You are not a Tang
You are not a Tang
That old man, Tang Liuwei was not to be underestimated. She still remembered how he had easily found out that someone had tried to poison her.
She had initially wanted to surprise her grandfather. But once she approached closer, he casually greeted her with a smile. She left her office and came all the way here to greet him! That ungrateful old man didn't even give her the satisfaction of seeing his shocked expressions!
"My dear granddaughter, once you reach this stage of life, you would learn age is the best teacher." Like an aged monk who had reached the peak of enlightenment through his rich experience, stroking his non-existent beard, he assumed an air of superiority. "It was only natural for me to predict the date of your arrival."
Jing Lihua almost rolled her eyes.
"Save your fancy words grandfather. I know that you have been keeping track of my activities!" Jing Lihua ruthlessly exposed his secret.
Being caught open-handed, Tang Liuwei could only cough. "And that... is also a factor."
Side of Jing Lihua's lips curled up. "At least you have the propriety to accept it."
"What do you mean Xiao Lizi? I, Tang Liwei, always practice upright conduct. If I do something, I accept it in open words!"
"Oh. Is that so?" Jing Lihua laughed lightly. A second later, she threw a copy of the elder Heng's will on the bench by her grandfather's side. "Since my grandfather's conduct is so upright, he would not hide his true opinion behind this strange occurrence."
Tang Liuweu paused. Glancing down at the will, his expressions changed.
"Of course you were previously aware of my arrival. Nothing in the city escapes the Elder Tang eyes." Jing Lihua said with a smile. "You must have already heard of the Elder Heng's will hearing matter and expected me to show up here with tons of questions. Now the real problem is..." She saw her grandfather sighing softly. "How do you plan to explain all this to me?"
"There are some things that are better left undiscovered." Tang Liuwei said. "What's the point of getting to the truth when in the end, it will only cause you pain."
"I disagree." Jing Lihua's eyes were resolute. "No matter how painful the truth is, I would still prefer it than staying in the dark."
Tang Liuwei was reluctant at first. Healing this grandfather's resolute words, he laughed lightly. Picking up the will, he briefly read through the content of the letter that Elder Heng had left for Jing Lihua.
"Since you have already known the truth..." Tang Liuweu said folding up the letter after reading it and putting it aside. "...there is no use in hiding it from you."
"Grandfather what confused me is that if I am a Heng then how come, I am also—"
"You are not a Tang." Suddenly Tang Liuwei said, shocking Jing Lihua into silence.
He raised his head and looked into his granddaughter's eyes. His expressions were complicated at first. However glancing at his bright granddaughter, affection and pride replaced the complication. "But the way you have handled things at the company... I wish you were. I wish you had the same blood as mine."
In the silence that followed, Jing Lihua was stunned. At times she opened her mouth to say something but would end up closing it, ending up deciding against it. Everything was too chaotic and unexpected. A never-ending chain of questions popped up in her mind. She didn't even know where to begin.
Looking at his granddaughter Tang Liuwei sighed. "Everything said in the letter is true. We had indeed adopted your mother. That old bastard Heng! He had previously promised to me that he would take this secret to his grave. But he wanted you to look after Heng Bingwen... A grandfather feels for his grandchildren. We can't blame him."
"Grandfather..." Jing Lihua was unsure whether to ask him about her mother's death incident or not. The blood tests hadn't matched back then Heng Bingwen had acquired the samples. But if she asked her grandfather now, she might end up harming him. Especially now that his heath was not the best.
After all, her grandfather loved her mother. Her mother's death was a topic of anguish and regret for him.
"Jing Lihua..." Her grandfather rarely called her by her real name. So this time, Jing Lihua instantly looked up to meet his eyes.
"No matter what, keep it in mind you are still my granddaughter. You are still the daughter of my Tang Yuyan that I brought up myself. Nothing would ever change that."
"Grandfather, do you know Heng Bingwen had been trying to get a DNA sample from you?" Jing Lihua tested the waters.
"That kid you employed?" Tang Liuwei chuckled. "He had been trying to get into my database. Too bad, it is near impossible to penetrate Chairman Tang firewall."
Jing Lihua studied her grandfather's expressions. "But he succeeded in getting a physical sample from you."
Tang Liuwei looked slightly shocked. "So you have already known for a long time that you are not a Tang?"
Jing Lihua couldn't make out the situation. 'First I thought that grandfather must have sent fake samples to make it look like I was a Tang. But by the looks of it, his expressions seem genuine. He really didn't send any fake samples to delude Heng Bingwen's search team into thinking I am a Tang. He really believes that I am not a Tang.'
'If he had indeed tried to delude Heng Bingwen into concluding that I am a Tang, now that he openly admitted that I am not a Tang, there is no reason for him to hide it anymore. Then what s the meaning of this all? If my grandfather didn't alter the samples, it means they are not fake. If they were not tampered with then that means I am a Tang! And not only that. I am a Tang but my grandfather doesn't know it?!'
Complicated expressions covered Jing Lihua's face. Suddenly she thought of something and looked up. "Grandfather... what about the son you had lost. Did you ever find him?"