Chapter 277: Causes and Consequences

Zheng Tian could also tell that Li Yan was being polite, but when discussing his middle-aged discovery of an illegitimate daughter, he could no longer maintain his smile.

"Fei’Er... should have grown up happily. Her mother and I should have been able to provide her with a good environment. But something happened when she was little, which made her life very difficult. And this nightmare has followed her even to this day. Of course, at Wenhua Hotel, if it weren’t for you stepping in..." After Zheng Tian sighed with melancholy, he felt deeply ashamed, "I truly am a very failed father!"

Hearing this, Li Yan suddenly remembered that he hadn’t just saved Nian Yufei once eight years ago, but twice last year in a hotel restaurant on Cloud Island and backstage at a concert in S City. And these two times, if not publicly known, at least Old Man Mu knew about them, so it was not surprising that Zheng Tian would also know. He initially thought that Nian Yufei had told Zheng Tian about what happened back then, but now it seemed that it remained just a secret between them!

This made Nian Yufei seem more likable to him; if she couldn’t keep it a secret, it would undoubtedly bring some inconvenience to his identity.

"This... your last name is Zheng, and Nian Yufei’s last name is Nian, does she take after her mother’s last name?" Li Yan had always found it a bit strange, are there people with the last name Nian on Cloud Island? But he didn’t want to know more about Nian Yufei, so he never asked. Now hearing her father introducing himself as Zheng, and she not being here, he voiced this doubt.

Zheng Tian shook his head: "No, Fei’Er was originally named Yu Fei, Zheng Yufei. The character ’Yu’ appears in her mother’s name. After her mother passed away, she has been deep in reminiscence, so I changed her name to ’Yufei’, telling her that this way her mother would always be with her, and she should live for her mother’s share too, to encourage her to walk out of the shadows. Later she learned the piano and said she wanted to take a stage name or something. So she called herself Nian Yufei, which includes my constant thoughts of both her and her mother as well as her constant thoughts of her mother."

Li Yan finally understood. It seemed that Nian Yufei still quite liked the name, while Zheng Yufei wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. Otherwise, she would probably have introduced her original name to him.

"Did she ever mention her mother’s affairs to you?" Zheng Tian suddenly asked, because his earlier words would sound a bit inexplicable without understanding the background.

"She mentioned some." Li Yan nodded in acknowledgment.

Zheng Tian glanced at Li Yan with deep meaning: "Being able to get Fei’Er to confide in you about her mother, you are indeed the first and someone she greatly trusts."

"Perhaps it’s because I’ve saved her before, she feels I’m reliable." Li Yan felt somewhat helpless; due to the shadow of Nian Yufei’s childhood, she was most vulnerable and fearful when protected by him, it was already imprinted on her mind, and she herself has said she trusts him the most. It is trust based on years of emotional reliance.

"Yes, even to me, to Old Mu, it’s hard for her to open up and confide. If we didn’t understand her very well and knew all her circumstances, we would have been truly estranged by her self-isolation..."

Li Yan didn’t say anything; Nian Yufei is a pitiful girl. But in the end, she has to come out of this by herself, her family can assist, help. As for him, all he can do is try, he has no obligation.

"I’ve come today just to see what kind of hero can make Fei’Er trust so much. Meeting you in person truly lives up to your reputation. I am very grateful to you for saving Fei’Er time and again!" Zheng Tian thanked him once again by pouring and offering tea.

"Just happened to be there. I encountered it twice, one would believe that her bodyguard team has faced such situations frequently, right? Perhaps even some bodyguards paid with their lives, they deserve your gratitude even more. Being able to protect her under such unrestricted circumstances, you can’t really say you’ve failed. However, with so many years of attempted assassinations, one may believe that whoever is behind this harbors considerable hatred towards your family, or her and her mother. Even with your capability, there’s no solution?" Li Yan looked deeply into Zheng Tian’s eyes.

Zheng Tian’s face slightly changed: "Here it’s just the two of us, Brother Li, no need to imply, are you suggesting that you suspect someone from my family wants to harm Fei’Er?"

Since the conversation reached this point, Li Yan continued: "Nian Yufei once told me a little about your situation, at first, I thought it was the issue of direct descendants and illegitimate children vying for inheritance leading to conflict, but she said it has nothing to do with that, her mother had long expressed no interest in competing for the family legacy and even had her own estate prepared for her. Also, she mentioned that your wife and son treat her well..."

"Did she really say that?" Zheng Tian was slightly moved. Evidently, Nian Yufei remained self-enclosed at home, and he had no way of knowing her current state of mind.

"Since her mother has passed away, it doesn’t hinder heirs inheriting from their father. Even if you focus much of your attention on her, I think your wife and children wouldn’t be incapable of accommodating her, right? But why are there only assassins visiting her repeatedly? Do you or anyone else in your family experience similar situations? If not, then the mastermind behind these events is only hostile towards her and her mother. If there are, then that’s your issue!"

Having been a bit moved by Nian Yufei’s words, Zheng Tian calmed down after hearing Li Yan’s statements.

Seeing he had something to say yet hesitating, Li Yan took a sip of tea: "Don’t mind, I am not accusing you; this is your family matter, I’m just offering an objective reminder."