In terms of all the old money families in the country, few were more hierarchical than that of the Lin Family. The current head of the household, Lin Yuanzhe, was a stern, traditional man who presided over his descendants with an iron fist. He himself had inherited great wealth from his father but hadn't chosen to squander it. Instead, he had funnelled it into building a business empire so great that there wasn't anyone in any income bracket in the country who wouldn't know of the Lin Family.
So many decades of hard work later, and Lin Yuanzhe's Lin Conglomerate was finally at the top of the game, with only the Zhou Group left as a worthy competitor.
But Lin Yuanzhe had one painful failing in life. Despite his best efforts, his three boys had all grown up like they were competing to see who could be the most useless prodigal son in the family. After trying and failing to correct them, Lin Yuanzhe had evaluated the situation and, like the ruthless entrepreneur that he was, had decided to cut his losses quickly. His sons had shares in the company and held unimportant positions should they choose to work, but he turned his sights on the next generation for a successor.
In this respect, the Lin Conglomerate mirrored the Zhou Group too. In hindsight, it might not be bad to groom a young heir and prepare him to take over for a long reign.
Once Lin Yuanzhe's intentions became clear, the entire Lin Family worked itself up into a frenzy. His second and third sons were furious that they'd been overlooked in the selection process and all the grandchildren, male and female alike, schemed with their parents against their cousins to try and catch Lin Yuanzhe's attention.
All except for one.
Lin Zixun sat in an unobtrusive corner of his grandfather's study and watched with a wry smile as his cousins crowded around the old man, practically gagging for an opportunity to praise the beautiful calligraphy coming to life before their eyes.
Even though, they were all probably as bored as Lin Zixun was.
Today was the monthly family gathering at the main estate, where his grandfather lived. This took place every third Sunday of the month and was a tradition that his grandfather had instilled since even before the family company had become publicly listed.
The other relatives took this as an opportunity to suck up to the most influential person in the Lin Family. Lin Zixun took this to be torture.
It was always the same old story, over and over again, and he couldn't tell if it was because of his grandfather's great love of the concept of family that kept him insisting on having these dinners or if the old man was just too stubborn to give up trying to fix a rotten, broken thing.
As per usual, before dinner was ready and the servants invited them to the dining hall, the grandchildren would be encouraged to gather in their grandfather's study to discuss arts like weiqi and calligraphy. These were their grandfather's hobbies and so naturally, every child in the family would be well-versed in it, otherwise, what would they do if the old man suddenly asked for their opinion on something?
Lin Zixun wasn't any different. He'd learnt too when he was young, but without the same obsessive fervour that his little brother, Lin Zizhou had.
Speaking of Lin Zizhou.
Lin Zixun's eyes darkened. Lin Zizhou was conspicuously absent now. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of his brother in Lin Conglomerate this entire week either, which was unusual, given that Lin Zizhou would seize any opportunity to show up, as though he was afraid the employees in the building wouldn't recognise him as one of the many 'Young Master Lins'. He knew more than others just how displeased Lin Zizhou had been to be assigned as CEO to a mere subsidiary, especially since Lin Zixun was already the acting CEO of the parent company. Although DFE was a huge mogul in the entertainment industry, it was peanuts compared to the rest of the Lin Family's wealth and Lin Zizhou, who had always looked down on celebrities, hated his job with a burning passion.
This little brother of his was ambitious. Lin Zixun tsked under his breath as he thought about his brother's behaviour. Despite resenting their grandfather for choosing to assign him to DFE, he'd hidden those emotions well in front of the family, earning himself a reputation for being an obedient, hardworking child.
And in addition, he had taken the opportunity to flaunt his relationship with the young mistress of the Su Family in front of their relatives' green eyes, choosing to sign Su Qiao to DFE both to give the image that he was a protective, loving family man and also to remind everyone that he had been the grandson to help forge such a strong alliance with another prominent family.
The Su Family wasn't as prestigious as the Lin Family, but they only fell short by a little bit. In terms of marriage choices, given that the Zhou Family's head didn't have any granddaughters, Young Mistress Su was the best option on the socialite market.
Their grandfather had been so proud of Lin Zizhou for this that for three whole months, the dishes served at the monthly family dinners had been Lin Zizhou's favourites.
Lin Zixun couldn't help the small huff of laughter that escaped from his lips. He recalled a flash of vivaciousness in beautiful eyes and the haughty, confident way that proud young mistress had told him about cancelling the engagement. He wondered whether Lin Zizhou had found the balls to let the old man know about it yet.
"Ah Xun."
Lin Zixun blinked and straightened from his relaxed sprawl against the wall near the door. His grandfather's voice was gravelly with age but that didn't diminish its commanding tone whatsoever.
Sighing, Lin Zixun walked over and stood in front of the old man with a grin that was just a shade too cheeky.
This was another big mystery of the Lin Family.
Lin Zixun was renowned for being flippant and frivolous. The other members of the Lin Family couldn't understand why he was still held in such high regard by his grandfather, who was the complete opposite of him in terms of personality and behaviour. A petty part of them complained that it was just because he was lucky to be born as the oldest grandson. But the smarter relatives knew better than to underestimate Lin Zixun that way.
"Grandpa," Lin Zixun said with good cheer, ignoring the cousin that shouldered past him with a bit too much force when Lin Zixun took his place at the table. "What's up?"
The old man threw him a dirty look but there was a hint of grudging fondness in the depths of his eyes. "Look at you," he scolded. "Slouching everywhere with your buttons undone, where is your decorum?"
If this had been the first time their grandfather scolded Lin Zixun on his careless attire, his cousins might have exchanged gloating looks. But this was the run-of-the-mill conversation starter between this grandfather and grandson, and it wasn't like Lin Zixun ever received any proper punishment for it anyway. Despite dressing like a playboy in a club, this hateful "older brother" of theirs was still the CEO of Lin Conglomerate.
How were they supposed to not be jealous of him? Wasn't the old man's double standards too obvious?
"Aiya, grandpa," Lin Zixun said, smile widening. But he obliged the old man and fastened his collar. "It was just three buttons, you make it sound like I was walking around naked."
"Tsk!" The old man swatted him on the back of the head. Lin Zixun didn't dodge. "Listen to yourself," the old man muttered. "Already 27 and still such a mess. When are you going to settle down? You need someone to put your personal life in order."
Lin Zixun rubbed exaggeratedly at the spot where his grandfather's solid knuckles had landed. "Ah, don't arrange another marriage meeting, please, otherwise this grandson of yours is going to have to elope to another country with his one true love."
He said this with such casual deliberateness that it took his grandfather a long second to process what he meant.
A pleased smile broke out over the old man's face, deepening the wrinkles but also making him look more like a kindly old grandparent rather than the strict patriarch everyone was scared of.
"Wait, you finally have a girl in mind?"
Lin Zixun just smiled mysteriously. "I don't want to spoil the surprise."
"Okay, okay!" The old man laughed and pat him on the shoulder heartily. "You've always been one to make good decisions, Grandpa trusts that you know what you're doing. When the time is right, bring her home for a family gathering and introduce her to us."
"Sure thing." Lin Zixun didn't elaborate. Things weren't set in stone yet and that little young mistress was also still very skittish around him. It wouldn't do to scare her away too by being too eager right from the start.
Plus, he also had Lin Zizhou to deal with.
This hint of a blossoming relationship satisfied their grandfather so much that the meal that evening, which had initially been prepared with his second uncle's favourite foods to celebrate a deal closure, had Lin Zixun's dessert of choice as a last-minute addition to the menu.
Everyone smiled at everyone else from across the table with a friendliness that didn't reach the eyes. Warning bells rang in their minds as they considered the prospect of Lin Zixun finally finding a partner and getting married.
Once this most favoured grandson had a child of his own, would there even be a slice of the cake for them?
They had to do something.