Jingdu’s unrest was prominent under the night veil. Lusts of all sorts had broken through their confines in the dark and had flooded to every corner of the city.
Zhang Yumei had been busy since morning. When evening arrived, she had already cooked up a full feast spread for dinner. Now, all that was left was to wait for their guests to arrive.
Tang Tianlong could barely smile, despite the sight of many mouth-watering dishes and quality booze. He had heard from Tang Bochuan about Tang Yuyan and Xia Lei making out in the streets earlier that day. It was knowledge fueled with shame.
Zhang Yumei too could not muster a single smile. This dinner was made not with love but with great reluctance.
Judging this from the Tangs’ perspective, this wasn’t a joyous occasion worth celebrating. The Tang family’s women were all decent women and their family was one of the largest families in the country’s history. The fact that Tang Yuyan was about to become Xia Lei’s fifth wife was incredibly indecent and inappropriate.
In the eyes of the public, Xia Lei’s heaps of women was a great feat. But to the Tang family, such messy private affairs were absolutely unacceptable.
“Is the kid here yet?” asked Zhang Yumei.
Tang Tianlong answered, “No, not yet. Honestly, I would rather him not come.”
Zhang Yumei replied, “I had always wanted the kid to be with our Yuyan in the past. But I certainly wasn’t expecting him to cohabitate with four women. I feel very iffy about it. I have no idea how these women are able to stand the thought of sharing the same husband. It’s just utterly disgusting.”
“Disgusting? I too think it’s super distasteful but for the sake of our clan, we must endure this no matter how uncomfortable it gets.” Tang Yunhai’s voice came from the door. The old man was dressed in a traditional Tangzhuang. He looked extremely energized tonight. He held a crutch in one hand but if someone thought it was a walking tool, they were gravely mistaken. That was actually his weapon.
Tang Bochuan too emerged from the door, his expressions rather lax in comparison to the others. He cast a smile at everyone. “Father, mother, it’s the twenty-first century now. Things are different. That sort of thing is no big deal in modern society. Xia Lei and his women all live in that area in absolute peace. It really is no big deal.”
“That’s the nation’s extended kindness. The country is too lenient to him.” Tang Tianlong furrowed his brows.
Tang Yunhai slammed his crutch onto the ground. “Tianlong, I may be older than you but my mindset is not. Are you aware of who Fan Fan is? She’s the head of Station ZN and her official rank is higher than yours. Even she is willing to be one of Xia Lei’s many women. Are you saying that woman is nothing like your daughter?”
Tang Tianlong dared not talk back.
Tang Yunhai continued, “It took Yuyan so many twists and turns to finally be with the kid. This should be something great for our family. I heard from old friends residing in the same area that all of Xia Lei’s children are freakishly smart. The babies are all able to speak at only one-month-old. If our Yuyan decides to stick with him, she’ll be pregnant with his children too. A child who has inherited the world’s best genetics will definitely serve as an asset to the Tang family and bring us to greater heights. Isn’t that something good?”
Zhang Yumei attempted to defend her husband. “Father, it’s not that we don’t understand what you mean but this whole thing is just unbearably comfortable to sit through. But don’t you worry, when the kid is here, I won’t utter anything else.” She nudged Tang Tianlong with her elbow.
Tang Tianlong followed, “Yeah. Father, rest assured that I’m a person who can read the air and take care of the overall situation. I won’t do anything to the kid.”
“Very well. We need to see this in the long term.” Tang Yunhai continued, “Yuyan will enter Xia Lei’s family and become his wife. Then, she’ll get ahold of a part of Thunder Horse’s shares. Thunder Horse’s original shares are very important to us that it concerns our vitality for the next century and, god forbid, two more centuries. We cannot afford to mess this up.”
“Understood, father.” The discomfort in Tang Tianlong’s heart had long dissipated.
Zhang Yumei smiled. “If you say so, tonight is certainly a joyous occasion for us. We should celebrate with good booze and have Xia Lei stay the night here.”
Tang Yunhai nodded slightly and gave his permission.
Abruptly, Tang Bochuan interjected, “Grandpa, father, mother, I… I noticed something today.”
“What is it?” Tang Yunhai’s attention fell onto his grandson.
There was a bit of reluctant silence before Tang Bochuan went on, “When I went to look for Tang Yuyan and found them kissing, I noticed that Xia Lei had a necklace in his grip. I’ve seen him with it ever since our first encounter. That is nothing but a normal necklace. But are you aware of this? That the Sacred Heart he gifted Shentu Tianyin is at least worth one hundred and ten million and the gem necklace he gave Yuyan is now estimated to be at least fifty million. He’s a man who can afford to give precious necklaces to women but he only wears a worthless alloy necklace that is only worth a few dozen dollars. When I noticed the necklace in his grip, I couldn't help but be confused. Didn’t he give my sister a fifty million dollar gemstone necklace? Why is wearing a cheap necklace? This felt too unreasonable so I deliberately slowed down to read their conversation. Guess what did I read from their lips?”
Zhang Yumei chided, “Bochuan, since when have you started adopting suspense?! Come on, spit it out!”
Tang Bochuan chuckled lightly. “Turns out the pendant of the alloy necklace holds the AE capsule.”
“Huh?” Tang Yunhai couldn’t help but gasp.
Tang Tianlong was at the edge of his seat. “Bochuan, isn’t that the pill the late Madam Folsom from Lockheed Martin had spoken of during the Boao Forum? The one that enabled Xia Lei’s supposed evolution?”
The man nodded. “That’s right. I’m guessing that the AE capsule in the pendant is the last and only of its kind left on this world. Now to think of it, the CIA had been on several operations in our country a few years back. Their target must’ve been the AE capsule in Xia Lei’s possession.”
Tang Yunhai suddenly thought of something. He gushed, “I remember now. Xia Lei always had this alloy necklace around his neck every time we met. If it wasn’t holding something as important as the AE capsule, he wouldn’t even think of bringing that around.”
Zhang Yumei supplied, “It’ll be great if we can get the AE capsule. Our family has a large pharmaceutical factory in Shudi and a highly-advanced biotech lab. If we can get a hold of the AE capsule, we can even mass-produce it. When that time comes, we’ll have no more use for Xia Lei.”
“If we can get that done…” Tang Bochuan stared at the night sky beyond the door frame hotly. “We might even be able to become the strongest family in the whole wide world. Our influence will not be limited to only China! We’ll trample even the ancient families of Europe!”
The four in the dining hall could no longer calm down. Xia Lei had been able to attain his current success all thanks to the AE capsules. If the Tang family could get a hold of it, they would certainly get more use out of it than Xia Lei did. For one, the Tang family had a solid foundation built over centuries of effort while Xia Lei was nothing but a poor construction worker starting out. If a penniless kid could one day grow to become the national hero of China and garner assets worth more than billions, Tang family could certainly become more.
Right at that moment, Tang Yunhai’s earlobe twitched. He quickly said, “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Yumei, bring the box in my study over.”
“Father, you’re…” Zhang Yumei was beginning to feel nervous.
Tang Yunhai narrowed his eyes.” Do as I say. Do not ask why.”
“Alright, I’ll go get it for you.” Zhang Yumei turned around and left the dining hall.
Following that, Tang Yunhai stood. “Let’s go meet the kid in the living room.”
In the living room, Xia Lei placed a huge gift on the coffee table beside the couch. While he looked calm, Tang Yuyan was a nervous wreck on the other hand. After all, the one who needed to bid the Tang family’s ties farewell was her, not him. As soon as she thought of their faces, her palpitation couldn’t help but pick up its rate.
Xia Lei seemed to have picked up on her anxiety. He grabbed her fingers and comforted her gently, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”
“Yeah.” Tang Yuyan lightly responded.
Xia Lei came closer to her ear and whispered, “Have you forgotten about the things I said to you earlier? I’m not asking you to cut off contact and forget about your parents. You just need to stop getting involved with them economically and politically. Do you get what I’m saying?”
Tang Yuyan nodded. A sudden flurry of emotions prompted her to place her weight on Xia Lei and bury her face into his neck. She inhaled his scent. The reality of having him in her proximity brings her some sense of security. It was stimulating. Being in his arms felt so good.
“Ehem.” An old man cleared his throat.
Tang Yuyan quickly let Xia Lei go and snapped her head to the door, immediately noting Tang Yunhai, Tang Tianlong and Tang Bochuan’s presence.
All three generations of the Tang men had entered the space.
“Hehe, Xia Lei… Xia Lei… After what happened last time, you had never visited our residence ever again. What wind has blown you here this time?” Tang Yunhai prompted a topic.
Xia Lei smiled at him. “It’s good to see you, Old Man Tang, Uncle Tang and Bochuan.” Finishing his greeting, he continued Tang Yunhai’s conversation without breaking a sweat. “Old Man Tang, I have been too busy to visit. After we parted last time, I’ve been holed up in the Thunder Horse Organization busy researching drones. I’ve only managed to enjoy some free time now. As soon as I began my break, I’m already here to visit.”
“Hahaha…” Tang Yunhai guffawed. “You’re such a smooth-talker, kid.”
“Not at all. Not at all.” Xia Lei said, “Right, I brought everyone some gifts. I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
Tang Yuyan peeled open the huge pile of gifts and produced a bag of tea leaves for Tang Yunhai. “Grandpa, these are some tea leaves from Xia Lei. These were hand-picked from a thousand-year-old tea tree in Tongmu Village, Wuyi Mountain. It’s very precious. Xia Lei had to ask his friend to buy it from a local. It’s hard to get a hold of.”
Tang Yunhai merely scanned the packaging and placed the tea leaves that were worth more than gold onto the coffee table. Nonchalantly, he muttered, “Ah, lovely.”
“Father, Xia Lei brought you a bottle of booze. It’s the Laojiao loose wine bought from Maotai Town, I heard it tastes better than the bottled ones. I really hope you’ll like it.” Tang Yuyan handed the earthen jar of booze carefully to Tang Tianlong.
Tang Tianlong bore no expression as he stared at Tang Yuyan. It was only until Tang Yunhai had tossed him a look that the man was willing to accept it. All that escaped his lips was a light “Mm, good.”
Lastly, Xia Lei’s gift to Tang Bochuan was a Rolex wristwatch, which so happened to be the most expensive gift out of the bunch. When Tang Yuyan passed the watch to Tang Bochuan, the man regarded with a smile, “Oh dear, Xia Lei. I can’t accept such an expensive gift for no reason. But if you’re intending these gifts to be dowry, I have to say, it isn’t enough.”
To that Xia Lei flashed him a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Xia Lei was no longer the same man he was back then. He could easily tell apart fake smiles and fake attitudes.