DASFAM_29

As time ticked by second by second, the curiosity of everyone present was piqued.

Old Master Shang glanced at the banquet hall doors, which showed no sign of movement, and feigned composure as he took a sip of tea.

Old Madam Shang, noticing the interest her husband concealed beneath his calm expression, spoke up on his behalf, "Bai Xu, what exactly has your third branch prepared? Why all this mystery?"

Bai Xu put on the most endearing smile he could manage, the kind best suited to winning over elders, and proactively poured her a cup of tea, "Old Madam, please don't be anxious. It'll be here in the time it takes to drink a sip of water."

Old Madam Shang, whose temperament had always been composed, simply said, "Very well."

Fang Yuhua caught the warm exchange between the two and pressed her lips together with quiet displeasure. Using her husband as cover, she murmured under her breath, "What a good thing. The third branch just loves making itself the center of attention."

How long had it even been? And already Old Master and Old Madam Shang—along with everyone else in the room—had their eyes fixed over in that direction!

Shang Yun, hearing the resentment in his wife's voice, quickly leaned in and whispered in her ear, "Would you keep it down! What if the Old Master hears you again? Wasn't being called out in front of everyone last time enough of a lesson for you?"

"……"

Fang Yuhua fell silent at once.

Meanwhile, the first branch—Shang Qishun and his family—were also quietly sizing up Bai Xu. Though they had been abroad for the better part of a few months, they were far from out of the loop on domestic affairs—

This arranged marriage had been a trap dug by the second branch for Shang Yanxiao, the contempt behind it far too plain to miss.

On top of that, the third branch had lost its backbone within the Group, and the faction belonging to the third branch was already showing signs of fracturing and instability.

Word through back channels had it that at the shareholders' meeting at the end of the month, Old Master Shang would be redistributing positions and project resources within the Group.

The reason the first and second branches were locked in open and hidden rivalry at this banquet came down to one private ambition; to carve out a larger share of the 'meat' within the Group.

They had assumed that no matter how this banquet played out, the third branch would be the last to hold the floor—yet to their surprise, Shang Yanxiao's so-called 'marriage partner' had actually stepped up? And gone all out making a spectacle of the gift-giving on top of it!

Just as the curiosity of the crowd was reaching its peak before it would have begun to fade, the doors of the banquet hall finally swung open once more—

Shang Queyan came through first, seated in a wheelchair, one hand steering it while the other strained to hold up a serving tray.

Alongside him, Xie Qi was supporting an elderly man of advanced years, his steps slow and unsteady, guiding him one step at a time toward the main table.

Bai Xu, noticing that Shang Queyan was struggling, strode forward quickly, "Let me take that."

Shang Queyan gave a nod, "Alright."

Bai Xu took the tray, then glanced over at Xie Qi and the old man beside him, "Xie Qi, help Master Hai along slowly. I'll go ahead with Fourth Young Master."

"Understood."

Before Old Master Shang's patience could wear thin, Bai Xu made his way back, tray in hand, "Old Master, Old Madam, this is the gift the third branch has prepared for you both."

Old Master Shang's gaze was still lingering on the slowly approaching elderly man, his expression—hard to read clearly—carrying a faint trace of surprise.

A guest called out impatiently, "Young Master Bai Xu, stop keeping us in suspense. What's on that tray?"

In front of everyone, Bai Xu lifted the cover—

There was nothing of the splendor or grandeur anyone might have imagined. Sitting quietly in the center of the tray was a bowl of yellow croaker noodles, still steaming.

Shang Songming was the first to lose his composure, letting out a scoffing laugh, "Bai Xu, after all that buildup, it's just a bowl of noodles? Wasn't that a bit much?"

Fang Yuhua chimed in, "The Old Master and Madam have lived to this age, what delicacy haven't they tasted? You really think—"

"Silence!"

Old Master Shang's voice cut her off, his brow and eyes betraying a rare flicker of agitation, "What do you know?"

"……"

Fang Yuhua had brought embarrassment upon herself, her face burning.

Shang Queyan steered his wheelchair forward, his tone carrying a quiet hint, "Grandfather, Grandmother, would you like to try this bowl of seafood noodles? See if it still tastes the way it did back then?"

As he spoke, Xie Qi guided the old man up alongside them.

Now that he was closer, Old Madam Shang recognized him at once, "Master Hai?"

The old man addressed as 'Master Hai' turned his gaze to Old Master Shang—not with the careful deference the others in the room showed, but with the easy familiarity and warmth of an old friend.

"Brother Hong, after all these years, do you still recognize me?"

"……"

Old Master Shang rose to his feet at once and, taking the initiative, clasped Master Hai's hand, "You- you're Peng Hai?"

"It's me."

Peng Hai gave the back of Old Master Shang's hand an answering pat, then turned his gaze to Old Madam Shang, "Sister Nan, it's been decades. Are you keeping well?"

Old Madam Shang, equally lit up with the delight of seeing an old friend, replied, "Oh, very well indeed."

Bai Xu, ever attentive, moved over to fetch a nearby empty chair on his own initiative, "Master Hai, please, have a seat. Old Master, shall the two of you sit down and catch up at your leisure?"

Old Master Shang glanced at Bai Xu with a smile, making no effort to hide his approval, "Mm."

Shang Keyi caught this exchange, and wariness rose in her heart at once—

The Old Master's spirits had been low all evening. Even upon learning that Shang Qishun had a girlfriend, or upon seeing the gift Shang Songming had presented, he had shown no particular sign of joy.

Yet now Bai Xu had done nothing more than bring out a bowl of noodles and invite one person—and already the pleasure on his face had climbed by several degrees.

What on earth was going on?

Shang Keyi exchanged a glance with her son, then spoke up, "Father, Mother, who is this old master?"

This was a question the other guests present were equally eager to have answered.

Old Madam Shang explained, "Master Peng Hai is a friend your father and I knew when we were young. Back then, when your father and I first ventured into business, we were in the seafood fishing and transport trade."

"At the time we knew nothing at all. We apprenticed ourselves to someone, only to be swindled out of everything we had—left without a penny to our name."

At their lowest point, Old Master Shang was so consumed with worry that he could not sleep, and would only dare to slip away in the dead of night to the harbor to let out his feelings, all without his wife knowing.

"In those days, Master Hai had set up a small noodle stall by the harbor, doing nothing but seafood noodles. The first winter was bitterly cold, but fortunately we crossed paths with Master Hai."

Peng Hai was four or five years younger than Shang Hong, yet had started earning money to support his family at an early age.

That night in the small hours, seeing that Shang Hong was in low spirits, he had taken the initiative to approach and offer some words of comfort—and treated him to a bowl of noodles. Upon learning of his troubles, Peng Hai had even personally stepped in to make introductions, connecting him with another veteran in the seafood fishing trade.

One thing led to another, and the two became friends.

"After that, every time we came ashore after a day's work, we would go to Master Hai's stall and order a bowl of yellow croaker noodles."

Old Madam Shang gestured toward the seafood noodles on the tray, "The same size as this bowl—even the portion hasn't changed."

"……"

Bai Xu quietly made himself useful, taking it upon himself to divide the seafood noodles into smaller clean bowls.

One yellow croaker, split three ways.

The head and tail went to Old Master Shang; the bowl with the body of the fish was handed to Old Madam Shang.

Shang Queyan extended an invitation from the side, "Grandfather, Grandmother. Won't you try some?"

Seeing Bai Xu's thoughtful gesture, the old couple shared a knowing smile.

Master Hai, watching from beside them, followed up with a teasing revelation, "Ah, that's just how it was—you two would always order just the one bowl between you. Brother Hong, you always, without fail, left the best part of the fish, the body, for Sister Nan."

Old Master Shang lifted his small bowl, in fine spirits, "We had to watch our money back then. Besides, sharing a bowl always makes it taste better."

Old Madam Shang smiled, and picked up her chopsticks to try a couple of bites as well, "Mm. It's just as I remembered."

The couple had earned their first pot of gold right there in Ningcheng, and that bowl of yellow croaker seafood noodles had become the taste of their earliest days of striving.

Three years later, they took their accumulated savings and headed west, venturing into other businesses. As time went on, their ventures grew larger and larger, and they eventually returned to settle in the capital.

In those days, when travel and communication were both difficult, it was only natural that they gradually lost touch with Peng Hai.

Shang Keyi and Shang Yun had known nothing at all of their parents' past experiences, and were even less inclined to let the third branch gain an inexplicable advantage.

The two siblings exchanged a rare glance of perfect understanding, then pressed their questions one after the other, "Mother, how is it we never heard you mention any of this before?"

"And how did Bai Xu come to know of it? He even managed to bring the old master here in person?"

"……"

That chapter of their lives was indeed something the couple had rarely spoken of to others.

Old Master Shang, coming back to himself from the initial rush of joy at being reunited with an old friend, found his gaze drifting toward Bai Xu, "Where did you come to hear of this?"

Hearing Old Master Shang's question, Bai Xu answered with candor, "Since the Old Master never spoke of this chapter himself, I naturally had no way of hearing it from anyone. I simply knew, in a straightforward way, that the Old Master and Old Madam had been thinking of this bowl of seafood noodles for many years, that they had been longing for it for a very long time."

Old Master Shang said nothing in reply, but Shang Songming, whose moment had been stolen, could no longer hold himself back, "Bai Xu, what riddles are you playing at now? What is all this nonsense?"

One of the guests watching from the sidelines couldn't resist a joking remark, "Does Young Master Bai Xu have the gift of mind-reading, then?"

"Mind-reading has nothing to do with it, and it didn't cost much either—" Bai Xu cast a glance at Shang Songming's resentful expression and delivered his reply in a light tone with an edge beneath it, "Anyone with a genuine heart could have done the same."

Shang Songming felt certain he was being needled, "You—!"

"Enough."

Old Master Shang was in too fine a mood to intervene firmly, and in a rare indulgence let Bai Xu continue, "Bai Xu, go on and explain properly."

Bai Xu had his own way with words, "It's really nothing much. It's just that Yanxiao has always kept the autobiography the Old Master published some years ago on his bedside table. Xie Qi mentioned to me that whenever Yanxiao had a free moment, he would read from that book."

"……"

Ah? When had he said any such thing?

Xie Qi, now that his name had been called, stood there momentarily at a loss—not having expected to find himself with a role in this at all.

Zhang Changxu watched it all unfold, a faint light passing through his eyes, "He knows Yanxiao can't be here tonight, so he hasn't forgotten to keep Yanxiao present in Old Master and Old Madam Shang's minds."

It wasn't as though he hadn't been in Shang Yanxiao's bedroom—there was no such book on the bedside table.

Zhang Changning, catching his elder brother's hint, put it together as well, and gave a covert thumbs-up, "Damn, Bai Xu's something else."

Sure enough, Old Master Shang's brow eased slightly at these words, "My autobiography?"

Bai Xu put on an expression of perfect sincerity, "Yes. I'd read through it myself in passing, keeping Yanxiao company during idle moments. Old Master, in the afterword to the chapter titled 'Along the Coast,' you mentioned in passing—"

"That once, years later, you and Old Madam had returned to Ningcheng to revisit old haunts, and all the way there you had been longing for that bowl of seafood noodle soup—but when you arrived at the harbor, the little noodle stall that had once stood there was nowhere to be found."

Bai Xu paused briefly, "So when I learned the family would be holding a sixty-fifth anniversary banquet, that was when the idea came to me."

Gifts there would be every year, what mattered was that it came from the heart.

Any number of people could make a bowl of yellow croaker noodles—what mattered was the taste, and the memory it carried.

"……"

Old Master Shang said nothing, but something stirred quietly within him.

This autobiography had been given to every member of the family. Those who had actually read it through to the end were very few.

A single line tucked away as an afterthought at the close of a chapter—not only had Bai Xu kept it in his heart, but he was now able to recite it back word for word.

Old Madam Shang was equally moved, and reached out to take Bai Xu's hand, "You really are a thoughtful child."

"Old Madam, I am not the only one who put thought into this."

Bai Xu did not forget to put in a good word for Shang Queyan, "The idea was mine, but the one who truly went to the trouble of finding Master Hai was Queyan. Last week, when word came that there was news of Master Hai, he set out first thing in the morning to confirm it himself."

"This whole time, you and the Old Master have worried a great deal on behalf of our third branch. Queyan may say nothing of it, but in his heart he too has been hoping to see you both happy."

"……"

Shang Queyan, hearing Bai Xu's words—which verged on cloying flattery—gave an embarrassed cough.

Master Hai responded with natural ease, "Brother Hong, these two children of yours are truly fine. They looked after me very attentively all the way here. At our age, what else do we hope for but that the younger generation is willing to put in the effort?"

What grand undertaking had Old Master Shang not seen in his lifetime? What fine thing had he not laid eyes on?

This bowl of seafood noodles was worth next to nothing in money—yet it had landed squarely in the hearts of him and his wife.

With that thought, Old Master Shang broke into open laughter and, in a manner entirely unlike himself, launched into unrestrained praise of Bai Xu, "Quite right. The children of the third branch are all good. All very good indeed!"

"……"

So all their frantic efforts had amounted to nothing?

Hearing this rare and plainspoken praise, the first and second branches were each consumed by their own private bitterness—and yet could find not a single fault to pick.

It wasn't as though they hadn't received the Old Master's autobiography. They had. But who among them still remembered what was inside it?

Bai Xu had clearly just been a blind cat stumbling onto a dead mouse—a stroke of sheer luck!

With Old Master Shang wreathed in smiles before them, the guests in attendance had no reason to concern themselves with what the first or second branch thought. The crowd, with their well-practiced instinct for reading the wind, joined in the praise without a second thought—

"The third branch's gift is precious precisely because it comes from the heart—truly an exceptional offering!"

"Indeed, when all is said and done, it is the Old Master and Old Madam who are blessed with such fortune!"

"……"

One Shang Yanxiao had fallen—and now there was Bai Xu to take his place, someone who knew just how to get things done. And with even Shang Queyan's mind and body seeming to move in a better direction, it appeared the third branch was not fated to fall after all!

The spectacle of the Shang family's future, it seemed, still had plenty left to offer.

The banquet lasted nearly four hours before finally drawing to a close, and the guests gradually began to take their leave.

Old Master Shang rose to his feet in good spirits and swept his gaze over his own family gathered around the main table, "None of you need rush off just yet. It's rare to have everyone together tonight. I'll hold a brief family meeting."

"Of course."

"Understood, Father."

Shang Keyi, Shang Yun, and the others could do nothing but comply.

Old Master Shang glanced over at Bai Hui, who stood beside Shang Qishun, and was civil enough about it, "Qishun, go and get Miss Bai settled first, then come back."

Given Bai Hui's current standing, it was naturally not appropriate for her to take part in a family meeting.

Bai Xu observed the situation without letting anything show, keeping himself within proper bounds, "In that case, Old Master, shall I take my leave as well?"

Old Master Shang stopped him, "I said it was a family meeting, why would you be leaving?"

"……"

Bai Xu stood momentarily stunned.

Fang Yuhua, unable to bear the sight of Bai Xu being held in the Old Master's regard, had nowhere to vent the sourness welling up inside her and seized the moment to pinch her husband sharply in the side.

Shang Yun winced with pain, then steeled himself to speak up, "Father, this family meeting…"

Old Master Shang could see perfectly well what the second branch was taking issue with, and cut him off, "What of it? Was it not your second branch that brokered this arrangement between Bai Xu and Yanxiao?"

Shang Yun found himself with nothing to say.

Old Master Shang proceeded as he saw fit, "Since he is Yanxiao's partner in name, he is one of the third branch. I say he has every right to attend this family meeting, and so he does."

"……"

Shang Keyi, being far too shrewd to involve herself in this exchange, simply sent her husband a discreet look.

Wu Wei, after years at her side, caught her meaning at once, "Father is quite right. A family meeting naturally calls for family to be present together."

"……"

Shang Yun had no choice but to swallow his grievance whole, "Yes."

Back when he had 'persuaded' Old Madam Shang to agree to the arranged marriage for the sake of a change in fortune, Old Master Shang had made his opposition plain from the start—and had even treated Bai Xu as though he were invisible in the beginning.

How was it that the Old Master now regarded Bai Xu in an entirely different light? After all that effort, the trap he had dug for the third branch had come to nothing—and instead, he had handed his own second branch a stumbling block.

Bai Xu was only too happy to watch the second branch eat humble pie, and equally happy to stay and be part of it, "Thank you, Old Master. Then I'll remain and listen—and afterward it works out perfectly, as I can head back together with Queyan."

"Mm."

...

The moment the door to the small meeting room closed, the atmosphere turned serious at once.

Old Master Shang took his seat at the head of the table and came straight to the point, "Since everyone is here today, I'll bring this up with you all ahead of time. Our group will be convening a new round of shareholders' meetings at the end of the month. There are several key projects in the second half of the year that will require senior management to vote unanimously on project leads."

"Speaking from my own wishes, I feel that matters of this kind must be left in the hands of family before I can rest easy."

Hearing this, the first and second branches began making their private calculations at precisely the same moment.

Old Master Shang turned his gaze to Bai Xu and Shang Queyan, who had taken seats toward the back of the room upon entering, and spoke without concealment, "Ever since the misfortune that befell the third branch, the positions within the group that once belonged to Shang Qi and his son have stood empty. Leaving things this way indefinitely is no solution. My thought is—"

"Grandfather."

Shang Queyan spoke up, his voice calm and measured. The hand hidden beneath the table lifted away the small blanket that had been draped across his legs, revealing that where his legs had once been missing, proper prosthetics had long since been fitted.

Bai Xu's breath caught—and in an instant, he understood what Shang Queyan intended.

Shang Queyan pressed both hands against the table, quietly gathering his strength to rise.

The wounds that had long since healed had sustained fresh abrasions in the course of recent rehabilitation, and prolonged sitting had shifted the way his weight was distributed, making the simplest act of standing an extraordinary effort.

Bai Xu saw the difficulty Shang Queyan was in—and steeled himself not to help.

He understood: this was something Shang Queyan had to prove on his own.

Under the gaze of everyone present, Shang Queyan gritted his teeth and stood. He drew a slow breath, a faint tremor threaded through his voice, "Grandfather, my brother's position. I can take it on."

Whether within the subsidiaries or the group itself, he would not surrender a single position belonging to the third branch without a fight.

Old Master Shang, watching his grandson—who had lost both legs—struggle to his feet, felt the hardness in his eyes soften somewhat, "Queyan, are you certain you have thought this through?"

Shang Queyan answered without hesitation, "Yes, Grandfather. I am willing to start from the very beginning and learn."

With careful deliberation, he released his hands from the edge of the table, the words carrying a double meaning, "It isn't so difficult, is it?"

Old Master Shang gave a confirming reply, "Not difficult at all. Whatever the Shang family sets out to do, nothing is ever too difficult. Very well, sit down for now. I will arrange for someone to guide you through the group's affairs step by step."

Shang Qishun, hearing this exchange, felt a cold light pass through the eyes concealed behind his glasses. He made a show of adjusting them, "Queyan, once you join the group, you are welcome to come to me with anything you don't understand, at any time."

"……"

Oh?

Since when had he become so generous?

Bai Xu turned to look, and caught Shang Qishun's gaze across the room at precisely that moment. The other man met his scrutiny without flinching, and offered him a polite smile in return.

Bai Xu looked away with an air of indifference, then in the same motion reached out with swift reflexes to steady Shang Queyan, who had begun to lose his balance, "Careful, sit down first."

Shang Queyan glanced at him, "Thank you."

In contrast to the first branch's composed ease, the second branch wore their agitation rather more plainly.

They had been eyeing the group's ongoing projects that belonged to the third branch, counting on sweeping them up in passing—only to find, once again, that the duck had grown wings and flown away.

Shang Songming said, "Queyan, you'll need to take things slowly. The group's affairs are many and complicated, you can't swallow it all in one bite."

Bai Xu answered on Shang Queyan's behalf, "Fourth Young Master is young. He learns quickly, has a good appetite, and digests fast."

Shang Songming had reached the end of his patience, "Bai Xu, you're a country bumpkin who has never set foot in our group and never received any formal business training, what do you know about any of this?"

"That is enough! Every word out of your mouth is a barb!"

Old Master Shang slammed his hand against the table, his temper arriving as swiftly as ever, "If you have the time to worry about Queyan, you'd do better to worry about yourself first! I've heard the AI medical investment you made before the New Year has lost money again?"

"You've had your place in the group, you've had systematic management training, what results have you produced in all these years?"

"……"

Caught off guard by Old Master Shang's sudden rebuke, Shang Songming's face flushed red in an instant, leaving him mortified and with nowhere to hide.

Shang Yun attempted to smooth things over, "Father, Songming is still young. He needs more time to be tempered."

Shang Keyi laughed inwardly, but redirected the point toward the third branch, "Second Brother, those words of yours are rather partial to your own son. As I recall, Yanxiao was barely past twenty when he managed to secure the Daocheng seafood harbor project?"

"Come to think of it, that project was originally being handled by your second branch, wasn't it?"

The second branch had made a serious error in the figures when filing the project application, pushing the entire project team to the brink of being forced to abandon it—and it was only when Shang Yanxiao stepped in at the last moment that the situation was turned around.

The second branch, all of them, felt their faces fall at the reminder.

Bai Xu could hear that Shang Keyi was deliberately stirring the fire, and offered no quarter himself, "As I understand it, the first branch's overseas project was also 'taken over' from Yanxiao's hands?"

The word 'taken over' was enunciated with particular clarity.

Shang Keyi's expression stiffened, "You—"

Bai Xu gave her no opening to respond, and turned to the Old Master instead, "In truth, these are all Shang Group's projects, and the profits go to the group as well. We are all one family. Why draw the lines so sharply?"

Fang Yuhua, having swallowed a stomach full of grievances the entire evening, dispensed with pretense entirely, "Now that Qishun has a girlfriend and the engagement is coming in the second half of the year, Eldest Sister must be hoping for a division of the family assets?"

Old Master Shang lifted his hot tea and spoke with pointed implication, "If either of your two branches has the capability, you are welcome to go out and operate independently at any time. There is no need to wag your tongues here in front of me."

"……"

It had not occurred to Shang Keyi that she would find herself outmaneuvered from both sides. Watching Old Master Shang's expression grow increasingly displeased, she had the presence of mind to choose silence immediately.

Bai Xu lowered his eyes in quiet triumph and turned the black ring on his finger.

Old Master Shang took a sip of hot tea, barely managing to press down the frustration rising in his chest.

Whether in the group or within the family, he had held firm authority for decades. Now, watching himself grow old, he could see that the minds of this younger generation were growing more restless with each passing year.

A division of assets?

If he were truly to divide everything as they wished, not one of them would have any regard left for an old man like him.

A trace of inexpressible loneliness crept into his heart. His thoughts drifted back to that evening's bowl of yellow croaker noodles, full of sincere care, and his gaze drifted, unbidden, toward Bai Xu—

Unlike everyone else in the room, who sat in a state of guarded readiness, Bai Xu looked like a passerby who had been pulled in at the last moment simply to listen.

Even in circumstances like these, he still had the leisure to toy with the black ring in his hand—his unhurried, unbothered air forming a sharp contrast with the entire atmosphere of the room.

Old Master Shang, watching Bai Xu's relaxed bearing, could not help but call on him, "Bai Xu?"

Bai Xu looked up, "Mm?"

In front of everyone, Old Master Shang spoke in a tone that was equal parts test and command, "Would you like to try your hand in the group as well? I could have someone arrange a project manager position for you?"

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