Xi Nian was so cornered that he couldn’t say a word, and yes, if you think about it carefully, there are answers to the whole thing.
The Xi Family’s filth was enough to make anyone’s color change upon hearing about it.
"Fine, I understand."
Bo Yan, "I have some things in my hands that I’m ready to share with you."
Xi Nian on the other end paused for a long while, feeling somewhat calculated, and asked Bo Yan, "I want to know, did you really not know from the beginning that I could be Yuran’s brother?"
"I truly didn’t know, but I also had some guesses. Later, when I realized it clashed with you, I went dark with all the inquiries on my end, waiting for your answer."
Bo Yan raised his eyebrows, "If you want to call me shameless, go ahead. Your sister has already cursed me out for you."
His sister had already cursed him out?
By the time Xi Nian had figured out the implication and the content intended by that sentence, he was so angry that he hung up the call, leaving behind three words: shameless.
Staring at the hung-up phone, Bo Yan raised an eyebrow with a smirk, folded back to the bedroom, lifted the covers, and went to sleep with Yuran.
America, a certain manor.
"Useless, totally useless..." The lady of the house gripped the documents in her hand, trembled with rage, and looked beyond composure, while the butler stood silently beside her, eyes cast down, not daring to say a word, only able to stand by and watch the lady vent her anger.
After smashing everything she could lay her hands on, the lady, gasping for air from her fury, sat on her sumptuous chair.
The butler offered a glass of water, trying to soothe her, "Madam, please, don’t be upset."
The lady didn’t take the water from the butler’s hand; her chest heaved with anger, her complexion deathly pale. "Useless, I’ve done so much for him, laid out so many paths. I left my home behind for so many years, and for whom?
I was hoping that one day the Xi Family would fall into his hands and he would bring me back with dignity. It seems now that I was thinking too much; expecting anything from this useless man means I might never be able to return in my lifetime."
The butler didn’t know how to comfort her.
Given the current situation, the hope of returning to her country indeed seemed like a distant dream.
Angered, the lady stood up and looked at the butler, "Connect me to Xi Gu, I have things to discuss with him."
Xi Gu was not having an easy time either. After Xie Lingling was admitted to the hospital, the evidence the paparazzi gathered went viral online, leaving netizens shocked with no time for sleep, buzzing with excitement.
The scandal involving Xi Gu and Xie Lingling was already compelling enough to consume a considerable amount of time, but now Xie Lingling and Xi Gu had suddenly turned against each other.
Moreover, it seemed as though someone was fueling the fire from behind, adding insult to injury, making the drama even more thrilling.
Netizens were pessimistic about the betting agreement between Xi Nian and Xi Gu, feeling that Xi Gu had no chance of turning things around. Previously, they thought that, given the relationship between Xi Gu and Xie Lingling, Xie Lingling might take on Xi Gu’s investment in the big drama.
Now it looks rather unlikely.
After what Xi Gu did to Xie Lingling, there’s no way Xie Lingling wouldn’t hate Xi Gu. What can a woman’s fury do?
Probably just make it so that you can’t do anything at all.
The hospital was staked out by a horde of journalists, and even so, Xi Gu was powerless to do anything about it.
If he still didn’t know why the journalists were fixated on him, without any apparent reason, then he truly was too naive.
Now that he was aware, it seemed nothing had changed. Instead, he found himself caught between a rock and a hard place, and he even dared not answer phone calls from America.
The questions from the journalists struck like thunderbolts from a clear sky. He couldn’t even begin to answer them.
He felt some hatred toward Xie Lingling for why she had to suddenly make trouble with him. If she hadn’t made a scene, hadn’t opened that door, then everyone would still have their dignity.
Now, he had lost all face.
He was even too ashamed to show his face.
The assistant paced back and forth outside Xi Gu’s office, holding Xi Gu’s constantly vibrating cell phone. After hesitating for a long time, he finally pushed the door open, and said softly into a room filled with smoke, his features indistinct.
"President Xi, there’s a call from the US. What do you think..."
The assistant said, "This is already the fifteenth one. If we don’t answer, I’m afraid..."
Despite the assistant’s unfinished words, Xi Gu already knew what he meant. Xi Gu, with a dark expression, snatched his phone, "I know. You go do your thing. This doesn’t need your attention."
No sooner had the assistant left than the phone in his hand rang again, "Mom."
"You disgraceful failure, given such favorable conditions, you’ve managed to squander a winning hand, becoming the laughingstock of outsiders, letting your public image turn into worthless scum. You... How could you do this to me?
Tell me, in all the years I was abroad, what did I entrust to you? Tell me, why are you so incompetent?
Have you done what I entrusted to you properly? Now that you’re trampled underfoot, are you happy?
Let me tell you, Xi Gu, if you can’t follow my steps, then you might as well get out of Huanya. I will take over. You good-for-nothing failure."
Xi Gu’s face turned pale. This woman, his mother, was berating him as a failure over and over. His heart clenched, followed by waves of discomfort spreading, "Have you said enough?"
"What?" The person on the other end of the line obviously didn’t expect him to fight back and was disbelieving for a moment.
Xi Gu sneered, his somber face growing even darker, "I said, can you shut up? Why did you leave the country for America? You know better than I do, so don’t paint yourself as some noble, loving mother;
Why you left and didn’t return all these years, you know very well. What happened back then, now you’re the only one alive, you can say whatever you want. But if there’s been wrongdoing, there will be traces.
Mom, why exactly did you leave the country and go so far away? Do you dare to tell me again? Say it seriously, just once without betraying your conscience. Can you?"
"Xi Gu." The person on the other end suddenly screamed, "Are you questioning me, your mother?
Then tell me, all these years, who fought for your affluent life, with just Xi Nian entering Huanya, you’ve been reduced to this state. Do you think you’re someone important?"
Xi Gu laughed bitterly and suddenly didn’t know how to respond to his own mother’s challenge, "Yes, I’m inferior to Xi Nian in every way. So even after dominating Huanya for all these years, I still haven’t managed to win the complete loyalty of Huanya’s staff. Does that make you happy?"
"What is that attitude? Do you think your current situation is my doing? Is that what you think?"
The voice of the noblewoman suddenly calmed down, putting Xi Gu in a dilemma. Xi Gu snorted, "I don’t know."
"You dare to spout nonsense when you don’t know?"
Xi Gu, "Is it nonsense?"