Chapter 234 - His father is...

Han Ye waited for Xiao Lei to answer, all the while praying that she would tell him the truth.

While waiting, Han Ye tried to get into a comfortable position where he could be on eye level with Xiao Lei. In the end, he leaned forward with his elbows placed on his knees as his chin rested on the back of his hands that were on top of each other. 

He watched as Xiao Lei opened her mouth, only to close it a moment later. She repeated this a couple of times. But in the end, she still told him the truth. 

But the truth shocked him more than anything else. 

"To Yunjie, his father is Shenlong Yanhuang." 

Upon hearing her words, Han Ye who was leaning forward in his chair fell off it rather comically.

Xiao Lei was too shocked by it that she did not know what to do. When it finally dawned on her what had just happened, she burst out in laughter as she went over to help him up. 

"Gosh! I can't believe you're President Du's assistant! How can someone as clumsy as you be his assistant?!"

"Come on! Anyone who heard what you just said would have the same reflex," Han Ye said as he rubbed his back. He felt like ever since he met Xiao Lei, his back had been hurt quite often, to the point that he was starting to worry about the health of his lower back. 

As they stood close to each other, with Xiao Lei holding his right arm to keep him from falling again, Han Ye could not help but gulp surreptitiously. He coughed slightly before asking, "Are you telling the truth? Your husband's father is Shenlong Yanhuang? Callum's father?" 

Xiao Lei nodded. "But they are not father and son biologically."

"Huh?" 

Xiao Lei released his arm and sat back down on the bed. After a while, she sighed and said softly, "Yunjie always thought of Shenlong Yanhuang as his father. Shenlong Yanhuang was the first man in Yunjie's life who had treated him kindly."

Upon hearing her explanation, Han Ye sighed in relief. If Xiao Yunjie were Shenlong Yanhuang's son, it would make everything complicated. Xiao Lei was married to Xiao Yunjie but carried his half-brother's children? That would be a Chinese drama waiting to be written down!

"I've never heard of Shenlong Yanhuang having another son outside, blood-related or not. Why didn't Yunjie go and find him?" 

"He didn't know his father's name... At least, he didn't know until Shenlong Yanhuang was already gone from this world."

"He didn't know?"

"Yunjie only remembered him as 'Daddy', his looks, and the pendant that Shenlong Yanhuang wore around his neck. He didn't know Shenlong Yanhuang's name, nor his identity."

"So how did he find out?"

She thought about it for a while before replying, "He said that he only knew about it when he was in the gang that I told you earlier. Apparently, that group was in a war with the Shenlong Family, and when Shenlong Yanhuang passed away, someone talked about him and photos of him were shown to Yunjie. That was when he knew, and that was when he decided to leave."

Han Ye frowned. "This is too much of a coincidence..."

"What is?"

Han Ye looked at her. He debated internally on whether to tell her what Head Manager Han told him earlier, and in the end, he sighed and decided to tell her everything about the kid "Jie". 

When he ended his story, Xiao Lei had a sad expression on her face before nodding, "That's probably Yunjie... Like I said... He was very small in size..." 

"But the age doesn't match up." 

"Yunjie didn't know his real age..."

"Why?"

Xiao Lei looked up at him, and with a pained expression, she shook her head and said in a soft voice, "I can't tell you that..."

"You know if I continue digging, I will find it out eventually, right?" he asked as he sat down beside her on the bed. 

She nodded. "But that's you finding out by yourself. I promised Yunjie before that the only person I would tell his story to is our son." 

"Not even if it could help me find him?" Han Ye asked. 

"The story of his past won't be helpful at all," she said, seemingly confident with her own words. 

They stared at each other for a long time before Han Ye gave up. "Alright... Well, can you at least tell me who gave him his age? Was it Shenlong Yanhuang?"

Xiao Lei nodded. "Shenlong Yanhuang tested Yunjie's memory before. He used major events to trigger Yunjie's memory, and he gave Yunjie his age based on how far Yunjie could remember."

"That's... not accurate at all. How about Yunjie's biological parents?"

"Status unknown. Yunjie... has no identity prior to meeting Shenlong Yanhuang. It was Shenlong Yanhuang who gave Yunjie his name and age. Basically, his entire identity."

Han Ye nodded. He could see why Xiao Yunjie thought of Shenlong Yanhuang as his father. A thought popped up in his head, and he asked, "Xiao Lei, did you agree to bear Callum's child because of Yunjie's relationship with Shenlong Yanhuang?"

She smiled wryly and nodded. "I did..."

"Why?"

"Yunjie felt indebted to Shenlong Yanhuang, and I did too. Without Callum's father, Yunjie would have never existed, and indirectly, I wouldn't be here talking with you as well."

"Still... That's not a good reason."

"Is there ever a good reason for a woman to part with her child?"

Han Ye did not answer her question. He could not. 

Xiao Lei smiled and said, "I wanted to help Yunjie repay Shenlong Yanhuang. When they offered to protect my son, I was even more adamant to repay them for this favor." 

Han Ye thought back to when Xiao Lei found out that Callum was Shenlong Yanhuang's son, Shenlong Xun. At that time, Han Ye could not understand her reaction, but now, he knew. She was shocked not because he was the heir to a huge and powerful underground family. She was shocked because Callum was the son of her husband's "father". 

"Too much coincidence..." Han Ye thought as he parted his lips slightly. He definitely did not foresee this to be the outcome. "Jie" and "Yunjie" were most likely the same person... Then, was "Ah Jie"... 

Han Ye shook his head to get rid of that negative thought. He prayed to God that "Ah Jie" was a different person, for he did not want Xiao Lei to know the pain of losing her spouse. She had already lost enough. 

The thought of Ah Jie being Xiao Yunjie kept replaying themselves in the back of his head, and to get rid of it, Han Ye decided to talk more so that he would not have the time to think. "Back to our previous conversation, why did Shenlong Yanhuang leave him at the orphanage?" 

Xiao Lei thought about it for a moment before saying, "Erm... According to Yunjie, Shenlong Yanhuang told him that it's for his own good. That's it. The man was kind of mean, don't you think so? He caused a boy to be dependent on him, and he left him just like that. So irresponsible." 

Han Ye smiled. "I know how the Shenlong Family works... Perhaps Shenlong Yanhuang didn't think that it would be safe for Yunjie to stay with him."

Xiao Lei sighed loudly as she lay down on the bed. "I know."

If she were Shenlong Yanhuang, she would probably do the same. Just like how prior to meeting Callum and Luo Guangying, she did not do any actions to regain what was rightfully hers. The desire for revenge was there, and it had never diminished. But for her son's safety, she had to continue to hide in the dark while waiting for the right opportunity for her to strike.

Even if it would take her forever and that she might never get to take her revenge, she would still continue to hide if it meant keeping her son safe. Without backers, she could not simply make a move against the Fan Family.

Meeting Han Ye, Callum, and Luo Guangying gave her the courage to move with her plan. Callum and Luo Guangying aside, she knew Han Ye enough to know that if anything were to happen to her, he would take care and protect her son, just like how he took care of Zhen Tianle.  

Xiao Lei suddenly turned her head to look at Han Ye who was now lying beside her with an arm under his head, and with a hesitant voice, she asked, "Han Ye, do you think that I'm selfish?" 

Han Ye looked at her for a few seconds. He then looked at the ceiling and said, "Yes."