"The results confirm no blood relation" was printed on the last line of the report. Mu Linjing stared at it for a long time, still feeling uncertain.
"Yu Meng, this child isn't Zhan Yichen's?"
Only after Wei Yu Meng nodded did she finally relax completely, leaning against the wall. She didn't know if she was crying or laughing. After all this commotion, the child had no relation to Zhan Yichen.
She wiped the uncontrollable tears from her face. "Does he know about this?"
Wei Yu Meng shook her head. "Only the two of us know about this. Qiao Ningzhi herself doesn't know."
Recalling her previous experience, she had been careful this time. She cajoled the doctor extensively until he finally agreed to secretly perform the test.
She hadn't expected such a rare occurrence to happen to her. Fortunately, she had asked the doctor to run the test, otherwise, Zhan Yichen would have continued to bear the blame for who knows how long.
Mu Linjing immediately called Zhan Yichen. The phone rang for a long time, and it was only when it was about to hang up that Zhan Yichen answered.
Mu Linjing just told him to come back without explaining why. This made Zhan Yichen, who already didn't know how to face her, even more flustered.
Thinking that she might ask why she hadn't taken Qiao Ningzhi to have the child aborted, he conjured many explanations, some true, some false, but finally felt none of them were quite right.
Mulling over his thoughts, he slowed down his car as much as possible, but eventually arrived at Wei Yu Meng's place.
At the door, he couldn't muster the courage to ring the doorbell. He hesitated for a long time outside, while the two women inside waited and waited, wondering where he had gone so far to take so long to arrive.
Zhan Yichen lingered outside for a long time, and finally decided to ring the doorbell. No matter what, he had to face it.
However, he hadn't expected that when Mu Linjing opened the door, she would have shed her previous dejection and actually be smiling.
He froze on the spot, unable to imagine what good news could make Mu Linjing smile.
Wei Yu Meng slipped the test report into his hand. "Take a good look, you'll be very happy too."
Zhan Yichen's expression was even more astonished. This child wasn't his, which meant he hadn't even touched Qiao Ningzhi that day?
Such a surprise came too suddenly. He couldn't recover from the shock for a long time.
Mu Linjing took the report and sighed with relief. "So, should we tell Qiao Ningzhi now?"
In truth, they were all conflicted about this decision. Now, Qiao Ningzhi believed the child was Zhan Yichen's. Regardless of anything else, it would at least identify someone.
But telling her now that the child had no relation to Zhan Yichen, and that someone else had been with her that day, and that person was still unknown, would be a huge blow to Qiao Ningzhi.
Her child's father was unknown, yet she couldn't abort it. She could only give birth to it, and later be criticized by the world as an illegitimate child with an unknown father.
Such pain would be terrible for both mother and child.
Even though they considered this, Mu Linjing asked herself if she was that noble, to conceal the truth from them to prevent the mother and son from being criticized, even to the extent of giving Zhan Yichen away.
She pitied Qiao Ningzhi for her predicament, being an unwitting pawn in their conflict with Wen Yulan. But this didn't mean she could be magnanimous enough to indulge Qiao Ningzhi in everything as compensation.
Of course, given Qiao Ningzhi's character, she wouldn't accept such charity.
Zhan Yichen and Wei Yu Meng had the same considerations. Moreover, Wei Yu Meng had acted without Qiao Ningzhi's consent. Now that this result had appeared, it had become a headache for them, fearing Qiao Ningzhi's inability to accept it.
For a moment, they were at an impasse again. The initial joy had faded, and the three fell silent once more.
After much thought, Zhan Yichen decided to start with the masked man from that day. Based on his analysis, this person was not weak. He had investigated for so long without finding anything, indicating that besides being intelligent, the person also had considerable financial backing.
Otherwise, how could they have evaded his repeated investigations?
With the understanding that this child was not Zhan Yichen's, a heavy stone that had been weighing on Mu Linjing's heart was finally lifted. She hadn't felt this relieved in over a month.
This conspiracy and misunderstanding, from beginning to end, was finally coming to a close, and she could wholeheartedly accept Zhan Yichen.
It was a pity for Qiao Ningzhi, who was the most undeserving of harm in this matter. She was innocent, and it was only because the flames of war between them and Wen Yulan had involved others. Even if Wen Yulan had done wrong, Qiao Ningzhi was ultimately implicated.
All they could do was try their best to help Qiao Ningzhi uncover the child's true parentage.
Zhan Yichen had been investigating these past few days, and Mu Linjing had not been idle either. Besides focusing on her own work, she had also begun to interact with Qiao Ningzhi.
From the outset, they had been labeled as love rivals, but in reality, these two women didn't know each other at all, and the supposed rivalry was purely baseless.
After a few days of interaction, Mu Linjing found that Qiao Ningzhi's temperament and personality were very much to her liking. If not for Wen Yulan's preconceived notions, perhaps they could have become good friends.
One day, as the two women were having dinner together, Qiao Ningzhi suddenly spoke, "Miss Mu, you have something you want to tell me, don't you?"
She had long since noticed that Mu Linjing wasn't simply seeking to get acquainted with her, or rather, she had come with a purpose.
Mu Linjing, seeing that she had been found out, didn't panic. She just smiled. "Miss Qiao is indeed intelligent."
Her purpose was indeed not simple. She wanted to test Qiao Ningzhi's attitude to decide whether to reveal the child's parentage to her now.
Qiao Ningzhi was direct. "Miss Mu, just say what you want to say. We've gotten to know each other a bit. You should be able to see that I have no intention of getting involved with Young Master Zhan. Even if this child cannot be aborted, I will not ask Young Master Zhan to be responsible for us. I know the only person in his heart is you."
This point had already been clearly expressed when she was at Wei Yu Meng's house.
Mu Linjing nodded, took out the test report she had been carrying for several days from her bag, and said, "I understand Miss Qiao's character, but what I am about to tell you will greatly surprise you. You need to be mentally prepared."
Qiao Ningzhi, not understanding, took the report. "What is this?"
"I'm very sorry, but Yu Meng, without your consent, asked the hospital to perform a paternity test between your unborn child and Yichen. The results surprised us all."