Chapter 151: Relatives from Home

As soon as the call was hung up, Father Zhao shrank back behind the sofa, remaining neither moving nor speaking.

Mother Zhao glared at him with a look that seemed ready to devour him: "You agreed without even asking?"

"Well, it's just a meal between brothers, shouldn't the New Year be lively?"

"The New Year should be lively, but I'm afraid you want more than just liveliness."

Huh?

Zhao Fan, who had been watching from the sidelines, sensed something was amiss. Judging by this exchange between his father and mother, the argument didn't seem to have happened recently, did it?

"Dad, Mom, is there something you can tell me?"

Mother Zhao replied without a second thought: "Nothing to tell you."

Father Zhao nodded along: "Right, nothing to tell you."

If Father Zhao hadn't chimed in, Zhao Fan wouldn't have thought much of it, but with that echo, his suspicion grew even stronger.

"Mom, what is this all about?"

Mother Zhao turned her back and remained silent.

"Dad, care to tell me?"

After the family's financial situation improved, Father Zhao had become a bit unreliable, but Zhao Fan knew his father had merely been temporarily blinded by success, and since nothing truly egregious had been done, he hadn't said much naturally.

However, angering Mother Zhao was a different story entirely, and Zhao Fan couldn't let it slide.

"Dad, a family shouldn't keep secrets from one another. Tell me, what is going on?"

Father Zhao stammered before finally revealing the situation.

It was only then that Zhao Fan learned that Father Zhao and Mother Zhao had fallen out right after the banquet celebrating his admission to university.

The root cause was that Father Zhao wanted to bring his side of the family into business ventures.

Mother Zhao suppressed her rising anger: "He's generous enough, thinking that being the eldest brother means he has to pull his relatives along. But he never stops to think—when we went borrowing money back then... I won't bring up that past, but I'm telling you right now, Zhao Chengyi, as long as I draw breath, I will never forget those scenes."

Zhao Chengyi was Father Zhao's given name.

Zhao Fan felt a momentary daze. From his past life to this present one, combined, he hadn't heard his father's full name in well over a decade.

"What are you talking about? Wasn't it... wasn't it because we... we borrowed too much, so their attitude was just a little off?"

"A little off? Bah!"

"Mom, don't get worked up during the New Year. Harmony is precious, harmony is precious."

Zhao Fan chimed in to derail the conversation. If a real fight broke out on the first day of the Lunar New Year, it would bring terrible luck.

Mother Zhao caught herself as well: "Hmph, I'll settle accounts with you after the New Year. Anyway, I'll put my words right here: not a single one of your relatives is going to meddle in our family's business."

Stomping heavily, Mother Zhao headed upstairs. A few minutes later, a loud "bang" echoed down, clear enough for the entire ground floor to hear.

Father Zhao sighed: "Xiaofan, I just had an idea, why does your mother take it so seriously?"

Zhao Fan sighed along: "You can't blame her for taking it seriously, Dad. Mom has suffered too much."

Beneath his calm expression lay simmering annoyance. Zhao Fan knew that when his father and mother had gone to borrow money, they wouldn't have been treated well.

Yet even a year and a half later, Mother Zhao remembered it so vividly and vowed never to forget, which was enough to show how disgraceful the behavior of the Zhao family relatives had been.

Naturally. In his past life, due to Wang Ying's demands, he had deliberately alienated his father and mother, turning a deaf ear to their plight.

Thinking back now, his mind truly must have been clouded by greed and folly at the time.

"Dad, our family has risen up now. If we hadn't, do you know how much suffering we would have had to endure?"

"After all, they are family."

"Our true family is us. I know the bride price issue put you in a tight spot before, but the damage is already done, and I know we can't cut ties completely. But Dad, don't make promises about things like this, okay?"

Father Zhao fell silent.

Picking up his bowl, Zhao Fan went into the kitchen. When he finished eating and came out after washing the dishes, Father Zhao was no longer in the living room.

He glanced upstairs; Father Zhao had probably gone to find Mother Zhao.

Naturally, Father Zhao couldn't bear to see Mother Zhao angry, so he was definitely up there eating humble pie right now.

Thinking of the other members of the Zhao family, Zhao Fan fell silent. He had been so focused on developing his business that he had neglected his parents' side of things.

This time, Mother Zhao had held her ground and left Father Zhao with no choice. But if there were a next time, and even Mother Zhao softened her stance, it would be a total collapse from within. Such a thing must never be allowed to happen.

Soon, the day arrived for Father Zhao to go out for his meal.

Early in the morning, Mother Zhao grabbed Zhao Fan and announced they were going to visit her maiden family.

Father Zhao followed behind, crestfallen and listless.

"Hui'er, you can't do this."

Mother Zhao bypassed Father Zhao: "What can't I do? Is visiting my maiden family forbidden?"

"Visiting your maiden family is fine of course. My point is, you can't just leave me to go to Third Brother's house all by myself today."

"That's your brother, what's wrong with going by yourself?"

Father Zhao and Mother Zhao paced back and forth in the room. Holding his mobile phone, Zhao Fan sent a few New Year greetings in the company chat group before messaging Han Chen directly.

Half a month after going abroad, Han Chen had suddenly contacted Zhao Fan to say he needed to stay overseas a bit longer.

Fortunately, Zhao Fan hadn't gone to Haicheng, so he naturally didn't urge him to return early.

As for the company chat group, it ran on software that Han Chen had independently developed specifically for Feiteng Company's internal staff. It could be installed on both computers and mobile phones.

Han Chen: Boss Zhao, what's up?

Zhao Fan: This software of yours needs to add a red envelope feature.

Han Chen: If it's sent through this software, how will the banks handle it?

Zhao Fan: How else? Link it directly to Feiteng Shopping, and just transfer the funds into bank cards when the time comes.

Han Chen: Understood.

After chatting, Zhao Fan put away his phone. Just as Mother Zhao walked over to say they were leaving, he followed with a beaming smile.

"Dad, you'll just have to go by yourself today."

Father Zhao wore a grievance-stricken expression, but there was nothing he could do against Mother Zhao.

On the way, Mother Zhao told Zhao Fan: "Your maternal grandmother hasn't been feeling very well lately. Be sure to chat with her a bit more when we get there. As for the other relatives, just ignore them and only listen politely."

Zhao Fan looked at Mother Zhao through the rearview mirror and smiled: "I know."

For Mother Zhao to mention it specifically, it was likely another remnant of the trouble left over from last year.

Fortunately, Zhao Fan had been reborn at just the right time. That sum of money had become his foundation, preventing him from getting entangled with the Wang family.

As for Mother Zhao's relatives, Zhao Fan sighed inwardly; that bride price really had managed to anger relatives on both sides.

"Turn left ahead."

"Got it."

Prompted by Mother Zhao, Zhao Fan turned the steering wheel. As he looked at the approaching area, vague memories from over a decade of his past life surged forward.

"Mom, doesn't Grandma live at home?"

"No, she lives at your Second Uncle's place."

"Oh."

Mother Zhao's maiden surname was Li, and her given name was Li Hui.

Zhao Fan's Second Uncle was a teacher named Li Chengtian. The family was relatively well-off, but they had one trait that drew criticism from the rest of the relatives: they never helped anyone.

So-called unhelpfulness meant they kept contacts to an absolute minimum, wishing sincerely that only their immediate household existed with no other relatives whatsoever.

Mother Zhao pointed out several directions, and the car smoothly pulled up outside a small villa.

Mother Zhao said: "Here we are."

The walls of the small villa consisted of iron railings, inside which grapevines were planted. The vines crawled over the iron rails, adding an indescribable touch of elegance.

"Ding-dong!"