Chapter 35 - 2#

I lowered my head, and a sentence spilled from my lips.

“Third Uncle.”

I suddenly understood.

He and I, no matter how many years pass…

We are bound in a way that can never be broken.

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For as long as I can remember, I have had a secret.

I once thought that this might be one of the reasons why I kept trying to escape my past.

Just by facing him, surrounded by this room full of sandalwood incense, I would recall that one month—the month that kept me teetering on the edge of reason and desire. And when I was on the brink of collapse, he was the one who released me.

In my previous life, I experienced two kidnappings. Only in the second one did I remain conscious throughout, yet that memory is the most blurred of all.

The evolution of my relationship with Third Uncle Ren always seemed to hit a peak, only to plummet into the abyss. When I was young, I didn’t understand. Because of my mother’s influence, I felt that the further away I stayed from him, the better. In short, the further, the better.

My mother was always whispering in my ear that Third Uncle would snatch everything away from my father. I once held doubts about this, because during the three years I took over the Ren Corporation, when Third Uncle returned to Singapore, he and I spent quite a long time in close proximity. During that period, I suspect that was the most stable time I ever sat in the president’s chair.

Back then, although Third Uncle managed a company, its scale was vastly smaller than the Ren Corporation. He always maintained an indifferent attitude, spending his days in his suburban mansion. Even though the number of people visiting to curry favor with him grew, I never saw him take it to heart or show any intent to cooperate.

Strictly speaking, I once deeply believed that a man like Third Uncle was not suited to wallow in the filth of money. Although he certainly had his methods, he himself always appeared completely uninterested—perhaps “above the mundane world” is the phrase that best describes it.

At that time, I truly never thought that our relationship as uncle and nephew could be so harmonious for a period.

Even if that time was as brief as a flash in the pan.

I still remember, during those days when I got along well with Third Uncle, I would run over to his place every few days, never tiring of it. Sometimes if I stayed late, I would simply spend the night, though that didn’t happen often—if I didn’t go home, my son would definitely turn my life upside down. When I was with Third Uncle, I inevitably had to tread carefully. At first, it was awkward, but I got used to it later on. Even though he would always stare at people in silence, lost in thought, as long as we sat quietly together, I always felt—actually, I understood him.

As for when our relationship began to change into that of sworn enemies, I cannot say for sure.

It was one evening. I drove from the company to Third Uncle’s residence after work and habitually opened the door—Xu Qinghong was still helping take care of Third Uncle back then. Although that young man was never sloppy when it came to looking after Third Uncle, he didn’t pay much attention to small details, and he rarely bothered to lock the door. Fortunately, this place was remote, the mansion cold and desolate, and no thief would find their way here. Even if they did, they wouldn’t have the guts.

If Xu Qinghong wasn’t around at this time, it meant he had gone out to run errands. He could easily spend an entire day out, being a young guy after all—though the age gap between us wasn’t that big, it felt like there was a generation between us, given that I had married early and had a young son.

I walked into the house, and it was still empty. I knew the way and walked up to the second floor. Just as the door on the second floor opened and I was about to call out, I saw Wang Zheng, neatly dressed, walking out of Third Uncle’s room.

Perhaps it was the angle, but he didn’t see me at first. He just stood by the door facing inside, smiling with a gentle expression as he said, “Third Uncle, then… it’s a deal.”

His smile carried a hint of ambiguity. I stood there, and when Wang Zheng turned his head and spotted me, he frowned slightly and brushed past me as if I were a stranger.

I stood there in silence, not knowing how much time had passed, before I suddenly came to my senses.

I lifted my feet, walked forward, and knocked lightly on Third Uncle’s half-open door.

There was no response from inside. I struggled for a moment before pushing the door open gently.

I saw Third Uncle leaning back in his sofa chair, his head tilted. His eyes were slightly open, as if he were awake, yet like a drunkard, his gaze was unfocused as he looked ahead.

My heart skipped a beat, and I walked toward him slowly.

“Third Uncle, are you… feeling unwell?” Back then, what I feared most was one of Third Uncle’s episodes.

Third Uncle lifted his eyes, and with a look of utter exhaustion, he raised a hand to cover his eyes.

His other hand groped to the side. I thought he wanted medicine, so I was about to rummage through the boxes and cabinets to find his pill bottles, when he called out: “Qiri.”

I paused and answered with an “Aye,” walking back to his side.

Third Uncle’s hand waved in the air, and only then did I understand and reach out to take his waving hand gently in mine.

“Third Uncle, should I… call the doctor?”

Third Uncle shook his head, just clutching my hand while looking up.

I had no choice but to sit down in the chair beside him.

After a long time, Third Uncle turned to look at me. His eyes seemed to glow with a reddish hue, though perhaps I was mistaken.

He said this: “You go back first.”

I hesitated.

He gently pulled his hand from my palm and said, “I am tired today.”

I was stunned, and it took a while for me to realize—the old man was showing me the door.

My face flushed, and I stood up hurriedly, saying embarrassedly, “I’m sorry. Third Uncle, then tomorrow…”

He rubbed his forehead, shook his head, and waved his hand.

My face burned with heat; I bowed slightly and hurried out.

After that, whenever I visited Third Uncle, he didn’t seem as warm—in fact, it hadn’t been that warm to begin with, but it felt like there was more of a barrier between us afterward.

Later, I often heard employees saying they frequently saw Manager Wang attending banquets with Third Uncle.

When I heard that… to be honest, I felt quite miserable.

It wasn’t anything else; I just remembered when I was a child, out of all the kids, Wang Zheng was the one treated best by Third Uncle.

Truly, back then, I was confused whether I was jealous of Wang Zheng or of Third Uncle. I just felt like something was stuck in my throat; thinking about it now, it seems so ridiculous.

No matter who it was, choosing Wang Zheng was the natural course of action.

At that time, I felt the hidden sense of imbalance from my childhood resurface, but it only lasted for a fleeting moment. Because later, I didn’t have the heart to think about what was going on between them—Third Uncle’s methods suddenly turned ruthless, and in the blink of an eye, he swallowed up several small companies. In reality, these companies were dependent on the Ren Corporation and could be considered its subsidiaries.

I couldn’t understand it, so I swallowed my pride and went to Third Uncle’s mansion in person.

I just happened to catch a glimpse of an executive from a rival company shaking hands with Third Uncle, both appearing to be in high spirits. Xu Qinghong stood by the gate, looking at me with a depressed expression, whispering, “It’s not that I’m not letting you in.” Having become close with me recently, he dropped the honorifics.

“Third Uncle said if you come, you’re not to be seen…”

“President, Third Uncle’s personality is just like that. Don’t take it to heart. If he’s happy, he smiles with people; if he’s not…”

He was always quick to speak his mind.

I recalled my mother’s words again.

Perhaps… it really was just my own wishful thinking.

And not long after, I finally understood that some things were just not meant for me.

When it came to ruthlessness, I knew I would never be able to beat Wang Zheng, Third Uncle, or anyone else for that matter.

When I was surrounded by trouble on all sides, a sex scandal suddenly broke out. I had no real memory of the incident, but everyone in the company, including the shareholders, received the so-called discs. The media, under some unseen order, reported the matter extensively. The Ren Corporation suffered a severe setback in the stock market, reaching a point of almost no return.

And the biggest beneficiary was the Wang family.

At that time, the Wang family’s shareholding was almost on a par with the Ren family’s.

Wang Zheng walked into the president’s office himself and said, “I’ll give you a chance.”

“Hand over the president’s position to me, and I won’t let you lose too embarrassingly.”

I held my forehead with both hands and shook my head slowly.

The smile on Wang Zheng’s face faded.

He said, “When the shareholders’ meeting is called, do you know what the consequences will be?”

I knew.

But I couldn’t hand the Ren Corporation over to him.

This was… the life’s blood of the Ren family.

This wasn’t something that belonged solely to me; I really, truly could not give it to him.

After that day, however, I suddenly received an invitation from Third Uncle to visit his mansion. He had been a bystander during that period. I was afraid to see him, but I felt I should go—at the very least, I had to try asking him to pull the Ren Corporation back from the brink. Even if I had to hand the position of president to him, that would be perfectly reasonable.

This position was meant for him in the first place.

Him taking it back from me was fair and square.

Perhaps, the one in the wrong wasn’t him, nor was it Wang Zheng—it was my own naivety.

We sat facing each other in the house; there wasn’t a hint of life in it.

He poured me a glass of red wine. Before I arrived, there were already several empty wine bottles on the table. The room was hazy, the sandalwood burning, mixed with the cloying scent of wine.

I feared that if he continued drinking like this, something would happen sooner or later. I only drank two glasses to keep him company, intending to discuss the important matters later, but I didn’t expect him to stagger to his feet, pull out a stack of photos from somewhere, and fling them at my face.

I had never seen Third Uncle’s expression look so gloomy.

He stepped heavily on the photos on the floor. I stood stunned, looking down at the scattered images.

Some were yellowed with age, others were newly taken; they spanned from my early years to the most recent times.

Quite a few showed me standing with Wang Zheng, others showed me watching Wang Zheng, from middle school all the way through university. And at the end, there was the disc.

I stared at him blankly.

Third Uncle suddenly leaned forward and grabbed my collar. I felt a sharp pain in my neck, but my body felt drained of all strength.

And when I truly regained consciousness, it was because of the searing pain of tearing below.

At that time, I felt as if something had collapsed within me.

I was imprisoned in the room, curtains drawn, not a single ray of light penetrating through—I couldn’t tell night from day. He stayed with me, the room filled with the thick scent of sandalwood, sitting on the sofa in front, dressed neatly, his expression calm.

He kept me prisoner. From my initial struggle to my later despair, he didn’t say a complete sentence to me from start to finish. Apart from the violation, there was no other interaction between us.

Later, it was Xu Qinghong who let me go, but he said something completely off-topic—

“Aside from that face, what’s so good about Wang Zheng?”

“What is there about that kind of person worth your affection? Aside from his looks, what else is there?”

I didn’t understand what he meant at all back then.

It wasn’t until the very end, that scene I saw before I died, that I thought I understood.

I assumed he despised or resented me from the bottom of his heart.

However, after my life began again, everything was completely different from what I had known.

Did Third Uncle truly change, or was the “truth” I thought I knew incorrect all along?

But…

These things didn’t matter much anymore.

That night, I stayed behind after all.

Third Uncle held my hand and fell into a deep sleep. It wasn’t until the morning light filtered in that I woke up with a start.

It was already the next morning.

I rubbed my tired eyes, only to realize I was sitting on the edge of the bed, my hand still held by Third Uncle.

I couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh, carefully withdrawing my hand.

I stepped lightly and left without looking back.

When I reached the ground floor, I saw Zhang Ting dozing on the sofa in the living room.

Zhang Ting must have been a light sleeper, as he opened his eyes the moment he heard footsteps. He sat upright, straightened his head, and upon seeing me, stood up hurriedly, standing at attention like he was facing a superior officer. He said in a loud voice, “Young Master, you’re down…? Is Third Uncle still sleeping?”

I nodded, my voice a bit hoarse, “Brother Zhang, I have to go.” I needed to wash up quickly and head to the law firm.

Zhang Ting waved his hands, looking troubled, “Uh, Young Master, don’t, don’t be in such a hurry. Stay… stay and wait for Third Uncle to wake up. It wouldn’t be too late to have breakfast together before leaving.”

“Brother Zhang, please give me a ride.”

“This…”

I looked at him and said slowly, “Thank you for what happened last night.”

Zhang Ting didn’t react for a moment, scratching his head as he thought about it before letting out an “Oh.” With a look of trepidation, he said, “Not at all, not at all. That said, Young Master, things haven’t been very peaceful lately. Not only has Third Uncle been targeted, but those bastards have turned their eyes toward you as well. You… why don’t you stay at the mansion for a while? For one thing, we can protect you, and for another, you can catch up with Third Uncle—”

I hurriedly raised a hand to stop him, offering a bitter smile: “Brother Zhang, I’m just a poor lawyer. Besides, very few people know that Third Uncle and I are related. I won’t… cause him any trouble.”

“Uh, ayy—! Young Master, look at my clumsy tongue. I didn’t mean it that way; I didn’t mean you’d cause Third Uncle trouble, it’s just…”

I shook my head, cutting him off: “Enough.”

Zhang Ting paused, the words he was about to say swallowed back down, his expression looking quite unpleasant.

In the end, he took the keys and drove me personally.

Sitting in the car, along the way, he only said this:

“Young Master, let Brother Zhang give you a piece of advice.”

“I just want to remind you, don’t get too close to those people from the Jin family. Third Uncle has already run into trouble; the times are bound to change sooner or later.”

Later, when I returned to the law firm from home, I was greeted by Katherine’s appreciative look. She walked over appearing quite cheerful and shook my hand, saying, “Ren, congratulations.”

I accepted her congratulations, puzzled.

“Come to my office in a bit; I have something to tell you.”

I nodded. As soon as the door to Katherine’s office closed, my colleagues swarmed toward me. Sasha, the intern lawyer who had recently joined, leaned in close to me, acting mysterious, “Senior, you’re in luck.”