Chapter 34

Inside Yucai Kindergarten, as dismissal time approached, Song Laoshi received a strange task.

"Pull out hair? What is this for?" Song Laoshi looked at the principal, bewildered, "Aren't Xia Ziheng and Zhou Leyi's parents Ms. Xia Xi? Shouldn't we consult her about this? It's not right to keep it from her after they entrusted their children to our kindergarten."

"Where do you get all these questions?" The principal had a stern expression, his fingers tapped heavily twice on the desk, his voice kept low, afraid of being overheard, "This is a request from a big boss; just do as told. Besides, pulling out two hairs causes no loss."

"But..."

"No more 'but's." The principal opened a drawer, took out a small transparent ziplock bag and handed it to her, "Put the hair inside this."

Song Laoshi hesitantly took it, a scene from a TV drama she had watched before flashed in her mind, and suddenly she had an epiphany.

Could it be for a paternity test? The children's father suspects they are not his biological offspring, so he is secretly doing a paternity test behind the mother's back?

No, when the children enrolled, they were required to fill in guardian information, with both parents needed, but for Xia Ziheng and Zhou Leyi, only the mother Xia Xi is listed as guardian; the father's column is blank.

Thinking of this, Song Laoshi drew a breath, wondering if it wouldn't be the children's father who had come looking for them.

If something went wrong, wouldn't Ms. Xia Xi blame their kindergarten for meddling and sue them?

Song Laoshi is a meticulous and cautious, steady woman; faced with such a bizarre matter, it's inevitable she would overthink.

"Principal, I still feel this isn't right..."

The principal impatiently cut her off: "Can we afford to offend a big boss?"

Song Laoshi was left speechless at once.

She left the principal's office in a daze, returned to the classroom, where the children were looking around at their seats, knowing dismissal was near, and some could hardly sit still.

Xia Ziheng and Zhou Leyi sat in the fourth row; the boy lowered his head, scribbling and drawing in his notebook, while the girl turned her head to chat with the child behind her.

Song Laoshi silently sighed, the principal's words echoing in her ears: "Two children, just pull hair from whichever child."

That's right, they are fraternal twins; only one needs to be tested.

Song Laoshi pressed her lips, made up her mind, and walked toward them.

Xia Ziheng was doing arithmetic problems when a shadow fell over his desk; he stopped his pen, lifted his head, and politely asked, "Teacher Song, is there something you need?"

Song Laoshi stared at Zi Heng's head; this child had gotten a haircut last weekend, his hair cut short in a neat crew cut, not easy to pluck hair from.

Song Laoshi shifted her gaze to Zhou Leyi, gave a light cough, and said, "Your sister's hair has come undone; I want to help retie it for her."

"Oh." Unconcerned, Xia Ziheng lowered his head and continued doing arithmetic in his notebook.

"Zhou Leyi, come here a moment; Teacher will fix your hair, your braid has come loose."

Zhou Leyi touched the small braid on her head; the elastic was indeed loose, she stopped talking to the girl behind her, ran to the teacher, and obediently squatted before her.

Song Laoshi sat on the chair, removed the elastic, braided her hair, and took the opportunity to pull out a few strands.

"Ah." The little girl, quite sensitive, covered her scalp and said, "Teacher Song, you pulled my hair."

"S-sorry, Teacher didn't mean to." Song Laoshi gently stroked her head, while her other hand clutched a few fine, soft hairs with follicles she had just pulled out.

Zhou Leyi: "It's okay."

Song Laoshi finished the braid, patted her shoulder to remind her. Zhou Leyi stood up, shaking her head and body, saying, "Teacher braids so fast; my grandma is really slow."

Song Laoshi smiled, left the classroom, let out a breath, placed the few hairs into the ziplock bag, and took it to the principal.

After a while, the principal left the kindergarten and handed the sample to a tall, thin man in a suit.

The man got into the car with the item and reported to the person in the back seat: "General Manager Xu, we've obtained the child's hair."

Xu Yanfeng lifted his eyelids, gazing steadily at the transparent plastic bag in his assistant's hand. He had almost given up hope, but Tang Yizhou's words rekindled it. If the test result turned out not as he expected, he...

He didn't even know what he would do.

In the morning, Tang Yizhou came to see him; he immediately instructed his assistant to find a way to get the child's hair and send it for DNA testing. Later, after thinking it over, he felt uneasy, postponed it until the afternoon, finished his main business, and then came in person.

"Go to the appraisal center." Xu Yanfeng said.

The driver made a U-turn, following the boss's orders, and drove to an authoritative genetic appraisal center.

Xu Yanfeng entered carrying his own and the child's hair samples; assistant Guan He followed silently behind.

Guan He didn't understand; such a task could be delegated to him, there was no need for General Manager Xu to do it personally.

Could General Manager Xu be worried about a mishap in the process? If he can't even handle this small matter well, he isn't qualified to be Xu's special assistant.

*Near quitting time, Ling Yan received a parcel, cut it open with a utility knife, and inside was a stack of photos.

She hadn't even had a chance to examine them closely when a call came through on her phone; she glanced at the caller ID—it was the person helping her tail Xu Yanfeng.

Ling Yan picked up the remote and pressed it; the office's exterior-facing glass wall turned opaque, preventing outsiders from seeing in, then she answered the call, whispering, "Why are you calling me now?"

The man on the other end said, "Did you receive the parcel I sent you?"

Ling Yan casually picked up a photo and glanced at it; she was utterly stunned, the intimate pose of the two people in the picture stabbing her eyes.

At that moment, the man's voice came through the earpiece: "You asked me to monitor Mr. Xu; to avoid missing any important information, I've photographed everywhere he's been and everything he's done these past few days and stored the files—you'll know at a glance. The backs of the photos are marked with the time and place of shooting, crystal clear."

Ling Yan stared fixedly at the photo in her hand.

Under the streetlight, Xu Yanfeng's luxury car was parked beside him, and he held the wrist of that woman, Xia Xi, very close, as if he would kiss her in the next second. Xia Xi wore white pajamas, as if she had just washed up and was preparing to rest, having been summoned downstairs by Xu Yanfeng.

What did they say? What did they do? Ling Yan couldn't help but blurt out her thought at that moment: "What did they do?"

The man on the phone blinked: "What?"

Ling Yan flipped the photo over; on the back, a black marker wrote: September 16th evening, Building 8, Unit 1, Lan Ting Bay.

She took a deep breath and asked the man tailing Xu Yanfeng, "What did Xu Yanfeng and that woman do that night?"

The man replied: "Mr. Xu waited downstairs for a long time before that woman came down; they chatted for a while, then she went back up, and Mr. Xu drove away."

Ling Yan gripped the photo tightly with her fingers, crumpling a corner. If her gaze could become substance, the photo would already have been stared through.

"By the way, this afternoon Mr. Xu went to Yucai Kindergarten again; I followed him, his car remained parked opposite, he himself didn't get out, his assistant left for a while then returned, and afterward they went to the appraisal center."

Ling Yan's attention instantly shifted from the photo: "The appraisal center?"

"Right. I didn't dare go inside; it should be an institution that specializes in paternity testing."

Paternity testing...

Ling Yan's pupils contracted; she immediately guessed Xu Yanfeng's intention.

She had already suspected, based on Xu Yanfeng's attitude, that Xia Xi's child was his.

No, absolutely cannot let them have any involvement again.

Ling Yan clenched her fists against her lips, her mind in turmoil, her teeth repeatedly biting her fingers, still unable to relieve that anxious feeling inside.

After a few seconds, she gritted her teeth and put forward a request that even she herself found utterly absurd: "Can you think of a way to contact someone inside the organization and issue a fake test report?"

You have quite the idea, Ling little sister, but it's unnecessary (end of chapter)