Chapter 90 Looking for a Friend

Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

The news that Xiao Yuanmu had been found by the Xiao Family took the upper circles of the Capital by storm. Everyone lost their minds the moment his first private interview had been released. The storm circled around the Song Family, placing them at the centre of it all.

“Mr. Xiao, how have you attained such success at such a young age? Aside from talent and hard work, were you also given emotional support?” Zhou Nan held his phone up. He lowered his voice and read the answer: “Yes.”

“The interviewer’s question was that long, and he replied only with one word. Even in English, it’s just one word.” Zhou Nan laughed as he looked towards the others. He said to Xiao Shenglin, “Looks like Xiao Yuanmu still doesn’t speak much even in America.”

Xiao Shenglin smiled before casting a worried look towards Song Xuanhe.

Song Xuanhe lazed back on the sofa, reading a fashion magazine, as if he didn’t care about what they were discussing at all.

“Then, will you tell us a bit about where this emotional support came from? From what I know—excuse me if I say anything offensive, but we heard that you had been raised at an orphanage in China before the Xiao Family found you. Did that support come from your orphanage’s director?”

“Xiao Yuanmu: The Director is like family to me,” Zhou Nan teased, “Look at that, he’s making progress with the length of his sentences. Oh, but just you wait. It improves drastically later on in this interview. I’ll read it out loud for you.”

“Mr. Xiao, are you implying that there is someone who isn’t family supporting you?”

Updated from novelhall[.]com

“Xiao Yuanmu then said ‘yes.’ Here comes the important part.” Zhou Nan sat up straight. He cleared his voice while reading the bilingual report of the interview. “The journalist asked: Can you tell us a bit about them? Even if it’s just about the current status of your relationship with them.”

“Xiao Yuanmu replied: I have a boyfriend. We’ve been together for nearly two years now. Although we’re in a long-distance relationship right now, we’re doing really well. We trust and love each other. He’s very supportive of my work—pfft, hahahahahahahahaha, I can’t keep reading this. Did the magazine make this up?”

Zhou Nan was splayed out on the ground, laughing as he grasped his phone in one hand. As he laughed, he continued to try to speak in between gasps for air. “What the hell is with this mutual trust and love part? Hahahahahaha! I can’t help but laugh while reading this, hahahahahahahaha….”

Song Xuanhe glanced at him dryly. He rolled his eyes and then looked away.

Zhou Nan crawled up and flopped onto the sofa that Song Xuanhe was sitting on. He asked with a smile, “Song Er, didn’t you say that the two of you had broken up?”

“Piss off.” Song Xuanhe shoved his face away.

“It doesn’t seem like the two of you have broken up.” Zhou Nan sat beside him, forcing him to shift over. “And, here I was watching my words, so as to avoid hurting your heartbroken heart. Turns out, you were deceiving us all along.”

“It’s up to you whether you believe me or not.” Song Xuanhe kicked at him. He then sat up and fixed his shirt that had risen a bit. There was a sound of impatience in his voice as if he had been sleeping, and someone had just woken him up. “If you’re done reading, go away. Dad wants to sleep.”

“Dear Dad, tell me, just what’s going on between you and Xiao Yuanmu?” Zhou Nan hugged Song Xuanhe’s leg, blinking his peach blossom eyes. He made his voice higher, “Daddy, tell me~”

Song Xuanhe didn’t hold back as he kicked Zhou Nan off the sofa this time. With no expression on his face, he said, “Scram. Dad doesn’t have such a sissy son like you.”

“But really, Song Er, just what’s going on with you and Xiao Yuanmu?” Zhou Nan went over to sit with Xiao Shenglin, his expression turning serious. “Xiao Yuanmu’s making much more news now that he’s a Xiao Family member compared to when he was only known as RE’s founder. Now, it looks like he wants to let everyone know that you’re his boyfriend. You’re not going to be able to avoid this issue.”

Xiao Shenglin also spoke up, “Xuanhe, did you really break up with Mr. Xiao?”

“Yes.” Song Xuanhe ruffled his hair, agitated. He then added, “Well, I think we broke up. He doesn’t agree.”

“What the heck?” Zhou Nan raised a brow. “Shouldn’t you two have reached an agreement?”

“It’s not like we were married. Isn’t it a break up once one person has decided they want to break up?” Song Xuanhe rolled his eyes. “What, should we have signed an agreement?”

“Honestly, yeah,” Zhou Nan said, “Even if you were to say now that you two have already broken up, who’d believe you? Forget about other people, do you think Old Mr. Song and Song Guochao will believe it?”

Xiao Shenglin nodded. “Zhou Nan’s right. That magazine’s interview has bound you and Xiao Yuanmu together. No matter what you say now, no one is going to believe you.”

“But then again, it doesn’t matter whether other people believe you or not.” Zhou Nan laughed, “In any case, no one dares to offend you now.”

“Tsk, what kind of fate is this?” Zhou Nan looked at Xiao Shenglin. “Lin zi is related to Xiao Yuanmu. I hadn’t expected that no one would realize that the two of you were actually long-lost relatives despite seeing each other so frequently.”

Xiao Shenglin had on a faint smile. Something seemed to flash through his eyes, but he didn’t say anything in the end.

Zhou Nan also knew that the other was still worried about Xiao Ranyun and her father, who had been summoned back to the Xiao Family’s main residence. Comforting the other, he said, “Xiao Ranyun is so smart. Besides, Xiao Yuanmu is also there now. Nothing will happen to her. Don’t worry.”

Xiao Shenglin shook his head and quietly said, “The Xiao Family is much more complicated than you think.”

“No large and influential family is simple,” Zhou Nan said, “Even if the Xiao Family’s complicated, it’s not like it’s some war zone. Besides, it’s not like Xiao Yuanmu doesn’t know Xiao Ranyun. Even if he doesn’t see her as a sister, he’ll protect her because of Song Er.”

“I don’t know if Xiao Yuanmu will be able to get a stable footing within the Xiao Family.” There was a hint of deprecation and lamentation in Xiao Shenglin’s voice. “The Xiao Family is both the most traditional and the most innovative family I’ve ever seen in my life. They don’t just abide by Chinese customs. The Xiao Family immigrated many years ago. Not only do they still have the ancient Eastern superior-subordinate system in place, but they also possess the West’s free thinking. However, to the servants who have served the Xiao Family for many generations, freedom is only something their masters can possess. Furthermore, there is a difference in ranking between their masters’ main branch and branch families. There’s a lot of complicated issues with their values and ideas. All I can say is that Xiao Yuanmu entering the Xiao Family is more-or-less equivalent to entering a war zone.”

Song Xuanhe recalled Xiao Baicong, who Xiao Ranyun had mentioned in the past. He frowned imperceptibly and asked, “Does it have to do with Xiao Baicong?”

Xiao Shenglin was shocked by Song Xuanhe’s sharpness. He nodded. “As I’ve just said, the Xiao Family abides by the old rules. Therefore, every child born into the Xiao Family will have servants—I guess it’s more appropriate to call them subordinates now— assigned to them at birth. The number and quality of subordinates are different depending on the person they’re for. From this, you can see that there’s not much difference between the Xiao Family and ancient influential families from the past in some respects.”

Zhou Nan coughed. “I recall that Xiao Ranyun usually has a personal assistant, a tutor, and two bodyguards with her….Xiao Ranyun is a member of a branch family. That means that Xiao Baicong must have many more people around him.”

“At least thirty,” Xiao Shenglin said in a flat voice, “Maybe more than fifty.”

Zhou Nan widened his eyes in astonishment. Even Song Xuanhe found this hard to believe.

Xiao Shenglin knew what they were thinking just by looking at their expressions. He said, “Xiao Baicong was the only child of the main branch until now. According to the rules, after his birth, twelve people would have been chosen to begin training to be his trusted aides so that they could assist him in any and all possible ways in the future. Depending on the direction he decides to take later on, as he grows up, the number of his subordinates will expand as well. There should have been another draft when he had been six and sixteen. I remember that when he was sixteen, they had chosen for him two personal assistants and two classmates to attend school with him. The subordinates who had been drafted to support him and help expand their business in different industries had already numbered twenty-eight at that time as well. Fifteen of them had already entered companies under the Xiao Group. Although they had started at the bottom, after so many years of experience, their capabilities now are nothing to look down on. What’s most important is that the people by Xiao Baicong’s side are steadfastly loyal to him. Furthermore, they share a common interest. Xiao Yuanmu’s appearance is a threat to these people.”

“Therefore, Xiao Yuanmu isn’t only facing against Xiao Baicong but his thirty plus subordinates as well. There are also the branch family members who support Xiao Baicong as the successor of the Xiao Family. What do you think? Isn’t this the same as walking into a war zone?”

Zhou Nan was silent for a long time before he said, “F*ck.”

“Is this really something happening in the modern age?” Zhou Nan mulled over Xiao Shenglin’s words. It still felt unreal. “Would America, which values humanitarianism, freedom, and equality, really tolerate the Xiao Family’s enforced social ranking like this?”

“There’s a difference in social class everywhere in the world,” Xiao Shenglin said, “Besides, the eight major financial groups are tempting even to you. Do you think that those people who have relied on the Xiao Family since ancient times to get to where they are now would be willing to let go of such a big tree like the Xiao Family? They’re not just Xiao Baicong’s subordinates—they also share common interests. If Xiao Baicong takes over the Xiao Family, his subordinates would be split up to take over the executive levels of the Xiao Group’s various companies. No one would think of them as the Xiao Family’s servants. They would only know that they are the leaders of all sorts of industries. Aside from those from the eight major families, those ‘servants’ would actually be above everyone else, us included.”

After digesting Xiao Shenglin’s words, Song Xuanhe recalled the myriad of difficulties and hostility that Xiao Yuanmu had experienced in the Xiao Family in the book. The author’s written description of the Xiao Family had been less comprehensive than Xiao Shenglin’s speech had been just now. Or rather, the author had simply glossed over the complicated details of the Xiao Family’s relationships. Instead, the author had focused on writing about Xiao Yuanmu’s battles in the business world.

Back when he had read the book, he had thought that the people in the Xiao Group’s companies fighting against Xiao Yuanmu had been taking things too far. After all, who the Xiao Family head was didn’t seem to affect their positions. Furthermore, it had been obvious that Xiao Yuanmu was much more capable than Xiao Baicong. He had felt like their blind support of Xiao Baicong, who hadn’t seemed particularly ambitious, was too abnormal.

But now, he realized that those people had probably been Xiao Baicong’s people. If that was the case, then had Xiao Baicong, who had been the first Xiao Family member Xiao Yuanmu had been willing to open up his heart to, really been as innocent and void of ambition as he had seemed?

Eve: RIP SXH. No one’s going to believe you now. Mumu is a schemerrrrrr. While I’m sure some selfish motives probably did drive his decision, I guess it also benefits SXH. Especially because Mumu is worried about the coerced drug usage incident.