"Xiao Guoxi," Chen Guanfu sneered, "Why would we want to murder him?"

"But Senior Xiao Guoxi met with an accident when he was traveling to Luoyang with his mother."

"Didn't Zhang Shunqing go with them?" Chen Guanfu interrupted Zhang Moyan, his face stern. "Why don't you say that Zhang Shunqing killed Xiao Guoxi? I've read his suicide note, it's full of absurd lies, yet some people treat it as fact!"

Zhang Moyan was shocked. Chen Guanfu had actually read Zhang Shunqing's suicide note?! But thinking carefully about what Chen Guanfu had just said about scolding Xiao Guotao for showing Zhang Shunqing's suicide note to Zhang San and Li Si, it wasn't hard to deduce that Xiao Guotao might have also shown it to Chen Guanfu.

"You didn't completely disbelieve it, did you?" Zhang Moyan said calmly, "At least you believed that your daughter was pregnant and might have given birth to a son, so when you later searched for your relatives, in addition to your daughter, you also started looking for your grandson and granddaughter."

Chen Guanfu was speechless. He pursed his lips and looked at Zhang Moyan. His gradually careful eyes made Zhang Moyan feel that he seemed to be looking for the shadow of Chen Yun on her face.

"Don't tell me about Zhang Shunqing's suicide note anymore," Chen Guanfu waved his hand gently. "I know my daughter. She is someone who would never kill anyone under any circumstances."

Chen Guanfu's expression was filled with hidden pain. Zhang Moyan couldn't bear it and remained silent for a moment: "If you could turn back time, would you still let Mom go down this path?"

Chen Guanfu laughed upon hearing this. "Do you think I forced your mother to return to China to carry out these actions? You're wrong. Your mother is a good child with a strong sense of responsibility. All our plans were decided together because we had to take this path; there was no other choice."

Zhang Moyan looked at Chen Guanfu with a confused expression and asked, "Do we have to take this path? Why?"

Chen Guanfu turned around and said, "I've seen the episode of 'The Flame' that Lingling Media did for Xiao Xingyu. The audience can see what the Xiao family is like in it, right?"

Zhang Moyan was confused and didn't know which point Chen Guanfu was referring to.

"Isn't the Xiao family prosperous?" Chen Guanfu asked. "The Xiao family has been deeply rooted in Ruzhou for hundreds of years, with numerous descendants. A conservative estimate is that they now have over a thousand people with the surname Xiao! From what I know, the Geng family in Hangzhou is doing just as well... On the other hand, my child, I'm the last man of the Tongchuan Chen family... You ask why I have to take this path? It's because time is running out!"

Zhang Moyan's ears seemed to explode, and she couldn't believe it: "How could it be..."

Chen Guanfu said calmly but sorrowfully, "Shaanxi isn't like the Central Plains or Suzhou and Hangzhou. Although our Chen family has managed to survive relatively well in Tongchuan thanks to our specialized skills, we're still inevitably affected by the broader environment. For nearly nine hundred years, we've been plagued by natural disasters, wars, and even the anti-Japanese war before liberation. The brave men of our Chen family eagerly joined the army and sacrificed their lives for their country, ultimately leading to a significant loss of our family. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, our luck seemed to have run out. We've had more daughters than sons, and for generations, we've had only one son. I'm the last male offspring."

Zhang Moyan's eyes widened in shock, finally understanding what Chen Guanfu meant by "time waits for no one." She had Chen blood in her veins, after all, and hearing this, a chilling, unsettling anxiety welled up in her bones.

But… Zhang Moyan glanced at Ms. Fujiwara, who was much younger than Chen Guanfu, and asked Chen Guanfu a rather ridiculous question: "Are all your children daughters?"

Chen Guanfu frowned slightly, his expression serious: "I only have your mother as my daughter in this life."

After he finished speaking, his brows suddenly sank again, and he said lightly: "Your grandmother passed away early."

"Then you..." Zhang Moyan felt the words were redundant. Since Chen Guanfu had already said that Chen Yun was his only child, then he and Ms. Fujiwara must have no children. However, this was really hard to understand.

"Xiao Qi," Fujiwara Nanako straightened her back. "I know you're confused, and there's something I need to tell you. Actually... Mr. and I are only husband and wife in name only. We have to maintain this status relationship for some reasons. But I'm sincere to Mr., and from my youth until now, I've always admired him alone."

Ms. Fujiwara lowered her head in embarrassment and stammered, "I don't understand why I'm so persistent. I know your Geng family has a long tradition of loving only one person in their lifetime, and they're loyal until death, but I still refuse to give up."

Zhang Moyan was stunned. She had seen all kinds of special skills passed down from ancestors, but this was the first time she heard of a love skill passed down from ancestors.

Love only one person in your life, until death.

Just imagine that there are not many men in a family, and there is a long history of romanticism. It is no wonder that the Chen family in Tongchuan has become so sparsely populated today.

Chen Guanfu had to make an introduction: "More than 30 years ago, I collaborated with the Japan Silicate Ceramics Research Institute on a celadon porcelain research and development project, and Nanako was the assistant they assigned to work alongside me. According to the Japanese, Nanako's role could be understood as a spy, but she is an upright and honest person who has never betrayed me. Now she is one of our own."

Zhang Moyan was shocked. "You're collaborating with the Japanese to develop celadon porcelain? ...If they succeed, will the results be considered Chinese or Japanese?"

Chen Guanfu paused for a moment and said, "It's mine."

Zhang Moyan couldn't understand. She pressed her temples to digest the thought for a moment before she couldn't hide her anger and said, "If you do this, you're actually selling out your country, you know?"

Zhang Moyan's words made Chen Guanfu feel a little unhappy, but he did not change his steady pace. "I think there is no problem in re-producing celadon porcelain in my lifetime. Japan's scientific research capabilities were indeed a hundred times stronger than those of China back then."

Zhang Moyan was furious. "During the Song Dynasty, when the Jin army marched south, the craftsmen, in order to prevent their national skills from being plundered by foreigners, would rather seal their kilns with mud than pass them on. And what have you done? Allow yourself to be exploited by the Japanese?"

"I disagree," Chen Guanfu's face darkened instantly. "They say I'm being used by them, but aren't they being used by me, too? The participation of a large number of outstanding professionals and the ability to conduct research using the most advanced equipment are crucial to the re-firing of celadon porcelain."

"Will they let you use their manpower and resources for nothing? If you succeed, the celadon porcelain will belong to Japan. Have you ever thought about it?!" Zhang Moyan clenched his fists.

Chen Guanfu: “…”

Fujiwara Nanako: “…”

The drizzle outside the window had stopped at some point, and inside and outside the exquisite and elegant pavilion, filled with the aroma of tea, there was deathly silence.

After a brief silence, Chen Guanfu said expressionlessly, "I'm very pleased that you have such a strong sense of national integrity. However, whether Japan can be named after Celadon Porcelain is a question to be resolved later. Before that, the most important task is to break through the firing technology of Celadon Porcelain."

Zhang Moyan really didn't know what to say. Chen Guanfu was a brilliant debater, but he was also completely irrational and insane. His elegant, calm, and stable exterior was just a facade; in reality, he was a reckless, even madman who would drink poison to quench his thirst.

"Developing the firing process for celadon-glazed porcelain has been the unwavering mission of the Tongchuan Chen family for millennia. I am the last hope of this lineage. It is my responsibility to complete it," Chen Guanfu said, his gaze sharp as a torch as he looked at Zhang Moyan. "It's your responsibility, too."