Chapter 290: Visiting In-Laws

Director Xiao indeed knew how to separate public and private matters.

Because, the next day, the entire company saw the personnel bulletin announcement, stating that Assistant Wen was transferred from the head office due to bringing personal emotions into the workplace and causing a commotion.

Chu Jiao's colleagues gave her approving thumbs up one after another, lamenting her great luck to have actually avoided a potential retaliation from the director. Chu Jiao felt that the whole ordeal was slightly odd, and this strangeness only started when she had returned to this world.

If she remembered correctly, ever since joining the company, apart from the cafeteria, the only place where she would bump into Director Xiao was during the annual meeting, and it was always her who would secretly eye his figure, and logically speaking, Xiao Qi wouldn't have noticed an ordinary employee like her.

Then, why did Xiao Qi pass through that bus stop that night? Coincidentally bumping into her who had just returned to this world?

At that time, she still hadn't gathered her thoughts and didn't notice this strange turn of fate. Looking back on it, it was as if he knew that she was there.

But, what made Chu Jiao feel strange was still about to come later on.

One day, when she was about to get off work, she suddenly received a call. A gentle middle-aged woman's voice came from the receiver. She claimed to be Mrs. Wen and wanted to meet with her.

Chu Jiao originally thought that Mrs. Wen was going to cause trouble for her, to avenge her daughter Wen Jiaojiao.

But because she wanted to get rid of this innate desire for familial love, which she had deeply buried in her heart for the past two decades, Chu Jiao willingly agreed and met the woman, who should have been her biological mother, in a high-end restaurant.

Mrs. Wen was over forty years old but had maintained herself very well. She looked like the mistress of a wealthy family with the way she dressed up. Her every word and movement were quite polite. Chu Jiao, who initially thought it was going to be a dreary feast, discovered that Mrs. Wen was actually very excited when she first laid eyes her. Her hands gently quivered as she tried to touch her cheek, her eyes flashing with faint tears welling up, and her mouth continued to mutter, "Sure enough, you look really similar. Sure enough..."

After taking their seats, Mrs. Wen told her a story from the past.

It was a regrettable mistake that was made more than 20 years ago, taking place in a private hospital to two women who gave birth at the same time. In short, after delivering the baby, the medical staff at the time placed each baby at the wrong crib, causing the children of the two families to be exchanged. Now, Mrs. Wen had discovered the truth of that time and wanted to get to know her real daughter.

Chu Jiao listened to the whole story calmly, fiddling with the spoon in the coffee cup with her eyes lowered, silent.

Mrs. Wen thought she was still digesting the whole incident, so she held her hand that was placed on top of the dining table, "Jiaojiao, come back to us, your father and I miss you very much!"

"Mrs. Wen," Chu Jiao gently withdrew her hand, "I want to ask you something."

"You, how could you still be so distant? I'm your mother," Mrs. Wen complained, "This appearance of yours is exactly like Mr. Wen, there is no mistaking that you are our daughter!"

"I adopted the surname of the dean of the orphanage, so my surname is Chu." Chu Jiao's implication was clear. Her surname was Chu, not Wen, so it was better not to treat her so familiarly.

Her words made the woman in front of her frown so sadly, but her lips quickly recovered its gentle arc, "Okay, okay, mom won't force you. What do you want to ask?"

"Back then..." Chu Jiao recalled the rainy night back then, the system had let her see the development this world was supposed to have in the book.

Originally, she, the supporting actress, would later get some clues from the director of the orphanage and find the Wen family in the end. With her whole heart, she had hoped that the Wen family couple would acknowledge her existence. At that time, the female lead and the male lead were already engaged, but the relationship between the two was not that deep. It was her appearance that changed the female lead's mentality, leading her to strive for self-improvement. She took the initiative to leave the Wen family but attracted the male lead through bumping into each other, continuously at work. In the end, she tied the knot with the male lead.

At that time, even though Wen Jiaojiao's current parents did a paternity test with her and acknowledged her privately, they were not willing to abandon their Wen Jiaojiao. After all, she was the daughter they had carefully raised for more than 20 years. In private, Mrs. Wen would often secretly provide emergency funds to take care of Wen Jiaojiao.

After learning that Wen Jiaojiao was going to marry Xiao Qi, Mr. Wen took Wen Jiaojiao back to Wen residence and proudly announced to everyone that Xiao Qi was his son-in-law. But as for his biological daughter, she was like a non-existent person at home, who no one cared about. And, because she liked Xiao Qi and tried to take Wen Jiaojiao's place to marry him. In the end, she was dealt with by the male protagonist and didn't have a good ending.

Therefore, according to the development in the book, Mrs. Wen shouldn't know about her existence today, because she never even thought about finding her own parents after her return.

But now, she hadn't done anything, yet Mrs. Wen took initiative to come looking for her on her own. Then, when did Mrs. Wen learn that she had taken the wrong child? And, how did she learn about it? Now that she wanted to acknowledge her existence, what kind of plan was she scheming in her head?

Chu Jiao asked this, but Mrs. Wen didn't answer, eventually deflecting the topic altogether and talking about other irrelevant matters.

In the end, Mrs. Wen left a business card and told Chu Jiao that she would wait until she figured out what to do next, and would pick her up to return to the Wen residence.

Chu Jiao calmly stood up and sent Mrs. Wen away, giving her a warm hug before she left.

Mrs. Wen hugged her back, flattered, her eyes full of emotion.

After seeing Mrs. Wen get in the car and was driven off by her chauffeur, leaving the restaurant, Chu Jiao returned to her seat. She ordered the restaurant's signature meal, then slowly took out a pair of earphones from her bag and put it on, turning on her phone with her other hand.

"I told you to take it slowly, but you still forced me to go. That girl looked extremely obstinate, she doesn't want to go back to the Wen residence at all!"

The middle-aged female voice ringing from the earphones sounded crystal clear. Only this time, it didn't have the elegance it carried a while ago, sounding a little more irritated than refined.

"That's your daughter, if you weren't going yourself, then who would! There isn't enough time already!" Another middle-aged man's voice rang through the earphones as Chu Jiao slowly cut a slice of the juicy steak. In the eyes of other people, she seemed to be listening to music while enjoying the food alone, looking very content with her meal and ambience.

But the truth was, when she hugged Mrs. Wen, she stuck a miniature bug on the collar of her coat. She had originally bought this to find an opportunity to stick it on Xiao Qi and observe him, but before she could even bump into him, she encountered this event first.

"I have never given birth to such an ugly daughter!" The female voice suddenly became hysterical, "Jiaojiao is my only daughter!!"

"Aiii, you..." The man's voice grew weaker, "Didn't you hear that she had gotten rid of that hideous birthmark? Back then, I shouldn't have condoned you abandoning her..."

"Didn't I do it for your precious Wen family!? Huh!? If I really gave birth to such an ugly child, where would you put your face? Where would you put the Wen family's face!?"

"Squeak—-" The knife and fork made an ear-piercing sound on the dinner plate. Chu Jiao put down the cutlery and gestured apologies to the people around her. She then called the waiter with a cold face and asked for the bill.

She raised her hand to turn off the wiretap device. After hearing up until here, she was no longer interested in other things. However, the next sentence in the earphones froze her in her tracks.

"Alright, alright, don't bring up these things from the past. The most urgent thing is to acknowledge her as soon as possible! Who knows what the Xiao family is planning? We also don't know where that Xiao Qi had learnt that Jiaojiao is not our biological daughter and absolutely insisted on marrying only the true daughter of the Wen Family. Now that the company's working capital is gravely insufficient, we can only rely on the Xiao Family for financial aid. You should quickly think of a way to kick Wen Jiaojiao out and get Chu Jiao back!"

[Completed]