Plunder-Chapter 221: Drawing Fire On Oneself

Zhou Jin’an got the address and personally took Cheng Lu to find Yao Jian.

The place where he was hiding was a three-story building in an urban village.

"Director Zhou, you shouldn’t go up there. It’s complicated here, I’ll go up,"

Cheng Lu said to Zhou Jin’an.

But he insisted, "I’ll go with you. I can lend a hand if needed."

The two walked up the dirty staircase and finally reached the third floor.

There was a very ordinary-looking little room, and Zhou Jin’an quickly surveyed the layout, guarding the stairwell entrance.

Cheng Lu went to knock on the door.

However, after knocking three times, no one opened the door.

"Miss Su sent me to deliver something to you."

Cheng Lu had a brainwave and used Su Nian’s name.

He deliberately pinched his voice to mask his natural tone.

"Leave it at the door,"

the voice of Yao Jian came from inside.

Cheng Lu replied, "Okay."

Then, he stepped aside.

After waiting for about two or three minutes, the door opened, and Yao Jian appeared at the doorway, his face covered with a stubbly beard.

He had just poked his head out to look around when Cheng Lu grabbed his neck.

"Yao Jian."

Recognizing that it was Cheng Lu standing outside, Yao Jian instinctively tried to run.

Caught by the neck by Cheng Lu, he couldn’t escape, but what Cheng Lu didn’t expect was that he had a stick in his hand.

He swung it at Cheng Lu’s head; Cheng Lu couldn’t dodge in time and fell to the ground with a thud.

Knowing his whereabouts had been exposed, Yao Jian ran desperately towards the stairwell, but as he tried to rush down, Zhou Jin’an tripped him with a sweeping kick, and he tumbled down the stairs.

Soon, his head hit the wall, and he was knocked unconscious.

Just as he subdued the unconscious Yao Jian, Cheng Lu, holding his head, arrived at the scene.

"Damn it, playing dirty tricks on me,"

Cheng Lu kicked Yao Jian in the lower back.

Zhou Jin’an threw him a cold glance, "If you wake him up with that kick, do you think you can hold him down?"

The two of them managed to get Yao Jian into the car.

The fall had been fairly serious; he remained unconscious throughout.

The car arrived at Chu Garden, and Yao Jian was still out cold.

Cheng Lu had someone lock Yao Jian in the basement, and Doctor Liu came to do a basic examination; he had simply hit his head and was otherwise fine.

"How did he end up like this?"

Qiao En was shocked when she saw the unconscious Yao Jian.

Cheng Lu had a cut on his forehead, and his dignity was even more wounded.

"Director Zhou, if there’s nothing else, I’ll step out first."

"Have Doctor Liu take a good look at you. Next time you go out without your brain, this will be your fate,"

Cheng Lu didn’t dare to argue and immediately left the room.

Zhou Jin’an recounted to Qiao En what had happened when they went to see Yao Jian.

She remained calm throughout, "Then my guess wasn’t wrong, he must know the truth."

Qiao En’s certainty was soon confirmed.

A few hours later, Yao Jian finally woke up.

What he hadn’t expected was to find both Zhou Jin’an and Qiao En sitting in front of him. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

His hands were bound behind his back, the door of the basement room was closed, and there was no possibility of escape.

"Director Zhou, what is the meaning of this?"

Yao Jian took the aggressive, asking perplexedly.

"Whose child is Qiqi?"

Zhou Jin’an didn’t beat around the bush with Yao Jian; he went straight to the point.

Yao Jian was slightly taken aback, but he quickly recovered, "She’s my child."

Zhou Jin’an wanted to say something, but Qiao En stopped him.

"Assistant Yao, Su Nian is my biological sister. Did you know about this?"

Yao Jian was surprised; he shook his head.

"I didn’t know. She never told me about it, how could you possibly be biological sisters?"

"It’s a long story. We were separated from our birth parents when we were less than a month old. I was adopted, and she was sent to an orphanage. Just recently, we recognized each other."

Yao Jian lowered his eyelids, "Where is she now?"

Qiao En didn’t hide the truth, "In detention, she can’t get away from the car accident."

Yao Jian heaved a heavy sigh, "Back then, I advised her not to do it, but she wouldn’t listen; she was obsessed."

Whether Chen Yin was truly obsessed or not, nobody knew for sure. However, since she had broken the law, she had to face the legal consequences.

"Then I’ll ask you once again, whose child is this?"

This time, Yao Jian didn’t speak, remaining silent.

"Assistant Yao, you’re also an orphan who was separated from your parents at a young age. I am very grateful to you for all the care and protection you’ve given my sister over the years. Qiqi is innocent; he’s only five years old, yet he has to endure being separated from his biological parents—it’s unfair to him. If you were him, would you yearn to meet your biological parents?"

Yao Jian sighed heavily and said, "I can’t say."

He looked to be in pain, as if he was hiding something.

"An Jinhua?"

Zhou Jin’an asked.

Yao Jian immediately denied it, "The child isn’t his."

"Of course I know he isn’t, the child’s mother is An Kexin."

"How did you find out?" Yao Jian was shocked.

He hadn’t expected Zhou Jin’an and Qiao En to already know so much.

"You just have to tell us who the child’s father is," Zhou Jin’an pressed.

Yao Jian was silent for a long time before slowly lifting his head to look at Zhou Jin’an.

"He also has the last name Zhou."

"Zhou Ziyan?"

Qiao En blurted out.

Yao Jian nodded.

"Yes, it’s him."

But Zhou Jin’an denied it adamantly, "No, it can’t be him."

"The child indeed belongs to him; I know you might say that Zhou Ziyan is infertile, but what you don’t know is the child wasn’t conceived normally. Five years ago, Miss An was studying in England, and it so happened that the young Zhou was also in England."

"President An instructed Miss An to secure the young Zhou at all costs, but Zhou only wanted a ’ride’ without ’buying a ticket’. To force him into compliance, President An took other measures—and thus, Miss An got pregnant with Zhou’s child. However, once the child was born, Zhou never acknowledged him. At that time, you had just broken up, so President An ordered me to send the child away."

The dirty deeds that had never come to light were so distasteful as to make one’s ears feel filthy upon hearing them.

"Then why didn’t you send him away?" Zhou Jin’an demanded.

"At the time, I was indeed planning to send him away, but Niannian said the child could still be useful, after all, he carried the Zhou family bloodline, and one day he could certainly be of use."

"What use?" Zhou Jin’an pressed further.

But this time, Yao Jian remained silent.

The use was painfully obvious.

Having this child by her side, Su Nian could fake the truth and deceive Zhou Jin’an. After all, as a child of the Zhou family, Qiqi’s appearance would undoubtedly bear resemblance to Zhou Jin’an.

On the other hand, even if Zhou Jin’an didn’t fall for it, there was always Zhou Ziyan. A tiger wouldn’t eat its own cubs; with such a big son, it was impossible for him to not acknowledge the child.

"Director Zhou, this is all I know. Please, I beg you, don’t make it difficult for Niannian, she was also compelled to do these things against her will." Yao Jian pleaded.

"Compelled against her will? Who forced her?" Zhou Jin’an scoffed, questioning in return.

Yao Jian’s eyes drooped, "She grew up in an orphanage, and was adopted at the age of ten, but her foster parents were very cruel to her, either beating or scolding her. She was proud and ambitious, longing for a better life, and there’s nothing wrong with that."

"A better life should be earned through one’s own efforts, not by playing these underhanded schemes," Zhou Jin’an said indignantly.

He instructed Cheng Lu to let Yao Jian go, but as Yao Jian was leaving, he tried to take Qiqi with him.

"Impossible, since he is of our Zhou family’s blood, you have no right to take him away."

Yao Jian didn’t say anything and left.

Qiqi, knowing Yao Jian had visited, cried for hours.

Zhou Jin’an, uncharacteristically patient, picked up the child and gently soothed him.

"Qiqi, from now on you can call me Uncle Zhou."

But Qiqi refused to say it, either fussing for his mother or for his father.

Only Auntie Jiang could soothe him.

"Maybe we shouldn’t tell Zhou Ziyan about the child. He denied it five years ago; five years later, he’s even less likely to acknowledge it," Qiao En said, feeling aggravated.

This was his biological son. Though his arrival was preposterous, Zhou Ziyan, as a father, refused to acknowledge him.

If he wouldn’t acknowledge him, then perhaps he should never acknowledge him.

Additionally, Qiao En remembered the peculiar will left by the old Mr. Zhou.

If Zhou Ziyan acknowledged Qiqi as his son, he might recklessly fight for the CEO position of Nanchen.

"Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this matter," Zhou Jin’an said, consolingly putting his arm around Qiao En.