Chapter 45 - Cunning grandfather

Jing Lihua climbed back into Zhao Liying van and traveled back to her apartment. On her way, she was preoccupied with the thoughts of this mysterious 'Mr. Li'. Zhao Liying had already escaped after selling her off.

"Where were you?" An angry voice rang out from her back when she closed the door after entering her apartment.

"In the hospital, of course," Jing Lihua turned and said calmly "To get the check-ups"

"If you intended to go to the hospital, why would you try to trick the guards?"

"You were asleep. I thought you must be tired from looking after me the whole morning so I didn't want to wake you up. I knew that the guards wouldn't let me leave on my own. Grandfather, I was so thoughtful about you and you are suspecting me?" She sounded as if she was being wronged.

Jing Lihua took out her phone. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. So I took a photo." She showed him. Even then the crease on his face didn't lessen, let alone vanish.

"Grandfather?"

"Why don't you understand Xiao Lizhi, you are the only one I'm left with. After I lost your mother, the concern for your safety has given me countless sleepless nights. You've no idea how important you are for me. If something happens to you, I'll never be able to forgive myself... nor your mother. Do you think I don't know what happened at the restaurant? Someone tried to poison you before the assassination happened that place. Someone is out there to kill you. And while we don't know yet who is he, forget about telling your grandfather about it, you recklessly go out in open?"

Jing Lihua halted and looked at her grandfather. He was truly worried. When did her grandfather discover it? If he had known it since he arrived here, he would have never let her leave. Jing Lihua concluded he must have discovered recently.

"Grandfather. It was so sudden. I was going to tell you"

"When?"

Jing Lihua took a deep breath "It was Uncle Huang. I've confirmed it. I didn't want to tell you because I knew how much you liked your nephew. I didn't want to hurt you"

Tang Liuwei looked truly shocked. He fell numbly on the sofa. It seemed that there wasn't anyone he could trust; not even the closest family. He smiled bitterly and looked at his granddaughter. Strangely, at that time she reminded him of his daughter... Tang Yuyan. "You found out all by yourself? You didn't care to involve your elder? I see you think you have grown up enough to discard your grandfather." His eyes didn't hold any anger. Instead, they had a hint of proud in them.

"Don't say that grandfather. I know you are saying this because you are worried about my safety. But nothing will happen to me. If someone dares to harm me, I know how to pay them back a hundred times"

Tang Liuwei laughed; his expressions loosened up. "Just like your mother. Fiesty and untamable." Tang Liwei's eyes clouded for a second as he indulged himself in the memories of the past, "She wouldn't listen to whatever I said. She would always follow her heart. Just like your grandmother before her. Her blood runs through you all. You are her granddaughter after all"

"Was grandmother like me?" Jing Lihua eagerly asked but in reality, she wanted to avert her grandfather's thoughts from interrogating her further.

"Just like you. Back in those days, it was rare for women to take hold of the office. But she wouldn't listen to her father or me. She was a determined and confident woman. If I say that the current rank of our enterprise is because of her, it won't be wrong"

"Grandfather, I've seen the photos of grandmother. She didn't have green eyes. Where did my mother inherit her eye's from?" Jing Lihua said casually as she walked away to put her coat down. All the while, she was intently looking at her grandfather's expressions through the corner of her eyes.

"Your great-grandmother. She had green eyes." Tang Liuwei's voice was gruff, his answer was curt implying he didn't want to discuss this matter further.

Jing Lihua decided to press her luck and continued further cautiously. "So my mother had them from her grandmother? Must be very rare."

His face twitched for a second. If she wasn't so vigilant, she would have missed it.

"Xiao Lizi" Tang Liuwei's gaze looked reluctant "You'll always be my granddaughter. No matter what you discover. Keep it in your heart that I've only one granddaughter and that is you"

"What are you implying, grandfather? Is there something I don't know"

Tang Liuwei looked away. He laughed and looked back at his granddaughter with sharp eyes. "Good trick my little pear. You were trying to make me forget about your sneaking away by using your grandmother's name? Your grandmother would have been flattered if she knew that her name could be used as such after her death."

Jing Lihua realized that her grandfather knew something that he was meticulously hiding. That was the reason he changed the topic. After that, Jing Lihua tried several angles to make him tell the truth; at least give her some hints. But he efficiently countered her with his 'smooth' responses. Frustrated, Jing Lihua gave up with a humph while her grandfather laughed at her silliness. Jing Lihua didn't want to go for it but she also wanted the truth. So she decided to ask Heng Bingwen to check her DNA; to see whether if she was a Tang or not.

She remembered in her last life Jing Tian had come up with the reports that Jing Lihua wasn't actually a Tang. With that proof, they had stirred up the trouble and conspired against her; making her deprive of her position as the President. Once the corporate had landed in Tang Huang's hands, the real decline started. After that, it just took two years for Su Liwei to make her empire go bankrupt and he emerged as the sole most powerful entity in Beijing. And the Su family; the most powerful family.

Jing Lihua's thoughts were interrupted when she heard multiple notification sounds from her phone. After placating her grandfather, she entered her room to make out what was happening. The internet population had gone into a frenzy when the video was released. The media had been kept in silence since this morning by Su Lanfen's father. But after the video, the media had broken its temporary silence. The Su family was incapable of controlling the media.

Jing Lihua traced down the source of all that frenzy. The video was shared countless times. Su Lanfen's account, that used to be full of praises and admiration, was now full of insults. Jing Lihua sighed and put away her phone. She wouldn't be that pathetic to read and laugh at those insults. She knew that those netizens could be very vicious when it came to insults.

Moreover, the slanders of celebrities were only a fleeting matter. In a week or two, t would become the fleeting memory of past; totally forgotten and meaningless.

The next day, her grandfather continued to nanny her. Only once their family doctor arrived from his farmhouse, checked Jing Lihua and told her grandfather that she was perfectly healthy; her grandfather stopped being her nanny. After that, she somehow managed to convince him to let her have a quick trip to her office with an entourage of bulky bodyguards.

After assigning the new task to Heng Bingwen, she proceeded to her office. But what she didn't know was that an unexpected news waited for her.

"President Jing, this morning I received a call from Mr. Li personal secretary"