175: Chapter 175 The Chen Family's Final Test in the Capital

The autumn wind swept up a few fallen leaves from the old locust tree in the courtyard, coloring this Courtyard House with an increasingly tranquil layer of gold.

Inside the study, Chen Fan's well-defined fingers tapped lightly on the "Future Three-Year Development Plan for the Huihuang Investment Society" submitted by Chen Muyang. The report's logic was clear and ambitious, yet it proceeded step by step, showing a maturity in detail far beyond his peers.

He was very satisfied.

Just then, Chen Haoyu's figure appeared at the door. He didn't announce himself, but just stood there quietly. His expression was a rare kind of seriousness.

Chen Fan looked up. "Speak."

"Boss," Chen Haoyu lowered his voice, "The old master of the Chen family, Chen Jianguo, asked Elder Li from the General Administration to pass on a message. He wants to... meet you alone."

Elder Li, the official veteran who had once nodded to Chen Fan at the economic forum, carried immense weight. Using this connection was enough to show that the other party had no other options left.

"Time and place." Chen Fan's tone was devoid of any ripples, as if he were just confirming an ordinary business meeting.

"Seven o'clock tonight, Houhai, 'Buyu Teahouse'."

...

Houhai under the night sky had shed its daytime bustle. The water reflected the scattered lights from the shore, quiet and deep.

Buyu Teahouse was a two-story building constructed by the water, with upturned eaves and corners, simple and unadorned. Tonight, there wasn't a single customer here.

Accompanied only by Chen Haoyu, Chen Fan pushed open the heavy wooden door.

Passing through the corridor hung with bamboo curtains, he immediately saw that solitary figure at the tea table by the window.

Chen Jianguo wore a dark Tang suit that was somewhat faded from washing. His hair was entirely white and meticulously combed. The aura he once had while commanding the winds and clouds of the capital had been ground away by time and successive heavy blows, leaving only the exhaustion and haggardness of an ordinary old man.

Hearing the footsteps, he slowly raised his head. His clouded gaze fell on Chen Fan. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

Chen Fan sat down opposite him, his expression calm. Chen Haoyu stood half a step behind him like an Iron Tower.

Silence permeated the air.

Ultimately, it was Chen Jianguo who broke the silence. He didn't say any polite pleasantries but simply picked up the pre-warmed purple clay teapot beside him and personally filled the small celadon cup in front of Chen Fan. His hand trembled slightly, and the scalding tea almost overflowed the rim.

It was a complete and intricate Kung Fu Tea ceremony; every movement exuded a deliberate solemnity.

This posture was that of an elder to a junior, and even more so, that of a loser to a winner.

"Mother Tree Da Hong Pao from Mount Wuyi, stored for twenty years." Chen Jianguo finally spoke, his voice as raspy as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper. "Your mother... used to like this flavor the most."

Mentioning that name, a flash of complex emotion crossed his eyes—reminiscence, guilt, and perhaps a hint of calculation to exploit that guilt.

Standing behind, Chen Haoyu's heart shook slightly. He had imagined coercion, bribery, or even tearful pleas for mercy, but he hadn't expected this old man, who had been proud his whole life, to choose such a way to open.

Chen Jianguo seemed unable to read any information from Chen Fan's unchanging expression. He sighed and took out a heavy book with severely worn edges from the wooden box beside him, pushing it to the center of the tea table with both hands.

It was the Chen family's Genealogy book.

"Regarding what happened back then, I was old and muddled. It was our Chen family that wronged you and your mother." The old man's voice carried a hint of a tremor. "As long as you nod today, I will immediately gather all the clansmen and use the most grand ceremony to write your and your father's names back onto the first page of this Genealogy book."

He stared fixedly at Chen Fan and uttered his final bargaining chip.

"From now on, you, Chen Fan, will be the sole and undisputed heir of the Chen family."

This sentence caused Chen Haoyu's breathing to pause for half a second.

This wasn't a negotiation; this was a surrender. It was laying the final dignity and future of a century-old family unreservedly before the other party, just to seek the status of 'recognizing one's ancestors and returning to the clan.'

However, from beginning to end, Chen Fan didn't touch that cup of steaming tea, nor did his gaze linger on the Genealogy book for even a second.

He listened quietly, like the most patient listener.

Not until Chen Jianguo broke into a fit of violent coughing due to his emotional fluctuations did he finally speak, his tone as indifferent as if they were discussing the weather.

"You seem to have... misunderstood something."

This light sentence made all of Chen Jianguo's emotional buildup feel like a punch landing on a ball of cotton.

The old man was stunned. Thinking Chen Fan didn't believe his sincerity, he hurriedly waved his hand and added in an almost pleading tone, "Huihuang Group doesn't care for the remaining assets of the Chen family, I understand! I don't want shares, I don't want anything! As long as you nod, Chens Department Store and those overseas industries that are still operational will all be merged into Huihuang, at your disposal!"

"I only ask... I beg you to leave a way out, a means of survival, for those good-for-nothing descendants of the Chen family's branch lines."

After saying this, his whole being seemed to have all its strength drained away. He slumped against the back of the chair, gasping for air.

Offering up the last of his flesh and blood, his posture was humbled to the dust.

Even Chen Haoyu felt a surge of alarm.

Inside the study, a deathly silence fell once again.

After a long while, Chen Fan stood up.

From a commanding perspective, he could clearly see the sparse white hair on top of Chen Jianguo's head and the deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

On his face, there was no anger, no mockery, not even a trace of a winner's gratification.

Only calmness.

A calmness sufficient to freeze any hope.

"As for me and the Chen family, from nineteen years ago, when my mother held me and was driven out of that gate, there has been no connection whatsoever."

His voice was very soft, yet it was like a scalpel, precisely dissecting all the disguises woven by Chen Jianguo with 'family ties' and 'guilt,' every word piercing the heart.

"We are not family, and we don't even count as enemies."

Chen Fan looked at the old man's face, which instantly turned as pale as paper, and delivered the final definition.

"We are just former competitors in the business world."

"Only that."

Boom!

These few sentences were more cruel than the evaporation of fifty billion in market value or the stripping away of all glory.

It defined all of Chen Jianguo's current humility, repentance, emotional buildup, and the 'family' and 'bloodline' he cherished as a self-indulgent, meaningless summary of a business action.

The old man's body began to tremble violently. He wanted to say something, opened his mouth, but couldn't make any sound. The last bit of light in those clouded eyes was completely extinguished.

Chen Fan didn't give him another look. He took Chen Haoyu and turned to leave.

The moment their feet stepped over the threshold of the teahouse.

From behind came a "crack."

It was the crisp sound of porcelain shattering, exceptionally piercing in the quiet night.

Chen Haoyu instinctively looked back. Through the gap in the bamboo curtains, he saw only that former overlord who once dominated the capital, slumped in the armchair like a clay sculpture whose soul had been drained, motionless.

The final probe of Beijing Chen Family concluded in a manner more thorough than physical destruction.