After lunch at the Zhou estate, Mother Zheng and Wang Cheng said goodbye and returned to the Zheng residence. In the car, Wang Cheng brought up what they had been talking about that morning, and Mother Zheng did not hide it from him.
“When Mom married your father, I made an agreement with your maternal grandfather. My second son would take the Zhou family surname. In other words, your original name should have been Zhou Cheng. But then you suddenly disappeared, so the agreement was never fulfilled.” Zhou Group would always need an heir, and Zhou Shichang had only two daughters. Many years ago, he had therefore planned to choose a successor from among his daughters’ sons, and that successor had to bear the Zhou surname. Wang Cheng’s disappearance forced the plan to be shelved.
“Mom, I have a question. Doesn’t Aunt have a son too?” Wang Cheng thought of Zhao Chenlin, who had been so pleased with himself. He might not be particularly capable, but the Zhou family had few descendants. As one of Zhou Shichang’s only two grandsons, Zhao Chenlin should still have a good chance.
A cold smile suddenly appeared on Mother Zheng’s well-maintained face.
Wang Cheng had not imagined it. It really was a cold smile, completely different from the warm, gentle expression he associated with her.
“There’s plenty of bad blood between your aunt and me.” Mother Zheng had no intention of hiding it from him. He would learn sooner or later. “Your aunt and I are actually half sisters. We share a father, but not a mother.”
One of the most common features of wealthy families was an old romantic debt. Zhou Shichang might have been a good father, but he had not been a good husband. When Mother Zheng was three, he had a child with another woman. Although Zhou Shichang couldn’t keep it in his pants, his head remained perfectly clear. That woman never managed to enter the Zhou household before she died, and Zhou Lin was only brought into the family after her mother’s death.
Mother Zheng had already been ten by then. She had disliked Zhou Lin from childhood. Zhou Lin was very good at putting on an act when she was young and often used it to win Zhou Shichang’s sympathy. Mother Zheng’s temperament had been different in those days too. She was somewhat forceful and hot-tempered, and because she found Zhou Lin particularly irritating, she often played tricks on her.
Zhou Lin was already old enough to understand that her older sister disliked her. To make Mother Zheng look bad, she frequently acted in front of Zhou Shichang, pretending to be an innocent little flower being bullied by her sister.
But what sort of man was Zhou Shichang? He had built and sustained an enormous business group by himself. How could he fail to see through Zhou Lin’s acting? Besides, he had never been especially fond of Zhou Lin. She was too much like her mother, equally fond of pretending. After several attempts to frame Mother Zheng ended with Zhou Lin herself being punished, she realized her tricks had been seen through. She stopped playing the helpless victim and instead openly hardened herself against Mother Zheng.
With Zhou Shichang genuinely doting on her, Mother Zheng had never suffered much grievance. After she married Father Zheng, Zhou Shichang even promised that her second son would become the successor of Zhou Group. Unfortunately, tragedy struck. Otherwise, Wang Cheng would have been raised from childhood to inherit the company.
“Your aunt and the uncle you haven’t met have had designs on Zhou Group for a very long time. After you disappeared, they even suggested that they wouldn’t mind having Zhao Chenlin take the Zhou surname, but your maternal grandfather refused. Zhou Group could never be handed over to your aunt and uncle.”
Thinking of his aunt’s artificial expression that morning, Wang Cheng could understand Mother Zheng’s feelings a little better.
At that very moment, Zhou Lin had locked herself in her room and was throwing a furious tantrum. Twenty-five years ago, after Wang Cheng disappeared, no one knew how relieved she had been. She knew her father did not particularly like her because of her mother, but with such a good opportunity sitting in front of her, she had been determined to fight for it.
When Zhao Chenlin was born, Zhou Lin had indirectly suggested that her father let Chenlin take the Zhou surname, but Zhou Shichang refused. She had not been discouraged at the time. As long as Wang Cheng was not found, her son still had a chance. She waited more than twenty years. Now Wang Cheng had returned. Mother Zheng had barely opened her mouth before their father agreed without hesitation to let Wang Cheng take the Zhou surname. Zhou Lin could not accept it.
“Mom, what exactly is wrong?” Zhao Chenlin still knew nothing about the agreement between Mother Zheng and his maternal grandfather.
Seeing the blank look on his face made Zhou Lin even angrier. “I told you before to study properly and learn how to do business, but you refused. Well, now Wang Cheng is back. You can forget about getting Zhou Group in the future.”
“Mom, what do you mean? What does Wang Cheng coming back have to do with Zhou Group?” Zhao Chenlin immediately grew anxious. He did not know Wang Cheng was supposed to take the Zhou surname, but his parents had told him since childhood that Zhou Group would become his sooner or later and that no one else could take it from him. He also knew he was the Zhou family’s only male descendant, so he had always regarded Zhou Group as something already in his pocket. If it would eventually be his anyway, why should he work hard?
Zhou Lin sneered, her burning gaze fixed on the wall as though an enemy stood there. “Your maternal grandfather once promised your eldest aunt that he would raise her second son to inherit Zhou Group. Now that son is back. You heard what your grandfather said just now. Once he decides to make Wang Cheng his successor, do you really think Zhou Group will still belong to you? If you still refuse to improve yourself, you may not get a single cent in the future.”
“How can that be? He’s just some wild boy from the countryside. What right does he have to get Zhou Group?” Zhao Chenlin immediately felt the threat.
“What right? The fact that he’s your eldest aunt’s son.”
Zhou Lin often thought that her father was far too biased. She was his daughter too, so why did he only ever seem to see Zhou Hui? That resentment only deepened as she grew older. Now that she was married and had children, she was even less willing to give up, for her son and daughter if nothing else.
Wang Cheng and Mother Zheng returned to the Zheng residence. No one else was home yet. At almost five o’clock, Wang Cheng received a call from Chu Yifeng saying that he was back.
“Mom, I’m going to see a friend. I probably won’t come back tonight.” Wang Cheng put his coat back on.
Mother Zheng had been discussing dinner with Aunt Yu. Hearing him say that, she looked disappointed. “If you’re not coming back, where will you stay?”
“At my friend’s villa. I stayed there the last time I came to the capital too. He just got back from a business trip today,” Wang Cheng answered honestly.
His tone was so perfectly normal that Mother Zheng only began to feel something was odd after he left. When Zheng Jingen came home from work and asked about Wang Cheng, she explained. Zheng Jingen understood the implication immediately.
They had only been apart a few days, yet he had rushed off to see the man the moment he returned, right under both families’ noses. Zheng Jingen did not know whether to call them bold or simply completely unconcerned.
Chu Yifeng had already been on the road back to the villa when he called Wang Cheng. Wang Cheng stopped by a supermarket on the way. By the time he returned, Chu Yifeng was already at the villa, and there was also an unfamiliar blond, blue-eyed foreigner with him.
“Hello. My name is David. I’m the boss’s assistant.” The moment David saw Wang Cheng, he shuddered wildly for more than ten seconds, then practically scrambled over to him with an ingratiating smile.
Wang Cheng had heard that foreigners tended to be enthusiastic, but this one seemed enthusiastic to an excessive degree. He looked at Chu Yifeng. Chu Yifeng did not say anything, so Wang Cheng shook David’s hand. “Hello, I’m Wang Cheng. You can just call me by my name.”
David was already certain that the young man in front of him was one of the people in the online post his boss had once ordered him to deal with. At the time, he had not understood why his boss suddenly cared about something like that. Now that he had seen Wang Cheng, he understood immediately.
Not only was he handsome, he could cook too.
David looked at the dinner before him, beautiful in color, aroma, and flavor, and felt deeply moved. He had visited China several times before. Maybe his luck had simply been bad, or perhaps he had not been accustomed to Chinese food, but he had never liked it much. After eating this meal, he finally understood. His luck had simply been bad. Chinese food really could be delicious.
Wang Cheng gave the man across from him an inexplicable look. David ate with such emotion that he practically looked ready to cry. Is this guy an idiot?
After dinner, David fought to take over washing the dishes. His attitude was so determined that Wang Cheng let him. Unlike the pampered Chu Yifeng, David had lived alone before and was very efficient at household work, without the laziness common to many men.
Wang Cheng cleaned the living room. When he came back, David had already finished washing the dishes and was placing them neatly into the sterilizing cabinet. Afterward, he even asked whether there was anything else he could help with. Wang Cheng had never seen anyone so self-motivated. David was technically a guest, so Wang Cheng did not assign him any more work.
David had come this time to work as Chu Yifeng’s assistant, with no set return date, so he had brought enough clothes to change into. Wang Cheng led him to the guest room with its own bathroom and personally showed him how to use the shower before leaving.
Not long afterward, while Wang Cheng was showering, David secretly slipped over to Chu Yifeng and said in a careful, moved voice, “Boss. The boss’s wife is a good person. I support the two of you.”
“Boss’s wife?” Chu Yifeng looked at him in amusement.
David nodded. “Boss, there’s no need to hide it from me. I can tell. You and the boss’s wife are lovers.”
If Wang Cheng heard David calling him the boss’s wife, a good person could turn into a bad person at any moment.