Chapter 32 - Yan Family

In Beijing, there was no shortage of officials; In Shanghai, there was no shortage of rich people. Rich people all lived in luxurious houses. Rich young people loved the big flat house locating on banks of the bund, when old rich people liked the independent villa in Sheshan. If he still had burdens and passion, he might have a villa in downtown.

How much money did a man have to himself a rich man in Shanghai? After all, the house price in Shanghai was reaching the limit of the universe. In suburb, relocated households could be multimillionaires. And the real rich men may have at least billions.

There was a seventy-year-old man living in an independent villa located in Sheshan Purple Garden. He was one of the well-known “hidden riches” in this place. No one knew how much money he had. What could be sure was his property must be over ten billion. It was no surprise to find a man with such a rich background in Shanghai. The old man kept his life in low key. Everyone knew his influence, however, they didn’t know the real power of his property.

This villa including its front yard was over a thousand square meters. The old man loved to call his big villa as small courtyard. Most of time he lived in old departments located in Purple Garden or Jing’an. It was the first real estate of his generations.

To the old man, the most enjoyable time was to play and scrub his cameras that had been put on two cabinets. He had many cameras as you could name it. But he just kept them and seldom used most of them. When he could buy any good camera if he wanted, the most precious thing for him was time.

But now he didn’t have time and energy at all. He even didn’t have the mood to play his cameras everyday. Sometimes he would invite his old friends to watch movie together. However he could not concentrate himself on the movie. He stared at the screen, thinking about other things. He would not talk to anyone. Even when he had conversations with others, his words were illogical and out of control.

Was there any thing that the old man liked to do? Eating breakfast alone.

He liked putting crispy fried bread stick, pickle and porridge in his courtyard, and then eating slowly. If he called his most intimate young friend to eat with him, the young friend would get off the car when he was still far away from courtyard. Why? Because he was afraid of making noises that would bother the peaceful morning for the old man. That was also the reason why his young friend would choose to come into the room via servant’s door.

So, how the old man had his breakfast? The young friend would take off his suits in the living room, and asked the servant to take it with him. Then he would wait in the courtyard with a white shirt on him. Of course there would be requirements for the white shirt. It was not allowed to put on a white shirt casually.

What would be like when these two people were having breakfast? The young friend would first pick the head and the tail part of fried bread stick, put them in a dish and gave it to the old man. He ate the left middle part. The young and the old seldom talk to each other. Their servant was standing steps away from them, watching the bowls and fried bread sticks in dishes. They kept eating and minding nothing. When the moisture rose from grass, they finished their breakfast.

Dozens of meters inside the house was the place for discussion. They discussed till the old man reached the stairs and said goodbye to everyone. The old man had very good manners, but he was also picky. Not many people would come to disturb him.

Today there was a guest in this courtyard. She was a beautiful lady in a plain dress. A man wearing a white shirt was sitting next to her. They looked like a couple or just lovers.

The woman had pinned her hair up. Her eyes were pure, and her face was in a look of smile. She didn’t speak anything, just stared at the faraway Shenshan while waiting for the old man, who was still in his bed. The young man next to her was the grandson of the old man. He had taken over the family business. His old grandfather had high hope on him. Since the old man’s son was a chair warmer, his grandson took over the responsibility. Luckily the grandson didn’t make his grandfather disappointed. He was one of the top young generations in the bund of Shanghai.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Susu. Grandpa just woke up, and he will come in soon.” The young man was distinguished from other ordinary young People. The young generation of a big rich family was no doubt a talented person in some areas, unless he had a mental problem or being lack of sincerity.

The family name of this old man was Yan, and his grand son’s name was Yan Chaozong. This name was inspired by the poem the Mianshui River, which was recorded in Ya of Book of Peotry, “The flowing water of Mianshui river, will all belong to the ocean.”

“That is okay, Chaozong. I will wait. I know grandpa’s schedule, so I don’t want to bother him,” the girl named Susu smiled and said. She emitted a sense of distance.

“I heard about your foundation project, there is another company of yours coming into American market. And what about the charity foundation? I could do anything if you need help.” Yan Chaozong knew many things about this beautiful lady. Obviously he did care about her, not just listened about her from other people.

The full name of this beautiful lady was Lin Su. Her family and Yan family were friends of generations. These days, the old man was in poor health. And Lin Su was just in Shanghai, so she came and visit the old man at the weekend.

Lin Su refused Yan Chaozong’s help politely, but she still said, “We will have a charity auction at the end of next month. That will be great if you are willing to come to help those uneducated children. Welcome.”

“Sure, I will donate some things to support your career,” Yan Chaozong Said.

The air in Shenshan was comfortable. The sun just rose up, the servant walked fast to announce that the old man was coming here. Lin Su and Yan Chaozong stood up together, and waited the old man for two minutes. When the old man came out, he wore a white Chinese suit, walked slowly but steady without anyone’s help.

Servant served the breakfast quickly. The temperature of food was good. And when the old man came along, Lin Su smiled and said, “Good morning, grandpa Yan.”

The old man waved hands to tell them to sit down, saying nothing. Everyone knew his weird temper. They all got used to it.

When the breakfast was put on the desk, Yan Chaozong still picked the head and tail part of fried bread stick, and put in the old man’s dish respectfully as usual. Lin Su didn’t understand this behavior. The old man kept silent and started to eat. Lin Su felt embarrassing. Yan Chaozong dared not say anything during this time.

Keep silent when eating and sleeping. This was the basic rule of Yan family.

Lin Su felt uneasy during breakfast time. When the old man put his bowl on the table, the silence finally came to an end. Yan Chaozong and Lin Su walked with the old man, and the old man said, “How is your grandma, Susu?”

“Grandma is good, she would love to come to Shanghai and have a reunion with her friends,” Lin Su grinned and said. She finally had the chance to say something.

The old man had a smile on his face, stretching the wrinkles no his face. He said happily, “People in our generation care about friendships. We are getting older, and we have less and less chance to meet each other. It is really glad to hear our old friend is still missing us.”

Old people loved recalling their old times. In fact, some friends were only living in their memories.

“Grandpa, I will take you to hang around when your body healthy get better,” Yan Chaozong said softly.

The old man shook his head and said, “I don’t want to go anywhere, and it is comfortable to stay at home.”

Two young people didn’t say anything after hearing the old man’s words.

When they were reaching at the stairs, the old man stopped and turned to Lin Su, said, “Susu, does your grandma tell you something about you and Chaozong?”

Lin Su looked at the old man and became speechless. She realized something unconsciously, but still shook head and said, “What? Grandpa Yan?”

“She didn’t tell you? That is fine,” the old man said cheerfully. Later he turned to Chaozong and said, “Chaozong, you should spend more time with Susu, don’t just put yourself in work.”

“I know, grandpa.” Of course, Yan Chaozong knew what his grandfather meant. He already knew this thing. He just kept his good manners.

The old man shook his hands indicating that he didn’t need two young people’s company. He climbed the stairs alone. It was time to see his old friends.

“Do you have time today, Susu?” When grandfather went to the upstairs, Yan Chaozong said to Lin Su.

Lin Su seemed thinking about something, and then she said, “No, pretty busy, I’m going to meet some principals of entrepreneurial companies.”

“Okay, I will take you out,” Yan Chaozong gave up and said.

Yan Chaozong came back to the villa after sending Lin Su into the car, and watched her leaving. His feeling toward Lin Su was complicated. His grandfather wanted him to marry Lin Su. He had no objections since he thought Lin Su was good. But it seemed that Lin Su didn’t like him.

“That would be a long battle,” Yan Chaozong thought.

At this moment, a middle age man came to the villa hurriedly. He was not for the old man but Yan Chaozong. The middle age man frowned and said to Yang Chaozong, “Young master, Zhou Wenwu is still not found.”

Yan Chaozong squeezed his eyes and said, “Still not found? Zhou Wenwu is dead?”

“Do we have to tell your grandpa?” The middle age man was one of the leaders in Yan family. He still had no idea when talked about things related to Zhou Wenwu.

Yan Chaozong shook his head and said, “We don’t need to tell grandpa, it is just unimportant thing. He is just an adopted son of our steward. His death doesn’t mean anything to us. In fact, he will die for many times if he was without us.”

“So we just let go?” the middle age man said with confusion.

Yan Chaozong sat on the chair thinking for a while and said, “Keep investigating on it. Everyone knows Zhou Wenwu belongs to our family. I just want to know who dares to hurt him.”

“Okay, I know what to do now.” The middle age man nodded. Then he said, “Another thing, Zhao Dongsheng wants to see you. Zhou Wenwu worked with him for a very long time. They want to defeat Han Guoping’s business. But now Zhou Wenwu is dead. He wants to cooperate with us.”

After hearing the name Zhao Dongsheng, Yan Chaozong sneered. “Zhao Dongsheng? Who he thinks he is? Does he think he is able to be our friend? Impossible!”

Though the middle age man took advantages from Zhao Dongsheng, he dared not say anything when he saw Yan Chaozong’s reaction. He knew that not everyone could be a friend of Yan family.