Late at night, in Elder Kang"s office, the elder and his eldest son, Kang Mu, sat silently looking at each other from across a table.Kang Mu was shocked to have received a call from his father, but he was more shocked that his father had asked for him to come alone.
Fear rose inside his chest as his fathers discerning eyes scanned him until he couldn"t take it anymore. "Look… dad, I didn"t do anything this time. I swear. What happened last time was an accident and I didn"t mean to mess—"
Elder Kang slammed his cane on the mahogany desk. "Silence!"
Kang Mu jumped out of his seat. He wanted to run away but there was no running from Elder Kang so he just sat silently. Seconds away from probably p.i.s.sing himself.
"I didn"t call you here for something trivial like that."
Kang Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
Though now, he was completely curious. What had his father called him here for then? Out of anyone in the family, Kang Mu was never the first one called when something important needed to be discussed. After almost destroying Kang Corporations, Kang Mu was put at an even lower status than the housekeeper.
"I called you here today for this."
Elder Kang removed a single piece of paper from his desk and then slipped it towards Kang Mu.
"What"s this?" he asked curiously as he stared at the paper.
"A contract signed by both your son and me."
Kang Mu looked at his father with confusion. It was a contract, so what? Hmmm, wait. There was something weird written on it.
Kang Mu took his gla.s.ses on and once Kang Mu saw the t.i.tle of the contract, his eyes opened so wide that they seemed as if they were about to pop out of their socket.
He picked up the piece of paper and began to read the first line.
"A marriage contract? Are you serious?" Kang Mu looked panicked. "Wait... which one of my sons signed this?"
Elder Kang didn"t say a word. It was written on the contract so if this lazy son of his wanted to know, he"d look. Seeing that his father wasn"t answering he looked over the piece of paper and once he found Kang Jun"s name, his eyes widened.
"You can"t be serious… This is impossible"
Elder Kang: "If by that you mean why. Well, let me tell you. Your son, unlike you, is finally ready to take some responsibility and go after what is rightfully his, in the right way."
Kang Mu sneered.
His father didn"t have to throw shade like that. Kang Mu knew he"d made mistakes in the past but from his mistakes came 5 capable young men so he thought that his father should have forgiven him by now.
"So you"re saying he finally decided to succeed you? He really agreed to something like this?" Kang Mu was still shocked. Kang Jun was at a complete disadvantage. "Why now?"
"The boy finally understands that pa.s.sivity will lead him nowhere and that he needs companionship and strength" By strength, Elder Kang meant the strength to lead the family not knowing that in Kang Jun"s mind, that wasn"t the strength that was most necessary. The man wanted to protect Kang Mingyu.
Somewhere in his heart, Elder Kang knew this but the elder didn"t dare to mention what happened between Kang Jun and Qiao Lan, it would just cause unrest.
Knowing his son, he would propagate the news like the flu.
"Also, I think he found a girl he likes."
Hearing the last thing his father had said, Kang Mu began to laugh awkwardly.
"Stop joking. Kang Jun has no interest in women."
Elder Kang"s face immediately darkened."Are you saying he has an interest in men?"
Kang Mu waved his hand in the air, telling his father to stop with his strange fantasies.
"Men, women, brother, sister, father, mother; they are all like flies and garbage to that boy."
Elder Kang didn"t say a thing.
He loved his second grandson very much but even he didn"t know the extent that Kang Jun could care about others. That was why he had expressly written in the contract that Kang Jun and his wife would be moving into the Kang old house with him, Kang Mei Xue and Qiao Lan. He feared that after the honeymoon period was over his wife would notice that Kang Jun was cold and that that was unchangeable. He also didn"t want to lose the chance to see his grandson every day either, so for him, it was a win-win.
"Did Kang Jun give up on life or something?" Kang Mu asked.
He wasn"t quite worried about his son, but he was having a hard time taking in that his strange son would do such a thing.
From the time he was young, Kang Jun wasn"t a rebellious child but when he chose his path no one would be able to divert him. This made him hard to deal with once he reached the age of 18. At that point, Kang Jun had left to go abroad where they lost contact with him.
The boy didn"t even think to contact them once.
Then he suddenly reappeared in T City, three years later. Even then, Kang Jun didn"t care to explain what had happened during that time period. He just came by and reintegrated into the family as if nothing had happened but with more pa.s.sivity than he had ever had before.
Back then, Kang Mu had been shocked by his son"s change but now, he really couldn"t believe what the boy had done.
Briefly reading the contract, he understood that everything relied on one thing; whether Kang Jun could find himself a wife in three months. Though this wife, if he ended up finding one, couldn"t be someone he threatened or bribed into marrying him.
That only meant that the boy had to court her.
Kang Mu wanted to laugh.
The man could never in a million years believe that his disinterested-in-the-world son would be able to court a girl.
He knew his son well. He was so cold and quiet. No one ever understood what Kang Jun"s intentions were neither did many care to know.
When he looked at a person, it would always be cold and yes, Kang Mu knew that the boy had gotten this frigid stare from his mother but when she wore it she exuded a dignified and beautiful aura but for Kang Jun, despite being a handsome man, it would cause others to turn away in fear.
He was a too cold and detached… This was not something women liked.
Kang Mu, the ladies man, knew more than anyone that women liked to be showed interest in and be doted upon. He used this trick all the time and had learned along the way to show genuine interest in every and all women.
How else did people think he ended up courting many many women, including the 5 beautiful women, who bore him his sons?
Though, even if his son somehow knew how to deal with women, there was no way that Kang Jun would be able to find a woman of beauty, status, and strength out on the streets. Kang Mu no longer believed that a diamond in the rough existed anymore.
"Do me a favor and don"t mention this to anyone." Elder Kang said.
Kang Mu smiled.
"Yes, yes father!" his voice was filled with happiness.
This was a day he had never thought would happen!
Once his son left, Elder Kang sighed. He had only told Kang Mu for one reason and one reason only. They had to prepare to accept a new in law in the family. Elder Kang didn"t think he could make the preparations alone but as he watched his sons erect back walking out of his office, his stomach began to hurt.
He had probably made a terrible mistake… and the elder"s hunch was right. In less than a couple of hours, the news of Kang Jun"s parents looking for possible suitors spread causing chaos amongst the upper cla.s.s.
Right when Kang Mu hopped into his car, he immediately called his wife.
"My sweetie, I have good news!"
"What?" The woman asked indifferently.
"It"s time to interview some prospective marriage partners for Jun."
"Why?" Curiosity arose within the woman and it could clearly be heard in her cold voice.
"Our son made his first mistake! Isn"t that cute?"
The woman didn"t speak for a moment, and then she sighed. "I"ll make arrangements."
Despite sounding disappointed and disinterested, Mrs. Kang felt the complete opposite and having known her for a long time, Kang Mu smiled as the woman hung the phone up on his face.
He looked at the driver.
"I have a cute wife, don"t I?"
The driver smiled at Kang Mu and nodded, though he didn"t mean it. Mrs. Kang, even when he could only hear her voice through the phone, scared him.
In the back seat, Kang Mu laid back and looked out the dark window but he didn"t pay attention to the world outside. All he could think of was that they would have a new daughter-in-law, in no time.
There was no more interference.
It was fate.
They had to choose the perfect candidate, one who would have the Kang families best interest at heart and who would be able to handle Kang Jun.
Kang Mu had a few people in mind but he would have to discuss it with his wife. The thought of a new daughter-in-law made the man smile. He couldn"t wait to chose. He was so overjoyed that the man didn"t notice that he was getting ahead of himself.
In his heart, he truly believed, one hundred percent, that Kang Jun would face his first real failure at the hands of this "marriage contract" and Kang Mu couldn"t wait until it happened.
But would that truly happen?
Kang Mu"s reasoning relied solely on how Kang Jun had interacted with women in the past. Back then, Kang Mu had deduced that the boy had no talent in seducing women.
But Kang Mu obviously didn"t know his second son very well…
The man had a lot more "talent" than his father could possibly ever have imagined.
The only difference between then and now was one woman.
One whom Kang Jun wanted.