That night, Count Lu En was having dinner with his family when he suddenly thought of his son, who had run away from home in a huff. It had been a month since he left, and he still hadn’t obediently returned to apologize.
He asked, “Madam, what’s the situation with Lin Chen? Didn’t I ask you to go and bring him back?”
Shen Qiuyi said with a wronged expression, “I sent the second son himself, but he refused to come back.”
“Later, I called him personally to persuade him, promising him many benefits, but he still wouldn’t listen. What could I do?”
Count Lu En said with a grim face, “That third son, he really doesn’t know what’s good for him!”
He felt that his third son was too stubborn, but he also had to admit that they hadn’t handled the drowning incident well.
It was also Lin Chen’s fault for always acting too docile; his constant bullying of Lu Wuyou was just to gain their attention.
In the Lu family’s eyes, Lin Chen craved their affection and would never truly leave the Lu family.
Even now, Count Lu didn’t believe that Lin Chen truly wanted to sever ties with them.
It’s just a way to force them to submit.
That’s absolutely impossible.
But Count Lu En didn’t want to completely break ties with Lin Chen, lest this matter damage the Earl’s mansion’s reputation.
The most urgent matter was to get Lin Chen back as soon as possible; having him under control would give him peace of mind.
He looked at his eldest son, Lu Zhibai, and said, “You wronged your third brother back then. You shouldn’t have been so impulsive as to hit him.”
“The one who tied the knot must untie it. Just bear with it a little and wait until he comes back before discussing anything further.”
“So he won’t gossip outside, saying that our Lu family mistreated him.”
Lu Zhibai immediately retorted, “Ever since he came back, he’s caused chaos at home. Wuyou is bullied and cried every few days. What’s the point of keeping someone like that in the house?”
Lu Wuyou looked at his eldest brother gratefully with his voice filled with pity, “I know you’re worried about me, but third brother is also part of the family. Isn’t it bad for him to keep leaving?”
Lu Zhibai snorted coldly, “Mom and Dad don’t need another child. I don’t want someone like that as my younger brother.”
Lu Qinian actually hoped Lin Chen would return. After all, he was his younger brother, and he remembered that they had a good relationship when they were young. If it weren’t for…
“Big brother, it was our negligence that led to him being taken away. Even if he was indeed bad, it’s not his fault. Let it go. You can go and ask him to come back; he’ll definitely return.”
After all, he was her child. Although Shen Qiuyi was disappointed in Lin Chen, she still hoped he would return: “Zhibai, just go. You don’t need to apologize. Just bring some people to drag him back. We can discipline him when he gets home.”
Lu Zhibai was unwilling. He wished Lin Chen wouldn’t return, so as not to affect him, the future master of the Earl’s mansion.
Count Lu En nodded: “That’s right, do as your mother says. Bring him back and I’ll discipline him.”
Lu Zhibai dared not disobey his father’s orders, and nodded in resentment: “Yes.”
After the meal, he strode away. Lu Qinian chased after him worriedly: “Brother, don’t be too harsh. For the sake of our childhood friendship…”
Lu Zhibai: “He’s so bad to Wuyou, what friendship do we need to consider for him?”
Lu Qinian was speechless. He could only blame Lin Chen himself. Since he was back in the Lu family, he should have stayed put. The Lu family wouldn’t mistreat him, but he insisted on competing with Wuyou for favor.
Lu Qinian: “Forget it, I don’t care anymore. Anyway, he has no feelings for me.”
A luxury car pulled up downstairs at the rented apartment. Lu Zhibai got out, and lead two burly men upstairs to Lin Chen’s door.
“Knock.”
The burly man stepped forward and pounded on the door, then said after a moment, “Young Master, it seems no one’s inside.”
Lu Zhibai’s face was cold, his eyes filled with impatience. “Kick the door open.”
“Yes…”
The door to the old residential building wasn’t sturdy; the two burly men took turns kicking it open.
“Go in and look for him.”
This cramped rented room was so small; there was no need to search at all. It was obvious at a glance that there was no one inside.
“Young Master, no one’s here.”
Lu Zhibai’s face was extremely grim. What a waste of his time! Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone peeking in from the next door. He immediately went over and asked, “Do you know the person next door?”
The person was still a teenager. He shook his head fearfully, and confessed, “No, I don’t know him. He seems to have gone out; he hasn’t come back for the past two days.”
Lu Zhibai, his face dark, instructed his subordinate, “Give him a contact number. Notify me if Lin Chen returns.”
“Okay, then the door…”
“Get someone to fix it.”
Lu Zhibai didn’t think he had done anything wrong, and didn’t care about the door of a small rented room. He kicked it down and left arrogantly.
The Lu family, hearing that Lin Chen had gone out, had no choice but to ignore him for the time being.
Count Lu En: “Zhibai, how’s the contract with your companion beast going? Still no result?”
At this, Lu Zhibai’s face darkened again: “Not yet, Father. I don’t think there’s any need to rush.”
Count Lu En clearly didn’t accept this answer, and stared at him intently as he asked: “Tell the truth, what’s the strongest companion beast you’ve been able to contract?”
No one knows a son better than his father. Count Lu En didn’t have a companion beast because, in his youth, he had tried many times, and the strongest companion beast he could summon was only a medium-sized dog with average fighting power.
How could Count Lu En tolerate going out to social events with a useless dog every day? It would be utterly humiliating. Therefore, he preferred to have no companion beast.
Asking him about it was simply a matter of fate, and a way to cover up his shame.
Lu Zhibai was also a proud and arrogant man. He wanted to summon a fierce beast, preferably a lion.
Over the years, he regularly went to the forest to release his spiritual energy, but unfortunately, he only attracted mediocre animals; no fierce beast paid him any attention.
Lu Zhibai grew increasingly angry, but his father still insisted on asking. He could only say, “The same as you.”
He felt it wasn’t his fault; it was all his father’s fault for having poor spiritual energy, something he had inherited from him.
Count Lu En, his son having touched a nerve, was deeply displeased but held back, saying, “Then forget it. In this day and age, having a companion beast is all the same.”
Lu Zhibai’s eyes darkened. “Hmm.”
But who in high society wouldn’t want a presentable companion beast?
The companion beast of the Si family heir, Si Ang, was a lion. Just taking his companion beast out in public immediately attracted attention across the internet.
Lu Zhibai was both jealous and envious, wishing he had that status and ability.
But unfortunately, he was just the son of a minor earl. The capital city had no shortage of minor nobles like him.
His title would probably be gone in two generations.
Count Lu En: “Wuyou is still the most promising. He’s trying to get a caracal.”
Caracals are quite powerful, and belong to the category of ferocious beasts.
Speaking of this, both father and son showed expressions of relief.
As for Lin Chen, they hadn’t paid any attention to his mental strength, assuming it was similar to theirs, or even worse.
“Second Madam, I have very important news to tell you about Si Ang.”
“What news? Tell me quickly.”
“Those photos trending yesterday are fake, and the posts are fake. Si Ang never left the capital. Someone even saw him at the company today.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely!”
Second Madam Si smiled coldly: “Good, he dared to deceive the Old Master. Let’s see how I expose him.”
“Besides this, is there any other evidence?”
“Yes! The figure in the photos is thinner, and the fingers are thinner than that person’s. They are definitely not the same person.”
Second Madam Si: “I understand. I’ll go find the Old Master now. You keep an eye on things and notify me immediately if there’s any movement.”
“Yes.”
After traveling for two days and two nights, Lin Chen’s RV finally stopped on a grassy area by a lake.
They had left the capital city and arrived at a suburb with a more pleasant climate.
A gentle evening breeze rippled across the lake’s surface.
This lake was sure to teem with fish, and Lin Chen, impatient, had already set up fishing chairs and lights by the lakeside that very night.
Parker had long since vanished without a trace. They couldn’t possibly catch him on foot, so they simply gave up.
What else could they do?
The relationship between humans and animals on this planet had always been relatively harmonious, and animal protection laws were very comprehensive, so poaching wasn’t a serious problem.
Therefore, Lin Chen wasn’t too worried about Parker’s safety in the wild. Besides, Parker wasn’t to be underestimated; it possessed strong abilities and was highly sensitive to every rustle of its surroundings.
Of course, not following didn’t mean not caring. Lin Chen took out a large megaphone, turned the volume up to maximum, and played his recording into the forest.
“Parker! Parker!”
“Roar if you hear me!”
The bodyguards: “…”
They’d learned something new; so this was the purpose of Lin Chen buying the megaphone.
Shortly afterward, Parker’s roar echoed from the nearby hills. Judging by the sound, the guy had run about three kilometers away.
Lin Chen felt relieved and continued fishing.
The lake was indeed teeming with fish. Each one he caught weighed about two pounds. The variety was said to be sweet, bony, and delicious.
Lin Chen planned to make sauerkraut fish for everyone tomorrow.
After some time, the big lion who had gone out for a walk returned panting. It slowly walked to Lin Chen’s side, lay down, and began gulping water from the basin Lin Chen had used to hold the fish.
The fish in the basin were deliberately disturbed by the lion, their tails flapping wildly. Lin Chen shook his head with amusement: “Aren’t you afraid of the fishy smell?”
However, the fish in this lake didn’t seem to have a fishy smell.
Parker’s antics with the fish were quite endearing. Lin Chen snapped a photo and sent it to his boss: “Mr. Si, Parker seems very happy today.”
Si Ang smiled and replied, “Thank you for your hard work.”
Meanwhile, at the Si family mansion, Second Madam Si casually mentioned to her father-in-law, “That boy, Si Ang, hasn’t been home for dinner in a while.”
Si Peicheng replied, “He doesn’t have time. He just took Parker out a couple of days ago.”
Second Madam Si had been waiting for this answer and exclaimed in surprise, “Really?”
Si Peicheng glanced at his second daughter-in-law: “It’s something everyone on the internet knows. You didn’t know?”
Second Madam Si innocently said, “I don’t usually follow the news, but I heard from a company employee that they saw Si Ang at the company today. Did I mishear?”
Si Peicheng shook his newspaper and said, “Of course you misheard. He left a long time ago.”
Second Madam Si sneered inwardly: “That’s strange. My ears aren’t that bad, are they? No, I have to ask where he is.”
She then sent Si Ang a video call request.
Si Peicheng didn’t take it to heart; he was also missing Parker anyway so seeing him might be a good idea.
After waiting for a long time, Si Ang still hadn’t answered. Si’s second wife snorted coldly, “Dad, he’s not answering my video call. Why don’t you try?”
Si Peicheng casually replied, “Perhaps he’s busy.”
“What’s there to be busy with in the wild? I don’t think he’d dare answer.” Madam Si’s words were strange.
Si Peicheng finally noticed something amiss and frowned, “Why wouldn’t he answer?”
Madam Si: “I don’t know. Maybe I misheard. Is he really in the capital?”
“Impossible,” Si Peicheng said instinctively.
“Dad, let’s make a call to confirm. It’s not much trouble, and it’ll save me from wondering if I’ve misheard.” Madam Si said.
What did his second daughter-in-law mean?
Did she suspect Si Ang was faking it?
How could he fake it? The lion in the photo was Parker. He wasn’t that blind.
To prove his grandson’s innocence, Si Peicheng immediately messaged Si Ang, “Little Ang, what are you doing?”
Si Ang replied with a photo of Parker playing with fish: “Fishing with Parker.”
Si Peicheng: “Okay, then take a video call.”
He wanted to completely dispel his suspicions.
Soon, Si Ang called back. After answering, he smiled and said to his grandfather on the video, “Would you like to see me fishing too?”
Si Peicheng looked at the background; his grandson’s background was indeed in the wild, with a shimmering lake visible.
Si Ang deliberately turned around 360 degrees and said, “Grandpa, the environment here is beautiful, and the fish in the lake are very plump.”
Si Peicheng smiled and said, “Yes, Grandpa saw it.”
Then he coldly glanced at Madam Si next to him, as if asking, “Do you have anything else to say?”
Madam Si couldn’t believe it. How could this be?
It shouldn’t be like this!
Si Ang should be in the capital; the person in the photo is definitely not him!