Chapter 186: The Gratitude Fee
Xu Youyou looked at the paternity test result, which showed that Zhao Zhaodi and Mrs. Lin had a cumulative parental index of over 10,000, with a probability of over 99.99% that they were mother and daughter. Her heart was at ease.
The entire Zheng family, from young to old, arrived at the hotel again.
“I told you, this child looks just like our grandmother!”
“My mom was just as beautiful when she was young!”
“It’s great that she’s back! Every year on Nuonuo’s birthday, my sister-in-law would cry. Now, the family is finally reunited, and the future will only get better!”
“It’s a pity that mom passed away early and didn’t get to see Nuonuo return. Before she died, she was still blaming herself for losing Nuonuo. There were so many people in the mall at the time, and she didn’t do it on purpose. How could we blame her?”
Mrs. Lin and Mr. Zheng hugged Zhao Zhaodi and cried loudly, with Mrs. Lin constantly reaching out to touch Zhao Zhaodi’s face. Zheng Miss wiped her tears with her hand, and even Zheng Little Mr. had red eyes multiple times.
Zhao Zhaodi, who had been confused at the beginning, carefully asked, “Am I really your child?”
In the short two days of getting to know them, she had grown fond of almost everyone in the Zheng family. They had fulfilled all her imagined ideas of what a family should be like.
Zheng Miss cried and said, “Good child, the paternity test can’t be faked, and you really do look exactly like grandmother did when she was young. No other family could have a child that looks this much alike.”
Zheng Little Mr. nodded, saying, “Now that you’re back, you won’t suffer anymore. If you want to study, go for a master’s degree, or even a PhD. We’ll support you for life.”
Zhao Zhaodi asked another question, “What was my original name going to be?”
“Your full name was Zheng Peifeng, and your nickname was Nuonuo,” Mrs. Lin said, laughing through her tears, continuously stroking her daughter’s soft hair.
“Peifeng? I know what it means. It’s from Zhuangzi·Xiaoyao You, ‘When the wind reaches nine thousand miles, the wind is below, and only then does it cultivate the wind.’ Our teacher mentioned it in class, saying Peifeng means having great ambitions,” Zhao Zhaodi said.
Mrs. Lin’s eyes showed a hint of pride, as if saying, “My daughter really knows a lot.” She replied, “Yes, that’s the one. It was your grandmother who gave you this name. She studied Zhuangzi her whole life, and among all her grandchildren, she liked you the most. You really are the most like her.”
Zhao Zhaodi thought of the photo she had seen on the wall earlier, where the grandmother she had never met had almost the same face as her, and she felt an incredible sense of familiarity.
Zhao Zhaodi then asked, “Did your family have high expectations for daughters?”
When she was with the Zhao family, dreams and expectations were only for her brother. As a daughter, she seemed to have been destined to be nothing more than a stepping stone.
“In our family, we never care about whether it’s a boy or a girl. Every child is a treasure, and we hope everyone can find something they love to do,” said Zhao Zhaodi’s aunt, not Mrs. Lin.
When Zheng Miss thought of her sister’s name, she couldn’t help but wipe away more tears and said, “It’s all because of that human trafficker. You could have… could have had such a good life…”
Zheng Miss was heartbroken that her sister had suffered for so many years. She could have lived the way she did, like herself, enjoying life and chasing her passions, instead of being used as a tool for producing children.
Seeing her sister cry, Zhao Zhaodi couldn’t help but want to cry as well.
As the crying seemed about to intensify, Zhao Zhaodi’s aunt could no longer sit still and hurriedly handed over a red envelope she had been holding for a long time to her newly found niece.
Other relatives also began to come to their senses and, like during Chinese New Year shopping, rushed to shove red envelopes into Zhao Zhaodi’s hands.
Zhao Zhaodi, flustered, didn’t know where to put her hands and feet.
Her aunt took her hand and said, “Good child, you must accept this greeting gift. We have the good life we have now thanks to your uncle. Your father has worked hard all these years to start his own business and never forgot to help relatives. If it weren’t for him, we’d still be living off dead-end jobs.”
Zhao Zhaodi’s aunt and two other branches of the Zheng family had originally worked as teachers or in state-owned enterprises. When they faced the wave of layoffs, both Zheng brothers lost their jobs.
Mr. Zheng, as the first in the family to venture into business, built his wealth from scratch. Afterward, he personally taught his siblings how to start their own businesses. Now, they all have successful businesses and live very comfortably.
Even though Mr. Zheng lost his daughter, he knew the importance of a strong financial foundation and never neglected his business. Now, he was the richest person in Gusu.
Xu Youyou didn’t expect that this approachable middle-aged man was actually the richest person in Gusu.
After crying, Mr. Zheng turned to Xu Youyou and took out a check he had prepared.
“Miss Xu, please accept this. It’s a small token of appreciation, not much, but it’s given with respect.” Mr. Zheng handed the check to Xu Youyou with both hands.
Xu Youyou glanced casually at the check and froze when she saw the amount.
It was a transfer check.
The amount was one hundred million yuan, with the note reading “gratitude fee.”
“Mr. Zheng, I only did what I should do. You really don’t need to do this,” Xu Youyou said, though she liked Zhao Zhaodi a lot and didn’t want to accept the money.
But Mr. Zheng said seriously, “Miss Xu, after the child went missing, we posted a reward. Over the years, our family’s conditions have gradually improved, and the reward has increased from five million to now one hundred million. This is something you truly deserve. Please don’t decline.”
Xu Youyou couldn’t help but feel deeply moved by the Zheng family’s sincerity. This recognition of family was far more genuine than what the Gu family had shown.
“Miss Xu, a penny may buy a horse’s bones. Please accept this money; it will increase the credibility of other missing-child rewards. You could consider it helping other desperate parents who are searching for their children. Would that be alright?” Mrs. Lin asked gently.
Xu Youyou reluctantly accepted the money, even posing for a photo. There would likely be news reports about this later.
Mrs. Lin and her husband had not forgotten other parents who were looking for their children. As expected, the news headline, “The Richest Man’s Reward for Finding His Lost Daughter Exceeds 100 Million, and the Winner is Her”, quickly went viral.
This news not only reported the status of the search reward but also mentioned Xu Youyou’s identity. She was the one who found the rich man’s missing daughter at the audition for Dream of the Red Chamber.
Xu Youyou even had to thank the couple. After all, this eye-catching news was indirectly promoting the yet-to-be-shot new version of Dream of the Red Chamber.
“Miss Xu is our Zhihai brother’s boss. She’s as beautiful and kind-hearted as Zhihai.”
“We’re looking forward to the Dream of the Red Chamber series. With such a kind investor, they’re sure to make the best version of it.”
Of course, there were also some negative voices.
“With all this money, did she even pay taxes? I bet she hasn’t donated any money to children in the mountains. Hypocrite!”
