The next morning, Zheng Ru appeared at the Zheng residence bright and early. Although she was a married daughter, she came back constantly, whether she had business or not, always claiming she was visiting the old man. It sounded filial, but everyone present knew what she really wanted. Wei Kai, like the rest of the Zheng family, held a government position. His career had benefited greatly from the Zheng family, but his rank was still below theirs. Worse, he had already remained in his current post for two or three years. If he failed to move up soon, advancing later would become much harder.
For her husband’s sake, Zheng Ru visited every few days and often tried to win the old man over through his hobbies, searching for rare teas or health-preserving remedies. The old man, however, never gave any indication. Zheng Ru was anxious. Wei Kai had mentioned the matter to her several times too, but in front of the old man she did not dare show her impatience.
Zheng Ru had not come empty-handed today either. Over the past few years she had constantly collected good things, and her home always kept a few items ready for occasions like this. When the old man came downstairs, everyone saw her immediately hurry over to him. Some looked disdainful, some scornful, and some simply ignored her.
Zheng Jingen actually admired his aunt’s persistence and thick skin. She spent more than half the year at the Zheng residence. But he also felt somewhat sorry for her. Once, while accompanying his grandfather in a game of chess, the old man had remarked that although his son-in-law had some ability, he lacked long-term vision, boldness, and decisiveness. If given a position beyond his capabilities, he would not be able to hold it for long.
That one sentence had essentially decided Wei Kai’s future political career. The old man had never told Zheng Ru, and Zheng Jingen was not foolish enough to tell her either. So husband and wife remained completely unaware. No matter how many top-grade teas she brought the old man, he would never change his mind.
“Jingen, I heard you and your parents are planning to eat outside this afternoon. Why suddenly go out? Isn’t it livelier for the whole family to eat together? You wouldn’t happen to be meeting someone, would you?” After flattering the old man, Zheng Ru came over to Zheng Jingen, wearing a rather insincere smile.
Zheng Jingen’s brow moved slightly. “We just felt like eating out for once. Does Aunt have to manage even that? If you have so much free time, you’d be better off going home and spending more of it with Uncle, Cousin, and Qiqi. A family is happier when they’re together.”
“What kind of thing is that to say? Aunt is only concerned about you.” The smile on Zheng Ru’s face stiffened.
Zheng Jingen looked at her deeply. “If Aunt has time to worry about us, you should worry more about Cousin. I heard he caused trouble at Jing University yesterday, and he was the one who started it. Since he’s still the Zheng family’s maternal grandson, Aunt ought to keep a closer eye on him.”
Zheng Ru was surprised that Zheng Jingen knew about it. Before she could answer, Zheng Jinghua, the son of the fourth branch, came over. “I heard about that too. I don’t know whether Wei Wei told Aunt, but he really embarrassed himself at school yesterday. He mistook a girl’s biological brother for a romantic rival and even got into a confrontation with him, even though he and that girl aren’t dating at all. The whole thing caused quite a stir at Jing University.”
Zheng Ru’s smile vanished. Of course she knew, but she had not expected even Zheng Jinghua, who was already in his fourth year, to hear about it. “It’s not such a big deal. Weiwei didn’t know that man was her brother…” she tried to argue on her son’s behalf.
Zheng Jinghua gave a short laugh. “Even if he didn’t know, he still had no standing to accuse the man. Oh, and after that happened yesterday, Wei Wei skipped class and disappeared for the entire day. A friend of mine said he saw him hanging around a bar with the same kind of questionable crowd.”
Zheng Jinghua himself had once had a similar problem, though it did not last long. The Zheng family’s rules were too strict. If Grandfather came to despise him, his future would be ordinary at best. It was only after Zheng Jingen beat him up badly once that he finally came to his senses, and from then on he began admiring this second cousin.
Because Grandfather favored the second branch, his parents had rarely spoken well of the outstanding Zheng Jingen when Zheng Jinghua was younger. Naturally they had harbored resentment. Zheng Jinghua was influenced by those feelings as a child, which was why he became rebellious as he grew up and deliberately opposed his second cousin at every turn.
He still remembered when he was fifteen. After years of running with a bad crowd and frequenting nightlife venues, he had even started using drugs under the influence of friends. One night in a fairly famous bar, a friend somehow obtained a particularly potent white powder and claimed its effect was stronger than what they usually used.
Zheng Jinghua had only recently started experimenting with drugs and did not understand the danger. Tempted by his friend’s description, he decided to try it. Before he could, the private-room door was kicked open from outside and Zheng Jingen appeared. Without wasting words, Zheng Jingen dragged him out. When Zheng Jinghua resisted, his cousin struck him several times and then took him to an unfamiliar place. A group of people struggling with addiction wandered there, pale and emaciated, trembling on the ground and crying out in distress. Some had no money and had to beg dealers for drugs, kneeling to lick toes or crawl between people’s legs just to obtain them.
His second cousin told him that these people were all drug users and that if he continued, this was what his future would become. He would spend his life searching for drugs just to quiet the cravings, and every episode of withdrawal would feel unbearable. Zheng Jinghua was only fifteen at the time and had grown up surrounded by wealth and privilege. He had never seen anything like it and was terrified.
Later he learned that on the same night Zheng Jingen pulled him out of the bar, another privileged young man had used the powder at that friend’s urging and died. It was not an ordinary drug and was exceptionally dangerous. The incident became a major scandal, and everyone involved suffered consequences. From then on Zheng Jinghua never dared touch drugs again. With Zheng Jingen’s help, he quit, returned to a normal life, and stopped associating with that crowd. He later told his parents what had happened because they had known nothing about it. He hoped the story would also help dissolve some of their prejudice toward his second uncle and Zheng Jingen.
Although the incident was long over, his parents were still frightened when they learned how close their son had come to dying. They had heard about that case too. It had implicated a wide circle of people, and higher authorities ordered a thorough investigation. Several officials fell because their children had become entangled in it. The couple had even commented on it at the time, never imagining their own son had brushed past death. From then on, they were genuinely grateful to Zheng Jingen. If something had happened to their son, all their family competition would have been meaningless.
In the end, Zheng Ru was angered into leaving by Zheng Jinghua. If she stayed any longer, who knew what else that brat might say to infuriate her.
She could not understand it. Zheng Jinghua had clearly opposed Zheng Jingen all through childhood, so how had he suddenly changed? Whenever she said anything against the second branch, the boy would jump in and disrupt things. It was infuriating. Since she had failed to achieve her purpose and only made herself angry, Zheng Ru finally stopped thinking about it. Surely things could not really be that coincidental.
Not long after she left, the four members of the second branch also went out.
The meeting place was a restaurant in a relatively quiet part of the capital. Zheng Jingen chose it because it was far from the Zheng family residence and the chance of running into acquaintances was low. He reserved a private room for six. The four of them arrived before Wang Cheng.
Zheng Jingxue picked up the menu. “Dad, Mom, Brother, what do you want to eat?”
“Let’s wait first,” Zheng Jingen said.
“Brother, did you invite someone else?” Zheng Jingxue asked in surprise. Zheng Jingen nodded but did not intend to reveal who. Seeing that, she stopped asking. Mother Zheng, however, looked first at him and then at her husband. Her expression turned thoughtful, and she spoke much less than usual. Father and son both noticed but said nothing.
At that moment, Wang Cheng and Chu Yifeng had only just left the villa.
The central purpose of this trip to the capital was to meet his biological family, to see the parents from whom he had been separated for twenty-five years. In Wang Cheng’s words, everyone got nervous sometimes. He had merely saved up twenty-five years’ worth of nerves for this moment.
“Boss Chu, when I see them, what am I supposed to say? If they ask me to return to the family and live with them, what should I say then?” Wang Cheng asked for the Nth time in the car.
“Don’t you already have an answer in your heart?” Chu Yifeng glanced at him and shook his head.
Wang Cheng said, “I want to rehearse first.”
“You think this is a performance?”
“I almost wish it were.” Then there would be none of this trouble. He was deeply conflicted. His current parents had treated him very well, and he had never imagined abandoning them to throw himself into the arms of his biological parents. But Zheng Jingen had told him that his biological parents had missed him terribly and had never stopped searching for him. Wang Cheng might not feel close to them yet, but they were still his biological parents. They must desperately want him back.
“We’re here. There’s no point agonizing now.” Chu Yifeng drove into the parking lot beside the restaurant. Wang Cheng got out and looked up. Ronghua Restaurant. The name sounded ordinary enough, but this was the place where they had agreed to meet. His biological parents were waiting for him inside.