Chapter 333 — Don't Ever Cross Him

Though Xie Guangbo had no wish to see Jin Gubang, he still told the family's maid, Aunt Wang, to answer the door. But when the door swung open, Aunt Wang froze, staring at the figure before her as though she could not believe her eyes...

"You... you're the young master?" Aunt Wang gaped at the gaunt, skeletal Xie Jinbiao, so shocked she could not speak. It was simply too frightening.

"Aunt Wang! It's me!" Xie Jinbiao was overcome with emotion too. When he had left, Aunt Wang had still been young; in the blink of an eye, her hair had turned gray...

Xie Guangbo had assumed the visitor was Jin Gubang, so he was lying on the sofa feigning illness. The moment he heard his son Xie Jinbiao's voice, he sprang up from the couch. "Son? Son, you're back?"

"Dad..." Xie Jinbiao was deeply moved as well. Though he had lived a carefree life abroad all these years, it was only now, standing in his own home, that he truly felt it: there was no place like home.

"All right, you two can catch up in a moment. Where are my shares?" It would be a lie to say Wei Zhao was entirely unmoved by this display of fatherly and filial affection — but moved or not, he had no sympathy for them.

Xie Jinbiao had been nothing but a thoroughbred wastrel, and a son's failure is the father's fault. Xie Guangbo had spent every day scrambling to make money, with no time to discipline his son, thinking he could amass a vast fortune for the boy — and in the end, it had all come to nothing...

With his son home, Xie Guangbo was overjoyed. But the thought of handing every last share over to Wei Zhao made him hesitate... Once the shares in his hand were gone, he would be left with nothing at all.

Being penniless himself did not much matter — but his son was another matter. Could the boy endure a life of poverty? Earlier, frantic with worry over his son's safety, Xie Guangbo had been ready to hand over money and equity at any cost; now that his son was back, he began to fret over every gain and loss.

So it goes with most people: once they have something, they want more, endlessly dissatisfied and insatiably greedy. Now he truly found himself reluctant to give up those shares to Wei Zhao.

"Mr. Lin... what do you say to this? I'll transfer half the shares to you unconditionally, and keep the other half for Jinbiao. I guarantee he won't back Jin Gubang..." Xie Guangbo said after a moment's hesitation.

Wei Zhao frowned. So this old thing had learned to go back on his word? It was already generous of him not to demand the man's entire fortune, and now he wanted to play games? Wei Zhao was about to curse him out when Xie Jinbiao spoke first.

"Dad, don't talk nonsense! Hurry up and give this gentleman everything you owe him... Whatever you do, don't cross him — I don't want to die!" At his father's words, Xie Jinbiao nearly collapsed to the floor.

The scene of Wei Zhao unleashing his fury at the Shuilan Gang headquarters was still vivid in his mind. Xie Jinbiao was terrified that one wrong move, one flicker of displeasure, and Wei Zhao would simply do away with him.

"Jinbiao... you..." Xie Guangbo was stunned. He had risked his life trying to keep back a few shares — and all of it for this son of his. So why didn't the boy want them?

"Dad, just give them to him! It's a miracle I made it back alive!" Xie Jinbiao had brushed against death itself and come to know true terror. He had no desire to remain in the sights of a creature as frightening as Wei Zhao.

"Very well. Since you have no use for them, those shares are worthless to me anyway!" Xie Guangbo nodded, then raised his head to look at Wei Zhao. "My apologies — I was greedy. I figured I'm an old man with one life to give, and Mr. Lin could take it whenever he pleased. But I never imagined... Ah, never mind. I'll go get the equity documents and transfer every share in my name to you."

Xie Guangbo went upstairs and brought down the equity documents he had long since prepared, signed the transfer agreement, and handed it to Wei Zhao.

"I'll leave the villa. You two can keep living here." Wei Zhao glanced at Xie Jinbiao. "All right, I'm off. Carry on with your catching up."

Once out of Xie Guangbo's villa, Wei Zhao found a public telephone and dialed Gu Pengzhan's mobile number.

"Hello? Yes?" Xie Guangbo was on edge, and so was Gu Pengzhan. There had been no word from Wei Zhao for the past two days, and Gu Pengzhan could not even concentrate on his documents. When his phone rang and he saw an unfamiliar number, he did not want to answer — he had far too many troubles weighing on him lately — but after a moment's hesitation, he picked up.

"Uncle Chu? This is Wei Zhao!" At the sound of Wei Zhao's voice over the line, Gu Pengzhan's heart leaped with joy. He had been worrying about Wei Zhao all along; the call set his mind at ease. Whether Xie Jinbiao had been rescued or not no longer much concerned him — so long as Wei Zhao was safe and sound, that was enough.

Still, seeing that the number was from Songshan City, Gu Pengzhan found it odd. A long-distance transfer, perhaps?

"Wei Zhao, where are you? Are you all right?" Gu Pengzhan asked urgently.

"I'm fine. I just got back, and I'm on my way to your company now. Are you at the office?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I'm here. Where are you? I'll have Li Fu drive over to pick you up?" Gu Pengzhan's heart finally settled — Wei Zhao had made it back to Songshan.

"No need. I'll take a cab over," Wei Zhao said.

"All right then, I'll be waiting for you in the office!" Hearing this, Gu Pengzhan did not insist further; after all, Wei Zhao was already back in Songshan City, and there was no danger anymore.

Wei Zhao hailed a cab and headed straight for the Gu Group. At this hour of the day there was no traffic to speak of, so in less than ten minutes Wei Zhao had arrived outside the main gate of the Gu Group.

Wei Zhao had been to the Group several times before, and ever since that last incident the security guards at the gate had remembered him well. Seeing Wei Zhao approach, they immediately greeted him with smiling faces.

Wei Zhao nodded and went straight to Gu Pengzhan's office. He knocked, and the door was opened promptly — Qing Bo was standing inside.

"Mr. Lin, you're here. Mr. Gu is waiting for you inside!" Qing Bo was a little surprised to see Wei Zhao. Though Gu Pengzhan had already told him that Wei Zhao was back, Qing Bo still found it hard to believe — barely two days had passed, there and back, and Wei Zhao had actually brought Xie Jinbiao back? But where was Xie Jinbiao? Could the mission have failed?

With Gu Pengzhan present, however, Qing Bo asked no further questions. It was up to Gu Pengzhan to learn the details.

"Xiao Yi!" Seeing Wei Zhao enter, Gu Pengzhan rose personally to welcome him — a clear sign of how highly he regarded Wei Zhao. "I've been worried all along, but it looks like you're unhurt. That's wonderful."

"Ha... Uncle Chu, didn't I tell you before? It was a small matter." Wei Zhao smiled and shrugged.

"A small matter? Then that means... Xie Guangbo's son..." Gu Pengzhan stared at Wei Zhao in astonishment! He too had assumed the mission had failed — otherwise Wei Zhao could hardly have returned to the country in such a short time — but from Wei Zhao's tone, it seemed otherwise...