Due to sales issues after the new product launch, Cheng Huanzhen had a rare busy day at the company, working until nine at night.

But before he could finish, he received a call from the old mansion.

…It was the old butler.

The old butler concisely informed him, “Young Master Huanzhen, Mr. Cheng requests your presence at the old mansion. Please come now, as soon as possible.”

The old mansion.

Grandfather.

The corners of Cheng Huanzhen’s mouth instantly flattened. He slowly put down the proposal document in his hand.

“Alright,” he said.

The journey of over twenty kilometers was not close, but not far either.

It was enough to reactivate his numb thoughts, enough to reignite the fire that had been building in his chest for over two months.

It seemed like a long time had passed since he was last driven out of the old mansion.

So much so that now, looking at the old mansion at night, he felt a faint sense of unfamiliarity.

Little Uncle was inside.

…Was he not afraid of him seeing Little Uncle this time?

Just because the new product had been released?

The old butler received him outside the old mansion and led him inside.

Along the way, the old butler said to him in a low voice:

“Young Master Huanzhen, Mr. Cheng is very angry today. When you go in later, first apologize to Mr. Cheng, explain a few things, and make a guarantee. Mr. Cheng has always doted on you. As long as you have a good attitude, he won’t get too angry with you.”

…Apologize? Explain? Guarantee?

Cheng Huanzhen’s scattered thoughts were pulled back for a moment.

Why should he apologize to his grandfather? Why should he explain to his grandfather? Why should he give his grandfather a guarantee?

…He didn’t want to. He didn’t want to at all. He didn’t want to, didn’t want to, didn’t want to!

Last time, he had made a solemn vow.

And then? Grandfather tore up the contract!

Cheng Huanzhen thought indifferently.

Cheng Huanzhen felt like he was a bulging balloon right now. Countless emotions had been accumulating since the Spring Festival, never vented, and were intensifying in his chest. A gentle prick with a needle would make everything explode.

But such an “explosion” was too unfamiliar.

He didn’t know what consequences it would have… He didn’t dare to try.

He shouldn’t explode. He should be calm.

The old butler was still waiting for his response.

Cheng Huanzhen replied to the old butler stiffly, calmly, and politely, “Thank you, Uncle Wang.”

The old butler had, after all, been by his grandfather’s side for decades.

He could hear the emotion in his words at once.

The old butler frowned and advised again, “Young Master Huanzhen, no matter what, Mr. Cheng is your grandfather, and he is the head of the Cheng family. You… don’t be too impulsive. You should bow your head when you need to.”

Cheng Huanzhen’s fists clenched tightly at his sides. He closed his eyes and tried to breathe calmly.

He said, “Yes, thank you, Uncle Wang.”

The old butler sighed in disappointment. “You are the person Mr. Cheng is most optimistic about. There’s no need to…”

He paused. “for those small things, and ruin everything you have.”

…It wasn’t a small thing.

It wasn’t unnecessary.

This wasn’t his.

And it wasn’t everything.

Cheng Huanzhen thought, but did not say it out loud.

He still replied stiffly, “Yes, thank you, Uncle Wang.”

Seeing him like this, the old butler sighed deeply, shook his head, and gave up on further useless efforts.

The old mansion was very quiet.

From entering the door to his grandfather’s study, Cheng Huanzhen did not notice any noteworthy figures.

He wasn’t very disappointed.

He just felt a little more unhappy.

Soon they arrived at the door of his grandfather’s study.

The old butler gently patted his shoulder, as if in encouragement, as if in comfort.

The old butler: “Please, Young Master Huanzhen.”

Cheng Huanzhen entered the door, and the door closed behind him.

In front of him, there was only his grandfather with a cold and serious face.

He had seen such a grandfather many times.

But most of the time, the people standing opposite this kind of grandfather were his other relatives.

Cheng Huanzhen greeted, “Good evening, Grandfather.”

His grandfather sneered, “Good evening? It seems your evening is going quite well!”

Along with his grandfather’s rising voice, there was a crisp—”slap!”

A stack of data reports was slammed heavily on the table.

His grandfather’s anger showed on his face, which was flushed red.

He pointed at the reports on the table and angrily questioned him, “Have you seen the sales data after the new product launch? If you have, then explain to me now, how did you produce such garbage-like results?!”

His grandfather suddenly grabbed the reports and threw them on the floor.

The papers were thrown in front of Cheng Huanzhen, scattered all over his feet.

Cheng Huanzhen: “…”

He lowered his head stiffly, his fists clenched, his jaw tight, and his cheeks slightly puffed.

His grandfather’s angry curses hammered at his chest. They hammered at him, making his emotions surge, hammering at him until he was about to explode.

Calm down. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

Don’t explode. Don’t explode. Hold it in. Hold it in.

He was holding it in. But his grandfather’s roars didn’t stop at all.

Saliva sprayed on his face. “Cheng Huanzhen, with a performance like yours, how can you be worthy of the effort and energy I have invested in cultivating you as the heir of the Cheng family?!”

“Look at the new products released by XX Group recently… How can you compare with them?!… And look at YY Group’s performance this quarter… Don’t you feel ashamed of yourself?!… If you inherit the Cheng family like this, the Cheng family will sooner or later be ruined in your hands!”

“Thud!”

A dull, heavy thud suddenly silenced Old Mr. Cheng.

Old Mr. Cheng looked down in astonishment.

A black leather shoe had heavily kicked the front of the desk.

Cheng Huanzhen was expressionless, the burning anger in his entire chest almost about to burst through his skin.

Indifferent and cold words were squeezed out from between his lips and teeth.

He said, “But I never asked you to cultivate me as an heir. You were the one who insisted on doing so… Grandfather.”

As soon as his voice fell.

His grandfather looked up in astonishment.

This expression was much more intense than when he saw him actually kick the table.

His grandfather was incredulous. “You…!”

His grandfather was instantly furious!

The crisp sound of a teacup shattering rang out beside him.

His grandfather panted heavily, furiously pointing at the door and shouting at him, “Then get out! Get out now, get out of the old mansion, get out of the Cheng family, don’t let me see you again! Do you think you can have your current achievements without the resources I gave you?! Get out!!”

His grandfather was very angry.

…So what?

Get out then.

The oppressive air in the study made Cheng Huanzhen not want to breathe for another second.

He expressionlessly withdrew his foot, turned his head, and strode out of the study.

When he came out the door, the old butler was astonished at how short their conversation had been.

Seeing him, he called out, “Young Master Huanzhen, you…”

He didn’t want to respond.

He didn’t want to stay in this place for another moment.

The emotions in his chest were already overflowing.

So hot it was about to explode.

Anger. Anger. Anger. All anger!

He couldn’t stay here any longer.

Otherwise, he would lose control of himself!

He ignored the old butler’s calls and strode out of the old mansion.

It was only when he was out the door and the cool night breeze hit his face that he finally leaned against a large tree in the courtyard, lowered his head, and panted heavily.

The night was as dark as lacquer, and the entire sky pressed down on his back like a black weight.

The chaotic anger and the apprehension brought about by his first-ever transgression were mixed together, making him feel completely lost.

In a trance, he suddenly thought of his little uncle who was still in the old mansion.

Little Uncle…

Little Uncle was still inside!

…

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

Fast and heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor. The old butler jogged intermittently, trying to keep up with Old Mr. Cheng.

The old butler: “Mr. Cheng, Mr. Cheng, please slow down… Oh, Mr. Cheng!”

But Old Mr. Cheng couldn’t hear the old butler’s calls at all.

His anger did not subside with Cheng Huanzhen’s departure, but instead grew even stronger.

The events of tonight had made his head spin, his ears buzz, and he had to find a place to vent this anger!

“Bang!”

The door of the chess room was thrown open heavily.

Old Mr. Cheng strode to the chess table and slammed it heavily.

He glared at Lin Chen angrily. “Speak! What kind of love potion did you give Huanzhen? How did he become like this after just a few days in your hands?! Let’s not talk about his business performance for now, but he… he even dared to say such nonsense as not caring about the inheritance!”

Old Mr. Cheng was so angry that he panted heavily and cursed, “Does Cheng Huanzhen know what the heir of the Cheng family means?! If he doesn’t want to sit in this position, so many people are fighting and begging for it! I must have been blind to spend ninety million on Huanzhen… He doesn’t deserve to be the heir of the Cheng family!”

The old butler had just arrived in the room from behind.

Seeing this, he immediately went up and patted Old Mr. Cheng’s back to help him calm down, while at the same time winking hard at Lin Chen.

However, Lin Chen, who had been very discerning and intelligent in the past few months, now seemed unable to read the atmosphere and stood up with a smile.

He bent down and poured two cups of tea, smiled and picked up one cup, and handed it to Old Mr. Cheng.

He did not respond to Old Mr. Cheng’s fury, but asked, “What was the estimated first-month sales of the product that the company planned to launch in the second half of the year?”

He did not wait for a reply. After putting a teacup into Old Mr. Cheng’s hand, he picked up his own cup and slowly paced around the chess table and Old Mr. Cheng.

He said, “The product for the first quarter was delayed until April for release. This will affect the preparation time for the new product in the second half of the year. It may even cause the launch time of the new product in the second half of the year to be delayed as well.”

Old Mr. Cheng slammed the teacup heavily on the table, annoyed. “…Don’t change the subject!”

Lin Chen took a sip of tea and paced to Old Mr. Cheng’s side.

He sighed softly. “Old Mr. Cheng, you are a professional businessman, and we are professional reformers. In the past few months, you have rejected five versions of our proposal.”

“Actually, in your mind, you already have a complete proposal. You hope that I can write it out and execute it according to the proposal in your mind.”

“But I have to tell you, that’s impossible.”

“According to the proposal in your mind, it is impossible to achieve the final effect required by the contract.”

“Otherwise, you would not need to spend ninety million to hire us.”

Old Mr. Cheng was like a furious lion. “Then what do you want to do? What do you want to do! Are you trying to say that your original proposal was correct, and everything I did was wrong?”

“According to my path, how well did he perform in the first twenty years? On the contrary, you! As soon as you came, look at what garbage his performance has become?!”

Lin Chen smiled gently. “Arguing about who is better and who is worse is meaningless, Mr. Cheng.”

“Instead of having a meaningless theoretical debate, let’s use facts to speak.”

“There are still nine months until the end of the contract. In these nine months, please hand Cheng Huanzhen over to me completely. No matter what I do, you cannot interfere.”

“As long as you can guarantee this. Then the actual first-month sales of the product launched in November this year will definitely be more than fifty percent higher than the original estimated sales—I will use this data to prove the achievement of the contract goal. Do you have any objection?”

Old Mr. Cheng’s anger was stuck in his throat.

Lin Chen’s smile dissolved into the tea.

He picked up Old Mr. Cheng’s teacup again and handed it to him.

Lin Chen: “Anyway, you are already considering revoking Cheng Huanzhen’s position as heir. So what does it matter to hand him over to me completely, let me take him for half a year, and take a small gamble on this miracle?”

Old Mr. Cheng was incredulous for a long time, and finally burst out laughing with anger. “Use data to speak? Kicking down my door and challenging me to my face? What gives you the courage to report a fifty percent increase? Do you know what that means?!”

Lin Chen smiled lightly and reached out to touch his teacup.

“Clink—”

Lin Chen: “Don’t care about what my confidence is. For nine months, he’s mine, and you don’t interfere. If you interfere once more, I’ll leave and never take any orders from the Cheng family again. Remember that, Mr. Cheng.”

Clinked cups, put down cups. Turned around, left.

…

Outside the old mansion.

In the dark shadows.

Beside the car.

The driver: “Hey, Young Master, please slow down, wait, wait! I’ll take them off myself!!”

Cheng Huanzhen, who was usually very patient and never impatient, was now constantly urging him, “Hurry up. If Grandfather reacts, it will be too late. Hurry up. Hurry up. Hurry up.”

The driver took off his own sports shoes with a bitter face and handed them to the young master. In return, he received a pair of leather shoes of unknown five- or six-digit value from the young master, and for a moment he didn’t even dare to put them on his feet.

The young master didn’t mind.

He expressionlessly took his shoes, expressionlessly put them on his feet, and even jumped on the spot twice to get used to them.

The driver couldn’t help but pour cold water on him. “Young Master, if you really want to snatch someone from the old mansion, it’s not just about a pair of shoes. How many bodyguards are there in the old mansion? Even if you run, can you outrun them?”

Cheng Huanzhen was expressionless. “Oh.”

A pause. “Who said I’m going to snatch someone? I just want to ask Little Uncle again if he wants to leave the old mansion.”

The driver: “…Is there a difference?”

Cheng Huanzhen thought to himself, he was not in the business of robbery.

This was a polite inquiry.

If he asked him to his face, Little Uncle wouldn’t be able to ignore him like he did on Green Chat.

He didn’t want to snatch.

He just.

He just felt that since he had angered his grandfather for a rare time, he might as well do what he wanted to do all at once.

…It would save him from having to anger him one more time.

Cheng Huanzhen squatted down to readjust the tightness of his shoelaces, staring at the ground in a daze, not knowing if his behavior was appropriate.

…But he was already almost forgetting Little Uncle’s voice.

Little Uncle had been detained in the old mansion for over two months.

Was Little Uncle okay? He knew nothing. He… he should at least go and see.

At this moment, a clear, familiar, and pleasant voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Big Nephew!”

Cheng Huanzhen turned his head in astonishment!

The dark night sky had cleared a wisp of clouds, and the cool moonlight happened to fall in front of him.

A red thin coat fluttered in the moonlight, and a long ponytail flew high, falling into the moonlight with the young little uncle, rushing into his eyes, nose, ears, and heart with a rich fragrance.

Little Uncle’s eyes curved into a smile, his hands wide open. “Ting-ling! Good evening, Big Nephew, long time no see, did you miss me?”