At 8 a.m., Chu Yuxuan, unusually sleeping in, was woken up by a barrage of debt-collecting phone calls and incessant WeChat notifications.
Annoyed, he glanced at the screen: calls and messages from various department heads at the company. Some needed the president's signature, others required the president's seal, and there were miscellaneous tasks that required Chu Yuxuan's instructions.
Chu Yuxuan was frustrated and considered turning off his phone to get some more rest. But then he remembered his earlier promises to Zhao Yanan to manage the company well. It wouldn't be right to slack off now.
Sighing, Chu Yuxuan got up, washed up, and initially thought of calling his brothers, Lao San or Lao Si, to have some help in case of any emergencies. However, considering how exhausted they were the night before, especially Lao Si, who probably went to bed only at dawn, he decided to spare them and went to the company alone.
After dealing with the company's trivial matters, Chu Yuxuan called Chu Zhiqing and learned that his father was at Phoenix Mountain Villa. He hurried over there without delay.
By noon, the sun was bright, and the breeze was pleasant.
Chu Zhiqing was sitting in a pavilion by the lake at the villa, holding a first-grade English test paper. Beside him was his six-year-old daughter, who was tightly gripping a toy fishing rod, sitting on a fishing platform with safety railings, and pretending to fish seriously.
Chu Zhiqing flipped through the test paper, finally focusing on the score of "36" in the score column. His face turned pale: "Lily, I don't understand. Why did you score just over thirty in English? It's half of your native language… and you even made mistakes with the letter ordering?"
Little Lily pondered the question, pouted, and said, "I don't like English now, I like math!"
Chu Zhiqing was surprised and asked, "How did you do in math?"
Lily replied, "In the school bag."
Chu Zhiqing took the bag from the maid, pulled out the crumpled math test paper, and nearly fainted at the score of "27" in the score column.
"Lily… you just like it but don't care about learning it? How can one plus three equal five? Your five is a bit too unexpected!"
Lily blinked her big, watery eyes and replied, "The teacher said to count fingers. I counted fingers before. One plus three is five, and there are five fingers!"
Chu Zhiqing took a deep breath, then pulled out a Chinese test paper from the bag, which scored sixteen points.
"Cough, cough…" Chu Zhiqing felt a lump in his chest and patted himself hard.
Seeing this, Lily pouted and murmured, "Don't die, don't die, I can recite a poem for you."
Chu Zhiqing sighed and said, "Go ahead, let me see what this prestigious school with a thirty thousand yuan annual fee has taught you."
Lily puffed out her cheeks, thought hard for a while, and recited loudly, "Goose! Goose! Goose!"
Chu Zhiqing waited for more.
Ten seconds later…
"That's it?!" Chu Zhiqing's eyes widened.
Lily confidently replied, "I told you, that's all I know! The teacher also taught me piano and crafts. I will do a lot! Hmph… You adults are so annoying, only caring about grades! I want to eat roast duck, and you don't care!"
Chu Zhiqing, feeling helpless, glanced at the maid and said, "Call the driver and have him buy a roast duck."
After putting the three test papers back into Lily's bag and finding it a mess, Chu Zhiqing tidied it up. While organizing, he found a valuable jade ring worth millions and a delicate teapot that Chu Xiaotian had cherished for years.
It seemed that Grandpa truly liked this little girl. Without his approval, Lily wouldn't have been able to get that teapot.
Chu Zhiqing smiled, pretending he hadn't seen anything, packed the bag properly, and returned the valuable items.
At that moment, Chu Yuxuan arrived.
The father and son met. They were neither unfamiliar nor particularly warm. Chu Zhiqing greeted him with a "son" and Chu Yuxuan responded coolly, as usual, without addressing him directly, "Hmm, I need to ask you something."
Lily blinked her big eyes, looked at her brother timidly, then puffed out her cheeks and mischievously said, "Wow! Weird uncle!"
Chu Yuxuan: …
"Lily, go play with your sister," Chu Zhiqing said, giving the maid a signal.
The maid carefully picked up the little girl from the railing. As she passed Chu Yuxuan, Lily suddenly hugged Chu Yuxuan's neck, "Brother, I want you to carry me."
Seeing the adorable face up close, Chu Yuxuan made a fierce expression, but his heart softened and melted.
Lily, frightened, quickly retreated into the maid's arms, nervously shouting, "Go, go, go!"
After moving away, Lily extended her hand and counted her fingers, "One, two, … five! One plus three equals five! There are five fingers!"
Only Chu Zhiqing and Chu Yuxuan were left in the pavilion. Chu Zhiqing asked, "What's the matter? Did you find anything last night?"
"A little," Chu Yuxuan said. "I need to warn you, be careful these days. Last night, I was warned by someone. I didn't care and even deliberately provoked him. He's unsure if Liu Jun is dead or alive now. I think he will retaliate in the next few days and act again to confirm Liu Jun's status."
"Who?" Chu Zhiqing asked with a frown.
"Do you think I know who he is?" Chu Yuxuan replied. "But I need to ask you about an organization called 'Tianji Club.'"
"Tianji Club?!" Chu Zhiqing was shocked and interrupted, "Is this related to Tianji Club?"
Chu Zhiqing's overreaction surprised Chu Yuxuan. He suspected his father knew about Tianji Club but didn't expect him to know so much.
"It seems that it is definitely related to Tianji Club…" Chu Yuxuan said. "You seem to know a lot about Tianji Club?"
Chu Zhiqing seemed incredulous, "Did the person you fought last night say they are from Tianji Club? Impossible. How could this be!"
Chu Yuxuan thought for a moment and asked, "Did they have a spade tattoo on their chest?"
"Is there a snake's eye in the middle?!"
Chu Yuxuan nodded, "Yes."
Chu Zhiqing's eyebrows furrowed deeply, forming a "川" character on his forehead. He said gravely, "It's really them! This is too strange!"
Chu Yuxuan was puzzled, "What's the matter?"
Chu Zhiqing was stunned for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "This organization should have been gone a long time ago!"
Chu Yuxuan asked, "What do you mean?"
Chu Zhiqing lit a cigarette, took a slow puff, and said solemnly, "Tianji Club was a criminal organization in Jiangcheng a long time ago. It's older than me. They were large and committed all sorts of crimes. Even many officials were members of their organization… But over thirty years ago, they kidnapped the wife of a rich businessman and accidentally killed her, leading to the businessman's revenge. That businessman, at the time, was thriving and a prominent figure in Jiangcheng. After a few years of bloody conflicts, the Tianji Club was completely eradicated by this big shot!"
Hearing this, Chu Yuxuan felt an odd sense of familiarity with the story.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Yuxuan's expression tightened as he looked at Chu Zhiqing, "The woman who was kidnapped, could it be…"
Chu Zhiqing forced a bitter smile, "Yes, it was your grandmother!"