CHAPTER 609: CHAPTER 522: WHAT SHOULD WE DO THEN? (SECOND UPDATE)

"No issues; the lab technician was just about to leave, but I pushed him back," Yuan Hang’s voice had barely faded when all the lights in the hospital flickered back on. "Sir, the power’s back!"

"Keep an eye on him. I’m going to ask why the power suddenly went out," Tong Airui hung up Yuan Hang’s call and dialed the power bureau.

"Director Hu, this is Airui Aldrich. What’s going on with the outage on Westside Road?"

Director Hu rushed to respond, "Duke Airui, it’s caused by a tall freight truck that snapped the power lines. I’m currently organizing repairs."

"How long will it take to restore electricity?"

"At the very least, three hours given the circumstances."

"Hurry up with the repairs!"

"Understood, understood! I’ll expedite it as much as I can!"

Tong Airui hung up the phone with a grim expression. "If you don’t expedite it, I’ll have Prime Minister Long Che remove you from your position!"

"Who provoked you now?" Yi Luowa pushed the door open and entered.

"The director of the power bureau."

"How did he manage to irritate you?" Yi Luowa placed a stack of documents on the desk.

"Work negligence!" Tong Airui glanced at the files on the desk. "Finished processing these already?"

"Yes. Are there more? Should all these papers be completed before the workday’s end?"

"There’s just one left; I’ll handle it myself. Take a rest for a bit," Tong Airui looked at his wife with a hint of tenderness.

Yi Luowa smiled softly, pursing her lips. "You’re acting odd today, but I quite like it!"

"I just love hearing you say that!" Tong Airui pulled her into his lap with a grin. "Sit on my lap, let me hold you while I read these documents—it’ll triple my speed."

"More likely to cut your efficiency to a third!" Yi Luowa chuckled, brushing off his hand. "Go ahead and focus; I’ll see what Kou’er is up to."

Tong Airui checked the time. "Go ahead. By the way, tell Kou’er to use the Range Rover to drive us home tonight. Yuan Hang took my Cadillac, and he’ll finish his work by six o’clock, roughly."

"Alright," Yi Luowa answered lightly and swiftly walked out the door.

As soon as the workday ended, Tong Airui precisely finalized the last document.

Just as he was about to stand up, Yi Luowa entered with a cheerful smile, "Honey, ready to leave yet?"

"I am," Tong Airui strode quickly to the door. "Let’s go home; time to play with the kids."

"If Dad had let us off work early, your little date plan with the kids might just fall through."

Tong Airui affectionately ruffled her hair. "As long as you don’t let me down."

"When have I ever disappointed you?"

"You’re like a living saint—always answering prayers!"

Laughing and chatting, the two descended the stairs. About ten minutes later, they arrived home.

Sang Yu and Zi Yan saw their mom had returned and waved their little hands eagerly, vying for her hug.

Yi Luowa smiled and said, "Mommy needs to wash her hands and change clothes first, then I’ll hold you both."

Pengpeng wielded his rattle and struck the sofa hard, as if to say: How come no one’s paying attention to me?!

"Haha..." Yan Zi burst into laughter. "Sis-in-law, doesn’t Pengpeng’s little tantrum remind you of his grandma?"

"Come to think of it, he really does resemble her," Tong Yao chuckled lightly. "Speaking of Xixi, it reminds me—she said she won’t come over for New Year’s. There’s a case in Z Country."

Tong Jiaqi paused slightly, mid-game piece in hand. He hadn’t seen his daughter for months and realized he missed her.

Tong Yao glanced sideways at her dad, noticing his face tense up. Quickly, she smiled and said, "Dad, I was joking—Xixi will arrive tomorrow."

Tong Jiaqi smiled and placed his piece onto the board.

"Mom, won’t my uncle join her when she comes tomorrow?" Yi Luowa asked softly.

Tong Yao shook her head. "He’s busy and won’t show up for New Year’s. He’s planning to come for Spring Festival instead."

Yi Luowa smiled and quietly ascended the stairs.

Tong Airui, seeing her head upstairs, quickly headed to his father’s study to wait for updates!

The clock ticked forward second by second. At 6:15 PM, Yuan Hang’s call came through.

Tong Airui promptly pressed the answer button. "What’s the result?"

"Sir, the genetic similarity between Luowa and Danton is only 50%. Is that reliable?"

Tong Airui chuckled at the question. "As siblings, unless they’re identical twins from the same egg, it’s impossible for them to share 99% genetic similarity. The average similarity for siblings is about one-quarter. The fact they share 50% makes it remarkably high."

"Sir, what’s the next step?"

"Send me the test results. I’ll handle the rest." With the situation now clear, Tong Airui felt unusually calm; there was much work ahead.

After receiving the paternity report, Tong Airui skimmed through it and was about to make a call when he heard Long Che’s voice outside. Thinking for a moment, he put the phone down and stepped to the door to take a look. His dad had just picked up Sang Yu.

"Dad, there’s something I need to talk to you about."

Long Che approached with his granddaughter in his arms.

Tong Yao called after him from behind, "Rui’er wants to discuss work—hand the child over and go on! Sang Yu, come here!"

Long Che shot his wife a glance and said, "No work is more important than my granddaughter!"

Sang Yu seemed to understand, snuggling onto her grandfather’s shoulder with gleeful laughter.

Tong Airui smiled and opened the door wide, inviting them inside the study.

"What is it?" Long Che asked urgently, eager to return to playing with his granddaughter.

Tong Airui shut the study door and whispered, "Dad, I’ve found Luowa’s biological parents!"

Long Che furrowed his brow slightly. "Is it true this time? If you’re not 100% sure, don’t tell Luowa—she can’t afford another heartbreak."

"I know; I haven’t told her yet. The paternity test was just completed," Tong Airui held up his phone for his father to see the results.

Sang Yu blinked her shiny, curious eyes and reached out to grab the phone. Tong Airui frowned. "Sang Yu, stop messing around! Daddy’s discussing serious matters with Grandpa."

Sang Yu, sensing her father’s sternness, pouted and snuggled back into her grandfather’s shoulder.

Long Che glared at his son disapprovingly, handed over a different phone to his granddaughter, and finally took a proper look at the test results.

"Only 50% similar? How can they be biological?"

"It’s not a parent-child test—it’s a sibling comparison."

"That’s actually quite high," Long Che sighed. "What a relief; they’ve finally been found! Who are Luowa’s biological parents?"

"Randy and Xia Zhilan!" Tong Airui replied, raising his eyes to observe his father’s reaction.

Long Che’s brows knitted tightly. "This seems the most credible lead yet, but what about Nancy’s paternity test? Queen Haotian plainly stated she didn’t give birth to twins."

"Dad, here’s something I think you should read." Tong Airui pulled out a letter written by Ke Jingde.

Long Che skimmed through it swiftly and said gravely, "This plot must have been laid out a long time ago."

"I’ve thought so, too. When Luowa was attacked earlier, I thought it was collateral damage due to my involvement. Now it seems someone’s been targeting her all along, aiming to replace her with Nancy."

"The mastermind behind Nancy is undoubtedly a skilled tactician. The way this plan has unfolded makes him the ultimate winner!"

"Absolutely! Piecing everything together, Du Ma and Kai Di’s deaths might also have been moves in his grand chess game. What’s his goal? The throne? The empire?"

Long Che curled his lips slightly. "Perhaps it’s all for a woman!"

"What woman?! You two can’t even stick to talking about work—it’s all woman this, woman that. Sang Yu, give Grandpa a good smack for Grandma!"

Suddenly, Tong Yao’s voice rang from the phone, startling the father and son.

Sang Yu clutched the phone and started babbling excitedly to Grandma.

Tong Airui burst into laughter. "This is what happens when you hand her a phone! She dialed my mom’s number!"

Long Che chuckled. "My granddaughter is brilliant—she can already make phone calls!"

Sang Yu giggled and continued her animated chatter with Grandma.

"Dad, you might as well hand her over to my mom. There’s still a lot I need to discuss with you."

"I know what you want to talk about. We can’t rush this; otherwise, it’ll look like we’re trying to cozy up to them. Send these two bits of evidence to them and leave the rest in their hands."

"I was thinking the same. Since we’re aligned, I’ll proceed as planned. You’d better go explain things to my mom; otherwise... you might not make it to bed tonight."

"Get lost!" Long Che yelled at his son as he walked out the door, carrying his granddaughter. Almost at the living room, he turned back to mouth to his son, "Until we’re completely certain, don’t tell Luowa or anyone in the family. People without blood ties might still share 50% genetic similarity."

Tong Airui nodded—those were the very words he had intended to say to his father.

Once his dad left the room again, Tong Airui shut the door and dialed Queen Haotian. With these complicated matters, he thought it best to discuss them directly with her—it would save a lot of effort.

Tong Airui sent the two pieces of evidence to Queen Haotian, and then quietly waited.

"Randy, come take a look!" Queen Haotian’s voice became noticeably tense as she reviewed the documents sent by Airui.

Emperor Haotian approached. "What’s this?"

Queen Haotian glanced toward the door. Seeing his wife’s concern, Emperor Haotian stepped over, checked outside, then closed the door before returning.

Queen Haotian, visibly agitated, said, "Duke Airui has sent me the DNA test results for Danton and Luowa—their genetic similarity is 50%!"

Emperor Haotian furrowed his brow slightly. "Why did Duke Airui run DNA tests on them?"

"Because of this!" Queen Haotian opened and showed Emperor Haotian the letter from Ke Jingde. "Someone stole Luowa’s hair the day before Nancy agreed to do a DNA test with you! Think about it—why did Nancy refuse for so long, then suddenly consent after Luowa lost her hair?!"

"What should we do now?"