Xu Yuanguo lay on the ground, with Song Yi and his two sons standing before him - a rather peculiar scene.
Song Yi looked at Hang Feng and asked, "What should we do?"
Hang Feng didn't answer, but instead turned to Xu Che and said, "You're the one who made him faint from anger."
"Yes," Xu Che didn't deny it, and added, "So you came after all."
Hang Feng: "Like you said, he's nearly dying, so I had to come take a look."
Song Yi: "...?"
Wait, wait a minute, why does this scene feel so bizarrely wrong?!
Who are you two? Your own father just fainted from anger, and you're both standing there having such a casual conversation next to him? What's wrong with you?
Besides, he's not even dead yet! If you two keep discussing like this, you might as well start planning the funeral banquet!
So among those present, only Song Yi, who had no real connection to Xu Yuanguo, suggested, "Hey, could you two maybe chat later and call a doctor first?"
Hang Feng extended his foot, nudging Xu Yuanguo's leg with his leather shoe. "Hey, wake up."
Xu Che placed his hand under Xu Yuanguo's nose and calmly said, "It's fine, he's still breathing. He won't die just yet."
Song Yi: "..."
The father might be trash, but these two sons were truly ruthless.
They didn't completely abandon Xu Yuanguo on the floor though - Xu Che did call the family doctor.
But still—
Song Yi looked at them and asked, "Before the doctor arrives, don't you think we should move him to the bed?"
What's the point of leaving him lying on the floor like this? Aren't you worried about what people might think?!
The two brothers looked left and right, but clearly neither cared about the well-being of the man on the floor.
Hang Feng answered carelessly, "He's already unconscious, what difference does it make where he lies? Why be picky about it?"
Xu Che added, "He's quite dirty, better not soil the clean bed."
Song Yi: "..."
These brothers truly shared the same blood.
Though they looked quite different and had contrasting personalities, they were clearly united in their hatred for their father.
Since both sons had spoken their minds, it wasn't Song Yi's place as an outsider to say anything more.
The family doctor arrived quickly, and upon entering, he paused for a moment before asking Xu Che, "Young Master, what happened?"
Xu Che pointed at Hang Feng and replied expressionlessly, "My father saw my brother return and got too excited, so he fainted."
Xu Che's response was quite skillful.
Though it wasn't exactly what happened, it somehow didn't sound entirely wrong either.
When Hang Feng heard Xu Che say the word "brother," his brows furrowed, disgust evident in his eyes as he said, "I have nothing to do with your Xu family."
The family doctor finally noticed Hang Feng's presence and hurriedly addressed him as "Young Master" before rushing to examine Xu Yuanguo.
Fortunately, it wasn't serious - just a surge of anger affecting his heart. He'd be fine after some rest.
During the arduous process of the family doctor trying to lift Xu Yuanguo onto the bed, Hang Feng and Xu Che stood with their arms crossed, one on each side, neither showing any intention to help.
After finally getting Xu Yuanguo onto the bed, the family doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead.
As a doctor who knew about the strained relationship between the Xu patriarch and his sons, having witnessed many instances of life and death, he couldn't help but offer some unsolicited advice.
The doctor said, "Pardon my presumption, but Mr. Xu might not have much time left. How can there be lasting grudges between father and son? Mr. Xu is a good person, regardless of what happened in the past, shouldn't you let him pass peacefully? Otherwise, when he's gone..."
"We'll definitely throw a feast! Definitely!"
Song Yi interrupted the doctor's words, then smiled at him while simultaneously grabbing Hang Feng's hand.
Hang Feng's hand had unconsciously clenched into a fist at his side, showing signs of both restraint and fury.
Well, who wouldn't be angry when faced with such a terrible father and having to listen to a stranger who knew nothing lecture them about being unfilial?
To prevent Hang Feng from attacking the doctor - who, though somewhat meddlesome and not very bright, wasn't a bad person - Song Yi gripped his hand harder, trying to uncurl his fingers while whispering in his ear, "Hang! Listen to me! Stay calm! Let's stay calm!"
Xu Che's gaze fell on their "clasped" hands.
The not-so-bright doctor, still unaware that Song Yi was trying to help him, continued rambling, "How can you speak like that? You young people are just immature and don't understand. No matter what a father has done, he will always be your father. I've seen countless patients' relatives, some who acted tough too, but when the patient actually passes..."
However, the doctor's lecture was interrupted once again.
Xu Che said, "Please leave."
Clearly, he didn't agree with this person's viewpoint either.
The doctor was taken aback, but seeing that it was the eldest young master speaking, he could only pack up his things and leave.
Looking at Xu Yuanguo still lying on the bed, Song Yi asked, "So what do we do now?"
Xu Che answered, "The doctor said he'll wake up within half an hour, and in another hour he has to meet with guests. He's invited an important business partner this time, something he absolutely won't miss."
"Right," Hang Feng nodded, his eyes growing colder, "That's just like him, still desperately trying to make money even when he's dying. What's he going to do, take it all with him to his grave?"
Hearing Hang Feng's words, Xu Che gave him a complex look but remained silent.
What Xu Che had just said made Song Yi notice something important, and she asked, "What if we ruined this business deal of his? Would that make him really angry?"
"Oh?" Hang Feng turned his head, looking at her with interest, "How would we ruin it?"
"Hang Feng." Xu Che called his name disapprovingly, only saying six words, "Family shame should stay private."
"Heh." Hang Feng let out a light laugh, his eyes suddenly turning red, not from wanting to cry but from suppressed anger about to explode, "Family shame? Don't worry, even if it gets exposed, you'll still be the legitimate heir, it won't affect you at all."
To the Xu family, he was that family shame, nothing more.
"That's not what I meant." Xu Che felt he couldn't explain properly and changed the subject, "What do you want to do?"
Song Yi smiled at Xu Che and extended her hand, "Makeup, give me some, quickly."
Xu Che got a set of makeup from the household staff, and when he handed the makeup bag to Song Yi, his face was full of awkwardness.
Heaven knows what kind of expression that garden helper girl had when she heard such a strange request from the young master of the house - probably thinking he was some kind of pervert.
Hang Feng looked at Song Yi curiously and asked, "We already made him faint from anger, putting on makeup now won't change how he sees you."
"Who said I was going to put it on myself?" Song Yi took out some blush and approached Xu Yuanguo, frantically brushing it across his cheeks.
Hang Feng found it amusing and picked up an eyeliner pencil, asking Song Yi, "What's this?"
Song Yi said, "Eyeliner, but you can use it to write on your dad's face."
Hang Feng thought for a moment, uncapped the eyeliner, and wrote one character on Xu Yuanguo's forehead—
Death.
Song Yi: "..."
It was clear how much he hated him.
But Song Yi didn't stop what she was doing, using her not-so-skilled makeup techniques to give Xu Yuanguo smokey eyes that made him look like he'd been punched twice.
Finally, Song Yi took out a lipstick and dotted a red spot in the center of Xu Yuanguo's forehead. If it weren't for his illness making him so thin, he would have looked exactly like a comical New Year painting mascot.
Just then, Xu Yuanguo, with his eyes still closed, started coughing, clearly about to wake up.
Song Yi quickly gathered all the makeup and backed away several steps to maintain distance from Xu Yuanguo.
So when Xu Yuanguo opened his eyes, what he saw was his younger son, who had been rebellious since the age of seventeen, sitting by his bedside.
Hang Feng's expression lacked its usual coldness and resistance; instead, his lips curved upward in an odd, half-smile.
Of course, upon seeing Xu Yuanguo awake, Hang Feng immediately stood up and kept his distance.
Xu Yuanguo's gaze swept across the entire room, pausing when he saw Song Yi.
The presence of this strange girl reminded Xu Yuanguo that everything that had just happened wasn't a nightmare but reality.
So Xu Yuanguo placed his hand over his heart and began coughing violently again.
He was unaware of the bizarre makeup on his face, so naturally, he didn't know that it took great effort for the three people present not to laugh at him.
Both Xu Che and Hang Feng simply watched him impassively, neither showing any intention of coming forward to show concern.
Song Yi observed the scene before her and shook her head, thinking—
So this is what it's like in wealthy families.
After Xu Yuanguo finally recovered, he pointed at Song Yi and angrily questioned his two sons, "Why is she still here?"
Hang Feng placed his hand on Song Yi's shoulder and replied, "Don't you already know? Do you need to hear it again?"
Xu Che knocked Hang Feng's hand away, saying, "Keep your hands to yourself."
This gesture from Xu Che took on a different meaning in Xu Yuanguo's eyes—
What a disaster! What a disaster!
What kind of situation was this? His two sons were both completely infatuated with the same woman? And they were fighting over her shamelessly right in front of him?
Xu Yuanguo angrily scolded, "Do you know what you're doing? Women like her are a dime a dozen. Have I ever been too strict with you? And now both of you are in love with the same woman? This kind of worthless..."
"Stop." Song Yi directly interrupted Xu Yuanguo, looking at him innocently, "Because they both like me, that makes me worthless? Then if two women both liked you and both bore your children, what does that make you? Are you worthless too?"
Song Yi's expression grew more disdainful as she looked at Xu Yuanguo, enunciating each word clearly: "You're truly shameless and have no self-respect, you rotten cucumber. Men like you deserve to be drowned."
These words made Xu Yuanguo's eyes widen; he clearly couldn't believe what he was hearing.
In all his years, this was the first time someone had pointed at him and spoken such harsh words.
More importantly, how could this young girl, who looked so pure and beautiful, say such things? Was she crazy?
At this moment, Xu Che calmly spoke up, "Watch yourself, don't faint again. Mr. Smith has already arrived."
Xu Yuanguo was reminded of today's most important matter by Xu Che's words. He had an appointment with Mr. Smith from America to discuss a billion-dollar cooperation deal.
If this cooperation with Mr. Smith went smoothly, the Xu family's position in the industry would be permanently secured.
Whether it was the Shen family, the Jiang family, or that Murong—all these hypocrites, these so-called century-old aristocratic families, would have to bow their heads before him.
Thinking of this, ambition once again filled Xu Yuanguo's heart.
His background was merely that of a nouveau riche, and even marrying Xu Che's mother was considered marrying above his station in their social circle.
Over the years, he had endured plenty of ridicule, but as his abilities grew and the Xu corporation expanded, those who once looked down on him changed their attitude.
They called him Chairman Xu, bowing and scraping, all carefully trying to curry favor with him.
Except for those few self-important aristocratic families who looked down on his origins, and to this day excluded the Xu family from any philanthropy or investment opportunities by default. He had spent half his life fighting in business, yet still hadn't won these people's respect.
And now, he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Rather than lying helplessly in a hospital bed waiting to die, losing his hair through rounds of chemotherapy, Xu Yuanguo wanted to use this time to do something meaningful.
And Mr. Smith's arrival represented a turning point for him.
As long as his name, Xu Yuanguo's name, was the one signed on that contract, the power structure of the entire Imperial Capital would have to be reshuffled.
By then, those aristocratic families would all be scrambling to curry favor with him, fighting for scraps from his table.
There were priorities to consider; compared to dealing with this worthless woman before him, he naturally needed to meet with Mr. Smith first.
So Xu Yuanguo got out of bed, changed his shoes, and put on the suit jacket that was hanging in the wardrobe.
He looked very serious, as if he was about to face a silent battle, but with such strange makeup on his face, the air of authority he usually carried was greatly diminished.
He no longer looked like a cold, powerful boss, but rather like a clown about to perform in a circus.
Song Yi tugged at Hang Feng's clothes and whispered, "I really want to laugh."
Just then, Xu Che stepped to the side, coincidentally blocking Song Yi from view.
So Song Yi lowered her head and directly patted Hang Feng's arm to release her emotions, laughing uncontrollably.
It was so funny, really so funny.
Just imagine, it was like a general going to battle, but instead of drawing a sword when facing the enemy, he pulls out a magical fairy wand.
Xu Yuanguo didn't bother looking at the three of them again, just coldly left a warning for his eldest son to "handle this situation" before hurrying downstairs.
Meanwhile, in the garden.
Shen Yujing sat expressionlessly, while beside him, Shen's Mother was enthusiastically chatting with friends.
"Everyone, look, this is my son. Isn't he handsome? He inherited at least this good trait from me..."
So noisy, so noisy.
Looking at the group of wealthy ladies surrounding him, Shen Yujing felt like a monkey in a park being gawked at.
It all started last night when Shen Yujing, lying in bed playing games, was suddenly kicked onto the floor.
Getting up from the carpet, Shen Yujing asked furiously, "What are you doing!"
Shen's Mother put on a surprised expression, dramatically covering her mouth with her hand, "My precious son, so this is where you were! You didn't even hear mother calling you several times. Mother thought you'd been captured by monsters in the game!"
Shen Yujing: "..."
He wordlessly quit the game, flopped back onto the bed, turned over and buried his face in the pillow, "If you have something to say, can you just say it directly without all this nonsense?"
"Oh my!" Shen's Mother reached out to pull Shen Yujing up, "Mother wants to discuss something with you."
Shen Yujing responded without hesitation: "I refuse."
To be fair, Shen Yujing wasn't an particularly clever person.
But when it came to his mother, he always maintained twelve parts vigilance and keen insight.
For example, right now, based on Shen Yujing's understanding of his mother, when she used the word "discuss," it definitely wasn't going to be anything good.
Sure enough, she wanted to take him to attend a banquet.
Shen Yujing hated those boring social occasions the most; they were a complete waste of time and life.
But Shen's Mother said: "Your Aunt Shang mentioned last time that Xu Che is growing more and more handsome, and there are countless girls in our circle who like him. They were all discussing which family's sons and daughters are the most good-looking, but no one mentioned your name! As your mother, I felt so angry for you. My son is so handsome, yet they all lack eyes to see it!"
And so Shen Yujing was successfully manipulated into coming here, to "fight for his mother's pride"!
Of course, sitting here now, he realized he had been tricked.
Why were so many people surrounding him?!
And that auntie, could she please stop reaching for his face? It's really scary!
Shen Yujing sat there, unable to bear it any longer, and looked at his mother, saying: "I want to go home."
Shen's Mother: "Don't be a spoilsport, you're already here."
Shen Yujing: "Then I'll walk around by myself."
He definitely couldn't stay here any longer.
Shen's Mother pointed to the distance and said: "Wait a bit longer, your Uncle Xu is coming over, at least say hello to him."
Fine.
Shen Yujing decided to reluctantly wait one more minute, just one minute.
Out of boredom, Shen Yujing looked up at Xu Yuanguo, but unconsciously frowned.
Even from a distance, he could see that Xu Yuanguo's face was strangely marked with patches of black and red.
So Shen Yujing asked his mother, "What's painted on his face?"
Shen's Mother glanced over and casually replied, "Probably some kind of birthday god makeup. I didn't expect him to become so fashionable."
All along the way, Xu Yuanguo could sense that something was very wrong.
Wherever he went, whether passing by servants or guests, regardless of their age or gender, everyone would look at him and then break into smiles.
Why were they smiling at him like that?
Could it be... they were trying to curry favor with him?
Suddenly, Xu Yuanguo felt more confident, and he couldn't help but let his lips curl up slightly.
Once he signs the contract with Mr. Smith today, everyone will have to curry favor with him like this! He'll be the one truly holding the economic lifeline of the Imperial Capital!
As Xu Yuanguo drew closer, the noble ladies could now clearly see his today's "makeup."
Red cheeks, black circles around the eyes, and a character for "death" written on his forehead - the sight was particularly eerie.
Suddenly, someone whispered, "What's going on with Chairman Xu?"
Another person quietly responded, "I heard he's been very ill lately. Could this be some kind of black magic keeping him alive?"
"I've heard about this too. They say if strange things suddenly happen to someone who's dying, you must pretend not to see it. Otherwise, whoever points it out will have their own lifespan transferred to extend the dying person's life!"
"Stop talking! This is too terrifying! Let's all pretend we don't see anything!"
...
At this moment, Shen Yujing narrowed his eyes.
The young master, who had been feeling bored until now, finally found something interesting. Doing such strange things just to extend his life?
Come on, couldn't people believe in science? This was completely ridiculous and far-fetched.
When Xu Yuanguo walked over, he politely greeted the ladies and prepared to head to the front hall to find Mr. Smith.
But Shen Yujing suddenly called out, "Uncle Xu!"
Xu Yuanguo stopped, looking somewhat impatient but still managing a smile, "Oh, it's Yujing. Uncle has something to do right now. Can we talk later?"
Shen Yujing ignored his request and asked directly, "Uncle Xu, why is there a death character on your forehead?"
Xu Yuanguo froze. Faced with Shen Yujing's sincere gaze, he suddenly felt cold sweat breaking out all over his body.
On his forehead... there was a death character?
What did that mean?
Could it be that Shen Yujing could see his lifespan, and he really didn't have much time left?
With a trembling voice, Xu Yuanguo asked, "What did you say?"
Shen Yujing repeated, "You have a death character on your forehead."
He said it very loudly and sincerely, clearly not joking.
Xu Yuanguo suddenly felt his legs going weak.
It's over... it's all over.
They say children's eyes can see things that adults can't.
Although he knew his body couldn't last much longer, he never thought... it would be this soon...
