Chapter 560: Xu Damiao admits the child is Shazhu's

He repeatedly said there was no intention to force Xu Damiao, but Lou Xiao'e's tone of voice and the oppressive aura emanating from her

gave Xu Damiao great pressure.

At this moment, Lou Xiao'e, who sat waiting for Xu Damiao to give an explanation, was like an insurmountable high mountain, making Xu Damiao feel the humility of facing a superior.

Lou Xiao'e's facial expression also became unsettled.

A feeling of excitement emanated from her, her mind conjured up worst-case scenarios, and she pondered the matter as negatively as possible.

She had imagined Xu Damiao would make excuses and evade, but she never expected him to straightforwardly admit his own infertility.

In Lou Xiao'e's eyes, a hint of unusual color appeared; she glanced at Xu Damiao and found herself an excuse to change everything.

If it were Xu Damiao from over ten years ago, he would not have admitted his inadequacy so readily.

She became even more curious.

She wondered why the child born from her womb bore a faint resemblance to Shazhu in appearance.

If it were any other woman.

they would indulge in wild speculation, wondering if there was some shameful secret; as Xu Damiao's ex-wife, Lou Xiao'e knew that Shazhu and Xu Damiao were on good terms.

Yet she herself had given birth to Little Shazhu.

That feeling of being toyed with surged into her heart.

The two looked at each other, and the atmosphere in the room grew heavy.

A few dozen seconds later.

Xu Damiao spoke up to break this eeriness.

Some things.

must be explained.

Moreover, when he originally did this, he already intended to reveal the truth; he just didn't expect to recount those past rights and wrongs in such a setting.

A bitter smile appeared on Xu Damiao's face.

His hands clasped together uneasily.

His head slightly drooped.

In the blink of an eye, Xu Damiao lifted his head again, his sincere gaze fell on Lou Xiao'e, and he bit his lip hard.

He steeled himself.

He stamped his foot.

He opened his mouth.

"The child is Shazhu's!"

Upon saying that answer, Xu Damiao felt as if a thousand-pound burden on his shoulders had been lifted, and an unprecedented sense of ease spread through him.

Once upon a time.

Whenever he thought of this matter.

Xu Damiao's heart felt as if a large stone weighed upon it, making him somewhat breathless.

Whether he spoke the truth or not, with no inner repression, to spare Xu Damiao from late-night rumination, he stared steadily at his ex-wife Lou Xiao'e, resigned to whatever she might decide.

Lou Xiao'e looked at Xu Damiao, let out a soft sigh, and felt a lightness as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted.

No one knew what kind of life Lou Xiao'e led.

That burden weighed on her, causing Lou Xiao'e to suffer insomnia at night; sometimes she needed alcohol's numbness to fall asleep.

The reason was that the child she bore resembled Shazhu in appearance.

Before hearing the answer from Xu Damiao, regarding why the child looked like Shazhu.

Lou Xiao'e's belief was that Shazhu took advantage of Xu Damiao's absence and her own drunkenness to do something unspeakable with her, resulting in her bearing Shazhu's child.

Shazhu betrayed his brotherly bond with Xu Damiao and gave him a green hat.

This was Lou Xiao'e's idea.

Lou Xiao'e's parents thought even more melodramatically, mistakenly believing her marriage to Xu Damiao was unhappy after marriage, and that Xu Damiao's parents gave her various looks; harboring resentment and revenge, Lou Xiao'e deliberately consorted with Shazhu to give Xu Damiao a green hat as retaliation.

Now the truth has come to light.

Lou Xiao'e suddenly wanted to cry.

From the moment she learned from Xu Damiao that the child's father was Shazhu, Lou Xiao'e knew this must have been Xu Damiao's design.

Otherwise, Xu Damiao shouldn't have known the facts, nor would he have casually revealed the answer; his calm tone was too composed, as if the matter were trivial.

"I hope you don't hate me."

This was the second thing Xu Damiao said to Lou Xiao'e after she pressed him for the truth about the child.

Lou Xiao'e's heart.

She didn't know what to say.

She stared blankly at Xu Damiao, smirked, and uttered a few sarcastic remarks.

"You really are Shazhu's good brother, even sharing his wife."

Xu Damiao said nothing.

A hint of guilt flickered across his face.

He muttered a self-mocking remark.

"Who would willingly be bald when they have hair?"

Lou Xiao'e felt a bit heartbroken.

She accepted Xu Damiao's words.

Without a child, she had no confidence.

Back when they wanted a child, Xu Damiao insisted it was Lou Xiao'e's fault, and his parents agreed; they made her take various medicines all day and tried assorted folk remedies, making her life miserable.

Because Yi Zhonghai had cut off his lineage, no one saw him; he spent all day scheming to get people to support his old age, and in the end became an unscrupulous hypocrite.

No wonder Xu Daming took a crooked path.

"Shazhu doesn't know about this; that day I got the hospital's diagnosis saying I can't bear children, my heart died completely. Returning to the Siheyuan, I just happened to see Yi Zhonghai scheming against Shazhu for his old age. That feeling of desolation and sorrow pierced me. If I don't find a way, I'll become the next Yi Zhonghai."

"So you got Shazhu drunk, and you got me drunk."

"Sorry."

"What's the point of saying sorry now? You know I don't want to hear those three words."

"What do you want to do?"

"Take me out for a meal, and we can talk about buying a house along the way."

"Bai Xu is now the most famous restaurant in the Capital City."

"Isn't that Old Mo?"

"Listen to me, that's right."

……

Business is really good.

When Xu Daming brought Lou Xiaoe here, the Bai Xu restaurant's first-floor hall and second-floor private rooms were all full of customers.

At the entrance, there were also customers queuing for a meal, each holding a number tag with numbers like one, two, three, four written on it.

This is Yu Li's doing.

Don't say it.

Once introduced, it was well received, saving the customers from making a fuss.

There were also some people who lacked common sense and insisted on pushing ahead, but Wu Zhiguo and the others let them know why the flowers were so red, gave them a beating, and they became honest.

After Shazhu learned of this, he even publicly praised Wu Zhiguo and the others.

The remaining servers were all eager to try, determined to get that reward.

A great situation.

Made those customers behave.

Causing trouble not only gets you beaten, but also gets you taken to the police station.

People of this era are truly simple and unadorned; seeing Xu Daming bringing Lou Xiaoe to enter, they quickly reached out to stop the two and began lecturing them.

"I say, you two comrades, aren't you being a bit underhanded? Don't you see we're all queuing here—how can you just barge in?"

Moreover, for fear that Xu Daming and his group didn't know Bai Xu restaurant's rules, they flashed their number tags and continued explaining to the two.

"The people inside are all seated; if you want to come in for a meal, you must find Manager Yu, get a number tag from him, and then enter by calling your number."

The title of Manager Yu.

This left both Xu Daming and Lou Xiaoe stunned.

They stared at each other, wide-eyed.

The good-hearted fellow who had stopped Xu Daming and his companion explained what Manager Yu was and who Manager Yu was.

"Manager Yu is He Yuzhu's wife, called Yu Li. You should know He Yuzhu, right? He was the best chef at the former Yagangchang."

Only then did Xu Daming and Lou Xiaoe learn that Yu Li had also joined Bai Xu's staff and become its manager.

Xu Daming might not know what this manager signifies, but Lou Xiaoe, who had been in business for over ten years, could see from Bai Xu's current work arrangements that Yu Li's management ability was not inferior to, and even surpassed, that of her manager at the Hong Kong Island Grand Hotel.

It seems.

Everyone in the Siheyuan has changed.

Before Lou Xiaoe left, Yu Li, who had been a housewife, is now the senior manager of Bai Xu.

"Manager Yu, new customers have arrived—quickly give them number tags."

Hearing the voice, Yu Li, who had just finished settling the bill for a table, busied herself with her trade, casually picked up a handwritten number tag, handed it to Xu Daming, and apologized: "Sorry, there are a lot of people today; please wait a moment. This is your number tag, number nine. I'll call number nine, then you can come in to eat."

Xu Daming was about to say something.

Lou Xiaoe suddenly reached out and took the number tag from Yu Li, then locked eyes with her.

Yu Li looked at Lou Xiaoe.

Lou Xiaoe looked at Yu Li.

They were stunned for over ten seconds.

Yu Li seemed to snap back to reality, stammering as she pointed a finger at Lou Xiaoe and said in disbelief: "Are you Lou Xiaoe? Have you come back?"

"I'm back."

"When did you come back?"

Yu Li walked out from behind the counter, asking as she went, and when she reached Lou Xiaoe, her expression became even more frightened.

Not only had Lou Xiaoe, who had been away for over ten years, returned, but standing beside her was Xu Daming, whom no one had seen in over a year—alive or dead—rumored by the Siheyuan residents to have followed in Liu Haizhong's footsteps.

"Are you Xu Daming?"

"Yu Li, it's been over a year since we last saw each other—you've really gone from a bird gun to a cannon."

What Xu Daming said was not wrong at all.

When Yu Li was a housewife, she wore cloth shoes, grayish trousers, and floral apron, spending all day around the stove; now Yu Li presents a capable woman's attire, with black leather shoes, a black outfit, and a nameplate on her left chest reading 'Bai Xu Hall Manager'.

"Xu Daming, Lou Xiaoe, how did you two get together?"

Yu Li felt some doubt in her heart.

She knew that Qin Jingru had remarried.

She idly wondered, could it be that Xu Daming had remarried Lou Xiaoe again?

That would be a good thing.

Just didn't know whether Lou Xiaoe agreed or not.

Yu Li's gaze was extremely venomous; although she couldn't recognize the brand of Lou Xiaoe's clothes, just by feeling she knew they were expensive.

"I came back to invest; Xu Dameng is a member of the investor's liaison team. Thinking it's been over ten years since we last saw each other, and we happen to not have eaten, we came out for a bite. Xu Dameng told me that Bai Xu is currently the hottest, so I came." Lou Xiaoe pointed to the bustling first-floor hall: "Indeed, it's hot."

Upon hearing that Lou Xiaoe was a Hong Kong compatriot returning to invest and set up a factory, the diners eagerly offered a table to Xu Dameng and his group.

After the refusal failed.

Xu Dameng and Lou Xiaoe then sat in the seats that others had vacated.

Enthusiasm.

Warm-hearted.

This is the sentiment Lou Xiaoe felt from them.

Someone also felt a hint of envy.

Mainly, Lou Xiaoe's attire created a strong impact on the surrounding people; she herself was like a proud white swan, while they perhaps resembled an ugly duckling that hadn't completed its transformation.

Looking at everything that remained the same while people had changed, Lou Xiaoe felt many emotions.

In the ten-year business war of Hong Kong Island, Lou Xiaoe was not a woman who knew nothing.

She was very shrewd.

From these diners before her, she sensed that there was great potential here.

It's just a pity.

The Lou family's businesses had no catering, and furthermore, the steel plant could not possibly accept Lou family funds.

She had been running back and forth for over three months.

Lou Xiaoe had seen through much; nowadays people, when facing matters, are extraordinarily cautious, as if walking on thin ice to cross a river, preferring to idle away their days rather than do something that might make them take the blame.

No one dares to casually decide on a matter.

Even the smallest matter must be repeatedly discussed.

Seek no merit, only avoid fault.

Just like Lou Xiaoe's investment in the steel plant, which was clearly beneficial to both sides, the person who had to approve it avoided it like a plague, thinking the steel plant was no longer a steel plant, thus rejecting Lou Xiaoe's proposal, causing this investment to come to nothing.

Analyzing from this matter.

Many people still feel apprehensive about accepting foreign investment.

Why Lou Xiaoe is not optimistic about the Lou family investing funds into the steel plant is not because she knows nothing, but because she understands too well, seeing it all too clearly.

Avoid the important, pursue the trivial.

The steel plant is impossible.

Other places have impossibilities too.

Perhaps there is.

The bustling side of Bai Xu.

It made Lou Xiaoe think of opening a large restaurant in the capital city.

"This restaurant is not bad."

"Not bad." Xu Dameng, who didn't understand Lou Xiaoe's meaning, looked around at the decor and sincerely exclaimed, "Yu Li, did you do all this?"

"Our boss did it."

Lou Xiaoe's eyes lit up.

She could faintly see some Hong Kong Island style in Bai Xu's current decor; he wondered whether Shazhu had been to Hong Kong Island, otherwise how could there be second-floor private rooms and the layout of the first-floor hall.

"Xu Dameng, Lou Xiaoe, you two don't need to order dishes; I'll go find our boss and have him make two of his special dishes for you."

"You decide."

Yu Li walked toward the back kitchen in her leather shoes, squeaking.

Just as she pushed open the door.

She then saw a bustling scene inside: Thus: Thus: Mahua, wearing a chef's hat, was busy with the dishes; Shazhu should have just finished work, sitting on a stool, sipping tea while wiping sweat from his forehead with a towel.

Liu Lan, with several kitchen helpers, was busy preparing ingredients.

Seeing Yu Li.

Her eyes lit up.

She made a joking remark.

"Shazhu, your wife is worried about you and came to see you."