Chapter 320: Untitled
Chen De arranged to meet Cheng Anya at a cafe not too far from the hospital. With Ye Zhenhua still hospitalized, he could not afford to be away for too long. When Cheng Anya and Third Young Master Ye reached, Chen De’s coffee had cooled. It was clear that he had been here for a long time.
Until Cheng Anya and Third Young Master Ye reached, Chen De was deep in thought. He then looked up and stood up. “Third young master.” He first greeted Third Young Master Ye.
“Uncle Chen, take a seat. It’s okay,” Third Young Master Ye said gently as his cold gaze contained too many feelings that had to be clarified. Chen De was the key to these feelings.
“Go ahead with your conversation. I’ll be there.” As the coffee shop was not wide but long, Cheng Anya and Chen De sat at one end whilst Third Young Master Ye was at the other end. While he was very curious about what happened, he was gentlemanly enough to allow Chen De to have a one-on-one conversation with Cheng Anya.
As the waiter came around, Cheng Anya ordered a latte.
Chen De looked at her with a few hints of liking and perplexity. While Third Young Master Ye did simply mention the possibility, she did not get a concrete answer. They did not associate him with Lin Xiaoyue.
Cheng Anya could not help but size Chen De up. With whitened sideburns, this nice old man was not too different from any other elderly person. Merciful and gentle, yet wise.
When Cheng Anya recalled that this old man had followed Ye Zhenhua for decades, she subconsciously realized that this might just be an impression. Third Young Master Ye’s experiences would certainly cast a cynical twist to any matters surrounding the Ye family.
“If I may ask, what brings you to this meeting?” Cheng Anya gave a big grin.
“Didn’t Third Young Master tell you?” Chen De smiled kindly.
“Since Mister Chen has taken the time to meet me, it would be better that you tell me.” Cheng Anya responded gently. It was so gentle that while lukewarm, her smile was a tad cold.
As Chen De was a veteran in many settings, he naturally understood Cheng Anya’s attitude: she was very defensive. “While you resemble your maternal grandmother, your character is a hundred eighty from hers.” He smiled.
Lin Xiaoyue was a gentle, kind woman who had the gentleness typical of women from Jiangnan. Whilst Cheng Anya was pure and beautiful, she was arrogant, cold, and resilient.
Cheng Anya did not seem the least surprised and remained smiling. “People, like leaves, are different too. Lin Xiaoyue and you will naturally be different.”
“I am Chen De!” he said. While introducing oneself after the conversation had started seemed a little atypical, it seemed that such an introduction was more fitting for the conversation at hand.
Cheng Anya remained expressionless and merely looked at him. “Lin Xiaoyue’s husband.” He smiled lovingly.
“Ah Chen told me on the way here that you were Chen De, and you could be my grandfather,” Cheng Anya said. “Now that you’ve put it across, it’s not surprising. However sincerely Ye Zhenhua treated you, I guess he did not even fathom that you were Lin Xiaoyue’s husband.”
While she coldly sniggered in her heart, Cheng Anya had concealed her feelings well. The rest of the world would assume that her calm demeanor and gentle smile was untouchable. It was exactly her warm smile that was the facade that never gave way.
She rarely showed her mockery this publicly.
Maternal grandfather, how laughable!
While he was not directly related to her, a relationship in blood was not as thick as how many would describe it. What mattered the most was the feelings developed since young. That was the reason why Third Young Master Ye and Ye Zhenhua became enemies and her lack of feelings for Chen De. While she did not hate him, she did bear some grudge against him.
She did not know what happened years ago and how Chen De became Lin Xiaoyue’s husband. However, after Lin Xiaoyue’s death, Chen De also disappeared. Her mother and auntie then were only teenagers who were unable to fend for themselves. How could he?
If he did not leave, her mother would not have brought her auntie along and lived a difficult life for ten-over years before dying of exhaustion. Cheng Anya would be lying if she said she did not blame Chen De for it.
“Yes, he does not know!” Chen De replied politely. He did not expect Cheng Anya to call him her maternal grandfather. While he smiled gently at Cheng Anya, he did not seem to care about how Cheng Anya felt.
He also did not show his sadness.
Maybe he really did not care, Cheng Anya thought to herself. He did not look like he could feign this gaze.
“So what brings you to look for me?” Cheng Anya cut to the chase.
“A few days ago, I unintentionally overheard Old Master Ye mention the fact that Third Young Master and you were cousins. I then realized, in shock, that you were Xiaoyun’s daughter. I really did not know that beforehand.”
When Cheng Anya heard that, her heart was slightly at ease. “I still thought that you know since a long time ago but did not appear as you were afraid of Ye Zhenhua,” she said as a matter-of-factly.
Chen De, who seemed to have expected that statement from her, smiled and did not mind. Cheng Anya had no ill intent. While her grudge against him still remained, she would not speak nastily toward a nice old man who had done nothing wrong to her.
“In that case, are we cousins?” Cheng Anya asked. Only Chen De could answer her question.
“Didn’t Third Young Master and you not give a hoot?” Chen De asked in reply.
“It’s one thing to not give a hoot, and the fact quite another thing. You should have known that Ah Chen and I have a son. While we are not quite bothered about our relationship, whether we are really cousins will be a deciding factor in whether I will bear more children,” Cheng Anya replied as a matter-of-factly.
Third Young Master Ye sat at the corner and read the newspaper whilst having his coffee. He would have certainly leaped from his seat and kissed Cheng Anya if he had heard what she had just said.
Chen De looked down and sighed. “If you do not mind, allow me to tell a story.”
“Please go ahead.” Cheng Anya knew that he was going to tell her what happened those years ago. She also wanted to know what actually happened. Just how did Chen De become Lin Xiaoyue’s husband, and how did he end up becoming Ye Zhenhua’s butler?
Years ago, Chen De was the son of the old butler of the Ye family and was of the same age as Ye Zhenhua. Although Ye Zhenhua was the master of the family, they were as good as brothers. Chen De was honest, faithful, and smart. He had contributed measurable help when Ye Zhenhua was at the busiest of his career.
This young man was, however, ashamed to face Ye Zhenhua as he had taken a liking to Lin Xiaoyue, his master’s fiancée. In all those years, he quietly watched over her like her knight.
Even when Lin Xiaoyue betrayed Ye Zhenhua and fell in love with Yang Yun, Chen De was the first to learn of that fact. His faithfulness toward Ye Zhenhua was to a fault. He, in his impulse, would have wanted to kill Yang Yun to end it all if it weren’t for Lin Xiaoyue stopping him.
Later, Lin Xiaoyue oscillated between Ye Zhenhua and Yang Yun. As she oscillated between her feelings and righteousness, she was barely able to endure the torture and complained to Chen De daily.
As nobody would want to hear the person whom they loved share about how they loved another person, Chen De was also in a lot of pain.
Ye Zhenhua, in his youth, focused on his career and inevitably alienated Lin Xiaoyue. Chen De even tried to convince Ye Zhenhua to spend more time with Lin Xiaoyue whilst he single-handedly ran the business. An adept businessman, Chen De was just born poorer. He, however, was Ye Zhenhua’s capable assistant for those ten-over years.
What was done out of goodwill made him the unintentional sinner. Ye Zhenhua discovered that Lin Xiaoyue committed adultery with Yang Yun.
As Lin Xiaoyue was a conservative and pure person, Chen De was shocked at her pregnancy. After some sleuthing, he discovered that Yang Yun was the culprit. As Lin Xiaoyue oscillated between them too, she almost wanted to give up her romance for reason and star with Ye Zhenhua, her childhood love. When Yang Yun knew that she would be unfazed after making up her mind, he spiked her drink and impregnated her.
The innocent Lin Xiaoyue, however, thought they merely had sex after one drink too many. Chen De, who was much more stoic than Ye Zhenhua and Yang Yun, calmly approached the problem. While he did consider hiding the problem, he could not help but say the truth when he saw Lin Xiaoyue hurt Ye Zhenhua once again.
With Lin Xiaoyue despondent, she agreed to Yang Yun’s suggestion that they eloped. She, however, wanted Chen De to bring her away. This led to the scene where she gave up on Yang Yun and took a bullet from Ye Zhenhua and fell into the water. Chen De, who was prepared, brought her away.
Chen De did not expect her to leave in such a tragic manner. Had he known that would happen, he would have never agreed to it.
While Lin Xiaoyue was a gentle person, she was exceptionally stubborn. When she gave up, she gave everything up thoroughly. With her child lost in a miscarriage from that incident, Lin Xiaoyue decided to leave that place of sadness for good and return to her mother’s hometown.
Chen De, who was smitten with her, saw her determination and left with her. Since she was without kin nor friend, he was worried about her.
Ye Zhenhua, who had lost both Lin Xiaoyue and Chen De, was exceptionally sad.
That was how Chen De and Lin Xiaoyue left City A and lived a peaceful life. With his sincerity eventually touching her, Chen De won Lin Xiaoyue’s heart and they had a daughter. After Lin Xiaoyue’s death, Chen De started considering returning to Ye Zhenhua.
In these ten-over years, he was ashamed to face Ye Zhenhua. To Chen De, Ye Zhenhua was not only his master but only his brother. Lin Xiaoyue was ashamed to face him, and keeping that fact from him for that few, happy years was a debt that had to be repaid.
After struggling for some time, Chen De left all his spending money for his two daughters. Chen Nianyun was slightly older than ten years old, and Chen De ran a small wholesale business that did pretty well. As Chen Nianyun followed him, she learned quite a bit from him. When he thought that his daughter would be able to live independently, and that he had sent money back all along, he did not expect Chen Nianyun to leave the village with her sister and not leave a trace.
As Cheng Anya heard that, the grudge in her heart eased a little. When she knew that he did not deliberately abandon her mother, she was much more at ease. Knowing that she was not related to Yang Yun by blood made her even more at ease. To top it all off, her heart was very much at ease when she knew that she was not related to Third Young Master Ye by blood.
“It was your fault that you abandoned Mommy those years back despite all that guilt and loyalty you had for Ye Zhenhua. If you had not left that early, Mommy would not have died that early. You could have waited until Mommy was fully independent before leaving. Since so many years had already passed, would waiting an additional year or two make a difference?” Cheng Anya gently accused.
“My first thought then was to return to the Ye family and send money back to bring up my two daughters. I did not expect a massive flood to happen in my hometown in the year that I had left, and Xiaoyun leaving with Meiling. When I returned, I searched for them for a long time but to no avail.” Chen De bitterly smiled as he recalled the past. He only wanted to tell Cheng Anya about the past, not wanting her forgiveness.
Cheng Anya looked out of the window with a tense face and did not speak for an hour. This was life. Sometimes, plans cannot keep up with changes. As ‘if’ did not come to mind, that was what gave life its ups and downs.
“I am sure that you asked for a meeting today not simply for this, right?” Cheng Anya was smart and meticulous in her thoughts. Since this involved Third Young Master Ye, she did not feign blurriness. Since that old man did not give her too bad of a vibe and was related to her, she had no need to pretend in front of him and instead clearly express her intentions.
Whether that would work out was an answer away.
“How have you been all these years?” Chen De kindly asked.
Cheng Anya smiled indifferently. Playing the kinship card, huh? Sorry, your granddaughter wouldn’t fall for that since she was ten. “I am good and am leading a very comfortable life—highly educated, highly paid, with an adorable son and a man who loves my son and me.”
What Chen De knew about Third Young Master Ye and her was all hearsay. It was just that he did not expect her to be his granddaughter. With people aplenty, the chances of meeting one’s kin were extraordinarily slim.
She was indeed a very wise girl.
Like waxed paper, she did not give away her thoughts or feelings.
Whilst her smile was comfortable at first glance, it became somewhat distant the next second. She was different from Xiaoyue and Xiaoyun. She was stronger, more opinionated, and even smarter.
It was a brilliance that did not reveal itself. Instead, it seemed like restrained wisdom.
“I’ve heard that Third Young Master is a very good man who is very hard to come by,” Chen De said.
Cheng Anya raised her brows and smiled. “This is the first time I hear somebody describe him as a very good man.”
Chen De gently laughed. After some interactions, he was somewhat able to make out Cheng Anya’s character. “MBS International has collapsed and the old master has been hospitalized. Could I ask you to intercede on my behalf and end the battle? Third Young Master has had the revenge he should.” Chen De slowly spoke.
“You are really loyal toward Ye Zhenhua,” Cheng Anya said plainly. Given today’s society, Chen De would have been one-of-a-kind. While she respected his loyalty, she could not agree with his loyalty. “I cannot answer you on that, and I will not ask Ah Chen to stop. Why don’t you ask him yourself? He is just there.”
“Third Young Master won’t listen to me on this.” Chen De broke into a friendly smile. “The old master is of advanced age, and with MBS International in tatters, he is like the walking dead. Third Young Master should really stop driving him up the wall.”
“Ah Chen never wants Ye Zhenhua dead. If he were dead, life would not be any more fun as more awaits him.” Cheng Anya smiled coldly. “That is something you are beholden to him that I am not. We are not related, so settle whatever you owe him personally and don’t implicate me.”
Cheng Anya eventually made her stand.
Chen De looked at her and smiled. It seemed as though he had no more intention to convince her, but just let her understand.
“If you are unwilling to, then I’ll not force it upon you. I just wanted to see you today. As for this, you are right that we are not related. I have met my match,” Chen De plainly replied.
Cheng Anya took a glance at Third Young Master Ye, who was reading the newspapers with his back facing them. “What actually happened in the Ye family back then?” she asked on impulse.
Chen De’s kind smile froze. As he was about to speak, Cheng Anya suddenly interrupted him. “It’s okay. Just take it that I did not ask anything, and I do not want to know anything.”
“You are a really good child.”