Facts proved that even if Old Mr. Cheng personally came to persuade him, Cheng Huanzhen’s stubbornness was of no use.

Old Mr. Cheng came with a temper.

As soon as he came out, he heard five repeated sentences in a row, and his temper immediately flared up.

He simply turned his head and went back to the medical room, calling for Lin Chen, “You go talk to him. Don’t let him stand there in a daze, it’s useless! Find any reason you want, just get him back to where he’s supposed to be!”

Cheng Yiming thus left the medical room.

Cheng Huanzhen was still in the back hall at this time.

He stood there with a straight face, motionless, like an old tree rooted in this place. No matter who came by, he would not move.

Just then, a clear and bright shout came from behind him, “Big nephew!”

Cheng Huanzhen suddenly turned his head and saw the red clothes fluttering, the high ponytail swaying, as his little uncle quickly walked towards him.

Cheng Huanzhen finally moved.

He strode forward and grabbed his little uncle’s wrist.

Cheng Huanzhen stared straight at him and quickly asked, “Little uncle, was the physical examination okay?”

Cheng Yiming said with a smile, “Of course, it was fine.”

He jumped on the spot, his ponytail jumping even higher in the air. “Look at me, I can jump and bounce. What could be wrong?”

Cheng Huanzhen nodded. He didn’t ask why his little uncle wasn’t kept by his grandfather at this time. He pulled his little uncle forcefully, “Little uncle, let’s go, back to work.”

This was an excuse, and also a hint.

—While grandfather is not here.

Let’s go, quickly!

However, his little uncle didn’t move.

Little uncle didn’t move??

Cheng Huanzhen looked at his little uncle in confusion. “Little uncle?”

His little uncle’s smile weakened, his ponytail drooping.

He lowered his head and said in a low voice, “Actually, big nephew, dad just told me about making you the heir in the future… He said that as the future heir, you need to learn many things and do many excellent things. He thinks that keeping me with you will greatly affect your growth, so…”

Cheng Huanzhen’s words immediately became hurried. “What heir? This was completely his own decision. I…”

His little uncle’s finger pressed against his mouth.

His little uncle continued, “Listen to me.”

His expression was dejected and sad. “Dad said that if I affect your life again, he will send me abroad again.”

Cheng Huanzhen moved his finger away and anxiously cut in, “So what if grandfather said that? Whether it’s an influence or not should be my decision!”

His little uncle shook his head and continued to say to him, “When I was abroad, I never made any friends. Life there was boring and very uninteresting to me. So… I don’t want to take this risk.”

“Even if I’m in the country, in the capital, it doesn’t matter if I can only live in the old mansion. At least when I’m here, you, and all the other brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces are all here. Occasionally gathering at the old mansion is somewhat interesting. So…”

It was the first time Cheng Huanzhen had seen such a color in his little uncle’s eyes.

That gray and hazy patch was like loneliness, but it was not so strong as to be hysterical.

This loneliness was faint, shallow, and in contrast to his little uncle’s usual flamboyance and vitality, it was even more heart-wrenching.

But even so, his little uncle still smiled at him. “You go back, big nephew. I was just staying at your place temporarily anyway, it doesn’t matter. There’s no need for you to argue with grandfather for my sake. I heard it all just now… Go back, big nephew.”

Cheng Huanzhen was thus easily pushed out of the old mansion by his little uncle.

It was snowing lightly that day.

Snowflakes fluttered down onto his head, onto the lapels of his clothes.

It was a little chilly.

But he didn’t notice.

When the driver saw Cheng Huanzhen, he hurried out of the car, opened the door for him, and reminded him, “Young master, it’s snowing outside. Hurry up and get in the car to warm up.”

Cheng Huanzhen didn’t know if he heard this sentence.

His eyes were blank, not knowing where to focus.

Hearing the words, he lifted his leg and mechanically walked into the car and sat down.

In the huge car, when they came, it was him, his little uncle, and his father.

But after the meal, his father didn’t dare to stay in the old mansion for long and secretly hailed a cab and ran off first.

His little uncle stayed at the old mansion.

So much so that in the entire car, apart from the driver, he was the only one left.

The driver asked hesitantly, “Young master, Young Master Yiming…”

Cheng Huanzhen’s face was expressionless. He interrupted, saying, “Go home.”

The driver said “oh” and didn’t dare to ask any more.

Cheng Huanzhen looked at the scenery that was rapidly moving backward outside the car window.

For a moment, he couldn’t figure out what he was unhappy about now.

He seemed to be unhappy that his little uncle had refused his invitation to leave together.

…He had even faced his grandfather and confronted him in order to bring his little uncle out.

How could his little uncle… how could he bow to his grandfather so quickly?

The scenery flashed by, leaving colorful afterimages on his retina.

The colorful colors seemed to gradually fade into black and white, coming to a standstill.

Cheng Huanzhen sat in the car in a daze.

He didn’t take advantage of the time in the car to sort out his plans as he usually would, nor did he do anything else.

He just kept thinking: little uncle didn’t come back with him. Grandfather threatened little uncle again. Grandfather is threatening him again.

Should he do something?

…He wanted to do something.

After sitting in a daze for half the journey, he picked up his phone and sent a message to his little uncle.

Cheng Huanzhen: [Coming back won’t let grandfather catch you.]

Cheng Huanzhen: [If you are caught and sent abroad, I have savings and can bring you back.]

Cheng Huanzhen: [I graduate next year, I can also go out to accompany you. It doesn’t matter.]

He lowered his head and held his phone, waiting for a reply.

If his little uncle was willing to leave the old mansion and go with him, he would have the driver turn back now.

1 minute.

3 minutes.

10 minutes…

All this time, his little uncle did not reply.

The car stopped in front of Cheng Zhaorui’s house.

Cheng Huanzhen got out of the car in a daze and returned home in a daze.

His father heard the sound and poked his head out, asking in surprise and confusion, “Why are you back alone? Where’s Yiming?”

Cheng Huanzhen paused in the entrance hall for two seconds, looked up and replied, “Little uncle is staying at the old mansion. He’s not coming back.”

His father was shocked. “You just let him stay at the old mansion like that?! Staying at the old mansion means…”

Cheng Huanzhen’s lips flattened, and his tone was devoid of any fluctuation. “Little uncle chose it himself.”

His father was even more shocked. “Huh? How is that possible? He…”

His father was flustered and anxious, fumbling all over for his phone. Not finding it, he turned and ran into his room to look for it.

Cheng Huanzhen didn’t care what his father was doing.

He mechanically returned to his room and sat in a daze. He sat until the butler came to knock on his door, reminding him that it was time to go to bed, before he finally slowly stood up and lay down on the bed.

Grandfather. Grandfather. Grandfather. It’s all because of grandfather’s threats!

But—should he do something? It seems not. Because little uncle has already made a decision. He doesn’t need to act anymore.

But why. Why. Why.

Unhappy. Unhappy. Unhappy.

Sleep. Wake up.

Still unhappy. No need to act, but his mood is not good.

No. I can’t. This affects efficiency. Affects sleep. Affects everything.

He shouldn’t care about this matter. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t care.

Wash up. Look at the facial cleanser, look at the face towel. Unhappy.

Change clothes. Look at the new clothes, new pants in the closet. Unhappy.

Work. Look at the three potted plants on the windowsill. Unhappy.

But no more action is needed. He just needs to work. Experience has proven that by working seriously, just thinking about work, his mood can automatically return to calm, and all unhappiness can be eliminated.

Work. Work. Work.

The Spring Festival passed quickly.

The winter break also ended.

School started, attending classes, and at the same time taking time out to work.

Cheng Huanzhen regained his stability, regained his calm. His daily plans were made more detailed, detailed down to the minute. Even what fragrance to use to help him sleep before bed each day was fixed in his weekly and monthly plans.

A month passed quickly.

March arrived. This was originally the scheduled time for the first quarter’s new product launch.

But because of a problem with the supply chain, the new product launch had to be postponed to April.

Cheng Huanzhen didn’t care about this.

Whether it was being busy with the products for the first quarter or the products for the second half of the year, it made no difference to him.

He just needed to let his body move according to the plan on his schedule.

This day.

During a break between classes at University A.

Several familiar classmates gathered together to chat in low voices, talking about the holidays, red envelopes, games… and about the Cheng classmate from the next class whose family was wealthy but whose personality was so boring it was infuriating.

“…He looks the same as last semester.”

“Oh no, a semester has passed, and I’ve forgotten his name again.”

“He’s quite handsome, but what kind of good person wears a suit to class every day?!”

Cheng Huanzhen went out of the classroom to buy water and happened to hear them along the way.

He passed by them with a deadpan expression, went downstairs, and went to the small shop downstairs to buy water.

The owner of this small shop always liked to give away candy according to his mood when he met customers. For example, now, after he paid, the owner casually grabbed a handful of candy from the side, stuffed three pieces into his hand, and said with a smile, “The stock market went crazy yesterday. I’ll give you some of the good luck to balance my own fortune.”

Cheng Huanzhen had no reaction to this statement.

He just looked at the three pieces of candy stuffed into his hand—they had different colored wrappers. The red packaging of one of the candies was bright and glaring, making the corner of his eye twitch.

So he picked out this red candy, returned it to the owner, and said, “Thank you, boss.”

The owner was surprised. “Oh my, you never picked flavors before. Why are you picking today?”

Cheng Huanzhen: “…”

The owner tried hard to stuff it in, directly throwing the candy into his pocket. “Strawberry flavored, delicious, sweet. Try it!”

Cheng Huanzhen: “…Oh.”

He returned to the classroom, finished class, left school, got in the car, went to the company to work for a while, and prepared to go home.

But at this time, the driver asked him, “Young master, there’s a dinner party at the old mansion today. Do you want to go?”

Old mansion. Little uncle. Grandfather.

Cheng Huanzhen said with a deadpan expression, “No.”

The driver said “oh” and drove the car home.

But he was puzzled in his heart: the young master had never missed anything at the old mansion before. He would go whenever Old Mr. Cheng called. But since this year’s Spring Festival, why does the young master not like to go to the old mansion anymore?

Strange. Strange.

Cheng Huanzhen returned home with a deadpan expression and proceeded with his day according to his plan as usual.

Everything seemed no different from the past twenty years.

However, when he was lying in bed that night, staring at the ceiling with his eyes open, he couldn’t help but recall the various things that had happened today.

His clothes… little uncle.

Red strawberry candy… little uncle.

Old mansion… little uncle.

Cheng Huanzhen suddenly discovered that his emotions since the Spring Festival had not yet completely subsided.

The events of the Spring Festival repeatedly appeared in his mind.

Grandfather threatened. Little uncle yielded. Little uncle chose. Little uncle ignored him.

His sleep was affected.

The stuffiness in his chest also accumulated more and more.

Fortunately, this did not affect his work.

Because his body was never affected by his mood.

His body faithfully followed the actions of his plan. As long as there was a plan, everything could be kept under control.

But it affected his sleep. He would have insomnia, he would dream, he would repeatedly recall how his little uncle looked when he chose the old mansion, he would recall the dead rabbit from before, he would recall all the punishments his grandfather had given him since he was a child.

Thinking and thinking, he felt even more uncomfortable, even more unwell.

His mood was more like being pricked by a needle, a piercing pain in his chest that made him feel sick for a while.

Not good. This is not good. He shouldn’t care. He should return to calm. He should…

He couldn’t help but turn over and grab his phone, open Green Letter, and send a message.

Cheng Huanzhen: [I will try my best not to let grandfather catch you. I can provide support for you to return to the country. I can find a way to get you out of the old mansion. Are you coming back, little uncle?]

…

Old mansion.

Playing chess.

Old Mr. Cheng won a round. Lin Chen won a round. Lin Chen won another round.

A professional chess player with a monthly salary of ten million, his strength was indeed different.

Old Mr. Cheng lost the game, blowing his beard and staring. “Your new plan is no good! No, no, no, redo it! I told you, the core path still has to follow what I said!”

To prove the correctness of his path, he took a report from the old butler and showed it off to Lin Chen. “Look, in the two months you were away, how perfect Zhen’er was!”

Lin Chen had the system call up the fourth version of the expanded plan in his mind.

While taking the report, he glanced at it and smiled. “Very hardworking, time is very full. But—”

He asked humbly, “The new product launch has been delayed. Are you sure his work performance in this state is really called ‘perfect’?”