Twice
Ning Guangyao was caught off guard by Yang Chen’s words. It took him several moments before he stared right at Yang Chen’s expectating glance, and ever so slightly shaking his head.
No, I will not,
Ning Guangyao bitterly replied with somber eyes.
Why?
Yang Chen was instantly filled with disappointment.
Does it pain you so much to accept the fact that she is your daughter?
Tears threatened to fall from Ning Guangyao’s pupils, but he was unsurprisingly as strong-willed as ever.
It is because she is my daughter that I’m never going to see her.
Yang Chen was outraged. The continuous spiral of frustrations led him to taunt Ning Guangyao.
Look, Premier Ning, I am not a talkative person. But the reason I am still here is to make things clear for you.
I understand you might’ve already found out that Ruoxi was your daughter many years ago, which is why you would clear the obstacles in her path whenever you can. You would also do what her grandmother asked of you. It was clear that Lin Zhiguo was not capable of achieving that much all on his own.
If she was always in your mind, and now that she knows you’re her father by blood, why would you still insist on not meeting her? Do you know the kind of pain she is going through right now?
Ning Guangyao unwaveringly shook his head.
So what if I went to meet her. Nothing would change even if I did.
Bullshit!
Yang Chen couldn’t hold it in anymore.
What logic is that?! What could she make you do even if you go visit her? All she wanted was your recognition. All she wants is her own father’s support, that’s it!
I didn’t abandon her! But I cannot meet with her!
Ning Guangyao ranted.
Humans have emotions that may or may not be under our control. I can, but can you guarantee that she could? After the first meeting, who’s to say that there isn’t a second or third? If anyone found out about our relationship it would destroy our careers and decimate my family!
Those people who have supported me in the past, what would they think of me then? A child born out of wedlock is not something that I can deal with right now. What will my wife think of me? What will Guodong think of me? My family will be in ruins! When that happens I will lose the reputation that I’ve spent my entire life to build!
Yang Chen, you must understand that I’m not like you. I cannot live my life by the day. I’m the premier of a nation! The premier of China! Every step I take will affect the livelihood of billions. How can I risk that for some personal recognition?
Ning Guangyao got emotional as he spoke, his body trembled as he kept his tears in.
Yang Chen however was equally headstrong, as he sneered,
Huh, how fancy. No surprise that the premier of a nation is able to bullshit through anything.
You’re still young, I don’t expect you to understand these things,
Ning Guangyao coldly replied.
Yang Chen softly rebuked,
All I know is that there isn’t an excuse in the world that would allow a parent to abandon their own flesh and blood.
I did not… abandon her! I merely stood in the shadows as she grew up. If it wasn’t for me, how do you think she could be what she is right now? Did you really think Yu Lei International became so successful on its own?
Ning Guangyao grumbled.
As their confrontation escalates, the gentle breeze and water ripples seemingly became huge contrast to the both present.
Yang Chen went silent for a bit before he lifted his head, as he replied emotionlessly, his voice became a little husky from the suppressed emotions,
Premier Ning, I figure you are aware that I did not know my parents for the better part of my life, aren’t you?
Ning Guangyao nodded with uncertainty of where this would lead.
Those days I never had any hope that I would meet the people who have brought me into this world. Therefore, when my mother and that man suddenly reappeared in my life, I was not only astonished, but appalled at the prospects. I wanted to hate them for the rest of the life for leaving me in that hell.
I am never proud of the abilities that I possess right now, because if anyone could live through all that I have experienced and live to tell the tale, I believe that it is nothing more than a pathetic compensation.
I was just the one that was blessed with perfect timing to live through all of that. I am the sole survivor on top of a pile of corpses.
Hence, I would never give them the satisfaction of recognition. All they were to me were the people who had abandoned me when I needed them the most. I had no interest in their deplorable recompensation of love.
At this point of his explanation, Ning Guangyao let out a long breath.
Yang Chen stopped for a moment, before he continued,
Until one day, the old man came to my house and told me that my mother was imprisoned. All because she wanted to come see me. She wanted to reunite with me, and that man kept her as prisoner.
At that point I thought to myself, so what if she was imprisoned? She abandoned me for the better part of my life. She is just reaping the seeds that she had sowed.
It was Ruoxi, however, who persuaded me to rescue my mother. She told me that couples can break up or get divorced, friends can be separated, colleagues can be changed at will. But the one thing that will stay true to a person from the day that they are born, is that they will only have one set of parents.
Ning Guangyao shut his eyes as tears creeped through its edges, on one hand he clenched his cup so tight one would easily assume that his intention was to shatter it.
If anyone else were to tell me that, I would have brushed it off as nothing. But if that foolish woman was the one to break the news to me, surely I cannot turn a blind eye.
Yang Chen self-deprecating joked,
You wouldn’t know how dumb she actually is. Since young, she had accepted an impotent man as her father, and failed to realize that her beloved grandmother was actually fake.
She devotes herself tirelessly to her work, working overtime almost every night. Within the company, she has a reputation of being stone-cold, keeping almost everyone away. Unlike the ladies of her age who would spend their time going to nightclubs with heavy makeup seeking for partners, she’s spending the prime of her life working to no end.
However, the company she has built from her blood, sweat, and tears had to be contested by a man who wasn’t even her birth father. Lin Kun was disgusted by her possessions which he believed were rightfully his. And all she could do was compensate by funding his lavish lifestyle of cars and women, all just to keep a company that flourished in her hands.
But that wicked man was never content, kidnapping her and almost taking her life.
Ning Guangyao hovered his head low in shame, as he palmed his hand to his forehead, seemingly unable to bring himself to continue listening.
Yang Chen meanwhile had no intention to stop, as he stoically continued,
Even in such circumstances, this young woman mentioned the importance of family to me. Even after all she had suffered from by the hands of her parents, she made sure I wouldn’t sit by as my mother was struggling. She mentioned that filial piety should never be neglected.
After all that she had said, how could I not feel heartbroken? How was I supposed to disagree?
Which subsequently led to my actions on that fateful day when I rescued my mother. From the looks of it, I seem to have made the right decision.
Please… please stop with this,
Ning Guangyao pleaded in a sorrowful voice.
Why? You feel guilty now?
Yang Chen sneered ever so slightly.
Was it because you realized, that my mom would take a bullet for me? Or that my mom would willingly move in with me despite her reputation taking a hit?
Yang Chen, I have told you time and time again. I’m not like your mother. I’m not like anybody else,
Ning Guangyao spoke firmly.
Yang Chen continued,
Both of you are parents in your own rights. But why can my mother do it but not you? All Ruoxi needed was one meeting with her father. Her personality might be cold and unexpressive, but deep down she treasures her loved ones more than anything. It didn’t matter to her that you’re the premier, or the head of the Ning clan. She doesn’t care about any of that! All she ever wanted was for you to admit to her face that she’s your daughter!
Premier Ning, just so you know, the day you called to tell her that the medical reports were fake, was the same day that we found out that you were her blood father!
What?
Ning Guangyao was dumbstruck.
Just like that.
Yang Chen painfully laughed.
You realize now don’t you? How brutal your actions were to her? After all these years she finally found out that her birth father is you, but you reactively made sure she thinks that medical records were fake!
In such a short period of time, you have ruthlessly abandoned her twice! What sort of father even does such appalling actions to his own daughter?!
