As Lin Xiao qia stood lost in thought at the entrance of his office in the Lin Family Building, his sixth brother, Lin Xiaokang, walked towards him from the opposite corridor, talking quietly with an exceptionally handsome young man. As Lin Xiao qia passed by, Lin Xiaokang stopped with a smile and politely greeted Lin Xiao qia: "Second brother, why aren't you in the conference room? Didn't Brother Sam tell you he had to call a last-minute meeting?"
"It's almost dark, what are you going to do in the meeting room? Didn't I ask you to help manage the soda company's business recently?" Lin Xiao qia asked his sixth half-brother, puzzled.
"This is Ah Da, Billy's friend from Boston University. Brother Sam wants to see him and said everyone should go to the conference room for a meeting. What? Brother Sam didn't tell you?" Lin Xiaokang looked at Lin Xiao qia and asked in confusion.
Lin Xiao qia paused for a moment, then tapped his forehead as if he had just remembered something. "Ah, I know, but I'm in a hurry to go to the China Paint Company on Yalan Street in Mong Kok to take care of some things. I might not have paid attention when A-Sen told me before, or the paint company matter is a bit urgent. A-Sen can tell me about it later. I'll go now."
"Really? Then I won't disturb you any longer, Second Brother. I'll go to the conference room." Lin Xiaokang walked towards the conference room at the end of the corridor.
Just as he was about to push open the conference room door, Lin Xiaokang, who was only showing his back to Lin Xiao qia, lowered his head and curled his lip in disdain, saying in a voice only he could hear, "Second brother is really something, he can't even lie properly."
When he pushed open the door and looked up again, he had a bright smile on his face, "Big brother, Fourth Brother."
Lin Xiao qia watched as Lin Xiaokang walked through the long corridor into the conference room. After the conference room door closed, he pursed his lips bitterly, turned his back and left the corridor, took the elevator out of the Lin Family Building on Queen's Road, and stood on the street, smoking a cigarette in the evening breeze.
He was the second son in the Lin Family, and the close and reliable second brother in the eyes of his brothers. However, as his brothers grew older, his status as the second brother in the family seemed to be gradually declining.
He and his elder brother Lin Xiaoze were born of the same mother. Although his elder brother now held the titles of head of the Lee Family and chairman of the board of directors of Xizhen Properties Company, Lin Xiao qia was not envious at all. Only he knew that his elder brother must be very uncomfortable in that position.
The Lin Family has seven brothers and eight sisters. Except for the Lin Family daughter who died young, there are now fourteen people in total. The youngest, Lin Family Lin Xiaoda, is already twenty-five years old. He returned from United States Boston University with a degree in business administration. Six of the seven brothers are high-achieving college graduates, and the third brother is a well-known practicing lawyer. Only Lin Xiao qia dropped out of school early after graduating from Queen's College to help with the family business. Now, he can no longer understand many of the English words his brothers occasionally utter.
My eldest brother, Lin Xiaoze, was born to a concubine, just like me. He was only two years older than me, but he had been raised by the first wife since birth and treated as her own son. When my father wanted to send my eldest brother and me to study in Britain, the first wife stopped him with a word. After discussing it with my father, the eldest brother, Lin Xiaoze, who was raised by the first wife, went to study in Britain with the first wife's biological younger brother, Lin Xiaohe. Only I, the second son, was left behind. After finishing middle school, I started to help my father manage the opium business. I have been doing this since I was a young man in a blue shirt. Now I am forty-five years old. I have risen from a director of Xizhen Properties to a position where the company no longer needs to notify me for meetings.
The fourth brother, Lin Xiaosen, probably thought that since he was notified to attend a meeting anyway, he wouldn't understand what the board of directors was saying.
"I think I really am getting old." Lin Xiao qia chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I'm getting worse and worse. Maybe in a few years, I'll be doing what I did when I dropped out of school: helping out in the warehouse to take inventory."
"Second Young Master, are you getting ready to go out? Do you need me to drive?" Uncle Bing, his bodyguard and driver who had been by his side for over twenty years, saw Lin Xiao qia walk out of the building and stand motionless on the side of the street. He took the initiative to walk over and ask.
Uncle Bing's hair was already snow-white. He wore a neat Zhongshan, and his hands were always covered with white gloves, regardless of the season. His back was ramrod straight.
"Uncle Bing, your hair has all turned white." Lin Xiao qia lamented his own age and noticed that his bodyguard and driver, Uncle Bing, who had been by his side for many years, also had white hair. However, the cold expression on his face and the sharp eyes were no different from the calm and fierce man who had protected his family day and night with two guns after his father was shot.
Uncle Bing's lips twitched twice, which could be considered a smile, "I heard that there are now hair salons in Shanghai that know how to quickly dye hair. The second young master thinks my white hair is ugly, so I'm going to get it dyed back to black."
"No need. My own hair is almost white; why would I think Uncle Bing's white hair, earned from working so hard for the Lin Family, is unsightly?" Lin Xiao qia said as he got into his car. Uncle Bing started the car and asked, "Where is Second Young Master going?"
"Did Ah Xia deliver the two sums of money I asked Ah Xia to to Uncle Wu and Uncle Liu's houses?" Lin Xiao qia didn't rush to say the destination, but instead asked, turning the ring on his finger.
Uncle Bing said, "I personally took Ah Xia to Macau the day before yesterday and delivered the money to Brother Shen and Brother Yuan's house."
"I'm going to Ngau Tau Shan to see Ah Jing. I haven't seen Ah Jing since after the Spring Festival. She looked rather pale the last time I saw her." Lin Xiao qia closed his eyes and gently leaned his head back against the chair. "The other sisters are all fine, but Ah Jing is the most pitiful. I just saw A-Kang in the corridor; I should remind him that he should give Ah Jing more money for groceries each month."
Uncle Bing drove away from Central and headed towards the desolate Ngau Tau Shan in Causeway Bay. When he reached the foot of the hill, the old servant Wen Jingyuan, who was in charge of guarding the hill, saw Uncle Bing driving and surprisingly smiled. Lin Xiao qia also gestured for Uncle Bing to stop the car, opened the car door and got out, handed Wen Jingyuan a cigarette, lit it for him, and then smiled gently and said:
"Uncle Yuen, what's the point of guarding this desolate mountain for so many years? How about I help you settle into a tenement building in the city, or you and Uncle Bing can live in the neighborhood? Even if you want to move into the Lin Family, the old lady will agree."