As soon as Ning Yichu finished speaking, Yu Lianlian burst into tears with a sob, sliding off the sofa to kneel on the floor without thinking, pleading to Old Master Ning, “It’s not like that, let me explain…”
At forty-nine, Yu Lianlian was well-maintained, and even while crying, she still had that delicate, tear-streaked look. But Old Master Ning wasn’t having any of it, even lifting his foot as if to kick her, “You wretch!”
Yu Lianlian was just pretending to cry, keeping a close eye on the old man’s reaction. Seeing this, she quickly dodged, causing Old Master Ning to kick the air and almost fall off the sofa, looking quite embarrassed.
Seeing their mother like this, Ning Anqiu and Ning Andong, the sixth and seventh daughters of Old Master Ning, snapped back to reality and hurried over to help and stop him.
“Dad! Don’t get upset, listen to Mom’s explanation…”
Nearby, Han Wenhua was still wrestling with Ning Shaoren, who pushed her to the ground. Only then did Ning Zeqi take his eyes off Ning Yichu to help Han Wenhua.
As for Ning Shaoli, whose background was directly questioned, he sat there in a daze, thinking to himself, it’s over. He had never been very respectful to the old man, being a genuine “unfilial son,” always doing as he pleased and angering the old man. Now that he’s not the old man’s biological son, even though he’s technically a Ning family grandchild by blood, the old man surely won’t acknowledge him, and he’ll be kicked out of the Ning family…
Thinking of this, Ning Shaoli shivered and rushed at Ning Yichu, “You wretch, you’re trying to ruin me! You’re trying to ruin our whole family…”
He Shixia frowned, stood up, grabbed Ning Shaoli’s attacking arm, and stepped on his wildly kicking leg, pushing him back.
Ning Shaoli stumbled back several steps, crashing into the coffee table, and then completely lost his balance, falling onto the table, his arms and legs hitting the edges, causing him to grimace in pain and curse.
Liu Shuang, Old Master Ning’s second wife, and her children, Ning Shaoyi and Ning Anxia, sat comfortably on the sofa, enjoying the show.
Current wife Lu Xi picked up her young son Ning Shaozhi, who was playing with toys, and moved to the other side to stay out of it.
Liu Shuang added fuel to the fire, “If Shaoli’s background is questionable, could it be that Qiuyu and Dongdong are also your daughters with Shaoren, Sister Yu?”
Ning Anqiu and Ning Andong, who were trying to control the situation, froze at these words.
“No!” Yu Lianlian wasn’t guilty this time, answering loudly, “Qiuyu and Dongdong are the old man’s daughters! Go do a paternity test, I’m not afraid!”
Liu Shuang laughed, “And what about Shaoli?”
Yu Lianlian’s voice lowered as she looked at Old Master Ning, mumbling, “Well… it’s not my fault, I was so young back then, what could I do…”
Han Wenhua shouted at her, “How did Ning Shaoli, this bastard, come about! Explain yourself!”
Ning Shaoli slid off the coffee table, sitting on the floor, gasping in pain while shouting back, “Who’s a bastard!”
He Shixia sat back down next to Ning Yichu.
Ning Yichu leaned against the sofa, a slight smile lifting the corners of his eyes, making the small red mole at the corner of his left eye even less noticeable.
Across from them, Yu Lianlian had given up struggling and started recounting the events of the past. Old Master Ning’s face was flushed, listening along with everyone else. At this point, Ning Shaoren didn’t bother to stop or argue anymore.
Thirty-two years ago, seventeen-year-old Yu Lianlian followed a fellow villager to the city to work. That villager was a small supervisor at Kangning Grand Hotel and got Yu Lianlian a job as a cleaner. Back then, the rules weren’t as strict as they are now, so even though Yu Lianlian was underage, she managed to get the job.
After working at Kangning Grand Hotel for a year, Yu Lianlian, as an experienced “old hand,” was allowed to clean higher-end guest rooms, which increased her salary. Wealthy guests sometimes tipped the cleaners, providing extra income she could keep.
Not long after, Yu Lianlian happened to clean the room where Ning Shaoren was staying.
Ning Shaoren had been entertaining clients until the early hours and casually opened a room at his own hotel to sleep. He was annoyed at being disturbed by the cleaning, but seeing the young and pretty cleaner, Ning Shaoren’s lust was aroused, and he pressed Yu Lianlian onto the bed while she was cleaning the bedroom.
Yu Lianlian was initially terrified, having never thought of using her body to get close to wealthy guests. But Ning Shaoren was strong, and she couldn’t break free. Ning Shaoren sweet-talked her, claiming love at first sight. At that time, Ning Shaoren was not yet thirty, looking like a young and promising man, and Yu Lianlian was momentarily dazzled and complied.
“You’re talking nonsense! Acting all innocent and pure, you didn’t even struggle back then! You just wanted to snag a rich husband, thinking I was a good catch, but it didn’t work out!” Ning Shaoren disagreed with Yu Lianlian’s version.
Yu Lianlian gritted her teeth, “You were the one who made the first move!”
Ning Shaoren: “I didn’t need to force any woman. I told you back then, if you weren’t willing, you could leave. You were the one who said you fell for me at first sight and then laid down willingly!”
“Seems like it was mutual affection,” Liu Shuang chimed in, adding fuel to the fire.
At this point, Han Wenhua slapped Ning Shaoren across the face again, realizing, “You see a cleaner at a hotel and drag her to bed, so practiced. You must have been cheating all these years! Ning Shaoren, I’m going to fight you!”
Ning Shaoren stopped pretending, pushing Han Wenhua away, “Yes! So what? You always act on the bed, no fun at all!”
Han Wenhua screamed, kicking Ning Shaoren.
Yu Lianlian ignored the “fight” over there, continuing to recount the past to the others. In her subsequent narration, she didn’t hide her ambition to climb the social ladder back then.
After their encounter, Ning Shaoren gave Yu Lianlian money, which surprised her—she hadn’t expected Ning Shaoren only wanted a one-night stand, with no intention of keeping her as a mistress for a while.
But Yu Lianlian had no choice and didn’t dare to make a fuss with Ning Shaoren, only secretly regretting her misjudgment.
Not long after, the Ning family held a banquet at Kangning Grand Hotel, and Yu Lianlian discovered that Ning Shaoren was the young master of the entire hotel, his father being the big boss of Kangning… This made Yu Lianlian regret missing out on Ning Shaoren even more.
But soon, she noticed that Ning Shaoren’s father, Old Master Ning, who was not yet fifty at the time, had a young wife by his side, more than ten years younger than him, with a very noticeable age gap.
Yu Lianlian calculated that although Old Master Ning was older, he was wealthy and influential, yet still frivolous, so she could try to seduce him—and it worked very smoothly. Young, beautiful, and deliberately flattering, Yu Lianlian easily won Old Master Ning’s favor.
However, it wasn’t enough for Old Master Ning to divorce his wife for Yu Lianlian. He was only willing to keep her as a mistress in a guest room at Kangning Grand Hotel, convenient for him to visit her anytime.
Yu Lianlian, having watched many palace dramas, felt she needed a child to secure her position. But Old Master Ning didn’t visit her often, and she doubted if he could still father a child.
At this time, Yu Lianlian happened to run into Ning Shaoren again. Ning Shaoren didn’t know Yu Lianlian had become Old Master Ning’s mistress. Seeing her reminded him of their previous encounter, and he wanted to coax her into bed again.
Yu Lianlian thought it over. Ning Shaoren was young, with a higher chance of getting her pregnant, and since Ning Shaoren was Old Master Ning’s biological son, she wouldn’t have to worry about the child not resembling Old Master Ning…
That time, Yu Lianlian deliberately tampered with the condom, and Ning Shaoren, driven by lust, didn’t notice. He even arranged another meeting with Yu Lianlian, who was eager to get pregnant and agreed.
A month later, Yu Lianlian confirmed her pregnancy and joyfully told Old Master Ning. But Old Master Ning, who already had three children and had just had a newborn with his second wife two years prior, was happy but not overly excited, and certainly not planning to elevate Yu Lianlian’s status.
However, considering Yu Lianlian’s pregnancy, Old Master Ning arranged a house and servants for her, not letting her continue living in the hotel.
Ning Shaoren didn’t find Yu Lianlian at the hotel again and didn’t think much of it, as he wasn’t short of women.
But Ning Shaoren didn’t expect that a few years later, Liu Shuang discovered Old Master Ning had a mistress outside, and that mistress was Yu Lianlian, who had even given Old Master Ning a child. The child’s age made Ning Shaoren increasingly anxious.
So Ning Shaoren directly confronted Yu Lianlian, who was very “frank,” saying she had also been with Old Master Ning during that time, so she wasn’t sure who the child’s father was. If Ning Shaoren was worried, he could do a paternity test.
The test revealed that Ning Shaoli was Ning Shaoren’s biological son.
Hearing this, Old Master Ning nearly had a heart attack. He looked at Ning Shaoren, “You knew about this before I married Yu Lianlian, and you watched me marry her! Why didn’t you stop it?”
Ning Shaoren shrugged, “Could I have stopped it? A year after my mom passed, you wanted to remarry. Didn’t Xiaochun and I try to stop you? But you married her anyway.”
Old Master Ning’s fingers trembled as he pointed at him, almost speechless, “You, you, you… unfilial son!”
Ning Shaoren continued, “But after that, I had no contact with Yu Lianlian. As for Qiuyu and Dongdong… I don’t know if they’re your daughters. Yu Lianlian could have borrowed a seed once, no guarantee there wasn’t a second or third time. Anyway, I can only be sure they’re not my daughters.”
“Ning Shaoren, you’re sick!” Yu Lianlian cursed, then told Old Master Ning, “Qiuyu and Dongdong are definitely your daughters. Go do a test! I was already married into the family, had Shaoli as a son, I didn’t need more children to compete for favor. I didn’t fool around outside, I wasn’t tired of living well, wasn’t I afraid you’d find out! You can still have a four-year-old son at your age, why couldn’t I have given you two daughters over twenty years ago!”
With Ning Shaoli’s background questioned, Yu Lianlian was guilty and short of breath, but her current reaction was completely different from before, clearly very confident.
Old Master Ning smiled bitterly, “Well, at least you gave me two biological daughters.”
Liu Shuang clicked her tongue, “Old Master, don’t pretend to be pitiful. Haven’t you heard ‘those who green others will be greened’? Didn’t you cheat with Yu Lianlian back then?”
Old Master Ning glared at her, “Do you want to be kicked out of the Ning family too?”
Liu Shuang nonchalantly spread her hands, “Good thing I divorced you early. You were generous back then, gave me plenty of money, so I won’t worry about food and drink wherever I go. Besides, the kids are grown now, they can fend for themselves. Be careful, if you kick me out, your house might be empty.”
Old Master Ning clutched his heart in anger.
Ning Yichu laughed heartily, “Good thing Grandfather is still vigorous, or he’d have a heart attack from anger.”
Liu Shuang: “How could he not be vigorous? Four marriages, each wife younger than the last.”
“Enough!” Old Master Ning roared.
Then he pointed at Yu Lianlian, “Get out of the Ning family immediately! Take that bastard Ning Shaoli with you!”
Hearing that their mother and brother were to be kicked out, Ning Anqiu and Ning Andong wanted to plead for mercy, but as soon as they called out “Dad,” Old Master Ning said, “If you dare plead, you’ll go with your mother! The Ning family doesn’t need two daughters!”
Yu Lianlian gritted her teeth, “Why are you yelling at your daughters! They’re your biological daughters! And you can kick me out, fine, but Shaoli is Ning family blood, you can’t kick him out!”
Old Master Ning was so angry he couldn’t breathe, “Dream on!”
He glared viciously at Ning Shaoli, who didn’t dare speak, “He’s just a bastard!”
Then Old Master Ning looked at Ning Shaoren, “Do you acknowledge this bastard?”
Ning Shaoren shook his head without hesitation, “No, Dad.”
Old Master Ning felt a bit better, nodding, “All the assets under his name belong to the Ning family, take them back, and kick this mother and son out. You handle it.”
Ning Shaoren nodded, “Understood.”
Ning Shaoli had been silent, fearing his voice would further anger Old Master Ning, and knowing his words were often unpleasant, he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.
But seeing no room for negotiation, and Ning Shaoren, his biological father and the “big brother” who watched him grow up, showing no mercy, Ning Shaoli couldn’t sit still.
He habitually sneered, telling Old Master Ning, “Old Master, you’re really getting old, knowing you can’t beat your eldest son, you can only pretend to be a supreme emperor, but in reality, you don’t even dare to speak up about your son cuckolding you for so many years, haha, fatherly kindness and filial piety.”
Old Master Ning took a long breath in anger, then this time couldn’t hold on, falling backward.
Author’s Note: