Chapter 37: 37. Is Kangshilan Also Zhang Ran

Originally, Zhang Sicheng had planned to treat Zhao Yu to a meal today and was prepared to bow his head and admit defeat, but now he had no heart to do any of that.

Just like Liu Lu, his entire mind was now focused on the house.

Compared to Liu Lu, Zhang Sicheng's obsession with a house in Shanghai was even deeper.

So, when Liu Lu and the others finished touring the house and were just about to leave that evening, Zhang Sicheng also arrived.

The two sides met, chatted for a few moments, and after Zhang Sicheng took the keys, he went into the house to stay by himself.

At first glance, he was also stunned by the house; Zhang Sicheng had not expected that Zhang Ran would actually buy them such a large house.

Afterwards, he wandered around the house alone, not stopping for a single moment; he did not know how many times he had paced around, nor did he know what he was looking at, but he simply did not want to leave.

It was not until ten o'clock in the evening, when Liu Lu finished her dinner gathering and called him, that Zhang Sicheng finally snapped out of his somewhat dazed state.

When the two returned home together, they saw Zhang Ran playing with Taotao and Susu; the two little ones had no one to supervise their bedtime today, and while Susu was still relatively normal, the little one Taotao was already playing until he was wild.

Liu Lu first hauled the two little ones to their room to sleep, then sat down in front of Zhang Ran with Zhang Sicheng.

"Thank you." Although Zhang Sicheng still could not bring himself to say it, his gratitude was sincere.

Zhang Ran spoke up: "It's nothing; this is what I, as a father, should have done in the first place, and for so many years, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have suffered so much."

Indeed, if Zhang Ran had not had that accident back then and had not boarded the Goddess of Destiny, then the lives of Zhang Sicheng and Zhang Siyan would be completely different from what they were now.

Although this matter was a force majeure factor, how could Zhang Ran, as a father, not feel even a shred of guilt?

"Please don't say that; there was nothing you could do back then, and my mother and the two of us siblings have never blamed you," Zhang Sicheng said.

"But this happened because of me, after all..." Zhang Ran murmured, and at that moment, the pure, lively smiling face of Yu Qingwan appeared before his eyes.

He dared not imagine how that kind-hearted girl had managed to raise two children alone for so many years, and how much hardship she had endured in the process.

It was he, Zhang Ran, who had failed Yu Qingwan!

Zhang Sicheng saw the look in Zhang Ran's eyes and seemed to understand who he was thinking of, and he sighed inwardly.

Zhang Sicheng opened his mouth, but he did not know what to say.

Their family was also plunged into an atmosphere of reminiscence because of this house, and subsequently, Zhang Ran and Zhang Sicheng and the others opened their hearts to each other for the first time.

Although they did not talk about anything specific and just said whatever came to mind, even so, it made Zhang Ran feel very comfortable.

By the time they were ready to sleep, it was already three in the morning; Zhang Sicheng prepared to ask for leave, as there was nothing to do at the company anyway, and asking for leave was just a matter of a single sentence.

Liu Lu did not cook in the morning either; she quietly woke the two children up and sent them off to school, and they ate breakfast on the way.

Liu Lu had not slept that night either; even when she did fall asleep, she would wake up very quickly, subconsciously reaching out to touch the keys placed by the bedside.

She was worried that this was just a dream!

However, even so, Liu Lu did not feel a shred of sleepiness in the morning.

Inside Huo Zhiyuan's villa.

Meng Zixuan walked downstairs while yawning and saw that Huo Zhiyuan was already up, with Zhao Jingyu by her side reporting on some of the company's situation.

During this period, Meng Zixuan had not gone anywhere; she had just stayed by Huo Zhiyuan's side and lived here as well.

"Good morning, Huo Yi; good morning, Jingyu." Meng Zixuan greeted them and sat down directly, looking listless.

After the two finished discussing business, Huo Zhiyuan looked at Meng Zixuan and said with a smile: "What? Didn't sleep well last night?"

Meng Zixuan said listlessly: "Who's to say? Last night, that guy Meng Mingxuan harassed me all night long."

"You siblings really do have a good relationship," Huo Zhiyuan said, her tone carrying a trace of imperceptible envy.

Meng Zixuan curled her lips and said: "What good relationship? This guy just came to me to cry poor, and incidentally wanted to squeeze some money out of me."

"What? Has your father started restricting his spending?" Huo Zhiyuan was a bit curious.

She knew that Meng He had actually always loved these two children very much, and only when they made some principled mistakes would he give them a beating or a lecture; otherwise, he basically would not interfere with them too much.

However, Meng Mingxuan and Meng Zixuan had not grown up crooked, and at the very least, Huo Zhiyuan still approved of and liked them.

"It wasn't my dad, it was Uncle Zhang; Uncle Zhang restricted his spending," Meng Zixuan said.

Huo Zhiyuan became interested all of a sudden, and Meng Zixuan knew she would definitely be interested, so she recounted what had happened yesterday.

After a long while, Huo Zhiyuan said thoughtfully: "It seems your father has already decided to groom Ming Xuan as his successor."

In fact, Meng He had been hesitating all along, or rather, he was hesitating because of the uncertainty regarding Meng Zixuan.

If Meng Zixuan chose to take in a son-in-law, then Meng He would also give her a chance, but Meng Zixuan had no such intention; she still wanted to get married and have children normally.

Then Meng He would certainly not leave his vast family business to someone of a different surname in the end; call it feudal, call it rigid, but that was Meng He's way of thinking.

Meng Zixuan knew this, of course, but although she felt a bit uncomfortable in her heart, that was just how it was; after all, this was a decision she had made herself.

"Sigh, it's hard on my dad to have hesitated for so many years; actually, I really don't have any objections," Meng Zixuan said.

But Huo Zhiyuan's next words left her at a loss.

"Actually, your father didn't need to struggle with the issue of property inheritance between you siblings at all," Huo Zhiyuan said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Meng Zixuan did not understand the meaning behind Huo Zhiyuan's words.

Huo Zhiyuan said calmly: "If your parents had let you take the surname Zhang back then and had you adopted by your Uncle Zhang, then you would already be the successor to Kangshilan."

Once these words were out, both Meng Zixuan and Zhao Jingyu were stunned on the spot; Meng Zixuan instantly thought of what Meng He had said before, that most of their family's company was actually Zhang Ran's.

So she immediately grasped some information from Huo Zhiyuan's words!

And what Zhao Jingyu thought of was that Huo Zhiyuan was actually able to do this much for Zhang Ran, willing to give away tens of billions in assets just because of an adoption issue.

Meng Zixuan suddenly said with a stutter: "Huo... Huo Yi, could it be that Kangshilan is also..."

She did not say the rest; she dared not believe it, nor did she dare to be certain.

If one were to say that her own family's industry was Uncle Zhang's, she would be a bit shocked, but she could barely accept it.

But if even Kangshilan Group was Zhang Ran's industry, the combined value of these two companies was somewhat staggering.

Huo Zhiyuan suddenly let out a scoff, not knowing who she was laughing at.

"How could you think that a little girl who was sold by her own family back then just because they wanted to get a wife for their son would have the money to buy an old British cosmetics brand?"

The information in this sentence was simply too massive, causing Meng Zixuan and Zhao Jingyu, who had not yet recovered their senses, to fall into a state of stupor once again.

Perhaps because Huo Zhiyuan had deliberately blocked it, there was very little news online regarding Huo Zhiyuan's family situation, and most of it was fake.

Even Meng He rarely mentioned Huo Zhiyuan's past in front of Meng Mingxuan and Meng Zixuan.