Chapter 2322: The Fight (2)
Before she left, she had already asked everyone to help her take care of the old master before she returned in half an hour’s time. Only after getting an affirmative reply did the nanny leave.
Once the nanny left, Father w.a.n.g relaxed immediately. “Finally gone.”
His chess friend asked, “What do you mean? Have you become confused? It’s been almost half a minute. What’s your next move?” Father w.a.n.g’s chess friend nearly leaped up from his chair upon hearing Father w.a.n.g talking about ‘leaving’. Could it be that his friend had gotten Alzheimer’s disease? He hadn’t even moved for the past minute, and yet, he had said that he had already done so! Was he crazy?
Father w.a.n.g’s chess friend had no idea what Father w.a.n.g was talking about, but Father w.a.n.g did. Father w.a.n.g smiled at his friend. “That wasn’t what I meant. I have something on. Does anyone want to continue this game for me? Or you guys could start a new game. Oh right, can I borrow your phone? I was in a rush to get out of the house today and I just realized that I forgot to bring my phone with me. Do you mind lending me your phone?” If his friend minded, Father w.a.n.g was willing to fork out some money to rent his phone for a short while.
“Alright, I’ll lend you my phone. But hurry and move aside. Someone else has to take your place.” Father w.a.n.g’s chess friend did not insist on continuing the game with Father w.a.n.g. Actually, these old men were not exceptionally close to Father w.a.n.g either. In fact, Father w.a.n.g had always been a rather arrogant old man who often bragged about his brother-in-law’s status, which family his wife was from, and how brilliant his son was.
Who wouldn’t be sick of listening to such words?
The neighbors did have some understanding of the Zhu family’s conditions. It was just that they didn’t think that having Zhu Chengqi leave all of the family’s a.s.sets to w.a.n.g Yang just because he had no children of his own was something to be proud of. It felt as though they were taking advantage of someone else’s death. If Zhu Chengqi had a son of his own, w.a.n.g Yang would never have gotten so lucky.
But such was life. No matter how successful w.a.n.g Yang became in the future, it had nothing to do with his own talent or abilities. It was all thanks to the Zhu family.
Father w.a.n.g already had an air of superiority to begin with, acting as though the w.a.n.g family was about to make it to the top. Once that happened, the w.a.n.g family would be on a completely different level as compared to their neighbors. Before that happened, these neighbors had better know to appease and flatter him. Only then would he be willing to help their children once his son made a name for himself.
Nothing was even certain yet. Father w.a.n.g’s confidence was ridiculous!
Father w.a.n.g’s att.i.tude was truly annoying. After all, they were all the heads of their own households and were pampered just as well by their own families. As such, no one had ever forced themselves to get close to Father w.a.n.g. Since Father w.a.n.g had taken the initiative to break into their circle of friends and had even gotten rid of that air of superiority he had had previously, there was no reason for them to exclude or remain prejudiced against him. After all, a game of chess required only ‘brains’, not the ‘heart’. There was nothing wrong with simply being chess friends with no other feelings involved.
After some time, everyone’s att.i.tudes toward Father w.a.n.g had gradually improved. As such, his friends were willing to lend their phones to Father w.a.n.g. His friend barely even lifted his head before whipping his phone out from his pocket and handing it over to Father w.a.n.g slightly impatiently.
It had taken a few days but Father w.a.n.g had finally managed to borrow his friend’s phone. Father w.a.n.g could not help but wonder when he had become so useless. He had been under the control of that Zhu woman for most of his life. Even now that they barely had many more years to go, that woman had tightened her control over him. She had kicked up such a big fuss over a single phone call.
He shook those thoughts out of his mind. Although he was reluctant to believe it, this was indeed a true reflection of his life now. Father w.a.n.g’s eyesight had deteriorated and he spent some time reciting w.a.n.g Yang’s phone number. He could not help but breathe out a sigh of relief. He had memorized it well. “h.e.l.lo, w.a.n.g Yang. It’s me.”
“Dad…”
Hearing his dad’s voice, w.a.n.g Yang’s voice was no longer as cordial as it had been before. In fact, his tone was much colder than usual. Father w.a.n.g had always felt that Mother Zhu had spoiled w.a.n.g Yang. That was why w.a.n.g Yang had distanced himself from him and the w.a.n.g family. Thinking about what Mother Zhu had told w.a.n.g Yang before, Father w.a.n.g flared up at how obediently w.a.n.g Yang was to his mother. In the past, w.a.n.g Yang had always listened to him instead of that Zhu woman. w.a.n.g Yang was disgracing him and the entire w.a.n.g family. “w.a.n.g Yang, what’s with that att.i.tude of yours? Don’t tell me that you’ve really taken your mom’s words to heart? Don’t you remember what your grandpa did for you while he was still alive?”
“w.a.n.g Yang, it’s not right to be so heartless. If your grandpa hadn’t stepped in to protect you then, do you think that you would have gotten away with Zhu Baoguo’s matter? Those gangsters were mobs. After making such a huge mistake with the will, shouldn’t you understand that Zhu Chengqi isn’t an easy person to deal with? If even one of those gangsters had been caught by Zhu Chengqi, do you think Zhu Chengqi would have been willing to acknowledge you as his nephew? He would have disowned you a long time ago!”
If Zhu Chengqi had disowned his nephew, w.a.n.g Yang, a long time ago, there was no way w.a.n.g Yang would have gotten so close to becoming the master of the Zhu family!
“w.a.n.g Yang, your grandpa treated you so well, and so has the w.a.n.g family. You can’t be so heartless. Your mom’s shortsighted and only remembers that she’s a Zhu. She’s forgotten that she’s married into our w.a.n.g family. How can she keep talking about how much the w.a.n.g family has benefitted from the Zhu family? You can’t learn from your mom. Besides, you’d better forget everything your mom told you. You aren’t allowed to lose this lawsuit. Your uncles’ and cousins’ futures were all brought down because of your involvement in Zhu Baoguo’s matter. You owe it to them. Don’t you think you should return the favor?”
w.a.n.g Yang was not at all surprised that Father w.a.n.g had made a call just to say these words. In fact, w.a.n.g Yang had thought that it was strange how Father w.a.n.g had waited so many days before doing so. If this had happened in the past, w.a.n.g Yang might have listened to his father. But now, things were different.