Chapter 40
This short meeting ended unpleasantly, or rather, Old Master Jiang left in a huff, breathless and trembling.
He swung his cane at Gu Tang while he wasn’t looking, but, of course, his movements were too slow for Gu Tang, and he failed without any suspense.
The old man didn’t think his movements were slow, he felt he had exerted all his strength. It was Gu Tang who was too fast.
He was already 27 years old, yet his agility and reaction speed seemed no different from when he was 18.
Old Master Jiang had always known that Gu Tang had good skills and quick reflexes, but this level of reaction speed used against him made him very unhappy.
Gu Tang, once again accurately seizing the cane, forcefully placed it back in the old man’s hand, even helping him grip it with his fingers. He said gently: “You’re old, take care of your health, don’t be so quick to anger. Anger hurts the liver and stomach, it’s bad for your internal organs, and you’ll die faster.”
Was a man under 70 considered old? Old Master Jiang hated being called old! And listen to what he said afterward, it was clearly a curse, cursing him to die quickly! Preposterous, absolutely preposterous!
And his good grandson just watched coldly from the side, clearly not intending to stand up for him, the elderly.
Forget it, this was how young people were, once they had a partner, they forgot about their grandfather.
He was finally pushed back into the luxury car by his bodyguards, in his wheelchair, of course. The old man’s legs and feet weren’t good, and he was so angry, if he really tried to stand and walk, he would fall.
After getting into the car, the old man said: “Go and find out which hospital he works at. I remember he’s a doctor at a public hospital now. Mess with his job!”
It was easy to get fired from that kind of place, as hospitals hated trouble. If Gu Tang had a permanent position, it would be one thing, but he had just started, he probably hadn’t obtained tenure yet.
The person with the old man said: “But what about Young Mr. Jiang?”
Old Master Jiang understood his grandson very well. He was silent for a moment, angrily hitting the leather sofa in the car with his cane: “Forget it, call him back.”
If he really went through with it, there would basically be two possible outcomes.
One was that Jiang Huaisheng would take this opportunity to compensate and open a private hospital for Gu Tang, which would only bind the two closer. His grandson would love that.
The other was that Jiang Huaisheng would intervene in time, smoothing things over, and ultimately strengthening their relationship, while he wasted money without causing much trouble for Gu Tang.
After all, Jiang Huaisheng wasn’t like those good-for-nothing rich second or third-generation heirs who relied on their parents and family. He truly had money, power, ability, and connections.
The old man sighed deeply: “I’m old, I’m old…”
The people below hurriedly said: “You’re still young, Old Master.”
The old man said angrily: “Familiarity breeds contempt. He’s just infatuated now. We’ll see what happens after the novelty wears off.”
What you couldn’t have was always the most tempting. He saw this as Gu Tang’s clever tactic of playing hard to get. After five years of separation, they had just reunited, and the novelty was still fresh. He wasn’t that old yet, he could still wait.
He cursed this couple he disapproved of, hoping they would break up soon, but heaven clearly wasn’t on his side. Even when Old Master Jiang died over twenty years later, they hadn’t broken up, but that was a long time from now.
The old man said: “Call Jiang He and his wife over.”
Gu Tang had Jiang Huaisheng’s protection. If he directly targeted Gu Tang, he would inevitably clash with his grandson.
His grandson was much more ruthless than him, and his old comrades had either aged, passed away, betrayed him, or left the scene.
Old Master Jiang’s power was waning, and he had to avoid direct confrontation with Jiang Huaisheng. This wasn’t admitting defeat, but a strategic retreat.
He called Jiang He over, but Wen Xinyi didn’t come.
Old Master Jiang asked: “Where’s your wife?”
Jiang He said: “She went abroad with Jiang Cheng for a competition, she hasn’t returned yet.”
After five years, Jiang Cheng had gone from a junior high student to a sophomore in university.
“How old is Jiang Cheng now? He still can’t leave his mother? Wasn’t Gu Tang quite independent?”
The old man hadn’t cared about this family before. After all, they weren’t his biological children, and he didn’t want to bother.
And Jiang He had always been a tool for him to sharpen Jiang Huaisheng, but after so many years, they had developed some feelings. After all, Jiang He called him “godfather.”
And Jiang Cheng was indeed a likable child, handsome, well-mannered, and outstanding.
But now that Gu Tang was back and had taken away his most important grandson, he felt displeased with this family of three.
Just as he had thought before, Gu Tang’s actions were revenge. And for him to seek revenge, he must have suffered.
Recalling Gu Tang’s accusations, the old man became even angrier: “What were you thinking back then, why did you have to marry Gu Tang’s mother? There are so many women in the world, why did you choose her?”
Jiang He’s face stiffened. What did the old man mean? If the old man had objected to their marriage back then, would he really have insisted on being with a divorced woman who had a child with another man?
The old man had seemed quite supportive at the time, and now he was blaming him.
Although his marriage with his wife wasn’t perfect, they had been married for nineteen years, their interests intertwined, and their son was almost twenty. What was the point of the old man saying this after twenty years?
But he soon understood the reason for the old man’s sudden outburst: “Gu Tang is back from abroad, did you know? Does Gu Tang’s mother know?”
Jiang He immediately put on a pitiful expression: “Old Master, you know I’m a stepfather, it’s not easy for a stepfather to say anything about the child from the previous marriage. After Gu Tang went to university, he blocked both my and his mother’s phone numbers. Xinyi has always been worried about Gu Tang, but we haven’t heard from him in years, let alone know that he’s back.”
The old man was displeased with his expression: “How old are you? A fifty-year-old man, with a face full of wrinkles, stop pretending to be pitiful.”
You old bastard, Jiang He cursed inwardly. If it weren’t for the old man’s power, how could he tolerate this?
He had originally thought he was the old man’s illegitimate son, but when Jiang Huaisheng bared his fangs, he gave him the clear paternity test results.
Not only that, but Jiang Huaisheng even “kindly” found Jiang He’s biological relatives.
As a handsome, capable, and healthy young man, the reason Jiang He was abandoned must be because his parents had died. His birth family wasn’t wealthy, and his remaining relatives were ordinary, but like him, greedy.
Greedy people without matching abilities or luck often didn’t live well.
Although Jiang He was unwilling, after several tests, he confirmed that he was indeed related to that family.
That family didn’t have the surname Jiang and had no connection to Old Master Jiang in the past. The reason he was called Jiang He was simply because the orphanage director, to please the old man, had arranged it that way.
Just like in the old society, some wealthy families would keep house servants, and they would give their trusted servants the same surname as themselves.
He was never the old man’s illegitimate son, and there were no adoption papers. In other words, both legally and by blood, he couldn’t inherit Mingyuan Group.
He could try through business means, but Jiang He’s personal abilities were clearly not as strong as he imagined, at least not comparable to Jiang Huaisheng’s.
And the reason he could still hold this position now was because the old man wanted him to compete with Jiang Huaisheng, thereby maintaining his own power.
This was a great humiliation for the arrogant Jiang He. He was almost fifty years old, as the old man said, he was getting old.
At this age, even if Jiang He wanted to start his own business, he was worried about Jiang Huaisheng’s interference.
It was very difficult to develop a large enterprise, but it was very easy to make a company fail in its early stages.
So Jiang He could only endure, continuing to tolerate this. At least in the eyes of outsiders, he had the old man’s support, a beautiful wife, and an outstanding son. He was already a winner in life in the eyes of most people.
By not falling out with the old man, he could maintain his dignity.
After enduring the old man’s criticism and accusations, Jiang He left and immediately called his wife, Wen Xinyi.
“It’s late at night, why are you calling?” Wen Xinyi was abroad with her younger son for a competition. Due to the time difference, it was the middle of the night there.
“It’s your son competing, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in good condition or not.” Jiang He, filled with anger, naturally wasn’t in a good mood either.
After almost twenty years of marriage, Wen Xinyi asked: “Who made you angry again?”
“Your son.”
Wen Xinyi cared deeply about her younger son: “Xiao Cheng is doing well, when has he ever angered you? Don’t slander my son.”
As her son grew up, she gradually valued him more than her husband.
Jiang He said: “It’s your eldest son, Gu Tang. He’s back from studying abroad.”
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Wen Xinyi often forgot about her eldest son, as if she only had a younger son in her life.
But he was a living person, the child she carried for ten months and once poured her maternal love into, how could she truly forget?
But Gu Tang was her imperfect creation, a wound, so she didn’t want to mention her eldest son, pretending he didn’t exist.
Jiang He rubbed his aching temples: “After you finish accompanying him in this competition, go to the City Third People’s Hospital to find him.”
Jiang He paused: “After all, you’re his mother, there’s no overnight feud between a mother and her son. Be nice to him, see if you can mend your relationship.”
