When Chu Zhao emerged from the budget hotel, it was the height of the morning rush hour.
The streets were filled with an endless stream of cars and hurried pedestrians. Moving against the flow, Chu Zhao passed a series of breakfast stalls billowing with steam before finally stopping at a modest porridge shop.
Aunt Wang, who was busy ladling porridge, looked up and immediately beamed with a warm, bright smile upon seeing her.
"Is that you, Zhaozhao? Coming to get porridge for your Aunt Chun again?"
"Yes," Chu Zhao nodded. "Aunt Wang, I'd like..."
"A bowl of red bean and yam porridge, a bowl of longan and jujube porridge, a side of pickled radish, a bamboo steamer of crystal dumplings, and three purple sweet potato cakes, right?"
Before Chu Zhao could finish, Aunt Wang laughingly recited the order she always placed, looking quite pleased with herself.
The sight amused Chu Zhao, and a smile broke across her face—a rare, genuine expression. It was as if the long-clouded sky had suddenly cleared. She nodded in agreement, her expression softening noticeably.
Seeing this, Aunt Wang grew even more delighted. She chuckled, "That’s how it should be, Zhaozhao. You’re still young, just a girl—you should smile more."
"Okay," Chu Zhao promised.
Something warmer than the bubbling porridge began to stir in her heart. The pain that had weighed on her from last night until this morning felt as if it had been gently cradled by a pair of large, tender hands. She hadn't even seen Aunt Chun yet, but she already felt a sense of joy.
***
—Chu Family—
"Xiaowang, you're back?"
Chu Fu was sitting in the living room eating breakfast. When she saw Chu Wang return, her face instantly lit up. She walked over to greet him. "I heard you raced Su Jingmo and won that Water Villa of his at Yunshuiguan. How can our Xiaowang be so amazing?"
As she spoke, Chu Fu reached out to pat his hair. Whenever she praised him like this in the past, Chu Wang, despite his proud nature, would habitually lower his head and let her ruffle his hair.
But this time, her hand met nothing but air—Chu Wang had tilted his head to avoid her touch.
Chu Fu froze. "Xiaowang, what's wrong?"
Only then did she notice something was amiss. She looked up at his face, but Chu Wang was wearing a baseball cap with the brim pulled extremely low, leaving her unable to read his expression.
She felt a flicker of confusion. Didn't Su Jingmo say that Chu Wang had used Chu Zhao to help him win the race? And that, on top of the original stakes, he had also won the Water Villa she had been so fond of? Wasn't this a good thing?
"Are you not rested enough?" Chu Fu asked, her face filled with concern as she turned to call out, "Aunt An, please..."
"How do you know I raced Su Jingmo?"
Chu Wang’s voice was hoarse, laced with an unexplained gloom. He stepped forward, forcing the issue. "And who told you about the Water Villa?"
He had explicitly ordered those people to keep their mouths shut. Why did Chu Fu know? He mentally replayed the scene, running through the list of everyone who had been present, his expression growing colder.
"Was it Su Jingmo?" he insisted. "He’s the one who told you, isn't he?"
Chu Wang felt a fire raging in his chest, burning incessantly from last night until now. He couldn't hold it back any longer. Wasn't Chu Fu his sister? Why did she keep in touch with Su Jingmo, knowing full well how much he detested him? She even called that jerk "Jingmo" to his face—so intimate, never once considering his feelings.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and his expression turned increasingly fierce.
Startled, Chu Fu took two hesitant steps back. "Xiaowang, what is wrong with you?"
Chu Wang cut her off sharply. "Do you really not know? Do you have to be told today of all days that I don't like Su Jingmo? Do you think he’d ever say anything good about me?"
"Chu Wang." A cold, calm voice rang out from the staircase. "You are losing your composure."
That single sentence silenced his questions. He froze where he stood, head bowed, like a motionless doll.
Chu Fu, still shaken, couldn't help but step back further. She looked toward Chu Zhang with a pleading, lost expression. Chu Zhang’s gaze met hers, and his originally indifferent expression suddenly softened.
"Xiaofu, go back to your room," he said soothingly.
"Big Brother, but Xiaowang..."
"Go back to your room," Chu Zhang repeated. This time, his voice, while still gentle, carried an unquestionable authority.
Chu Fu bit her lower lip, glancing at Chu Wang with difficulty, but seeing he remained locked in his own world, refusing to communicate, she gave in. "Alright, Big Brother."
"Please, just talk to him properly," Chu Fu requested softly, her beautiful eyes filled with worry. "Don't be angry, okay?"
"Don't worry," Chu Zhang nodded. "Go on. I will make sure Chu Wang apologizes to you properly for today."
Chu Fu’s eyes softened, her voice barely a whisper. "Thank you, Big Brother. I'm fine. Xiaowang is a good person too. I am his sister; I would never be angry with him."
As she spoke, her gaze rested gently and intently on Chu Wang. When she saw his eyelashes tremble slightly at her final words, she finally withdrew her gaze and turned to head to her room.
***
After Chu Fu left, the living room fell into a dead silence. Chu Zhang shed the last trace of warmth from his face. He looked at Chu Wang, his voice devoid of emotion. "Come to my study."
Chu Wang stood rigid for a few seconds before following, though his footsteps were heavy, causing him to lag far behind. Once he entered the study and closed the door, he turned to find Chu Zhang already seated behind his desk.
"Kneel," Chu Zhang said coldly.
"Big Brother?" Chu Wang’s eyes widened in disbelief. "I know I was wrong. I shouldn't have spoken to Sister Fu like that. I will apologize to her..."
"Kneel," Chu Zhang commanded. "Don't make me say it a third time."
"Brother..." Chu Wang gritted his teeth. Seeing Chu Zhang’s cold, unyielding expression, he realized there was no room for negotiation. With eyes burning with a mix of shame and bitter, inexplicable resentment, he sank to his knees.
As his knees hit the floor, a crushing sense of humiliation, mixed with a grievance he couldn't name, burned through him like a furnace.
"Do you feel aggrieved?"
Chu Zhang took an object out of the jewelry box Chu Zhao had mailed back. A hazy pink light rippled from it, shimmering with dreamlike radiance—it was the "Huilan."
Chu Zhang looked down at his kneeling brother. "When you used Mom and Dad’s wedding anniversary gemstone as a gambling stake, why didn't you think of this moment?"
Chu Wang’s pupils dilated. How did "Huilan" end up in Big Brother’s hands? Wasn't it taken by Chu Zhao? He had asked the servants—Chu Zhao hadn't been home since she was hospitalized!
His brain short-circuited. He stared blankly at the "Huilan" being casually turned over in his brother’s palm.
"What did you think this was?" Chu Zhang asked indifferently. "Just a pink diamond that sold for 68.9 million dollars and set a world record? It is the crowning witness to the marriage between the Chu and Wen families, the centerpiece of our parents' wedding of the century."
"Before Father bought it, the finder called it the 'Heart of True Love.' When Father won it, he gifted it to Mother. That very day, the stocks of the Chu Group’s subsidiaries soared, with many hitting the daily limit. Even now, you cannot talk about the Chu family without mentioning that legendary event."
"Do you want the world to know that the 'Huilan,' a witness to the true love of the heads of the Chu family, can be tossed onto a gambling table by their own children and pawned off so recklessly?"
At this, a flash of genuine fury finally crossed Chu Zhang’s face.
"You brainless fool," Chu Zhang lashed out. "If this leaks to the public and the media decides to make a spectacle of it, do you have any idea how much trouble you will bring upon the Group?!"