Chapter 398: Mother and Daughter Reunited

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

Occasionally, she would envy those families with loving parents, occasionally, she would feel that children with parents are truly fortunate. But she has also witnessed families torn apart over petty gains, so she no longer envies.

Being free from attachments is quite nice, she has faced danger her entire life, and in death, she won’t need to worry about a final resting place or someone grieving for her. When she dies, her ashes will be scattered into the sea, free from any attachments, and that’s quite nice too.

Suddenly, she had a mother.

Qin Wan bowed her head to eat her noodles, occasionally glancing at Dr. North. They had no resemblance whatsoever, so why were they mother and daughter? They didn’t look alike, and there are plenty of kids in the world who don’t resemble their parents.

Should she… get a blood test done?

What if she had made a mistake?

It’s best not to be presumptuous; the other person might not want to acknowledge her. In that case, so be it.

Qin Wan was raised well by Jiang Junlin, she was open-minded and rational. She knew a bit about Dr. North’s situation. She had barely survived back then while trying to escape from Chen Geng. If she had managed to survive, that was already fortunate.

Thinking about the fact that her father was Chen Geng, Qin Wan felt awful!

So, she didn’t harbor any hatred towards Dr. North, not a shred of it. She just felt awkward. If Jiang Junlin turned out to be Chen Geng and had raised her, mistreated her, and oppressed her since childhood, it would be better not to even think about it. Giving birth to his children? What kind of dream would that be?

So, she should probably thank her lucky stars for being born.

“Do you have any questions for me?”

“I’ve never encountered a situation like this in my life… so… should we do a paternity test first?” Qin Wan asked directly, “Just to be sure?”

Dr. North chuckled, “No need, your identity has long been confirmed.”

“Oh…” Qin Wan thought, if the master has confirmed it, then there shouldn’t be any mistakes. She said, “Actually, I don’t have much to ask. I’ve seen your information. I can understand if you abandoned me. If 1 had to face the child of an enemy every day, even if 1 gave birth to them myself, it would be heartbreaking. At least, spare me a way out; that would be fine.”

Dr. North’s eyes welled up with tears unexpectedly. She hadn’t expected Qin Wan to think like this.

She chuckled self-deprecatingly, not blaming Qin Wan. After all, she had never acknowledged Qin Wan as her daughter and had even exchanged harsh words with her. It wasn’t fair to blame her.

“Back in the classroom, I spoke harshly to you without knowing that you had followed the Master. At that time, Chen Rush! was in A City, searching for you everywhere. I was afraid of arousing her suspicion, so I was prepared not to acknowledge you. If Chen Rushi had known your identity, it wouldn’t have been beneficial for you. Plus, you got admitted to A University, which promised a bright future for you. I wanted you to have a smooth life. I had Pei Qiuying take you to the orphanage as a preparation for the worst, in case I had to go down the same path as Chen Geng. I didn’t want you to grow up in the Chen family; it was a den of wolves, and Chen Rushi wouldn’t have treated you well. It wasn’t my intention to abandon you,” Dr. North explained, not trying to portray herself as benevolent but wanting Qin Wan to know the truth. “I wanted to protect you.”

Qin Wan’s heart trembled. Although she had told herself not to hate, not to resent, and not to expect, knowing that Dr. North was protecting her, not intentionally abandoning her, made Qin Wan happy.

“I understand,” Qin Wan took a deep breath and said softly, “Although we are mother and daughter by blood, we never really knew each other from a young age, and we’ve grown distant. I may not be able to treat you like a real mother, like how Guci views you, but 1 promise I will take care of you in your old age.”

That was the best she could do.

Dr. North couldn’t help but smile and sigh. Their mother-daughter reunion wasn’t earth-shattering; it was just a regular meal. Qin Wan didn’t blame her, but she also didn’t draw close to her.

Dr. North felt a bit melancholic, but it was a satisfying outcome.

“I can’t believe I’m Chen Rushi’s younger sister, it’s just…”

Dr. North hesitated, and Qin Wan, fearing she might bring up painful memories, quickly interjected, “It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. I’m not that eager to know.”

“Your dad isn’t Chen Geng,”

Qin Wan was so shocked that she almost choked on her food. She blurted out, “That’s great! So, who is he?”

But Dr. North remained silent, leaving Qin Wan to speculate. Could there be some hidden secret? Qin Wan quickly waved her hand and said, “It’s okay if you don’t want to say. Actually, I’m not that eager to know.”

Suddenly having a mother had already left her feeling overwhelmed, and the thought of uncovering a father figure was even more daunting. It might be better not to dig too deep into this. She had been through enough.

After finishing her meal, she left and immediately turned to Jiang Junlin, saying, “My dad isn’t Chen Geng, thank goodness! Did she have any close male friends back then?”

“Did she not mention anything?”

“I sensed that she was feeling quite upset, so 1 didn’t push it,” Qin Wan, who had been living under someone else’s roof for many years, had become very perceptive. “1 want to know, but I also don’t want to know.”

“Want me to help investigate?”

“Forget it,” Qin Wan sighed, “It’s been twenty years. Either he’s dead or alive, married, and has children. Accepting him as my father might not be a big deal, but if he comes with any unexpected siblings, that would be troublesome.” Jiang Junlin couldn’t help but chuckle. “This is your personal matter. If you want to investigate, I can send someone to do it. If you don’t want to, I won’t pry. But I suggest you consider talking to her yourself.”

“Okay… for now, let’s leave it at that. I’m not really interested in knowing at the moment.” Qin Wan hung up the phone, feeling free and unburdened, with no one to answer to.

Meanwhile, Jiang Junlin was carefully examining a painting and recording the hidden information within it. Zhang Qiang stood guard, not allowing anyone to approach. Jiang Junlin was personally handling this matter.

Zhang Qiang asked, “Master, why did they risk sending the evidence to Black Hawk for protection? We went through so much trouble to retrieve it. You and Third Master agreed to cooperate. If they find out, things might get complicated.”

Jiang Junlin replied indifferently, “No need to worry. Qin Wan is cautious in her actions, and they won’t be able to find any clues. Even if they investigate the origins of these items, they won’t find anything.”

After extracting all the hidden information from the painting, Jiang Junlin rolled it up and handed it to Zhang Qiang. “Wipe all the fingerprints off the artifacts and send them to the black market. Spread the news to Black Hawk.” “What if they manage to extract the information?”

“The information hidden in the painting, only 1 understand its meaning,” Jiang Junlin removed his glasses and rubbed his temples. He had been studying the painting for nearly five hours. “Do it discreetly and keep our connections separate.”

“Why return it to Black Hawk? They have the items; they should handle the insurance claim. In any case, they’re the ones who will suffer the loss.”

“Lu Zhiyuan is very clever. Even though we’ve kept things clean, we can’t guarantee that their ongoing investigation won’t go awry. Returning it to them is a strategic move, looking at the bigger picture to avoid small losses.” “Understood.”

The artifacts made their way to the black market and, within three hours, ended up back in Rong Li’s possession.

Ji chi rested his chin on his hand and asked, “Third Master, how do we explain this? I didn’t understand it.”

Lu Zhiyuan looked at the perfectly intact items before him, and truth be told, he didn’t understand either..