In this battle, the second eldest son of the Sheng family, Sheng Guang, and their third eldest son, Sheng Wei, were shot dead, and more than 200 of their men died. The fifth son, Sheng Ming, disappeared without a trace.
On the side of J City, military and political leader Old Master Shen suddenly fell ill, and all affairs were handed over to his grandson, Shen Mo, to handle. Sheng Weiyong was arrested for economic crimes involved in smuggling, illegal possession of firearms, and other charges. The eldest son, Sheng Kai, was detained for a murder case. The stock price of Sheng Group plummeted. The Sheng family’s power was on the decline, as if a building was about to collapse, teetering on the edge.
The authorities classified this incident as a gang conflict, skillfully avoiding implicating the Chu family, instead announcing that the Chu family was an ‘innocent victim’ who had accidentally become involved in the gang clash.
In this battle, the Black Eagle Society lost 43 men dead and over 240 injured. The casualties among Chu Qin’s former subordinates who were paying respect at the cemetery were the heaviest. At Qinglan Mansion, besides Aunt Song, the gardener, and a few servants who weren’t there that day, Bai Yang and three bodyguards were severely injured, while Feng Tai, Lan Xin, and others all died.
Chu Yunhan, who stubbornly insisted on personally visiting the scene, did not speak a word the entire time. He only picked up Feng Tai’s pocket watch and tucked it into his chest pocket, slowly combing Lan Xin’s bloodstained hair, staring at her pale, quiet face for a long time without moving. Finally, he closed his eyes, which were reddened from holding back tears, and had them placed in black body bags and taken to the morgue.
After returning from the cemetery, he locked himself in his room in the old mansion and hadn’t come out since. The Sheng family still had a lot of fish that might have slipped through the net and could be wandering the city, so Chu Yichen requested that he stay in the old mansion temporarily. But everyone knew the real reason—it was to prevent him from being reminded of the scene at the empty Qinglan Mansion.
The next afternoon, the door was forced open, and Hei Yu brought a little girl to Chu Yunhan who looked haggard.
There was finally a flicker of light in his dull eyes. He knelt halfway and said slowly in a hoarse voice, “Yuanyuan, your mother…is gone.”
“…Where did Mommy go?” There was an uneasiness in the childish voice.
“…She went to a very, very beautiful place. She wanted to stay there, but she couldn’t stop worrying about you, afraid you’d be lonely…” He did his best to remain composed in front of the child, trying to appear better, “From now on, Uncle will accompany you on her behalf so that she can rest assured, okay?”
Yuanyuan looked at him and nodded, but tears fell. She was a sensitive and delicate child—her mother hadn’t come back, and neither had Uncle Feng. Many people hadn’t come back. She could read pity and sorrow in the adults’ eyes when they looked at her. She knew her mother wouldn’t return, and from now on, she had no one else to rely on except the man before her.
Chu Yunhan held her in his arms and comforted her softly, “Don’t cry, don’t cry… Uncle will always be with you and protect you. Are you hungry? Let’s go get something to eat together, okay?”
He had to pull himself together because someone needed him. He was someone else’s pillar of support.
This incident was too far-reaching, requiring a great deal of follow-up work. Both the black and white parties have a lot of things to be busy with, including political negotiations, business operations, internal management, tracing the remnants of the party, providing compensation for the deceased, and treating the injured… Additionally, with many people lost, Chu Yichen was swamped with work. Minran couldn’t be in J City to assist, and even the older generation, Chu Yu and Chu Xuan had to get involved. Chu Yunhan actively took over many of the group’s operational matters and became busy himself.
The funeral of the deceased was held a week later, and tombstones were erected in the Black Eagle Society’s exclusive cemetery. Although some of the ashes had been collected by their families, their names were still engraved here as a permanent memorial.
It was an extremely grand funeral. A black motorcade, with large white flowers tied to the front of the cars, slowly made its way along the main road of K City, passing in front of the Golden Eagle Group headquarters. Under the gaze of the golden eagle perched atop the building, the deceased were sent to their final resting place. The long procession attracted numerous onlookers, all of whom knew it was the Chu family bidding farewell to their loved ones.
The officials and high-ranking members of the Black Eagle Society rushed back from all directions, and the entire cemetery was dark and solemn. Chu Yichen, wearing a black suit, stood at the front. Chu Yunhan and others stood behind him, bowing deeply to the tombstone together. Yuanyuan, who was wearing a little black skirt, held his hand tightly and sobbed softly. After the ceremony was over, he took her little hand and went to Lan Xin’s tombstone. Yuanyuan cried and said softly, “Mom, don’t worry, I will listen to Uncle Chu, and I will come to see you often…”
Seeing this scene, Chu Yunhan felt extremely depressed. He turned his face and met the eyes of the man standing not far away.
Chu Yichen was looking at him. The two of them were busy with their own affairs during this period. Even though they lived in the old house, they always left early and returned late. It seemed that they had not seen each other for a long time. At this moment, there were many people between them, and they were looking at each other calmly, and no one looked away. It wasn’t until Yuanyuan grabbed Chu Yunhan’s hand again that he lowered his head, picked her up, and left the cemetery first.
When people get busy, they tend to ignore the passage of time. By the time all the matters were dealt with and the situation had stabilised, it had already been a month and a half. After winter set in, a few moderate to heavy rains fell, and the weather grew colder day by day.
Chu Yunhan, who was woken up by the alarm early in the morning, went downstairs with messy hair and yawned. Since Lan Xin’s death, no matter how busy he was, he made sure to set aside time every day to have breakfast with Yuanyuan and then take her to kindergarten. He sleepily walked to the dining room, and when he saw the people sitting at the round table eating, he paused in surprise, his eyes widening.
Yuanyuan, wearing a little red sweater, reached for the pastries on the plate, but her short arms couldn’t quite reach. She quietly pulled her hand back. Just then, a large hand extended from the side, moving the plate directly in front of her. The girl softly said thank you, took a small cake, and bit into it, with the jam filling spilling out. The man sitting next to her wiped it off with a napkin and said, “Take your time.”
This scene was strange yet harmonious, leaving Chu Yunhan dumbfounded, unsure whether to walk over. A while ago, Chu Yichen had gone to J City to expand his network, and they hadn’t seen each other for more than half a month. Now, seeing him sitting at the table felt unreal. When Yuanyuan looked up and saw him, she called out, ‘Uncle Chu’, and immediately, the familiar gaze followed.
Chu Yunhan felt a slight itch on his face, like being swept by a cat’s tail. He coughed lightly, said vaguely “Good morning, you’re back”, and sat down on the other side of Yuanyuan.
“Just arrived.”
He was a little cautious for no reason and said, “Over there… is everything settled?”
“En.”
“No need to go?”
“En.”
“Minran is still there?”
“Shen Mo is still settling in; there are some things to take care of.”
“Oh.”
The exchange was brief and sparse.
Chu Yunhan distractedly scooped some porridge into his spoon and brought it to his mouth, only to find it scalding. He was caught between spitting it out and swallowing, looking utterly awkward. He hissed through his teeth while sneaking a glance at the other man.
The man raised the corner of his mouth, sipping milk from his cup without saying anything. However, Yuanyuan next to him looked at him sympathetically and said, “Uncle, eat slowly, hot.”
“Okay.” His face turned red, and he stirred the porridge in the bowl with a spoon. He said, “I will take Yuanyuan back in two days.”
Chu Yichen was silent for a while and replied calmly, “Okay, I’ll let someone arrange it.”
Chu Yunhan didn’t know why he felt a little unhappy all of a sudden. It was as if there was a sudden and uncomfortable feeling in his heart. He said, “I’ll handle it myself.”
It was quite a blunt rebuttal. Du Chuan, who was standing aside, glanced at the person sitting in the main seat.
The man’s expression remained unchanged. He slowly took a sip of the milk in the cup and said, “Okay.”
It was his own suggestion at first, but now that the other person agreed, he felt upset. What was going on? Even he thought he was being unreasonable.
It was probably because he had been holding back too much lately, and he was a bit emotionally disturbed…
That must be the case…
Chu Yunhan felt sullen and had no appetite left. After Yuanyuan finished eating, he said, “I’ll take her to kindergarten,” and left.
He was in a bad mood the entire way. It wasn’t until Yuanyuan, who was sitting in the back seat, asked timidly, “Is Uncle upset?” did he realised that he had been scowling the whole time and said with some shame, “No, it’s just that the road is a bit congested. I asked Aunt Jing to come after school in the afternoon to pick you up, okay? Uncle has a meeting that might run late.”
“Okay.” The little girl was always very well-behaved.
After dropping Yuanyuan off at kindergarten, Chu Yunhan realised that he had been absent-minded and had forgotten a whole folder of materials at home.
He had originally planned to call Du Chuan to have someone bring them to the office, but since the folder contained confidential business documents, he decided to return them and get them himself.
He walked into the traditional Chinese-style building with white walls and black tiles, his gaze passing over the study on the second floor. He paused, then turned back.
Sunlight streamed through the wooden lattice window, casting patterns of shadows on the floor. The tall bookshelf was neatly stacked with books, forming a layered, pixelated 3D image. Amid this, a figure was slouched on the wide sofa, his head tilted to one side. His hand, holding a fountain pen, was limp against the armrest, and the pen had rolled onto the carpet.
His eyes were tightly closed, and his thick black lashes cast a small shadow beneath his eyes.
Chu Yichen had just… fallen asleep.
Chu Yunhan stood quietly for a moment, letting out a soft sigh. This was the first time he had observed Chu Yichen’s sleeping face up close. He had always remembered Chu Yichen as strong and cold after reaching adulthood, like a machine, constantly alert and calm. Sometimes, he even forgot that this person was an ordinary human who needed rest.
His gaze fell on the thick stack of materials on the side table, and he frowned.
It must take a lot of effort to mediate among the powerful people in J City. This man caught a late-night flight, skipped a good night’s sleep, and was now handling a pile of matters. It’s really…
He realised that this morning, the man had probably only had a cup of milk.
He looked at the tired sleeping face of the other party, and somewhere in his heart, a soft, sour, green plum-like emotion welled up, slowly swelling, filling his heart to the fullest. He quickly went to a nearby room and took a soft thin blanket, gently draping it over Chu Yichen. After quietly closing the study door behind him, he turned to see Du Chuan holding a cup of tea and Hei Yu with the materials standing behind him. Chu Yunhan raised an eyebrow and said, “What’s so urgent that it couldn’t wait? Can’t you let him sleep for a bit?”
This was the first time the young master had interfered with Chu Yichen’s matters, and both Du Chuan and Hei Yu were taken aback, exchanging glances. Hei Yu lowered his head and said, “I’ll report in half an hour.”
He took a few steps, turned back, and whispered to Du Chuan, “Don’t mention that I came back.”
“Understood.” The butler responded.
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