Chapter 19: He is cold-blooded, cruel, and harsh

After replying to the message, the voicemail looped and played again. The car's headlights shone into the courtyard as a Hongqi car drove in.

Xu Weibing hurriedly stepped out, followed by a young man in his late twenties.

From a distance, the lighting was dim, making it hard to see clearly. As they approached, it became apparent that the young man had a menacing scar running diagonally from his temple across his eyelid, disappearing into his sideburns, which gave his otherwise handsome face a cold and sinister appearance.

Xu Qiting, the eldest son of Xu Weibing, the fourth son of the Xu Family.

Before Xu Huaiting returned to the Xu Family, Xu Qiting was the most favored third-generation member by the old master, with a significant maternal family background.

So much so that he dared to seize and destroy Xu Huaiting's mother's belongings without a second thought, believing there would be no consequences.

Unfortunately, he was brutally bitten by the silver wolf from Sicily, leaving him with a lifelong painful lesson.

That year, Xu Huaiting was nine years old.

Perhaps sensing danger, the young man stopped at the doorstep, casting a sinister glance upward. Xu Huaiting extinguished his cigarette, took the wine brought by Secretary Chen, raised his glass with a smile, and then tilted it, pouring the wine directly onto Xu Weibing's head as he was about to enter.

Xu Weibing was about to curse but looked up and saw Xu Huaiting, instantly falling silent, the curses stuck in his throat.

His face turned a mix of green and purple, forcing a smile: "Oh, it's Huaiting. No problem, just be careful next time."

He was mentally calculating what he or his family had done recently to provoke Xu Huaiting, the vengeful and ruthless wolf cub, to incur his retaliation.

Xu Huaiting couldn't be bothered to respond. Coincidentally, his phone rang again. He handed the empty glass to Secretary Chen, wiped his hands on a towel, and answered the call.

As soon as he picked up, Xu Ziyi's furious voice came through: "That little brat Meng Yao has snuck off to the Chi Family again behind my back! To keep Old Meng from finding out, I've already had to drink seven pots of tea with him, played from Chinese chess to international chess, and even made six trips to the bathroom, all while keeping a smile on my face! Didn't you say you had a way to deal with him last time?"

"Viola, calm down. Even if he goes, it's in vain," Xu Huaiting rubbed his phone with his fingertip, "If he could actually meet someone, wouldn't my Royal Blue have been a waste?"

Xu Ziyi was clearly furious, gritting her teeth: "I really don't know how I ended up with such a love-struck son!"

This thought aligned with Xu Huaiting's own.

When they were young in Sicily, whenever the Russo family was mentioned, the impression was always of heartless, cunning, and ruthless cold-blooded bastards. Their family crest was a silver lone wolf, but people usually cursed them as jackals or hyenas—predators that would never let go of their prey, waiting in the shadows to pounce and devour them whole.

In short, they didn't have a good reputation.

By the time Xu Ziyi and Xu Huaiting were born, the Russo family was no more, but both of them stood out as unmistakably carrying the Russo blood. They were equally cold-blooded, cruel, and harsh.

Yet, in this den of wolves, Meng Yao was born—a dog that wagged its tail at everyone.

Both siblings found it embarrassing.

Xu Huaiting sneered: "It seems all of Meng Chu's talents were poured into his genes, allowing the canine nature in Meng Yao's blood to dominate."

Xu Ziyi: "What Meng Chu? That's your brother-in-law! Good heavens, if I had known that having a child with a fool would result in such a fool, no matter how rich or powerful he was, I would have... Wait, what did you do with that Royal Blue?" Xu Ziyi's voice suddenly rose.

Xu Huaiting lazily replied: "I gave it away."

Xu Ziyi paused for a moment, hopeful: "To which girl?"

Xu Huaiting narrowed his eyes, envisioning the beautiful face of the little blind boy, "Not a girl."

"Ricardo—" Xu Ziyi was heartbroken, "You scoundrel! Do you know why I made such a big deal about auctioning that 'Heart of the Ocean'? It was for you to use it to trick some foolish, unlucky idiot into becoming your wife! How dare you casually give it away to some unimportant, irrelevant person—"

A questioning voice came from behind Xu Ziyi, and her furious roar immediately dropped several decibels, whispering: "You just wait."

The call ended.

It was over. Well, not completely.

At least Meng Yao was out there taking the heat.

Secretary Chen stayed silent beside him, not daring to speak. Xu Huaiting said, "See if there are any meetings I need to attend soon, outside of Beijing."

Secretary Chen: "No, there aren’t—"

Xu Huaiting glanced at him.

Secretary Chen pushed his glasses up and calmly corrected himself, "Actually, there is one coming up. I remember there's an international conference in Zhonghai early next month."

Xu Huaiting: "I’ll likely be away for ten days to two weeks. Let Viola know for me."

Secretary Chen: "..." So, I’m the one taking the heat, huh?

Ding dong.

His phone buzzed with a transfer notification.

Xu Huaiting: "That’s your overtime pay for tonight."

Secretary Chen put away his phone: "Yes, sir. Not a problem, sir."

A few scoldings? For a six-figure sum, he’d stand there and take it all day.

Xu Huaiting's phone rang again.

It was the call he’d missed during dinner, but this time he picked up.

Fabric rustled on the other end, followed by a furtive, almost sneaky voice: "Mr. Xu, sorry to disturb you, but I’ve got something important to report."

Another rustle, and the voice grew muffled, like the speaker had ducked under a blanket.

"Meng Yao’s outside my house right now, but I’ve got Chi Jue here, stuck serving me tea and water. He’s not seeing his lover as long as I’m here. Rest assured, they’ll never meet in this lifetime." His voice was low, dark, and sinister.

"Am I being bad?"

Xu Huaiting paused for a moment, then softly clicked his tongue.

"Am I being bad? Huh? Am I?" The voice grew more anxious, softer, pleading, as if another moment might bring tears.

Xu Huaiting felt a strange tug in his chest. He cleared his throat and said, "Yes."

A muffled cheer came through, followed by a smug, delighted drawl, "Thank you, Mr. Xu. Good night, sweet dreams."

The call ended.

Xu Huaiting stared at the blackened screen for a while.

...

Meanwhile, Ye Man popped out from under the blanket just as Chi Jue came back with a tray of fruits and snacks.

Brother Tong returned, still sulking, and Ye Man asked him if his sacrificial value had increased. The system coldly replied that it had.

Ye Man wasn’t bothered by the system’s icy tone and sweetly said, “Brother Tong is so good.” He dished out compliments like they were free, always rolling off his tongue without a second thought.

Satisfied, he thought to himself that he had found a new score-boosting trick.

Thanks to his quick thinking, he remembered this method.

After racking up points with Xu Huaiting, Ye Man began to daydream about the weekend.

Ye Guowen… he knew Ye Guowen wasn’t about to let him off the hook.

Did he think that just because he was blind, he could manipulate him again?