The mother and son finalized their meeting time in the restroom.
Jiang Nan Fang slipped onto the balcony and glanced at Xu and Zhou, who were engrossed in their meal, before quietly messaging Xu Yanchuan.
"A Chuan. Can you come to the balcony? I have something to tell you."
A moment later, Xu Yanchuan emerged.
Seeing Jiang Nan Fang's solemn expression and the fact that she was meeting him behind Zhou Jinxiu's back, he also grew serious.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Nan Fang looked at his young, handsome face.
"A Chuan, I can trust you one hundred percent, right?"
"Of course. What do you want to tell me?"
Jiang Nan Fang briefly explained that she was Zhan Bei Jue's ex-wife, that they had two children together, and that she was now preparing to leave with the children.
It took Xu Yanchuan a full minute to recover from his shock.
"I never expected your relationship to be so complicated. No wonder... But if you leave, what about my script?"
Jiang Nan Fang said, "I asked you to come out because I wanted to talk to you about this."
"I'm sorry that something like this happened right after signing the contract. I also regret not making things clear with you earlier."
"But rest assured, I won't delay the script. Once I return to Dan Country, we can communicate online. I will write out everything you need and send it to you, word for word. Distance will not compromise the quality."
Xu Yanchuan fell silent again.
After a moment of silence, he sighed and said,
"I just made a friend like you, and I was hoping for future... Never mind, since that's the case, I can only support you."
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Jinxiu is rather oblivious. I don't want him to know about these things, to avoid unnecessary complications. Please keep it a secret for me."
"Understood."
"When he falls asleep, you'll come with me to pick up the children."
Xu Yanchuan didn't hesitate: "Okay. Don't worry, I will keep your secret forever."
Zhou Jinxiu felt unwell, but he endured the pain and drank half a bowl of porridge. After taking his medicine, he quickly fell asleep.
Jiang Nan Fang tidied up the house and drove with Xu Yanchuan to the vicinity of the Zhan family villa.
After a period of waiting, they successfully picked up the two children.
The mother and children embraced and wept with joy in the car.
"The tickets are already booked. We're leaving at four in the morning. Mommy will never be separated from you again, my darlings!"
Her mental state had been poor these past few days.
Tonight was no different.
Despite drinking half a bottle of red wine, Zhan Bei Jue still couldn't fall asleep.
The words the two children had spoken to him in the study, their resentful expressions as they spoke, replayed in his mind like a movie.
Zhan Bei Jue regretted taking his anger out on the children because of adult matters.
They already lacked maternal love and had lacked a sense of security since childhood.
Now, he was about to get engaged to someone else and then scold them...
He felt immensely guilty.
After much thought, he rolled out of bed and went to Ge'er's room, intending to kiss and hug her and apologize.
However, when he entered and turned on the light, the bed was clean, and the covers were empty.
Could she have run off to sleep with her brother again?
He turned and went to Rui Rui's room.
To his surprise, Rui Rui's room was also empty.
He recalled the scene of the children talking to him in the study again.
Zhan Bei Jue only then belatedly realized something was wrong.
"Butler!" he roared in the room.
"Where are the young master and young lady? Everyone, get up! Find the young master and young lady!"
Outside the Zhan family villa, another pair of twins, identical to Rui Rui and Ge'er, alighted from a taxi, pushing their luggage.
Looking at the magnificent, brightly lit, palace-like mansion before them, they exchanged glances.
"This should be it. I wonder if Mommy is here, and if the Zhan surname recognizes us."
"Who cares. Let's knock and go in to sleep. Hotels don't rent rooms to children, and we can't sleep on the streets tonight."
The twins were the two children Jiang Nan Fang raised in Dan Country.
The elder brother was Jiang Jing Yu, and the younger sister was Jiang Jing Tian.
From childhood, while Jiang Nan Fang was building her career, they were raised and educated at home by their godmother, Tang Xueying.
Who knew that after their mother came to Nancheng on a business trip a while ago, everything changed.
As soon as their mother left, their godmother confiscated their phones and computers, claiming their mother was busy with work and the time difference between the two countries was too great, and forbade them from calling their mother.
After about a month, their godmother began selling their house, cars, perfumery studio, and factory in Dan Country.
She said that their mother had found a better job in Nancheng, and they were to sell their belongings here and move to Nancheng to live together.
However, after three months of handling everything, when all their belongings were finally sold, their godmother did not take them back to Nancheng.
Instead, she placed them in the care of a childless German couple.
"There are still some matters at the factory that haven't been handled. I'll come to pick you up once they're resolved."
Their godmother had been gone for half a month.
The middle-aged couple began to pressure them to call them Mom and Dad and took them to handle various procedures.
It was then that the two children realized that their godmother seemed to have betrayed their mother.
After selling all her assets, she had then sold her children and fled with the money.
Having grown up with their godmother,
They trusted her as if she were their own mother, only to be betrayed like this.
The two children tried to email and call Jiang Nan Fang.
But they couldn't reach her no matter what, so they had to travel across the ocean themselves to return.
Fortunately, they still had Zhan Bei Jue as a lead. Jing Yu led his sister here.
To protect personal privacy, Zhan Bei Jue did not allow surveillance cameras to be installed at home.
With the children missing, they could only conduct a manual search.
However, after searching every room thoroughly, they couldn't find the young master and young lady.
A Cheng felt ashamed.
This was the second time the young master and young lady had gone missing under their watch in the past few months.
He didn't know how to explain.
It must have been that damned woman, Jiang Nan Fang, who stole the children.
Zhan Bei Jue didn't have time to listen to A Cheng's confession and waved his hand impatiently.
"All of you, go out and search. Divide into four groups."
"You go to the docks, you go to the airport, you go to the train station, and you few come with me to Peninsula International."
"No matter what, you must find the young master and young lady within an hour!"
Everyone was fully equipped and rushed out of the villa's main entrance like a swarm.
Bright car headlights shone in a line, illuminating the two children. They instinctively squinted.
What was going on? They hadn't even knocked yet, and so many cars had come out?
Were they here to welcome them? Was Zhan Bei Jue being this polite?
As the car lights turned on, someone immediately spotted two children standing on the road in front of the gate.
Exclamations of surprise arose.
"The young master and young lady are there! Brother Cheng, look, the young master and young lady are right there!"
Whoosh.
A group of tall men in uniform ran over and surrounded the two children.
A Cheng squatted down and grabbed Jiang Jing Yu's shoulder.
"Young Master, why are you running around again? The master was frantic when he couldn't find you both. Come back with me quickly."