Chapter 68: The Old Man’s Test

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: The Old Man’s Test

Chapter 68: The Old Man’s Test

"I know, old man," Yao Liang replied casually, chewing the food in his mouth.

This kid was lawless even as a child, and had absolutely no respect for his parents.

"Two more years. After you graduate, I’ll send you to study in the United States." Yao Shuanglei cut open the steak on his plate, put the beef in his mouth, and said slowly.

"Go to America?! Are you out of your mind? I wouldn’t go to such a boring place. I won’t go!" Yao Liang shouted.

"Dad, you’re being unfair! Why didn’t I go abroad to study, but you let my brother go?" Yao Wei said coquettishly, clinging to Yao Shuanglei’s arm and shaking it.

"Don’t worry, Weiwei. You can go out anytime you want. Your mother really misses you and doesn’t want you to be too far away from us," Yao Shuanglei said gently to his daughter.

Yao Liang gave a disdainful look and said nonchalantly, "Dad, let me make this clear first. I have absolutely no interest in going abroad. I won’t follow your arrangements. I have my own plans, and you can’t make any arrangements for me."

Seeing his son’s arrogant and domineering manner, Yao Shuanglei put down his chopsticks and scolded, "You’re so childish! You always want to do things your own way! Your parents’ arrangements are all for your own good. You don’t understand anything, so why are you spouting nonsense and showing off your power!"

Seeing the tension between the father and son escalating, Aunt Wu quickly stepped in to smooth things over. "Alright, alright, we’ll talk about this later. Let’s finish high school first. There’s no rush."

Yao Liang remained silent, ate a few mouthfuls of food, and got up to leave. Seeing this, Yao Shuanglei was furious and shouted, "You little beast, putting on airs at home again! What kind of attitude is that toward your father!"

Yao Liang walked away as if he hadn’t heard anything. Yao Shuanglei cursed and swore. Yao Wei and Aunt Wu quickly comforted him. Aunt Wu picked up a cup of hot water and gave it to Yao Shuanglei to drink. She said with concern, "Shuanglei, don’t be anxious. Liang is still young. He will understand when he grows up. You must not get angry. Your blood pressure is already high. It would be terrible if something happened. Calm down."

Yao Wei comforted her father, Yao Shuanglei, and he calmed down.

"I’m sorry, Xiao Bin. You must have found this funny. Xiao Liang has been disobedient since he was little and his father has never liked him. Just eat your food and don’t mind him." Aunt Wu hurriedly put some food on my plate, making me feel very embarrassed, as if I had witnessed their family affairs.

After finishing their meal quickly, Yao Shuanglei, feeling unwell, went back to his study to rest. The butler, Max, seemed to have a medical license and was their family’s medical consultant who usually took care of their master. Yao Shuanglei had just lost his temper, so Max went to calm him down and soothe his emotions.

"My dad is getting old, has high blood pressure, and a bad heart. Xiao Liang is always doing his own thing and often makes him angry, so things aren’t always peaceful at home," Yao Wei said to me quietly.

We had some black tea in the living room after dinner. Her mother went to the kitchen and brewed it herself. The tea leaves looked very expensive, and Aunt Wu’s tea-making skills were also quite good.

"Ah Liang is a smart man. He understands things. He will get it in time, so Uncle Yao doesn’t need to worry."

I comforted her, saying, "But Ah Liang has his own ideas, and sometimes he really needs to be disciplined."

I thought of his series of "womanizing" affairs.

Yao Wei sipped her tea without saying a word, so I whispered to her, asking gossipy questions. "Is that Black man Max your new butler? I don’t think I’ve seen him before."

Yao Wei leaned over affectionately and whispered in my ear, "We hired him last year. He’s British, a graduate of a professional butler college in the UK. He was an exchange student at our university. He’s very professional and lived in China for many years before. He speaks fluent Chinese. He said he was looking for a job, so I tried to get him to apply at my house. My parents really like him."

She then winked at me and whispered with a smile, "Don’t let his Black appearance fool you. Isn’t he incredibly strong and handsome? Everyone loves good-looking people, right? Uncle Bao was too old before, so my mom made him retire."

It turns out he’s an exchange student from Jinghai University. This Black guy is quite capable.

I don’t have a good impression of Black people, but then I thought, no matter how well-educated a butler is, he’s still just a servant, so I didn’t care.

Aunt Wu then brought over some snacks and tea from the kitchen and sighed softly. "Shuanglei had such a son late in life, and he has spoiled him rotten, which has led to these bad habits."

I stole a glance at her. The curve of her chest was pushed up by her full breasts in her white dress. Her smooth and soft waist began to tighten at the bottom. Although the hem of the dress was very loose, I could still see the tight and perky curve of her ass. She had taken off her high heels and put on slippers, but she was still tall and elegant, and couldn’t help but reveal the charm of a mature woman.

I watched as she placed the plate on the table. Her skin was fair and delicate, her face rosy and her figure curvaceous. She exuded a subtle fragrance and a strong, mature woman’s charm. Her shapely upper body bent down, and her low neckline revealed a large expanse of fair, tender flesh on her breasts. Her firm, large breasts were exposed, and her milky-white skin was smooth and alluring, as delicate and dazzling as jade. The deep cleavage appeared even more pronounced due to her bent-over posture, and her two erect breasts seemed even larger.

I couldn’t help but lick my lips, feeling a surge of heat in my groin. As a child, I didn’t understand matters between men and women, but upon closer inspection, this Mrs. Yao was quite a sexy and charming mature woman, especially her high and full breasts, which showed no signs of sagging at all, almost comparable to my mother’s.

If such a beautiful woman were to go to bed with a man, she would surely be an irresistible beauty, driving him to ecstasy. I couldn’t help but envy that old bastard Yao Shuanglei.

"What are you looking at! Your mother is talking to you!"

Yao Wei pinched my hand hard, and I cried out in pain. I could tell she had noticed my lecherous look and was glaring at me with wide eyes, as if she was about to beat me up.

I looked guilty, and hadn’t even heard what Aunt Wu had asked. Then I saw her laugh, completely unconcerned about what Yao Wei and I were fooling around with. She sat on the sofa opposite me and said:

"I’m telling you, Xiao Bin, you and Xiao Liang are close friends. You’re more obedient and well-behaved, so you should try to guide him. It would be best if you two could balance out your personalities."

Aunt Wu couldn’t help but smile when she heard what I said, and started asking me about some recent family matters. Yao Wei, on the other hand, seemed to be sulking, scrolling through her phone and ignoring us.

Not long after, the butler named Max came over and whispered in my ear, "Mr. Yao invites you to his study."

I was secretly surprised. I told Aunt Wu and Yao Wei, and then followed Max up to the second floor. After turning the corner of the second-floor corridor, his study was a separate room at the very end.

I knocked on the door, and his deep voice came from inside: "Come in."

I walked into the study. The room wasn’t very big, but it was filled with heavy books everywhere. The furniture was all made of expensive red and black solid wood. In the middle was a huge, heavy desk, which was scattered with books and documents. The owner of this mansion was sitting in a chair behind the desk, his somewhat obese body deeply sunk into the leather sofa.

He still looked very dignified, but he seemed a little tired, like an old male lion who had been driven out of his pride and was now wandering in his twilight years.

"Sit down," he said, pointing to a large chair in front of him.

I sat down without saying a word. According to etiquette, I should have greeted him, but when I thought of him as the culprit who caused our Zhou family to fall into ruin, the flames of hatred began to burn fiercely. It was already quite an achievement for me to remain calm in front of him.

However, I cannot make a move now. Revenge will have to be done sooner or later, but not now, I thought to myself.

He didn’t say anything, but lit a cigar and started smoking. I stared at him intently. He was very different from how I remembered him as a child. Back then, I thought he was a kind and amiable uncle, but in reality, he was a wolf with ulterior motives.

"Xiao Bin, your family and my family have been friends for generations. As an elder, I have always cared about you," he said.

I cursed inwardly, thinking, That bastard pulled all those stunts and then comes here pretending to be nice to me. But I couldn’t show it to him, so I smiled slightly and said calmly, "Thank you, Uncle Yao."

He paused, not looking at me, but looking at the night view outside the window, and asked, "I really didn’t expect your father to leave your family. Did he tell you anything before he left?"

Remembering everything my father had told me, I naturally wouldn’t reveal a single word to him, and slowly said, "No, he didn’t say anything."

Yao Shuanglei remained expressionless, took a few more puffs of his cigar, and said, "Logically, he should have told you something, unless he never left in the first place."

My heart skipped a beat, wondering what he meant. I watched as he slowly stood up and walked around the desk. "Our families have been like brothers for so many years. If he really had something to do, why wouldn’t he come to me? Even if he were to leave, he would definitely let me know."

He walked to the window and continued, "Your family has gone through so many changes over the years. You must have matured a lot, which is why your father felt at ease entrusting you to your mother."

"Xiao Bin, you need to understand that no matter what happened in the past, the world just keeps moving forward. If you don’t move forward, you fall behind. The old ways are no longer useful. Now is the time to break with the old ways and create a new situation."

He went on and on, and I wondered to myself, why was he talking about all this to a high school student like me?

"In the past, we may have carried many missions and tasks, but now we have reached a point where we must broaden our horizons and look further ahead. Some of the things passed down from our ancestors are not all correct."

Yao Shuanglei said, turning to stare at me. His gaze made me very uncomfortable.

"Yes... Uncle Yao."

I replied vaguely, not quite understanding what he meant, and somewhat confused.

Yao Shuanglei took another puff of his cigar, strolled over to me, patted my shoulder, and asked in a deep voice, "Xiao Bin, do you even know where your father went?"

In that instant, I felt he became extremely gloomy. I subconsciously sensed that he was testing me, and my response would be absolutely crucial.

"I don’t know. He left more than half a year ago without saying where he was going," I said calmly. This was the truth, and I didn’t hesitate.

He pressed further, "Did he leave you anything before he left, or tell you anything?"

I looked at his somewhat aged but solemn face, his small eyes gleaming as he stared intently at me. I knew I couldn’t hesitate at this moment, or he would definitely suspect me, so I immediately said, "No. He left on his own and didn’t leave anything behind. I then lived with my mother."

He stared at me for a while, and I stared back at him, not to be outdone.

After a while, he stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray on the table, then walked back to his sofa chair and sat down, covering his eyes with his hands and looking very tired. "Okay, I understand. Xiao Bin, you can stay here tonight. It’s getting late outside. I’ll have Max help you make arrangements."

After saying that, he lowered his head, opened the book in his hand, and ignored me. I said goodbye to him and got up and left the study.

Is he just testing me, or does he still care about my father a lot? Logically, he could send someone to look for him himself. Why did he have to ask me?

I recalled what Zhu Yun had told me last time about the "mission" of the four major families. Yao Shuanglei also mentioned it just now, but he seemed indifferent to it, and even opposed it.

I still don’t know what this so-called "mission" is. My father’s words of advice before he passed away still echo in my ears.

Max was waiting for me at the corner of the corridor. He came over with a smile and said, "Mr. Yao asked that you stay here tonight. A guest room has been arranged for you on the third floor. Let me take you there."

"Thank you," I said. Although the Black butler had dark skin, his demeanor exuded British elegance, and his interactions with people were extremely pleasant. The Yao family certainly knew how to enjoy life; even their servants were the best.

He gestured to me toward the stairwell, and as I walked upstairs beside him, I caught a glimpse of his dark wrist peeking out from the cuff of his suit shirt, where a tattoo resembling the club symbol in a deck of cards was visible.