Chapter Five: Hidden Fragrance and Floating Schemes
At the end of the corridor, the sunlight was thick, with only a few wall lamps casting a dim, yellowish glow that stretched the two people's shadows long and distorted.
“Young Master Kan,” Uncle Zhong’s usual respect was replaced by an unquestionable sternness, “if this old servant hadn’t happened to come from the train station just now, you would have ruined everything!”
His deeply lined face was expressionless, his cloudy eyes fixed on Chen Kan. "You're being too impulsive! The future of the Chen family, the patriarch's years of hard work, can't be squandered because of a moment of anger."
Chen Kan's jaw tightened, and he suddenly looked up, meeting Zhong Shu's unfathomable eyes.
"Have you forgotten," Uncle Zhong's voice deepened, "how much effort did the Chen family put in to pull you back from the brink of death? What was the purpose of allowing you to acknowledge your ancestors and return to the family? It wasn't to let you indulge in romantic love, much less to let you indulge in momentary pleasure!"
Chen Kan remained silent, but a hint of coldness flickered in his eyes.
Uncle Zhong, however, did not feel offended at all. He took a step closer, and the shadow of his dark blue silk robe almost enveloped Chen Kan.
"Right now, the government is making every effort to gain the support of Britain and the United States. We must hold onto our position in the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce! The land in Hongkou is a bargaining chip, and we absolutely cannot let it fall into the hands of Sato and his Japanese! The whole of Jiangcheng is watching this incident when Miss Lin divorced Qiao Yuan. If we can use this opportunity to gain access to the Qiao family's assets, that would truly be killing two birds with one stone!"
Chen Kan's face darkened.
Uncle Zhong scolded again, "You almost ruined this plan because of a few words! A small act of impatience can ruin a big scheme, Young Master Kan!"
"Yes, I understand," Chen Kan said after a long pause.
He stood frozen in place, the pale light of the fluorescent lamp casting a long, solitary shadow against the cold wall.
...
He is Chen Kan, and also Bai Mu.
He should have been a wealthy young man from a prominent family, but the Chen family disowned him and his mother.
His mother struggled to survive in the darkest alleys of Jiangcheng with him. In the cold nights, under the kerosene lamp, his mother's withered fingers almost went blind from sewing his tattered school uniform, all so that he could go to school and escape the mire.
For the first twenty years of his life, he lived a life of hardship and constraint.
There was once a girl who brightened his world with her warmth and generosity. He thought they would have a bright future, but a demon dragged him down to hell.
Fate, perhaps, took pity on him and did not let him die in such an unclear and mysterious way.
That year, he was lying in a pile of corpses, barely clinging to life, when the Chen family finally intervened and brought him back.
He watched his mother shed tears by his bedside, while he himself was wrapped in bandages, every inch of his skin bearing the marks of humiliation.
In that instant, hatred tightened around his heart like a poisonous vine. He swore to his pale face in the mirror that he would take back everything that belonged to him!
To achieve this, he first had to abandon the surname Bai that he had followed his mother for so many years and return to his ancestral home, adopting the surname Chen!
He went back and knelt before his so-called father, who had ignored him for over twenty years!
The cold, blue brick floor seeped into my bones through the thin fabric of my trousers, and the chill ran straight up my spine.
Chen Kan remembered himself at that time, with his head down, his gaze fixed on the smooth, polished cracks in the blue bricks that reflected blurry figures, his nostrils filled with the unique scent of the Chen family mansion.
The somber scent of old rosewood furniture, the cool aroma of precious incense, and a faint, lingering smell of copper rust mixed with dust, belonging to the core of power.
The smell was unfamiliar and oppressive, a stark contrast to the damp, musty smell of the alleyways in Jiangcheng that he remembered, and the bitter smell of herbs that clung to his mother's hands year after year.
In the hall, the figure sitting upright on the large rosewood chair was shrouded in light and shadow divided by the window lattice, making it impossible to see the face clearly. Only the straight silk robe and the jade beads slowly twirling in the hand exuded an undeniable majesty in the silence.
The air was stagnant, as if frozen, and only Chen Kan's own heart pounded heavily against his ribs in humiliation and icy anger.
He forced his voice to be steady, without revealing a trace of tremor, but it still carried a hint of hoarseness from a long journey and turbulent emotions: "Father." The two words were squeezed out from between his teeth, rolling down his throat with a metallic, rusty taste.
He straightened his back, each word carrying immense weight: "My son, Bai Mu... today I acknowledge my ancestry and return to the family, wishing to inherit my father's surname. From now on, I will use the name my father originally bestowed upon me, which is Chen Kan."
His father looked at him and simply said, "If you want to be recognized as a member of the Chen family, you must be useful to the Chen family... Your third uncle must return from Jiangcheng..."
Chen Kan dug his fingertips deep into the cold cracks of the floor tiles, his knuckles turning white from the effort. The hatred surging in his chest almost burst from his throat, but he simply lowered his head even further, his forehead pressed against the blue bricks, letting the biting cold suppress his boiling blood.
“I understand.” His voice was muffled between the bricks and stones, each word rough like gravel. “What Third Uncle is unwilling to do, I will do. Jiangcheng Wharf, cargo flow, land in Hongkou… I will protect the Chen family and never let the Japanese touch a single piece of it.”
The moment the vow was uttered, the somber incense in the main room abruptly dissipated, and the stark white light of the fluorescent lamps pierced the eyes once more.
...
Chen Kan shuddered, pulling himself out of the sea of memories, only to find himself still standing frozen in front of the hospital corridor wall, Uncle Zhong's deeply lined face close at hand, his murky eyes filled with unyielding scrutiny.
"You're right." Chen Kan's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the rusty taste of resentment. A submissive smile appeared on his lips, but his body beneath the gray suit was taut like a fully drawn bow. "I'll personally oversee the Hongkou factory matter. As for Miss Lin... there won't be any more problems."
He spoke with respect and humility, but his eyes held a deep resentment.
However, the look in his eyes was so fleeting that Uncle Zhong did not catch it.
When Uncle Zhong heard him say that, his tense jawline finally relaxed a little, and his withered hand pressed heavily on his shoulder, the force carrying an unquestionable entrustment and warning, before he turned and left.
Chen Kan stood still for a moment until the footsteps completely disappeared before slowly straightening up.
He straightened his clothes in front of the mirror-like tiles on the corridor wall, his fingertips brushing across the corner of his mouth, smoothing out the forced gentleness and refining it into an impeccable mask of refined elegance.
As Chen Kan turned and walked toward the ward, he deliberately slowed his pace and walked with ease, as if the thunder and raging storm had never happened.
Pushing open the ward door, the warm scent of disinfectant wafted in. Lin Tang was still leaning against the pillow, her pale face turned towards the window, her profile as frail as porcelain that could shatter at the slightest touch.
Chen Kan walked to the bedside, bent down and picked up the broken apple fragments from the floor, his movements so gentle they were almost careful.
"I lost my composure just now." He threw the rotten fruit into the trash can, his voice as gentle as spring water flowing over pebbles, the gloom in his eyes perfectly sealed beneath a layer of ice. "Does the wound still hurt? The doctor said you should rest and not worry about trivial matters."
Lin Tang's eyelashes trembled slightly. She turned her face, her lips moved, but she didn't mention the previous argument. She just shook her head weakly and said, "It's just a superficial injury. It's nothing serious."
Chen Kan sat down on the sofa, picked up the unfinished apple from the bedside table, and skillfully sliced off a thin, even peel with the knife, as if the cold metal could scrape away the thorn in his heart.
The fruit peels fell softly, curling into pale yellow circles on the porcelain plate.
Lin Tang took the apple, her fingertips touching the cool flesh, but she hesitated to put it in her mouth.
She looked out the window, where the low whistle of a riverboat tore through the night, like a sob falling into the turbid waves of the Huangpu River. A few drops of cold rain suddenly tapped against the windowpane, and the winding water streaks distorted the dim yellow light of the streetlights, turning Chen Kan's silhouette on the window into a blurry silhouette.
Chen Kan stood up and straightened the hem of his suit jacket, his movements as composed as ever. "You should rest. There's still a batch of goods to inspect at the dock." He walked to the door, the sound of it closing so softly it was almost swallowed by the rain, and the ward fell into an even deeper silence.
The apple between her fingers gradually oozed sticky juice. Lin Tang suddenly let go, letting it roll off the bed sheet, leaving a dirty stain.
...
At this time, only Cheng Qing remained at the Qiao residence.
When Cheng Qing pushed open the study door, the wooden pivot made an old creak, and her heart skipped a beat, but she quickly regained her composure.
Cheng Qing took out a bunch of keys from his pocket, pinched the key and inserted it into the lock. With a slight turn of his wrist, the door of the safe popped open a crack with a "click".
Cheng Qing took out a miniature Leica camera that she had kept hidden in her sleeve for a long time. The camera's metal body was pressed against her wrist, and it was a bit chilly, but it made her heartbeat slowly calm down.
She held the camera and aimed it at the documents and deeds in the safe. The red marks in the lens were so clear that the ink stains were visible. She pressed the shutter, and with a soft "click," the sound was as light as dust falling on a page.
After taking the last photo, Cheng Qing put everything back in the safe and locked the door.
The moment she pushed open the door, a draft of candlelight rushed in, making the hem of her cheongsam flutter in the wind.
Her steps quickened in her embroidered shoes, and as she passed through the corridor, the candlelight flickered on the hem of her dress, casting a shadow behind her that resembled a bat with outstretched wings.
Outside the gate of the Qiao residence, a black sedan was waiting for her. The driver, wearing a navy blue long gown, immediately got out and opened the back door when he saw her come out. As Cheng Qing bent down to get in, she glanced up at the roof of the Qiao residence; the moss on the blue tiles gleamed with a faint green light under the moonlight. She touched the camera in her pocket and said to the driver, "Go to the concession area and find Mr. Sato."
As the car started, the engine's sound broke the silence of the night. Cheng Qing gazed at the street scenes rushing past the window, the smile on her lips slowly fading into an almost frozen calm.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
