Chapter 333 — Never Provoke Him

Reluctant as Xie Guangbo was to see Jin Gubang, he still told the family's nanny, Wang Ma, to open the door. But when the door swung open, Wang Ma froze, staring at the figure before her as though she could not believe her eyes...

"You... you're the young master?" Wang Ma stared at the gaunt, bony Xie Jinbiao, so shocked she could not get a word out. This was far too frightening, wasn't it?

"Nanny Wang! It's me!" Xie Jinbiao was excited too. When he had left, Nanny Wang had still been young; in the blink of an eye, grey had crept into her hair...

Xie Guangbo had assumed the visitor was Jin Gubang, so he was lying on the sofa feigning illness. The instant he heard his son Xie Jinbiao's voice, he sprang up off the sofa: "Son, son, you're back?"

"Dad..." Xie Jinbiao was excited as well... Though he had lived free and easy abroad all these years, only now, coming home, did he truly feel that nowhere on earth felt better than home!

"All right, you two can reminisce later. Where are my shares?" It would have been a lie to say Wei Zhao had been entirely unmoved by this father-and-son sentiment — but moved or not, he felt no pity for them.

Xie Jinbiao had once been nothing but a thoroughgoing wastrel. When a son is not taught, the fault is the father's; Xie Guangbo had been busy making money day in and day out, with no time to discipline his son, thinking he could amass a vast fortune for him — and in the end, it all came to nothing...

His son was back, and Xie Guangbo was overjoyed. But at the thought of handing every last share over to Wei Zhao, he suddenly hesitated... Once the shares in his hands were given away, he would have nothing left at all.

Having no money himself did not matter so much; the crux was his son — could the boy endure a life of poverty? Earlier, frantic with worry over his son's safety, Xie Guangbo had been ready to surrender money and shares alike to Wei Zhao without a second thought. But now that his son had returned, he began to fret over gain and loss.

That is how many people are: once they have something, they want more, forever insatiably greedy, never content. Right now, he truly could not bear to part with those shares.

"Mr. Lin... what do you say to this? I'll transfer half my shares to you unconditionally, and keep the other half for Jinbiao. I guarantee he won't side with Jin Gubang..." Xie Guangbo said after a moment's hesitation...

Wei Zhao frowned. This fellow had even learned to go back on his word? He was already being generous in not demanding the man's entire fortune — and now the man wanted to play games with him? Wei Zhao was about to curse him out when Xie Jinbiao spoke first.

"Dad, don't talk nonsense! Hurry up and give this brother everything you owe him... Whatever you do, don't provoke him — I don't want to die yet..." The moment Xie Jinbiao heard his father's words, he nearly keeled over on the spot!

The scene of Wei Zhao unleashing his fury at the Water Blue Gang headquarters was still vivid before his eyes. Xie Jinbiao was terrified that one displeasure from Wei Zhao would be enough to finish him off...

"Jinbiao... you..." Xie Guangbo was dumbfounded. He had risked his old life to hold on to a few shares, all for this son of his — so why did his son not want them?

"Dad, just give them to this brother, quick! It's a miracle I came back alive!" Xie Jinbiao had brushed against death in a single instant and truly understood how terrifying it was. He genuinely did not want that even more terrifying presence, Wei Zhao, watching him any longer.

"Fine then. Since you don't need it, those shares are useless to me anyway!" Xie Guangbo nodded and raised his head to look at Wei Zhao: "My apologies — it was greed on my part. I thought, I'm an old man with one life to give; Mr. Lin, you could take it whenever you wished. But I never imagined... never mind, say no more. I'll go get the equity documents right now and transfer every share under my name to you!"

Xie Guangbo went upstairs, brought down the equity documents he had long since prepared, and signed the transfer agreement over to Wei Zhao.

"I won't take the villa; leave it for you two to live in." Wei Zhao glanced at Xie Jinbiao. "All right, I'm off. You two carry on with your reunion!"

Out of Xie Guangbo's villa, Wei Zhao found a public telephone and dialed Gu Pengzhan's mobile number.

"Hello? Yes?" Xie Guangbo's heart was uneasy — and so was Gu Pengzhan's. For the past two days there had been no word from Wei Zhao, and Gu Pengzhan could not even settle down to read his documents. When the phone rang and he saw an unfamiliar number, he had not meant to answer — too many vexations lately — but after a moment's hesitation, he picked up.

"Uncle Chu? This is Wei Zhao!" Wei Zhao's voice came through the receiver, and Gu Pengzhan was instantly delighted! He had been anxious for news of Wei Zhao all along; now that Wei Zhao had called, his heart eased somewhat. Whether Xie Jinbiao had been rescued no longer concerned him much — so long as Wei Zhao was safe and sound.

Still, seeing that the number was from Songshan City, Gu Pengzhan found it strange. Could it be a long-distance relay?

"Wei Zhao, where are you? Are you all right?" Gu Pengzhan asked hurriedly.

"I'm fine. I just got back, and I'm on my way to your company now. You're at the office, right?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I am. Where are you? Shall I have Li Fu drive over to pick you up?" Gu Pengzhan's mind was set at ease at once — Wei Zhao had already returned to Songshan.

"No need. I'll take a taxi over," Wei Zhao said.

"All right then, I'll be waiting for you in my office!" Hearing this, Gu Pengzhan did not insist further. After all, Wei Zhao was back in Songshan City; there was no danger anymore.

Wei Zhao hailed a car and headed straight for the Gu Group. At this hour of the day there was no traffic, so in less than ten minutes he arrived outside the gates of the Gu Group building.

Wei Zhao had been to the Group several times before, and since that last incident the security guards at the gate remembered him well. Seeing him arrive, they greeted him at once with smiling faces.

Wei Zhao nodded and went straight to Gu Pengzhan's office. He knocked, and the door was opened quickly — Uncle Qing was standing inside.

"Mr. Lin, you've come. Mr. Gu is inside waiting for you!" Uncle Qing was a little surprised to see Wei Zhao. Though Gu Pengzhan had already told him that Wei Zhao was back, Uncle Qing still found it hard to believe. Barely two days there and back — could Wei Zhao really have brought Xie Jinbiao home? But where was Xie Jinbiao? Had the mission failed?

Still, with Gu Pengzhan present, Uncle Qing asked no more. It was for Gu Pengzhan to learn the details.

"Xiaoyi!" Seeing Wei Zhao enter, Gu Pengzhan rose to his feet to welcome him in person — a clear sign of how highly he regarded Wei Zhao. "I've been worried all this time, but it looks like you're unhurt. That's wonderful."

"Ha... Uncle Chu, didn't I tell you before? It was a trifling matter." Wei Zhao smiled and shrugged.

"A trifling matter? You mean... Xie Guangbo's son..." Gu Pengzhan stared at Wei Zhao in astonishment! He too had assumed Wei Zhao's mission had failed — otherwise he could not possibly have returned to the country in such a short time. But judging by Wei Zhao's tone, that did not seem to be the case...

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