Chapter 292: Are You Trying to Kill Me with Shock?
Normally, on New Year's Eve, Donghua Garden is not open, because this is a traditional day for Chinese families to reunite. But today, Donghua Garden was not as deserted as the previous days. Outside Nuanshan Pavilion, the security was extremely tight.
Inside Nuanshan Pavilion, two elderly men with gray hair were chatting casually. Most of the topics were irrelevant nonsense—such as global warming, or whether one of their families recently had a great-great-grandson, or even gossip about some trending celebrities. They talked about everything under the sun, but none of it had any substance. In fact, hearing such things from men of their age gave the conversation a strong sense of absurd humor.
One of the two men was the head of the Cai family, Cai Yong, and the other was the leader of the Shen family, Shen Daoyan. Shen Daoyan's status was undoubtedly higher than Cai Yong's, so most of this pointless chatter was initiated by him. Although Cai Yong was utterly lost in the conversation, he still had to force himself to play along.
The two rambled like this for nearly an hour, yet the topic was still stuck on the gossip about one of Shen Daoyan's grandsons dating a popular domestic female celebrity.
He even began to suspect whether Shen Daoyan was suffering from senility or memory loss. Talking such nonsense—especially for two men of such status—was truly beneath them.
What the hell is this, seriously!
He hadn't even eaten breakfast and had rushed over immediately. After arriving, he only drank a glass of warm water, which made him feel even hungrier. But with Shen Daoyan continuing to ramble, he couldn't very well just stand up, pat his stomach, and say—
I'm starving.
In terms of position, Shen Daoyan had always outranked him by one level, and had been his superior for twenty years. In terms of seniority, he still had to respectfully call him uncle—his mother was Shen Daoyan's older sister, even though the two men were only three years apart in age.
Only three years apart.
But despite being uncle and nephew, he never called him "Uncle." He always addressed him respectfully as "Elder Shen!"
Meanwhile, Shen Daoyan always called him "Little Cai."
Cai Yong glanced at the time and saw it was already past ten o'clock.
At this rate, they might as well stay for lunch. Although Shen Daoyan never said what time he and Qiao Zhengguo had agreed to meet, he had called around eight and told Cai Yong to arrive before nine.
So by his estimation, the appointment should have been at nine. Yet now it was more than an hour past nine.
What exactly was going on? Finally, he couldn't hold it in anymore and asked, "Um… Elder Shen, when is Qiao Zhengguo coming?"
"Qiao Zhengguo?" Shen Daoyan's face clearly darkened. "Strange indeed. That boy must've run into some trouble today. Why don't you give him a call? How dare he be late—I'll have to scold him properly."
Seeing his expression, Cai Yong finally understood. People say the older one gets, the more one clings to past glory—and the less one can tolerate losing face. Truly accurate.
In their earlier years, he and Qiao Zhengguo had actually both worked under Shen Daoyan, though Qiao Zhengguo for a shorter time. Shen Daoyan probably still regarded him as a subordinate.
Most likely, Qiao Zhengguo was deliberately arriving late, and Shen Daoyan—unable to bear the humiliation—dragged him here to make him sit through this pointless conversation.
Once Cai Yong understood this, he became even more frustrated. You're the one getting embarrassed—why drag me down with you?
But he couldn't say that aloud. He glanced at Shen Daoyan, knowing full well that this was not the time for internal discord. So he swallowed his irritation and pulled out his phone to call Qiao Zhengguo.
What nearly made him cough blood was that Qiao Zhengguo didn't answer.
Damn it—just months ago, he himself had ignored Qiao Zhengguo's calls and even sent his son in his place to humiliate him.
And now, after just a few months, the tables had turned, and he was the one being toyed with.
After hanging up, he wanted to immediately blacklist him, but seeing Shen Daoyan's expression, he reluctantly dialed again.
This time, Qiao Zhengguo finally picked up.
"Little Cai, what's the matter?"
Little Cai?
For a moment, Cai Yong couldn't process the words. Hearing them come from Qiao Zhengguo's mouth felt… bizarre.
Aren't you two years younger than me, you smug bastard? How arrogant can you get?
Suppressing his urge to explode, he forced himself to ask, "Little Qiao, didn't you schedule a meeting with Elder Shen at Donghua Garden today? Where are you now?"
You call me Little Cai, I'll call you Little Qiao—call it even.
"Donghua Garden? Are you insane? It's New Year's Eve. Why would I go there today?" Qiao Zhengguo said lightly, sounding relaxed—but not friendly.
"Pfft!" Cai Yong nearly experienced a blood pressure spike. Shen Daoyan couldn't possibly have lied about something like this—among major families, no matter how fierce the rivalry, surface-level courtesy was always maintained. But Qiao Zhengguo wasn't giving the slightest face.
Of course, his own behavior months earlier toward Qiao Zhengguo had conveniently vanished from his memory.
"Alright, if you say there's no appointment, then so be it. I'll inform Elder Shen."
"Wait, Shen Daoyan is there too?"
Hearing this, Cai Yong froze again. Damn! Shen Daoyan? Could you at least call him Elder Shen? Your tone makes it sound like you two are equals.
Even if your family is powerful, you're still part of the second-tier group. Unless you think you've already become part of the first-tier, you still need to show respect.
"Why, should I tell him you don't know about this?" Cai Yong asked quietly as he stepped aside.
"Go ahead and tell him. Ah right, I remember now—there was something like that. Fine, let's meet at eleven."
"Eleven?" Cai Yong immediately fumbled for two blood pressure pills and swallowed them. "Qiao Zhengguo, you sure think highly of yourself—making Elder Shen wait until eleven?"
"I just have a small emergency. Alright, I'll have the driver head over now."
After hanging up, Cai Yong's face darkened. Shen Daoyan immediately turned to him, unable to hide his eagerness. "Well? Did you figure it out? Did that boy run into something?"
Something? Trouble?
More like acting like a big shot!
Cai Yong looked at Shen Daoyan. He absolutely could not tell the truth. If he did, Shen Daoyan might think he was stirring discord. Not that discord needed stirring—they were barely maintaining surface-level politeness as it was.
Still, speaking too bluntly would leave no one any face.
"No trouble. Seems he just got caught up with something urgent. He said he'll be here at eleven." Cai Yong replied gloomily, but unable to resist venting a little, he added, "Elder Shen, don't you think Qiao Zhengguo has been acting a bit too arrogantly lately? Making you wait…"
"Everyone gets caught up sometimes. Forget it, let's not fuss over it." Shen Daoyan said magnanimously.
Hearing this, Cai Yong trembled again. Without thinking, he reached into his pocket for more blood pressure pills. This tone… was he still pretending? Acting cute now?
But he couldn't expose him.
Instead, suspicion arose. Shen Daoyan's attitude was far too strange today—this wasn't like him at all. If this were happening to himself, he'd never tolerate it. Let alone someone as concerned with face as Shen Daoyan.
But he didn't want to question it. People who can endure without showing it often harbor the deepest resentment. For all he knew, Shen Daoyan might already be suffering internal injuries from irritation.
He was secretly hoping for the Shen and Qiao families to fight. The bigger, the better.
"Yes, it is New Year's Eve after all." he responded casually.
Finally, after enduring until eleven, Qiao Zhengguo arrived.
Seeing only Shen Daoyan and Cai Yong inside Nuanshan Pavilion, he sent his assistant away, removed his coat, and walked in with a smile.
"Sorry to have kept you both waiting."
Cai Yong looked at Shen Daoyan. The latter maintained a calm expression, took a sip of tea, then stood up and greeted Qiao Zhengguo with a polite smile. "Little Qiao, you look well."
"Hehe, I wouldn't dare take credit for that." Qiao Zhengguo shifted his gaze from Shen Daoyan to Cai Yong. "I owe it all to the two of you."
Hearing this, Cai Yong and Shen Daoyan exchanged a glance. Was he mocking them?
"Ahem… Little Qiao, originally, since it's New Year's Eve, I didn't want to bother you. But some matters must be laid out on the table to avoid misunderstandings, right?" Shen Daoyan said peacefully—despite Qiao Zhengguo's tone.
The moment he spoke, it sounded normal, but to Cai Yong, it felt like thunder exploding overhead. Was this still the Shen Daoyan he knew?
Are you begging for mercy right now?
"Elder Shen, let's be direct. Why did you call me here today? To be honest, I still need to head to Meining afterward." Qiao Zhengguo casually sat opposite Shen Daoyan's seat.
Cai Yong was stunned. Where was he supposed to sit? Stand there like a servant?
But neither of the two seemed to notice. Shen Daoyan looked embarrassed, but nodded nonetheless. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. After glancing at Qiao Zhengguo, he slowly slid it across the table toward him.
"It's the holidays. I don't have anything else prepared. Consider this a small New Year's gift for your granddaughter."
Damn! Cai Yong nearly knelt on the spot. What the hell are you doing, Uncle? My dear Uncle! Are you out of your mind?!