Hard work after winning the lottery

The night in City A was as thick as ink, silently swallowing the last glimmer of light outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Zhou Yanjin's figure was outlined as a silent sculpture by the cold light in the study.

He did not sit down again.

They just stood there quietly, as if trying to blend themselves into the deep night.

After a long while, he finally moved.

Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up another phone specifically for work, his fingertips gliding calmly and precisely across the screen as he dialed the chief secretary's number.

The call was answered almost instantly, and Ying Zhiyao's crisp, capable voice came through: "President."

"Secretary Ying." Zhou Yanjin's voice was so calm that it was as if the storm that had swept through his world had never happened.

"The schedule for the next week has been completely rearranged."

"Important meetings should be held earlier if possible, and postponed if not."

"All social engagements that require my presence are cancelled."

Without the slightest doubt or hesitation, Ying Zhiyao on the other end of the phone replied in his usual efficient tone, "Okay, President. All schedules will be rescheduled and sent to your email within half an hour."

"Um."

Zhou Yanjin hung up the phone and casually placed it on the table.

He then opened his laptop on the desk, the cold light from the screen illuminating his sharply defined profile.

He didn't look at the mountain of emails, nor did he pay attention to the constantly flashing icons of the messaging app.

His fingers tapped on the keyboard, and a line of text appeared in the search bar: Baixi Village.

It's no longer the refined business data from Chen Xu's previous report.

This time, he wanted to see everything in its most original and authentic form.

Topographic map, hydrological data, and climate characteristics of Baixi Village.

The distribution of surrounding industrial zones, transportation networks, and logistics costs.

Even local support policies over the past five years and rural revitalization plans for the next three years.

His gaze was focused and sharp, as if he were about to face not a remote mountain village, but an international merger and acquisition deal worth billions.

He must make thorough preparations.

After he had categorized and organized the information about Baixi Village into an encrypted folder, the clock had already quietly struck midnight.

Zhou Yanjin's fingertip hovered over the mouse for a few seconds.

He then opened a private contact list and dialed a number that he only used late at night.

That was the Zhou family's private legal advisor, a lawyer who had handled the most private matters for three generations of the family.

"Chen Lu." His voice was low, with a hint of hoarseness from the night.

"Mr. Zhou, what can I do for you so late?"

"I'd like to ask a hypothetical question." Zhou Yanjin's words were extremely calm, as if she were discussing a case that had nothing to do with her.

"Under the current legal framework, what are the main aspects regarding the rights of children born out of wedlock?"

"Custody, inheritance, visitation rights... I need the most detailed explanation of the terms, as well as all possible legal disputes and contingency plans."

Attorney Chen on the other end of the phone was clearly taken aback, but his professionalism prevented him from asking any further questions.

"Okay, Mr. Zhou. I will send the complete legal opinion to your private email address before 9:00 AM tomorrow."

"Hard."

After ending the call, Zhou Yanjin leaned back in the large leather seat and closed her eyes.

All external preparations have been carried out in an orderly manner.

However, when he tried to build a strong defense for his own heart, he found that the heart he had always controlled was now in complete chaos.

Guilt.

Like the dullest knife, it cut his flesh inch by inch.

Six years.

For six whole years, more than two thousand days and nights.

While his children were learning to speak, somewhere he didn't know.

In a corner where he couldn't see, when he first learned to roll over and took his first unsteady steps.

When he was sick with a fever and needed his father's embrace the most...

He was absent.

They were completely absent from the earliest and most precious time of their lives.

What followed was an unprecedented sense of panic.

He, Zhou Yanjin, runs a vast business empire, wielding immense power in the business world.

But the word "father" was as foreign to him as the language of a distant land.

The heavy responsibility weighed him down, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

He can manage tens of thousands of employees and sign contracts worth billions, but... can he be a good father?

He didn't even know what flavors of candy the children liked, or whether they were afraid of the pitch-black night or the booming thunder.

That night, Zhou Yanjin couldn't sleep.

He tossed and turned on that expensive, top-of-the-line mattress, enough to put anyone to sleep soundly.

In my mind, the images flashed back and forth like a runaway film reel.

That hazy night, the room was dimly lit, and there was a faint smell of alcohol in the air.

And that woman... that woman named Hua Yun, the silhouette of her quietly leaving as the first rays of sunlight pierced through the curtains in the early morning.

That resolute, unwavering figure, leaving without a trace, overlaps with the image of Chen Xu in her file—a woman holding three children, smiling radiantly.

Then, the scene switched back to the three children.

He sat up abruptly in bed, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He walked to the liquor cabinet, poured himself a glass of whiskey, and downed it in one gulp.

The spicy liquid burned his throat, but it couldn't quell the fire in his heart.

He finally understood.

This is a confrontation that is six years overdue.

He has to face the woman who stole his genes.

He also has to face... the father he has been absent from for six years.

Meanwhile, over a thousand kilometers away, Baixi Village is bathed in the gentle morning sunlight.

Time seems to have been slowed down here.

Smoke curls from chimneys, and the sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard from afar.

Hua Yun was squatting under the grape trellis in the yard, holding a small pair of scissors, carefully cutting out colorful pieces of cardstock with her mother, Li Guifen.

"Mom, cut this little sun a little rounder, it will look better when we stick it on the event backdrop later."

"I know, I know, you silly girl, you put more effort into organizing a parent-child activity for kindergarten than you do with your online store." Li Guifen complained, but her hands moved meticulously.

Hua Yun smiled, her eyes filled with satisfaction.

"That's not the same. This is the first time that Si'an, Si'tao, and Si'le have participated in a group activity, so we can't be careless."

She was completely unaware of the impending storm.

At this moment, her world consists only of sunshine, scissors, cardstock, and anticipation for the children's activities.

On the lawn not far away, three small figures were surrounding a sprightly old man.

"Great-grandfather, great-grandfather! Look at this castle I built, isn't it amazing!" Hua Sitao held up a crooked "castle" made of magnetic building blocks, looking very proud.

"Great-Grandpa, my brother's castle doesn't have a watchtower, but mine does!" Hua Si'an calmly pointed out the flaw in his brother's work and showed off his own more complex model.

Hua Sile hugged Zhou Yinchuan's arm, tucked a freshly picked wildflower into his short, gray hair, and said in a childish voice, "Great-Grandpa, wearing a flower makes you handsome!"

Zhou Yinchuan was amused by the three little ones and burst into laughter, his face brimming with happiness.

"Great! Great! Sitao's castle is the most magnificent, Si'an's castle is the smartest, and Sile's flower for Great-Grandpa is the prettiest! You are all the best!"

He held Sile in his arms, letting Sitao and Si'an lean against him, feeling that this life was simply too beautiful to be true.

He was even somewhat grateful to his busy grandson.

If he hadn't been too busy to take care of her, how could she be here, enjoying such pure family bliss that she had never experienced before in her life?

The old man looked up at the clear blue sky and took a deep breath of the air, which was filled with the fragrance of earth.