My Dad is My Mom's Mortal Enemy

Chapter 59: 059

Chapter 59

It must be said that photo albums are a good thing. Rêạd new chapters on

As it turned out, Cheng Jinlan didn't like to smile since he was little. Even when he was just born, he was like a little adult, with an indifferent expression on his chubby face. Although it was not cute, it was a little cute in that aloofness. Shao Chengze's mouth corner involuntarily turned up.

"Dad was so cute as a baby," Cheng LiQi said as she reached out and touched the chubby little face in the photo. "He would have been even cuter if he smiled."

She continued flipping through the photo album. Under the bright lights, the air suddenly froze. Cheng LiQi pointed to a photo and uncertainly asked Lv Siwei, "Grandma, is this Dad?"

Lv Siwei suppressed her laugh and nodded.

Shao Chengze picked a grape from the fruit platter and put it in his mouth, slowly and carefully chewing it, not wanting his smile to be too obvious.

His slick black hair was reluctantly pulled into two little pigtails tied with big red bows. His neat bangs covered his full forehead. The red dot in the center of his eyebrows stood out vibrantly and pleasingly against his fair skin. The red cheongsam was slit open all the way up to the thigh, revealing two chubby little legs.

With such a cute outfit, his small face was still extremely serious. He stared at the camera impatiently, the contrast was obvious, making it difficult not to laugh.

Cheng LiQi first covered her mouth and chuckled softly, then later she couldn't hold it in anymore. Her clear laughter filled the living room as she called to the kitchen, "Dad, you looked so pretty in a cheongsam!"

Shao Yunzheng poked his head out from the kitchen and looked at someone's drooping mouth corners. Feeling moved, since this could make her so happy, he simply went with it, "Little LiQi, if you keep turning the pages, you'll find even prettier looks of Dad."

Before Shao Chengze turned three, Lv Siwei enjoyed dressing him up as a little girl for a period of time. As a baby, he neither liked to laugh nor cry. Every day after eating his fill, he would just lie in bed or sit in a rocking chair, staring blankly as if in a daze, or seeming to contemplate his three-year-old life. This baby's days were a little boring, so Lv Siwei wanted to find some fun things for him to do. Unfortunately, no matter how she tried, she couldn't change his cold poker face, wasted his good looks.

After returning from her dad's house, Cheng LiQi slept with a smile still on her face. Her lips in her sleep would murmur indistinctly like a little kitten from time to time, laughing out soft mews, probably dreaming of the pretty sides of Dad.

Shao Chengze squatted by the bed watching his daughter for a long time before leaving. Cheng Jinlan sat cross-legged on the sofa reading a notebook. Seeing him come out, she put the notebook down and hooked her pinky with his extended finger, slowly enveloping her whole hand in his palm.

"I'm going on a business trip tomorrow. It'll probably be half a month. I have to visit all the major domestic and overseas subsidiaries, so it'll take some time. I'll be back a couple days before LiQi's birthday."

Cheng Jinlan nodded to show she understood. As the saying goes, the courtier must change with the sovereign. He had just fully taken over his grandfather's position, so he would inevitably have to inspect all the group's subordinate companies. His days probably wouldn't be easy for a while.

Shao Chengze was not very satisfied with her attitude. A day apart felt like three autumns. Half a month's time was practically half a lifetime. He hadn't even gotten on the plane yet but already felt the time apart would be hard to endure. She didn't seem to care much that he was going on a business trip.

He squeezed the softness in his palm. "Don't you even say you'll miss me?"

Cheng Jinlan leaned back against the sofa. "I have an important event at the hotel the day after tomorrow that I'll be very busy with the next few days. After it ends, I plan to take LiQi out to play for a few days to escape this deadly hot weather. I probably won't have much time to think of you."

...Shao Chengze wondered if he could postpone this business trip.

Cheng Jinlan saw through his thoughts. "You can't go even if you don't go on the trip. My mom's going too."

Shao Chengze pulled her from the sofa onto his lap. "If I just call her Mother-in-law, do you think she won't hit me?"

Cheng Jinlan lazily draped her arms around his neck, looking at him mockingly. "If you can dress up like in the photo, in a cheongsam, and call her that, I think my mom wouldn't be able to lay a hand on you."

If it made his mother-in-law happy, he supposed he could do it. But that wasn't important right now. He bit her ear. "Did a lot of people write you love letters when you were in school?"

Cheng Jinlan thought seriously about the question and gave a serious answer. "Not a lot...about one a day, I guess."

Could a sentence explode a beehive? Shao Chengze didn't know, but a sentence could definitely explode a vat of vinegar.

Gasping for breath, she dodged his approaching lips. Grabbing his ear, she asked, "Shouldn't you reflect on why you never wrote me a love letter?"

Shao Chengze was stunned for a second, feeling her question was right on target.

Cheng Jinlan turned back around.

Wu Jingyao gave a cold laugh. "Don't believe me? Just you wait. One day he will destroy your Cheng family. He's ruthless and scheming. You think he loves you? How wrong you are. All he will bring you is ruin."

Cheng Jinlan looked Wu Jingyao up and down. "Mrs. Wu, coming to a hotel at this time...are you getting a divorce or has the Shao family kicked you out?"

"You!" Wu Jingyao pointed a finger at her.

Cheng Jinlan had just taken a random guess, but it seemed she had hit the mark, judging from Wu Jingyao's reaction. She smiled mockingly. "So mind your own business. Our affairs are none of your concern. As for adulterous relationships, I believe you are the one who intruded into someone else's marriage and had an affair with a married man. You are hardly in a position to judge others when you have committed the same acts. Think about whether you even have the right to say those things before you open your mouth."

Wu Jingyao was so angry her heavily powdered face turned red under its thick layer of makeup. But she had no retort against Cheng Jinlan.

It was true that Shao Yunzheng wanted a divorce. Wu Jingyao had moved out to show she had backbone, but more so because she wanted to play hard to get. However, Shao Yunzheng was determined to divorce her, and didn't care whether she lived or died.

Shao Zhangke didn't know what had happened between his parents. He couldn't understand why two people their age would be getting divorced. He kept shuttling back and forth, trying to persuade them to reconcile. Of course Shao Zhangke didn't want them to split up. With his shares in the Shao Corporation gone, if his mother divorced his father too, how would he keep his foothold there? How would he get money to support all his mistresses?

But divorce was no longer Wu Jingyao's decision to make. All she could do now was hire the best legal team possible to win a decent settlement in the division of assets, but that would be difficult. She knew Shao Chengze had recordings that left her almost no room to turn things around. Running into Cheng Jinlan today, she had wanted to cause problems for Shao Chengze, but instead ended up humiliating herself.

As soon as Cheng Jinlan got into the car, she received an overseas call from Shao Chengze. She answered and lazily asked, "Are you having me followed, or keeping tabs on Wu Jingyao?"

He had messaged her earlier saying his meeting still had over half an hour to go. Now this urgent call could only mean he had received some news on his end.

Shao Chengze paused. He hadn't expected her to be so perceptive and figure out his reason for calling before he even said anything. "Following Wu Jingyao," he admitted, "to prevent any other tricks from her."

"Oh."

Cheng Jinlan wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder, then reached up to remove the hairpin from her updo. Her inky black tresses tumbled down over her shoulders. She ran her fingers through the strands in a rough comb, then settled back against the seat. The wine reception hadn't been tiring, but days of intense work had left her nerves strained.

"What did she say to you?" Shao Chengze knew Wu Jingyao's words were unlikely to be pleasant.

Cheng Jinlan gave him a summary of what Wu Jingyao had said, including the claim that he was with Cheng Jinlan to get revenge on the Cheng family and swallow them up.

"Do you believe what she said?" Maybe it was Shao Chengze's imagination, but with him unable to see her expression, her tone sounded a little distant.

Cheng Jinlan turned to look out at the passing cars and pedestrians, her attention still focused on the phone. "You called so urgently just to explain to me, so I'm waiting for your explanation."

It was as if Shao Chengze sensed something. He asked tentatively, "If I explain, you'll believe me?"

"Mm."

"Really?"

"What's with the 'really'? Of course I'll believe your words over hers."

The phone went silent, the only sound their breathing. Cheng Jinlan found the wordless quiet comfortable too.

"Miaomiao," Shao Chengze murmured softly.

She lazily responded, "Hmm?"

He sighed. "I want to kiss you. What should I do?"

Cheng Jinlan retorted impatiently, "Go soak your head!"