Chapter 19

Chu Yu sat down on the chair beside the bed and handed him a glass of water.

 

His black hair had some gray hairs mixed in under the influence of the years, but due to self-discipline and exercise his tall figure had not lost shape. On the dark blue shirt, the gilt cufflinks were buttoned meticulously. The previous Patriarch of the Chu family was over fifty but still exuded a strong aura. His black eyes seemed to see through everything. Even if his gaze swept across calmly, it gave an inexplicable sense of oppression. 

    

In the room, Hei Yu, Bai Xiao and Du Chuan stood well-behaved up straight to the side and didn’t even dare to breathe. Bai Xiao, who was usually joking and laughing, was as solemn as if he was about to deliver a presidential speech. The unsmiling Hei Yu had turned into an iron plate. Du Chuan was feeling guilty and uneasy for not taking care of the young master properly, so he cautiously held the warm kettle, fully blending in the background.

    

Chu Yichen raised his head and drank the water. Then he lowered his head, feeling guilty. “I didn’t expect to disturb you… it is my fault.”

    

“Are you referring to the fact that you fainted and I had to take over your job, or to the fact that you let Yunhan jump down from the third floor to his death?” the man in the dark blue shirt looked at him and asked.

   

Chu Yichen’s eyes blurred. “…You know what happened to him.” After saying this, he held the glass, looking as if he wanted to ask something, but in the end he did not speak.

    

“You want to ask, when I learned about it.”

    

He nodded.

    

“At the time you were captured by Hui Lang.” Chu Yu looked at his expression and smiled. “You don’t look very surprised.”

    

“When I was rescued, Hei Yu said that a group of people had not gone to the north of the warehouse as planned. Instead, they were lying in ambush near Pingshan. Later, they wiped out Hui Lang’s main force. And their team leader was Uncle Chan. I guessed it might have been your order.”

    

 “Hui Lang was the last test I left for you. It is a pity that you and your subordinates let me down. As the head of the Chu family you took a risk even though you knew it may be a trap. Extremely stupid.” The man’s gaze passed over Chu Yichen, who had his head lowered, and landed briefly on Hei Yu and Bai Xiao, who stood to the side. “As his subordinates, you couldn’t dissuade him from making impulsive decisions. There were many loopholes in the strategic arrangement and he got exhausted to the point of fainting. Simply incompetent.”

    

These words were extremely harsh, and Hei Yu and Bai Xiao’s faces turned pale. They knelt down at the same time, lowering their heads. Like henchmen, they had been trained since they were young and obeyed the rules of the Chu family, only kneeling down before heaven, earth and their master. Usually, Chu Yichen would not let them kneel, but Chu Yu’s words made them ashamed and speechless, so they could only kneel down silently. Du Chuan stood there at a loss, when he heard his own name.

    

“Du Chuan,” Chu Yu said slowly, “you have always handled things cautiously, so I left Yichen in your care. Now it seems that this assignment was a bit hard for you to handle.”

    

“Master!” Du Chuan was terrified, he nearly burst in tears. “I didn’t take good care of the young master, and your subordinate dares not ask for your forgiveness. I only ask you to give me another chance…”

    

“Father…” Seeing them like this, Chu Yichen couldn’t bear it, bit the bullet and said, “Everything is my fault, I insisted on…”

    

“Of course it’s your fault,” Chu Yu interrupted him. “I didn’t intend to intervene and help you. Since you want to lay down your life for others, why should I stop you? Supporting you in your heroic determination to be magnanimous to death can also be regarded as fulfilling your wish.” After saying this, he turned to the door. “Okay, come out. You’ve been hiding long enough.”

    

They saw Xu Ye, who was wearing the same plain shirt as Chu Yu, walk in through the door with an embarrassed face for having been caught eavesdropping. He said, “You speak as if you are not just as sad.”

    

“Dad,” Chu Yichen said somewhat surprised. He didn’t expect him to show up.

    

“Okay, let the children get up, it’s cold on the ground.” Xu Ye’s voice was soft and gentle, like a cool breeze, making people feel at ease. “Don’t blame them. Who asked you to raise a good son who is as stubborn as you? They repeatedly persuaded him and tried to stop him, but he wouldn’t listen.”

    

“It was wrong of me to say that,” Chu Yu looked at him and admitted.

    

Xu Ye smiled. “I was at fault, okay?”

    

Seeing him smile like this, Chu Yu’s expression softened a bit. He knew that Xu Ye had come with him because he was afraid he would blame them. He shook his head helplessly and said, “You are spoiling them.”

    

Xu Ye sat down by the bed and said, “Well, take this opportunity to give Yichen a good rest and take care of him. Isn’t there a boring Uncle Tang? Letting him teach these two children can be considered putting the veterans to use.”

“I’m fine with that, how about you?” Chu Yu raised an eyebrow. After many years of getting along, this person fully understood his way of thinking. 

    

“I just need to take care of these two old men.” Xu Ye smiled until his eyes curved into crescent moons. 

    

There was a faint smile on Chu Yu’s lips. When he turned to the two people kneeling on the ground, his face was slightly better and he said solemnly, “Hei Yu, Bai Xiao, Tang Can will assist you in handling the gang’s internal affairs as a consultant in this one month. You will follow him. If you don’t receive his approval at the end of the month, there will be no need to stay with Yichen in the future.” 

    

“Yes.” The two raised their heads and looked at Xu Ye with gratitude before leaving.

    

“Du Chuan, you are responsible for taking care of this kid. Arrange the schedule for him to ensure proper rest and nourishment. If he faints again, you don’t need to continue looking after him.”

    

“Yes,” Du Chuan agreed hurriedly.

    

“Go home now. You haven’t rested since he fainted,” Xu Ye said.

“Yes.” Du Chuan took the tea tray and walked out.

    

Only the fathers and son were left in the room.

    

Xu Ye touched Chu Yichen’s head. “The doctor said that there is no major problem, the cause was excessive fatigue. You should have a good rest these days and leave things to your father for the time being.”

    

Chu Yu said solemnly, “I only give you one month to adjust. Everything will be back in your hands after a month. You must remember that as a member of the Chu family, I can accept your deployment at any time, but I won’t do this a second time.”

    

“Yes, Father,” Chu Yichen sat up straight and replied sternly.

    

“The official business is over, next are private matters.”

    

Chu Yichen knew what he was referring to and said, “I will handle it.”

    

Chu Yu said slowly, “I know very well why you are taking over as the Patriarch, and I also know of your obsession with Yunhan in your heart. I told you that there are some things in this world you can’t grasp, and there are some people you can’t get. If you force it, it will only hurt the other and yourself. And you replied at the time that since you can’t have him, it’s enough to see him safe and happy. But later you changed your original intentions.” He paused. “Whether it was out of jealousy or revenge, you had your way with him and then forced him to become a sub. Chu Yunhan has an outgoing personality, kind but weak, proud and impulsive, just like a tree that grows freely. You cut off its branches and forced it to grow the way you wanted. Yi Chen, do you want a tree or a bare tree trunk?”

    

Chu Yichen’s eyelashes trembled, and he spoke with some difficulty, “I underestimated him and overestimated myself. But apart from this, I didn’t know what to do to keep him. Hui Lang, Sheng Wu, he betrayed me and fled time and time again. I was afraid that one day he would do something that would leave me no choice but to kill him. Or maybe it was just my selfishness at work that I wanted to get him… that’s all.” At this moment he was like a lost child, confused, helpless, and very sad. 

 

Xu Ye hugged him comfortingly and patted his back lightly. Time passed by too fast, and the child from that year had become a youth taller than him. As a father, he watched him take a difficult road, watched his smile less and less, watched him demonstrate calmness and indifference that did not match his age, watched him shoulder the responsibility of the whole family. But at this moment, the natural display of weakness reminded him that he was still a child with the emotions of a child.

    

“I went to see Yunhan just now. He only has a few fractures and some light internal injuries. He has undergone an operation and is already awake.” Xu Ye knew that he was worried but would not ask any questions, so he summarized the situation for him. “He didn’t say anything to me and remained silent. I contacted the Zhou family and said that he had an accident, and asked them to send sister-in-law and Jiahui over to see him.”

    

Chu Yichen nodded. This was the best way. Chu Yunhan had already tried to commit a suicide, and only the people he cared about could comfort him.

    

“Yichen, this is the end of the matter. What do you plan to do?” Xu Ye asked.

    

“……I have not decided yet.”

    

Chu Yu said, “You are the Patriarch of the Chu Family, and Chu Yunhan is a family member who took part in a rebellion. You have the authority to decide how to deal with him. We will not interfere, but I hope you will not regret your decision.”

    

After this, Chu Yu continued to help his son deal with some affairs related to Golden Eagle, straighten out some flawed decision-making strategies for him, let Hei Yu, Bai Xiao and the others take responsibility, and used a group of new talents trained by Tang Can to minimize the pressure on Chu Yichen.

    

Chu Yunhan stayed in the old house to recuperate. His mother, Zhou Yuran, often visited him and also brought Zhou Jiahui with her. Under the meticulous care of doctors and nutritionists, his body got better by the day and his mood improved a lot. He said that he accidentally fell off the window sill. Zhou Yuran believed it, but Jiahui didn’t buy it, so she went to Chu Yichen agitated to ask if he had bullied him.

    

Chu Yichen never went to see Chu Yunhan, but kept asking Du Chuan about his condition. When he wasn’t working, he accompanied his two fathers to play chess and chat, exercised every day, went to bed early and got up early.

Time passed by quickly. A month later, Chu Yu along with the veterans stepped back and Chu Yichen regained the overall control. In the evening, he came to Chu Yunhan’s room. Chu Yunhan’s broken arm had not fully healed, so it was hung in a sling. Seeing him, his whole body stiffened, and he instinctively shrank back.

    

The man sat down on the chair farthest from him and said, “Du Chuan told me you can go home.”

    

He didn’t speak, his eyes alert.

    

“We should settle the relationship between us.” Chu Yichen looked at him and said lightly, “I’ll give you a chance. The group bought a department store in the north of the city two years ago, but its performance has not been very good. I’ve already assigned the position of general manager to you. The probation period will end three months from now. If you manage to increase the sales by 8% compared to the previous year’s, I will let you free. On the contrary, if you fail to achieve this goal, you will obediently return to being my sub.”

    

Hearing these words, Chu Yunhan was somewhat surprised. He stared blankly for a while and said, “What you said…is it true?”

    

“I’ve never lied to you.”

    

He pursed his lips uncomfortably. “Then, in  these three months…”

    

“I won’t touch you, nor will I restrict any of your actions. But if you play tricks on me, like escaping and leaving an empty shell behind, or cheating under the cover of diversion, etc., this opportunity will be  revoked. You know what will happen if you try to deceive me or run away.”

   

Chu Yunhan shivered.

    

“You can take the post tomorrow. Bai Yang will follow you.” The man got up and left after saying this, not staying a moment longer. The young bodyguard named Bai Yang saluted him, “Young Master Yun, I will be responsible for your safety from today. I am at your service.”

    

He nodded, pondered for a while, and asked, “Is there any information about that company? I want to see it.”

Translator: Taalia