Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?
Oh, I am Xie Yuping. I have been hoping my younger brother, Xie Jinghu, would come to his senses. I called him over, hoping he could see the merits of his sister-in-law, Zou Weijun.
But when did I ever say I wanted him to go and help Zou Weijun?
It was rare for Xie Yuping to be at a loss for words because of Xie Jinghu.
He prided himself on having seen a fair number of situations and knowing how to deal with people. In fact, at this stage, who could deal with him directly without being a clever person?
Clever people had their own ways of thinking, and it was easy to communicate when they were on the same wavelength.
But Xie Jinghu’s way of thinking left him baffled.
His thinking did not match Xie Yuping’s understanding at all.
“When did I ever say Weijun came to me for help?”
He found it unbelievable. “The essay competition has indeed run into some trouble, but since Weijun dared to organise such a large event, she naturally has ways to deal with those problems.”
And how could he help anyway, stop the media from discussing it?
Even if he could, he would not.
Without discussion, there would be no attention. Without attention, the competition would become stagnant.
Besides, if help was needed, matters in the literary world should be left to the literary world. The Zou family was well connected. Could Zou Weijun not find the right contacts herself?
He had a lot he could have said, but now he did not want to say a word.
What was there left to say?
As soon as Xie Jinghu opened his mouth, it was clear he did not recognise her abilities or the results of her work. To persuade him to cherish a good wife was like talking to a brick wall.
For years, Xie Yuping had held on to ideas like “if you can avoid divorce, avoid it”, “try to keep the family together”, “do not let Xie Qian grow up in a single-parent home”, and “even if my brother is foolish, I should try to save him”.
But in that moment, these ideas began to crumble.
He suddenly realised that his brother’s affair was not just due to some mistress’s seduction or skill.
For a marriage to be invaded by an outsider, it often meant that something had gone wrong internally first.
This was exactly the case for Xie Jinghu and Zou Weijun.
No matter how good a woman was, if her husband was blind to her strengths, refused to acknowledge them, and lacked respect for her, he would naturally disregard her feelings.
Her transformation had amazed others, yet he remained unmoved.
Not just blind in the eyes, but blind in the heart.
Even someone as strong-willed as Xie Yuping felt a little disheartened.
“Forget it, why am I telling you this? Since she moved to Rongcheng, she has never asked our family for help. She did not need it before and probably will not in future. Just do not try to be clever and create more trouble for her.”
He glanced at a drawer. Following his gaze, Xie Jinghu’s face also darkened.
Inside the drawer were stacks of blank share transfer forms.
Both brothers were speechless.
She was facing a career crisis, and although he had not refused to help, he was still scolded.
Had his elder brother not always wanted him to reconcile with her? Surely this was the perfect time to offer support.
He could not understand what had gone wrong, but an uneasy feeling made him bring out his prepared trump card.
“Brother, I know I have done wrong, but there is no medicine for regret. We have a child now, so what should I do? No matter what, I still care most about Xie Qian. He quietly took nearly two hundred million from me—”
“That was not your two hundred million, it was yours and Weijun’s.”
He corrected him sharply. Xie Jinghu paused, then skipped over that point. “Yes, whoever it belongs to, that sum has already been put under his name, which is unheard of elsewhere. He is not even eighteen yet. But what’s done is done. I cannot ask for it back. He is my son, of course I want him to be better.”
Making an agreement with him to achieve an annual return of over twenty percent was to push him to improve.
Sending him abroad to study was also to help him grow.
He already had a caring mother, so he needed a strict father.
Before him, Xie Jinghu explained his good intentions. He was not ignoring his son, but cultivating him in his own way. “He has lived in comfort since childhood, having whatever he wanted. Now, as a minor, he already owns a large sum. How will he improve in future? Brother, I am not neglecting him. I really do care about him, just perhaps in ways you do not agree with.”
He then revealed that he had quietly introduced business to Xie Qian’s logistics company, which surprised Xie Yuping.
“You introduced business to his company?”
“Yes, he is my son—”
“Are you up to something again?”
“…Brother!”
Even with the father-son relationship easing, Xie Yuping felt no relief, only doubt.
The atmosphere in the study grew awkward. As the saying went, the worst thing was the sudden quiet.
He was not playing along with the expected script, leaving his brother’s prepared lines useless.
“Let me think about it first. If you can get along better with him, that’s good. But since Weijun has not asked for help, do not act clever.”
Xie Jinghu felt hurt, unaware that the turmoil in his elder brother’s mind was far greater than his own.
When had he lost trust in him?
If even his elder brother no longer trusted him, how could his wife still do so?
He left after being scolded, without even staying for a meal.
Later, Xie Yuping’s wife brought him tea. “Your younger brother is an adult now, you should watch what you say. What’s the use of just scolding him? Wouldn’t it be better to say things he can accept?”
If every meeting between the brothers ended in conflict, in time his brother would have only fear without respect for him. And as the saying went, the higher-ups have policies and the lower-downs have countermeasures.
If he did not truly recognise his mistakes, he would find ways to exploit loopholes and keep making them, pretending to comply while resisting in secret.
When that happened, no one in the family could stop him, and Xie Qian’s family of three would only break apart.
His wife’s words, like a gentle stream, calmed his irritation.
In front of her, he had no intention of hiding his thoughts. “Weijun is a good woman, a good wife, and an outstanding person. That useless third brother is not worthy of her. I am starting to think that stopping them from divorcing might help him, but it is too unfair to her. Do you think we have been wrong?”
His wife was so shocked she almost dropped the cup.
“…What do you mean, have you changed your mind and want to support their divorce?!”
