Chapter 83

Zhao Yazhi clearly froze for a moment, then showed a pained expression and replied in slightly odd Mandarin, "No, I... I have already... I have already divorced."

Li Xu was somewhat taken aback. Deng Lijun, who was beside him, tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Miss Zhao divorced more than a month ago. Our newspapers have reported on it."

What the heck! Li Xu was also a bit stunned. What's going on? Wasn't the divorce in 1982? Could it be... because she didn't get pregnant?

"What exactly happened?" he asked softly.

"It was... " Deng Lijun glanced at Zhao Yazhi, "It seems that Miss Zhao and someone were exchanging love letters, which were discovered by her husband. He inadvertently told the editor of a magazine, and it caused a huge scandal."

Well, this part hasn't changed. It's still the triangle relationship between Huang Hanwei and Huang Yuanshen, but that's not right.

"Didn't your husband consider the feelings of your child at all?" Li Xu couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Yazhi looked at him blankly for a while before murmuring, "We... we don't have a child."

Huh?! Li Xu frowned, "You don't have a child?"

"I... I was pregnant in 1976," her voice carried a hint of self-abandonment, "But... but during a trip to Japan, I was in a car accident... and miscarried..."

A trip to Japan? A car accident? Oh my God, could it be such a coincidence?! Li Xu couldn't help but cover his forehead. Damn, is this my fault?!

The room became somewhat somber for a moment. He had to do something else, like calling the waiter to bring a spare set of bed linens, and asking Deng Lijun to pour three glasses of soda.

"Miss Zhao... Miss Zhao, can you tell me the specific process of how you came here?" Li Xu pushed the glass in front of Zhao Yazhi and asked again.

"It was... like this," Zhao Yazhi held the glass and lowered her head, looking pitiful, "After my divorce, because... because it was a big scandal, TVB wanted me to be on hiatus for a while... Then someone here... someone invited me to come and act in a movie, so I came... But... but one day, when I was having dinner with the director and the screenwriter to discuss the script, I accidentally went into the wrong room and took the wrong bag... I didn't know it contained... confidential documents, and then the Military Intelligence Bureau came and threatened me..."

Alright, at this point, Li Xu could basically outline the methods of those people, and then... he felt relieved.

Yes, relieved. If she were still married and had a child, it would have been much harder to get out of the situation. If she were also pregnant, it would have been even more complicated.

But now, because of the affair and being divorced, and being ostracized by the entertainment industry or the media, she was brought to Taiwan, which was acceptable.

"Mr. Li!" Zhao Yazhi suddenly lifted her head, tears glistening in her eyes, "I... I know you are a good person, please let me go."

Li Xu covered his forehead again and looked at Deng Lijun, "Who said something like that last time?"

"It was Qingxia," Deng Lijun rolled her eyes and said in a light tone.

"Are you sure it was Qingxia, not Fengjiao?" Li Xu deliberately asked.

"Of course, you also said, I just need your person, not your heart," Deng Lijun said irritably.

"Right." Li Xu nodded in realization, then looked at Zhao Yazhi and spread his hands.

Zhao Yazhi's expression had already become blank. As someone in the entertainment industry—though in Hong Kong—how could she not know what the names Qingxia and Fengjiao represented.

"Alright, Miss Zhao... Miss Zhao, stay here for the night," Li Xu stood up, "We will be spending a long time together, you can observe and think about it slowly."

Then, after the waiter brought the bed linens, Li Xu and Deng Lijun helped lay them out and left the still dazed Zhao Yazhi, returning to the bedroom together.

"You look a bit unhappy, are you jealous?" Li Xu immediately hugged Deng Lijun when they went in.

"Congratulations, your wardrobe has another beautiful dress," Deng Lijun put on a generous face, but her tone was sour.

"But the most charming one is still yours," Li Xu kissed her cheek with a grin, "If just one more dress makes you jealous, what about seven or eight more?"

"Can you handle so many dresses?" Deng Lijun huffed.

"You can try, with the other dresses," Li Xu whispered in her ear.

"You always say such things, you're so bad," Deng Lijun blushed and pushed him away, then changed the subject, "You seem particularly interested in Zhao Yazhi, and you even asked why she doesn't have a child."

"That... " Li Xu scratched his nose, "If the time and place match, her miscarriage might have been caused by me."

"Ah?" Deng Lijun was just asking casually but was surprised by the answer, her mouth opened wide.

"You know, in Japan, there are people called bōsōzoku," Li Xu explained, "You also know that I live alternately in Japan and the United States every year. In the second half of 1976, I sneaked out to Hakone to play. Because I am mixed-race, a few bōsōzoku came to cause trouble. Although the bodyguards were nearby and quickly drove them away, I was very angry and wanted to give them a lesson."

"Then, while dealing with them, you accidentally caused a car accident?" Deng Lijun asked.

"That's partly right and partly wrong," Li Xu shrugged, "The family contacted the local police, but when the police went to arrest those bōsōzoku, they found them dealing drugs, and then there was a chase, which led to a traffic accident, resulting in two deaths and dozens of injuries. I remember clearly because the news specifically mentioned that a pregnant woman miscarried."

Deng Lijun stared at him blankly, not knowing what to say.

"So," Li Xu spread his hands, "If I hadn't sneaked out to play, I wouldn't have encountered the bōsōzoku; if I hadn't encountered the bōsōzoku, there wouldn't have been a car accident; if there hadn't been a car accident, Zhao Yazhi wouldn't have miscarried; if she hadn't miscarried, her husband would have considered more when the affair scandal broke out; if her husband had considered more, they wouldn't have divorced; if they hadn't divorced, she wouldn't have fallen into the trap and been forced to come and accompany me."

"It sounds... so complicated," Deng Lijun pursed her lips, somewhat incredulously, and then asked, "Are you really sure that her miscarriage in Japan was... influenced by you?"

Of course, because I know she was supposed to have two children, and she divorced in 1982 and remarried in 1984.

He thought this in his heart but couldn't say it out loud, so Li Xu just spread his hands again, "You can ask her the specific time, and then I'll tell you the time of the car accident."

She really did that, and when she came back, Li Xu said before she could speak, "July 23, 1976."

Deng Lijun's mouth opened wide. It was indeed that time, so Li Xu immediately picked her up and flipped her over, slapping her buttocks, "For not believing me, for not believing me..."

He slapped her about ten times before letting her go, and by then, her face was red, and her eyes were watery.

"I won't do it again," Deng Lijun said softly, her sweet voice coquettishly, adding a seductive charm.

"When you went to ask, did you make her suspicious?" Li Xu asked at this point.

"No, I'm not a fool," Deng Lijun pouted, then asked, "What do you plan to do?"

"Of course!" Li Xu put on a righteous face, "Since I caused her current situation, I must take responsibility."

He added in his heart, since I've already taken the blame, I might as well take it.

"Everything you said, but the last sentence is the key," Deng Lijun muttered softly.

Even so, Li Xu heard it and immediately flipped her over again, pressing her onto the bed, "You're saying bad things about me again, I need to teach you a lesson!"

"Wait... wait, let's take a shower first."

"We can shower after, the night is long."

"You... you're so mean!"

---

The next morning, Zhao Yazhi had deep eye bags, clearly not having slept well.

Li Xu, the unscrupulous guy, left the door half-open as he did last time, letting her hear the sounds of the night. Not only that, after the first round, he even carried Deng Lijun past her to the bathroom, with a towel wrapped around his waist.

Although he was wrapped in a towel, Deng Lijun was clinging to him like an octopus, so... the scene was quite impactful.

Li Xu didn't care. Since Zhao Yazhi was in his hands, he wouldn't let her go. She was a super bus in another timeline's entertainment novel, and even if he forgot to collect Shuanglin, he wouldn't forget her.

However, he still had to have a word with Wang Chuanpu.

"Technically, I should thank you, but this method seems a bit off?"

"Don't worry, we just scared her. We would never do such a thing to a friend."

Although Wang Chuanpu thumped his chest, Li Xu only believed half of it. If they could use the theft of military secrets to force her to accompany him today, they could use the same excuse to force her to steal secrets tomorrow.

After all, Comrade Nikolai has been trained by the Cheka.

Of course, Li Xu also believed they wouldn't do something stupid, but he still had to be careful. Whether it was Shuanglin, Deng Lijun, or Zhao Yazhi, they should stay away from secrets.

Moreover, this method was indeed inappropriate, so it would be better to use his own influence in the future.

Then, the matters in Taiwan were basically settled. Most of the issues were already discussed before he came, and now he just needed to negotiate with Taiwan, which shouldn't be a problem.

If the company investing and participating was his father's, he wouldn't even need to come.

So, after two more days, after listening to a few preliminary negotiations and discussions, he left Taiwan with Deng Lijun and Zhao Yazhi, but their destination was not Japan, but Hong Kong.

It was simple; just two weeks ago, his Imagination Holdings Hong Kong branch had been established.