The system was excited and eager to try. “The modification goal written in the Li family contract is to make Li Yunhui completely quit extreme sports and completely give up his plan to go abroad and inherit the family business. Based on your past achievements, Host, I think completing the first point will be incredibly simple!”

Lin Chen: “Oh?”

System: “Look, Host! As long as you build a good relationship with Li Yunhui and then use an extreme sport as your exit strategy, there’s no way he’ll be able to continue indulging in extreme sports without any psychological burden!”

Lin Chen let out a sneer. “You have it all figured out, don’t you? Do you really think First Dad is just throwing money around with his eyes closed?”

“The man built his business and fortune in war-torn regions. How many life-and-death situations do you think he sees every day? If you try to use such a simple trick to pocket one hundred million US dollars, guess where you’ll be lying tomorrow?”

The system trembled with fear. “L-lying in the Host’s brain!”

Lin Chen asked, “What do I rely on to dare ask for such a high price from him?”

He sneered. “Of course, it’s not about simply completing the contract’s content. It’s about making every single boss extremely satisfied!”

“When the boss is satisfied, the purse strings loosen. If they stay satisfied, they stay loose. Draining the pond to get the fish is not the way; a business built on credibility is the true path to sustainable earnings!”

The system cheered excitedly, “Stay satisfied, stay open! You’re right, Host! We’re here to earn long-term money, lifetime money!”

Lin Chen: “With Li Yunhui’s personality, it’s perfectly normal for him to yearn for the heat of battle and crave excitement, and thus want to inherit the family business. To be denied that and turn to extreme sports instead is also understandable.”

“However, if this was just a pure yearning, a simple love for it, how could it not withstand the threat of having his allowance cut off?”

The system hesitated. “Could it be an impure yearning, a not-so-simple love? …But what is that?”

Lin Chen said, “Have you noticed? He always refers to First Dad by his full name. First Dad rarely returns to the country, making it difficult for father and son to see each other. This easily leads to conflicts in their relationship, which in turn breeds resentment and misunderstanding.”

“Therefore, if we want to treat both the symptoms and the root cause, our focus cannot be solely on Li Yunhui. The complex relationship between father and son is perhaps the core reason for all the problems.”

The system seemed to understand, yet not fully, but it excitedly came to a conclusion. “Oh! So, our first step is to improve their father-son relationship!”

Lin Chen said, “Their father-son relationship is much more complex than that of the Qi, Fang, or Cheng families. So, before we can straighten out their relationship—”

He said softly, “We must first join them.”

“We must start by becoming a family member to Li Yunhui.”

“A family member that he acknowledges and values in his heart.”

…

The banquet proceeded in an orderly fashion. The various young masters and misses had finally completed a round of socializing and were beginning the formal dining phase.

Just as the meal was halfway through, a person hurried in from outside the banquet hall—Cheng Huanzhen, carrying a cake bag in one hand and a gift bag in the other. He belatedly offered his grandfather his blessings and gift, then took the seat that had been kept empty next to his grandfather.

Cheng Zhaorui’s seat was on Cheng Huanzhen’s other side.

The moment he saw what Cheng Huanzhen was carrying, his expression changed. “You bought a cake again today?! Let me be clear, I ate meat and cake at the banquet today. I will not be helping you with even a single bite of that strawberry cake!”

Cheng Zhaorui had tried his best to keep his voice down, but Old Master Cheng still heard him.

Old Master Cheng’s chopsticks paused, and he shot him a glare. “It’s just helping your son with a cake, it’s not a difficult task. Why are you shirking it!”

He said comfortingly to his eldest grandson, “If you can’t finish it, just share it at the banquet later. It can be considered as everyone celebrating your Little Uncle’s birthday.”

The third uncle, sitting across the table, wanted to join the conversation, but when he looked up at Cheng Huanzhen, he was startled. “My goodness, Huanzhen, you… you… why do you look so terrible?! And those dark circles under your eyes, how many days has it been since you slept? You… even if the company is busy, it can’t be this busy!”

Cheng Huanzhen faintly lifted his eyelids, his voice hoarse. “The company isn’t busy. I’ve been busy looking for Little Uncle lately. Third Uncle, have you gotten any clues about Little Uncle on your end?”

Third Uncle sucked in a breath and shook his head sorrowfully. “Clues? …No, I haven’t.”

At the mention of Cheng Yiming, who had disappeared at such a young age, Old Master Cheng’s face filled with grief. “Back then, the master said he would face a great calamity in his first 18 years. I thought protecting him until his eighteenth birthday would be enough. Who would have thought, who would have thought…唉!”

Old Master Cheng sighed heavily, wiped away two tears, and berated the various search organizations for taking money but failing to find any useful clues.

Cheng Zhaorui followed suit, wiping tears and sighing. He even called a waiter over for an extra set of tableware to cut a piece of birthday cake for Cheng Yiming.

Cheng Huanzhen was exceptionally quiet amidst it all.

He kept his head down, not participating in the topic his relatives and grandfather had started on “how to use new methods to find Little Uncle.”

—Every single method they mentioned, he had already tried them all within the past two months.

It had been over two months since he started looking for his Little Uncle.

If his Little Uncle was still alive, was he doing well? Had his health taken any turn for the better? The medicine he had bought for him should all be gone by now. Without medicine, what would his Little Uncle do? He was blind. Would he be tricked and abducted by someone with ill intentions on the street one day, with no one to help him? And that so-called “friend” who was taking care of him… What friend? That was clearly just something he said to comfort him!

Countless imaginings and mental scenarios filled every minute of every day for Cheng Huanzhen, and he even had version after version of nightmares.

He dreamt that his vibrant, lively Little Uncle had turned into white bones, into a withered flower, had been kidnapped and sold into Myanmar…

In his dreams, his Little Uncle cried over and over, calling his name, telling him to find him, to save him, urging him to hurry, hurry, and be even faster.

Every time he woke from a dream, he was either in pain and anger, or guilt and anxiety.

Over time, he gradually became afraid to sleep, fearing that as soon as he did, another dream-version of his Little Uncle would suffer because of it.

Remembering the nightmares, Cheng Huanzhen’s appetite vanished completely.

He wanted so badly to stand up, go out, and continue searching for his Little Uncle’s whereabouts. Every second he sat here was another second of search time wasted!

Just then, Cheng Huanzhen suddenly noticed a strange figure at a table in the distance. The figure had brown hair; he didn’t pay attention to their specific appearance.

His eyes were fixed on the food on that person’s plate.

For his grandfather’s birthday, a total of 99 different types of dishes had been prepared for the entire banquet, covering a wide range of flavors. It was impossible for a person with a normal appetite to try every dish. One would inevitably only pick their favorite dishes for their plate.

His Little Uncle’s taste was a bit picky.

He didn’t like sour, spicy, or oily food. He preferred sweet flavors, but not too sweet, not too salty, and not too bland.

He also didn’t like purely meat dishes. Every meal had to have scallions, ginger, and garlic, but no cilantro. Besides that, there were many other small details in meal preparation that, if not carefully attended to, would make his Little Uncle unhappy enough to roll around in bed.

…Among the ninety-nine dishes here today, there were probably only about ten that his Little Uncle would have liked.

And the food on the plate of that brown-haired person in the distance, as luck would have it, was all dishes that his Little Uncle would have liked too!

Old Master Cheng noticed his gaze and asked with concern, “What’s wrong?”

Cheng Huanzhen shook his head and said, “It’s nothing.”

He was just thinking of his Little Uncle… but it wasn’t appropriate to bring it up during such a joyous occasion.

Cheng Huanzhen took a few more bites and found that he had absolutely no appetite at the moment. The brown-haired person’s taste, so similar to his Little Uncle’s, bothered him greatly.

He simply made an excuse, left the table, and strode towards the brown-haired figure.

As he got closer, the contents of the plate became clearer.

He hadn’t been mistaken.

This person’s taste preferences were almost identical to his Little Uncle’s!

The person noticed the distinct footsteps heading towards them, paused their action of eating a small bite of food, and turned their head in confusion.

Only then did Cheng Huanzhen notice the person’s attire.

The young man was dressed in a clean and simple white shirt, his hair neat and his bangs well-behaved.

It was completely different from his Little Uncle’s flamboyant demeanor, which could capture the world’s attention at a glance. This young man’s aura was so gentle it was almost invisible; one could tell at a glance that he was a person who never vied with the world.

Cheng Huanzhen suddenly felt a little disappointed.

He once had a dream where, after his Little Uncle disappeared, he somehow completely changed his identity, a healthy identity, one where his eyes weren’t blind.

But that was just a dream, after all.

What had he been hoping for just now?

Cheng Huanzhen retracted his gaze, met his eyes, and greeted him politely, “Hello, I am Cheng Huanzhen of the Cheng family. I haven’t seen you before.”

The brown-haired youth blinked slowly, tilted his head slightly, and gave him a soft smile. “Hello, I am Li Shuyun. Are you looking for me?”

Cheng Huanzhen sat down next to him and said, “Yes.”

He hesitated for a second, then got straight to the point. “Do you like to eat strawberries?”

…

“Brother Li, this is so strange! We couldn’t make progress with the doctors, so we tried to dig into their social circles before they returned home, but guess what?”

Li Yunhui: “Judging by your tone, you definitely ran into another obstacle and couldn’t make progress, right?”

“Yes, you’re brilliant, Brother Li! Brother Li, I think we should just go abroad and catch the doctors…”

Li Yunhui interrupted, “Don’t even think about a publicly funded vacation. This whole thing is too coincidental. I bet even if you chase them abroad, you won’t get any good results.”

He frowned and said, “No, we still have to work from the inside. We need to find a reliable joint force within these families that have had someone die… Wait, Li Shuyun he??… Hold on, I have something to do. I’m hanging up now, I’ll contact you later!”

After leaving Li Shuyun’s side, Li Yunhui had been secretly watching his every move, trying to find some flaw in his solo actions.

However, now, before any flaw had been found, Li Yunhui discovered that someone else had approached Li Shuyun, and had been sticking to him for three to five minutes without leaving!

The distance was a bit far. The suit the other person was wearing was not very distinctive, so he couldn’t recognize the back at a glance.

But whoever it was.

He had just clearly said that was his brother. How could there still be someone so blind as to go up and continue harassing him?

And Li Shuyun too, didn’t he tell him to just refuse if he didn’t want to talk? He didn’t need to have any worries or concerns, and especially didn’t need to be too chicken to make a sound. As long as he stated his name, they would naturally become polite!

Li Yunhui watched for half a minute and saw that Li Shuyun had no intention of refusing at all. Just like before, he looked as if he would be stuck until death if someone latched onto him. A frustrated feeling of having lectured and taught him for nothing surged up.

Li Yunhui lost his appetite as well. He frowned slightly, put down his plate, and strode over there.

As soon as he got close, he recognized the man in the suit next to Li Shuyun.

Li Yunhui: “…Cheng Huanzhen?”

He frowned at the two of them and asked, “What are you two doing??”