Nan Zhenting looked at his chessboard with a pained expression. "You just come back and start messing with my stuff!"
Nan Xiao absentmindedly glanced at the chessboard. "I'll bring you ten more tomorrow... Old man, do you think Second Uncle could have done it?"
Nan Zhenting frowned slightly. "Your Second Uncle has always coveted the Nan family and Nan Corporation, seeing our family as a thorn in his side. I haven't ruled him out, but he doesn't know Yu Xi's background, so this couldn't be his doing."
Nan Xiao irritably tugged at his tie.
Nan Zhenting gave him a somewhat disdainful look. "Nan Xiao, you're not a child anymore. Why do you act like a greenhorn whenever it comes to Yu Xi?"
Nan Xiao's handsome face darkened. "It's because I take after you!"
Nan Zhenting glared at him unhappily. "You're lucky you take after me. If you took after the An family, I would have strangled you long ago!"
Nan Xiao chuckled. "It's not too late to strangle me now!"
"You were born to be a troublemaker!" Nan Zhenting cursed, then sighed heavily. "I know I'm the most detestable person in your heart, but what you hear and see isn't always the truth. In short, in this family, you shouldn't blindly trust anyone."
Nan Xiao bent down, picked up a chess piece, and played with it in his hand. He agreed with his father's words.
Because he had learned too many truths recently, truths that had overturned his previous perceptions.
"Eldest brother and sister-in-law didn't have a good life in this family. Why didn't you let them leave back then?"
In this family, his father seemed to pay no mind to anything, but he saw things more clearly than anyone. If he had intervened to let his eldest brother and sister-in-law leave, they would have had a different outcome.
Nan Zhenting's eyes darkened. "They were adopted by your mother. Do you think they would have listened to me if I told them to leave?"
"But later Mother did many things to hurt them..."
Nan Xiao hesitated, still unwilling to speak ill of his mother in front of his father.
Nan Zhenting looked at him with surprise. "It seems you also know what kind of person your mother is."
Nan Xiao narrowed his eyes and didn't answer his father.
Nan Zhenting gave a bitter smile. "Your mother insisted on marrying me back then. My grandmother threatened to kill herself, forcing me to marry her. But after she entered the family, I didn't come home for five years. Your mother isn't a content person. When your grandmother was on her deathbed, she used some means to get your grandmother to pass the matriarch's bracelet to her."
"But she had no children and would be criticized by the clan. Before your grandmother passed, she adopted Nan Yao from an orphanage. I only found out later that Nan Yao wasn't an orphan at all. He was your mother's distant nephew, and his parents were alive... Does that make it clear to you why your mother treated him that way, yet he refused to leave the Nan family?"
Nan Xiao's eyes sharpened, and the chess piece in his hand instantly turned to dust.
Nan Zhenting, not caring about his broken chess piece, continued. "As for your sister-in-law, she was just a pawn your mother wanted to test. When your mother brought her back, she didn't adopt her as a daughter, but raised her as a daughter-in-law. Your mother deliberately fostered a relationship between her and Nan Yao, and when they were deeply in love, she used all sorts of tricks to separate them."
Nan Xiao looked at his father, whose face was red with anger, and reached for his purple clay teapot, handing it over.
Nan Zhenting took several large gulps, and his breathing finally evened out.
"Your sister-in-law has no close relatives, so she wasn't easy for your mother to control. After your eldest brother had his accident, I asked her if she wanted to leave. She said she wouldn't. She wanted to witness your mother being betrayed by everyone and dying alone in regret!"
Nan Xiao clearly froze. "Did she tell you that so directly?"
"Yes. I was afraid she would become another you. So I introduced her to Master Mingzhi. Since meeting Master Mingzhi, she has gradually calmed down."
"I'm afraid that's just superficial peace. The Doctor An who performed her surgery back then is now a cripple."
"Doctor An's incident happened before she met Master Mingzhi. That's why I introduced Master Mingzhi to her."
Nan Xiao looked at his father deeply. Nothing in this family could be hidden from him.
"Do you know Luan Qian?"
Nan Zhenting's strong, pine-like hand trembled slightly.
Seeing this, Nan Xiao understood. "You were the one who sent her abroad?"
Nan Zhenting nodded. "You went to Country Y last time to see her?"
"Qi Hongping's son was kidnapped. She said it was either sister-in-law or Luan Qian who did it. So I went over there to investigate."
Nan Zhenting shook his head disapprovingly. "You shouldn't have put yourself in danger twice for that child. He's not your eldest brother's child at all."
Nan Xiao looked at his father in surprise.
"With your mother's personality, how could she let Nan Yao have his own child? When I sent Qi Hongping away, the child she was carrying had already been lost."
Nan Xiao looked up at the ceiling speechlessly.
Just how cruel was his mother!
"Qi Hongping is not a good person. Don't get too emotionally invested in her child. Just give him a comfortable life."
Nan Xiao nodded. Since he wasn't his eldest brother's child, he didn't need to invest too much. However, he wouldn't completely abandon him. At the very least, he would take care of him until he could support himself.
Nan Zhenting said sternly, "Don't disturb Luan Qian again in the future, and don't mention her to your mother. Let her have a few days of peace."
Nan Xiao's eyes deepened. Was his father protecting Luan Qian because she resembled that woman?
"Okay." Nan Xiao agreed, not for his father, but for his eldest brother.
"I heard you're helping your Second Uncle find his grandson?" Nan Zhenting asked.
Nan Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly. "I've found him. However, I don't want to tell him too soon."
"He privately sold company shares. He deserves to be punished."
Nan Zhenting paused, then continued. "Since you became a vegetative state, you've been on the defensive. You need to find the person who's been pulling your strings as soon as possible. Also, you're currently facing two major crises: First, this equity change is highly likely to bring a greater crisis to Nan Corporation. Second, your relationship with Yu Xi is known to those who want to harm you. This could be exposed at any time, and if it is, your reputation will be damaged, and Nan Corporation will also face a crisis."
"I've been looking for the person hiding behind the scenes, but he's very cunning. It's not easy to find him. All I can do now is react to each move."
"You found your cousin, didn't you find that Wu Tianci by following the clues?"
"I found him, but it was just a corpse."
Nan Zhenting was stunned. The lead had been cut off just like that. The opponent was ruthless!
"Then how do you plan to deal with those two major crises?"