“The wealthiest man in Shengjing!” Qiao Zi said.
Yan Yu blinked. “Huh?”
Seeing that Yan Yu didn’t believe her, Qiao Zi hurried over to the cashier’s counter. She rummaged through the small bookshelf behind it until she finally found a newspaper and stuffed it into Yan Yu’s hands.
“Here, take a look. Doesn’t the man in the suit in this newspaper look a lot like Junjun?”
Yan Yu unfolded the newspaper and lowered her gaze to the photograph. Her beautiful eyes instantly filled with shock.
Wasn’t this the man from back then?
He was actually the richest man in Shengjing?
Her thoughts immediately became a tangled mess. She could hardly believe that she had once stumbled into such an unbelievable encounter. The man she had drunkenly wrapped her arms around outside a restaurant that night had actually been the city’s wealthiest man.
And she had even given birth to his children.
“Is… he infertile?” Yan Yu suddenly asked.
Qiao Zi’s eyes widened before she burst into laughter.
“Infertile? Of course not! The Wealthiest Man looks like someone who’d have lots of children.”
“Little Yu, judging by that shocked expression… don’t tell me…”
“No, no. You’re overthinking it. They just look alike.” Yan Yu cut off Qiao Zi’s speculation and returned the newspaper to her.
She felt it couldn’t possibly be such a coincidence.
Besides, that man had personally told her back then that he was infertile.
She sighed inwardly.
She still couldn’t understand why he had claimed to be infertile when she had gotten pregnant after spending just one night with him.
Could it be that he hated children so much that he had cursed himself never to have any descendants?
No matter what, no matter who that man really was, she would never cross paths with him again.
“I suppose that’s normal too. I just thought Junjun looked a lot like him. Maybe it’s simply fate.” Qiao Zi had only wanted to chat with Yan Yu about it. Seeing that Yan Yu had immediately lost interest, she casually tossed the newspaper back onto the bookshelf.
The conversation quickly shifted to other topics, as though their discussion had been nothing more than a spring breeze passing by.
“Qiaoqiao, could you help me look after the two little ones? I need to go out and take care of something,” Yan Yu said gently.
Qiao Zi patted her chest confidently.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep a close eye on both of them.”
Yan Yu took a document envelope from her suitcase and placed it into her handbag before calling the twins over.
“Yaoyao, Junjun, Mama has to go out to take care of something. I’ll be back soon, and when I return, I’ll buy you little cakes.”
“But if either of you doesn’t listen to Godmother Qiao and causes trouble, then you won’t get any cake.”
“Mama, we’ll be good and listen!” Yan Shiyao and Yan Shijun promised in perfect unison as soon as they heard there would be cake.
The twins often spoke exactly the same words at the same time. Yan Yu had found it incredibly amazing when it first happened. Perhaps this was the special connection only twins shared.
After leaving Yiyu Flower Shop, Yan Yu took a taxi to Beidou Law Firm.
“Hello, I have an appointment. My surname is Yan. I made an appointment with Attorney Zhang Xincheng,” Yan Yu said at the reception desk.
“Miss Yan, please wait a moment.”
The receptionist picked up the office phone and called Zhang Xincheng. Less than two minutes later, he appeared.
“Uncle Zhang.”
Yan Yu greeted him with a gentle smile.
“Little Yan Yu, it looks like you’ve been doing well. If your father knew, he’d be very happy.”
Looking at the graceful and composed young woman before him, Zhang Xincheng couldn’t help feeling impressed.
The little girl who had cried her heart out five years ago had already grown into a mature professional woman.
“Unfortunately, there’s still no news about my father.” Yan Yu knew the chances of her father still being alive were extremely slim, but she refused to give up and had quietly continued following the police’s missing person updates.
Zhang Xincheng sighed.
“Come on. I’ll take you to the bank first so we can retrieve what your father left for you.”
Yan Yu nodded and followed him out of the law firm before getting into his car.
At the bank, Zhang Xincheng presented the document Yan Huating had signed.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a will.
It was a property transfer agreement.
Yan Huating’s true intention had been that, whether he was alive or dead, everything inside the safety deposit box would be handed over entirely to Yan Yu for safekeeping after her twenty-sixth birthday.
After verifying the documents, the bank manager brought out the safety deposit box and placed it on the table. Upon opening it, he carefully removed the documents one by one while explaining each item’s contents to Yan Yu.
“This document records the cash that Mr. Yan deposited for Miss Yan. The deposits were completed six years ago. Including accumulated interest, the total now amounts to approximately twenty-five million four hundred twenty thousand yuan.”
“These five are property ownership certificates.”
“These two are jewelry certificates. One is for a ruby set, and the other is for an emerald set. Each collection has its own separate safety deposit box. You may continue storing them here at the bank or retrieve them whenever you wish.”
“Uncle Zhang… are you sure all of this was left to me by Father?” Yan Yu asked in disbelief.
She had never imagined that her father had prepared so much wealth for her.
“I’m absolutely certain,” Zhang Xincheng replied firmly.
“Others may not know, but I do. During the past twenty years, your father gave up his career as a university professor and went into business for one reason—to save money for you. Even I was deeply moved by the love he had for his daughter.”
“But… I’m not actually his daughter. Didn’t you tell me that I was only an adopted child he brought home?”
“That’s right. You were adopted. But it’s also true that he started doing business to give you a better life.”
He paused before continuing.
“Oh, Little Yan Yu, there’s one more thing your father kept from you. Come with me to another place.”
“Alright.”
After transferring the more than twenty-five million yuan into her own account, Yan Yu placed everything else back into the safety deposit box for continued storage before following Zhang Xincheng to a nursing home on the outskirts of Shengjing.
There, Zhang Xincheng introduced her to a middle-aged woman.
“This lady has been staying in this nursing home under arrangements your father made. She suffered severe brain trauma and became mentally impaired. Every day, she either sleeps or eats, and the rest of the time she simply sits in a chair staring blankly into space.”
After a brief pause, he added,
“I suspect… this lady has something to do with you.”
Yan Yu’s eyelashes trembled slightly.
“Is she… my mother?”
“No.”
Zhang Xincheng shook his head.
“I asked your father before, and he told me she wasn’t.”
He sighed softly.
“Little Yan Yu… your father is gone now. So I’ll have to entrust her to you.”
“Uncle Zhang, thank you for continuing to help my father all these years. Don’t worry. From today onward, I’ll take care of this aunt. I’ll be responsible for her.”
As she spoke, Yan Yu crouched beside the woman and cautiously reached out to touch her hand.
The moment their fingers made contact, the woman reacted as though she had been frightened by something. She suddenly jumped up and hurried away from Yan Yu.
“Don’t chase me… don’t chase me anymore…”
She kept murmuring the same words over and over.
Yan Yu narrowed her beautiful eyes.
While researching sleep medicine, she had come into contact with patients like this before. The woman’s condition was most likely trauma-induced psychosis.
Yan Yu believed she might be able to help restore her sanity through treatment.
“Uncle Zhang, what should I call her?” Yan Yu asked.
Zhang Xincheng replied, “Your father admitted her into this nursing home under the identity of her elder brother. He personally gave her the name Yan Siyi. Judging from his attitude, you can simply call her Aunt.”
As he spoke, Zhang Xincheng wrote the name (Yan Siyi) on the ground.
For some reason, a thought suddenly surfaced in Yan Yu’s heart.
Was Father missing a woman whose name contained the character (Yi)?
And… could that woman have something to do with her?