......

Chen Lu returned home early in the morning.

He dared not disobey Wang Xiaoxia's decree. Although his mother hadn't hit him for many years, some memories etched into his bones could never be forgotten.

Anyone who has ever been whipped by a belt would have no good feelings towards the Seven Wolves brand.

I opened the door with a cheerful smile and saw the whole family sitting neatly on the sofa, as if something important had happened.

Wang Xiaoxia was looking at him with a serious expression, while Chen Guanglin took a sip of tea without saying anything.

Chen Mo was more normal, lying on the sofa with his legs crossed, holding a copy of "Spark English" in his hand. After seeing him, he first sized him up, and then laughed heartlessly.

It would have been fine if he hadn't laughed, but once he did, Chen Lu was completely taken aback.

He stood in the entryway, slowly changing his shoes, trying to procrastinate as long as possible, and for a moment he didn't dare to go in.

I hope that silly girl won't tell on me that I bullied her.

That's impossible. He may have been a bit of a beast lately, but how could Liang Zhirou bear to report him?

He walked cautiously to the coffee table, keeping a close eye on his mother's movements.

"Come here." Wang Xiaoxia patted the seat next to her.

Chen Lu took two steps back, but didn't dare to sit down.

"sit down."

"Okay."

Chen Lu gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and obediently sat down next to his mother. "Mom, you told me to come home for New Year's Day, and I'm back early this morning. Let's talk this out..."

Before he could finish pleading, he saw Wang Xiaoxia looking at him with red eyes.

Just as I was wondering, I heard Wang Xiaoxia say, "If we're not happy working at your company, we'll quit. Although our family isn't as rich as your Uncle Mo's family, we're not poor either."

"How could you do this to your family? You suffered such a great injustice but didn't tell us. Do you think your father and I are that useless?"

"Wait a minute." Chen Lu felt something was off. "I didn't say I was unhappy."

Wang Xiaoxia held her phone up to Chen Lu's face, "You still want to hide it? This is trending on social media!"

"So fast," Chen Lu murmured.

"What? So fast?"

“That was my acting.” Chen Lu pointed to his eyes. “I was smeared with onions. It was so uncomfortable back then.”

"This is a scam marketing tactic. They cheated me so that my company's game couldn't be launched sooner. It's not unreasonable for me to use their traffic to promote it, is it?"

"I didn't even intend to take the lawsuit seriously; I've handed it all over to Tencent. Winning or losing doesn't matter; all I want is this buzz," he explained calmly. "Look, I didn't even spend a penny, and I'm already trending. Is there any advertising with a better cost-performance ratio?"

Wang Xiaoxia was stunned, and the faint look of worry on Chen Guanglin's face had completely disappeared.

"I told you my brother was definitely faking it, but you still didn't believe me." Chen Mo finally couldn't help but complain, "It's good enough that he doesn't bully others."

She had seen Chen Lu put on a show of acting in front of Liang Zhirou before, so she was already used to it.

“Exactly,” Chen Lu chimed in. “Mom, have you cooked yet? I’m hungry.”

"You immediately ask me to cook. How come you haven't starved to death living over there by yourself?" Wang Xiaoxia scolded, but still got up and walked towards the kitchen.

Chen Lu shrugged. "Because my wife will cook for me."

"You're acting like a wife just because you're married into the family? You're just as shameless as your father was back then. Xiao Mo, come and help."

Soon only the father and son remained in the living room. It seemed that all fathers and sons in the country got along in the same way, and the atmosphere became eerily quiet for a moment.

"Actually, it must be quite tiring, right?" Chen Guanglin asked.

Chen Lu let out a deep breath and nodded slightly. In the past few months, from project initiation to negotiating cooperation in Shenzhen due to technical bottlenecks, and then being poached by competitors with money, nothing was easy. It would be a lie to say he wasn't tired.

Chen Guanglin blew on the steam rising from his teacup, took a sip of tea, and smiled, "You've changed so much this year. It feels like just yesterday you were a child."

"Do you look like an adult now?" Chen Lu's lips curled up slightly, his eyes filled with anticipation.

Chen Guanglin slowly placed the teacup on the coffee table and gave him a meaningful smile.

"Now I feel like a child who's desperately trying to grow up for the person I like."