Nan Xin’s entire body tensed.
She could accept that the child in her belly had no father, but that didn’t mean she could calmly share this secret with someone else.
Ji Zhouye seemed to know what she was thinking.
“Don’t be nervous. I just want you to look at someone.”
Only then did Nan Xin stay still, though her body remained tense.
The surveillance footage showed that it was already past nine at night, and there was hardly anyone left in the hotel corridor.
A few minutes later, a familiar figure appeared on the screen and entered Room 1811, the room directly opposite Nan Xin’s.
Nan Xin frowned.
Why had her father-in-law, Fu Changlian, come here that night?
But Ji Zhouye clearly hadn’t brought her here just to show her that.
The footage continued playing.
A few minutes later, another figure, tightly disguised and wrapped up from head to toe, appeared on the screen and entered Room 1811 as well.
The moment Nan Xin saw that figure, her entire body stiffened. She stared at the surveillance footage in disbelief.
Although the person had disguised herself, they had spent more than twenty years together. Even if that person had been reduced to ashes, Nan Xin would still recognize her.
Nan Yu!
Only then did Ji Zhouye turn off the surveillance footage.
He took a leisurely sip of coffee, his tone as cold as ever.
“I wasn’t deliberately investigating you. I happened to discover this while looking into something else. If I remember correctly, one of these people is your father-in-law, and the other is your sister, right?”
When Ji Zhouye had first met Nan Xin, he had already investigated her thoroughly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have felt so comfortable letting a married woman stay in his home.
Nan Xin recalled the way Fu Changlian had treated Nan Yu at the Fu family home earlier that day. Suddenly, everything made sense.
If Fu Beichen found out that the woman he loved and yearned for had gotten involved with his own father, she wondered what his reaction would be.
A flicker of light passed through Nan Xin’s eyes.
“Dr. Ji, could you copy the surveillance footage and send me a copy?”
After learning that the man from that night had not been Fu Beichen, she had tried to investigate the surveillance footage herself. But the hotel had told her that the recordings had already been erased.
She also wanted to know who the man in her room had been.
Ji Zhouye leaned back and looked at her.
“What will I get in return?”
Nan Xin genuinely couldn’t think of anything she could offer him as payment.
Her peripheral vision landed on the kitchen, and she tentatively said, “Whenever you need it, Dr. Ji, as long as I have the time, I can cook for you.”
Ji Zhouye said nothing.
He toyed with the USB drive between his fingers, seemingly weighing whether Nan Xin’s offer was worth it.
Nan Xin herself wasn’t confident. Cooking was something that could easily be solved by spending money, after all.
Just when she thought there was no hope, he placed the USB drive in front of her.
“Lunch every day until your due date.”
“Okay.”
Nan Xin agreed without hesitation.
She picked up the USB drive, made an excuse, and returned to her room. Eager to see the footage, she immediately plugged the drive into her computer and started watching from the moment the two people entered the room.
However, when it reached the time she was supposed to appear, the surveillance footage suddenly stopped.
There was nothing after that.
Nan Xin: “…”
Still, she would keep the recording safe. There might come a day when it proved useful.
…
In the living room, Ji Zhouye’s phone rang. It was his assistant.
“So this is what you found?”
“Yes, sir. I’m sorry. The surveillance footage confirms that Miss Nan did enter this hotel, but it appears that someone deliberately erased part of the recording. We couldn’t determine whether the person who later entered your room was actually Miss Nan.”
“What about the other footage?”
“It was all damaged. I’m trying to contact the hotel and see if it can be restored, but it may take some time.”
His assistant was already sweating profusely on the other end of the call.
Ji Zhouye gave a faint response before hanging up.
He looked toward Nan Xin’s room.
He didn’t dislike having this woman around. There was something about her that made him feel at ease. It was the same feeling he had experienced that night. Although he had deliberately restrained himself, the moment he sensed that familiar presence, he had chosen to give in.
Nan Xin woke up early the next morning.
While eating breakfast, she was about to contact a 4S dealership to look at some cars when the doorbell suddenly rang.
Aunt Zhang went to answer the door.
A moment later, Nan Xin heard her cheerful voice.
“Miss Nan, the car Sir bought for you has arrived.”
Clatter.
The fork slipped from Nan Xin’s hand and fell onto her plate.
She froze for several seconds before coming back to her senses. When she reached the doorway, she saw a brand-new Mercedes parked outside.
Nan Xin hurriedly called Ji Zhouye.
The phone rang for a long time before he finally answered. His deep, magnetic voice came through the phone, cold as ever.
“Hello.”
“Dr. Ji, what’s the meaning of this car?”
She was somewhat nervous. Given her current situation, she already owed Ji Zhouye a considerable amount of money, and now he had even bought her a car.
The more she thought about it, the more strange it seemed.
Yet his attitude was completely calm, his voice devoid of any fluctuation.
“For delivering meals.”
Nan Xin glanced at the car and felt somewhat embarrassed.
“It’s just for delivering meals. I think a car worth a few tens of thousands would have been enough…”
“It wouldn’t be safe enough.”
“Okay… Okay, then.”
Nan Xin hung up and stared at the Mercedes outside, still feeling as though it were unreal.
She had only gotten her driver’s license after marrying Fu Beichen. The moment she passed her test, she excitedly told Fu Beichen and mentioned that she wanted a car for transportation.
He had rejected her outright.
He had looked at her impatiently and said, “There are plenty of places where the company needs money right now. There’s no need to waste money on things that aren’t important.”
Although Nan Xin had been somewhat upset at the time, she had accepted it without complaint. After all, Fu Beichen’s company was more important.
It wasn’t until the previous year that Nan Xin learned the Fu Group’s market value had reached tens of billions.
But by then, she no longer had the desire to ask for anything.
And now, even a stranger she had only recently met could notice what she needed.
Nan Xin found it deeply ironic.
Aunt Zhang’s voice pulled her back to reality.
“Miss Nan, Sir is really good to you.”
Nan Xin caught the implication in Aunt Zhang’s words. She smiled and said, “Dr. Ji is simply a very good person.”
To express her gratitude to Ji Zhouye, she prepared an especially lavish lunch that day.
However, when she delivered it to the hospital, Ji Zhouye had gone to a meeting. She didn’t stay long and simply handed the food to a nurse.
She was about to drive home when Shen Zhixia called.
“Xin Xin, want to have lunch together? I want you to meet someone.”
“Who?” Nan Xin asked.
“The Fu Group’s biggest rival—the director of the perfume R&D department at Dexin Group.”
Nan Xin raised an eyebrow.
“Where are we meeting?”
Shen Zhixia gave her an address, and Nan Xin drove there directly.
A little over ten minutes later, Nan Xin arrived at the private dining room of the restaurant Shen Zhixia had mentioned.
The moment she opened the door, she saw Shen Zhixia sitting face-to-face with a man.
Shen Zhixia stood and walked over to Nan Xin.
“Director Gong, this is Moon, the perfumer who developed ‘Heart Dust.’”