Wang Cheng got up rather late, but no one at the Zhou residence found it suspicious. Everyone had gone to bed late the night before, so getting up at seven or eight was already considered early. Chu Yifeng had left when a servant came upstairs and knocked on the door. In broad daylight, there was no way he could leave through the front entrance again. Fortunately, Wang Cheng’s room was only on the second floor. Old Master Zhou, Zhou Lin, and her husband had gotten up early. By the time Wang Cheng came downstairs, they were already at the dining table. Zhao Chenlin alone was nowhere to be seen, probably still sleeping in his room. Wang Cheng greeted the three of them in turn and took his seat.
Butler Zhou soon had the servants bring breakfast out. Since everyone had drunk the night before, breakfast was fairly light. There was oatmeal and plain congee, both good choices in the morning. The buns were not stuffed buns but homemade seaweed-flavored steamed rolls. Compared with those, Wang Cheng still preferred meat buns.
He polished off five or six steamed rolls in no time, then drank two bowls of plain congee. Only then was his stomach about half full.
Seeing this, Zhou Lin laughed. “Chengcheng really does have a huge appetite. Your mom and dad don’t seem to eat that much. I wonder who you inherited it from.”
Wang Cheng glanced at her. “Appetite isn’t necessarily inherited.”
“That’s true. Still, with an appetite like yours, your adoptive parents must have had a hard time feeding you. Now that you’ve returned to the Zhou family, you should repay them properly. Country people probably care most about money anyway. I’ll write you a check later, and you can take it to your adoptive parents when you have time.”
Wang Cheng set his bowl down with a sharp clack and looked at her with a half-smile. “In Auntie’s eyes, maybe family affection can be measured with money, but please don’t assume everyone is the same as you. To me, family affection is priceless. They may only be my adoptive parents, but the grace of raising me is greater than heaven. Money can always be earned again. Once family affection is lost, you can never get it back. Does Auntie understand that?”
Zhou Lin’s expression turned ugly after being rebutted. She immediately said, “What are you talking about? When did I ever say family affection could be measured in money? I only thought your adoptive parents must have had a difficult time raising you for twenty-five years and wanted to thank them for looking after you all these years. I was only trying to be kind, and you’ve treated my good intentions like garbage.”
She absolutely could not admit to what he was implying. If her father started thinking the same thing, he would trust her even less in the future. Forget Zhou Group. She might not even receive a single cent.
“If it really is kindness, then please don’t mention checks again, Auntie. If anyone should thank them, it should be my biological parents. Besides, throwing checks at people is something nouveau riche do. The Zhou family is one of the capital’s most prominent families. How could we behave so vulgarly? Don’t you agree, Auntie?” Zhou Lin’s hand under the table trembled with anger. He was plainly mocking her as someone who only knew how to throw money at people. He was nothing more than a country boy. Did he really think he had flown onto a branch and become a phoenix?
“We’re all family. There’s no need to hurt the harmony.” Seeing that his wife could not win against Wang Cheng, Zhao Jiansheng immediately jumped in to smooth things over.
Wang Cheng gave him a faint, knowing glance, pulled out a tissue to wipe his mouth, then stood and addressed his grandfather, who had remained calm throughout. “Grandpa, are you full? Want to take a walk around the yard and digest breakfast?”
“All right.” A trace of amusement appeared in Zhou Shichang’s eyes.
Wang Cheng walked over, supported his arm, and the two slowly made their way toward the courtyard.
Zhou Shichang usually took walks in his own courtyard, though the person accompanying him was generally Butler Zhou. Zhou Lin and Zhao Jiansheng sometimes joined him when they wanted to curry favor, but they rarely had much patience. Before long, they would bring up company matters. Zhou Shichang eventually grew tired of it and stopped wanting them along. Zhou Lin and Zhao Jiansheng thought it was because their father disliked them and never once reflected on their own behavior.
Zhou Shichang did favor his eldest daughter, but Zhou Lin was still his daughter. He could never truly reject her family. His dissatisfaction came from the way they behaved. The older a person became, and the closer death seemed, the more they hoped to receive genuine care and concern from their children rather than concern with an ulterior motive.
“Chengcheng, your mom will come over later. If you have anything to do, don’t rush off first.” Zhou Shichang drew in a breath of fresh air. Somehow, the capital’s air seemed better today than it had before.
“I know, Grandpa.” Wang Cheng nodded obediently. Old Master Zhou fit the image of a grandfather Wang Cheng had imagined when he was a child: kind and gentle, without the sternness of an elder. Even Old Master Zheng had never given him quite the same feeling.
Zhou Shichang turned his head to look at his grandson. “Don’t take what your aunt said to heart. To have raised you into someone this good, Grandpa knows your adoptive parents must be upright people.”
There was an old saying that children often resembled the parents who raised them. It was true in many cases. If the adults themselves had crooked values, their children would naturally imitate them. From Wang Cheng, one could more or less see some of the qualities his adoptive parents possessed.
“Grandpa really does have a discerning eye.” Wang Cheng grinned and raised his thumb.
Zhou Shichang froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. He pointed at Wang Cheng and could not speak for a while. “You…”
Zhao Chenlin had just come downstairs when he heard his grandfather’s laughter. Looking over, he saw Wang Cheng supporting Old Master Zhou as they came back inside. His brows immediately drew together, and all the good mood from the night before disappeared.
“See that? Your grandfather likes Zhou Cheng more and more. If you don’t work harder, there might not be any share of Zhou Group left for you in the future.” Zhou Lin had just been outmaneuvered by Wang Cheng, and now hearing her father laugh only made her more irritated. Her son happened to come down, so she could not help venting. Most of her hopes were now pinned on him. Zhao Chenlin’s face immediately chilled, but by the time Wang Cheng and Zhou Shichang entered the house, warmth had returned to it. His expression changed astonishingly fast.
Everyone moved to the sofas in the living room. Zhou Lin and her husband still had to go to work, so they left shortly afterward. Not long after they were gone, Mother Zheng arrived. Zheng Jingen had driven her over, but he did not come inside. Wang Cheng had originally wanted to ask him about his eldest brother. Besides wanting to see her son, Mother Zheng had come to take care of the aftermath of the banquet: all the birthday gifts the guests had given Wang Cheng. She held the detailed list in her hands. Since the gifts belonged to Wang Cheng, only he had the right to decide what to do with them.
“This many?” Wang Cheng took the list and looked it over, stunned by both the number and value of the gifts. He knew a lot of guests had attended, but he had not expected every single one of them to be so generous.
There were cars, houses, watches, diamond necklaces, gold membership cards for prestigious establishments, and expensive liquor. Not a single gift was cheap.
Zhao Chenlin quickly stole a glance at the list. Once he finished reading, nothing remained in him but jealousy. He had never received so many extravagant gifts at any of his own birthday parties. Since he only held small private gatherings, the guests were young people from his own generation. Some were generous, but the most expensive gift he had ever received was only a Ferrari worth three or four million yuan. At the time, he had been extremely proud of it. Yet now even one of Wang Cheng’s watches was worth more than that. It was a limited-edition Patek Philippe worth well over five million yuan. Zhao Chenlin’s eyes nearly turned red, and he had to lower his head to hide the heat in his gaze.
“Look through it and keep anything you can use now or might want later. Mom will help you deal with the rest,” Mother Zheng said.
Wang Cheng looked again. In truth, he had no use for most of it. He could not help thinking that rich people’s birthday parties were truly ridiculous. Someone had actually gifted him a house, and it was even a villa. Then he noticed that the giver worked in real estate. That business was especially profitable, so perhaps a villa really was not much to them.
“Mom, you decide for me. Keep whatever makes sense to keep.”
“I knew you’d say that. Forget the big items for now. All the smaller gifts have already been put away. They’re piled in an upstairs room. Come, Mom will take you to see them.”
Wang Cheng looked at his grandfather.
Zhou Shichang nodded. “Go ahead.”
Once they reached the second floor and turned into the inner corridor, Mother Zheng immediately smiled. “Chengcheng, it looks like you’re getting along very well with Grandpa. He seems to like you a lot.”
“Grandpa is very good to me.”
Seeing the people she cared about most getting along peacefully was Mother Zheng’s greatest wish. The anxiety that had been hanging in her heart finally settled.
Seeing the gifts in person was far more direct than reading a list and made a much stronger impact.
Wang Cheng gave the diamond necklace to Mother Zheng. The person who had gifted something like that had clearly expected him to pass it to an elder. There were several other pieces of jewelry he had no use for as well. Fortunately, there were not many. Wang Cheng selected a few pieces and left everything else to Mother Zheng to handle.
“As for the houses, Mom thinks you should keep them for now. The cars are all in the Zhou family garage. There are three of them. Keep those too. Later, you can drive whichever one you feel like.”
Wang Cheng wanted to object, but Mother Zheng did not give him the chance. She had long felt that her son owned too few cars. Other people’s garages contained several. How could her own son not have the same? In thinking this, Mother Zheng had apparently forgotten that her elder son did not own several cars either.
The two stayed upstairs for an hour before coming down. Zhao Chenlin was busy talking to his grandfather. It was not often he got the chance to have the old man to himself, and he had no intention of wasting it. From now on, he was determined to work much harder at building goodwill in front of his grandfather.