Chapter 41: Parentage Testing Might Be Fake

Zhou Du left the restroom, sent Xia Xi a message, telling her to let Lu Mingji take her home, he went straight back to the hotel, they could talk later when they had time.

Xia Xi showed understanding, saying tonight had been hard on him too, a pleasant dinner turned into a Hongmen Banquet.

Walking with Lu Mingji to the parking spot, he spoke up: "I'll send you home." After the meal, he had a bunch of questions, a good chance to ask Xia Xi.

But given her personality, she might not answer all of them.

Xia Xi politely declined: "You drove here too, right? It's fine, I'll go back myself."

Lu Mingji curled the corner of his mouth into a faint smile, pointing at Youyou, whose eyes could barely stay open and who kept yawning: "The kid is so tired she could fall asleep standing; I'll drive, so you can look after her."

Xia Xi lowered her gaze; Youyou leaned against her leg, holding a small toy given by the restaurant, constantly rubbing her eyes—she was indeed sleepy.

"Don't rub your eyes, there are germs." She took away Youyou's little hand, stroked her cheek, then looked at Lu Mingji: "Sorry to trouble you."

"No need to be polite with me."

Lu Mingji hired a substitute driver to take his own car back, took Xia Xi's car keys, and opened the rear door.

Xia Xi half-embraced Youyou as she got in; Youyou immediately leaned sideways and crawled into her lap to sleep. Zi Heng climbed in from the other side, sat properly on his own, buckled his seat belt, needing no adult reminder.

Once they were settled, Lu Mingji started the car and merged into traffic.

The car drove smoothly; gradually, Zi Heng grew a bit drowsy, his little head bobbing like a chick pecking at food.

Seeing this, Xia Xi adjusted her posture, shifted toward Zi Heng, then lightly patted her own shoulder and whispered: "Lean on Mom and sleep a bit; I'll call you when we arrive."

Zi Heng obediently leaned against her, closed his eyes, long lashes drooping, casting a shadow on his fair cheeks. A little sweat appeared on his forehead, dampening his hair, which curled and stuck to his skin.

Xia Xi raised her hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, curved her lips, her expression gentle and tranquil.

At night there were few vehicles, little noise, even the occasional honk sounded distant.

A red light ahead, the car stopped steadily before the crosswalk; Lu Mingji glanced at the rearview mirror, cleared his throat, and asked: "You and Xu Yanfeng—did your breakup back then end on bad terms?"

Xia Xi had been lowering her eyes to look at the children; hearing this, she lifted her lids to stare ahead, about five seconds passed, then she said: "It's my fault."

"And what about you and Zhou Du…" Lu Mingji began, then hesitated.

Xia Xi knew what he suspected; at dinner tonight, Xu Yanfeng's words were too suggestive, making anyone who heard them imagine the love‑hate entanglements among the three of them.

"We're just good friends, nothing else." Xia Xi, worried about waking the children, spoke softly but clearly: "Lu Mingji, we're also very good friends; perhaps 'mentor and friend' describes it better. Over the past few years abroad you've helped me a lot—I can say fifty percent of where I am today is thanks to you. I'm grateful and trust you, so I can be frank with you."

Lu Mingji had already guessed Xu Yanfeng was the children's father; many things couldn't be hidden anyway, so it was better to be frank.

She spoke so seriously that Lu Mingji laughed: "Are you giving me a good‑person card?"

He hadn't yet declared his feelings, but she immediately defined their relationship as "mentor and friend," blocking his advance, giving him no hope—truly in line with Xia Xi's usual modus operandi.

"You're already a good person; why would I need to give you an extra card?" Xia Xi joked.

Lu Mingji lightly tapped the steering wheel, waiting for the red light to finish counting down, then the car moved off: "Rest assured, I won't betray your trust; I'll guard your secret and not utter a word. But—" he shifted his tone, giving her a warning: "Xu Yanfeng doesn't seem easy to fool; everything he said today hides an edge, impossible to guess what he's thinking."

Xia Xi also looked worried: "I know."

The car entered the residential area and slowed to a stop; both children were sound asleep. Xia Xi was about to wake Zi Heng when Lu Mingji undid his seat belt, turned his head, and said softly: "Don't wake him; just carry him up."

Xia Xi hesitated a few seconds; Lu Mingji had already stepped out first, opened the door, lifted Zi Heng out, and gave her a look. She had no choice but to hold Youyou, shuffle out slowly, lock the car, and follow Lu Mingji into the elevator.

At the doorstep, Xia Xi had no free hand; Lu Mingji stepped forward, cradling Zi Heng with one hand and pressing the doorbell with the other.

Su Jinru was in the living room watching TV and eating fruit; hearing the doorbell, she put down her toothpick, got up to open the door, muttering as she walked: "Didn't you bring your keys?"

The door opened; Su Jinru froze.

"How come you left with Zhou Du and came back with a different man?"

Su Jinru sized up the man before her; his looks and demeanor were not inferior to Zhou Du's, and he seemed even steadier. Xia Xi was in a hurry to put the kids down, had no time to introduce Lu Mingji to Su Jinru, and turned to Lu Mingji, mouthing: "Come in."

Lu Mingji nodded at Su Jinru as a greeting, then followed Xia Xi to the children's room. Xi Xi lifted her chin toward one of the beds; Lu Mingji understood, bent over, and placed Zi Heng on that bed.

Xia Xi also put Youyou down, exhausted, drenched in sweat, her arms sore.

The kids may look small, but they're heavy; Xia Xi shook out her arms, tiptoed out of the room, and pulled the door shut.

Lu Mingji faced Su Jinru again in the living room and introduced himself: "Auntie, hello, I'm Lu Mingji; Xi Xi and I met abroad, we haven't met before."

"Oh oh, Mr. Lu, hello." Su Jinru nodded blankly.

"There are no men in the house, only women; it's late, so Lu Mingji didn't want to overstay, bidding farewell: "It's too late today—I won't disturb you; I'll come visit another day."

He wore a smile, gentle and polite—exactly the sort elders like. Su Jinru had previously been very pleased with Zhou Du, thinking he and her daughter were childhood sweethearts, a perfect match; seeing him now, she couldn't help but feel a little shaken.

Xia Xi saw Lu Mingji out: "Why not drive my car back? Anyway, I won't need it tomorrow, Saturday."

"Sure." Lu Mingji took the car keys and entered the elevator.

Xia Xi leaned against the doorframe, waiting for the elevator doors to close, she withdrew her gaze, turned and went inside, but before she could catch her breath Su Jinru grabbed her: "Who is this Lu Mingji?"

"Didn't he just say? He's a friend I met abroad." Xia Xi pried at her mother's hand: "Let go first, I'm going to get a glass of water—I'm parched."

Su Jinru followed behind her, watching her pick up a cup of water and gulp down half of it in one go, then asked: "Where did Zhou Du go? Why is he the one who brought you back?"

"Zhou Du had something to do, so he went back to the hotel first; tonight's dinner was originally a plan between me and Lu Mingji, Zhou Du just came along to mooch a meal." Xia Xi didn't mention meeting Xu Yanfeng at all.

Su Jinru pondered a few seconds, then said: "I can see now that you and Zhou Du truly have no feelings for each other. This Lu Mingji, I think you could consider him—he seems pretty decent to me."

Xia Xi took a sip of water, covered her throat: "……Just before dinner you were praising Zhou Du to the skies, and now you've changed your mind?"

"She changed her stance way too fast."

Su Jinru said innocently: "Didn't you tell me you two have no feelings? I'm only doing this for your sake."

"Okay, okay, I know you mean well." Xia Xi set down her cup, found an excuse to hurry off, lest she be pressed about marriage again.

Su Jinru was getting a bit "possessed," grabbing any man and trying to pair him with her—too frightening. Xia Xi shivered, then hurried to the children's room.

The two children slept soundly; she hated to wake them for a bath, but wiping their hands and feet was still necessary.

Xia Xi went to the bathroom, fetched a basin of warm water, wrung out a towel, first wiped Youyou clean, pulled over the blanket to cover her, then did the same for Zi Heng.

Just after wiping his face, the little guy woke up, blinked his sleepy eyes, his voice a bit hoarse: "Mom."

"Yeah, you're awake." Xia Xi switched to another towel, wiped his feet, then suddenly recalled the dinner incident, leaned in and asked him: "Just now, how did you call Zhou Du 'dad'?"

Zi Heng had just woken, his thoughts slow; after a moment he honestly said: "Mom doesn't want that person to know I and my sister exist, right?" He naturally had to help Mom.

Xia Xi was left speechless.

She tossed the towel into the basin, stared at her son for a long moment, then said, "You don't ask Mom why?"

Zi Heng sighed, adopting a mature little-adult demeanor: "You adults always have your own reasons for what you do."

*Sunday, Xu Yanfeng went home to have lunch with his parents; the usual topic at the table was marriage.

He gave a few perfunctory remarks, after eating he didn't linger, drove back to his own residence.

After lunch break, after receiving Guan He's call, Xu Yanfeng took his phone and went to the study.

Guan He's steady voice came through the receiver, his words cautious: "General Manager Xu, the paternity test report you obtained might be fake. I've found that one of the appraisers, Du Bingchen, had an extra two million yuan deposited into his account three days ago."

(End of chapter)