Impossible to Stay Out of It

Wen Chengze cared nothing about other people's affairs, but he cared deeply about matters concerning his own family.

Ever since his father had called him two days ago, he had immediately begun investigating the situation back home.

Father Wen nodded. "That's right. The previous head of the Zhong Household had only one daughter, but she had no interest in the business world. Her live-in son-in-law was exceptionally keen, but the head of the Zhong Household never handed over the position. Now that he finally had, he skipped right over the couple and handed everything directly to his grandson."

Wen Chenglin continued, "This heir has never been involved in such matters. He's even an entertainer himself, a celebrity. How could the people below be willing to accept such a massive enterprise being handed over to him?"

Although Wen Chengze had no involvement in these matters, he was not stupid.

Naturally, Wen Chengze understood the logic behind it.

The subordinate families alone were already earning enormous profits. Without the Zhong Household keeping them in check, they might gain even more. At first, perhaps no one would care, but given enough time, how could no one harbor ulterior motives?

Everyone had maintained a cordial appearance before only because the former head of the Zhong Household had ruled with an iron hand, and no one had dared challenge his authority. But now, things were different.

With a mere youngster taking the field, quite a few people had probably begun making plans.

"So, quite a few people should be forming factions now, right?" After thinking it over carefully, Wen Chengze understood.

"Yes. Many families are thinking along those lines, but they haven't brought it fully into the open yet. The family gathering three days from now will be a test."

Even if he was just a youngster, how could families like theirs, which had all prospered through the Zhong Household, not be wary? After all, the previous head of the Zhong Household was not actually dead.

So the safest approach was to probe the new family head's capabilities, then form alliances and slowly devour the Zhong Household.

Wen Chengze could understand what those families intended to do, but what he could not understand was why his father and older brother were so troubled as well.

"Dad, big brother, if you don't want to get involved in this, you can just turn a blind eye and remain neutral. Don't recruit anyone, and don't let anyone recruit you. Why are you so worried?"

Father Wen sighed. If it were really as simple as his younger son said, that would be wonderful.

"Our Wen Household has reached its current position only through the Zhong Household's support. Moreover, what we hold in our hands is precisely what those people with ulterior motives want. We cannot possibly stay out of this conflict."

Now, the matter was far more serious.

Those harboring ulterior motives were naturally no decent people. If they failed to win them over, they might resort to anything. And the Zhong Household might not necessarily trust the Wen Household either. They might even find an excuse to eliminate them when the time came. In an instant, the Wen Household had become a target for everyone.

Thinking it through so carefully, Wen Chengze finally understood why his father and older brother were so anxious.

According to Wen Chengze's own thoughts, he could have advised his father and older brother to give up their domestic businesses and leave the country with him, but he knew that was unrealistic.

He did not know what his father held in his hands, but it was certainly not something that could be easily surrendered. Then there was the family company. Though they were subordinate to the Zhong Household, the Wen Household's current standing was largely the result of their own hard work. They had been striving since his grandfather's generation.

If he dared ask his father to give it all up, his grandfather could probably crawl up from the grave and kill him before his father even had to act.

After thinking it over and over, he still could not come up with any good way to resolve the situation.

For a while, the study fell silent.