Nowadays, whenever Hong Kong media mention Nip Wing, they praise him as a self-made man who is wealthy but not arrogant, and rarely publish negative news about him.
Nie Rong's strict discipline over the years was one aspect, and his only son, Nie Yao, was not a spoiled brat but a gentle and kind young man. However, these were not the main reasons. After all, the Hong Kong media's sharp tongue and incisiveness were not only the best in the world but also unprecedented. The paparazzi of major newspapers were even more perceptive than the police officers. Even if a stray dog passed by caught their attention, they could find out how many pieces of excrement it had eaten in a matter of minutes, ruining its reputation.
The media showed leniency towards Nie because in the 1950s and 60s, when Hong Kong was experiencing economic depression, population boom, and everything was in need of rebuilding, Han Yuzhu, as the only daughter, took over the Han family business from her father. She then invested heavily in the business with her keen insight and accurate judgment. Several mainstream newspapers were able to grow and develop thanks to her investment.
She was the founder and first chairperson of the Nie family business, and the only legendary beauty whom the notoriously critical Hong Kong media never hesitated to praise. As critical as the Hong Kong media were, no one even published a single photo of her looking ill.
A Macau media outlet once spent a large sum of money to secretly take a photo of her and publish it in a newspaper. Before Nie Rong discovered it, a Hong Kong media outlet immediately bought it and destroyed it. Therefore, there are almost no photos of her looking like this when she was ill circulating outside the public.
She died young, and in the public's memory, her appearance is something that even today's entertainment stars can hardly match.
This is probably why the media was so angry and launched a coordinated attack when her favored daughter-in-law, Chen Rou, ran for Miss Hong Kong.
She was a media darling and a legend of her time.
Even after her death, the media did not allow her descendants any flaws.
...
Nie Zhao calmly spoke her former title, Chairwoman Han Yuzhu, his tone numb and indifferent, forming a stark and eerie contrast with Uncle Ming standing beside him, who was struggling to suppress his sobs and whose eyes were red.
So there really was something fishy about Han Yuzhu's death. What could it be?
Since Nie Zhao asked about Mei Baoshan, the answer must lie with Mei Baoshan.
Mei Baoshan, who had been kneeling with his head bowed, trembled slightly. He slowly raised his head and met Nie Zhao's cold eyes. Amidst Nie Yao's incessant howling, his expression and tone were exceptionally calm and sincere.
He said, "Third Master, at the invitation of the First Madam, my sister served her diligently at her bedside for two years while she was ill."
He was used to the titles used at home, calling Han Yuzhu the First Madam and Mei Lu the Second Madam.
Mei Lu had cared for Han Yuzhu, who was seriously ill, for a total of two years, and she passed away in the third year.
After a pause, Mei Baoshan continued, “I initially worked as a gatekeeper. I was transferred to the Chairman’s side after the First Madam fell ill. Because the First Madam did not like outsiders to see her in her sick state, my colleagues and I never set foot in her inner room. When she passed away, only the Chairman was by her side. I never saw her in her sick state, and I never even saw the photos published by the Macau media. I also do not know the cause of her death. As for my elder sister’s love for the First Madam, Heaven can bear witness.”
In the corner, a Taiwanese man was moving a body into a body bag. He took a moment to say to Kuang, "This guy sounds like a good person."
Kuang rolled his eyes, raised the butt of his gun as if to smash it, and Nie Yao, who had been yelling, immediately fell silent, as if a cicada in winter.
When it comes to the death of his wife, Nie Rong believes he has more right to speak than his son.
Or perhaps he is confident in his management skills at the company and at home.
He said, "Ah Zhao, your mother wasn't sick for a year or two, but for a full seven years. During those seven years, the elders of the Han family almost skinned me alive, and they did investigate the cause of her illness."
He exhaled a chilling breath: "If I, or my men, have done anything wrong, do you think they wouldn't be able to find out? For seven years, I've been by their bedside, enduring their questioning and scrutiny. And it's only been a few years, and you're already..."
Uncle Ming also intuitively felt that Nie Zhao was digging too far into the past, and the old things he was bringing up now were things that had been bloody and turbulent, things that had been thoroughly investigated and cleaned up, so there was no point in talking about them again.
Han Yuzhu suddenly fell ill, suffering from dysentery, enteritis, and various other intractable diseases. At that time, the Nie family was still largely controlled by Han family elders. In their eyes, Nie Rong was just a son-in-law, so of course they were not satisfied and wanted to investigate the situation openly and secretly.
Nie Rong believed he had a clear conscience, because he had to deal with the chaos in the company after his wife's sudden departure, watch his once beautiful, charming, and elegant wife grow thinner and thinner, and also face the difficulties caused by the Han family.
During those years, the only person in the entire Nie family who listened to him was Mei Baoshan, but even he was a member of Han Yuzhu's maternal family.
Nie Rong withstood immense pressure. While many of the Han family elders either retired, turned against them, or fell ill or encountered trouble, and while rival families seized the opportunity to encircle and suppress them, he led the Nie family through this difficult time until now.
He even swore at his wife's bedside that Nie Yao would be the only child born to his concubine.
He also swore to his wife that the heir of the Nie family would only be her son, and no one could take him away from her.
He consulted Western and traditional Chinese medicine doctors, even investing money in medical research, and later hired monks and Taoist priests to perform shamanistic rituals at his home every day. He tried every possible way to save her life.
The Han family had their doubts, but in the end they all kept quiet, simply because they could see his love and care for his wife.
The media also followed up with their cameras and microphones, trying to find fault with him.
But the truth is that in the past twenty years, when the average rich man had three or four wives and concubines and would often visit the boudoirs of female celebrities, the richest man in Macau disregarded his critically ill wife and built boudoirs for his concubines one by one, even addressing them by their wives' names. In those twenty years, he withstood the scrutiny of the Hong Kong media. He was upright and honest, and he had a clear conscience.
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