Jubo

304: PS

The person who came to pick up Wang Cheng from the airport was Zheng Jingen. There were very few who knew that he had returned to China, and the two brothers had also decided not to tell Father and Mother Zheng about this for the time being.

Zheng Jingen looked into it, and found that Zhou Shichang was not at the company today. He couldn’t tell if it was just a coincidence, or something more. Wang Cheng asked Zheng Jingen to send him straight to the Zhou family house, adhering to the principle of early death heeding earlier rebirth. When they reached the front gates of the main house, Wang Cheng got out of the car. Just as he was about to enter, Zheng Jingen suddenly called out and walked over to him. Wang Cheng turned back.

"Call me at any time if you need anything. I suspect that our grandfather might have called you back after learning about you and Chu Yifeng. Anyway, whether it's because of this or not, try not to worry too much about it."

"Brother, you don’t have to worry about it either. I have long prepared for this confrontation in my heart."

Zheng Jingen watched as he walked in, and remained standing outside for a while before he left.

…

When a maid saw that Wang Cheng had returned, she immediately went throughout the house to inform those inside of his return, looking just as enthusiastic as usual. If it wasn't for his grandfather's hurried demands for him to come back, Wang Cheng would have thought things were the same as usual.

As Wang Cheng walked to the living room, Zhou Shichang and the Zhou steward were also coming downstairs. The atmosphere seemed to shift in an ominous direction. Zhou Shichang asked Wang Cheng to sit down, and the servants in the living room were dismissed. Only the Zhou steward remained standing nearby.

"Grandpa, why did you call me back in such a hurry? I thought something happened to you and I was so worried that I rushed to book a plane ticket back. I’m relieved now that I can see you're alright." Wang Cheng put aside the strange feelings in his heart and spoke like everything was normal. He then picked up some washed strawberries that were set out on the coffee table for them to eat.

Zhou Shichang's expression did not change. He accepted a cup of tea that the Zhou steward handed him and took a sip before saying expressionlessly: "Then guess, why has your grandfather called you back?"

Wang Cheng could see that his expression was serious, without the slightest hint towards the situation. If his relationship with Chu Yifeng was indeed discovered, his grandfather wouldn't be so calm, right? However, since his grandfather didn't take the initiative to mention it, he wouldn't be so stupid as to take the initiative to confess. His heart fell back into place. He pretended to think about it for a moment before his eyes lit up: "Could it be that my performance in the foreign branch was so outstanding that Grandfather called me back to reward me?"

The Zhou steward suddenly coughed.

Wang Cheng gave him a look. Did he guess wrong?

Zhou Shichang raised his eyebrows and suddenly said to the Zhou steward, "Show him that thing."

The Zhou steward helplessly glanced at Wang Cheng. After a while, he walked over, holding an envelope. Once he received Zhou Shichang's permission, he handed the envelope to Wang Cheng.

Wang Cheng held the envelope, a little suspicious of it. However, he realized after opening it that it contained a bunch of photos. The protagonists of the photos were him and Chu Yifeng; some were of the two interacting, others of their behaved friendship, a few were them whispering into each other’s ears, and finally, there was a photo of them kissing.

What had to come would come.

"Now that you’ve seen these photos, what's your explanation?" Zhou Shichang asked blankly. The atmosphere’s originally faintly ominous feeling became quite heavy and oppressive after he said this.

Wang Cheng picked up the photo of them kissing. "This photo is fake, there are traces of PS on it."

When he first saw these photos, his initial thought was that their relationship was exposed after someone followed him and secretly took pictures. However, when he looked at the photos again, he found something strange. Seventy or eighty percent of the photos were taken when they were abroad, the kissing photo among them. However, he clearly remembered that he and Chu Yifeng had never done such intimate acts like kissing during that time. When the two were alone, Wang Cheng might fool around with Chu Yifeng, but doing such things out in public was absolutely impossible. The only ironclad evidence that could prove that he and Chu Yifeng were in a relationship was the kissing photo. The others might look a little ambiguous, but they could be shrugged off as their brotherly relationship with a little convincing.

All of Wang Cheng’s suspicions lined up; he felt like he knew the mentality of the person who sent the photo to his grandfather.

The other party had found someone to follow them, but never took any photos that can really expose their relationship. It was especially impossible to keep stalking them after they’d gone abroad, so they took a risk and turned one of the photos into a kissing photo. When his grandfather saw these photos, he was most likely pretty angry, and anger causes people to lose their observational abilities. How could he have noticed that the photo was photoshopped?

Zhou Shichang was slightly taken aback.

It seemed like the Zhou steward also didn't expect him to suddenly say this.

Wang Cheng took the photo and went to Zhou Shichang. He pointed to one of the flaws, and explained calmly: "Grandpa, look here. Don’t you see that the lines on the wall are a little crooked? Right there, you can tell that this was photoshopped; someone was trying to use this photo to make you suspect me. The other party has bad intentions, ah!"

Just as Zhou Shichang was about to nod his head, he suddenly reacted and sternly shouted, "Go back to your seat and sit down."

Wang Cheng's expression froze and he obediently retreated. He really thought he was close to successfully convincing him just now.

"Although this photo was edited, that doesn't mean that the others were too. Your grandfather’s not blind." Zhou Shichang coldly said as he stared at Wang Cheng, not impressed at all. "Do you dare say that you have nothing close to an ‘improper relationship’ with Chu Yifeng?"

Wang Cheng opened his mouth, looked at his grandfather's indifferent gaze, and suddenly felt that there was no need to hide it. If his grandfather was going to know about it sooner or later, he might as well take the chance to get the confrontation over with. He said: "I don’t dare deny it. He and I really are in a relationship, one that was established even before my birth mother first found me."

Zhou Shichang didn't expect for them to know each other for so long. He suddenly looked at his grandson as if hating iron for not becoming steel. "What if I asked you to break up with him immediately?"

"Then I'm afraid I’d have to disappoint Grandfather." Wang Cheng clasped his hands and stared firmly at the old man opposite him. "Grandfather, I've never begged you, but this time, I’m begging you: please let me be together with Chu Yifeng."

Zhou Shichang's face was gloomy. He said after a while, "You’d rather be with him than inherit the Zhou Group?"

Wang Cheng looked at him with a complicated gaze and nodded slowly, "Yes."

"Is it worth it for a man?" Zhou Shichang was very disappointed in him, a much stronger disappointment than he’d ever felt for Zhao Chenlin.

The Zhou steward shook his head towards Wang Cheng. Wang Cheng understood what he meant, but ignored him, apologizing inwardly. "He is worth it to me. I know that Grandfather has loved someone else too. You can recreate your career, but you’ll only have that one lover. I don't want this to be my biggest regret in the future, so I hope my grandfather can fulfill my one wish."

Zhou Shichang wanted to dissuade him using familial affection, but just as the words were at the tip of his tongue, he realized that he hadn’t spent as much time with his grandson as the couple had spent with each other. In his heart, he felt a little bit disillusioned - he had high hopes for Wang Cheng, but in the end, Wang Cheng let him down.

"Since you are so determined to stay with him instead of your grandfather, then go. I will find someone to replace your position in the company."

Wang Cheng knew that his words had hurt his grandfather, but he could only apologize. Though he and Chu Yifeng had not experienced much conflict to get to this point, each and every day Wang Cheng spent with him was very vivid. He was very sure that this kind of life was what he wanted. He didn’t want to make himself the kind of person he hated most, someone who gave up the person they loved for the sake of their career. Because when they ultimately regretted it and turned back, the person they loved would no longer be waiting for them.

"I'm sorry, grandpa."

Zhou Shichang didn't look at him again.

When Wang Cheng exited the gates of the Zhou house, he looked back one last time.

"Young Master Cheng." The Zhou steward chased after him.

Wang Cheng turned around.

The Zhou steward sighed and said, "Young Master Cheng, I hope you will reconsider this. Master really had great expectations for you. After you appeared, he would often tell me that you are his ideal heir, like a gift sent from God to him. Master had been very determined for all this time that you were the best heir." The Zhou steward went back after leaving these words.

Wang Cheng's heart was a little heavy. If this was before, it wouldn’t have mattered to him whether his grandfather opposed him or not. However, now that he’d been getting along with his grandfather for some time and they’d become family, he didn't want to make his grandfather sad. More importantly, Wang Cheng had to find a method to give his grandfather a heartfelt apology.

Zheng Jingen called him right on time. Wang Cheng took out his cell phone.

"Chengcheng, have you finished talking with our grandfather?"

"En, we're done talking."

"What did you talk about?"

"What’s more important, love or bread." Wang Cheng looked up at the sky and sighed.

"..." Zheng Jingen was speechless, "So our grandfather discovered your relationship with Chu Yifeng? How did he know, did someone tell him?" He analyzed the matter, but concluded that unless his grandfather looked into it himself, he wouldn't have immediately called Wang Cheng to come back.

"Someone sent a photo of me and Chu Yifeng to my grandfather. It’s ninety percent likely to be my aunt's family."

Zheng Jingen rubbed the corners of his eyes. "Forget it. Our parents still don't know about this, so I'll go find you at night to formulate a long-term plan. We must think long and hard for a..."

"Brother, did I forget to tell you?"

"What?"

"Mom already knows about it."

"..."