Chapter 454: There Must Be a Hidden Story

Lei Danyun’s comment stunned both Wang Chenning and Wu Ziyue for a moment.

“Alright then,” Wang Chenning said with a wide grin. “Figure out a way to have her retire by the end of the year and come help me run things!”

Wu Ziyue glanced at Wang Chenning, then at Lei Danyun, feeling a little conflicted.

“We’ll see when the time comes,” she replied softly.

Wang Chenning had a late-night snack with them. Before Wang Liqing and Wang Liyu got back, he also taught the two of them a couple of his self-devised combat techniques.

After finishing their late-night snack, Lei Danyun and Wu Ziyue went back to rest. 𝐟𝑟ⅇ

Wang Chenning then briefed Wang Liqing and Wang Liyu on the tasks for the next few days.

At 11:10 PM, he drove to Zhao Xiao’an’s place.

He arrived at Zhao Xiao’an’s house at exactly eleven-thirty.

“You’re so punctual!” Zhao Xiao’an said as she came to greet him, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Right on the dot!”

“I had too much to do today, so I’m pretty tired. No acupuncture for you tonight!” Wang Chenning said, pulling Zhao Xiao’an into his arms and smiling warmly at her. “But I can hold you while you sleep!”

“But I want you to give me acupuncture!” Zhao Xiao’an said, looking at Wang Chenning with a bashful expression. “We can just use… a different kind of acupuncture!”

“Well, well. I never thought the pure and innocent Miss Zhao was on the same wavelength!” Wang Chenning said, a grin spreading across his face as his eyes narrowed. “And don’t you go blaming me for corrupting you!”

Zhao Xiao’an gave Wang Chenning a pinch and then took the initiative, pulling him in for a kiss.

The waiting had also been a process of building anticipation. She was completely ready. Things could now flow naturally, with almost no prompting needed from Wang Chenning.

“Your acupuncture is simply magical!” Half an hour later, Zhao Xiao’an, her forehead beaded with sweat, snuggled into Wang Chenning’s arms and murmured tenderly, “No matter how uncomfortable I feel, it’s all gone after your treatment. I feel completely refreshed.”

Then she clung to him, making a new demand. “You have to give me acupuncture every day!”

“Every day?” Wang Chenning laughed and gave Zhao Xiao’an a light squeeze. “Aren’t you a little greedy?”

“I don’t care!” Zhao Xiao’an pouted. “I just want you to come and give me acupuncture every single day!”

In the midst of their tender moment, Zhao Xiao’an’s phone screen lit up.

A message had come in.

Zhao Xiao’an didn’t want to look at it, but Wang Chenning told her she should, in case it was a message from work about overtime. If she ignored it, she might get an earful from her boss.

Reluctantly, Zhao Xiao’an picked up her phone and saw there were several messages.

Among them were two from Zhang Guoping: “Has your brother been back recently?”

“Has he mentioned me to you?”

Zhao Xiao’an didn’t reply. After a quick glance at the other messages, she tossed her phone aside and snuggled back into Wang Chenning’s arms.

“How come you never talk about your brother?” Wang Chenning asked curiously. “Aren’t you and he full siblings?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Zhao Xiao’an gave him a pinch. “Of course he’s my real brother. It’s just… I haven’t seen him in years. I don’t even know if he’s dead or alive. Honestly, he’s felt like a stranger to me ever since we were children. Even when we were together, it never felt like we were family!”

“So that’s why you don’t like talking about him?”

“He’s practically a non-entity in my life. What’s there to say?” Zhao Xiao’an retorted, a hint of bitterness in her voice. “Even my parents say it was a waste having him as a son!”

“I bet it was your grandfather’s plan,” Wang Chenning said with a laugh. “Send him off to be trained in a certain field for a few years, let him temper his character and hone his skills, and then bring him back to take over the family business. That way, your elders can step down without any worries!”

Zhao Xiao’an paused, then nodded slightly. “That’s definitely possible. In any case, the family business would never be handed to me, and I have no interest in it anyway. Ever since I was old enough to understand, my biggest dream has been to travel the world, to see all its wonders in my lifetime, and to be a beautiful woman who is completely free and untethered!”

“Fair enough.” Wang Chenning didn’t press for details. He had a feeling there was some unpleasant history between Zhao Xiao’an and Zhao Xiaojun; otherwise, she wouldn’t be so reluctant to speak about him.

In the silence, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

‘Zhang Guoping asking Zhao Xiao’an about Zhao Xiaojun… could he suspect that Zhao Xiaojun is involved in these recent events?’

‘The more I think about it, the more likely it seems.’

Wang Chenning had learned from Lei Danyun that Zhao Xiaojun was in another secret organization—one even more mysterious than hers.

And Zhao Xiaojun was the head of a department there, no less.

From that simple piece of information, Wang Chenning could deduce that Zhao Xiaojun was a formidable individual, both in terms of his personal prowess and his organizational skills.

‘This could work out well.’ He felt a little guilty for inadvertently dragging Zhao Xiaojun into this, but this accidental bit of misdirection was yielding surprisingly good results.

‘In the struggles between the great families, the Zhao family couldn’t possibly sit on the sidelines.’

‘Letting Zhang Guoping and his people suspect that the Zhao family had secretly entered the fray, with Zhao Xiaojun making a move against them… this fortuitous misunderstanding might produce some excellent results.’

‘I’ll just have to make it up to Zhao Xiao’an and the Zhao family later!’

“Whenever your brother comes back, you should introduce us,” Wang Chenning said, steering the conversation back. “He sounds like a legendary figure. We might just hit it off.”

Zhao Xiao’an gave Wang Chenning a surprised look, but ultimately didn’t refuse. “Alright. I just hope you two don’t end up fighting.”

“If we did fight, who do you think would win?”

“I don’t know!” Zhao Xiao’an shook her head.

“And whose side would you be on?”