110: Chapter 110 Chen Fan's "Family Rules"

In Chen Family Village, inside that three-story small villa covered in cheap ceramic tiles, the lights were brightly lit.

On the coffee table in the living room sat half a bottle of low-quality liquor and a small dish of peanuts. Chen Jianguo was wearing a tank top, fanning himself vigorously with a large cattail leaf fan—he was fanning out of pure anger.

"That little brat! He actually went out drinking?" Chen Jianguo took a fierce swig of the liquor, grimacing from the burn. "He's completely humiliated me at the village entrance! Other people drive a maybach, yet he drove a crappy sports car and got carried away and tossed aside! When he gets back, I'm going to break his legs!"

Just as he was cursing, the front door was kicked open.

Chen Haoyu rushed in with a face flushed red, looking less like a profligate son and more like a general who had just won a battle.

"Dad! Stop drinking this swill!" Chen Haoyu strode over and snatched the glass out of Chen Jianguo's hand. "Our family won't be drinking this industrial alcohol anymore. From now on, we're switching to Moutai!"

"You've got some nerve!" Chen Jianguo was fuming, raising his fan to strike his son's head. "You still have the face to come back? Today at the village entrance, that delivery boy Chen Fan..."

"Delivery boy my ass!" Chen Haoyu didn't dodge; instead, he shoved his phone screen right under Chen Jianguo's nose. "Dad, open your eyes and take a good look! What's this!"

Chen Jianguo was momentarily blinded by the light of the phone screen.

He squinted his presbyopic eyes, intending to continue his scolding, but when his gaze landed on that string of numbers, the curses got stuck in his throat.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands...

"Five hundred thousand?!" The fan in Chen Jianguo's hand fell to the floor with a thud.

He rubbed his eyes vigorously and grabbed Chen Haoyu's wrist with enough force to crush bone. "Did you... did you rob a bank? Or did you sell that piece-of-junk car?"

"Could selling that car even get this much?" Chen Haoyu smugly pulled his phone back, even spinning it in his hand. "This is a greeting gift! Given by Younger Male Cousin Muyang! Just now, at a bar in the county seat—this is just a bit of grease leaking from between his fingers!"

Chen Jianguo's mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.

Five hundred thousand!

His construction team worked themselves to death for a whole year, and after deducting material costs and worker wages, this was about the amount they'd have left. Yet Chen Fan's son, who looked so cold and distant, just gave it away like that?

"Did he... did he ask you to do something like murder or arson?" Chen Jianguo swallowed hard, his heart pounding with anxiety.

"Murder my ass!" Chen Haoyu flopped onto the sofa and crossed his legs. "He just wants me to help maintain order during the ancestral worship tomorrow and block those poor relatives who want to crowd around. To put it bluntly, I'm just acting as a high-end security guard."

After hearing this, Chen Jianguo was stunned for a full half-minute.

Just as Chen Haoyu thought his old man was going to praise his competence, Chen Jianguo suddenly exploded, delivering a heavy slap to the back of Chen Haoyu's head.

*Smack!*

The slap was crisp and loud, leaving Chen Haoyu dazed.

"Dad! Why did you hit me? I earned five hundred thousand!"

"You worthless thing! Do you have a pig's brain?" Chen Jianguo pointed at his son's nose, trembling with rage. "You let him brush you off with just five hundred thousand? Huh? Do you actually think you got a good deal?"

Chen Haoyu clutched his head, looking aggrieved. "Isn't it a good deal? That's cash!"

"Good deal my ass!" Chen Jianguo paced around the living room in frustration. "What kind of net worth does Chen Fan have now? He's the kind of man who drives a rolls-royce and flies in private jets! You're his cousin! You're blood relatives! Are you only worth five hundred thousand?"

Chen Jianguo rushed in front of his son, spraying spit all over his face. "You should have knelt! You should have hugged his leg and cried! You should have said you didn't want money, that you just wanted to stay by his side as a lackey, even if it was just to carry his shoes! Think about it—if you could get into his company and he just leaked a tiny project to our family, would that be a matter of five hundred thousand? That would be five million! Fifty million!"

Chen Haoyu was dumbfounded.

He thought he was shameless enough, but he hadn't realized his father's level was in the stratosphere.

"Then... should I go back and return the money?" Chen Haoyu asked tentatively.

"Return it my ass! Can money that's entered your pocket be spat back out?" Chen Jianguo glared at him, his eyes darting as he immediately changed his tune. "Since you took the money, you have to do the job beautifully tomorrow! Not just do it, but do it with flair! Don't even think about sleeping tomorrow morning—go now! Go wait downstairs at the hotel where Chen Fan is staying!"

"Huh? Right now?"

"Yes! Right now!" Chen Jianguo hauled his son off the sofa and shoved him toward the door. "Remember, from now on, Chen Fan isn't your second uncle, he's your biological father! Muyang isn't your cousin, he's your ancestor! If anyone dares to say a single bad word about them during the ancestral worship, you go up and bite them! The kind of bite that draws blood! Do you understand?!"

Pushed to the doorway, Chen Haoyu looked at his father's face—distorted by greed yet appearing incredibly "wise"—and nodded heavily.

"Dad, I get it. As long as the money is right, you'd even tear up the family tree and rewrite it overnight."

"Get lost! Hurry up!"

...

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

Downstairs at the best five-star hotel in the county, a person was crouching next to the wheel of a maybach.

Chen Haoyu, sporting two massive dark circles under his eyes and holding a newly bought chamois cloth, was frantically polishing the already gleaming wheel rim. He had been stationed there for four hours without moving, and even the security guards at the entrance had changed shifts twice.

Seven o'clock sharp.

Chen Fan's family walked out of the hotel entrance right on time.

Just as Chen Muyang was about to head toward his car, he saw a dark shadow dart over with a "whoosh," moving as nimbly as a stray dog spotting a bone.

"Second Uncle! Auntie! Brother Yang! Little Sister! Morning!"

Chen Haoyu wore a smile more brilliant than the rising sun, holding several warm thermos cups in his hands. "This is soy milk I ran across three streets to buy early this morning. It's freshly ground, no sugar, healthy!"

Chen Nianyao was startled and hid behind Su Wanqing. "Oh my god, who is this? Why does he look like a refugee?"

Chen Muyang glanced at the wheel rim that was shiny enough to be a mirror, then at Chen Haoyu's bloodshot eyes, and his lip couldn't help but twitch.

"Did you sleep under the car last night?" Chen Muyang asked.

"No! How could I sleep!" Chen Haoyu handed over the soy milk with a righteous expression. "Since I took Brother Yang's money, I have to be worthy of that trust! My dad scolded me to no end last night, saying I was worthless for only asking for five hundred thousand and that I should be paying Brother Yang to be his driver! I thought about it, and my dad is right! So I came over overnight to reflect!"

These words were spoken with such complete openness that they performed the concept of "shamelessness" to the absolute limit.

*Pfft.*

Su Wanqing couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Chen Fan was also amused. He took the soy milk, had a sip, and patted Chen Haoyu on the shoulder. "Alright, your father is a sensible man. This soy milk isn't bad. You shall be rewarded."

"Yes, sir!" Chen Haoyu happily ran over to pull the car door open, thoughtfully placing his palm over the door frame and bowing ninety degrees. "Second Uncle, please! Auntie, please! Watch the step!"

Chen Muyang shook his head at the scene and got into the car.

Although this guy was quite a character, he had to admit that having such an eccentric person around did save a lot of trouble. At the very least, that all-out shamelessness could block many nuisances.

"Let's go."

Chen Muyang gave the order.

Chen Haoyu slipped into the driver's seat of the lead car and hit the gas. The maybach, like a black beast, led the motorcade as it grandly drove toward the Chen family's ancestral graves.

Inside the car, Su Wanqing looked at her nephew in the front, who was keeping his back straight even while driving and occasionally grinning foolishly at the rearview mirror. The slight estrangement in her heart completely vanished.

"This child..." Su Wanqing shook her head with a smile. "He might be a bit muddled, but he doesn't have bad intentions."

"He was just knocked sensible by money." Chen Fan leaned against the seat back, watching the scenery fly by with a deep gaze. "But this is fine too. It takes a villain to grind down a villain. When we get to the ancestral graves later, there will be plenty of monsters and demons waiting for us. Haoyu is the perfect knife to use for the carving."

The motorcade drove out of the county seat and turned onto a dirt road leading into the mountains.

From a distance, the hillside of the Chen family's ancestral graves was visible. At this moment, the essential intersection was already packed with a dense crowd. It wasn't a welcoming party, but a swarm of flies that had caught the scent of blood.

When Chen Haoyu saw the crowd through the windshield, his eyes instantly lit up.

He knew that his chance to earn merit before his father and perform for Brother Yang had arrived.

"Brother Yang, there are people blocking the way ahead. It looks like Third Great-Aunt's family." Chen Haoyu grabbed the walkie-talkie, his voice brimming with excitement. "Sit tight and watch how I clear the roadblocks for our Chen family!"