Chapter 370: A Misunderstanding

The Tan family had almost been ruined by Yuan Zhengwen’s mistakes in the previous lifetime.

However, Tan Wenci and the three Tan brothers had committed themselves to helping the company overcome the hurdles, and luckily they had succeeded.

But Tanyue had been significantly undermined. It was nothing like it was now, with its current success as the country’s leading household goods company.

After his dismissal from Tanyue, Yuan Zhengwen spent a long time trying to get his startup business off the ground.

After Yuan Keqing married Wei Keli, embarrassment overwhelmed Wei Keli’s parents whenever their in-laws became topics of conversation at social events.

To avoid further shame, they backed Yuan Zhengwen’s company and helped it to thrive.

On the other hand, the Tan family became completely unmotivated after the death of Tan Mo.

They had lost their edge following the mess Yuan Zhengwen had brought upon them.

But their performance was destroyed after the death of their precious family member.

Tan Wenci’s real intentions behind his effort to scale up Tanyue had been to make it a refuge that Tan Mo could rely on at any time.

If Tan Mo were to be married to Wei Keli, whose family was prominent, Tan Wenci was worried that her in-laws might treat her badly. Thus, her family had to have the capability of standing up for her should anything happen.

Although Li Xiangrong was Xu Mingzhen’s best friend, Tan Wenci remained worried for his daughter’s well-being.

At the same time, even if Tan Mo did not marry Wei Keli, her own family had to be powerful regardless of her spouse’s family background. Only when she had a powerful family standing behind her would her in-laws not dare to bully her.

Her family needed to be capable of seeking justice for her if her in-laws mistreated her.

And that was Tan Wenci’s motivation to expand Tanyue.

But with Tan Mo dying, who would he continue to work hard for?

At that point, Tan Wenci lost his goal and life’s purpose.

Tanyue was further weakened and soon it paled in comparison to Yuan Zhengwen’s company, which had flourished with Wei Zhijian’s support.

Then, soon after this, Tan Jinqi had discovered something bizarre about Tan Mo’s accident.

As he began to probe the case, all the clues started to point to Yuan Keqing.

During this lifetime, he had never heard Tan Mo tell him that it was never too late for revenge.

Nor had he heard her say that one should get revenge by whatever unscrupulous means possible.

Tan Jinqi had been more upright in his last lifetime than he was now.

He had been far less cunning, self-absorbed, and nasty than he was currently.

The murder of his sister had made him overflow with hatred, which caused him to lose his cool.

Naturally, Yuan Zhengwen and Wei Keli could not stay passive and watch from the sidelines while the Tan family came after Yuan Keqing.

The Tan family was already no match for the Yuan family at that time, let alone for Wei Keli’s family.

In the end, the Tan family was utterly wiped out.

Fortunately, in this lifetime, Tan Mo had helped Tan Wenci notice Yuan Zhengwen’s misconduct right at its beginning and had him fire the pest from the company early on.

This had happened before Yuan Zhengwen had made any mistake that could bring trouble to their company.

So Yuan Zhengwen’s company’s achievements weren’t anything they cared about at all in the current reality.

“We’ve arrived.” Wei Zhiqian’s voice brought Tan Mo back to the present day.

After regaining her composure, Tan Mo found herself standing before the entrance of Yuan Keqing’s villa.

Wei Zhiqian and Tan Mo entered the door after Wei Zhiqian’s assistant had opened it.

There were a lot of people sitting in the living room.

Tan Wenci and Xu Mingzhen were sitting on the sofa. Tan Mo’s three brothers had settled down in chairs beside the couch or were leaning on the wall behind it.

They all looked equally calm.

They looked as if they were gazing at strangers.

After all, Wei Keli and Yuan Keqing were not part of their family.

Li Xiangrong and Wei Zhijian were brimming with anger, however.

They had thought that they would still be able to set up their son with Tan Mo.

And now the door of opportunity had been closed by their very own son.

Tan Mo had always been the beloved princess in the Tan family.

And the Tan family had been displeased with Wei Keli for a long time already.

But now, Wei Keli’s indecent behavior with Yuan Keqing at the hot spring had only worsened their displeasure.

Needless to say, the Tan family was never going to let their daughter anywhere near a degenerate who already had an unhealthy relationship with one of their relatives.

“Has there been any misunderstanding here?” Li Xiangrong would do anything to prevent Wei Keli and Yuan Keqing’s relationship from becoming official.

She felt ashamed at the mere thought of Yuan Keqing being her son’s girlfriend.

Yuan Keqing was a woman with a heart as wicked as a witch.

It would be a misfortune for anyone who got involved with her.

“Yes, it was all a misunderstanding,” Yuan Keqing exclaimed before Wei Keli could say a word.

Li Xiangrong sensed something amiss upon hearing her words.

Why would Yuan Keqing admit that it had been a misunderstanding when she had designs on Wei Keli?

After that statement, Yuan Keqing’s act began. She started to weep and stammer, “When…brother Keli barged in, I…”

At that moment, Wei Keli recalled that he had shouted Tan Mo’s name when he’d invaded the villa.

Yuan Keqing had been startled by his shout and and fallen into the hot spring.

Just as Wei Keli started making a frantic attempt to interrupt Yuan Keqing, she continued, “I was about to take a bath in the hot spring when he came to visit me. But he had had no idea I was about to take a bath. I fell into the hot spring after being alarmed because I wasn’t expecting anyone right then. The surface around the pool was very slippery. And, when I fell in, the water felt less dense than usual, and I lost my buoyancy.

“I became panicked and started struggling in the water. As a result, I couldn’t gain a foothold. But, thankfully, Brother Keli came to save me. If it hadn’t been for him, I would have drowned.” Yuan Keqing sniffled and rubbed her nose. Her ashen face gave her the appearance of just escaping from h*ll, not a hot spring.

“Aunt, you’ve got the wrong idea. Brother Keli saved me from drowning earlier,” Yuan Keqing blurted out. “There was nothing between us apart from that.

“I…I know…” Yuan Keqing stuttered and lowered her head. Her shoulders quivered as she pressed her knees over her clasped hands in perturbation. “…I know that Brother Keli only sees me as his sister.”

However, she of course omitted that she only thought of Wei Keli as a brother.

Her tragic performance seemed to imply that she felt sorry for herself.

At the same time, she appeared to be willing to swallow all the unfair treatment for Wei Keli’s sake.

Although she had held back about her feelings toward Wei Keli, everyone in the room picked up on them all the same.

Xu Mingzhen sneered at Yuan Keqing, but didn’t say a word.

If nothing else, she was impressed by her niece’s capacity to remain neutral, while at the same time relaying her true feelings to everyone.

Not everyone would have been able to pull off what she had done at only age 18.

Xu Mingzhen had no idea whether her speech had followed a prepared script or if it had been an improvisation.

Either way, both were impressive feats.

She must be meticulous and prudent if she could come up with a story like that right after the incident came to light by foreseeing what was going to happen.

Her spontaneity could be considered top-notch, assuming that she had just thought up the story on the spot.

Wei Keli was the only person in the room who looked surprised and touched.

He certainly had not expected that Yuan Keqing would cover up for him.

The fact that she would sacrifice herself, and her love for him, just to bless the union of Tan Mo and him, touched him greatly.