Is This The Right Way To Repay A Favor? Chapter 91

The Reversal

A few evenings later, Jiang Zhou was in his study handling documents when his phone suddenly rang. It was the driver responsible for picking up Jiang Yue.

“President Jiang, I didn’t pick up Yueyue.” The driver’s voice held a hint of panic mixed with slight hope. “Did you take her yourself?”

Jiang Zhou immediately put down his documents, his brow furrowed slightly. “It wasn’t me.”

“I’m sorry, President Jiang! The school teacher said that after school, she and Ye Mo were picked up by a black sedan. I thought it was you…”

Ye Mo? Jiang Zhou’s heart sank. “Specific time? Car model? Did anyone see the license plate?”

“The teacher said it was about five minutes ago. It was a black Mercedes commercial van with dark tinted windows. The license plate… they didn’t see it clearly.”

“Contact the school to check the surveillance footage first.” Jiang Zhou quickly stood up, grabbing his jacket.

Just then, Shen Zhiyu returned from outside and immediately noticed Jiang Zhou’s troubled expression. “What happened?”

While adjusting his clothes, Jiang Zhou briefly explained the situation. “The driver didn’t pick up Yueyue. The teacher said she and Ye Mo were taken by someone.”

Shen Zhiyu’s expression turned serious upon hearing this. He thought for a moment and blurted out a name. “Ye Jiaming. He’s recently been sidelined; he might be desperate enough to lash out.”

Jiang Zhou had reached the same conclusion and was about to call Ye Qin to ask.

Shen Zhiyu glanced at Ye Qin’s contact on Jiang Zhou’s phone. “No need to ask her. I’ll call Ye Jiaming directly.”

The phone rang for a long time before it was answered. Shen Zhiyu put it on speakerphone, and a slightly tense voice came through. “Shen Zhiyu? Why are you looking for me?”

“Ye Jiaming, where are A’Mo and Yueyue?” Shen Zhiyu went straight to the point.

“A’Mo hasn’t been with you all this time? Why are you asking me? I, how would I know?” Ye Jiaming’s voice betrayed a hint of panic.

“Ye Jiaming!” Shen Zhiyu’s tone sharpened. “Stop beating around the bush! Did you take them!”

“So, so what if they are with me? I’m A’Mo’s father, I have the right to take him!”

“What about my sister?” Jiang Zhou’s voice was cold, carrying a dangerous edge. “What do you mean by taking my sister as well?”

“Your, your sister insisted on coming along!” The response from the other end lacked confidence.

Jiang Zhou sneered, not bothering with further nonsense. “Where are they? I’m coming to pick them up now.”

“If you want to come over!” Ye Jiaming’s voice rose a few pitches, sounding somewhat weak and blustering. “Shen Zhiyu must agree to my terms, otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?” Shen Zhiyu interrupted him. “Do I need to remind you, President Ye? Illegally taking minors already exceeds the scope of a family dispute and constitutes a criminal offense.”

A hint of mockery appeared on his lips. “Does President Ye think the Shen family has no one left?”

The line fell into a long silence, only broken by Ye Jiaming’s heavy, hesitant breathing. He was clearly hit where it hurt, realizing that his impulsive action had led to a huge mistake.

“I’ll give you one minute to send me the address. We’ll come and pick them up. Otherwise, the Shen family will not let this go.” With that, Shen Zhiyu hung up directly, leaving no room for negotiation.

The room was quiet.

Ten seconds later, Ye Jiaming sent the address.

“Let’s go.” Shen Zhiyu grabbed his car keys, his movements swift and decisive.

They had to get there as quickly as possible to bring the children back safely before Ye Jiaming could make another foolish move.

—

The children had been taken to the Ye family’s villa.

As soon as the two arrived, the villa door opened from the inside. Ye Jiaming, looking pale and defeated, was kneeling in the courtyard, while a vigorous elderly man sat in a wheelchair, leaning on a cane.

There was no sign of Ye Mo or Jiang Yue in the courtyard.

“Zhiyu, you’ve arrived.” The old man spoke first, his voice steady and emotionless. Then his gaze turned to Jiang Zhou. “And this is?”

“President Jiang Zhou of Languang Media. He is also the older brother of the young girl your son ‘invited’ along,” Shen Zhiyu replied calmly.

“Elder Mr. Ye.” Jiang Zhou gave a slight nod, his demeanor neither servile nor arrogant.

“Hmph!” Elder Mr. Ye didn’t bother with further pleasantries. He slammed his cane on the ground and sternly rebuked Ye Jiaming, “Ye Jiaming! Do you have a pig’s brain!”

“If you wanted to see the child, couldn’t you have discussed it directly with Zhiyu? Would Zhiyu really prevent you from seeing your own son?”

“But look at you! You secretly brought the child back! And you dragged someone else’s child along too! You’ve completely disgraced the Ye family!”

Ye Jiaming hunched his shoulders, his face ashen, not daring to utter a single word of rebuttal.

Elder Mr. Ye’s words were carefully measured. They attributed tonight’s incident to a father missing his son, while subtly implying that Shen Zhiyu had obstructed the father-son meeting.

It was clearly an attempt to minimize the seriousness of the situation.

The two remained silent, watching the performance unfold before them.

After scolding his son, Elder Mr. Ye turned back to Shen Zhiyu and Jiang Zhou, his face now showing an expression of apology and helplessness.

“Zhiyu, President Jiang.” He sighed, his tone softening, sounding reasonable. “I am truly sorry. It is due to my lax discipline that this fool committed such a lawless and muddled act.”

His gaze moved between the two of them, his words sincere. “I happened to be in Haishi today, and when I heard about this, I rushed over immediately. Thankfully, the children are all safe, otherwise I would truly be ashamed to face you.”

“Jiaming hasn’t seen the child in too long and was overcome by his longing, which led him to this stupid mistake. Please try to understand.”

He made no mention of the intention to seize Ye Mo, blaming everything on Ye Jiaming’s personal blunder. He adopted an extremely humble posture, offering an apology while attempting to downplay the nature of the entire incident.

Shen Zhiyu’s eyes were slightly cold. He knew this old fox was merely shifting the blame, unwilling to completely fall out with them.

Jiang Zhou remained silent, observing the situation.

Seeing their silence, Elder Mr. Ye said to Shen Zhiyu, “Zhiyu, for the sake of the years of friendship between your grandfather and me, don’t let this small misunderstanding harm the harmony between our two families. I have always been very relieved knowing Ye Mo is with you. Something like tonight will absolutely not happen again.”

This statement was both an apology and an implicit expression of letting go of Ye Mo.

At least, on the surface.

Elder Mr. Ye knew that after tonight’s incident, the Ye family had completely offended the Shen family, and any future attempts to reclaim Ye Mo would be impossible. Since that was the case, it was better to minimize the issue and push all the blame onto Ye Jiaming’s rashness. Afterward, he could use his old connections to repair relations with the Shen family and plan for the long term.

“Elder Mr. Ye, you exaggerate,” Shen Zhiyu responded flatly, his tone distant. “It’s good that the children are fine. I hope, as you said, this is the last time.”

“Of course, of course,” Elder Mr. Ye guaranteed repeatedly.

Jiang Zhou spoke up then. “Since the misunderstanding has been clarified, Elder Mr. Ye, may we take Yueyue and A’Mo now?”

“Of course! Please do. The children are playing inside! I am truly sorry about tonight, President Jiang. I will find a proper opportunity to formally apologize in the future.” Elder Mr. Ye immediately sent someone inside to call the children, his attitude extremely cooperative.

A moment later, Ye Qin led Jiang Yue and Ye Mo out.

Ye Qin nodded at Jiang Zhou, signaling that the children were fine.

The two picked up the children and turned to leave.

Watching the car drive away, the look of apology on Elder Mr. Ye’s face vanished instantly, replaced only by fury toward Ye Jiaming.

He raised his cane and heavily struck Ye Jiaming’s leg. “Idiot! You alerted the enemy and personally handed them leverage! From now on, without my permission, you are not to touch the matter of Ye Mo again!”

“Also, you don’t need to go to the company! Get back to England within the next two days!”

“Dad!” Ye Jiaming tried to argue, then caught sight of Ye Qin and became even angrier. “It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t forced me, how would I have come up with such a terrible idea!”

“You wretched woman! I told you to go to Languang to negotiate a partnership, and you failed! I think you did it on purpose! You and Jiang Zhou are colluding behind my back to sabotage me!” He grew more agitated as he spoke, lunging forward to slap her.

Ye Qin looked at him coldly, a sneer twisting her lips. “If you still want to be my brother, I advise you not to lay a hand on me.”

Ye Jiaming was intimidated by her gaze, his hand freezing in mid-air.

Elder Mr. Ye slammed his cane on the ground. “Enough! You are all family! What is all this fighting about!”

“Jiaming, be sensible! A’Qin is your sister, you should be more accommodating!”

Ye Jiaming sheepishly withdrew his hand.

Ye Qin glanced at him, pulled her jacket tighter, and said coolly, “Dad, I have things to do at the company. I’m heading back.”

“Alright. Don’t stay up late working overtime, take care of your health,” Elder Mr. Ye instructed.

Ye Qin left without looking back.

As soon as she was gone, Ye Jiaming started complaining again. “Dad! Look at the attitude she has toward you!”

“Enough!” Elder Mr. Ye looked displeased. “If you weren’t so foolish, would it be her turn to interfere with company matters?”

“You listen to me, you better tread carefully around her from now on! You will have plenty of times when you need to beg her!”

“Me beg her? Over my dead body…”

Elder Mr. Ye glared at him, and Ye Jiaming’s voice trailed off.

“I understand. I won’t provoke her anymore.”

“Push me inside.”

Ye Jiaming immediately stepped forward to push the wheelchair.

“You truly acted without a brain tonight,” Elder Mr. Ye chastised, though his tone had softened considerably. “You thought you could just take Ye Mo like that? If it were that simple, why would we have gone through such a long process before?”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t directly intervene. Now there is still room for a reversal.”

“Tomorrow, you will come with me to apologize to the Shen family.”

Ye Jiaming was still somewhat resentful. “But A’Mo is my biological son!”

“Now you remember he’s your biological son? What were you doing before! You should be thanking heaven that the Shen family didn’t hold you accountable for the Xiaoyu incident!”

“I didn’t cause her death! Who knew she would be so…”

“How dare you argue!” Elder Mr. Ye interrupted sharply. “If you hadn’t been unable to control that woman outside, would she have dared to be so arrogant in front of Xiaoyu? I don’t know what kind of spell that woman cast on you to turn you into this mess!”

“Before word of tonight’s incident reaches Elder Mr. Shen, you will obediently come with me to apologize!”

“Don’t forget, the Shen family doesn’t just have the Shens behind them, they also have the Lu family. If things really escalate, do you think the Lu family will help us?”

Though Ye Jiaming was a brainless second-generation heir, he could still grasp this level of self-interest.

“I understand. I will apologize properly.”