Faced with the malice in Wen Xu’s words, Wen Song never gave him half a glance.
The other party was an Omega spoiled rotten by his family.
His behavior and speech were entirely those of a wealthy young master who had never experienced the harsh realities of society.
Wen Song had no need to bicker with him.
Firstly, he couldn’t be bothered. Secondly, he didn’t actually want to become a part of the Wen family.
The most important point was that he didn’t want to stir up trouble in the Wen family, though that didn’t mean he was easy to bully. Fortunately, aside from having a nasty mouth, the Omega Wen Xu wouldn’t do things like frame others behind their backs.
“Where is Grandfather?” Wen Song asked.
Although Wen Xu didn’t give him a single pleasant look, he still pointed his noble finger toward the location of the study upstairs.
“Second floor.”
Wen Song nodded, said a brief “Thank you,” and stepped up the stairs.
Wen Xu, who had been spewing sarcasm and wearing a sour face all along, suffered another defeat.
Why was it that he could never gain the upper hand whenever he dealt with Wen Song?
Wen Song went upstairs and stood before the closed door of the study.
Tap, tap.
He knocked gently, paused, and spoke, “Grandfather, it’s me, Wen Song.”
After a moment, an aged yet strong voice came from inside.
“Come in.”
Wen Song pressed the door handle, pushed the door open, entered, and closed it behind him.
The study’s furnishings leaned heavily toward a traditional Chinese style. Passing through the screen, he saw Elder Wen sitting at the office desk, wearing reading glasses and reviewing company documents. Behind him was a wall full of books, while potted plants decorated the right side.
“Xiao Song, you’re back,” Elder Wen said in a gentle tone, putting down the documents.
Wen Song walked over to the coffee table and skillfully went through the steps of brewing tea. Pouring a cup, he walked over to the desk, placed the teacup right by Elder Wen’s hand, and said respectfully, “Yes, Grandfather. It’s the weekend today.”
“You should get some rest. Company matters can be left to Eldest Brother to handle.”
The “Eldest Brother” he referred to was the son of his eldest uncle, five years older than him, who currently managed operations at the Wen Group.
Elder Wen took off his reading glasses and set them aside. He picked up the teacup, took a light sip, and wore a satisfied expression upon tasting it.
Hearing Wen Song’s words, he let out a sigh. “Although the eldest is currently managing all affairs in the company, I still don’t dare hand many important matters directly into his hands. He needs to be tempered properly first.”
The Wen Group was a family-owned business, and for him, handing it over casually to the younger generation underneath was still a bit unsettling.
What was more, the various branches within the clan were numerous, and everyone harbored their own hidden agendas. Whether anyone was truly working for the company remained to be observed and evaluated. Having weathered storms for so many years, the old man understood that in the face of certain blood ties, benefits were fragile.
Many people were egoistic.
Elder Wen believed that being “for oneself” wasn’t wrong, but if one ignored family interests because of it, they couldn’t command the bigger picture.
Among all the younger generation, the only one he truly valued was Wen Xu.
Wen Song came second.
Wen Xu might look spoiled, but he was smart, and his character just needed the tempering of society to gradually mature.
“But your health is what matters most, Grandfather,” Wen Song said.
The main reason he disliked the Wen family was because he disliked Wen Chengfeng, that cheap father of his who had abandoned his wife and son. That man had gone to the countryside, encountered Chen Yiyue in her youth, seduced her into being marked, and had an unwed child, only to wipe his hands and disappear without a trace.
In the end, Ms. Chen grew depressed and passed away when Wen Song was five years old due to an un-cleanseable mark.
Wen Song had grown up with his grandmother, and he held an extreme aversion toward Wen Chengfeng in his heart.
After Elder Wen learned of his existence, he had repeatedly tried to bring him back into the Wen family. His grandmother refused, and he himself had no desire to come to this unfamiliar place, Sui City, which he had always rejected.
Unfortunately, his grandmother fell ill.
He needed money.
The Wen family treated him all right. Wen Song knew that half of this kindness stemmed from guilt and compensation, while the other half was because he had gotten involved with Zhao Mingzhuo the moment he arrived in Sui City, and the Wen family didn’t want to offend Zhengrong.
Wen Song was no longer a naive youngster who would sell his soul just for a shred of familial charity.
After all these years, people grow up.
He knew that in the so-called upper-class circles of Sui City, people were entirely driven by the struggle for benefits.
Elder Wen smiled gently and said, “Good child.”
At that moment, noticing a patch plastered on the back of Wen Song’s neck, he asked with concern, “What’s wrong with your neck?”
Wen Song reached up to touch it. “It’s nothing, Grandfather. I’ve been working too long these past few days and it aches a bit.”
Elder Wen said, “Hard work. Let Aunt Yang cook your favorite dishes for dinner. Why don’t you stay over tonight? Your room is cleaned every day.”
“Regarding your grandmother’s side, there is something I want to discuss with you.”
The refusal on the tip of his tongue was swallowed back. Wen Song lowered his eyelids and said, “Alright, Grandfather.”
After chatting with Elder Wen and playing a game of go, Wen Song left the study.
To his surprise, as soon as he stepped out, he ran into Wen Chengfeng heading upstairs.
At forty-five years old, the man was entering middle age, yet his facial features still looked youthful. As an Alpha, his build was robust, and coupled with regular workouts, wearing a simple shirt and tie with a suit jacket draped over his arm and a briefcase in hand, he exuded a mature aura.
Noticing someone coming out of the study, Wen Chengfeng looked up and saw Wen Song.
Upon seeing Wen Chengfeng, Wen Song furrowed his brow, too lazy to even greet him, and simply walked past him down the stairs.
Wen Chengfeng, who had enjoyed reverence from others for years and harbored a strong sense of Alpha chauvinism, couldn’t possibly swallow this slight. With a darkened face, he shouted, “Stop right there.”
Wen Xu, who was sitting on the sofa playing on his phone, was entirely used to this and couldn’t even be bothered to raise his head.
Wen Song stopped in his tracks, his expression cold. “Mr. Wen, is there something you need?”
Choked up by being called “Mr. Wen” without knowing how to respond, Wen Chengfeng wore a stern expression and said with harsh severity, “Do you not even greet your elders when you see them at home?”
Wen Song was expressionless. “Just for this trivial matter?”
Wen Chengfeng frowned. “Are you talking about your mother?”
Wen Song’s gaze shifted instantly. Cold as frost, he stared at the other man and said unflinchingly, “What do you want to say?”
Clearly a Beta without even pheromones, Wen Chengfeng was actually intimidated by his junior’s gaze, feeling as though the moment he uttered a single bad word about Chen Yiyue, the other person would charge forward to throw punches without a moment’s hesitation.
He looked completely different from the meek Wen Song who usually ignored him.
Wen Song reined in the anger that was about to burst forth and let out a cold sneer. “Mr. Wen, don’t you feel a shred of guilt when you mention my mother? If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to sleep for the rest of my life, seeing as her end was entirely brought about by your own hands.”
Wen Chengfeng stammered, “I did not.”
Too lazy to listen to the other man speak, Wen Song interrupted directly. “Sorry, I don’t have time to reminisce with you about your past crimes.”
“You can repent by yourself.”
With that, he walked down the stairs without looking back.
Standing on the staircase, Wen Chengfeng stared at Wen Song’s retreating figure, furious and at a loss for how to curse him out.
In the end, he could only vent angrily, “Little brat, you’ve really gone lawless!”
Wen Song had long since grown immune to such insults. Back when he was young, plenty of people had cursed him with ugly words like “bastard,” “fatherless child,” and “mongrel.” A simple “little brat” couldn’t possibly ruffle his stable emotions at all.
Such words from a biological father meant absolutely nothing.
Crouched on the sofa, Wen Xu watched Wen Song leave the living room for the front yard to water the plants. He pursed his lips, lowered his eyelids, and went back to playing on his phone.
Every time Wen Song came to the Wen family, he would argue with Wen Chengfeng. They were long used to it; despite being related by blood, they couldn’t stand each other.
One felt that an illegitimate child was a dark stain in his history;
The other held a grudge against the man for causing his mother’s death.
If it weren’t for Elder Wen’s desire for Wen Song to recognize his ancestors and return to the family, the two of them would never have any intersection at all.
Evening.
During dinner, with Elder Wen present, aside from the awkward atmosphere, nobody dared to say anything overly harsh or out of line.
Wen Song quietly ate his meal as well.
At that moment, Elder Wen spoke up. “Xiao Xu, there’s an auction in a few days. Take your older brother out to see the world.”
Even though Wen Xu was deeply unwilling, since it was the old man’s order, he had no choice but to comply.
“Alright, Grandfather.”
Wen Song lowered his eyelids and followed up with, “Alright, Grandfather.”
The others didn’t dare defy the old man’s wishes, maintaining their silence without offering any opinions.
When the meal ended, Wen Song didn’t linger in the living room and went straight back to his room.
The room kept for him in the Wen family was cleaned by servants every day.
All he needs to do is take a shower, change into pajamas, and he can lie down to rest.
The strenuous activity from the previous night had consumed too much physical energy, leaving his whole-body aching. Today, he had also had to keep up a composed facade, exhausting him to the point where his waist felt like it didn’t belong to him anymore.
To describe it using an online phrase, he felt like a ribbonfish that had been dead for three months.
After finishing his shower, Wen Song intended to toss the clothes he had just taken off into the laundry basket.
As he picked them up, a box slipped straight out of the pocket and fell to the floor.
Seeing this, Wen Song bent down to pick it up and carefully checked what kind of medicine the box contained.
Contraceptive pills.
Medications inherently carried a degree of toxicity. With society developing rapidly nowadays, an expensive, side-effect-free type of contraceptive pill had gradually appeared on the market. Betas weren’t as fragile as Omegas, and taking the medication posed almost no danger to them.
Besides, it had only been that one time.
“Truly considerate,” Wen Song muttered with a sigh.
Just right, it saved him the trouble of buying some himself.
He popped out a pill, walked over to the desk, unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, and swallowed it down with the water. The remaining pills were wrapped in a tissue and tossed straight into the trash can; he would never need them again in the future, so there was no point in keeping them as spares.