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Chapter 26: Face Behing The Mask

Guan Xi said they wanted to go together to see him sign the donation form, but in reality, she had other thoughts. After signing, when the dean offered to escort them out of the office, Guan Xi suddenly turned back, “Dean, I would like to trouble you with something.”

Jiang Suizhou stood still, as if anticipating that she would speak.

The dean said, “Go ahead.”

Guan Xi hesitated for a moment, “I want to see the information of a child who was adopted here.”

The dean looked a bit uncomfortable, “Well… for adopted children, we generally cannot casually provide their information to outsiders.”

“It’s not a general situation.” Guan Xi gritted her teeth, “It’s me, I want to see my own information.”

The dean was taken aback, “What? You are…”

Guan Xi said, “In the past, I was adopted from here by my father.”

…

Half an hour later, Guan Xi walked out of the records room. She didn’t rush to leave, only went back to the backyard where the children were playing, sat on a stone chair, and stared blankly at the running children in front of her. Over twenty years ago, her father adopted her from here and took her abroad for upbringing, returning to China only at the age of eight or nine…

The dean said she was very lucky. In her infancy, she was taken away before any thoughts had formed, so she didn’t have the sensitivity of an orphan. The dean also mentioned that she was left directly at the entrance of the welfare institution, with no clues about her biological parents. Because at that time, the welfare institution did not have cameras, unlike the present conditions.

It seemed like the trip was in vain…

Guan Xi suddenly felt empty, not knowing whether to be happy about having no clues or to be sad.

“It’s a good thing,” Jiang Suizhou sat down beside her.

Actually, he had known this would be the result because he had instructed Zhou Hao to check Guan Xi’s background when he learned about her origin. But he didn’t stop Guan Xi from looking at those records. He knew she definitely wanted to see for herself.

Guan Xi looked down at the tip of her shoe, “Right.”

“You don’t need to worry about this anymore in the future. Focus on your current life.”

Guan Xi snorted softly, “I was already focused on my current life.”

“Can we go now?”

Guan Xi didn’t move, only asked, “Why did you come over with me today?”

“I had some free time.”

Guan Xi gave him a sideways glance, “Why don’t you say you’re worried I’d lose control of my emotions if I came alone.”

Jiang Suizhou smiled, “Would you?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Alright, I was worried you’d lose control of your emotions alone.”

Guan Xi chuckled, “You’re crazy.”

Jiang Suizhou stood up, “Let’s go.”

“Thank you.”

“…” Jiang Suizhou froze, turned to look at her.

But Guan Xi didn’t look at him again, stood up, moved her neck a bit, and walked towards the corridor, “Let’s go back. I want to eat at a French restaurant today, and you’re treating.”

Jiang Suizhou followed behind her, “What did you just say?”

Guan Xi ignored him, “I want to eat foie gras, I want to eat veal, I want to eat Norwegian cod…”

“Do you still know how to say thank you?”

“Suddenly craving so many things. Do you have anything you want to eat?”

“You saying ‘thank you’ is quite rare.”

Guan Xi turned her head and glared at him, annoyed, “Asking, asking, asking. Can you stop?”

Jiang Suizhou raised an eyebrow slightly, “Is that so?”

“Yes—”

While walking and looking back at him, Guan Xi turned a corner in the corridor and didn’t notice someone coming towards them. Just when they were about to collide with the person, Jiang Suizhou pulled her aside just in time!

After stabilizing herself, Guan Xi looked at the person in front of her in surprise, “Uncle Yang?”

It turned out to be Yang Mingzhi. Instead of focusing on his auctions and treasures, why did he come to the welfare institution…

Yang Mingzhi, upon seeing Guan Xi and Jiang Suizhou, also paused for a moment, “What are you two doing here?”

“Just visiting…” Guan Xi, although she said she didn’t care, felt a bit awkward about secretly checking her own past records, “Why are you here, Uncle Yang?”

Before Yang Mingzhi could answer, a welfare institution staff member who was following him smiled and said, “Mr. Yang is a regular visitor here. Thanks to Mr. Yang over the years, the conditions of our welfare institution have been improving.”

Guan Xi was stunned, “Have you been doing charity work here all this time?”

“Yes.” Yang Mingzhi sighed, “Xi Xi, I only found out later that this welfare institution has a connection to you. So, are you here today…”

Yang Mingzhi didn’t finish his sentence, but Guan Xi knew he must understand why she was here.

Guan Xi said, “I’m here to make a donation. The children here are quite cute.”

Seeing that Guan Xi didn’t say it directly, Yang Mingzhi didn’t ask more, but there was a hint of heartache in his eyes, “I understand. Are you leaving now?”

“Yep, and you?”

“I have some things to take care of. You two go ahead, and drive safely.”

“Alright.”

A few minutes later, Jiang Suizhou and Guan Xi got into the car for the return journey.

Guan Xi sat in the passenger seat and said, “Uncle Yang turns out to be the biggest donor to the Henghai Children’s Welfare Institute. It’s quite a coincidence…”

Jiang Suizhou asked, “Did he know about your background before?”

“Although he’s a good friend of my dad, I think he only found out later. Originally, apart from my parents, only my grandparents knew about my situation.”

Jiang Suizhou nodded.

Guan Xi found a comfortable position, closed her eyes as if dozing off, “Uncle Yang often does charity work, and Henghai Welfare Institute is in the capital, so it’s normal for him to support it. But after he found out about my situation, he probably looked at my records and saw a blank page. He couldn’t bear to tell me about it…”

Jiang Suizhou said, “I’ve also checked.”

Guan Xi abruptly opened her eyes, “What?”

Jiang Suizhou calmly said, “Isn’t it normal to check?.”

Guan Xi said, “Then why didn’t you just tell me directly? Why bring me here to see?”

“Isn’t it natural to want to see it with your own eyes in such matters? I thought you might not believe me if I just told you.”

“Who said I wouldn’t believe you.” Guan Xi propped up her head, looked at him, and said softly, “Mr. Jiang, have a little confidence in yourself. Although you have many tricks up your sleeve, I still have a little bit of trust in you.”

Jiang Suizhou’s lips curled slightly, “Is that so?”

“Yeah~”

** 

As Jiang Suizhou had said, after truly seeing it with her own eyes, Guan Xi let go of many worries, and she didn’t think much about this matter afterward.

A week later, the company held a large meeting.

With numerous travel projects under the company, after listening to the reports and work presentations from the subordinates, Guan Xinghao talked about some new projects. One of them involved comprehensive service planning for tourism in European countries. This project could be considered the most lucrative among all the current projects. Although the tasks were very demanding, the potential returns were substantial.

“…Guan Xi, we’ll leave this matter to you for now,” Guan Xinghao assigned at the end.

Guan Xi had a well-established team under her. Despite her lazy demeanor, she had many creative ideas when it came to travel. So, assigning this project to her was quite appropriate. Normally, people wouldn’t think much of it.

However, with the appearance of Guan Ying in the Guan family, they had thought that in today’s meeting, the most important project might be assigned to the newcomer Guan Ying. But it didn’t happen. It seemed that Guan Xinghao was still quite rational and unbiased.

Guan Xi didn’t think too much about it. She had handled similar matters before, so she didn’t see any problem with Guan Xinghao entrusting this task to her. After the meeting, she returned to her office. Her mood had been good these days, thinking that she hadn’t had dinner with her dad for a long time. So, she planned to invite him for dinner tonight.

With her bag in hand, she took the elevator upstairs and headed to Guan Xinghao’s office. She used to frequent Guan Xinghao’s office, and the assistants and secretaries outside greeted her without stopping her.

“Miss Guan, Madam is inside as well.”

Her mom was also in there…

Guan Xi nodded, “Okay, got it.”

Guan Xinghao’s office was a bit of a walk from where the assistants and secretaries were stationed. As Guan Xi walked in, she reached the door. The door wasn’t completely closed, and just as she was about to knock, she heard a suppressed but slightly angry voice from inside.

“Didn’t we agree to let Ying Ying get more involved in important company projects? Now, none of them are given to her. Instead, you’ve handed all the European projects to Xi Xi. Aren’t you being too biased?”

Guan Xi’s hand, reaching for the door handle, stiffened, and she stopped.

Guan Xinghao said, “I gave the projects to Xi Xi because they are important, and she has experience. Ying Ying has just learned some things. How can she handle such a big task right away?”

“You can teach her, or at least, you can arrange a completely professional team for Ying Ying, just like you did for Xi Xi before.”

“Do you think I haven’t arranged a team? Like you said, it needs to be professional, well-understood, and willing to be led by a newcomer like Ying Ying. All of this takes time. Why are you so anxious?”

Wei Shaomin said, “You just make too many excuses. If you have too much on your plate, you can tell me. I can help arrange things for Ying Ying.”

“Shaomin! What do you mean by that?!”

“What I mean is that you’re too biased,” Wei Shaomin said coldly. “I know you really like Xi Xi, and she’s been with me for so many years, naturally, I like her too. But we owe Ying Ying so much, and now that she’s back, she naturally deserves more care. You can’t let her be overshadowed by Xi Xi, always standing behind her. Xinghao, in the end, your position in the future will have to be handed over to Ying Ying.”

“No, where did you misunderstand? You need to understand my point. It’s not that I’m not arranging things for Guan Ying now, but she currently lacks the capability—”

“Is that so? But Xi Xi has been mischievous since childhood. In order to let her learn and hold a place in the company, you’ve forcefully arranged numerous capable individuals to help her. How come now, with Ying Ying, you’re hesitating?” Wei Shaomin gritted her teeth, “I think you’ve already forgotten which one is your real daughter.”

“Wei Shaomin!”

…

Guan Xi walked away directly, taking the elevator from the top floor down to the underground parking garage. The elevator doors had lights, and she could clearly see her own complexion—no expression, as if it was blank. In her mind, the scene just now played back like a movie, but at 0.5 times the speed, each sentence slowed to a certain extent, making it easy for her to understand.

It was actually quite sudden.

She could understand Wei Shaomin. A biological child was flesh and blood, and it was natural for her to love her more. So, over this long period, Guan Xi felt jealousy but never found it unreasonable. She just thought that she was also important.

She had been by her side for over twenty years… Such a long time should have built a lot of emotions, right?

She thought she was also considered a daughter to her, but it turned out… she was still an outsider.

Ding. The elevator arrived. Guan Xi stepped out, instinctively heading towards her parking spot. As she passed by a car, she saw Guan Ying standing next to it. Guan Xi’s mind was in chaos, and at this moment, she had no intention of greeting her. Without looking back, she continued walking forward.

**

Guan Ying watched her retreating figure and sighed in relief.

Then, she hastily got into her car and looked at the person in the rearview mirror, saying, “How many times do I need to tell you? I told you not to come find me. Why do you always ignore me?”

The man who had been hurriedly shoved into the back seat because of Guan Xi’s arrival raised his head. His appearance clearly indicated that he was the man who had grabbed her and refused to let go in front of the coffee shop that day.

“That was Guan Xi just now?”

Guan Ying didn’t say a word. “Where are you staying now? I’ll take you there.”

“Cheng Ying—”

“Stop, Fang Zhihong! I’m now called Guan Ying!”

The man called Fang Zhihong’s face changed, and he said, “I understand…”

Guan Ying’s face darkened.

Fang Zhihong moved forward a bit and whispered, “Uncle and Aunt miss you a lot. They just want to see you… just once.”

Guan Ying turned to look at him, gritting her teeth, “You keep bringing up this matter… Do you know how difficult it is for me to be here now? I have a lot to do, a lot I want to do. Can’t you stop pressuring me all the time?”

Fang Zhihong nervously said, “Are they treating you badly? That girl, Guan Xi, your sister, is she making things difficult for you?”

Thinking about the meeting just now, where Guan Xinghao handed over the major projects to Guan Xi and only allowed her to participate in some less significant projects, Guan Ying clenched her fists slightly. “Do you think I’m doing well? Even though Guan Xi is adopted, my dad always supports her. Everyone sees her as the daughter of the Guan family. She has capital and backing. What do I have? With her around, I can never be sure of my place here.”

It was as if the mask could only be completely taken off in front of someone who would never create any pressure from the past.

Guan Ying’s eyes turned red, and she grabbed Fang Zhihong’s hand, softly pleading, “So, can you give me more time? Are you trying to let my mom know that I’m reluctant to part with my adoptive parents now? Will she be disappointed in me? I believe you wouldn’t want me to have a hard time here, right?”

Fang Zhihong, who had liked her since childhood, found her pitiful appearance irresistible. “Of course, I hope you’ll be well.”

“So, let’s hold off on the return for now. You should go home first.”

“But I’m worried. Is that Guan Xi difficult to deal with? How about this, I can help you. Let me stay by your side and assist you. I can do anything.”

Guan Ying was speechless, considering his simple-minded nature and lack of capabilities. “She is not easy to deal with, but you can’t help me. Alright, stop worrying about it. Um… I know you’ve always been on my side. You can rest assured, once I establish myself here, I will definitely go back and see them.”

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