After Xie Yizhao went upstairs, Xie Heng also returned to his room and thought for a long time.
Although he didn’t fully grasp what his Dad meant, he decided to follow his Dad advice and convince Xu Jiaming to talk to his Mom.
At the very least, there was one thing his Dad said that stuck with him. This might not be a dead end, which meant the situation wasn’t as bad as they had thought.
He trusted his Dad’s judgment.
Whether it would work or not, he had to try. Doing something was better than doing nothing.
He truly considered Xu Jiaming a friend, and besides, Xu Jiaming had helped him a lot. He hoped Xu Jiaming could stay.
While the father and son were having a rare heart-to-heart, Lu Xi was also having dinner with Yang Yihan.
And Lu Xi learned a shocking secret from her.
The night before, she had invited Lu Xi out. She had just returned with Xu Jiaming and planned to stay for a few days, so she was free to meet up.
Since a friend had invited her, Lu Xi definitely had to go. She and Yang Yihan had always gotten along well, and they hadn’t seen each other for over a month since Yang Yihan had been filming in another city.
After work, Lu Xi asked her driver to take her directly to the restaurant. Yang Yihan arrived early and was waiting in a private room.
When she saw Lu Xi, Yang Yihan was delighted and pulled her to sit down.
“The dress you designed for me for Christmas was absolutely stunning! I wore it to a celebration party, and so many people asked about the designer.”
Lu Xi smiled and said, “Well, thank you for promoting my little shop! But a beautiful dress needs a beautiful person to bring it to life.”
The two exchanged compliments, and the atmosphere remained lively.
During dinner, Yang Yihan ordered a bottle of wine.
Lu Xi was tempted but politely declined, saying that she was too much of a lightweight and would just stick to juice.
Yang Yihan simply smiled and didn’t insist. Since Lu Xi wasn’t drinking, she drank by herself.
A gathering between women, with good food and drinks, plus their natural chemistry, meant there was no shortage of conversation. Lu Xi was having a great time, but by the time she realized something was off, Yang Yihan had already finished more than half the bottle on her own.
Lu Xi : “…” Huh?
She wasn’t sure about Yang Yihan’s alcohol tolerance.
For someone with a high tolerance, this might not be much, but drinking should still be done in moderation. It wasn’t good for Yang Yihan’s health to drink too much.
Lu Xi advised her, “You should drink less. You still have to go home later.”
Unexpectedly, the word ‘home’ struck a nerve with Yang Yihan, and she suddenly became overwhelmed with sorrow, covering her face and crying.
Lu Xi was stunned.
Her eyes widened in panic as she quickly moved closer to comfort Yang Yihan, handing her tissues to wipe her tears.
“Did something happen at work?”
But Lu Xi clearly remembered that Yang Yihan had a film releasing during the Spring Festival, and its box office and reviews were both great. She had even taken the two Xie’s to the theater to support Yang Yihan.
“No… it’s about my family.” Yang Yihan spoke in a muffled, sorrowful voice.
Lu Xi frowned.
Her son, Xu Jiaming, was a well-behaved, sensible child—the model son. There was no way he could have upset Yang Yihan.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Lu Xi’s mind. “Could it be… your ex-husband?”
Yang Yihan shot her a quick, wary glance.
She hadn’t planned to say anything, but at that moment, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.
To her family, she had to be strong. To her agent and assistants, they were just colleagues, she couldn’t confide in them. Only with a friend could she truly speak freely.
Though she hadn’t known Lu Xi for long, they got along well. And now that Lu Xi had brought up her ex-husband, her emotions completely unraveled.
She poured out everything that had happened over the Spring Festival.
Including her plan to send Xu Jiaming abroad to escape from her ex-husband.
Lu Xi was utterly shocked.
Was this man for real? He cheated and ran off before, leaving Xu Jiaming behind without a second thought. Now he had the nerve to come back, shamelessly claiming his son? His face was truly thick.
Lu Xi finally understood why Yang Yihan had been crying.
She could now deeply relate to the feelings of a mother.
Matters between adults could be solved with divorce. As long as he stayed far, far away, no one cared about him. But when it came to the child, that was a different story. That was her weakness, too.
“But… are you really going to send Xiao Xu abroad? Isn’t that a bit too drastic?”
From Yang Yihan’s description of her ex-husband, he was ambitious yet impractical, obsessed with speculative business ventures, vain, and prideful. A man like that, who cared so much about appearances, wouldn’t push things too far if he wanted to save face.
He claimed he wanted to mend his relationship with his son and take care of him in the future.
But Lu Xi suspected the real reason was that he was drowning in debt and wanted to use this as leverage to force Yang Yihan into paying for him.
Hearing Lu Xi’s words, Yang Yihan nodded. “He already hinted at it, exactly that. I know I could get rid of him with money, but if I give in this time, he’ll taste the benefits and come back to threaten me again!”
Yang Yihan gritted her teeth in hatred, unwilling to be controlled by him like this.
Lu Xi patted her hand. “I get it. Using your own son to threaten you? What a piece of trash.”
Yang Yihan let out a deep sigh and fell into a long silence before finally speaking. “He’s using Xiao Ming’s parentage to blackmail me… Xiao Ming is actually my sister’s child. I adopted him.”
Lu Xi was momentarily speechless.
She never expected Xu Jiaming to have such a complicated background.
Now she understood why Yang Yihan was in such a dilemma. She had worked so hard to keep this secret all these years, just so Xu Jiaming could grow up without worries.
A sudden thought crossed her mind. “Does Xiao Xu himself know?”
Yang Yihan shook her head.
She and her sister had been very close. When they were young, their family had struggled financially, and it was her sister who worked to pay for her education.
After her sister got married and gave birth to a child, she was diagnosed with brain cancer. The treatment was expensive, and Xu Jiaming’s biological father took all their savings and ran, abandoning the infant. He had never been seen since.
At that time, Yang Yihan had just graduated. By sheer luck, she was scouted by an agent and landed a commercial, which kickstarted her career in the entertainment industry.
With the money she earned, she tried to fund her sister’s treatment. But the cancer was already in its late stages. After a few months of struggle, her sister passed away.
At that time, Yang Yihan’s career was just beginning to take off. Despite opposition from many, she insisted on adopting the child.
Back then, even her ex-husband had supported her decision. The whole family agreed to keep Xu Jiaming’s true parentage a secret, believing it was a way to protect him.
Yang Yihan clenched her fists. “I never thought he’d use this against me now. He’s saying that if I don’t pay his debts, he’ll tell Xiao Ming that he’s not my biological son!”
Lu Xi’s heart skipped a beat.
Xiao Heng had once mentioned that Xu Jiaming wanted to become a neurosurgeon in the future…
A strange thought crept into her mind. Could it be that Xu Jiaming already knew?
After all, that child was extraordinarily intelligent.
Lu Xi returned home, still lost in thought.
She had comforted Yang Yihan for a long time. Fortunately, after crying for a while and getting a little drunk, Yang Yihan ended up venting her anger by cursing her ex-husband. Lu Xi joined in without hesitation.
As they cursed, Lu Xi ended up taking a few sips of alcohol herself, which only made her curse even more vigorously. Before long, Yang Yihan had fallen asleep.
Lu Xi called the bodyguard to carry Yang Yihan to her assistant’s car so she could be taken home safely.
Lu Xi wasn’t sure if her suspicions were correct, so she decided to keep quiet for now.
But she felt awful.
She had barely eaten anything while talking to Yang Yihan, and now she didn’t have much of an appetite either. Instead, her head felt light, her chest tight, and her mood foul. She just wanted to curse someone out.
Xie Yizhao was in his study but had been paying attention to the sounds outside.
As soon as he heard Lu Xi return, he immediately put down his work and went to greet her.
Meanwhile, Xie Heng was in the living room playing video games. He moved even faster.
The moment he saw Lu Xi enter, her cheeks flushed and her steps unsteady, he quickly rushed over to support her.
“Ms. Lu, you’re doomed! You actually drank in secret outside? I’m telling my Dad on you!”
Xie Yizhao walked over and took Lu Xi from Xie Heng’s arms, letting her lean against him instead.
He pressed the back of his hand to her warm, rosy cheek and sighed helplessly. “How much did you drink?”
Lu Xi looked up at him.
Then, she grabbed his tie, glaring fiercely. “Xie Yizhao, are you a scumbag?”
Xie Yizhao met her intoxicated gaze and pursed his lips. “I’m not.”
“That’s good. If you dare to be a scumbag, I’ll break you first, then chop you up and feed you to the dogs!” Lu Xi frowned, her expression serious and full of disdain.
Xie Yizhao cleared his throat.
He suddenly felt a chill somewhere.
Then, Lu Xi raised her eyes and saw Xie Heng standing nearby, watching with a gloating expression.
She pointed a finger at him. “You—the one grinning like an idiot—are you a scumbag?”
Xie Heng’s smile froze.
He suddenly recalled Lu Xi’s earlier threat and felt a wave of panic.
His face turned pale. A drunk Ms. Lu was terrifying!
He quickly shook his head and swore, “I’m innocent! I don’t even have a girlfriend, who would I be a scumbag to?”