Chapter Ten Family Meeting

  Huangguang Hotel is the best three-star hotel in the county. Guo Ming, accompanied by his mother, had just arrived at the entrance when he saw Guo Zhengzhen waiting anxiously.

  "What's going on, coming so late?" Guo Zheng frowned and said, "They've been waiting for a long time."

  "Some things were delayed for a while," Yu Xia smiled and said. She naturally wouldn't say it was because of Guo Ming's reason.

  "Go ahead! Ah, this time Ya and Lui did well on the exam, tomorrow you should speak less, do you know? Guo Zheng's face turned bad. As soon as he thought of this matter, his face felt dull, and there was no way to refute it. The fact is that Guo Ming's past grades were always the subject of ridicule."

  Guo Ming lowered his head and followed his parents into the family meeting that he had once dreaded the most. In the past, he would have liked to avoid it, for Guo Ming, every family meeting was a blow to himself, with his elder sister and second brother mercilessly humiliating him, which was his most shameful memory. In his memory, there was rarely any affection among siblings in the family, and all of his uncles were stingy people, he had completely lost confidence in them.

  But today is different, he has already taken the first step and is no longer someone they can bully. Guo Ming has opened the long-sealed memory gate, and with time, he will surely burst forth to a height that makes them look up to him, making it impossible for them to look down on him again.

  Guo Ming's face had a faint smile on it as he lifted his head and said confidently: "Hello, uncles and aunts."

  "How come you're so late?" Guo Ming's uncle said in a bad tone.

  "There were some delays on the way, so let's get started," said Guo Ming, "it seems you've also been waiting for a while. Bring out the dishes! Waiter, bring out the dishes."

  A waitress looked at Guo Ming with a puzzled expression, nodded and left. In her eyes, Guo Ming's temperament and image were all top-notch, and such a young master seemed to have a lot of say in his family.

  "Hold on, Guo Zhenghui said angrily, pointing at Guo Ming, you've become quite arrogant after not seeing each other for a month. Is this all taught by Third Brother?"

  Guo Ming's words had already shocked everyone present, the Guo family was a family with extremely strict discipline, and Guo Ming's behavior undoubtedly violated this invisible rule.

  Looking at his big brother's cold eyebrows, Guo Zheng was also slightly surprised in his heart and immediately said: "Ming'er, what's wrong with you? Quickly apologize to your uncle."

  "What did I do wrong?" Guo Ming asked in a soft voice.

  He pulled over a stool and sat down, looking at his uncle with disdain in his eyes.

  If what happened earlier was an unintentional mistake, then now it is open resistance.

  "You, you, Guo Zhenghui was furious, took big strides and came over, wanting to teach Guo Ming a lesson."

  Yu Xia stepped forward and blocked Guo Zhenghui's path, her voice cold as ice: "Big brother, what are you trying to do?"

  Guo Zhenghui stopped in his tracks. He could take action against Guo Zhengming because they were biological brothers, but he couldn't do the same to Xia. To put it nicely, she was his younger sister, but if others didn't acknowledge him as her older brother, then he was nothing.

  "Little brother and sister, tomorrow this child is too disobedient, big brother is helping you to educate him well," Guo Zhenghui's face changed slightly, and he said in a gentle tone.

  "If it were in the past, I wouldn't have asked, but now that he's 16 years old, apart from me and Zheng, who else has the right to scold him? Otherwise, don't blame me for cutting ties with my relatives. Yu Xia is also furious. All sorts of things that happened when Guo Ming was a child came flooding back. In the past, no matter whose fault it was, in the end, it always ended up being pushed onto Guo Ming's shoulders. What, do you really think I'm easy to bully?"

  "Hey, Sanmei, you're not right to do this. How can Zhenghui, who is Ming'er's uncle, not be qualified? Guo Zhenghui's wife stood up with a smile, but her tone was clearly provocative. Seeing her husband being frustrated, Lü Xiū naturally sided with him."

  That's right, but I only have this one precious son, and I'm not willing to give him up. The two words "son" weigh heavily on Xia's heart.

  Lü Xiū's face changed, and she glared at Yú Xiā with anger, while the latter stared back at her without showing any weakness. Her son had always been a sore spot in Lü Xiū's heart. Since giving birth to Yá'ěr, Lü Xiū's body had some issues, making it impossible for her to have more children. The matter of carrying on the family line was extremely important to their conservative family. This was a painful wound that she found hard to express, and today Yú Xiā had brought it up in public, making Lü Xiū feel an urge to tear her apart.

  "Everyone sit down. Today we are celebrating Ya and Kai's achievements, what's the point of making such a racket? Guo Zheng stood up and persuaded them."

  Lü Xiū seemed to have thought of something, a joyful expression on her face, and said: "Not bad, not bad. Although Ya is a girl, she's really making an effort this time. She should be able to get into the top twenty in the class, right? That's Number One Middle School we're talking about! Getting such grades is already something, it's much better than those kids who don't study at all."

  This is my own family! Guo Ming let out a soft sigh. He used to think that his uncle was not a good person, but now he realized that his second uncle was also a talented person. Is this mediating? This is clearly adding fuel to the fire, further intensifying the conflict. I'm really 'lucky' to have such relatives!

  Lü Xiū's implicit meaning was clear even to a fool, and Yú Xiǎ couldn't find a way to respond. Guō Míng stood up, pulled out a chair, and let his mother sit down. He then calmly sat down himself, looking at his aunt, and softly asked: "Aunt, what is the purpose of holding this family meeting today?"

  "It's all natural for Ya and Kuai to celebrate, Lü Xiu thought."

  "What about me?" Guo Ming poured himself a glass of water and asked after taking a sip.

  "You? Haha, Lü Xiuxiao burst out laughing. Even Guo Ya and Guo Kun couldn't help but laugh loudly, they thought Guo Ming's question was too ridiculous."

  Only Guo Zhenghui and Guo Zhenhou did not laugh loudly, they looked at their nephew with some shock on their faces. With the two men's many years of business experience, they naturally had some ability to read people, and at Guo Ming's current age, he was too calm, calmly to the point of being frightening. It is said that young people are arrogant, they rarely hide things in their hearts, everything is written on their faces. But Guo Ming is only 16 years old this year! He showed such an expression, it's too abnormal, abnormality is ominous.

  Guo Ming's face always had a faint smile, and even he didn't know why he was so calm. In fact, he didn't know that the mysterious old man's Water Path technique had subtly influenced his temperament.

  The Way of Water is a mysterious law, which still needs to be excavated by him. Once he reaches the highest realm, he will reach a state where he is not separated from all things, and at that time his heart can be said to be like a rock, and he will no longer be affected by external objects.

  There are also times when even the most enjoyable things become dull, just like a joke. You can laugh for a minute or ten minutes, but you can't laugh all day. Their snickers eventually died down, replaced by an eerie calmness. They finally sensed that something was off about Guo Ming, he was different from before.

  Guo Ming stood up, his hands in his pockets, and said calmly: "Do you think it's funny to mock me? Do you know who I am? I'm not some stray cat or dog on the street. I'm Guo Ming, your nephew, Yaya's brother, and Lui's younger brother. If this satisfies your perverted psychology, then go ahead, but let me tell you that I have no feelings for any of you, neither in the past nor from now on. From today onwards, no matter where we are in the world, I don't need your sympathy or your ridicule. I'm drawing a clear line between us."

  Everyone was left speechless by his words. After finishing speaking, Guo Ming smiled faintly and pulled out a chair, walking out calmly.

  Yu Xia looked at her son with a proud expression in her eyes, glanced around and let out a cold snort before striding away.

  Guo Zhengzhen also stood up, he didn't expect things to turn out this way today. He had no reason to blame his son for his behavior today, and in fact, he had a faint sense of expectation in his heart - this was indeed the son of Guo Zhengzhen.

  "Zheng, look, Guo Zhenghui said awkwardly."

  "It's nothing, maybe the kid just said something in a moment of anger, but maybe he's been repressing it for too long. You all celebrate slowly, I'll go home and take a look. Suddenly, Guo Zheng felt that this place was so nauseating, even the exquisite banquet had a taste of cold indifference. Guo Zheng would rather spend his days eating noodles with his wife and children. At least that way, it would be filled with human emotions and warm feelings."

  Kwok Ching Fai was not a fool, he naturally heard the dissatisfaction in Kwok Ching Yan's tone. He hastily walked out of his seat, pulled Kwok Ching Yan and said apologetically: "Big brother really didn't mean anything else, you also know big brother's personality, it's just that he likes to show off a bit, today everything big brother absolutely didn't think of."

  Guo Zheng's heart skipped a beat. He knew that his older brother was a very proud person and would not believe it if someone said he had ill intentions. After all, during the most critical moment of his own business, his older brother had even deducted wages from his workers to support him, almost causing his own business to collapse. Which parent does not hope their children will make something of themselves? When they get together with other kids, bragging is inevitable. And Guo Ming was indeed a disappointment, always becoming the laughing stock of others year after year, eventually becoming a topic of ridicule for everyone, and it could be said that he had gotten used to it.

  His own elder brother lowered his head in public, and Guo Zheng naturally didn't dare to walk away anymore.

  In the taxi, Guo Ming looked at his mother Yu Xia and said in a low voice: "Mom, I'm sorry."

  She gently stroked his head and said softly, "You are my son. Don't say sorry to Mom. This is what Mom should do. I just hope you can truly grow up in the future. Only when you have real abilities will others not look down on you, understand?"

  Guo Ming nodded, now he even had an impulse to share the strange encounter on his body with his mother, but in an instant he gave up this idea. His mother was just an ordinary person, and now she lived a very happy life. It's better to keep unknown things in her heart!

  Perhaps every mother hopes that her son is a genius, and with his current abilities he can fully achieve it. Since this is the case, let him be forever full of mystery in his mother's heart! Some things are better left unspoken.

  The sky has darkened, and the cars on the road are coming and going. Guo Ming looked at the prosperity outside, and his heart was filled with emotion. The flowers were red, the willows were green, and the wealth was dazzling, but these things were not truly his to possess. Money was not the only thing, nor was power; for Guo Ming, these were unimportant. He had already discovered that behind this prosperous facade lay a more mysterious world, and he had already obtained the key to unlock it. Now all he needed to do was make an effort to push open the door.