Selfishness, Human Nature

Huo Xiaoran was surprised. The old man’s honesty made him feel sad. His mother, who was such a smart person, chose such a selfish man as her partner in the end.

She supported the Li family. However, it was obvious that the old man did not honor his promise to his mother to take good care of them.

But that wasn’t important anymore.

“Xiaoran, I’ve let your mother down. I went back on my word. I clearly promised her to treat you well, but I didn’t use uphold responsibility as a father the most. All those years, I wanted to treat you well, but I was afraid that Madam would be unhappy and quarrel with me. In the end, I had no choice but to stay away to maintain peace in the family. I thought that as long as I gave you a sum of money, I could make up for my bad treatment of you. However, you were so unyielding. Even when you’re penniless after graduating from university, you were unwilling to accept my gift. You started a business alone and stayed away from the Li family, giving me no chance to make it up to you.”

At this point, tears streamed down the old man’s face. “However, I also received my retribution. Our Li family was originally on the verge of bankruptcy. It was your mother who helped me turn the tide. However, I broke my promise to your mother and finally destroyed this prosperous family. The Li family still fell.”

Huo Xiaoran remained silent. He could only sigh at the Li family’s outcome.

When the old lady was alive, she was too calculative about the gains and losses of money and neglected the nurturing of the children’s independent personalities, so they all became parasites.

The old man suddenly grabbed Xiaoran’s hand excitedly and said, “Xiaoran, I’ve really realized my mistake. Do you think the heavens will give the Li family a way out on account of my sincere repentance?”

Xiaoran frowned.

“Old Master, you’ve been conscientious for the Li family your entire life. Now that you’re sick, you have not forgotten to plan for your descendants. But you forgot that you’re you and they’re them. It’s useless for you to do too much. If the Li family wants to rise, they need to work hard.”

“Let go. If you scheme for them like this, you’ll only turn them into a group of parasites that devour your blood essence until you die.”

As the old man closed his eyes, tears glistened and moistened his face.

“I know. I know I was wrong from the beginning. You’re right. I turned them into parasites. Even now, they’re sitting in the lobby and enjoying themselves.”

Huo Xiaoran half mocked and half advised, “The Li family still has some assets. It’s enough for them to enjoy themselves until they die.”

The old man’s lifeless eyes suddenly rolled, as if he had brewed an idea. “Xiaoran, help me call them in. While you’re all here, I want to change my will.”

Huo Xiaoran nodded. He stood up and walked out.

When he arrived at the living room, his eldest brother and second brother looked at him in a daze. “Xiaoran, did Dad say anything about tampering with the will?”

Huo Xiaoran said, “Old Master asked you to go in; he said that he has something to tell you.”

A hint of joy appeared in the eyes of Li Tingye and Li Tinglei. They knew that the Li family’s assets were already very thin, but the Soaring Cloud Group that the old man had given Huo Xiaoran had a good income. If the old man was willing to change his will, they would reach the heavens in a single bound.

They were very sure that the old man’s original intention for changing his will was definitely to improve their living conditions. So they stood up especially actively.

So the three brothers entered the old man’s bedroom.

Sister-in-law and Second Sister-in-law thought for a moment. They were unwilling to miss this opportunity to fight for fame and fortune, but they were afraid that their men would be stupid and make a mistake, so the two of them followed him in.

Only Falcon, Qiao An, and the only servant of the Li family, the butler, were left in the lobby.

Falcon looked at Qiao An in slight shock. Qiao An sat on the sofa and ate the fruit on the fruit platter calmly.

Falcon asked her, “An’an, why don’t you go in?”

Qiao An said, “Dad, Old Master must have gathered a few brothers to settle his assets. A few years ago, Old Master had actually made a will and returned most of the Li family’s wealth to Brother Xiaoran. After all, the Li family’s wealth was created by Xiaoran’s mother. He must have done this to make up for his debt to Brother Xiaoran.”

“And now, the Li family is much worse than before. The old man could only have two goals for changing his will. One is to reduce poverty and make Brother Xiaoran return everything so that the descendants of the Li family can continue to maintain a dignified life. The second is that the old man has finally understood that the core value of nurturing children is to let them wander in the thorns, not to let them live their lives in dependency.”

“No matter which decision it is, Brother Xiaoran doesn’t care, and neither do I.”

Falcon smiled in relief. “An’an, you and Xiaoran are like-minded and independent. I’m gratified.”

The butler looked at Qiao An and sighed silently.

Falcon looked at the butler, who felt sad and said regretfully, “Sigh, if Young Master Zecheng had cherished Miss Qiao An back then, the Li family wouldn’t have fallen to this state.”

Falcon frowned. “An’an can only be my Xiaoran’s. The two of them are childhood sweethearts. They’re a match made in heaven. Your Li Zecheng cheated Qiao An into marrying him. I wasn’t around at that time. If I was around, how could your Li family survive for so long? I would have dealt with him for my son long ago.”

It was rare for Falcon to be angry. When he was angry, his aura exploded.

The butler rubbed his hands guiltily. “Yes, yes, yes. I said the wrong thing. Young Master Xiaoran and Qiao An are the true couple.”

In the old man’s bedroom.

When Li Tingye, Li Tinglei, Sister-in-law, and Huo Xiaoran entered the room, the cramped bedroom instantly became crowded.

“Dad, are you looking for us?” Li Tingye asked.

The old man glanced at him lifelessly and snorted. “Hmph, it’s rare for you to come in to see me in such a complete set. Today, you’re united.” This sigh was half helpless and half mocking.

Li Tingye’s expression was ugly.

The old man said, “While I’m clear now, I want to change my will. The changes… involve this villa and the shares of the Li Kang Corporation.”

Li Tingye and Li Tinglei looked at each other. “Dad, did you miss something?”

The old man shook his head and pretended to be confused. “Other than this little fortune, what else do we have?”

Li Tingye went straight to the point and reminded him, “Dad, isn’t there still the Soaring Cloud Group?”

“Soaring Cloud Group? Isn’t that for Xiaoran?”

Li Tingye’s expression suddenly turned cold. “Dad, what do you mean? You want to redistribute the assets, but you only distribute the assets of the third branch and not Huo Xiaoran’s. Isn’t this unnecessary?”

The old man said angrily, “Yes, I want to take back all my gifts to you. In the future, you can support yourselves.”