After Papa Wang and Mama Wang left, everyone was stunned by the sudden turn. What was Wang Cheng planning to do? He had sent his parents away. Was he going to get physical with the two elders? Once that thought occurred to the more imaginative onlookers, their minds ran wild like horses with broken reins.
The old woman’s wailing stopped abruptly. She glared at Wang Cheng, who was standing in front of her.
“What are you trying to do?” Old Madam Wang’s husband immediately stood and glared at Wang Cheng. He had not spoken earlier, but his thoughts were the same as hers.
“Why is my life so miserable? I worked so hard to raise my youngest son, and not only is he unfilial, he even lets his own son deal with his parents. My life is so bitter. I might as well die!” Old Madam Wang started wailing again as soon as her husband finished speaking.
“Take your time making a scene.” Wang Cheng tossed out those words and went upstairs.
Everyone stared. What happened to the supposed violence?
Of course Wang Cheng was not going to lay a hand on the elders. If he did, he would lose the moral high ground no matter how justified he had been. He was not stupid enough to hand those two old fossils an excuse.
Mama Wang had dared leave the situation to her second son precisely because she knew he would never do anything like that. She had no idea how he intended to solve the problem, but she trusted him.
The two elders were also caught off guard by Wang Cheng’s refusal to play by the usual rules. Old Madam Wang even forgot to cry. Wang Cheng actually intended to ignore them?
Some people finally understood what he was doing. Wang Cheng planned to give them the cold shoulder and let Old Madam Wang cry to her heart’s content. Once the two elders exhausted themselves, they would naturally leave.
Old Madam Wang did not believe Wang Cheng would truly ignore them. After a while, she started wailing again. She had shouted too much earlier, however, and her throat was hoarse. She wanted some water, only to discover there was none. Wang Cheng’s family had just moved in, and they had finished the drinking water before the elders arrived. There was not even any boiled water left. Unable to find anything to drink, Old Madam Wang still refused to give up and simply sat on the floor without moving.
Some people grew bored. It was dinnertime anyway, so they began leaving one after another. Before long, the area outside Wang Cheng’s house was empty.
With no audience, Old Madam Wang could not keep performing. She finally climbed up from the floor, glared bitterly toward the second floor, and muttered several curses under her breath.
“What do we do now?” her husband asked worriedly. Their eldest son was still at home waiting for an answer. If they simply went back like this, they would have no face to show him.
“What else can we do? We’ll wear them down. I refuse to believe they’d dare mistreat two old people like us. If they dare throw us out, we’ll tell everyone that the third son is unfilial and abuses his elderly parents. I refuse to believe he won’t give in.” Clinging shamelessly and grinding them down was the only tactic Old Madam Wang could think of now. Her youngest son no longer obeyed her.
Her husband hesitated. He had a feeling things would not go the way they wanted, but he could not think of a better idea. The sight of their eldest son crying and shouting in front of them that morning was still vivid in his mind. If they could not get the contract, Ningkai’s girlfriend would break up with him. The good life they had waited so long for would disappear, and the company might even go bankrupt. That alone made it impossible for them to back down.
Upstairs, Wang Cheng heard their conversation and sneered. In their eyes, Eldest Uncle’s family would probably always come first. If someone asked Papa Wang to hand over his own life to Eldest Uncle, these two old fossils would probably not even blink. Since that was how it was, they could not blame him for what came next.
Wang Cheng went downstairs.
The moment Old Madam Wang saw him, she became smug. She knew Wang Cheng could not possibly leave them alone. Sure enough, he had finally lost patience.
“You’re really that certain that if you keep making a scene, I’ll agree?” Wang Cheng stopped in front of the two elders and looked down at them. There were no outsiders watching anymore, so he had no need to be polite.
“What kind of tone is that? Is that how you speak to your elders?” Old Madam Wang snapped.
Wang Cheng folded his arms and looked at them disdainfully. “The only thing you’re relying on is Eldest Uncle’s little construction company. I’ll tell you plainly. I will never give him that contract. Push me too far, and making his construction company go bankrupt wouldn’t be difficult either.”
Old Madam Wang had never been threatened by a junior before. Hearing Wang Cheng say that made her tremble with fury. “You’ve got some nerve. I refuse to believe you’re really capable of bankrupting your eldest uncle’s company.”
“I’m not, but my boss might be.” Wang Cheng took out his phone. To prove his words, he called Chu Yifeng on the spot. The phone rang only twice before it was answered, and the man’s familiar, steady voice came through the speaker for both elders to hear.
“Wang Cheng?”
“Boss, there’s something I’d like to trouble you with. Do you have time right now?” Since the two had established their relationship, Wang Cheng rarely used such a formal tone on calls. Chu Yifeng immediately realized there were probably other people beside him and played along.
“I do. What is it?”
“I want a construction company in Shanhai City with only one or two hundred employees to go bankrupt. With your ability, can you do it?”
Chu Yifeng’s laughter came from the other end of the line.
“What’s difficult about that? It’s only a small company. Do you want me to help?”
Before Wang Cheng could answer, Old Madam Wang shrieked and lunged for his phone. A moment ago she had claimed she did not believe him, but now she had no choice. Both elders knew Wang Cheng worked for Huaying Real Estate, and Huaying Real Estate was the company acquiring land in Shiquan County and around Fengxia Mountain. Compared with Eldest Uncle’s construction company, Huaying could crush it with money alone.
Old Madam Wang did not dare gamble with her eldest son’s future, so she tried to stop Wang Cheng before he could answer. Wang Cheng dodged her, told Chu Yifeng they would talk that evening, then hung up. He looked teasingly at Old Madam Wang and her husband, neither of whom dared move recklessly anymore.
“Now do you know whether I was telling the truth?”
“You…” Old Madam Wang’s eyes bulged with rage. Her trembling finger pointed at Wang Cheng as though she wanted to tear him apart.
“Me what, Old Madam? Careful. Trouble comes from the mouth.” Wang Cheng smiled at her in triumph. At last, he had vented some of his resentment. From the moment he heard what Papa Wang had endured, he had wanted to do this. They had made his father suffer so much when he was young. If they were not still Papa Wang’s parents in name, this little retaliation would have been far too mild for Wang Cheng’s temperament. He would have gone straight after what they valued most.
Old Madam Wang immediately swallowed whatever she had been about to say. After seeing what Wang Cheng was capable of, she no longer dared speak harshly. What if he really asked his boss for help? Her eldest son would hate them forever.
When Mama Wang and Papa Wang returned from buying groceries, Old Madam Wang and her husband were already gone. Both were astonished. They knew exactly what the elders were like. Once they started throwing tantrums and acting shamelessly, there was no way they normally left in under several hours.
“Chengcheng, how did you do it?” While his wife was in the kitchen cooking, Papa Wang went upstairs and cornered his second son.
“How did I do what?” Wang Cheng played dumb.
“You know what I’m asking. Tell Dad.” Papa Wang was not falling for it this time. He wanted to know exactly what had happened.
“Dad, you really want to know?”
Papa Wang nodded firmly.
“If I tell you, you have to promise not to get angry.” Wang Cheng turned to look at him. His method had not exactly been honorable, and he was worried Papa Wang might disapprove once he heard it.
“All right. I promise.”
“…Dad, that was way too quick. You’re not tricking me, are you?” Papa Wang answered by smacking him on the head. “Quit dawdling. Are you going to tell me or not?”
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you.” Wang Cheng covered his head. So violent.
“Dad, you really don’t need to worry. I didn’t touch them. I just used a small trick. I asked my boss to put on an act with me. I told them that if they kept pestering our family, I’d have my boss bring down Eldest Uncle’s construction company. They believed it, so they probably won’t bother us again for a while.”
In truth, it had not been an act. If they dared keep pushing him, Wang Cheng really might do it.
“I wasn’t worried.” Papa Wang gave a heavy sigh but did not criticize Wang Cheng. “This is fine too. Your grandparents care most about your eldest uncle’s family. Threatening them really isn’t a very honorable method, but it’s probably the only way to make them give up.”
He understood his own parents well enough. This would make relations between the two households even worse than before, but there was nothing they could do about that. Ever since Chengcheng first proposed contracting North Mountain, Papa Wang had already prepared himself for this possibility.
“You did well.” Papa Wang patted his second son on the shoulder.
Wang Cheng smiled back. Once Papa Wang was settled, there was no need to worry about Mama Wang. She held plenty of resentment toward Eldest Uncle’s family herself. As long as he did not cause an actual disaster, she would support whatever he did.
When it was time to eat, Mama Wang called them downstairs. Wang Cheng went to get Wang Ziyu too. She had stayed upstairs throughout the confrontation because she knew she could not help if she went down. She understood better than anyone how Second Brother had used Eldest Uncle to threaten their grandparents, and because of that, the look she gave Wang Cheng was even more admiring than before.
“Second Brother, you’re amazing. I’ve decided you’re my idol from now on.” Wang Ziyu whispered the words, then darted past him and ran downstairs.
Wang Cheng scratched his head. Being someone’s idol came at a price. He still had a certain someone to deal with that evening.