Chapter 215.1
Editor: Princess
Cheng Feng saw the door being pushed open, then Cheng Yu and Lin An Lan walked in together. He reminded Cheng Yu calmly, “Next time, knock before entering.”
“I have something to ask you.” Cheng Yu stated directly.
“What is it?”
“What’s going on with Jiang Xu?” Cheng Yu asked bluntly. “Is he your illegitimate son? Have you been cheating on my mother and have other children elsewhere?”
Cheng Feng was stunned for a moment, then looked up at him.
“No.” He replied indifferently. “You are my only son. At most, I only have you and An An as my children.”
“Then why would Jiang Xu dare to say such things to me, and even suggest we take a paternity test?”
“He’s presumptuous. Why bother with him?”
“No one would say such things without reason. He must have dared to say this because someone told him something. Did you really never cheat on my mother with other women?”
Cheng Feng put down the book in his hand and sighed, “Xiao Yu, I admit that when I was young, I had brief affairs with other women besides your mother. However, those meant nothing. I’ve only ever really loved your mother, which is why I only have you as my child.”
“You’ve been with other women?” Cheng Yu was incredulous, yet simultaneously felt a sense of confirmation.
He stared at Cheng Feng, unable to control his emotions. “And yet you dare say you don’t have an illegitimate child! If you’ve been with other women, how can you be so certain they haven’t borne children for you?”
“Because I never needed any children besides you. I didn’t need them to bear me children, so why would I have an illegitimate child?”
“Is this about what you need or don’t need? This is about what exists or doesn’t exist!”
Cheng Feng remained calm. “Xiao Yu, I only have you and An An as my children. That was true before, it’s true now, and it will remain true in the future. This is the fact, the only fact.”
“Don’t evade the question. Just tell me, is Jiang Xu your son?”
“Of course not.”
“I mean biologically!” Cheng Yu said angrily. “Does he share your blood? Are you his biological father?”
“What use is blood?” Cheng Feng countered. “In this world, any relationship is mutual. Only when both parties acknowledge it does a relationship exist. I don’t recognize him as my son, therefore he isn’t my son. Similarly, even though An An has no blood relation to me, I acknowledge him, so he is my child. You don’t need to take Jiang Xu seriously, nor argue with me about him.”
“You make it sound so simple! If blood doesn’t matter, then what am I? You can certainly refuse to acknowledge him, but the law recognizes him. If you die someday, it won’t be An An sharing your inheritance with me, but your illegitimate son Jiang Xu! An An doesn’t even have household registration with our family, so how is he your child? He doesn’t even have inheritance rights! Is this your so-called ‘what use is blood’?!”
Lin An Lan hadn’t expected the conversation to turn toward him and felt awkward.
“I don’t care about that.” He told Cheng Yu. “Little Flower, those things are all yours, so I don’t care.”
“You’re overthinking this.” Cheng Feng looked at Cheng Yu. “Everything I have is yours. There’s no question of sharing. From the day you were born, I prepared a will stating that if anything happens to me, all my assets, movable and immovable, belong to you. If you’re under 18, they’ll be jointly managed by your mother and grandfather on your behalf. Once you turn 18, they’re entirely under your control.”
“How could Jiang Xu possibly have any inheritance rights, let alone equal ones? In my eyes, you are and always will be my only child, which is why I work to protect your best interests. That’s also why, after An An came to our home, I didn’t put him under my name. However, if you wish, I can add An An to our household registration. I like An An. In my heart, he’s my second favorite child after you. It’s not that he isn’t good enough; rather, I love your mother, so rationally I prefer An An, but emotionally, you are the fruit of my love with your mother, so I love you more.”
He spoke calmly and frankly. “Cheng Yu, in my life, I’ve wronged many people, including your mother, but with you, I’ve done my utmost to protect you and give you everything I can. I never wanted Jiang Xu to be born—his birth was an accident. I nearly had someone kill him, but then I thought of you, who was about the same age as Jiang Xu when he was born, so I softened momentarily and let him live until now.”
“But I’ve never seen him. Before he found me today, I had never met him once, nor had I ever inquired about him. He wanted to acknowledge me, but I rejected him without mercy, because in my heart, you are my only biological son. You won’t see him again in the future, and neither will I. We won’t see him because he shouldn’t have appeared before us in the first place.”
“What do you mean by that?” Cheng Yu asked hesitantly. “What are you planning to do?”
“Don’t worry, I don’t want to become an executioner in your eyes. Although I really have no feelings for him, I know your moral limits, and I don’t want to challenge your tolerance.”
Cheng Yu looked at him, speechless for a moment.
He felt that he hated Cheng Feng, yet Cheng Feng kept insisting that he loved him.
He thought that perhaps Cheng Feng really did love him, yet he had also hidden an illegitimate son from him.
“If you really loved my mother as much as you claim, then why did you have affairs with other women? All these years, I’ve been wondering what happened between you two. You used to be so loving, so why did things turn out this way? I wondered if you had an affair, but I didn’t want to believe it. I kept telling myself it must have been work conflicts, but you actually did have an affair and even had a child! How can you say you love me or love her?!”
Cheng Feng’s consistently calm face finally showed emotion.
After a moment of silence, he said softly, “Everyone makes mistakes, especially when young, particularly in families like ours. I did go through a period of being quite promiscuous. During that time, I loved myself more, so I indulged in pleasure—I could accept anything I liked. Later I realized my mistake, but some things couldn’t be remedied anymore. I tried very hard to make amends and hoped to succeed, but it seems the results haven’t been good. However, why can’t I say I love you and your mother? Of course I can, because these are my true feelings. I’m simply telling the truth, what’s wrong with that?”
Cheng Yu shook his head, feeling he couldn’t understand his father’s emotions. “If you loved her, you wouldn’t have cheated. The fact that you could cheat only proves you didn’t love her as much as you thought.”
“In the adult world, there’s not just love, but also sex. I loved your mother, but with other women, it was merely sexual relationships. That’s why I could cut off other women, but I wouldn’t cut off your mother. You’re still young. When you grow up, you’ll understand that sex doesn’t equal love. I did love your mother, but initially, I didn’t love her purely enough. That was my mistake, so I paid the appropriate price.”
Cheng Yu fell silent.
He didn’t know what to say. His father was so composed and unperturbed. He seemed to understand everything, see everything clearly, and had his own reasoning for everything.
He lived by his own principles, accepted his punishment, and calmly admitted his mistakes and that he had paid the price.
What more could he say?
He disliked Jiang Xu and didn’t want to accept his existence, but Jiang Xu already existed. He couldn’t make Jiang Xu disappear, so he could only accept the fact of Jiang Xu’s existence.
What was done was done, and no one could change this fact. They could only try to remedy it.
In this regard, Cheng Feng had already done everything possible, both in his attitude toward Jiang Xu and in protecting him.
So what more could he say?
What was his demand?
Cheng Yu didn’t know. He looked at his father for a long time silently before finally saying, “I will tell my mother about this. I won’t hide it from her.”
“Go ahead.”
“If she wants a divorce, I choose her.”
“She won’t divorce.” Cheng Feng said calmly. “Xiao Yu, you’re very important, not just to me, but to her as well.”
“Then I definitely won’t let her be trapped here because of me!”
Cheng Feng shook his head with a smile. “You underestimate your mother. She loves you, but she doesn’t stay married solely for your sake.”
He sighed and said gently, “Xiao Yu, don’t take this too much to heart. He doesn’t deserve it, and you don’t need to waste extra time on him.”
Cheng Yu listened to his words but couldn’t say anything in response. He thought that if Jiang Xu were here now, he would definitely be devastated. The father he wanted evaluated him like this—just like this.
Yet for himself, this was probably a gentle statement. At least, from Cheng Feng’s perspective, he was unconditionally favored.
He said nothing and turned to leave.