The Cause of the Rift

Qin Ni's expression darkened upon hearing Mo Changshan's words.

No mother can be completely indifferent to her son, not even Qin Ni. However, a person's love has its limits. From the moment they sent Mo Xuan away, both Mo Changshan and Qin Ni had deliberately abandoned their younger son.

Unable to raise him? Unable to care for him? How could that be possible? The couple might not have been honest with each other, but they each knew the darkness in their own hearts.

Mo Xuan's return wasn't because his grandmother was unwilling to raise him, nor was it merely about health issues. It was because Mo Xuan was too academically brilliant. They had intended for him to join the family business but never considered him replacing Mo Jinpeng.

However, Mo Xuan's return provoked Mo Jinpeng. He caused trouble throughout the house, framed his brother, and incited his three sisters, who were already favored, to isolate and target Mo Xuan.

The couple knew all of this but chose not to intervene. The choice between a son raised by his grandmother, whom they barely saw throughout the year, and four children they lived with daily was obvious.

Yet, while Mo Xuan appeared gentle, he wasn't one to suffer bullying. After enduring three incidents, his retaliation was terrifying.

When Mo Jinpeng deliberately threw Mo Xuan's reference materials into the trash, that evening at dinner, Mo Xuan slapped Mo Jinpeng five times in front of everyone. Having trained in martial arts since childhood and possessing excellent physical condition, Mo Xuan left Mo Jinpeng bleeding from his nose and mouth.

From that day forward, Mo Xuan saw through the Mo family and threatened in front of his parents and grandfather: "If he provokes me one more time, I'll trade my life for his and end the Mo family line completely!"

The parents' favoritism, the grandfather's indifference, and the sisters' mockery - by then, Mo Xuan had completely lost faith in the Mo family.

But perhaps even Mo Xuan hadn't anticipated how shameless his parents could be. When they learned that Su Yanran was the eldest daughter of the Su family, and that their grandmothers had arranged her marriage to Mo Xuan, they knew Mo Jinpeng didn't love Su Yanran and only pursued her to spite Mo Xuan. However, in their view, since Mo Xuan would never inherit the family business, Mo Jinpeng was the better choice.

So when Mo Jinpeng bought gifts for Su Yanran, they fully supported him, while Mo Xuan, who barely spent any money at home, had all his allowance withheld.

They didn't dare touch the card his grandmother gave him for living expenses though - a security guard who tried had ended up with a broken arm.

Their grandmother had once mocked the couple: "You two are truly made for each other. What favoritism toward the eldest son? You're just afraid that Mo Xuan might take over in the future because of your past misdeeds of not raising him yourselves!"

They weren't foolish; rather, they had calculated too much. They had sent Mo Xuan away with their own ulterior motives, naturally fearing this son who wasn't close to them but more capable than their eldest might seize power.

Mo Jinpeng's escalating behavior was merely their tacitly approved means of suppressing Mo Xuan.

In their hearts, Mo Xuan wasn't even a Plan B - he was a disposable piece. If Mo Jinpeng failed, they still had their eldest daughter Mo Qingqing, second daughter Mo Yingying, and even their third daughter Mo Tingting who had entered the entertainment industry.

Even though Mo Xuan was their son, his distance from them made him dispensable. Moreover, this son refused to submit to their control and suppression, and his abilities couldn't be used for their benefit, so there was even less reason to care about him.

"Anyway, I'll inform Father about this matter. Jinpeng is doing well now. With the robotic arm project involving the Luo corporation and the company facing these issues, we probably don't have the energy to expand into new energy..."

Mo Changshan sighed, relieved that they hadn't invested too much effort and money initially. They hadn't held much hope for the robotic arm project from the start, and Mo Changshan knew Mo Jinpeng was just deliberately trying to irritate Mo Xuan, so he hadn't paid it much attention.

"Maybe we should try again..." Qin Ni hesitated. "We really didn't care enough for Mo Xuan back then, and we even allowed Jinpeng to steal his girlfriend for the company's development..."

"Come on, if Su Yanran had been the least bit determined, would Jinpeng have had any chance to interfere?"

If Mo Xuan had been present, he might have given his biological father his first sincere applause. After all, for Mo Xuan, this might have been the only sensible thing his biological father had ever said.

"Jinpeng was also a fool. No matter what, he shouldn't have used a prostitute to harm his own brother!" Mo Changshan was extremely dissatisfied with his eldest son when thinking about the past events. "Fine, let him do what he wants, but Mo Xuan was lost because of him, and he came back with a prostitute making a scene, and Su Yanran actually believed it... Well, that rebellious son turning against us was inevitable. Without that incident, reconciliation between us would still be impossible..."

At this point, Mo Changshan fell into deep thought. What if Mo Xuan had really found a wealthy woman with power and money in the Capital? Even with his bias toward his eldest son, he had to admit that Mo Xuan had the qualities for it. In terms of looks alone, he had encountered some young idols in the entertainment industry, and his younger son would basically crush them all if he entered the industry.

If Mo Xuan really curried favor with a wealthy woman whom the Mo family couldn't afford to offend, he couldn't guarantee that Mo Xuan wouldn't seek revenge. If he could make someone invest so much money in him wholeheartedly, who knows what might happen to the Mo and Qin families with a few whispered words in bed!

"Anyway, as long as Father agrees about the shares, we'll give the money to them - grandmother and grandson - and let that kid take the money and get lost!" Mo Changshan seemed to have found a solution. "Then we'll have him sign papers to go abroad. That much money will be enough for him to live on, but we'll make him promise not to retaliate against us!"

Mo Xuan was unaware of Mo Changshan and Qin Ni's thoughts as he sat in a private room of a Japanese restaurant, eating fresh eel rice.

This was the most expensive Japanese restaurant in the Capital, with all ingredients flown in.

"Brother, I remember last time when you accompanied me for Japanese food, you loved the Shizuoka musk melon the most, right?" Luo Muqi smiled as she placed some snow-flake wagyu beef on Mo Xuan's plate. "I called ahead to this restaurant, it's absolutely the freshest."

Mo Xuan kept his head down, focusing on his food, unwilling to look up, while Mo Wei'er curiously looked at her father: "Dad, why is your face so red?"

"Ah, it's a bit hot."

How could he not be red? He felt two pairs of feet rubbing against his legs, and when he looked up, Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi were smiling, just watching him.

"Let's just eat quickly, aren't we taking the child to play later?" Mo Xuan lowered his head and muttered. "Stop teasing..."

In the past, Mo Xuan would probably have made an excuse to leave, but even he didn't know why he had begun to indulge the sisters' increasingly boundary-crossing behavior.

"Alright..."

Luo Shiya shrugged, resting her chin on her hand while watching Mo Xuan, but her words were directed at the server: "Bring the desserts, please. Oh, Mo Xuan, would you come to the front desk with me?"

"Sister, I'll go too!"

Just as Luo Muqi was about to object, Luo Shiya shot her a sharp glance: "Who's going to watch the child?"

Luo Muqi was furious inside - her love for Mo Xuan was genuine, but so was her sister's blood-related authority over her.

Mo Xuan, confused, followed Luo Shiya out of the private room before asking: "What do we need at the front desk?"

"Oh, I want to buy some sake, they have good ones here," Luo Shiya smiled. "I wanted you to help me carry it."

"Couldn't we do that when we leave..."

Before Mo Xuan could finish, Luo Shiya suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him into an empty private room nearby. Then she grabbed his collar, pulled him down, and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"Xuan, hold me..."

Luo Shiya's words carried desire, tenderness, and uncontrollable passion. And Mo Xuan actually embraced her, even he didn't know why he would do such a thing!