Chapter 43: The Upheaval of the Tang Family

In the car, Shen Xing tried contacting other members of the Tang family one after another, but without exception, he had been blocked by all of them.

When he tried calling, no one answered either.

With no other options left, Shen Xing decided to try calling Zhao Zhenzhen.

The two of them did not have each other added on any other communication platforms; this phone number was only left with him that night.

Beep, beep.

After ringing twice, the call was quickly answered.

"Hello?"

"……Zhao Zhenzhen."

Shen Xing listened closely to the voice on the other end, and after confirming it was Zhao Zhenzhen, he called out her name.

"……"

The other side fell into an immediate silence. Two seconds later, the call was hung up.

Shen Xing raised an eyebrow, finding it utterly baffling.

He called her back again, but this time she did not answer and immediately rejected the call.

After repeating this process twice, a text message came through:

"Stop calling me! If I get caught, I'll be in huge trouble!"

Shen Xing was momentarily stunned, his confusion deepening.

Instead of continuing to call Zhao Zhenzhen, he pulled out his browser to search for news regarding the Tang family.

As a result, there was nothing.

Half an hour later, the car stopped near the Tang family estate.

Shen Xing got out, walked up to the front gate, and pressed the doorbell.

Not long after, a maid walked over and asked:

"May I help you, sir?"

"Are you new? I don't recall ever seeing you before."

To his surprise, the maid shook her head:

"No, I've been working at the Chen residence for a few years now. Are you a friend of the Tang family? They've already moved away, you know. This place has been bought by the Chen family now."

"What…… when did this happen?"

Shen Xing could not hide his shock.

"We moved in a week ago. By that time, they had already been gone for a while. As for the exact date, I'm not sure. If it's something urgent, you'd better just call your friend."

"Right. But... how did you know I was looking for the Tang family?"

"Because there have been quite a few visitors coming to the door over the past week. It feels like there were at least a dozen, so the moment I heard your tone, I immediately realized you were looking for them too."

Shen Xing nodded:

"I see. Though it's a bit presumptuous, do you happen to know why they suddenly moved? Or perhaps you've heard any rumors?"

The maid thought for a moment:

"There are indeed some rumors, though I don't know if they're true. Word has it... it seems the Tang family paid a certain price to latch onto some major faction, and the other party required them to relocate to the capital. As for how credible that is, I really couldn't say."

"The capital?"

Shen Xing fell into deep thought. After thanking the maid, he left the place.

He returned to the urban area and grabbed some food at a snack street.

Having had a fixed, bland diet for nearly a month left his taste buds completely deadened.

So now that he had some free time, his priority was naturally to satisfy his cravings and ruthlessly devour some skewers.

Alone with a bottle of beer, he sat at the food stall until late into the night.

Around ten o'clock in the evening, Shen Xing checked the time, took out his phone, and sent a text message to Zhao Zhenzhen.

"Are you available now?"

After waiting for two minutes without a reply, Shen Xing opened the dialing interface.

Just as the call was about to go through, a text message popped up.

"Mm... I'll call you in ten minutes."

Shen Xing settled the bill and rented a room at a nearby inn.

Sure enough, eight or nine minutes later, Zhao Zhenzhen's call came through.

"Hello?"

"How much time do you have?"

Shen Xing asked directly.

"If it's no more than ten minutes... there shouldn't be any problem."

Zhao Zhenzhen said in a low voice.

Hearing the bustling background noise, Shen Xing guessed she must be at some bar or venue.

"Alright, I'll keep it brief. First, has the Tang family moved to the capital? Is Xue'er there too?"

"You actually already know? That's right, we moved together, and Tang Xue'er is... naturally there as well."

"Second question, why did they suddenly move? The rumor is that they hitched a ride with someone powerful—is that true?"

"……You could pretty much say that. I don't know all the details either; the actual situation is probably a bit more complicated. No one knew about this decision beforehand, and no family meeting was ever held to discuss it. As for the powerful backing, that's true. The influence of the other party is something country folk like us could never even imagine."

Shen Xing was startled. For a woman like Zhao Zhenzhen to willingly consider herself a country person? One could only imagine the indescribable shock that the other party's display of power must have brought her.

"Third question, why was my contact information blocked by all of you? Even Xue'er. You mentioned earlier that getting caught contacting me would land you in big trouble. Who is going to give you trouble?"

"……Blocking you was a strict order from the head of the family. Didn't you run away from the marriage before and completely vanish? The family head was furious and had someone investigate your whereabouts through their connections.

I don't know what exactly they found out, but ever since then, you've been treated as a taboo within the Tang family. Anyone caught having contact with you will face severe punishment."

This answer also came as quite a surprise to Shen Xing.

He had previously thought that the military region would appropriately cover up the matter of his disappearance.

Judging by the current situation, however, the method of the cover-up did not seem very gentle.

To scare the Tang family into such a state, what kind of information had been disclosed over there?

Shen Xing shook his head. He would just have to ask Ouyang Lin to look into this later.

"Fourth question, how is Xue'er doing right now? Has she run into any trouble over there?"

This time, Zhao Zhenzhen did not answer immediately.

Instead, she remained silent for a moment before speaking softly: "Shen Xing, although I don't know what you've been through this past month, perhaps this is just fate—the two of you simply don't have that kind of connection.

So, if you keep entangling yourself in this, whether it's that relationship or your ties with the Tang family, let it all end here.

The capital is a vast world you cannot possibly imagine. Even if she encounters something here, what could you possibly do about it?

Let each other go, Shen Xing. For the sake of... never mind, I've said all I have to say. I'm hanging up."

Zhao Zhenzhen did not drag things out at all. After delivering that final sentence, she immediately hung up the phone.

Yet Shen Xing could not help but knit his brows.

Judging by Zhao Zhenzhen's words, it sounded as though Tang Xue'er really had run into some trouble.

Connecting this with her looks and her current single status, Shen Xing formed a rough guess in his mind.

The troubles that a young, pretty girl could encounter mostly fell within those categories.

Ironically, this realization actually relieved much of Shen Xing's anxiety.

What he feared most was Tang Xue'er facing some kind of threat to her life.

Since that wasn't the case, it wasn't an urgent emergency.

Though he was reluctant to admit it to himself, perhaps in some hidden corner of his heart, he had involuntarily compared Tang Xue'er to Zhao Zhenzhen.

Why was it that even Zhao Zhenzhen dared to take the risk and not block his number, yet you chose to execute that order so resolutely?

Could it be that, just as Zhao Zhenzhen said, you've decided to completely forget about me?