Affiliated Families

Knowing they would not be able to finish talking anytime soon, and that Mother Wen was indeed tired, she nodded.

Father Wen took Mother Wen upstairs to rest, while Wen Chenglin followed his younger brother to the bedroom.

Wen Chenglin watched his younger brother pack his luggage. After a long while, he said, "Xiao Ze, actually, if you truly don't want to come back, that's fine. The family still has me."

Wen Chengze froze for a moment and set down what he was holding.

"Big Brother, I came back willingly this time. I'm part of this family too. When I'm needed, I won't run away. You and Dad have had it hard these past few years."

Looking at his younger brother, Wen Chenglin felt that Xiao Ze had quietly grown up during those years they had not been part of.

He knew how the once arrogant, domineering boy had become so detached, and the more he knew, the more his heart ached.

"Xiao Ze."

Wen Chengze grasped the hand his older brother had placed on his shoulder. "Once I finish putting these things away, let's go to the study. Dad should be waiting for us there."

"Mm."

Sure enough, as soon as the two brothers knocked on the study door, they heard a stern voice from within.

"Come in."

"Dad." The two brothers stood respectfully before the desk.

"Sit. We're at home, not at the company. No need to be so serious."

Although Wen Chengze had lived abroad for the past ten years, their family had not truly stopped seeing one another. He would occasionally return during holidays, or the family would visit him; they also made video calls from time to time. So they were not strangers to one another, much less as father and sons or brothers. There was not the slightest sense of distance between them.

"Xiao Ze, there was no other choice but to call you back this time. Once this is over, you can go abroad again if you want." Father Wen's face was full of helplessness.

"Dad, I've already said the same thing to my brother. I'm part of this family too. This is what I should do."

Looking at his younger son, Father Wen felt waves of helplessness well up inside him. He had sent him abroad in the first place precisely to keep him away from these disputes, yet in the end, he still could not escape them.

It was not as though Wen Chengze failed to see the pain in his father's eyes. His fingers merely trembled, and he said nothing tender. There were some things he did not know how to express.

Instead, he asked, "What exactly is going on now?"

He had returned this time because of the family gathering three days later. But this was not an internal family gathering; it was a gathering of several prominent clans. Such gatherings were not held lightly, and whenever one was held, something major was bound to happen.

Father Wen exchanged a glance with his eldest son before the two of them finally explained what had happened recently.

"Xiao Ze, you should know what kind of system our families belong to. On the surface, we are glamorous wealthy families, but in truth, we all survive by relying on the Zhong Household."

Naturally, Wen Chengze knew all this. The Zhong Household was a true super-clan, with deep foundations—an unshakable towering tree. Though the Wen Household could be considered a first-rate wealthy family, it had always been an affiliate of the Zhong Household. Not only them; many other first-rate wealthy clans were also affiliated with that super-clan.

To put it bluntly, however glamorous their families might appear, before the Zhong Household, they all had to bow their heads in submission. The Zhong Household was the only family truly capable of deciding life and death.

If the Zhong Household wanted to destroy a family, it would be as easy as turning over a hand.

Although there were usually not many rules, and nothing showed on the surface, the subordinate relationship beneath it all was very real.

"Dad, Big Brother, I know all that. This family gathering is because of the new head of the Zhong Household, isn't it?"