His gaze involuntarily drifted to Dr. Bai beside him, who could only offer a helpless, bitter smile, his meaning unclear. Then he looked at Fu Shuiling, who wore a mocking expression, while the elderly Fu Xiong and his wife beside her had ashen faces.
Zhou Zhou crumpled the brown paper bag in his fingers as he calmly analyzed the current situation.
"Zhou Zhou!"
The study door was suddenly flung open from the outside.
Fu Hengzhi opened the door with such force that it could be described as slamming it open, with Fu Wen and her family following behind him.
The first thing that catches the eye is Zhou Zhou standing alone to one side, while his grandfather sits as if he is interrogating Zhou Zhou.
Who hit him?
Zhou Zhou's face still bore traces of blood that hadn't dried, and there was a red bloodstain on her fair skin. The kraft paper she was clutching tightly in her hand was also stained with blood. Fu Heng stepped forward and embraced her, asking softly.
Seeing that he did not respond, she turned her sharp gaze to the group of people on the other side of the desk.
"Xiao Heng, why are you looking at me like that?" Fu Shuiling was startled by the look in his eyes and unconsciously took a step back. Realizing that it was too embarrassing for her as an elder, she raised her voice, pointed at the appraisal results in Zhou Zhou's hand, and said sharply.
"Isn't it because you were bewitched by him? You didn't even have his child, yet you still went and became his father. You knew perfectly well that the child wasn't yours!"
"Xiao Heng, what's going on? What kind of spell did he cast on you?!" Liu Yuelian was devastated the moment she saw the paternity test results. She sat in a chair, holding Fu Xiong's hand, her expression pained.
"What's going on?"
When Fu Wen heard that the child wasn't her brother's, her eyes widened. She was the one who had just called Fu Hengzhi over. Li Rong hadn't been watching her. Fu Wen, being the nosy girl she was, went to the door of the small study to eavesdrop. Hearing the commotion inside, she immediately rushed to the main study to call her brother over.
Suddenly, a large group of people gathered in the small study. Fu Hengzhi suppressed his anger and said, "Xiao Wen, go outside and keep watch."
Duan Yun, still unaware of the situation, was leading Fu Xiaofan to play in the courtyard. Fu Hongjiang was overseeing the shareholders in the study, and Aunt Feng was tidying up in the kitchen. The family of more than ten people, except for a few outside, were all gathered here.
“Okay…” When things are serious, Fu Wen still listens to her older brother. Knowing that she couldn’t participate in this matter, she stood at the door and helped close the study door to shut out all noises inside.
"Mom, your blood pressure is high, don't get too emotional." Li Rong went over and patted Liu Yuelian's chest, giving Fu Xiong the same advice.
"Mom and Dad, please listen to what the two children have to say..."
“What do you mean, sister-in-law? You and my brother are both researchers. The test results are in black and white. How could they be fake?” Fu Shuiling interrupted Li Rong, pointing to the only outsider present. “Dr. Bai has worked for the Fu family for several years. He can’t possibly bring a fake report, can he?”
"You're the one who summoned them, aren't you?" Fu Fengjie's face darkened as he reprimanded, "Shui Ling, today is Dad's birthday. Even if this is the case... you can't have chosen today."
As Fu Fengjie finished speaking, Fu Xiong glanced at his beloved youngest daughter, Fu Shuiling, who immediately offered an explanation.
"Brother! Every day we delay, our parents will be kept in the dark for another day. How can you bear to see them worry and toil all day for a stranger's child!"
"You!" Fu Fengjie, a researcher, was not good with words. Fu Shuiling's aggressive interference left him speechless.
"Auntie, how do you know that Xiaofan isn't my and Zhou Zhou's child?"
Just as a dispute was about to erupt, Fu Hengzhi's sudden question silenced everyone, especially Fu Shuiling, who looked bewildered and chuckled, "The test results have already been given, how could they be fake?"
Zhou Zhou panicked and lost his composure when he first saw the test results, but he has now calmed down. He took the test results page out of the leather bag and glanced at the date in the lower right corner.
With just a glance, he roughly understood what had happened. He then saw Fu Hengzhi looking at him with concern, but when Zhou Zhou stared straight at him, Fu Hengzhi saw the other's indifferent eyes and unconsciously glanced to the side.
Looking at Dr. Bai, the other person could only manage a helpless bitter smile, his gaze darting away.
Heh, Zhou Zhou's lips curled up in a self-deprecating smile, which fell the next second, and his heart sank.
He roughly knew what was going on; the two of them had orchestrated a scheme to keep everyone in the dark.
“This test result is genuine.” Zhou Zhou couldn’t quite describe his feelings. He pulled the result completely out of the paper bag, took a few steps forward, and placed it on the desk, pointing to the date in the lower right corner with his fingertip. “But the date isn’t the most recent one.”
"What's wrong with the date? Do we have to pick a day to do a paternity test?" Fu Shuiling sneered.
“Xiao Fan looks more and more like Zhou Zhou as she grows up. At the time, Zhou Zhou was worried that the staff at the fertility ward had mixed up the sperm, so the three of us went to get a paternity test.” Fu Hengzhi continued, his heart pounding from that glance from the other person. He put one arm around the other person’s shoulder and pointed to the date on the test report with the other, saying slowly, “This is the result of the first test. I mixed up the hair samples from the three of us. I gave the doctor two hairs from Zhou Zhou and one hair from me, so we got a 100% result that is almost impossible in the medical field.”
"Thanks to Dr. Bai's reminder, our family of three went to the hospital again afterwards."
"And what was the result?" Fu Xiong only cared about the paternity test results. He wanted to know if the great-grandson he had been coaxing and pampering for days was actually his biological child.
"The results only came out at noon today. I was in a hurry to come and celebrate your birthday, so I didn't bring them," Dr. Bai explained.
Now it was Fu Shuiling's turn to panic. She hadn't expected such a twist and exclaimed, "Dr. Bai, what do you mean by this? You didn't mention this when I asked you for the test results!"
“Ms. Fu, generally speaking, doctors are required to maintain patient confidentiality. When you came to the hospital, you asked me directly about the process of Mr. Fu and his family’s visit to the hospital…”
"I am a 20% shareholder of the Fu Group, and also Fu Hengzhi's aunt. I'm here as an elder to show concern for a younger generation; this concerns my family's bloodline. Dr. Bai, you'd better know what's important."
Dr. Bai smiled gently. "Ms. Fu kept insisting that the hospital provide you with the test results and wouldn't listen to anything else. I could only give you the first test results and also told you about the error. Who knew you would just take it and leave... I know the importance of this, so after you left, I contacted Mr. Fu."
"You all conspired to deceive me?!" Fu Shuiling exclaimed angrily.
"No, I actually wanted to explain," Fu Hengzhi said calmly. "I was planning to talk to you about this tonight, but who knew you would release the test results right after Grandpa's birthday banquet."
"What explanation! Why didn't you say so that night?!"
“The company has been very busy lately, and there was a problem with the subsidiary. I was so busy that I forgot about it.” Fu Hengzhi lowered his eyes and said softly, “It’s hard to believe that you have so much free time, Aunt. I’m sure Manager Lin went directly to the head office for help, saying that the subsidiary’s cash flow was in trouble. I’m sure you, as the head of the subsidiary, didn’t know anything about it.”
◎Author's Note:
Fu Hengzhi: Wife, did I do a good job...?
Zhou Zhou: Get lost.
Chapter 116 No Need to Apologize
The Fu family has a wide range of businesses, and in recent years they have gradually established a solid foundation in China. In other words, as long as Fu Hengzhi keeps up the pace, and given the current momentum, the family business can be passed down to the next three generations as long as no one is completely clueless about business.
The business started with Fu Hongjiang's generation and grew up with the help of Fu Fengjie in the early years. After the business stabilized, Fu Fengjie took his wife abroad to pursue his own research interests. Apart from some real estate that had been acquired through exchange, he sold off or distributed the remaining shares. Fu's subsidiary was initially managed by Fu Fengjie, but was later handed over to his sister Fu Shuiling.
As a shareholder of the Fu Group, Fu Shuiling was not content with being the chief executive officer of a subsidiary of the Fu Group. She repeatedly suggested to her nephew that they expand overseas, but he refused each time due to the unknown risks.
After repeated attempts to persuade her failed, Fu Shuiling secretly transferred some of the subsidiaries' businesses overseas without informing the entire Fu family, and also diverted some of the funds from the subsidiaries' domestic businesses to support overseas projects.
Unsurprisingly, the domestic funding chain broke down, and the funds invested in overseas industries disappeared without a trace.
It was impossible to say anything more. Fu Shuiling knew that her nephew always kept his personal and professional life separate. If the other party found out about this, they might try to take away the shares she held.
Manager Lin was promoted by Fu Shuiling when she was the chief executive officer. The matter was laid out on the table. Fu Shuiling gritted her teeth and said loudly, "Xiao Heng, we are talking about the paternity test now. I didn't have time to say this, but isn't the most important thing right now the child's matter?"
"There's no problem with the authentication."
Zhou Zhou's eyes dimmed, and he slowly lowered his head. He had just noticed that Fu Hengzhi and Dr. Bai's eyes met briefly before they looked away.
If he had doubts about his own conjectures before, now it's a done deal.
"Hmm... the latest test results should be here soon." Dr. Bai glanced at his wrist and at the time. Almost at the same moment, Fu Wen's voice came from outside the door.
"Aunt, they're talking inside... Hey!"
The door was pushed open without warning. Duan Yun, who was less than 1.7 meters tall and had a slender figure, was holding four-year-old Fu Xiaofan in one arm and the brown paper bag in the other.
It was a woman's strong sixth sense at work. Although the Fu family brothers and sisters had always been harmonious, Duan Yun had learned a lot about the feuds among wealthy families from her friends who were wives. When she saw the paternity test results, she had endless associations.
There's no problem with the paternity test, but why bring the results in person, and on such a special day?
Dr. Bai entrusted his assistant with this task. The assistant had just finished his studies and was still in the internship stage. He had almost no experience and had spent it all dealing with patients. He had no idea how to chat with people in this industry.
He revealed everything he knew in just a few words.
Upon learning that Fu Shuiling had invited Dr. Bai, Duan Yun sensed something was amiss and, ignoring his assistant's attempts to stop him, immediately opened the brown paper bag.
Duan Yun's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down after seeing two 99.99% figures, but this did not mean that the matter was over.
"Little sister, what does this mean?" Duan Yun's smile was perfectly controlled; it was clearly meant to annoy others.
"It's Dad's birthday, and you're going to have Dr. Bai deliver a paternity test to add to the celebration?" Duan Yun placed the brown paper bag on the table, his gaze drawn to another document.
"One hundred percent... Xiao Zhou, what happened to your nose?" Duan Yun's attention was immediately drawn to the red mark on Zhou Zhou's nose.
"I accidentally scratched it just now." Zhou Zhou's nose suddenly stung with tears for some reason. Duan Yun's concern for him was truly touching. He said in a low voice, "Thank you for your concern, Mom."
"..." Duan Yun frowned, looked at the dried bloodstains on the other person's nose, then turned his gaze to the bloodstained documents on the table, and immediately understood.
"What do you mean it was an accident? I was clearly hit. As for who it was..." Duan Yun glanced at Fu Xiong secretly, his face full of displeasure.
The daughter-in-law's face is much prettier than her own son's. The son looks like his father, but Zhou Zhou is different; she looks like her good friend, Yang Peixue, who was a beauty queen in the Faculty of Arts back then.
Duan Yun knew that her father-in-law had a bad temper and a strong grip; when he was angry, not even a bull could hold him back.
"Dad, does it hurt...?" Fu Xiaofan tilted her head and leaned towards him with concern. Seeing this, Duan Yun had Zhou Zhou hold Fu Xiaofan.
To make it easier to take her son, Zhou Zhou didn't hesitate to brush away Fu Hengzhi's hand that was on her shoulder. Perhaps because she had something on her mind, she didn't control her strength properly, and Fu Hengzhi felt his hand being forcefully shaken off.
""
"Daddy, let me blow on it for you, and the pain will go away." Fu Xiaofan cupped Zhou Zhou's face in his chubby little hands and blew on the wound on his nose.
Zhou Zhou gently rubbed his forehead against the other person and whispered, "Daddy doesn't hurt anymore, Xiao Fan, be good."
While they were at the desk, everyone took turns looking at the latest test results.
Without a doubt, this is a paternity test with no issues whatsoever.
"Look what you've done!" Fu Xiong's face turned red, and his furious appearance was very frightening. He slammed the file on the table with a bang, and Fu Xiaofan let out a whimper and buried her head in Zhou Zhou's neck.
Zhou Zhou lowered his eyes and patted his back to comfort him, but then he remembered that the other person had just used the same force to throw the file at his face.
hehe.
Fu Shuiling blushed and was about to retort when she received a subtle hint from Liu Yuelian's gaze, so she lowered her voice and admitted her mistake.
"Dad, I was wrong."
Fu Xiong had always doted on his youngest daughter since she was little. It is said that a daughter is her father's little cotton-padded jacket. Fu Xiong couldn't bear to scold her in front of everyone, especially with Dr. Bai, an outsider, present.
He suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, leaned back weakly in the chair, and waved his hand.
This was an attempt to quell the matter by speaking to the elders.
"Grandpa, this isn't over yet." Fu Hengzhi hadn't achieved his goal this time. He had tolerated too much of his aunt's behavior at the company, and this time he was determined to resolve the matter no matter what.
"Just now in the study, my father, the shareholders who came to celebrate my birthday, and I held a shareholders' meeting. We all agreed that my aunt is not suitable to continue holding 20% of the shares, and decided to reduce her shareholding."
"You're having a meeting? What right do you have to hold a meeting? I'm a shareholder too!" Fu Shuiling panicked upon hearing the word "reduction." "I don't agree!"
“Whether you agree or not is not up to you alone, Aunt. Your actions have caused huge losses to the company. If you don’t let go, the other shareholders will jointly sue you.” Fu Heng’s words were piercing and incisive. “I believe you will not be able to fill the hole in the cash flow in the short term.”
Fu Shuiling really couldn't make up for it; even selling all her real estate wouldn't be enough. At this point, she could only be a fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.
Fu Xiong no longer wanted to get involved in these matters and didn't say a word during the process. Once the matter was resolved, he said, "Now that it's done, let's disperse."
Fu Hengzhi then added, "Grandpa, there's one more thing."
“Please apologize to Zhou Zhou.” Fu Hengzhi said seriously and solemnly, “You shouldn’t have hit him without explanation, especially since he is my lover.”