When Lin Xiao opened the front door, Fu Dexin was already chilled to the point of numbness.
"Third Branch, please come in."
Fu Dexin's feet felt somewhat numb, and he had to stamp them a few times before regaining any feeling.
He followed Lin Xiao inside and came to the living room, where Fu Dexin tried to sit on the sofa, but Lin Xiao stopped him.
"Third Branch, I'm sorry, but this is where Second Master sits. As you know, he has a bit of a mysophobia."
Fu Dexin flashed an awkward smile. Outside just now, he had stood facing the wall, and his entire back was drenched in sweat.
"Assistant Lin, do you happen to have any spare clothes? My clothes are soaked all the way through..."
Lin Xiao shook his head. "I'm sorry. Second Master's belongings are never allowed to be touched by anyone."
Fu Dexin was profoundly frustrated, but there was nothing appropriate he could say out loud.
Anyway, since he had already waited outside for so long, the fact that Fu Zhinian was willing to see him meant there was still a chance to discuss the matter of the dividends.
After standing for a while, Fu Zhinian finally descended leisurely from upstairs.
"Zhinian, you're here." Fu Dexin appeared somewhat constrained.
Fu Zhinian did not reply. His gaze remained cold and indifferent, revealing no particular expression.
He walked over to the sofa, sat down, and crossed his legs. He held his prayer beads in his hand, slowly rubbing them one by one.
The living room fell quiet. This silent atmosphere made Fu Dexin feel somewhat restless.
After a long while, Fu Zhinian finally spoke.
"Is there something you need?"
Fu Dexin hurriedly explained, "Zhinian, the New Year is almost here, and I'm here to bring you some gifts again." As he spoke, Fu Dexin lifted the gifts he had brought.
Ever since Fu Zhinian began managing the family enterprise, Fu Dexin had brought him gifts every Spring Festival, ranging from precious jewelry to the antiques Fu Zhinian favored.
Yet every single time, Fu Zhinian had refused to accept them.
Fu Dexin knew that Fu Zhinian looked down on these things of his, but the act still had to be performed.
"Zhinian, this time I specifically asked a friend to find a very fine string of prayer beads, brought back from Lingshan Temple and said to have been blessed." Fu Dexin took an exquisite yellow box out of the gift bag and handed it over.
Fu Zhinian glanced at it, and Lin Xiao walked over, taking the gift from Fu Dexin's hands.
"Third Branch, hand it to me."
Fu Dexin was somewhat startled. He had assumed Fu Zhinian wouldn't accept it, and hadn't expected Lin Xiao to walk over.
While he was still stunned, Lin Xiao had already taken the gift from his hands. Watching a gift worth over a hundred thousand yuan being taken away, he felt heartache so sharp it was almost unbearable.
Seeing the look of distress on Fu Dexin's face, a cold smirk inevitably formed at the corner of Lin Xiao's mouth.
He knew Second Master didn't actually want the gift; he just wanted to see the miserable look on Fu Dexin's face after having his gift taken away.
However, since the gift had already been accepted, no matter how much it ached, Fu Dexin couldn't ask for it back. He quickly seized the moment to bring up the real purpose of his visit.
"Zhinian, look, the New Year is approaching, and we need to prepare a lot of gifts. Can you give us a bit more on the dividends this year?"
"Oh, and your niece Jiaru has just started her freshman year of college, and she'll turn eighteen after the New Year. She wants a Ferrari sports car, so if you could..."
As he spoke, Fu Dexin watched Fu Zhinian's expression, but Fu Zhinian's face showed no change. He simply looked at the string of prayer beads in his hand, deep in thought, as if he hadn't heard Fu Dexin at all.
After a good while, Fu Zhinian finally lifted his eyes from his prayer beads, looked at Fu Dexin, and asked, "Why was Jiaojiao made to kneel as punishment today?"
Fu Dexin was taken aback. He hadn't expected Fu Zhinian to bring it up directly, but he had already figured out what to say before coming over.
"Zhinian, you have no idea. Ruan Jiaojiao is simply too outrageous; she actually hit someone."
"Mother Liu has served the Third Branch for over a dozen years, and she merely scolded Ruan Jiaojiao a couple of times, yet Ruan Jiaojiao flew into a rage and slapped Mother Liu across the face."
"The child has rather a hasty temper, so I'm tempering her disposition a bit, lest she go out into the world in the future and disgrace our Fu family."
Fu Dexin spoke with righteous indignation and an air of absolute rectitude, making it look as though he were entirely considering the interests of the Fu family.
Fu Zhinian raised an eyebrow slightly. "A hasty temper?"
"Indeed. You see, she's only been here two days and she's already starting to hit people. Mother Liu only offered a word of reprimand, so isn't that a hasty temper?"
"Oh, since her temper is hasty, she can stay here with me for a while from now on."
"W-What?!" Fu Dexin thought he had misheard and shouted a bit too loudly, but realizing that Fu Zhinian disliked noise, he lowered his voice again. "Zhinian, this illegitimate daughter of mine has lived outside for over ten years and is clumsy and ill-mannered. Keeping her here will surely make you angry, so forget about it."
In case Ruan Jiaojiao angered Fu Zhinian and the consequences implicated the Third Branch, it would be the absolute end of them.
Although the indoor heating was on, Fu Dexin felt a growing chill down his back.
Fu Zhinian said coldly, "I am informing you, not discussing it with you."
Pierced by Fu Zhinian's cold glance, Fu Dexin felt entirely unable to speak.
After the words remained blocked in his throat for a good while, he managed a sheepish smile. "Yes, yes, of course Zhinian has the final say."
"As for Ruan Jiaojiao, you must discipline her strictly and temper her disposition... Oh, by the way, since you don't have many servants here anyway, you might as well let her do some chores for you. That would be quite good."
Fu Dexin thought to himself that living here with Fu Zhinian would probably strip Ruan Jiaojiao of a layer of skin.
Everyone knew that Fu Zhinian was the hardest person to wait on; he was picky about his food, picky about where he slept, and had a terrible temper to boot.
Besides, if Ruan Jiaojiao came here, Jiaru wouldn't be sitting around sulking all day, and the household could finally have some peace and quiet.
Fu Zhinian said nothing. He glanced at the pendulum clock on the wall; it was already past six o'clock.
Winter days were short and nights were long, and outside, the sky had already turned pitch black.
Fu Zhinian put down his crossed legs, stood up, and without another word, headed toward the stairs.
Panicking because none of his goals for the day had been achieved, Fu Dexin hurriedly called out to Fu Zhinian's retreating back, "Zhinian, about that dividend matter I mentioned earlier..."
Fu Zhinian paused his steps without turning around. Fu Dexin could not see his expression, but his tone was cold and ordinary.
"As for the dividend matter, it's not entirely out of the question to give you a bit more. I can give you an extra hundred thousand."
Hearing this, Fu Dexin grinned, his eyes lighting up.
"However, since Jiaojiao is staying with me, she also requires money to live. We'll just treat the hundred thousand deducted and the hundred thousand added as her living expenses," Fu Zhinian said, continuing upstairs.
Fu Dexin stood frozen on the spot, his smile stiff, his face filled with disappointment and fury, yet he dared not say another word.
Ruan Jiaojiao was his daughter, true, but giving one hundred thousand yuan to Ruan Jiaojiao for living expenses was a terrible waste of money!
"Third Branch, Second Master will be resting shortly," Lin Xiao spoke up to remind him, tactfully driving the man away.
With a livid expression on his face, Fu Dexin turned around in anger and left Xing Garden.
Lin Xiao closed the front door, returned cheerfully to the living room, and called Gu Yu.
"Gu Yu, still basking in the lap of luxury?"
"You'd better have a valid reason. Every time I'm in the middle of something important, you interrupt me. If I get erectile dysfunction, you're taking responsibility!"
From the other end of the phone came Gu Yu's roar of rage.
Lin Xiao clicked his tongue twice. "You weren't here just now, so you didn't see Second Master exacting revenge on that Fu Dexin for Miss Jiaojiao's sake. Seeing Fu Dexin's face turn the color of dog shit—you can't imagine how satisfying it was, hahaha!"
"What's going on? Why would Second Master take revenge on Fu Dexin for Miss Ruan?"
"I'm not telling you. Bye." Lin Xiao laughed slyly.
Before Gu Yu on the other end could even finish hurling curses, the call was disconnected.