Ancestral Chefs

"Whose place were you going to take in disciplining my child?"

The office door swung open, and Gu Ruize walked in with a stern expression. When he spotted the teacher, he politely raised his chin. "Sorry, teacher. I knocked just now, but nobody answered, so I came straight in."

"N-no, it's all right." The teacher knew who he was: the famous president of Gu Corporation. On his son's first day at kindergarten, the director had specifically warned everyone to take good care of the Gu family's little crown prince, or they could pack their bags and leave the next day.

"Good, good." Gu Zhuoling followed Gu Ruize in, his face cold. When he saw Shen Xinde standing behind the teacher, with lingering panic in his eyes as he turned around, his expression darkened further.

"Big brother!"

At the sight of Gu Zhuoling, Shen Xinde's little grievances surged up like a tide. He held out his arms, whimpering for Gu Zhuoling to hug him.

Gu Zhuoling walked over and wrapped his arms around Shen Xinde, patting him on the back soothingly before letting him go. "Let me see where you're hurt."

He let him go and looked him over carefully, finding red marks of every kind on his fair, tender arms: scratches and pinches. He looked so pitiful.

"Dad." Gu Zhuoling's voice grew a shade deeper. He carefully and gently brushed over the marks on Shen Xinde's arms, then looked up at his father.

At Gu Zhuoling's prompting, Gu Ruize also saw Shen Xinde's injuries, and a trace of displeasure flashed across his eyes.

"You there, sir." Gu Ruize's expression darkened slightly. Fixing his gaze on the man standing in the middle of the office, whose resolve was beginning to crumble, he said coldly, "Whose child did you say had no manners?"

The man was a bully who picked on the weak and feared the strong. He could be unreasonable in front of women and children, but when he actually encountered someone with a presence as imposing as Gu Ruize's, he naturally backed down a little. He dodged Gu Ruize's sharp gaze and said nothing.

Gu Ruize gave the man no chance to speak. Instead, he beckoned Xinde and Jiang Nan over. "Let uncle have a look. Where else are you hurt?"

"Nannan got pushed to the floor and landed on his bottom." Shen Xinde obediently followed Gu Zhuoling over to Gu Ruize and spoke aggrievedly.

"I'm fine. I've got lots of padding on my bottom. Xinde didn't just hurt his arms; his back hit a table too." No matter how bold Jiang Nan was, he was too embarrassed to take off his pants on the spot. He waved his hand, his face red.

Gu Ruize patted Shen Xinde's head soothingly and asked softly, "Xinde, does it hurt?"

Though Gu Ruize hadn't spent much time with Shen Xinde, he genuinely liked him. The boy had a good temperament, a sweet tongue, and got along well with his son.

Every day when they met, he would sweetly call him uncle. Every now and then, he would even come over with a little snack and thank him for his hard work. Who wouldn't dote on a child like that?

Shen Xinde didn't deliberately hide what he was thinking now. He answered honestly, "It hurts. Ha ohao's back and Nannan's bottom hurt too."

Gu Zhuoling's heart ached for him. He touched Shen Xinde's arm, then very carefully felt his back.

There was no telling how badly he'd hurt it, with skin so delicate.

Gu Ruize looked up and swept his gaze over Chen Ming, who was now huddled behind the man, too scared to let out a peep. A mocking smile curled his lips. "Your son was bullied by two people, yet he doesn't have a single injury. Impressive! I imagine he's been taught his manners very well."

"Dad, they pulled my hair! I lost several strands!" Chen Ming tugged at the man's sleeve, trying to defend himself.

That was even more ridiculous. The two children had deep red marks visible on their arms. Given how much force had been used, there was no telling how badly their bottoms and backs were bruised. Meanwhile, the one who appeared to be outnumbered had only had a few strands of hair pulled out.

"Shut up!" Knowing he was in the wrong, the man made as if to slap Chen Ming, who immediately fell silent in fear. The man then coughed twice, still not daring to meet Gu Ruize's eyes. "Whatever happened, my son must have been bullied before he chose to fight back."

Seeing how things stood, the teacher immediately stepped forward to explain. "Um, Chen Ming's father, I asked a few of the children about it. Chen Ming cut in line for the slide a couple of days ago and had a disagreement with Jiang Nan. Today, he saw Jiang Nan alone in the classroom and wanted to get his pride back..."

The teacher didn't need to finish for everyone to know who was right and who was wrong.

Hearing this, Gu Ruize looked with some amusement at the guilty-looking man and the equally guilty-looking miniature version of him, Chen Ming.

"Mr. Chen, is it? I imagine your ancestors were chefs?"

The remark was loaded with meaning, but nobody present caught on.

"What does that mean?"

Jiang Nan was the first to ask.

Shen Xinde understood and already wanted to laugh, but didn't dare. His face turned red from holding it in. He hadn't expected Uncle Gu to make a lame joke.

"He's saying Uncle Chen is good at tossing the wok," Gu Zhuoling explained calmly.

Jiang Nan knew what "tossing the wok" meant. His dad was always saying his mom tossed the wok to him, making his back hurt badly.

"Xinde, did he toss the wok to you? Does your back hurt?" Jiang Nan asked innocently.

"He tossed the wok to both of us." Shen Xinde couldn't help laughing aloud, but when he turned and saw that Gu Zhuoling was still wearing a cold expression, he immediately fell silent and explained in a low voice.

"Huh? How come I didn't feel any pain?" Jiang Nan looked bewildered.

The children weren't speaking loudly, but the office was quiet, so everyone could hear them.

Just then, there was a gentle knock at the door. It opened, and a rather young-looking person in a suit and leather shoes came in.

The newcomer wore rimless glasses, and his eyes were narrowed in a smile. He looked refined and scholarly, but his words were icy.

"President Gu, you're such an important man, you must have forgotten. President Chen only made his fortune in the past two years by running off with his ex-wife's money. He's hardly cut out to be a chef."

"Hi, Brother Lu!" Jiang Nan recognized him and called out a greeting.

Assistant Lu crouched down and patted Jiang Nan on the head. "Young master, Lawyer Jiang has an urgent meeting, so I'm here to take you home."

Assistant Lu was Jiang Nan's father's personal assistant. From what he said, it seemed Jiang Nan's father was a lawyer.

"When does he ever have time?" Jiang Nan muttered.

"President Gu, long time no see." After greeting Jiang Nan, Assistant Lu stood up and respectfully greeted Gu Ruize.

Gu Ruize knew Assistant Lu. Lawyer Jiang, the man Assistant Lu worked for, was Jiang Nan's father, and Gu Ruize had contractual dealings with his law firm. No wonder Jiang Nan had looked a little familiar.

Since they knew each other, Gu Ruize gave Assistant Lu a nod out of courtesy.

Now it was the man's turn to panic. He had indeed done as Assistant Lu said: he had run off with his ex-wife's money and brought his mistress into the house. But that was only because his ex-wife couldn't have children!

He knew Assistant Lu. Because of the money he'd taken, he was still fighting a lawsuit with his ex-wife. He had wanted to find a more authoritative law firm, and Assistant Lu worked for Lawyer Jiang, an equity partner at the most authoritative firm he'd approached.

Lawyer Jiang hadn't taken his case, though, because just before the man approached him, he had already accepted his ex-wife's commission.

He had already been under enormous pressure lately because his ex-wife wanted her property back. Now, seeing Assistant Lu act so respectfully, he realized the man before him must be someone important.

This damned brat can't do anything right and does nothing but cause me trouble!

With that thought, the man glared viciously at Chen Ming, who stood beside his leg.

"Mr. Chen, now that all the parents are here, shouldn't we discuss your son bullying his classmates?"

"Oh, Assistant Lu, surely you can't call it something as serious as bullying..."