SAG -Chapter 187 Realizing It Only After the Fact

After returning home, Zhang Siyan didn’t go back to work.

Instead, she stayed quietly in the house by herself.

That evening, when Qian Li came home and saw Zhang Siyan drinking alone, she immediately found it strange.

“What’s wrong with you? And where have you been these past few days?”

Since Zhao Jingyu had previously instructed everyone to keep things confidential, Zhang Siyan hadn’t told Qian Li the truth.

Qian Li had assumed she was simply busy with work.

Now that everything had been completely resolved, Zhang Siyan no longer kept anything from her and recounted the entire story.

After finishing, she hesitated before saying,

“Xiaoli, I keep feeling that my dad might not have been an ordinary person back then.”

Qian Li was still processing everything she had just heard and asked absentmindedly,

“What do you mean by not ordinary?”

She genuinely hadn’t expected that so much could happen in only a few days.

“Well… how should I put it? Actually, I only realized this when I was thinking about everything this afternoon,” Zhang Siyan said, struggling to organize her thoughts.

Qian Li had finally recovered from her shock.

“What exactly are you talking about?”

“It’s about that Zhao Hu I mentioned—the one who stopped us from going in at the beginning. He looked exactly like someone from the underworld.”

She paused, choosing her words carefully.

“So what?” Qian Li replied dismissively.

“There’s nothing strange about Uncle Zhang knowing a few gangsters in the past.”

“But you didn’t see what happened.”

“The moment my dad said one sentence, Zhao Hu immediately tried to drag Huo Li away. If I’m not mistaken…”

She hesitated before forcing herself to say it.

“He was probably going to… kill him.”

Even now, she found it hard to believe her own conclusion.

Yet no other explanation fit the circumstances.

Otherwise, why would Huo Li have instantly confessed?

According to Huo Li himself, Huo Zhiyuan didn’t even have enough evidence to prove his involvement.

“Huh?”

Qian Li blinked.

That ruthless?

“Tell me exactly what happened. Especially Uncle Zhang’s expression when he spoke,” she said excitedly.

Zhang Siyan tried to recall the scene.

“I don’t think he had any expression at all.”

“He just calmly said one sentence:

‘You have business interests in South Africa, don’t you?’

Yes, that’s exactly what he said.”

“Zhao Hu hesitated for only two seconds before admitting that he did.”

“And then everything that followed happened.”

The two women were best friends.

Just as Qian Li never hid things from Zhang Siyan, Zhang Siyan never concealed things from her either.

Besides, this matter had left Zhang Siyan confused and unsettled all afternoon.

She had been drinking alone because she didn’t know what to think.

Now that her best friend had returned, she finally had someone to help analyze it.

After some thought, Qian Li nodded.

“That really does seem suspicious.”

“Was Uncle Zhang offering him some kind of benefit? But he never actually promised anything.”

“Exactly!” Zhang Siyan said.

“That’s what confuses me.”

“If things happened the way I think they did, why would Zhao Hu trust my father so completely?”

“And I heard Uncle He—you know, my dad’s old friend—say that Zhao Hu used to work under my father.”

“But apparently Zhao Hu betrayed him back then.”

“Why use the word betrayal?”

“What exactly did my dad do in the past?”

The more she thought about it, the more bewildered she became.

Meanwhile, Qian Li’s eyes sparkled.

“Could it be that Uncle Zhang used to be some kind of underworld boss?”

“Wow! That would be so cool!”

Seeing her friend’s excitement, Zhang Siyan rolled her eyes.

“I’m asking you to help me analyze this!”

“And if that really were true, I’d be worried about my dad.”

“The times are different now.”

Her expression grew anxious.

That was her true concern.

She had only recently regained her father.

She had only recently experienced what it meant to have a father’s love and protection.

She couldn’t bear the thought of losing him again because of something from the past.

And she genuinely cared about him.

Without knowing the truth, however, she didn’t dare ask him directly.

Seeing her worry, Qian Li laughed.

“You’re overthinking it.”

“You only need to remember two things.”

“Which two things?” Zhang Siyan asked.

“The first is that Uncle Zhang is your biological father.”

“And everything he’s done since returning absolutely qualifies him as a good father.”

“What happened back then wasn’t his choice.”

Zhang Siyan nodded.

“I know.”

“I’ve never blamed him.”

“So what’s the second thing?”

Qian Li grinned.

“The second point is the most important one.”

“It completely eliminates everything you’re worried about.”

“Then hurry up and tell me!”

Zhang Siyan was growing impatient.

Instead of answering, Qian Li glanced meaningfully at the bottle of red wine nearby.

Zhang Siyan immediately understood.

She jumped up and poured her friend a glass.

There was certainly no shortage of wine in this house.

Prince Haiman had been regularly sending expensive wines and luxury goods.

Most of those gifts had been divided between Liu Lu and Zhang Siyan.

Naturally, the wines were all top-tier labels.

After taking her glass, Qian Li cleared her throat.

“Have you forgotten Uncle Zhang’s circumstances?”

“What circumstances?”

Zhang Siyan looked puzzled.

Qian Li sighed helplessly.

“You’re letting your concern cloud your judgment.”

“Think about how Uncle Zhang came back.”

“And think about everything he experienced before returning.”

Without waiting for an answer, she continued.

“When he returned, he went through layer upon layer of official investigation and review.”

“If there had truly been problems in his past, forget about living peacefully with your family—there’s a good chance you wouldn’t even be allowed to see him now.”

“So the thing you’re worrying about simply isn’t an issue.”

“If Uncle Zhang was cleared back then, then now that he has all of you, it’s even less likely that anything could happen.”

The moment she heard this, Zhang Siyan felt enlightened.

She had completely overlooked such an obvious point.

If her father had really committed serious crimes in the past, the authorities would never have simply let him return home.

Having figured that out, her worries finally disappeared.

There were still many things she couldn’t explain.

But she no longer wanted to overthink them.

As long as her father was safe, that was enough.

At that moment, Qian Li suddenly said with sparkling eyes, “Still, if Uncle Zhang really were some legendary underworld boss, that would be amazing.”

“Let’s see who’d dare bully us then!”

“Get lost!”

Zhang Siyan laughed and scolded her.

Qian Li giggled, suddenly jumping up and wrapping her arms around her friend.

She planted a kiss on Zhang Siyan’s cheek.

“Hahaha! Turns out, Yanyan, you’re actually my greatest treasure of all!”