Qiao Guangyu could be said to be Elder Wu's son.

Elder Wu had his first child, Wu Jun, when he was over thirty years old. Qiao Meirong, just a couple of years younger than him, was not young when she gave birth to their first child.

At that time, Elder Wu's career was in a difficult period of ascension, and he couldn't afford to pay much attention to his pregnant wife. Consequently, the first childbirth was quite difficult. Initially, they had planned to have only one child, Wu Jun. However, after several years of recuperation, Qiao Meirong's health improved, and unexpectedly, she became pregnant again.

By then, she was already advanced in age for childbirth. Giving birth to Wu Yu was even more difficult than Wu Jun. After this second childbirth, she even had to stay in bed for half a year before she could walk again.

Since then, Elder Wu never dared to touch her, treating her like a delicate figurine. He dedicated himself to raising their two sons. Elder Wu also achieved a prominent position in his industry, ensuring a comfortable life for the family.

However, it was quite challenging for a man in his thirties or almost forty to lead a life akin to that of an ascetic monk for years. Although Elder Wu deeply loved his wife, sometimes the body and soul couldn't synchronize, especially when someone deliberately tempted him. The granddaughter of the Sun family caused quite a stir in the relationship between husband and wife during that time.

"A woman who is younger, more beautiful, and talented than one's own wife, and who loves oneself deeply, and yet keeps a humble attitude in front of oneself—it's hard for any man not to be moved by that," Quan Quan said, flipping through the list while occasionally marking names with a highlighter.

Qiao Guangyu, assisting him, handed him the next page of the invitation list provided by Wu Jun's assistant, while taking the page that Quan Quan had finished marking. He used Baidu to search for the names marked with the highlighter, intending to gather relevant information for future reference.

Curiously, he asked, "So, did my father have an affair?"

Quan Quan shook his head. "Not exactly. The news of their marriage was spread by the Sun family. At that time, the Sun family's influence was greater than that of the recently established Wu family. If Elder Wu had confronted them directly, he could have risked ruining the business he had worked so hard to build. So Elder Wu chose to compromise with the Sun family temporarily, intending to delay them and find another solution later."

"No wonder that incident caused such a huge uproar back then. If my father had clarified the misunderstanding, it wouldn't have spread like wildfire," Qiao Guangyu grunted, feeling somewhat sorry for his mother. "And since the Sun family is so influential, how could they not find out that Elder Wu was already married?"

Quan Quan chuckled softly. "Well, being married doesn't mean you can't get divorced. In their eyes, compared to Mrs. Qiao, a woman from an ordinary family, Elder Wu would undoubtedly choose Miss Sun, who was superior in every aspect."

"...They really have a high opinion of themselves. What business is it of theirs about other people's marriages?" Qiao Guangyu said sullenly. He found the Sun family extremely annoying. Did they have the authority to decide who someone should love? Who gave them such a big face?

Quan Quan sighed. "Some people are accustomed to living high above others, giving orders, and even planning out others' lives. Wu Group is an emerging enterprise, and the Sun family wanted to obtain Wu Group's technology. However, they couldn't digest such a huge industry through acquisition. They wanted to acquire the equity, but Elder Wu is very cunning and won't give them that chance. So, they resorted to using the tactic of seduction."

"Tsk tsk, they really stop at nothing," Qiao Guangyu shook his head in disdain.

"Of course, in the end, this tactic didn't work either. The Sun family's methods were too ruthless, which led Elder Wu to completely break ties with them," Quan Quan shrugged.

Qiao Guangyu furrowed his brow. "What did they do?"

Quan Quan: "They kidnapped Mrs. Qiao and threatened her not to return to her husband and son, or else they would stop at nothing to destroy the Wu family."

Qiao Guangyu opened his mouth, looking at Quan Quan in disbelief. "My mom believed that? No way, that's too naive! Even TV dramas don't portray it like that!"

Quan Quan looked helpless as he watched him. "At that time, the Sun family did indeed have that capability. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to suppress the missing person notices. But what they really wanted was the core technology of the Wu family. Until they had no other choice, they wouldn't want to destroy the Wu family. However, Mrs. Qiao didn't know this. For the sake of her family, she had to endure silently. At the beginning, there were people from the Sun family monitoring her. During those years, she didn't dare to do anything. It was only later, after the downfall of the Sun family, that she gradually learned about the situation of your father and brothers from the newspapers. By then, her health was probably not very good."

Qiao Guangyu tried hard to recall, realizing some details he had ignored before. For example, when he was young, his mother always stuck by his side. Even when he went to kindergarten, she repeatedly instructed him not to talk to strangers or walk with them. He used to think it was just his single mother being paranoid, but now he felt something was amiss.

As Qiao Guangyu grew older, the situation improved. He thought it was because he was growing up, developing mature perspectives and some self-protection ability, so his mother didn't nag him as much as before. Now he realized... he dared to act because there was no one watching over him, so he was completely left on his own?

When Mrs. Qiao gave birth to Qiao Guangyu, she was already in her forties, which was riskier than when she gave birth to Wu Yu. With her already fragile health, the first few years of raising a child were very challenging, relying entirely on willpower. When she learned about the downfall of the Sun family, she felt relieved, and her long-standing illnesses rushed in one after another. In the last few years, she spent most of her time in the hospital. With Qiao Guangyu by her side, she had no desire to reconnect with her long-lost family.

Eventually, even her consciousness became somewhat blurred, recognizing only Qiao Guangyu. She spent more time unconscious than awake every day.

In this state, she had no way to tell Qiao Guangyu about his origins.

As for the fantasy about Wu Yan Zhu... that was just Mrs. Qiao's adolescent fantasies, purely accidental.

Reflecting on the past, Qiao Guangyu sighed, "If my dad had found her at that time and provided her with better medical conditions, maybe she could have lived longer... But if that had happened, maybe we wouldn't have had a chance to meet."

Thinking about this, he felt somewhat relieved.

There aren't many opportunities for reincarnation and time travel. Instead of dwelling on what could have been, it's better to focus on the present and shape the future according to one's own expectations.

Qiao Guangyu stretched lazily, entering the last name into the search bar and yawning, "Alright, the last one! All the information is here. When are we starting class, Professor Quan?"

Quan Quan pursed his lips and placed his right hand over his left chest, bowing slightly like a medieval family tutor.

"I am at your service, my young master, anytime."

 

Translator : DarNan