When that pure white figure drew near the black-clad back sitting at the table, the bustling people around inexplicably relaxed a little. The mysterious low pressure that had filled the kitchen seemed to dissipate somewhat.
For a moment, everyone instinctively turned to look in that direction.
The young man in the mink fur coat leaned down slightly and said something to the man in the pure black suit. The latter then stood up.
He turned back and beckoned to the little girl peeking at them from the corner.
The little girl immediately jumped down from her stool and ran over with light steps, her two pretty braids swinging in the air.
Those three particularly eye-catching figures then left the kitchen together.
From the direction of the back door.
Pushing open that unassuming kitchen side door, the cold air outside rushed in once more to meet them.
Yu Bai subconsciously tugged at his collar. He Xi, who had finally gotten close to Xie Wufang beside him, also shivered instinctively.
She tried hard to suppress the fear surging in her heart and asked softly, “Brother Little Bai, aren’t we going to the restaurant?”
Her childish voice rang out clearly under the night sky. At the same time, a faint rustle stirred in the shadowy treeline nearby.
Yu Bai didn’t notice it. He was focused on answering the little girl’s question. “We’re taking a detour. You said Little Hang was eavesdropping outside the window earlier, right?”
People were constantly moving around in the kitchen behind them now, no longer the nearly deserted corner where they had whispered before, so Yu Bai changed his wording to avoid being overheard by outsiders.
The most important thing before dealing with the bad guys was to know oneself and the enemy.
Although Yu Bai already had a rough guess, he needed to confirm it first with Yuan Yuxing, who knew the most about Zhang Yunjiang’s family situation.
“Yeah, earlier when everyone was in the living room, Little Hang went to eavesdrop by the window. He looked like he was worried about something.”
He Xi smartly followed suit and changed her wording too, saying seriously, “They’re probably heading to the restaurant now. I don’t know where Little Hang is anymore.”
He looked like he was worried about something…
Yu Bai clearly remembered Yuan Yuxing saying that Zhang Yunjiang had been so infuriated by this group of turtle bastards that he’d suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and hadn’t been saved, ultimately passing away.
Maybe it happened while the old man was chatting with this group of his children?
“Then I bet he’s still eavesdropping outside the restaurant windows.”
As Yu Bai spoke, he planned to circle around the restaurant perimeter. “Let’s go find Little Hang first and ask him.”
He had just taken a step to the right when the person beside him moved first, striding quickly toward a cluster of bushes on the left.
“…Huh?”
Yu Bai stopped abruptly, a bit bewildered. “Little Xie? Where are you—”
His words were cut off by a dull thud.
As Xie Wufang approached, the bushes that had made the faint noise earlier suddenly flung out a short figure.
A stranger boy who was fairly good-looking but wore an expression of extreme terror tumbled onto the ground. His whole body went rigid as he stared at the increasingly close tall man.
Yu Bai was still puzzled by the scene, but He Xi beside him had already reflexively covered her hair.
At the same time, she instinctively shrank back a little behind Brother Little Bai, her voice trembling slightly. “It’s Zhang Yizhe!”
It was that boy who had inexplicably messed up her hair.
The moment she saw him, He Xi felt her scalp start to hurt.
Hearing this, Yu Bai finally realized what was happening. He reached out and took the hand of the now-shivering little girl, comforting her. “Don’t be scared. We’re all here.”
After He Xi had run into the kitchen, Zhang Yizhe—who had clearly been persuaded to leave by others—had sneaked back to the kitchen back door… Anyone could figure out with their brain that he wasn’t done yet and wanted to keep prying information from the seemingly weak and bullyable little girl.
He looked no older than ten, an age when he should have been innocent and naive. Why had he been raised into such an ugly character?
A surge of intense disgust welled up in Yu Bai’s heart. His gaze turned much colder as it fixed straight on Zhang Yizhe, who had collapsed softly to the ground. With a blank expression, he asked, “Here to find our He Xi?”
He was truly intimidating like this.
The boy, already chilled to the bone, shrank even more, trembling like a sieve. He hurriedly denied it. “No, no, no… I’m not!”
Xie Wufang didn’t look at him anymore. Instead, he answered the question Yu Bai had been interrupted on earlier. “I heard a sound in the bushes nearby.”
When he turned back to look, he saw the little girl pressed close to Yu Bai’s side, holding his hand, and caught the undisguised ice-cold hatred in those light brown eyes.
That uncontrollable wave of terrifying pressure spread out once more.
And this time, there was a specific target to bear it all.
“Not?” Yu Bai, very satisfied with Comrade Xie’s sharpness, kept staring coldly at Zhang Yizhe. “Then what are you doing here?”
He took a few steps forward and stopped in front of the boy, who had suddenly gone completely stiff.
Then Yu Bai bent down slightly and grabbed a fistful of his hair.
“Pulling other people’s hair is fun, huh?” The young man towering over him showed a hint of a smile, indifference written in his light brown eyes. “Isn’t it?”
He had no patience to guide or care for a kid who was visibly on track to grow into human scum.
An eye for an eye was the best way to teach him.
The stinging pain at his scalp left the boy speechless. He wanted to shake his head and admit his wrong, but for some reason, his whole body felt sucked into a vortex that could shred everything. He couldn’t move an inch, and even breathing became extremely difficult.
The terrifying black-haired man nearby was watching him expressionlessly as he was grabbed by the hair.
And he was very close to the brown-haired man.
In the next second, a deep despair spread across the boy’s paper-white face. His eyes rolled back, as if he wished he could die on the spot.
He Xi, who was gradually no longer afraid of him, suddenly covered her nose and blurted out, “What smell? It stinks!”
Yu Bai frowned almost at the same time and let go. “I smell it too. That’s…”
Once he figured out the source of the smell, he cut himself off in disgust and quickly backed up a few steps. He called to Xie Wufang. “Little Xie, let’s go. That’s gross.”
The boy who had been strutting around so arrogantly earlier had actually been scared into peeing himself.
Literally.
Xie Wufang naturally had no objection. He stepped forward to follow him. “Okay.”
After the three figures receded into the distance, Zhang Yizhe, slumped on the ground, finally breathed heavily as if he’d survived a disaster.
In the stinking air, he was a mess of tears and snot, sobbing pitifully.
He Xi, who kept glancing back, looked surprised. “He… he’s such a scaredy-cat.”
“Yeah, no need to fear him. He’s useless.” Yu Bai, still holding her hand, said, “That’s why he specifically picks on girls. Otherwise, why not go after Little Hang, who’s clearly younger-looking?”
He Xi nodded in agreement.
Actually, she thought part of it was because Brother Little Bai and God Brother were both too scary.
Especially the latter.
She sneaked a peek at Xie Wufang, who was right beside them now, and felt a thick wave of fear in her heart.
The black-haired, blue-eyed god was watching her too.
Or maybe the near-nonexistent distance between her and Brother Little Bai.
Why did it feel like she couldn’t… breathe?
Feeling suffocated in an instant, He Xi instinctively pulled her hand back from Brother Little Bai’s grasp. She gasped for air and hurriedly patted her chest with both hands, thinking it was from the stinky air earlier.
…Huh?
Why did patting it a few times make it better?
The little girl, who had slowed down and fallen a bit behind, looked bewildered. Yu Bai was also surprised by her odd behavior. “What’s wrong?”
He Xi was busy patting her chest and immediately said, “Nothing! That spot earlier was so stinky!”
Yu Bai glanced over but saw nothing unusual, so he didn’t think much of it and didn’t try to take the little girl’s hand again.
Because he had already spotted another sneaky little boy.
In the hazy night under the swaying treeshadows, a small pebble lightly struck that hunched little back.
Yuan Yuxing, who had been holding his breath to eavesdrop at the window, jolted all over and whipped his head back warily. He blurted out a smooth self-incrimination. “…I wasn’t peeking! I just happened to pass by!”
When he saw who it was, he slapped his chest hard and lowered his voice. “I thought it was someone else. You scared me to death! You nearly gave me a heart attack!!”
Yu Bai didn’t respond. He first imitated him and peeked through the window for a bit. He saw the silver-haired old man inside looking positively radiant, chatting happily with the younger generation around him, without any sign of distress. Only then did he temporarily relax.
He withdrew his gaze and got straight to the point without more chit-chat with Yuan Yuxing. “Was Uncle Zhang sent to the hospital today for a cerebral hemorrhage?”
Yuan Yuxing paused for a moment before his face grew serious. “No, I was just about to come find you to talk about this. Perfect timing that you’ve shown up.”
“Old Zhang had his accident this weekend. They didn’t give me the details, but it was definitely those turtle bastards who came harassing him about company business—and that got him killed!”
“But it absolutely wasn’t today! In our original world, this bunch didn’t show up at his house today pretending to care about him. If they had pulled something like that, Old Zhang would’ve called me up all excited to tell me about it.”
“Of course, that world didn’t have this cold snap, so plenty of things might’ve changed…”
Yuan Yuxing glanced once more at the cozy scene inside the room, completely baffled. “I was worried they’d cause Old Zhang to have his mishap early, so I’ve been keeping an eye on things ever since we got here. But I didn’t hear them bring up any of that irrelevant company nonsense at all. They just kept fussing over him, asking how he was holding up, chatting about everyday family stuff.”
“Could it really be that the news about the world ending made these bastards grow a conscience?”
Yu Bai listened quietly, pondering for a moment before asking, “You mentioned ‘company business’ earlier—what exactly did you mean? Did Uncle Zhang and his kids disagree on how to run the company?”
“Disagree? That’s putting it mildly!” Yuan Yuxing waved a hand emphatically. “Old Zhang’s company wasn’t any of their business to meddle in!”
Surprise flickered across Yu Bai’s face. “Not their business? But hasn’t Uncle Zhang stepped back from it?”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had all that free time to play Go in the park every day.
“Yeah, he handed it over to Xiao Meng—a reliable person who’d stuck with him through thick and thin for over twenty years… though, not so young anymore these days.”
Yuan Yuxing went on, “Xiao Meng’s a good sort, sharp as a tack when it comes to business. They helped grow the company even bigger. I don’t know much about running a business myself, but Old Zhang always said that for a group that size, only Xiao Meng could be trusted with it. That way, he could rest easy and do right by all those thousands of employees and their livelihoods.”
“He didn’t think his own kids measured up—their skills and character just weren’t there. They’d do more harm than good, so he only promised them a bit of stock… equity, right? And some cash too. Old Zhang figured that would set them up for life, no worries, no hassles.”
With a sigh, Yuan Yuxing added wistfully, “But those turtle bastards couldn’t see his good intentions for what they were. They got hell-bent on wresting the company away from Xiao Meng, saying all sorts of ugly nonsense. Ever since he made that call, the family’s been at odds—except for tonight.”
Gazing through the clear glass window, his expression distant, Yuan Yuxing watched his old friend. It had been ages since he’d seen such genuine joy and contentment on Old Zhang’s face.
The last time had probably been back in their boyhood days, when life was simple and all they cared about was Go.
Yu Bai, standing beside him, fell silent for a long while after hearing this.
To go against all opposition and hand over such a vast family empire to an outsider took real guts.
No wonder he’d built the business into something so massive.
It was a shame that none of Zhang Yunjiang’s sharp mind or visionary foresight had passed down to his money-grubbing kids.
After a brief silence, Yuan Yuxing mumbled, “Old Zhang really seems happy tonight. I couldn’t spot anything off. They didn’t breathe a word about the company… You think maybe they’ve finally come around to understanding what he meant?”
Even if that realization was way too late.
At least in this timespace, Zhang Yunjiang could still savor this long-overdue family warmth.
Yu Bai stayed quiet a moment longer, piecing together all the loose ends in his mind. Then he shook his head honestly. “Impossible.”
Yuan Yuxing blinked at the certainty in his tone. “Why not? What if—”
“No what ifs.” Yu Bai cut him off calmly, shattering the fantasy. “I know why they’ve suddenly turned nice.”
Not even the finality of death had made them see sense. No chance it’d happen while he was still alive.
Yuan Yuxing stared. “Why?”
“Because of us showing up,” Yu Bai said. “Especially you and He Xi.”
The little boy looked utterly baffled. “Huh? Me and He Xi?”
“They’ve never even met He Xi before. Heck, Old Zhang didn’t recognize me either—let alone them!”
But Yu Bai insisted, “Exactly—never seeing you two before is what makes you scarier to them. Remember what Uncle Zhang kept calling me?”
Yuan Yuxing nodded at once. “Yeah—Little Doctor Yu!”
“Right. Uncle Zhang thinks I’m a doctor, so that’s what he calls me, and everyone else in the house has heard it.”
“So picture this: A doctor shows up with two kids no one’s ever seen, moves into the home of a filthy rich old man, gets treated with open generosity—and makes him extra happy.”
“And this old man once defied everyone to hand the whole group over to an outsider. None of his kids bought his good intentions; instead, they spread all kinds of nasty rumors.”
Finally, Yu Bai summed it up. “Right now, they probably think one of those old suspicions came true. Uncle Zhang doesn’t not want to leave the company to his kids—he just hasn’t decided which ones yet.”
Yuan Yuxing’s jaw dropped. “B-but Old Zhang introduced us as Go buddies, and they didn’t question it—their attitudes were all super friendly!”
“Go buddies? You think they’d buy that?” Yu Bai replied. “And even if they did, do they dare question it now?”
Faced with these mysterious new rivals—who posed a real threat—they sure as hell wouldn’t treat the old man like they used to.
Back then, they’d gotten cocky with their blood ties, figuring he had no other options.
Not anymore.
Not with these new favorites who clearly had Zhang Yunjiang’s heart.
Heck, they’d even earned his genuine praise on Go—his favorite thing.
With that explanation, Yuan Yuxing finally got it, understanding every odd thing about tonight. His face flushed red with anger. “I knew they weren’t up to any good, but to twist things about Old Zhang like that? That’s just too…”
Words failed him, boiling down to one furious outburst.
“A bunch of fucking turtle bastards!!”
Yu Bai had already anticipated this and clapped his hands over He Xi’s ears. “Watch the language—kids are present.”
The little girl, warmed by Big Brother’s palms, suddenly shivered and patted her chest on reflex.
The little boy, chest tight with fury, did the same, stifling his rage as he rubbed his sternum.
Both had caught Yu Bai’s words and asked in near unison, “So what do we do now?”
Yu Bai’s gaze swept past the two short figures and settled on Xie Wufang, who hadn’t said a word.
For the moment, things looked stable—no immediate worry for Zhang Yunjiang’s heart or brain.
The old man, oblivious to the shifts around him, was getting more care than usual.
“What we should do now…” Yu Bai thought it over, then said, “Help Uncle Zhang get some payback.”
Yuan Yuxing’s eyes lit up. “For real? I’d love to help Old Zhang vent this anger! How do we do it? Can I pitch in?”
Yu Bai didn’t hesitate. “Of course—an eye for an eye. Piss them off good.”
It was a life lesson from the elder who’d once sent over a truckload of mink coats: hit back where it hurts.
As he spoke, something amused him, and he grinned. “Uncle Yuan, actually, you could help out big time.”
“What? Tell me!”
Yu Bai deadpanned the joke with perfect seriousness. “Pick one of us three and call them ‘Daddy’—when Uncle Zhang isn’t looking.”
He listed them with a smile. “Me, Little Xie, or Yan Jing.”
Yuan Yuxing, full of eager anticipation, nearly tripped over himself at the absurd idea. “Huh? What the heck?”
But the moment the words left his mouth, realization dawned. It just might work as payback.
Compared to grandkids still too young, having a grown-up “son” their age would drive those turtle bastards insane—unable to eat or sleep.
Yu Bai considered it seriously. “I probably won’t do—I’m your uncle already, and the age might not fit. How about Yan Jing?”
He looked a bit too much like a college kid.
“No way, no how!” Yuan Yuxing shook his head wildly, repulsed at calling the Big Dumb Guy “Dad.” “Asking me to call him that? Might as well kill me!”
If neither Yu Bai nor Yan Jing worked, that left…
The two kids turned their eyes in unison toward the terrifying presence who’d loomed large all evening.
Xie Wufang, hearing his name dropped repeatedly by Yu Bai, stared back with brooding intensity. Gray-blue eyes churned with a stormy edge, his all-black suit lending him an otherworldly aura that sent chills down the spine.
Yu Bai couldn’t imagine a better pick for “heir” than Xie Wufang right then.
“…”
The little boy, hit by that fearsome vibe, felt his knees buckle. The words slipped out unbidden.
“D-Dad! Daddy!”
To be honest, if it weren’t for the fact that seniority only required addressing him up to this point…
From the depths of his heart, his instincts truly urged him to cry out “Grandpa.”
Or even “Ancestor!”
