The gangs were fighting fiercely through the night, but none of that had anything to do with Cao Yang. He was already on a red-eye flight back to New York.
This trip to San Francisco brought him no clues about Da Sao's whereabouts. The disappointment was real, but oddly enough… so was the sense of relief.
Xiao Fei came to say goodbye one last time, and Cao Yang personally walked him out.
The kid was still young. He wanted to go explore the world—Cao Yang couldn't stop him. And keeping him by his side only to act as a nanny wasn't right either.
"Just go travel around. If anything happens, call me anytime. No matter where you are—across mountains or seas—your brother will come save you!"
Xiao Fei grinned. "Relax, bro. I won't cause trouble. And don't miss me too much. I'm only touring the States. Maybe I'll be back in a couple of months."
After seeing Xiao Fei off, Cao Yang returned to the apartment, picked up Cao Yinuo, and suddenly felt a hollow emptiness in his chest.
The familiar people around him—one by one—were gone. A deep loneliness crept in.
His phone vibrated. An incoming call.
Cao Yang frowned. This was a new number. Only Nanako and Xiao Fei had it—not even Li Yan knew yet. Who could it be?
"Hello." A pleasant female voice came through.
"You? How did you get my number?" He immediately recognized Si Tu Meixin.
"Hehe. This is America. If I want to investigate you, it's really not that hard."
"Say it. What do you want?"
"My personal bodyguard is dead."
"I know. I saw it. But what's that got to do with me? I wasn't the one who killed him."
"You have good skills. I want to hire you as my personal bodyguard."
Cao Yang laughed, amused. "How much per month?"
"Fifty thousand," she said calmly. Then added, "US dollars. Not RMB."
That was a high price. Even retired Navy SEALs rarely got paid that much. But Cao Yang remained unimpressed.
He wasn't short on money. He still had fifty million yuan on him. Not enough to start a big business, maybe, but more than enough for him and Cao Yinuo to live comfortably.
Even if he were short on money, he wouldn't take the job. He still had a little rich lady by his side—given Nanako's reliance on him, if he asked her, she would even give herself to him.
But Cao Yang suspected the real reason Si Tu Meixin wanted him was to trick him into walking into a trap.
"You wanted to kill me earlier."
"That was just a commission. That matter had nothing to do with you personally."
"And if I become your bodyguard, aren't you afraid of offending Su Yuanshan?"
"Tch. He's just a business partner. Not someone crucial. If we offend him, we offend him. What's the big deal?"
Cao Yang fell silent.
"So?" she urged. "Have you decided? Coming or not?"
"No." Cao Yang rejected her cleanly and hung up.
He had only three goals right now:First—to take down the Han family.Second—to get his imprisoned brothers out.Third—to raise Cao Yinuo safely.
He had no way to handle the first two for now. The only thing he could do was raise his daughter well. Until she was safe and settled, he wasn't going anywhere chasing fights.
Time flew. Months passed in the blink of an eye.
Provincial First People's Hospital, Guangnan.
"Ahhh—!!"Painful cries echoed from the delivery room.
"Why is it taking so long?" Meng Lin paced anxiously outside.
"Calm down. Stop walking around. You're making my eyes dizzy," Xia Zhengming said. He had regained some composure.
The previous incident had struck him so hard his hair turned white overnight, but he had recovered from his slump.
His father-in-law had told him:All difficulties are temporary. As long as you remain devoted to serving the Party and the people, the Party and the people will never abandon you.Correct your impatience. Keep your clean and honest principles. Then quietly wait for the winds to rise.When the great storm arrives, corruption, collusion, and little cliques will all be swept clean.That will be your moment of rebirth.
Did Xia Zhengming believe it?
At least on the surface—yes.
He had no choice but to believe it, or at least use those words to comfort himself.
"Wahhh!"A baby's cry yanked him back to reality.
"It's out! It's out!" Meng Lin and Xia Zhengming rushed to the door.
"Congratulations! Mother and baby are safe. It's a boy," the nurse said cheerfully.
They entered the room, eyes moving between the newborn and the exhausted Xia Dongdong.
"Dad… Mom…" Xia Dongdong managed a weak smile, looking as though she had fought a war.
"Good girl, you rest now." Meng Lin was all smiles—becoming a grandmother for the first time.
Xia Zhengming also told her to rest, then the two of them hovered over the baby, delight shining in their eyes.
It hadn't always been like this.
Xia Zhengming had insisted more than once that she abort the child—because this was Cao Yang's child. The thought infuriated him.
Meng Lin had also urged her repeatedly. An out-of-wedlock child damaged a girl's reputation, and raising a baby would affect future marriage prospects.
Xia Dongdong had gone to the hospital several times intending to terminate the pregnancy. Her parents' pressure wasn't the only reason. From any angle, not having the baby seemed like the "right" choice.
The father wouldn't be happy.The child wouldn't have a complete family.Everything pointed toward abortion.
But every time the moment came, she backed out. She didn't even know why.
One day at a time, her belly grew bigger and bigger.
Fortunately, her father finally came around. Crawling out from the shadows of his own failure, he no longer forced her. He simply said:
"It's your life. You make your own choices."
Once he relented, Meng Lin let go as well. And this tiny life finally entered the world.
"Congratulations. All of the baby's vitals are excellent."After the nurse finished the checkup, she handed the newborn to Meng Lin.
Meng Lin had barely held the baby for two minutes before Xia Zhengming snatched him away. Then the two stood by Xia Dongdong's bedside.
"Look at you—the little girl from back then is now a mother," Meng Lin sighed.
Xia Dongdong gazed at her son lovingly, then looked at her father.
"Dad… this is my son. Your grandson. He is a Xia family child. He has nothing to do with that bastard Cao."
Xia Zhengming nodded. "Alright. Let's choose a name."
Xia Dongdong had picked many names during her pregnancy, but now none of them seemed right.
Even though she claimed it had nothing to do with that bastard, her mind still kept drifting back to Cao Yang.
Xia Cao?Xia Yang?
None of them fit.
"Dad… what do you think about the name Xia Luo?"
After she conceived him, his father had vanished without a trace. So the name felt fitting.