Never Judge

After their discussion on Lucius Ting's actions, Cedric called Guan Ming to see if there was any news on a supplier and if Wu Jun was a reliable person.

As soon as Guan Ming picked up the call his tone was quite cheery, confusing Cedric.

"You seem to be in a good mood." Cedric commented.

"It's nothing." Guan Ming said as he tried to change his tone into a more serious one.

Whatever had made him so happy must have been a big deal, because no matter how hard he tried, Cedric could still hear the excitement in his tone.

"What do you need?" Guan Ming asked.

"I need to know some information about a colleague of yours." Cedric said over the phone as he leaned back against his seat.

"Who?" Guan Ming asked.

"Wu Jun." Cedric responded.

"We aren't colleagues, I wouldn't go near that bastard even if you paid me to." Guan Ming huffed. "But his father is a different story, I like the old man. He was somewhat of a mentor to me."

"Okay, so I guess I have a problem with this Wu Jun guy." Cedric grumbled.

"Did you get into business with him?" Guan Ming asked.

"Yeah. His dad and my dad knew each other, and as soon as he heard of my troubles with suppliers he swoops in." Cedric explained.

"Be careful, that guy is your typical second generation." Guan Ming warned in a serious tone. "He grew up getting everything he wanted in life. He won't be afraid to backstab you either."

"It seems you have a special dislike for this guy." Cedric said as he laughed at the way Guan Ming was talking about Wu Jun.

"He took something from me." Guan Ming said in a somber tone. 

Cedric felt that whatever Wu Jun took from Guan Ming was important to his friend, so he chose to remain silent.

"Anyway, I'm assuming that your father and you agreed to go into a partnership with Wu Jun." Guan Ming finally said as he shifted the topic back.

"Not on paper, but I don't think my dad can say no to Wu Jun's father's request." Cedric said as he frowned. "Had we known about Wu Jun we might have found a way to avoid even taking the call."

"The Wus have a good business. It's stable and it's continuously growing." Guan Ming said as he did a professional assessment of the Wu family. "In all honesty if it weren't for Wu Jun I would have approached them with your dilemma." 

"I'll just keep an eye on him, make sure that he doesn't suddenly stab us in the back." Cedric said as he began to think of a way to keep his company and his family safe in case Wu Jun did something drastic.

"That reminds me, on the suppliers you need, I have a list of people I know that you can trust. Do you still want them?" Guan Ming asked.

"Yes." Cedric said over the phone. "I'll keep them on standby since Wu Jun may possibly make things difficult for us."

"I'll email it to you then. I wouldn't trust anyone with this list." Guan Ming informed Cedric.

"Thank you for this, Ming." Cedric said. He was glad that he had met Guan Ming long ago, way before all of the chaos that had taken over both their lives. 

They were similar on so many levels, and yet they still had a lot of differences.

"It's nothing, really." Guan Ming told him. "I'm just glad I actually have someone I can trust, someone that isn't my friend because of the zeros on my bank account." He said with a laugh.

"See you soon." Cedric told Guan Ming as he dropped the call.

Cedric looked at his phone for a while before deciding to finally get up and walk over to his father's room on the second floor.

He knocked lightly, waiting for his father to call out and let him in.

"Enter." Came Emilio Reyes' booming voice.

Cedric pushed the door and found his father, comfortably slouched on a couch, reading a book. 

He was wearing pajamas and seemed to be ready for bed.

If anyone had walked into this scene, they would have been dumbfounded. Emilio Reyes III, a man who was once the richest in the country, seated in pajamas wearing fluffy slippers before bed.

"Long day?" Emilio Reyes asked his son with a concerned look on his face.

No matter how many years had passed or how many victories Cedric had won, his father would always be his rock. The person he knew he could trust.

"Yeah." Cedric said with a nod as he sat next to his father. "It's just so much, how did you even handle it when you were in my position?" Cedric asked.

"Well for one there was much less drama." Emilio Reyes said with a sad smile. "Much less death and much less crazies back in my time, but I did have my fair share of challenges. Luckily I had your mom."

"I miss mom." Cedric said with a frown.

"I miss her too, son, but that's life. People live and people die." Emilio Reyes said as he kept his eyes on the book in front of him. "Your mother wouldn't want you to mourn her death, she would want you to celebrate your life. The life she went through hours of labor to give you." 

Cedric smiled as he thought of his mom and how strong she had been over the years. Just seeing him go into poverty training must have been hard on both of his parents.

They never wanted him to leave, they wanted to change the tradition, but they all understood how important it was for the next heir to be grounded. 

If the family was to survive, there were some sacrifices that they needed to make.

"So what did you come to see me for?" Emilio Reyes asked his son, reading the man like an open book.

"I got in touch with my contact, he said, don't trust Wu Jun.." Cedric said, to which his father simply nodded and continued to read his book.