Chapter 331: Cen Mulin Approaches Xia Zhiyun

"What are you trying to say?"

Xia Zhiyun didn’t believe Cen Mulin had asked him here today just to spout this nonsense.

"Haven’t you ever wondered why Situ Wenze would meet with Yun Zijin alone?"

Cen Mulin didn’t spell it out. She wanted Xia Zhiyun to figure it out for himself.

’By then...’

’With a father and brother who are a bottomless pit of debt, she refused to believe the Situ Family would still accept Yun Zijin back without any reservations.’

Even though she wasn’t sure if the information was true, she’d rather be wrong a thousand times than let this one chance slip by.

She wanted to block every possible path for Yun Zijin, to ensure she would forever remain an orphan with no family to back her!

She couldn’t believe the Lu Family would truly ignore everything and let an orphan with no family backing marry into their household.

’If Lu Yunque wouldn’t marry her, then she’d better not marry anyone else either.’

Xia Zhiyun’s thoughts drifted to something, and his gaze on Cen Mulin became profound. "Miss Cen, your information network is truly impressive."

Cen Mulin didn’t answer right away. She picked up her coffee and took a sip.

"Thank you for the compliment, President Xia."

To get this information, Cen Mulin had practically emptied her savings from all these years, even selling off many of her bags and jewelry.

The saying ’money makes the world go ’round’ was an absolute truth.

"I know what you’re trying to do. But if you’re looking for a pawn, I’d advise you to drop the crooked ideas."

While the possibility of Yun Zijin being connected to the Situ family was indeed surprising, Xia Zhiyun knew better. If he dared to use Yun Zijin’s identity to approach the Situ family, the Xia Group would only go bankrupt faster.

He hadn’t forgotten what his father had told him: the incident back then, the one-night stand, had happened at a bar.

In a sense, his father had forced himself on that woman.

Putting himself in her shoes, Xia Zhiyun could imagine the woman’s helplessness when faced with someone who had forced himself on her.

’That’s probably why she abandoned Yun Zijin at an orphanage after giving birth and ran away.’

But from beginning to end, Yun Zijin was the most innocent and wronged person in this whole affair.

"Given the Xia Group’s current situation, without a major capital injection, you’re just waiting for bankruptcy. Are you really content to just sit back and watch the Xia Group go under?"

After Cen Mulin finished speaking, Xia Zhiyun fell silent.

Of course he didn’t want the Xia Group to go bankrupt. But while anyone might invest in them, the Situ family was the one family that never would.

Although Xia Zhiyun wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, he was certainly capable enough to hold the position of President of the Xia Group.

"Just think about it. Your father and someone from the Situ family had Yun Zijin. And your father is divorced now. Maybe he could marry that person from the Situ family.

After all, no matter what, they have Yun Zijin as a bridge between them.

With the Situ family as your in-laws, would you still have to worry about finding investors?"

It had to be said, Cen Mulin’s words were extremely tempting to Xia Zhiyun.

But this was all easier said than done.

Xia Zhiyun didn’t commit. "If that’s all you came to say today, you can leave."

’Even if he were to act on this, he would only discuss it with Xia Zhengguang, not Cen Mulin.’

After all she had said, Xia Zhiyun still hadn’t taken the bait. Cen Mulin was so angry her breathing grew heavy.

"Hmph! A bunch of cowards!"

Since Xia Zhiyun wasn’t biting, Cen Mulin didn’t want to waste any more time. With a cold snort, she strode out of the café on her stilettos, successfully sticking Xia Zhiyun with the bill.

After Cen Mulin left, Xia Zhiyun got up from his seat as well. But just as he reached the counter, the cashier called out to him.

"Sir, you and the young lady haven’t paid for your coffee yet."

The cashier had a sweet smile that almost dazzled Xia Zhiyun, who felt a little embarrassed.

’That Cen Mulin. She kept saying it was her treat, but in the end, she still made him pay.’

"My apologies. How much is it? I’ll pay now."

Xia Zhiyun took out his phone and pulled up his payment code.

"The total is 282," the cashier said, grabbing the scanner to process the payment.

After paying, Xia Zhiyun went straight back to the Xia Group headquarters and into Xia Zhengguang’s office.

At this time, Xia Zhengguang had just finished his meal and was busy with work.

He glanced up when Xia Zhiyun entered, then immediately lowered his head and went back to what he was doing.

"Dad, I need to talk to you about something."

Regarding the Situ family, Xia Zhiyun felt he needed to discuss it with Xia Zhengguang to decide on their next move.

"What is it?"

Seeing Xia Zhiyun’s serious expression, Xia Zhengguang finally put down his work and looked up at his son.

"The young lady from the Cen Family just met with me. She told me something about yesterday’s banquet."

"Hmph! Our family didn’t even get an invitation. What are you doing snooping around about the Situ family’s affairs?"

They’d given the Xia family a show of force right from the start. Xia Zhengguang was certain the Situ family had a problem with them.

’It’s just that they had only just returned to the country and it wasn’t wise to make enemies so openly, so they played games with the invitation list instead.’

’If anyone asked, they could just claim it was a careless oversight, and no one could say anything about it.’

’After all, they had just returned. You couldn’t expect them to remember every single family in Dijing, could you?’

"Cen Mulin told me that someone from the Situ family met with Yun Zijin alone today."

The moment Xia Zhiyun finished speaking, Xia Zhengguang’s head snapped up. "What did you say?"

’Yun Zijin actually knows people from the Situ family?’

Xia Zhengguang didn’t make the leap to thinking Yun Zijin was *a member* of the Situ family.

"Dad, the Situ family’s return this time isn’t just about expanding their domestic business. There’s another reason..."

Xia Zhengguang looked at Xia Zhiyun, gesturing for him to continue.

"Another reason the Situ family came back is to find a long-lost relative.

But as for the specific identity of the person they’re looking for, no one knows yet."

But since the Situ family had met with Yun Zijin alone, Xia Zhiyun felt it was highly likely the person they were looking for was around Yun Zijin’s age.

"What are you implying? Don’t tell me you think Yun Zijin is the person the Situ family is looking for? Impossible! Her mother had Asian features, not a single trace of being mixed-race."

This was also why Xia Zhengguang had never connected Yun Zijin to the Situ family.

"But Dad, it’s not impossible."

It was possible for a mixed-race child to inherit the features of only one parent. After all, with genetics, anything was possible.

Hearing Xia Zhiyun’s words, Xia Zhengguang grew pensive.

"I’ll look into what you’ve said. But before we have any results, you are absolutely not to make any rash moves."

’If Yun Zijin’s mother really was from the Situ family, it would indeed be an opportunity for the Xia family. But at the same time, it could also be the very thing that pushes the Xia family into bankruptcy even faster.’

’Therefore, when it came to dealing with the Situ family, they had to be careful. Extremely careful.’

"I know. I won’t do anything rash."