Chapter 55: A Father's Charge

It was a little past three in the afternoon at the Ren residence.

The old man carried the final dish out from the kitchen and called out loudly, "Come, come on, we can sit down and eat now."

In the cramped living room, Ren Ye greeted Huang Wei, Gu Nian, and Xu Peng, "Alright, stop chatting, let's eat."

"I'm practically starving to death," Gu Nian said without any affected modesty. She stood up cheerfully, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the dining table. "This is so lavish! Uncle, your culinary skills are on par with a five-star hotel chef."

"What chef? Just some ordinary home-cooked dishes," the old man said, not one for fancy expressions. He just kept gesturing, "Please, make yourselves comfortable, sit down. Oh, right, Captain Huang, would you care for a drink?"

"I wouldn't mind," Huang Wei nodded slowly. "Let's have a little bit."

"Good, I'll join you." The old man took off his apron and pulled two bottles of Flying Fairy Moutai from the narrow liquor cabinet.

Ren Qingning looked surprised when she saw them. "Oh, so generous today? You brought out the wine you were too stingy to drink even during the New Year?"

"Well, we have guests in the house," the old man smiled somewhat shyly, and began to pour drinks for Huang Wei and the others.

These two bottles of wine had been in the house for over ten years. The old man had told his siblings that a good friend gave them to him. But in reality, back during those years when the siblings desperately needed tutoring, he was strapped for cash and desperately wanted to write a freelance column for a publishing house to make some extra money.

Gritting his teeth, he managed to buy two bottles of Moutai and waited outside the publishing house for an entire afternoon. To his surprise, the person in charge didn't even look at his work, simply saying coldly from inside a car, "Nobody reads that column anyway, and the slots are all reserved for the bosses' connections. Don't waste your effort."

Not getting the freelance gig wasn't the main issue; what hurt the most was that the tutoring for his two children had been delayed.

Adult society was just like that—sometimes, no matter how hard you tried, you still couldn't manage to let your children stand at the starting line of fair competition.

Over the years, as the siblings grew up, the old man had kept many regrets buried in his heart, though he never spoke of them.

The dishes were served, the wine was poured, and the group sat down.

"Everyone...!"

"Ding-dong!"

Before Ren Ye could finish his opening remarks, the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" Ren Qingning asked.

"It's me, Yan Duoduo," a familiar voice replied.

"Damn, the boss is here," Xu Peng muttered in surprise, looking stupidly at Huang Wei. "Did you invite him?"

"Am I out of my mind?!" Huang Wei rolled his eyes.

Amidst the chatter, the Ren family walked to the door and opened it.

In the hallway, Yan Duoduo wore a white suit, and Tang Feng wore a black suit. Looking like a pair of black and white grim reapers, they carried a mountain of gifts.

Behind them, two movers in grey uniforms were carrying a massive cardboard box, asking, "Where should we put this?"

Ren Ye was shocked. "What... what is this all about?"

"Let me introduce him, Tang Feng, your new partner," Yan Duoduo stepped aside.

Tang Feng wore a refined and courteous smile, extending his hand with great restraint. "Hello, Ren Ye. I am Tang Feng. It's our first meeting, and I've prepared some humble gifts. Please don't take offense."

Ren Ye mechanically reached out and shook his hand. "You... you're being far too polite."

"My upbringing taught me that when visiting someone's home, one must prepare gifts." At this moment, Tang Feng appeared even more elegant and reserved than Yan Duoduo.

"He has money. If you don't accept it, you're not giving him face," Yan Duoduo whispered persuasively. "Not giving him face will trigger his episodes... The psycho supreme king is like this, just bear with him."

"Fine... fine then, come on in, just put the stuff right here." Ren Ye stepped aside, pointing to an empty space in the living room.

Everyone indoors was stunned by Tang Feng's "extravagance." He had bought gifts for everyone: sets of luxury cosmetics for the girls, and belts worth at least three to four thousand for the guys.

Even the old man's gift had been prepared—a gaming chair costing over four thousand yuan, obviously pulled straight from a store.

In the living room, after pushing and pulling several times, Ren Qingning was still coerced into accepting the gift. She stared blankly at Tang Feng and whispered into Ren Ye's ear, "Big bro, you need to make more friends like this!"

Paving the way with gold, making friends with gifts.

For a moment, Tang Feng became the protagonist of the room. Everyone expressed their gratitude to him, and praises flowed endlessly.

At first, Tang Feng managed to maintain a normal conversation with everyone, but the moment he caught sight of Ren Qingning, his gaze froze instantly.

Ren Qingning was dressed very casually at home today. On top, she wore an oversized, anime-style T-shirt that still failed to conceal her curvaceous figure; on the bottom, she wore hot pants paired with white knee-high socks, the tops bunched around her slender ankles, making her legs look even longer and more slender.

Her facial features were delicate, her skin fair and translucent, and a cute pink hairpin clipped back her bangs. Her entire being radiated a powerful aura of youth.

In terms of looks alone, the long-legged Gu Nian and his younger sister Qingning were neck and neck, but their temperaments were completely different.

One possessed the heart-throbbing aura of an ice-queen older sister, while the other was youthful, vibrant, and capable of melting any pure-love warrior.

As luck would have it:
There are millions of beauties in this world, and this is the exact version I like!

Tang Feng's personal aesthetic had zero resistance to a girl of Ren Qingning's type.

He felt like his condition was acting up. A fierce wave of desire surged from the bottom of his heart, rushing straight to his head.

"Come, come on, everyone sit down," the old man called out again.

Tang Feng forced himself to snap out of it, a stiff smile plastered across his face as he took his seat with the others.

Yan Duoduo took off his jacket and took the initiative to look at the old man. "At my age, I really ought to call you Uncle. You're the host, why don't you say a few words?"

Once the boss spoke, the table grew quiet. Everyone looked toward the host, except for Tang Feng, whose eyes stared morbidly at Qingning with a look of apparent agony.

"Alright, then I'll say a few words."

The old man stood up holding his wine glass, glanced around the table, his voice steady yet powerful. "To be honest, I'm not really clear on what you people are actually trying to achieve by letting my son out of prison. But I also understand that these matters... I cannot ask about them, and you won't talk about them either."

Hearing this, everyone fell silent.

"As for me, I got divorced a long time ago. Haha, my energy... has mostly been poured into writing novels. All these years, I haven't been able to give my two children a good growing environment, nor could I provide them with a privileged standard of living. They've had it much harder than children from normal families. So... I hope all of you leaders, and all of Xiao Ye's colleagues, can take good care of him. No matter what you make him do, please bring my son back safely. I'm begging you. Cheers."

With those words, the old man downed his cup of wine.

He had spent the entire day cooking and brought out his best wine, all just to say those two sentences.

Hearing this, Ren Ye felt a sudden stinging in his eyes. In truth, he was someone very difficult to move to tears, with only his father and sister as exceptions...

Boss Yan knew the weight of those words and stood up solemnly to reply, "You are much older than me, so I will call you Uncle. I truly cannot say much about the work Ren Ye is about to participate in. But I can guarantee you that what he is doing is a righteous cause, something worthy of admiration! I never thought Ren Ye was in the wrong regarding his previous case; if it were me, I would have shot those two pieces of trash dead too, perhaps even more ruthlessly. As the head of the governing unit for this matter, I can guarantee you even further... No matter the outcome, starting today, Ren Ye is a free man. He will not return to prison, and we will do everything in our power to ensure his safety."

This promise carried considerable weight because Ren Ye had already been sentenced. Completely revoking his criminal penalty required consultations across multiple departments, and the paperwork was extremely tedious. Yet Yan Duoduo promised without a moment's hesitation. Or rather... ever since Ren Ye's "interview" on Tongren Road, he had already accepted this young man.

Conversations among men only required a few words.

The old man nodded heavily, shared a drink with Yan Duoduo, and the family banquet officially began.

The group ate and chatted, the atmosphere lively, while the old man continuously poured more wine and served more dishes. Only Tang Feng acted like a catatonic patient, his gaze locked steadily on Ren Qingning.

"Xiao Tang, eat more." Yan Duoduo, likely sensing that an episode was coming on, urged him repeatedly and whispered in his ear, "Show some restraint! Your gaze is literally leaving spiderwebs!"

"Oh...!"

With a flushed face, Tang Feng pulled back his gaze and nodded blankly with a dazed expression.

He was beginning to regret it. He shouldn't have drained away his own biological father's desire to tame a little wild horse before leaving, because doing so had made his own desires uncontrollable.

He really was trying his absolute best to restrain himself, but his eyes kept drifting under the table. Ren Qingning was chatting with Gu Nian, her fair legs crossed, her little slippers swinging gently with soft, pattering sounds...

Those white knee-high socks... She's trying to seduce me!

No, I must restrain myself. I have my upbringing, I am a decent person!

I've just arrived, I cannot make a fool of myself.

Throughout the family banquet, Tang Feng's mind swung back and forth between committing a crime and the impossibility of committing it. Sweat drenched his forehead, and his body began to tremble.

Dinner finished, and Ren Ye accompanied everyone to drink tea on the sofa for a while.

At that moment, Ren Qingning stood up and said with a smile to Gu Nian, "I'll go get you a drink from the kitchen..."

"Thanks," Gu Nian nodded.

With that, the younger sister walked toward the kitchen.

At the entrance of the bathroom, Tang Feng shook his red-rimmed head, repeatedly telling himself to stop thinking those wicked thoughts, that they were unhealthy, obscene, and shameless... yet his body uncontrollably followed behind her.

The thoughts in his head grew increasingly specific, pushing uncontrollably to spill past his lips.

"Swish!"

Ren Qingning stepped into the kitchen, and Tang Feng stopped at the threshold, his expression agonizingly conflicted.

"Pat, pat...!"

At that moment, footsteps sounded, and she came out.

Tang Feng snapped his head up and blurted out, "I want to rape you!"

The moment he said it, his whole body felt at ease.

He looked up to see old man Ren Daguo appear, carrying a kettle of freshly boiled water, staring at Tang Feng with an utterly baffled expression.

Tang Feng was dumbfounded.

The two stared at each other. Ren Daguo, having consumed quite a bit of alcohol, held it in for a long time before asking, "Child, isn't it a bit too abrupt to make a request like that over a chair?"

"If you disagree... forget it," Tang Feng muttered in a tiny voice, turning away in supreme awkwardness. "I'm going to the restroom."

...

Xiangjiang City.

Inside a very ordinary living room, a young girl sat on the sofa, her eyes dazed.

The walls surrounding the living room were covered densely with group photos.

The photos were arranged in chronological order, recording the passage of time. In the images, a woman grew older, while another infant girl slowly grew into adulthood.

In just a few hours, it would be time to enter the Star Gate once again.

Guo Cai'er felt an internal struggle, but ultimately returned to the home etched deep into her memories.

Nothing here had changed. The familiar scenery and familiar furnishings were exactly the same as the day she ran away from home, except for one change... Wang Hong, the mother who had raised her, had been killed by King Huai inside the Star Gate.

"...I... I really didn't look down on you," Guo Cai'er muttered, her head lowered, her face hidden behind long hair. "I was just a bit resentful, a bit aggrieved. We're all human... why is my life story like this...?!"

"I'm sorry... I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have said those things that day," Guo Cai'er shook her head in agony.

"Plop!"

A belated tear fell to the floor, shattering into pieces.

On the wall, Wang Hong—who had raised her daughter through sex work—wore a face radiant with happy smiles.

She seemed to be looking down at her daughter as well.

...

7:30 PM, 88 Lianhu Road.

Tang Feng, who had visited the restroom at least six or seven times, was now sitting on the bed alongside Ren Ye.

"According to what you said, our appearances will change inside the Star Gate, so we need to agree on a secret code beforehand," Tang Feng said with strict logic, though his tone was inexplicably weak.

"Makes sense," Ren Ye nodded and countered, "Then you come up with one."

"...Shoulder-length hair, high socks, one look and she really rocks," Tang Feng's inspiration flowed like a fountain.