Shenchuan, the Li family villa.
These past few years the Li family could be said to have enjoyed unlimited glory.
The company’s business had gone smoothly, successfully ranking among the leading enterprises of Shenchuan.
The current family head, Li Sheng, was also a major taxpayer in the city.
All of these achievements had to be credited to the half of the empire that Old Master Li had built back then.
The old master was a native of Shenchuan and also a legend in the local business world.
He had entered society to struggle in his teens, founded the Tengxin Group at the age of forty, and with a set of decisive and vigorous methods had carved out the present Li family of wealth and power, gaining both fame and fortune.
Only heroes grow old, and legends also have their day of desolation.
Now the old master was already over ninety years old, his body growing worse day by day.
The day he closed his eyes and departed would simply be dying of old age.
Yet his children could all see that the old master still had unfinished concerns in his heart, and none of them dared to ask more.
They only knew that he had instructed that in the innermost part of the family safe there was a sandalwood box that must never be lost under any circumstances.
If someone came to retrieve it, they must look to see whether the other party had a black-gold ring on their hand.
Anyone could tell that there was a story in this, but the old master was unwilling to speak of it, so no one dared to ask.
The several children privately discussed it among themselves, with all kinds of guesses.
Until this day, a strange guest arrived at the villa.
“A child?”
Li Sheng was very puzzled.
“Mm. He said he came looking for A-Ku.” The nanny replied respectfully.
“Who is A-Ku?”
Li Sheng grew even stranger.
“I don’t know either. I asked him, and he said…”
The nanny hesitated carefully.
“He said it’s your father.”
The old master?
Li Sheng could not make sense of it.
What was a teenager doing looking for his father, and even calling him A-Ku?
This was the first time he had heard someone address his father this way.
“Let him in first. I’ll go meet him.”
By the time Li Sheng arrived at the first-floor living room, the nanny had already brought the boy into the house.
He sat upright and proper on a chair.
Li Sheng had operated for many years in both the business and political circles of Shenchuan, living in the wealthy class that spent money like water, and had met all kinds of high-society people.
Yet when he saw the boy, he had the illusion of an ordinary commoner meeting a true aristocratic noble.
The boy looked very well-behaved, wearing a small black formal suit and a plain white scarf.
His pupils were clear and bright, his cheeks fair and soft, carrying a childishness that was somewhere between a boy and a girl.
“Little friend, I heard you came looking for A-Ku?”
“Yes, yes. Uncle, who are you?”
Li Sheng’s brow furrowed.
So this child did not even recognize him. “My name is Li Sheng. I am the male master of this house.”
“So you’re Li Sheng. Hello, Uncle. Grand… no, Grandma told me to come look for your father.”
“Who is your grandma?”
“My grandma is called Li… called Shuangxi.”
“Shuangxi…”
This name had never appeared in Li Sheng’s memory.
His first reaction was to guess that she was some unknown lover from the old master’s past, and that this child’s father might even be his father’s illegitimate son.
No matter what, he should first notify the old master.
He had the nanny go inquire with his father first, then deliberately glanced at the boy’s ten fingers.
None of them were wearing a ring.
The old man was currently lying on the bed.
At his advanced age he often felt unwell, and recently his chronic illness had been at its most severe.
Several of the children were privately discussing the matter of dividing the family assets.
The nanny came to the room and respectfully called to the old man, “Master, there’s a child looking for you.”
“A child? Looking for me?” The old man was also completely confused.
“He said his grandma told him to come.”
Although Li Changshan was also puzzled, he still decided to meet the boy.
Ying An followed Li Sheng to the bedroom and politely asked the old man on the bed, “Hello, Grandpa. May I ask if you are A-Ku?”
Li Changshan furrowed his brow. “Yes. I am A-Ku.”
“Dad, why is he calling you that?”
“A-Ku is my childhood name.”
Li Sheng felt as if his head had been heavily smashed.
Childhood name?!
This was the first time he had ever heard of it.
In the past, no one had ever dared to address the old master this way.
Just what kind of background did this child’s grandma have to dare call his father’s childhood name.
“Grandma told me to come look for you. My grandma is called Shuangxi.”
Hearing this name, Li Changshan instantly became agitated.
His eyes widened greatly as he looked Ying An up and down, and his tone even became respectful.
“You are her grandson? Before coming, did she give you anything?”
“Oh, yes, yes.” Ying An reacted and took a black-gold ring out of his pocket to put on, then scratched his head.
“It was a little uncomfortable wearing it just now, so I took it off. Hehe.”
Looking at the ring on his finger, Li Changshan became even more agitated.
He shifted his body wanting to get out of bed.
Li Sheng hurriedly helped him down upon seeing this.
Then the old man actually knelt down with a thud in front of Ying An and called out humbly and respectfully, “A-Ku greets the Young Master.”
Ying An was startled and hurriedly went to help him up.
“Grandpa, what are you doing? Quickly get up. I was only told by Grandma to come take something.”
“Quickly…”
Li Changshan grabbed Li Sheng’s hand that had come to support him and ordered him, “Quickly, go bring the wooden box from the safe.”
“Alright, I’ll go right away.”
Li Sheng then hurriedly ran out the door to get the item.
After a while, he returned to the room holding an exquisite carved wooden box and handed it to Li Changshan.
The old man then handed the wooden box to Ying An.
Ying An opened it and glanced inside.
“This is the one. Thank you, Grandpa.”
“No need for thanks. This originally belonged to your grandma… How is she now? Is she doing well?”
“Grandma passed away a few days ago. Before she died she instructed me to come take the item.”
Hearing these words, a heavy expression of sorrow appeared on the old man’s face.
He sighed heavily, looking extremely sad.
After Ying An left, Li Sheng finally could not hold back and asked Li Changshan, “Dad, that Shuangxi… just who was she to you?”
“She was my former boss. Without her, there would be no Li family of today. If that child ever encounters trouble in the future, you must help him no matter what it costs.”
***
Li Jue’s car was parked outside the Li family villa.
Ying An returned to the car holding the wooden box, picked up the item inside and looked at it again and again.
“Sister, is this the one?”
“Mm. Xiao An did well.” Li Jue spoke with him while driving.
“Who was he? Why didn’t you go in to find him yourself?”
“Sister once opened an antique shop that specialized in storing old objects I had found. One day I saw him get fired from his work and wandering the streets with an empty stomach. He looked a little pitiful, so I hired him to watch the shop. Although I say I opened a shop, Sister actually only went there a few times in those years. Most of the time it was only him guarding the shop.”
“Then what happened later?”
“Later…” Li Jue thought for a moment.
“Later came the era of reforms. Sister didn’t really want to keep that shop open, so I closed it. At the time I even let him pick a few things from the shop to take away. I didn’t expect that after he sold the things, he used the money as starting capital and did so well.”
“Then why did you make me go find him, and even lie to them saying I was your grandson?”
“You’re silly.” Li Jue lightly knocked Ying An on the head.
“Decades have passed. He’s almost old enough to die, yet Sister is still this young appearance. Anyone would know there’s a problem. If you said you were my younger brother, would they believe it?”
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