“Your move was truly devious!”

Xia Xiaolan gave a thumbs up.

Xu Changle didn’t think he was particularly clever:

“Aunt Cynthia genuinely cares about Tina. Although she and Uncle Ivan are facing some difficulties, as the Chinese saying goes, ‘a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.’ They wouldn’t need to touch Tina’s money… If things were truly that desperate, even Tina’s 20 million dollars wouldn’t help the situation.”

While 20 million dollars was an astronomical sum for ordinary people, for the Wilson family, it might just be a moderate investment.

If Cynthia and Old Ivan were facing total defeat against Harold, 20 million dollars couldn’t turn the tide.

Xia Xiaolan recalled Mrs. Wilson’s harsh words outside Kennedy Airport… She and Mrs. Wilson truly had clashing personalities. Their interactions had been calculated from the start. Not understanding why they were so warm towards her, Xia Xiaolan remained wary of unreasonable situations.

“You’re right, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. This couple won’t easily lose their fortune.”

If nothing else, Mrs. Wilson still owned a theater on Broadway.

Xu Changle was at peace with the situation. Once the lawyer arrived tomorrow and the trust agreement was signed, it wouldn’t matter whether Tina followed him back to Beijing for the Spring Festival.

As for Xia Xiaolan, knowing that Ji Ya’s two potential sources of loans were cut off gave her great satisfaction.

…

Tina ran out in one breath, reaching the hotel entrance.

The large outdoor swimming pool sparkled in the light.

If it weren’t late January, Tina would have wanted to swim. While Pengcheng’s winter wasn’t particularly cold, it still wasn’t suitable for outdoor swimming.

Xu Changle said Ji Jiangyuan was a good person, and Tina felt the same way.

Ji Jiangyuan reminded her of a more cheerful version of ‘Brother Farn’ before everything changed, so although she disliked Ji Ya, she enjoyed talking with Ji Jiangyuan.

Staring at the shimmering pool, Tina zoned out for a while.

“Ji Jiangyuan, if you were me, what would you do?”

Ji Jiangyuan thought for a moment, “You should know that your brother and I get along well. If you’re asking my opinion, I’ll speak on his behalf.”

Tina’s eyes widened – how could someone be like this?

“Can’t you just tell me what I want to hear?!”

“Do you want me to lie to comfort you? Adults often lie to children, but I think anyone over 18 should be able to handle the truth.”

Tina couldn’t help nodding, “You’re right. I hate it most when people lie to me.”

She could no longer distinguish truth from lies.

She was 19 this year.

But the first 18 years of her life had been wrapped in an enormous lie.

Ji Jiangyuan pointed to the hotel’s front steps, “Let’s sit down. I’ll tell you my story.”

The Nanhai Hotel’s steps weren’t dirty, but sitting directly on them didn’t seem quite proper… Never mind, she would live as she wanted. She wasn’t a child anymore, no one could control her. If she wanted to sit, she would!

Tina sat on the steps with Ji Jiangyuan.

This had nothing to do with romance; it was more like mutual comfort and support. Ji Jiangyuan saw his reflection in Tina.

“When you heard Xia Xiaolan was looking for your brother, you rushed down angrily. Do you hate her?”

Tina nodded firmly, “Why should I like her? I once wanted to be her friend, but she deceived me. She approached me not because she valued me as a person, but because… anyway, her intentions weren’t pure. She used me!”

Tina was fuming. Ji Jiangyuan couldn’t help smiling – she had truly been too protected, completely like a child.

“Let me ask you something – you can choose to answer or not. If Xia Xiaolan had impure motives for associating with you, why did you want to be friends with her? I assume you don’t lack for friends.”

Ji Jiangyuan’s question hit the mark.

Xia Xiaolan had approached Tina to investigate the Xu family matters.

Conversely, Tina had done so because she was developing feelings for Harold and noticed Harold liked Xia Xiaolan. She wanted to understand her ‘rival.’

“Ji Jiangyuan, are you trying to comfort me? Why do I feel like you’re just making me angry?”

Ji Jiangyuan didn’t push too hard, “Alright, let’s not talk about Xia Xiaolan. How about I tell you a story?”

Ji Jiangyuan told his own story.

He had a neurotic birth mother.

Although he’d forgotten much of his early childhood due to difficulties adjusting to life in America, seeing other children with fathers made him desperately want a “father” too.

“Whenever I brought up this topic, my mom would become furious. You couldn’t tell from her appearance just how bad her temper was – only those who lived with her knew how painful it could be. Of course, there were happy times too, but when I recall my childhood, most memories are in shades of gray, very depressing.”

At this point, Tina felt very sympathetic towards him.

The Ji Ya he described was completely different from the Ji Ya that Tina and others knew.

Thinking about herself, Tina had been cherished by her whole family. Before learning the truth, she had lived very happily.

This made Tina look at Ji Jiangyuan with sympathy:

“So do you hate her now?”

Ji Jiangyuan nodded:

“Yes, I hate her. Not for her mood swings or mental pressure on me, but because she made choices for me when I couldn’t choose myself, completely removing the role of ‘father’ from my life! When I was a bit older, she told me I was abandoned by my birth father – abandoned both emotionally and materially, that my father wanted nothing to do with me… But you can probably guess, she was lying. When she divorced my birth father, she gained custody and took me to America, completely isolating me.”

Ah, traveling between China and America seemed very troublesome.

Ji Jiangyuan seemed to know what she was thinking, “Now China has Reform and Opening Up, Chinese people can find ways to go to America, but a few years ago, very few Chinese could go to America – it was extremely difficult. Only after returning to China did I learn my mom had lied about everything. She and everyone in the Ji family conspired to deceive me. They were good to me, but they lied to me. Can you understand that feeling?”

Tina nodded vigorously: “I can understand.”

Cui Yiru, Zhang Jiandong, and Xu Changle – all three had been very good to her, but without exception, they had chosen to deceive her.

Cui Yiru and Zhang Jiandong were dead; Tina couldn’t even argue with them anymore.

This anger could only fall on her brother Xu Changle!

She was angry that he had deceived her, but also angry that he didn’t deceive her forever – who stops halfway to tell the truth? How could she accept that?

“…But after returning to China, you could make your own choices, right?”

Tina looked at Ji Jiangyuan with hope.

She hoped Ji Jiangyuan could correct Ji Ya’s mistakes, return home, and clear up misunderstandings with his birth father – movies always ended with such happy reunions!