The person who called Zhou Chen was a younger member of the Zhou family.
His name was Zhou Nan, the eldest son of Zhou Lao Er. He had met him a few times when he and his parents visited Zhoujia Village before, and he didn't have a good impression of him because this guy liked to talk badly about people behind their backs.
He happened to overhear this and immediately got into a fight with Zhou Nan. After the matter was brought to his parents' attention, he was forced to apologize to Zhou Nan. At that time, Zhou Nan was extremely smug and arrogant.
Although several years have passed, Zhou Chen's impression of him has not changed.
He was a bad seed from childhood, and with parents like Zhou Lao Er who had no morals, he simply didn't believe that Zhou Nan would become a good person.
The probability of turning into a villain is not small.
Zhou Nan's call meant that he wanted to give him a chance; if he provided money to repair the Zhou family ancestral hall, he would be allowed to rejoin the Zhou family genealogy.
“Zhou Chen, you are a descendant of the Zhou family. The ancestral hall is now severely damaged. As descendants, we should repair it. As the eldest grandson of the Zhou family, you have made something of yourself and have money now. You should take on this responsibility.”
"I'll pay, what about you?"
Hearing Zhou Nan's explanation, Zhou Chen remained calm and made no comment.
“We don’t have as much money as you, so we can’t help you with that. But we can supervise it for you. After all, the ancestral hall needs someone to supervise the work. You can’t come to supervise every day, so of course we have to do it. Actually, the ancestral hall is the most beneficial thing for you.”
Finally, Zhou Nan changed the subject,
Zhou Chen chuckled. "Then tell me, what's in it for me?"
"Don't you think that the reason you've been able to stand out is because of the blessings of the Zhou family ancestors, which has made everything go smoothly for you? The Zhou family's current good fortune is concentrated on you, which is why you've succeeded. Once the ancestral hall is repaired, your luck will be even better."
Hearing Zhou Nan play the feudal superstition game with them, Zhou Chen laughed. He could only come up with such a lame excuse because he couldn't find any other reason, trying to leech off Zhou Nan.
They even went so far as to claim it was beneficial to him.
It's really just an excuse to get him to spend money.
What's most disgusting is that when I pay, none of you descendants of the Zhou family contribute anything. Do you think I'm some kind of innocent victim?
That's quite a clever plan.
“I have already been removed from the Zhou family genealogy. As for going back, I don’t need to, and I have no interest in.”
“Repairing the ancestral hall is now the responsibility of you Zhou family descendants, not me.”
Having figured out the motives of Zhou's relatives who wanted to fleece him, Zhou Chen didn't bother with further words and directly refused.
When I was renovating the ancestral hall, I thought of him and wanted him to contribute money. Why didn't he do that earlier?
Sorry, I don't need the opportunity to go back into the Zhou family genealogy.
Zhou Nan, on the other end of the phone, remained silent for several seconds. He clearly hadn't expected Zhou Chen to refuse so decisively, showing no concern whatsoever about returning to the Zhou family genealogy.
"Zhou Chen, you've forgotten your roots! You're a disgrace to the city for ranking first. You have achievements but no character. You don't deserve the surname Zhou!"
A moment later, Zhou Nan's words immediately turned sharp and sarcastic.
Haha, that's a really fast face-changing move.
Zhou Chen had long known that Zhou Nan was a scoundrel. He was only polite to him at first because he needed something from him; this was his true nature.
“You’re not worthy to say I’m ungrateful to my ancestors, your whole family is not worthy. If you’re going to be filial to your ancestors, don’t just stand on your moral high ground and try to hold me hostage. I earned my money through my own abilities. If you’re so capable, go earn it yourself.”
"Talk to me about morality? Do you even have any morality? I'm the eldest son of the Zhou family. What do you call me? You call me by my full name. Have you ever called me 'brother' even once?"
“I have been kicked out of the Zhou family genealogy and am no longer a member of the Zhou family. Whether the ancestral hall is good or bad has nothing to do with me. If you are short of money, find a way yourself. If a large family can’t even come up with the money to repair the ancestral hall, you can only say that you are a bunch of useless people. You are the ones who have let down the ancestors of the Zhou family the most, not me.”
Zhou Chen unleashed a barrage of attacks, launching a rapid-fire counterattack, before decisively hanging up the phone, giving Zhou Nan no chance to speak again.
On the other end,
Inside the Zhou Family Ancestral Hall,
Zhou Chen's voice still faintly echoed throughout the ancestral hall.
All the Zhou family members present had extremely ugly expressions. Zhou Chen had cursed them all, young and old, without escaping a single one.
"You beast, you beast!"
"How could my Zhou family produce such a wicked son, a beast?"
Second Aunt and Third Aunt broke the silence, each opening their mouths to curse angrily.
Although the others didn't resort to the same shrewish outbursts as the two women, they were all filled with intense anger towards Zhou Chen at this moment.
"It's the right thing to kick this kind of unfilial son out of the family tree. He has no respect or dedication to the family whatsoever."
"If it weren't for the blessings of our ancestors, how could he be so smart and run a successful business? It's all thanks to our ancestors that he's doing this. What's wrong with letting him take some money?"
The others then began to speak up, expressing their dissatisfaction.
Actually, besides the fact that the Zhou family asked Zhou Chen to contribute money for the renovation of the ancestral hall and expressed their willingness to reinstate Zhou Chen to the family genealogy, the main reason they found out was that Zhou Chen was becoming increasingly successful. He had appeared on television multiple times, received praise from the city, and recently ranked first in the city's exams, indicating a limitless future for him.
The Zhou family realized that removing Zhou Chen from the family genealogy was not a good thing. It would not cause Zhou Chen any loss, but rather they would lose the opportunity to benefit from him.
Nowadays, Zhou Chen is famous in the surrounding villages and is the subject of much discussion. As Zhou Chen's hometown, Zhoujia Village is naturally mentioned, with people expressing their envy that their village has produced a genius.
However, the thought of Zhou Chen being kicked out of the family genealogy and his attitude towards the Zhou family members filled every member of the Zhou family with mixed feelings.
Therefore, after further discussion, everyone unanimously decided to bring Zhou Chen back into the family genealogy. As long as Zhou Chen accepted their offer and was willing to pay money to repair the ancestral hall, he would be allowed to return.
But who would have thought that Zhou Chen refused, and not only that, he also cursed everyone in their department.
This is absolutely outrageous!
"Let's offer incense to our ancestors together and tell them that our Zhou family has produced an unfilial descendant."
Zhou Lao Er suddenly shouted.
“I agree. We must stop the ancestors from blessing him and take back his good fortune.”
I agree.
Just as the Zhou family decided to report this matter to their ancestor, hoping that the ancestor would intervene and reclaim everything Zhou Chen had,
Zhou Nan said inappropriately, "Dad, didn't you say that his father isn't a member of the Zhou family, and neither is he? Will the ancestor care about this matter?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Lao Er's face darkened. "Shut up! Why are you spouting so much nonsense?"
...
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