CH 11

“Sir, this is a private matter between our boss and Ms Bai. It doesn’t seem very appropriate for you to be here…”

On the surface, Michael seemed to be persuading him out of goodwill. However, his tone was laced with threat, and the expression on his face seemed to suggest — If you still pretend to be ignorant, then don’t blame the security guards outside when they throw you out.”

“What’s inappropriate about it? Lil’ Huo is my daughter’s friend. He’s much closer than all of you!” Father Bai, who had remained silent throughout, suddenly spoke up.

Bai Meng Ru echoed her father’s words, saying: “Assistant Michael, you may not know, but my sister and this Mr Huo has a very good relationship despite knowing each other for only two days. Mr Huo also cares a lot about our father…”

Bai Zhen Zhen could hear that Bai Meng Ru was obviously sowing discord between Ling Hao Chen and her, trying to make Ling Hao Chen misunderstand her.

However, to her, this tactic was like a god-send. She couldn’t wait for Ling Hao Chen to hate her.

Yang Ping Su also took a stab: “Zhen Zhen, it’s not that mom wants to nag you, but girls need to be more reserved. Don’t go troubling the CEO on one hand, while flirting with Lil’ Huo on the other hand. It’s very bad for your reputation…”

Bai Zhen Zhen immediately held up her hand in a “stop” fashion, rebutting: “Aunty Yang, please be more careful with your words. A girl’s reputation is very important, don’t randomly slander me! Also, I’m not your daughter. Your daughter is over there.”

Being reprimanded by Bai Zhen Zhen in front of an audience, Yang Ping Su was trembling with anger: “Bai Zhen Zhen, you! You’ve really hurt me! After all those years, struggling to raise you and treating you like my own daughter, yet you still treat me like this?!”

“Sister, what you said just now… was really overboard…” Bai Zhen Zhen timidly added on, while hugging her crying mother tightly.

“I’m overboard?” Bai Zhen Zhen was incredulous, “The two of you, one slanders me, while the other makes trouble for me. Do I have to kneel down and thank you, for it to be considered ‘not overboard’?”

Bai Meng Ru bit her lips: “So, you’re still blaming me for finding CEO Ling today…”

Saying so, Bai Meng Ru casted a look at Ling Hao Chen, seemingly unintentional, thinking that he would stand up and say a few words on her behalf.

She didn’t expect that Ling Hao Chen wouldn’t even react, watching the show with an expressionless face.

Bai Meng Ru could only continue: “Sister, I’ve already apologised to you just now… I know, this is all my fault. It was my thoughtlessness that caused trouble for you. It’s natural that you blame me… But no matter what, you shouldn’t vent it on mom…”

Seeing how Bai Meng Ru had started to vehemently blame herself, Bai Zhen Zhen rolled her eyes, shifting her gaze to the ceiling.

If this wasn’t a typical “retreat to advance” strategy, then what is?

“Oh, my foolish daughter! Why are you still apologising to her!” Yang Ping Su anxiously pulled on her daughter’s hand, “You’re so kind and filial, always thinking about others first. It’s obviously your sister who doesn’t know better!”

“Mom, sister isn’t like that… She was just too worked up for a moment, she didn’t mean any harm…” Bai Meng Ru pretended to be kind as she spoke up on Bai Zhen Zhen’s behalf.

After that, she looked at Ling Hao Chen with tears glistening in her eyes, saying: “CEO Ling, don’t blame my sister. It’s all my fault. If this incident has caused you any trouble, I am willing to work hard to make it up to you.”

“Make it up to him?” Bai Zhen Zhen’s interest was piqued, asking with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “How do you want to make it up? Using your body?”

Bai Meng Ru’s intentions was exposed, but she still pretended to be shocked: “Sister, what are you talking about!”

On this point, Yang Ping Su was actually more open-minded, mumbling: “Using your body… that’s not impossible too.”

“Enough!” Father Bai’s strict voice broke apart their conversation.

From the looks of it, his anger had hit the roof.

“Isn’t it just to treat my illness?! If it’s going to cause all these troubles, then I, I’d rather not get treated!”

Saying so, Father Bai reached out to pull out the IV tube in his hand.

Huo Xiang’s reaction was very swift. Jumping off the bed, he stopped Father Bai’s movements.

“Uncle Bai, don’t be so rash!”

“Dad, what are you doing!” Bai Zhen Zhen was really anxious, quickly walking over to her father’s side, “The operations has already been performed, and your symptoms have gotten better. All that’s left is the recovery period. And now you want to stop the treatment, are you treating your life as a joke?!”

Yang Ping Su echoed: “That’s right, Old Bai, if you really wanted to, then you should have stopped treatment before the operation! Now that the operation is done, we can’t get back the money!”

Hearing that, Father Bai was also anxious, his face flushing red.

Coming from a poor family background, he had an inferiority complex and low self-esteem. He didn’t like rich people very much, always feeling that those people were far superior to him, looking down on the common folk like him. He didn’t want to flatter them, and also didn’t want to have anything to do with them.

“I will treat this illness, but I don’t need other people’s false charity! Even more so, I will not sell my daughter!” Father Bai shouted.

Hearing that, Michael felt a chill deep down in his heart. He subconsciously glanced at his boss.

The boss didn’t say anything, but the expression on his face didn’t look too good.

At this moment, Bai Zhen Zhen was at a loss.

Wasn’t this “dad” of hers a little too sensitive to her “greatly unfilial”* words? Though Ling Hao Chen’s way of doing things was more domineering, but he actually had no ill intentions. Leaving aside the term “charity”, the words “selling my daughter” was too much.

“Alright, dad, you should just focus on recovering. You don’t need to worry about anything else.” Bai Zhen Zhen comforted, trying to calm his emotions.

Turning towards Ling Hao Chen, she said: “CEO Ling, you also heard it just now. This whole incident is a misunderstanding. Since the matter single-handedly arose from my stepsister, and she is willing to bear the consequences, then you can arrange for what will come after… Or you can entrust your assistant or lawyer to negotiate with her.”

Bai Zhen Zhen specially emphasized the words “stepsister” while talking.

A trace of unhappiness flashed past Ling Hao Chen’s eyes.

He lowered his voice and asked: “You truly don’t want to have anything to do with me?”

Bai Zhen Zhen calmly smiled: “CEO Ling, you and I belong in different worlds. There will naturally be no interactions.”

Hearing that, Ling Hao Chen gave a cold laugh: “But there are many in your world that can’t wait to hug my thigh.”

Bai Zhen Zhen answered without thinking: “Then you can go find them.”

Her gaze drifted over to Bai Meng Ru, seemingly unintentional.

“You sure are a special woman.” Ling Hao Chen’s attitude suddenly flipped 180 degrees. The corners of his lips even curled up slightly, “Very good, you have succeeded in catching my attention.”

Bai Zhen Zhen: ?

— System: “Congratulations host, on successfully capturing the heart of the first male lead!”

— Bai Zhen Zhen: “What the f…”

———————-

* There’s a saying in chinese (不孝有三，无后为大) that there are 3 great unfilial deeds that a child can transgress, of which the 3rd one is the worst:

1. Not speaking up when you know that your parents are doing something wrong, that results in something bad happening to your parents.

2. Not supporting your parents in times of need, or when your parents are old.

3. Not marrying a wife and having children, leading to a break in the family line.

There’s no clear line where this case falls under. Anyway, the words she said about Bai Meng Ru using her body to make it up to Ling Hao Chen in general would be seen as something undesirable, and thus unfilial, to parent’s mindset.