Looking for someone
With a bandage applied to the bleeding area on his face, Wen Xubai arrived at the ebony door on the second floor. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Knock knock knock—"
"Father, it's me."
After a moment of silence, a deep voice rang out from the other end.
"Come in."
Wen Xubai pushed open the door and went in, then closed it tightly and tightened the lock.
My father disliked being interrupted when he was talking to someone.
Especially when it comes to things that aren't really suitable to be discussed in public...
“Father.” Wen Xubai nodded respectfully to the person behind the desk, then stood silently with his head down, waiting for the other person to speak.
But after waiting for a long time, no sound came out...
The person in the seat had their eyes closed, one hand supporting their head, seemingly either resting or deep in thought...
The old man's face, etched with wrinkles, retained its usual dignity and solemnity. Despite his graying hair and fading youth, it was not hard to discern the vigor he once possessed in his youth.
"Tap, tap, tap—"
This is the sound of the old-fashioned clock in the room.
Apart from that, the room was completely silent; even the sound of a pin dropping to the floor was crystal clear.
Inside the room, one sat steadily, the other stood; one looked up, the other looked down; one was calm, the other anxious…
The man didn't speak, so Wen Xubai naturally didn't dare to make a sound or do anything.
His legs were starting to ache, and Wen Xubai silently estimated in his mind that it had been almost an hour...
“Narration…” the man finally spoke.
"I'm here," Wen Xubai replied quickly.
"How long have you been at the Wen family's house?"
Wen Xubai was taken aback, not understanding why Wen Tingyi would suddenly ask this, but he still answered honestly, "It's been eighteen years since I was six years old."
"Eighteen years..." The man seemed to sigh, finally opening his tightly closed eyes. However, he didn't look at him, but instead walked straight past Wen Xubai, gazing towards the floor-to-ceiling window beside him...
Outside the window lies the city's most bustling street...
"Xiao Qing and Xiao Chi have been gone for eighteen years now..."
Wen Xubai was taken aback upon hearing this.
Everyone in the Wen family knows that Wen Xubai, the third young master of the Wen family, is not the biological son of the Wen family patriarch. The real third young master of the Wen family died in a car accident eighteen years ago, along with the previous Wen family wife, Ruan Qing.
That year, Madam Ruan was driving with her six-year-old son when, for some unknown reason, they collided with a private car and were then hit by a truck that couldn't brake in time. They lost control instantly, crashed through the roadside fence, and plunged into a lake next to the highway.
That year, both the police and the Wen family invested enormous human and financial resources.
The driver of the Wen family truck was thrown from the vehicle by the immense inertia, miraculously surviving but becoming a vegetable and remaining in the hospital to this day. The truck driver, for driving illegally, was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
Madam Ruan's body was recovered that evening.
The only missing person is the third young master of the Wen family.
The couple in the car died instantly, while their child, whom they were holding in their arms, survived.
After the incident, the Wen family held a press conference. The tall man's eyes reddened at the press conference. He bowed his head to all the media and humbly begged people to help him find his missing son. He could barely speak coherently.
At the press conference, he publicly announced that the Wen family would adopt orphans who had lost both parents in the accident, and established a charitable foundation in his name, claiming it was to pray for his lost wife and children…
In no time, the Wen family's stocks soared, making them incredibly wealthy, and Wen Tingyi's identities as a "pioneer philanthropist" and "beloved wife" instantly became household names.
Although these two identities caused some controversy after Wen Tingyi remarried and had children, the Wen family's immense wealth ultimately suppressed it...
And that adopted child was him.
Now, his parents have been dead for eighteen years.
Wen Xubai couldn't help but clench his fists.
philanthropist?
How ridiculous.
It's just... exploitation.
"Little Bai, tell me... if I had raised you from the moment you were born, wouldn't you be an adult by now?"
So that's where they were waiting for him...
Wen Xubai suddenly realized.
Everything that happened from the moment he stepped into the Wen family home—Qin Yalin's刁难 (difficulties/obstruction), Wen Xuyi's humiliation, and the punishment of being made to stand in the corner upon arrival…
All of this was just to... give him a warning.
Thinking of this, Wen Xubai suppressed the urge to sneer, slowly released the fist clenched behind his back, forced a smile, and said calmly, "Yes, Father. I will never forget the kindness of the Wen family in raising me."
"Sigh..." Wen Tingyi sighed deeply, then suddenly stood up from the sofa, walked over to him with his cane, and gently patted his head.
The movement was incredibly gentle, like a loving old man stroking his younger sibling.
Only Wen Xubai was startled by his sudden touch, and his whole body went cold.
“My child, what happened back then was so sudden, so sudden that neither of us was prepared. Now, you've grown up so much... Over the years, I've always given you the best resources and let you enjoy the best life. Seeing you grow from such a pitiful little thing into the handsome young man you are today... I truly consider you my own child.”
His words were so moving that even Wen Xubai was stunned into silence.
But the next second, the man's voice pulled him back to reality.
Wen Tingyi said slowly, "My child, I'm getting old. I don't know how many more years I'll be able to chat with you face to face like this... I still have many regrets about what happened back then, and there's a knot in my heart that I've never been able to let go of..."
Wen Xubai lowered his eyes, already understanding the implication of the other party's words.
"Father, please speak freely. As long as it is within my power, I will do my utmost to help you achieve it."
He spoke sincerely, and the man listening smiled with satisfaction.
“Good boy, good boy…” Wen Tingyi walked back to the table, leaning on his cane.
The man's body was no longer as robust as it had been in his youth, but it was still quite strong. Although he had lost a leg in an accident when he was young, it couldn't hide his former vigorous charm.
Wen Tingyi was a man who fought his way out of a group of desperate criminals.
But now, this "life-risking" person is talking to him about "theory of lifespan," which makes Wen Xubai feel very strange.
Wen Tingyi slowly picked up a brown paper bag from the table and handed it to Wen Xubai.
"What's this?" Wen Xubai took the paper bag and looked at it with a puzzled expression, only to find that there was nothing written on it.
"This is all the information I've collected about Xiao Chi over the past few years."
"You want... me to help you find him?" Wen Xubai asked hesitantly.
Wen Tingyi nodded, then added, "There's also an old friend of mine I need you to help me see him."
Old friend?
After Wen Xubai left Wen Tingyi's study with the file bag in his hand, those two words kept echoing in his mind.
Wen Tingyi did not tell him who that old friend was, nor did he tell him who that person was.
If someone could think about a story for eighteen years, someone who would still be unforgettable even in their twilight years, there are most likely only two possibilities:
One type is a deeply hated enemy, and the other is... a lover with unforgettable feelings.
For someone like Wen Tingyi, who climbed his way to the top through sheer grit and ruthless means, Wen Xubai felt that the most likely candidate was... an enemy.
It is also possible that both are true.
And that child...
Wen Xubai couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
It's not strange for a father to want to find his son. What's strange is why Wen Tingyi, who has been searching for eighteen years without success, insists that he can find him in such a short time.
Furthermore, three years after the incident, the entire Wen family had already tacitly accepted that the Third Young Master was dead. Fearing to displease the Master, the new Madam, and the "Third Young Master" who had taken his place, they rarely even mentioned it in the Wen family.
unless······
Wen Xubai's heart sank slowly...
Wen Xuchi… He had heard so much about this person since childhood, yet had only ever seen his childhood self in newspapers. He himself wasn't quite sure what he felt for him…
Before he knew it, Wen Xubai had already walked onto the balcony.
The cool evening breeze cleared his chaotic thoughts and calmed his restlessness considerably.
Wen Xubai braced his hands on the balcony railing and closed his eyes to relax for a moment.
Just as he slowly opened his eyes and was about to reach for the brown paper bag, his cell phone rang at an inopportune moment.
Hearing the "buzzing" sound, Wen Xubai took out his phone from his pocket with his slender fingers, glanced at the number displayed, and saw that it was a completely unfamiliar number.
After a moment's thought, Wen Xubai answered the call. He swiped his finger across the screen and put the phone to his ear.
Before he could even speak, the person on the other end of the phone preemptively said:
"Hey boss, it's me!"
Wen Xubai remained silent for a moment, having already guessed who was on the other end, and then said calmly, "I know."
"Huh? How did you know?"
The voice on the other end of the phone was strange, with a hint of electronic sound; it was obvious that it had been processed with a voice changer. The other person guessed that this was why they were so confident, knowing that Wen Xubai wouldn't recognize their voice.
But now that he's been exposed, the voice on the other end of the phone immediately weakened.
"Let's get down to business." Wen Xubai pinched the bridge of his nose, interrupting the other party's "doubts."
"Oh, oh," the man finally came to his senses, took a deep breath, and said, "Boss, I've found the person you're looking for!"
Wen Xubai paused, his hand resting on the railing. He waited until the person opposite him finished recounting how thrilling and difficult his investigation had been, how rigorous his reasoning was, and how accurate his guesses were... until he was about to reveal the final location, before interrupting him in a deep voice, "I will come to see you tomorrow."
He then hung up the phone.
If someone were to look from a distance at this moment, they would see a man with striking features sitting cross-legged on a wicker chair on the balcony, his dark eyelashes lowered, seemingly lost in thought.
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