Chapter 538 - Metamorphosis (2)
Zhang Jiren walked towards Tang Lixue absentmindedly. It was too late for him to realize what he'd done as he stood in front of his father.
"I-I…" What should he say? That he was his son and he wasn't dead all this time??Would Tang Lixue believe him?
"Are you my Moyu's classmate?" Tang Lixue asked him with a gentle smile before patting his shoulder. "Well done. Congratulations on your graduation!"
For the first time in his life, Zhang Jiren felt truly happy. Was this what it feels like to be recognized by your own father? Regardless if Tang Lixue knew that he was his son, Zhang Jiren was overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude that he had never felt before. Even Zhang Xianzhe's praises paled in comparison with Tang Lixue's few words.
"T-thank you, Sir." He couldn't believe he was stuttering in front of his father.
Tang Lixue chuckled and stepped back as he coughed. Seeing him up close, Zhang Jiren then noticed that Tang Lixue was ghastly pale and there was a darkening under his eyes. Was he sick? He wondered. But why did he still come here if he wasn't feeling well?
As he followed his father's gaze, he then understood that Tang Moyu was more important for Tang Lixue. He understood that though the father and daughter's relationship was estranged and they hadn't truly seen each other eye to eye, it was evident that Tang Lixue cared for Tang Moyu more than anything.
Zhang Jiren's lips quivered as he pondered his choices. Should he come clean to Tang Lixue? But would Tang Lixue believe him?
Tang Lixue left the venue and walked towards the parking space where his car was waiting. However, Zhang Jiren followed after him in a hurry and grabbed his arm, stopping him from leaving the premises.
"What is it? Do you need something?" Tang Lixue asked, noticing the unusual silence of the young man in front of him, curious as to why he sought after him.
"Mr. Tang, do you mind if I ask for some of your time? I need to discuss something very important with you." He said in a low voice, the despair in his tone was apparent.
Tang Lixue looked at the young man with a confused expression. The young man was slightly trembling, as if he was afraid of something. He tried to see if there was an indication that he was being physically abused by someone, but he couldn't see any.
"Please, Mr. Tang. This is very important to me. I also hope that you would keep this a secret from your family, especially from the Zhang family. I don't want to cause trouble for Tang Moyu." Zhang Jiren said.
"What are you trying to say?" Tang Lixue narrowed his eyes on the young man and looked around. He didn't quite understand what this man was talking about. "Who are you anyway?"
"The Zhang family took me in years ago and adopted me from an orphanage. They bestowed me with the name Zhang Jiren, but from childhood, up to the day I was adopted, I was called 'Jun'."
Tang Lixue froze at that and stared wide eyed at the boy in front of him. He wasn't sent by the Zhang family to mess with him again, right? No matter how many times they forced him to give up Tang Enterprise, he would never give it to those vultures!
Seeing the distraught on his father's face, Zhang Jiren stepped forward and held Tang Lixue's arm.
"Mr. Tang, please help me. I need to know… I need to know who I am."
"You are asking the wrong person, Young Man. I'm not the right person to ask for help." Tang Lixue snatched his arm from Zhang Jiren's hold and turned around, ready to leave. "I want nothing to do with the Zhangs and that includes you." He added with spite.
If there was anyone else he hated in this world, it was the Zhang family. They brought nothing but trouble and hardship to him.
Zhang Jiren stared at his father, who had a frightening and serious expression on his handsome face. If he thought Tang Moyu's personality was cold as an iceberg, Tang Lixue was colder than the North Pole.
"Even if I told you that I could possibly be your son?" Zhang Jiren gritted his teeth in despair, his brown eyes stung with tears.
"What?" Tang Lixue snapped his head towards the young man, ready to give him a beating for daring to say something like that, but he was caught off guard seeing the pained expression on Zhang Jiren's face.
His rage was forgotten as he took time to finally give the young man in front of him a good look. Zhang Jiren had the same eyes as his daughter. Even the shade of their eyes were the same.
Although Zhang Jiren's complexion was darker than Tang Lixue and Tang Moyu's, as both of them had pale complexions, Tang Lixue had to admit that this young man's facial features resembled Yan Qiuyu and Moyu a little.
Shit. What kind of joke was this? This wasn't funny at all! If Zhang Jiren was lying, Tang Lixue would never forgive him for his impertinence, but seeing his troubled face, would it hurt to see if they were truly related to each other?
Several complex emotions washed through Tang Lixue. If this young man was really his son, then whose body did he bury along with Yan Qiuyu's several years ago? Thinking hard about it, he knew that Yan Qiuyu's death wasn't as simple as it appeared to be.
Tang Lixue unlocked the doors of his car and pushed Zhang Jiren in, much to the latter's shock. He looked around, making sure no one had spotted them together. It would be bad if their meeting reached Zhang Xianzhe's ears.
"Get inside." He said. "Tell me everything you know and how you ended up being adopted into the Zhang family." Tang Lixue demanded, before Zhang Jiren immediately obeyed his instructions and slipped onto the passenger seat, seeing Tang Lixue take the seat behind the wheels before driving away from the school vicinity.