Stepping outside into the living room, a gust of wind blew, and Chan Ah-sap realized that his back was completely soaked in cold sweat.
"Father... Song Tianyao comes from the Squatter Area, he can't possibly be Manager Hua of the Malado Trading Company, he must be a conman..." After only the father and son were left in the living room, Chu Xiaozhong became even more anxious. His mind was in turmoil, and he didn't know what to say. He could only use the fact that Song Tianyao came from the Squatter Area as a topic to cover up the truth.
Chu Yaozong rarely showed his kindness, gently patting Chu Xiaozhong's back with his palm. "Calm down. At a time like this, you're still speaking recklessly. In front of outsiders, it will only make people think you've lost your composure. In business, they often say to strike while the iron is hot. If you were to describe your current state as a medical condition, you'd be terminally ill. This is a warning to everyone who wants to take advantage of you: now is the best time."
Chu Xiaozhong turned his head uncertainly to look at the hand his father had patted him with, and then at his father's face. He found that there was no anger or sign of him about to fly into a rage; instead, his father seemed to be comforting him.
"Father..." Chu Xiaozhong had often seen his father keep his emotions hidden in front of others since he was a child, and for a moment he couldn't tell whether Chu Yaozong was really comforting him or just the calm before the storm.
"What? Afraid I'll blame you for bullying Ah Sin?" Chu Yaozong looked at his son with gentle eyes and asked, "Afraid I'll blame you for blocking Ah Sin's path to wealth?"
"Father..." Chu Xiaozhong said the word "father" for the third time, but he didn't know what to say after it.
Chu Yaozong withdrew his hand, picked up the slightly cooled tea and took a sip. "I don't blame you. The Chu Family just as you think, able to support a useless person, but we would never let him hang around outside, letting him do shameful things under the Chu Family name. If Ah Sin can't even handle someone like your uncle who only has petty cleverness and a Likang Trading Company, and can't see through your thoughts, and if he continues to cause trouble outside, I'm really prepared to send him abroad to study next year, buy him a property abroad, and let him fend for himself. So, you don't need to worry that I'll blame you for scheming against Ah Sin. If I were to blame you, I wouldn't have waited until today. You lost your mother at a young age, and I've been busy with business outside, so I haven't disciplined you much. I'm already very pleased that you've achieved what you have today. There's nothing wrong with having ambition. If you were truly a brother to Ah Sin, and you just blindly helped him and tolerated his troubles outside, that would be when I got angry. A soft heart can't make you the head of the family."
"The only thing I'm dissatisfied with these past years is that you've had it too easy. The businesses you're expanding into now are all emerging industries. Even if there are some formidable competitors, they can't compare to the Chu Family's reputation and wealth. So, they're already at a disadvantage without even fighting you. You achieved fame at a young age, were born into wealth, and have had smooth sailing in business. If it were any other small family, their son would have reached this status before the age of thirty, and they might have already been thinking about handing over the family business to you. But I won't. I'm waiting for you to fail a few times, to lose a few times. If you don't experience some painful setbacks to temper your character before the age of thirty, your arrogant personality will take hold after thirty. Even one crushing defeat will be enough to make you despondent and unable to recover. Today, Song Tianyao and Ah Sin made you lose face, which makes me happier than seeing you trample them underfoot. You only lost one Likang Trading Company, but you can learn a lot from this incident that you previously overlooked. It's very worthwhile."
"Tell me what's bothering you while I'm in a good mood."
Chu Xiaozhong was drenched in cold sweat. His hair, which had been carefully combed with hair wax, was now somewhat disheveled from the sweat. At this moment, he recalled what his father had said before this matter began, "Fine, I'll let you all see clearly what kind of person Song Tianyao is."
He took several deep breaths before steadying his voice. "Father... you knew about what happened today all along?"
Chapter Fifty-Three: Clarifying Doubts
"I only figured out the whole thing when Ah Sin brought the fourteen gold bars home just now." Chu Yaozong smiled. "Actually, Song Tianyao could have kept the matter of the fourteen gold bars a secret from me, but he didn't. Instead, he had Ah Sin tell me about it before you and Chan Ah-sap arrived. What do you think his reason was?"
Chu Xiaozhong tried hard to calm himself down, but this was not something that could be done in a moment. Even though he appeared calm on the surface, his thoughts were still in turmoil, and he could not grasp his father's train of thought.
"Song Tianyao had Ah Sin deliver the gold to my house to show me, just so I could save face for you at the last minute. Actually, the whole thing was very simple from beginning to end, just a classic example of the Thirty-Six Stratagems: feigning one move while secretly making another. He first deliberately lured you and Chan Ah-sap into attacking him for accepting bribes from Fuyixing. When you thought he couldn't recover, he suddenly brought up the fact that his family had clashed with Fu Fuyixing and that his sister was almost sold to Kowloon Walled City. This caught you off guard, and then, taking advantage of your confusion, he revealed that he wanted to get back the Likang Trading Company's dock business for Ah Sin and hand it over to Fuyixing for smuggling." Chu Yaozong leaned back slightly on the sofa, speaking calmly and unhurriedly.
Chu Xiaozhong took out a pack of State Express 555 cigarettes from his pocket, and without caring that his father was present, lit one with a match. After taking several puffs, he slowly said:
"If he had shown any intention to help Ah Sin from the beginning... then his family's situation was actually just a scare tactic..."
He spoke haltingly and incoherently, as if talking to himself, before his eyes lit up. He looked at his father, wiped the sticky sweat from his forehead, and seemed to have recovered slightly from his earlier setback. His tone was full of emotion:
"Brilliant! 'Openly repair the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass.' Father, I've always heard of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, but I've never seen anyone actually use them. What a brilliant move!"
"It's just rhetoric, but for someone Song Tianyao's age, it can certainly be described as sharp. When I Dad thirty, I was just like you, and I couldn't come up with such sharp rhetoric." Chu Yaozong picked up the cigarette case his son had placed on the coffee table and took out a cigarette. Chu Xiaozhong wanted to light his father's cigarette, but Chu Yaozong waved his hand, picked up a match, struck it himself, took a puff, and frowned.