Chapter 333 — Don't Ever Cross Him
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
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."