5: Chapter 5 I am the father of your child

The early morning in Jiangcheng, the mist had not yet dispersed.

Chen Fan sat on that dilapidated single bed, having not slept all night, his eyes bloodshot from exhaustion.

The phone screen was lit up, displaying a file that zero had just transmitted.

The background was a glaring white, and the bold black characters in the center struck his heart like a heavy hammer.

【DNA Paternity Test Report】

He slid his trembling finger to the very bottom.

【Identification Conclusion: Based on the DNA analysis results, it supports that Sample A (Chen Fan) is the biological father of Sample B (Su Muyang) and Sample C (Su Nianyao).】

【Probability of Paternity: 99.9999%.】

Chen Fan stared fixedly at that number, a "gurgling" sound emerging from his throat, as if someone had choked him.

It was real.

Those two children were truly his own flesh and blood!

He was no longer alone in this world; he had a son and a daughter!

After the immense ecstasy came an overwhelming sense of guilt, drowning him like a tidal wave.

Nineteen years.

Su Wanqing had been raising two children all by herself; how had she managed to survive?

Where was he when the children were sick?

Where was he when the children were mocked by classmates for not having a father?

And where was he when Su Wanqing was being harassed at the night market over a few dollars?

"Snap!"

Chen Fan slapped himself hard across the face.

His cheek burned with pain, but it didn't even amount to one ten-thousandth of the pain in his heart.

"zero."

Chen Fan stood up, stuffed those few tattered clothes into the trash can, his gaze more resolute than ever before.

"Book the earliest flight to Yunzhou."

"Also, look up Su Wanqing's current address."

zero's cold voice responded immediately: "Locked. Fenglinwan Residential Area in Yunzhou City, Building 4, Room 401. That is an old residential complex from twenty years ago, with no elevator."

"Check if the apartment opposite 401 is occupied."

"Room 402 is currently vacant. The landlord has listed it for sale for half a year, but it hasn't sold due to a leaking roof on the top floor. The asking price is 850,000."

Chen Fan did not hesitate in the slightest.

"Contact the landlord; I want to buy it. Tell him I'll pay one million, full payment, and I want the keys and the property deed right now. The only condition is to close the deal immediately."

11:00 AM, Yunzhou.

Fenglinwan Residential Area was a collection of drab six-story slab buildings, with peeling wall plaster revealing the red bricks underneath.

The stairwell was piled high with cardboard boxes and discarded furniture, and the air was filled with a musty, stale odor mixed with the smell of cooking fumes.

Chen Fan stood before the mottled security door of 401.

A faded "Fu" character was pasted on the door, its edges curled, looking exceptionally desolate.

He took a deep breath, straightened his newly purchased cheap shirt, and raised his hand to knock on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of slippers dragging across the floor came from inside.

"Who is it? Didn't we just pay the water bill?"

The voice was slightly hoarse, laced with exhaustion.

Click.

The old-fashioned iron security gate was pulled open, revealing a face devoid of makeup.

Su Wanqing was wearing an oversized, wash-worn T-shirt, her hair tied up casually, and she was still holding a bunch of chives she had been trimming halfway through.

Their eyes met.

The air seemed to freeze in that second.

The chives in Su Wanqing's hand dropped to the ground, green juice splattering onto the concrete floor.

Her pupils, previously calm, contracted violently, as if she had seen some incredible monster.

Shock, astonishment, and then, it turned into overwhelming rage and disgust.

"It's you?!"

Su Wanqing's voice turned shrill, a tone Chen Fan had never heard before.

The next second, she slammed the wooden door shut.

"Get out! Get out of here!"

Chen Fan was quick-witted and agile; he stuck one foot directly into the door gap.

Bang!

The heavy wooden door slammed hard onto his ankle.

A piercing pain shot through him; Chen Fan groaned, but he held firmly against the door frame, not moving an inch.

"Wanqing, I have something to say to you."

"I have nothing to say to you! Chen Fan, you animal!"

Separated by the iron security gate, Su Wanqing's eyes were red, like an enraged lioness. "Nineteen years! Where the hell have you been? Why are you here now? To laugh at us?"

"I know."

Enduring the intense pain in his foot, Chen Fan looked straight into her eyes and said in a deep voice, "I know Nianyao and Muyang are my children."

The pushing force from inside the door suddenly vanished.

Su Wanqing went rigid, her whole body seeming to lose its strength, and she leaned against the door panel.

Her face turned deathly pale.

The secret she had guarded for nineteen years, the secret she least wanted him to know, had been exposed after all.

"So what if you know?"

Su Wanqing suddenly let out a laugh, laughing until tears streamed down, her eyes filled with mockery. "You want to acknowledge them? Do you even deserve to?"

"Who was it that took that 300,000 check and left without looking back?"

"Who said they couldn't give me a future and told me to marry into a wealthy family?"

"Chen Fan, that was 300,000! In your eyes, the three of us together were only worth that much, right?"

Every word was like a knife stabbing into Chen Fan's heart.

He could not refute it.

The truth of that time was too complex and too heavy; he was not yet powerful enough, and he didn't have the qualifications to bring those wealthy family feuds out into the open.

But he could not retreat.

"I was an asshole before; I had no ability."

Chen Fan pulled his foot back. He wasn't angry at her insults; instead, he stepped forward, separated by the iron gate, and spoke with extreme sincerity.

"But now, I am back."

"I don't expect you to forgive me right now. But as for the children, I must take responsibility. Their father is still alive, so I cannot let people point fingers at them and call them bastards anymore!"

"Take responsibility?"

Su Wanqing looked as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world.

She looked Chen Fan up and down.

A cheap shirt with loose threads at the cuffs, mud spots on his pants, and those sneakers were some unknown, generic brand.

This pathetic, impoverished look was no different from the poor boy who had abandoned her for money back then.

Perhaps even more down-and-out, more aged.

"What are you going to take responsibility with?"

Su Wanqing pointed at Chen Fan's nose, her fingers trembling. "Look at yourself now! Did delivering food make you stupid? You're living like a dog yourself; how are you going to support two college students?"

"Chen Fan, let me tell you, don't think you can do anything just because you know the truth. I raised the kids; they have nothing to do with you!"

"Get out of here immediately, don't force me to call the police!"

Having said that, she pushed the door hard again.

This time, Chen Fan didn't block it.

But he didn't leave either.

He took a set of brand-new keys out of his pocket and, just as Su Wanqing was about to close the door, held them up calmly.

Then, he turned and inserted them into the keyhole of Room 402 across the hall.

Click.

The sound of the lock turning was exceptionally clear in the quiet stairwell.

Su Wanqing's motion of closing the door froze.

She widened her eyes, watching Chen Fan skillfully open the security door opposite.

"You..."

Chen Fan leaned half his body into the room, looking back at the stunned Su Wanqing.

"From today on, I'm living here."

"You're right, I do look pretty poor right now. But I will show you what I can take responsibility with."

"Wanqing, we will settle the account for these nineteen years slowly."

Having said that, Chen Fan pushed the door and entered.

Bang!

The door to 402 closed.

Leaving Su Wanqing alone in the dim stairwell, looking at the tightly closed door opposite, her heart pounding uncontrollably.

Was he crazy?

Where did he get the money to buy an apartment?

Or was it that he rented the apartment opposite just to pester her?

Su Wanqing bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes, her heart a tangled mess.

Fear, resentment, grievance, and a trace of... panic that she herself was unwilling to admit.

That man had really returned.

And, he was right across from her home.

Chen Fan leaned against the door panel, listening to the heavy sound of the door closing across the hall, and let out a long breath.

His ankle was swollen high, but he couldn't feel the pain.

The first step had been taken.

As long as he could remain within her line of sight, even if it meant being a bad neighbor, he would accept it.

"zero."

"Present."

"Arrange a top-tier security team to protect Su Wanqing secretly, twenty-four hours a day. Anyone who dares to come and cause her trouble, cripple them directly."

"Also, help me book a flight back to Jiangcheng. Since my identity as a father has been revealed, it's time for me to go see that son who hates me to the bone."

Chen Fan walked to the window, watching the busy morning market downstairs.

His eyes gradually turned cold.

Because zero had just sent a new message:

【Detected that Su Muyang is currently on a call with his girlfriend, who is demanding the latest model mobile phone; Su Muyang is preparing to withdraw his salary in advance.】

【Alert: This girlfriend has frequent hotel check-in records with Tiansheng Group's second-generation rich heir, Wang Hao.】

"Silly boy."

Chen Fan clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

"My son is someone a piece of trash like that can play with?"