Uncle Zhong's calm statement-"The will has been read in full. These are the entirety of the late gentleman's final wishes."-struck everyone's heart like a final verdict.
After the deathly silence came irrepressible whispers, spreading through the crowd like a tide.
"My God... he really didn't mention Ji Cheng at all?"
"That's just... how much did the Old Master dislike this son of his?"
"Surely not? Hasn't Ji Cheng been working at the company all along? Whatever else..."
"Heh, you don't get it. Working at the company is just a job. The inheritance is what really matters! What a slap in the face!"
"Actually, doesn't Ji Cheng already own quite a few businesses? The Old Master must have given him plenty before, and with his dividends from the company, he has enough to live on for several lifetimes."
"That may be true, but how can he save face now? His own father didn't even name him in his will. How can he hold his head up in front of his siblings?"
"So those rumors about the strained relationship between father and son were true..."
"Strained? He practically treated him like a stranger. No, worse than a stranger! The Old Master donated so much money to people he didn't even know!"
The comments, some loud and some quiet, some astonished and some mocking, others tinged with glee at his misfortune, pierced Ji Cheng's ears like invisible needles and punctured the last defenses of his reason.
Impossible... absolutely impossible!
A buzzing filled Ji Cheng's head, as though countless bees were crashing about inside it, and his vision kept going dark.
His entire body turned cold, his blood seemingly frozen. Only his heart pounded wildly and erratically, making his eardrums ache.
*He remembered perfectly well... it was that night not long ago, after the