Chapter 440: Dozens of lives lost every minute, very busy
Nuonuo held her younger brother in her arms, sitting leisurely on an armchair on one side of the living room, pinching a small piece of rice cake with her slender fingers and putting it into the little guy's mouth.
Although his growth and development will always remain at the infant stage due to his bloodline, Ricardo's physique is not really fragile, and he can still tolerate some soft and easy-to-melt snacks.
He smacked his lips, his big round eyes looking curiously at this luxurious yet unfamiliar environment.
It's funny to say that as one of the most important treasures of the Chen family, he has never been to this magnificent and luxurious main hall of the house.
Nuonuo was already accustomed to the envious and jealous looks just now.
She was very clear about her position in the Chen family.
Although in the eyes of the collateral descendants with impure blood, she may be a high and mighty legitimate daughter who is out of reach.
But in her large circle of dozens of brothers and sisters who compete with each other fiercely, no one really respects her as her "father's favorite child."
It was more about the ambition to replace him and the malicious intention to teach this bitch who disrespected his father a lesson if he had the chance.
As for the girl who brought the family tree to her and looked at her with eyes that seemed to have a knife hidden in them, as if she wanted to stab her through, Nono was too lazy to even remember her name.
I only vaguely remember that when I was a child, I gave him a good beating for something.
He is not good at boxing and kicking, not smart enough, and not good at talking. He is a loser who is beaten in all aspects and cannot cause any emotional fluctuations in her at all.
But she was so busy feeding Ricardo and wondering why Mr. Chen was hiding from everyone that she didn't notice the change in Caesar's mood.
There was no way. The Chen family's constant jealousy and rejection of her was a daily routine she had long been accustomed to.
She had no idea that these malicious acts directed at her, which seemed insignificant and even childish to her, would be like fuses that completely ignited the fire in Caesar's heart that wanted to gain power at all costs.
When he and Nono had just started dating, that old man Frost had been saying things like, "Caesar, you are the future hope of the Gattuso family. Your partner should be the best mixed-blood, with pure bloodline, outstanding abilities, and the ability to support your career."
"Chen Motong's bloodline is not outstanding. She hasn't even awakened her Word Spirit. She is not qualified to carry the bloodline of the Gattuso family."
At the time, he responded with fierce words, but deep down he was aware of a cruel fact:
In front of Gattuso's huge and cold family machine, personal will is pitifully insignificant.
Caesar knew that he could not leave the Gattuso family, but he would not give up Nono, nor would he allow Nono to repeat her mother's mistakes and become a beautiful but fragile woman who eventually faded away under family pressure and her husband's indifference.
He tilted his head slightly, his ice-blue eyes looking at Lu Mingfei.
He must become strong, strong enough to break the shackles of his family, strong enough to ignore all rules and criticisms, hold on to everything he has chosen, and hold on to this lovely and rebellious red-haired witch.
For this, he would not hesitate to pay any price, even if it meant touching those powers that were listed as taboos!
At the same time, Lu Mingfei and Eiry sat side by side. Chen Weien handed over an opened rosewood box, in which lay a thread-bound genealogy of the Chen family.
The paper is yellowed, obviously it is old.
The Chen family can indeed be described as a large mixed-race family with flourishing branches and leaves. The family tree records can be traced back to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It has continued for hundreds of years, with branches and leaves spread all over the country and abroad.
Although their foundation is not as strong as that of the ancient families like Zhou Bai and his family, which have been passed down for thousands of years, they are definitely a powerful family in the area.
There are countless great figures recorded in the Chen family genealogy, but Lu Mingfei has no interest in how many high-ranking officials, wealthy businessmen and tycoons came from the Chen family's ancestors.
I quickly glanced at the densely packed names and profiles, and searched carefully along the directory page.
Finally, they locked onto a list of people in the early 20th century who, dissatisfied with the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government, went overseas to seek a way to change with the ideal of saving the country.
Finally, in an inconspicuous corner, he saw the familiar name - Charlotte Chen.
Eri's grandmother.
Turning to the detailed page, there is a brief biographical record of Charlotte Chen and her daughter.
His father, Chen Jingxing, was a man of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. He was determined to save the country in a roundabout way. He traveled across the ocean to France to do business, hoping to accumulate wealth and purchase weapons to support his homeland.
Later, he married the daughter of a wealthy local French businessman and had a daughter. However, the couple died in an accident when the daughter was young.
Charlotte Chen was alone and helpless, and was taken back to the Catholic Church by a priest she knew to be raised, and grew up in a church school.
Because she didn't know her own Chinese name, she just took her father's surname, so she was called Charlotte Chen, and everyone around her called her Aunt Charlotte.
Later, when China was in turmoil and war spread, he resolutely followed the Catholic Church and returned to China from France, where the country was ravaged by war. He participated in the establishment of an orphanage, sheltered orphans who had lost their relatives in the war, and helped women and the elderly.
However, during the horrific Nanjing catastrophe, she failed to protect the women and children under her shelter. When she was leading them to flee out of the city, she was intercepted by the Japanese army. In the end, she could not bear to see her compatriots being humiliated... and chose to shoot herself.
Just over a hundred words summarize a woman's wandering, dedicated and tragic life.
In this thick genealogy that records the lives of thousands of Chen clan members, her story seems so insignificant, like a drop in the ocean.
I'm afraid that the Chen family who recorded her in the book would never have thought that among the descendants of this nun who seemed to have died alone and was lost in the dust of history, a super hybrid would be born who stood at the pinnacle of the hybrid world.
Lu Mingfei's gaze lingered on those few short lines for a long time, looking at the lineage belonging to Charlotte Chen, which was completely cut off after she committed suicide, and there was no subsequent record.
He raised his head and looked at the old butler Chen Fu standing beside him, and asked in a calm tone:
"How did you determine that she was from the Chen family?"
Chen Fu seemed to have anticipated this question and answered calmly:
"The family first became aware of Sister Charlotte because a nun who came with her from France mentioned her existence in her testimony during the post-war trial of relevant war criminals and had a photo of her from that time.
At that time, there was a secretary in the family who was responsible for organizing various archival materials related to the war. When he saw this information, he took it into consideration.
After years of extensive research and comparisons of historical figures and relationships, it was finally confirmed that she was indeed a descendant of the Chen family who had been stranded abroad.
As for Charlotte Chen's lineage being judged to be extinct and without offspring, it was because she was a lifelong nun who had taken perpetual vows in the Catholic Church and had to observe a lifelong vow of celibacy and was not allowed to marry.
The French nun also said that Sister Charlotte did not have any children.
No one knew that after being ordained a novice nun, Charlotte Chen visited Japan as a representative of the French Catholic Church.
There, she met and fell in love with the head of the Uesugi family, one of the eight families of Snake, and even eloped with them regardless of the consequences and gave birth to a child.
However, fate plays tricks on them, and the tremendous pressure from the Sheqi Eight Clan eventually forces the two to separate.
Having lost her lover and being an orphan, she was left alone in a foreign country. She grew up in a church school and had no skills to make a living.
In order to ensure the safety of her baby, she had to return to the Catholic Church, the only church that could provide her with shelter, put on her nun's robe again, and finally made a perpetual vow, returning to her original life trajectory.
All I have is a husband whom I will never see again in this life, and a child who lives right next to me but whom I cannot speak of.
Lu Mingfei already knew the inside story, but when he saw the cold words "no descendants" on the family tree, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
If Eri didn't have this one biological father, and if he didn't consider that the brothers Genjiro and Genjiro still needed that unreliable old guy to play a small role, he really wanted to throw that old man into the sea to feed the fish.
He did not ask where Charlotte Chen's remains ended up. Seeing how crazy Uesugi Yue was when he almost demolished the Sheqi Eight Clan, he could guess that her afterlife would not be good.
Eiry sat obediently beside Lu Mingfei. She also recognized the Chinese characters and knew that Charlotte Chen was her grandmother.
But the description in words is ultimately too pale and brief. The old woman's life is encompassed in just a hundred words. It does not reveal the hardships and difficulties she experienced, nor the love, hatred, and desperate struggles she experienced.
Moreover, the girl was too naive and had not read much, so she could not do reading comprehension as easily as Chinese children, and could not appreciate the deep sorrow hidden under the calm narration.
Inside the wooden box where the family tree is stored, there is an old black-and-white photo that is severely faded and has some worn corners.
Lu Mingfei took it out gently.
The photo was taken in a simple courtyard, with an elderly nun wearing a dark nun's uniform standing in the middle.
She had a thin face, gentle features and a kind smile, but her eyes held an indelible sadness.
She was surrounded by several foreign nuns and a dozen women with sad faces. In front of her were dozens of children with pale faces, skinny bodies, shabby clothes but innocent eyes, squatting, sitting or standing.
It can be seen that the children like her very much, and the nuns and homeless women also trust and respect her.
Eriya's rosy red eyes stared at the old lady in the photo without blinking, her gaze lingering on her eyebrows and facial features that were somewhat similar to her own.
If her grandmother had taken care of her when she was a child, perhaps the memories would be full of warmth?
As I was thinking this, my hand was held by a big warm hand and squeezed gently.
The girl turned her head and met Lu Mingfei's gaze, and they smiled at each other.
Butler Chen Fu had been observing Lu Mingfei and Eri's reactions. Seeing that their emotions were not too volatile, he spoke at the right time:
"To be honest, the genealogy you two are looking at now is actually an old version revised many years ago, and a lot of information has not been updated yet.
The head of the family has already instructed his men to revise and compile a more detailed family tree."
He paused briefly and looked at Lu Mingfei:
"If possible, the Chen family hopes to officially include Miss Eri's name in the newly revised family tree, noting her as a descendant of Sister Charlotte. This would be a way of recognizing her ancestry and comforting the spirits of her ancestors."
As for why the names of Sugikoshi and the Genji brothers were not included...
The simple reason is that these two father and son are either war criminals, serial killers or violent criminals. None of them has a good reputation.
Charlotte Chen had an excellent reputation during her lifetime and was a respectable and kind nun. It would be difficult for her to be associated with these tainted people so as not to tarnish her reputation.
No matter how bad the Chen family's reputation is, they are always a little proud and not just anyone is worthy of being included in the family tree.
The head of the Chen family has many children, but only the best ones can be recorded in the family tree.
And Nono happens to be one of them.
Lu Mingfei raised his eyebrow slightly and glanced at the name of the head of the Chen family, Chen Tianmu.
Yes, that’s very appropriate.
"No hurry, let's talk about it after I meet your family head." Lu Mingfei put the family tree back into the rosewood box, took the photo in his hand, and looked at the housekeeper Chen Fu:
"Can I have this?"
"Of course." This time it was Chen Weien who spoke. He smiled and raised his hand, indicating that Lu Mingfei could put the photos in a box and take them back to avoid wrinkles in his pocket.
Lu Mingfei did not refuse. After putting the photo away, he asked:
"When will your master come back? I'm busy with dozens of lives every minute."
To be honest, he is very angry now.
Butler Chen Fu felt something was wrong when he heard this. Why did he sound like he was going to start a massacre?
It was broad daylight, and in the open, could it be that Lu Mingfei was really prepared to commit a crime at the risk of public condemnation?
But looking at the slight impatience on his face, it doesn't seem like he is impatient to take action.
Could it be that there is really something else?
Percy, who had been standing quietly behind Caesar and Nono without sitting down, adhered to his duties as secretary and bodyguard. Hearing this, he couldn't help but look at Lu Mingfei.
He spoke horribly, but he didn't sense any murderous intent. Was it because he hid it too well, or was it because the murderous intent had been there from the beginning and he had gotten used to it?
Percy didn't understand, but he knew his responsibilities: to protect Caesar, keep a close eye on Lu Mingfei, collect all the information related to him, and not miss any clues.
Nuonuo raised her eyes, reached out to take the family tree, accurately turned to the page she had just read, and quickly scanned it.
How should I put it, I was really furious.
However, what really made Lu Mingfei angry was that the Chen family tried to use Eiry to ease the conflict between them and Lu Mingfei, and to buy more time.
Knowing that Lu Mingfei came to the capital just to deal with the Chen family, he still let Eiry enter the Chen family tree. Isn't this deliberately stepping into a minefield?
Butler Chen Fu would definitely not do such a stupid thing. It must have been instructed by that man.
But why is this?
Are you trying to test Lu Mingfei's patience by angering him?
Or do you simply want to die faster?
Nuonuo couldn't figure it out, and neither could the housekeeper Chen Fu. Just as they said "please wait a moment", they felt the phone in their pocket vibrate slightly.
Lu Mingfei and Caesar also raised their heads and looked towards the main entrance of the mansion.
The male villain has arrived.
(End of this chapter)
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