Zhou Wei to go to Niushiling."

"Not long after, Zhou Wei left—actually to have a child for Zhang Zong. I drank the celebratory wine together with Wu Xiezi. You all don't know this. The son Zhou Wei gave birth to is called Xiao Shitou."

"I get it now— Xiao Shitou's father is that former Zhang Zong. But didn't that Zhang Zong run away after something happened?" Shi Jinhe said.

"That Zhang Zong fled to the south, where he founded the Southern Group; that Southern Group is the enterprise that voluntarily lent us money."

"Ya Li already told me that the Zhang Zong of the Southern Group is the same person as the former Zhang Zong of Lanling Jian'an Group; it's one and the same."

"Their voluntary help to our Da Heng Group this time is all purposeful." I had just finished saying,

Shi Jinhe slapped his thigh and said, "Brother, I get it now—the Southern Group's proactive help to us is actually because they want to devour our Da Heng Group; that Zhang Zong came for revenge, right? Damn it, as long as he dares to come to Zaocheng, I'll kill him."

I said, "Jinghe, keep it down; this Zhang Zong wanting to devour our Da Heng Group is just one matter; another matter is that he wants to come find Xiao Shitou. In the south he also has no children; this Xiao Shitou could very well be his only child."

"So he will definitely come to Zaocheng to look for Xiao Shitou."

"Holy shit, so that's how it is, but what are we supposed to do—hide Xiao Shitou? Or tell Xiao Shitou that Zhang Zong is his biological father? He's also our Da Heng Group's enemy." Shi Jinhe said.

"You don't need to tell him; later Zhang Zong will find Xiao Shitou and tell him, and by then Xiao Shitou will definitely not believe Zhang Zong's words."

"I'm telling you all this so that you can comfort Xiao Shitou and get him to acknowledge the parent."

"Why did I drink too much today? Why did I tear up in front of Xiao Shitou?"

"I just wanted to leave a mark in this child's heart from the bottom of my soul; Da Heng Group is something I founded."

"Even if he acknowledges Zhang Zong, he won't be close to him. By then, Xiao Shitou will know what to do."

"Sigh, there's nothing I can do; I can only treat Xiao Shitou as a pawn again." I sighed.

"Brother, will our Da Heng Group really be devoured by the Southern Group? I don't believe it; as long as we sell houses and settle the accounts, that should be fine. Are you overthinking it?" Shi Jinhe said.

"Jinghe, there are some things I can only tell you; how should I say it? Da Heng Group's luck has run out. We probably can't turn things around. Even if we sell more houses, we won't be able to repay the debts; we have too little time left, and this house sale was done by me without permission from Kong Shi's side, so what will happen later is hard to say."

"Today I'm telling you all this mainly so that later you can persuade Xiao Shitou to first acknowledge Zhang Zong as his father. Let's prepare for our future." I said.

"Prepare for the future—prepare what?" Shi Jinhe asked, not understanding.

"We'll talk about that later; also, if Da Heng Group really changes hands, you also shouldn't leave the group. Hear me? No matter what, you must finish the project and ensure the buildings are constructed well." I arranged with Shi Jinhe.

"Why? As long as you're not at the company, I must leave." Shi Jinhe said directly.

"Jinghe, you must listen to me. Maybe you'll be our hope for a turnaround later. Also, there's one more thing I want to tell you: Xiao Shitou isn't Zhang Zong's biological son either."

"What? This is too messed up. If it's not Zhang Zong's biological son, could this Xiao Shitou be your seed, brother? I remember back then, you were close with the Zhou technician at Niushiling. That's how I get it: no matter what, Xiao Shitou is your seed; as long as Zhang Zong later focuses on training him, and later even if the Southern Group hands Da Heng Group over to Xiao Shitou to manage, that would be equivalent to returning Da Heng Group to us, so we'd turn things around, right, brother?" Shi Jinhe scratched his head again and said.

After hearing Shi Jinhe's words, I just smiled, took a puff of a cigarette, and didn't say anything else.

"I originally wanted to tell you everything about Xiao Shitou's background, to tell Shi Jinhe that Xiao Shitou's real father is Song Erguang."

"But I felt that saying this out loud wouldn't be good."

After a while, I continued, "Jinghe, some things shouldn't be said too explicitly; you just need to know. Anyway, if Zhang Zong really comes later, he will want to acknowledge Xiao Shitou, and you just need to prove it, letting Xiao Shitou acknowledge Zhang Zong as his father."

"I'm just afraid that Xiao Shitou's stubbornness will make him refuse to acknowledge it, and then it'll be troublesome."

"By then, you and Xiao Shitou will stay at the company,"

"we will all leave the group."

After Shi Jinhe heard me finish speaking, tears came down,

"Brother, are you arranging your after-affairs?"

"I really don't want it to be like this; why is that?"

I gently patted Shi Jinhe's hand,

"Jinghe, this also counts as after-affairs; it's like entrusting the orphan to you. By then, the chance for our entire group to turn things around will rely entirely on you."

Shi Jinhe wiped his tears and nodded slightly.