Chapter 1: Perplexity

  As a father, he himself had never paid attention to his son Gao Huaiyuan, thinking that his existence was a stain on himself and made him lose face. However, today Gao Huaiyuan is no longer foolish, so he can't be treated as a fool anymore! As a father, even the most venomous beast would not eat its own child, so he's quite delighted about this sudden awakening of his foolish son!

  Moreover, he believed that what Gao Huaiyuan said was true. This foolish kid had indeed been bullied by many people in the Gao Mansion before and everyone didn't even take him as a human being. These servants couldn't possibly show respect to him. Today, after this incident happened, it must be that this little servant relied on someone's power and thought that others wouldn't know, so he beat up Gao Huaiyuan, only to be severely beaten by Gao Huaiyuan in return. The servants bullying their masters was originally a serious crime, if the news got out, his face would also lose all dignity. Therefore, if they didn't heavily punish this servant today, then maybe in the future, there will be more incidents of servants offending their masters in the Gao family. So, Gao Jian made an immediate decision and ordered to punish Li's servant.

  That pig-headed fellow, upon hearing this, immediately became flustered and cried out in a loud voice: "Master, spare my life! Master, spare my life! He's telling lies, I didn't hit him! I just scolded him a few times! I pushed him once, and he started hitting me, it's not my fault! Master, spare my life!"

  Gao Jian's face turned even darker after hearing this, and he suddenly became furious: "You scoundrel! You dare to insult your master and raise your hands against him? Do I have any fault in punishing you? Come on! Take him away and beat him severely! Today, I will teach a lesson to these slaves who do not know their place. If I ever hear again that there is a slave in this house who dares to be so presumptuous, he will end up like you!" Gao Jian slammed his hand on the table beside him, shouting with a stern and just demeanor, also teaching a lesson to the other slaves present.

  Several servants in the yard heard Gao Jian's words and rushed in, all of them were covered in cold sweat. They had often bullied Gao Huairen before, but they never thought that this fool would wake up today. Who knows when he will remember his past actions? Today, it just so happens that this pighead is unlucky and ran into the spearhead first. It seems that from now on, they can't afford to provoke this young master again! The servants didn't dare to delay, they went forward and pressed down the pighead, dragging him out.

  Gao Huaiyuan looked at Gao Jian's performance and sneered in his heart, thinking that Gao Jian's behavior was no different from acting. The root cause of the situation in the mansion was not that Gao Jian himself was not upright, which led to the distortion of the mansion? Now you think of the distinction between superior and inferior, where did you go early?

  That Li heard Gao Jian was going to blame her subordinate, so she immediately quit on the spot and fell onto a chair, crying out loud, pointing at Gao Jian and shouting: "Sir! How can you believe what this foolish kid says? That little servant is the one I sent to call that little slut Liu Er, and he's already been beaten into this state by this foolish kid. Sir, why don't you stand up for me, punish that foolish kid, and blame him instead?"

  Watching Li's antics, several of Gao Jian's other wives showed contemptuous expressions. This Li had been favored by Gao Jian due to her youth and beauty, and had been arrogant in the manor for a long time, so it was about time she got taken down a peg. It was unexpected that she would fall into the hands of this foolish young master Gao Huaiyuan today, it's really satisfying! That's why no one spoke up for her. Only the eldest son Gao Huaiguang seemed somewhat abnormal, staring fiercely at Gao Huaiyuan as if he had also been offended by him.

  Gao Jian watched Li Shi making a scene, knowing that today Li Shi didn't have the upper hand. If he let her continue to make a fuss, things would not end well for him. He silently cursed Li Shi, thinking that this woman was indeed a bit too arrogant and domineering at home. So, with a cold snort, he said: "Li Shi, stop making a scene! I won't pursue the matter further if you just leave now!"

  Li saw Gao Jian say this to her, and she finally understood her situation immediately. She knew that no matter what she said today, it would be useless, and if she continued to make a fuss, she would only incur Gao Jian's disgust. If things went wrong, she might even end up hating herself in the future. In that case, she wouldn't be able to stay in the Gao mansion anymore. Moreover, her unreasonable beating of Liu'er was also unjustifiable, as Liu'er wasn't her personal maid and couldn't be beaten at will. Continuing to make a fuss would only lead to self-inflicted humiliation. So she quickly stopped crying and shouting, but still gave Gao Hua Yuan a fierce glare before turning around and walking out of the hall with a swaying motion, returning to her own courtyard.

  It just so happened that Gao Huaiyuan saw a gaze full of desire staring at Li's slender waist and plump buttocks, and he kept seeing Li off the hall. His heart couldn't help but tremble slightly, then he glanced at his 17 or 18-year-old brother Gao Huaiguang with the corner of his eye.

  Soon, the miserable cries and pleas for mercy of that pig-headed servant came from outside, crying to the point where the sky was dark and the earth was dark, making people who heard it get goosebumps all over their body. Thirty strokes of the cane were not a joke, ordinary people couldn't even take twenty strokes, let alone thirty. After the thirty strokes were finished, this servant was basically already on the verge of dying, then he was dragged to the side door and thrown into a small alley, covered in blood, left to fend for himself!

  Gao Huaiyuan saw that things had been handled, and although he performed well today, it didn't bring him much benefit. This time, he basically offended the Li family to the core. In the future, the Li family will definitely find an opportunity to retaliate, and wanting to pretend to be stupid and mix in from now on seems impossible.

  But everything has two sides, the advantage is that at least in the future, the people of Gaofu will think twice before bullying him again, and those servants will definitely not dare to provoke him easily.

  "Thank you, Father, for making the decision for me. I'll take my leave!" Gao Hua Yuan didn't want to stay in this grand hall any longer, being gawked at like a freak by these so-called relatives. He bowed his head and bid farewell to Gao Jian, wanting to leave this place. Although Gao Jian had finally supported him, he couldn't muster up even the slightest bit of goodwill towards this old man, and instead felt intense disgust.

  Gao Jian was still reeling from Gao Huaiyuan's words earlier, and he really wanted to understand why Gao Huaiyuan had changed so suddenly. So he immediately called out to stop him, saying: "Third Brother, don't go yet! The others are fine, let them leave first!"

  Although the people in the house were also curious, this family still listened to Gao Jian's words. They had no choice but to retreat and leave. Liu Er was also supported by Gao Huaiyuan, who comforted her softly for a few sentences before leaving the main hall with tears in her eyes, returning to the small courtyard.

  After seeing that everyone had left, Gao Huaiyuan stood quietly in the middle of the hall, looking around. The environment here made him feel both unfamiliar and familiar, but it didn't give him a sense of being away from home at all.

  Gao Jian sat in the chair, carefully sizing up his son, whom he had never paid attention to before. For so many years, this was the first time he had observed his son so carefully. As he looked at him today, he suddenly felt that this foolish child wasn't ugly at all, and could even be considered quite handsome. His face resembled his own somewhat, and for some reason, it also exuded a certain air about him that Gao Jian couldn't quite put into words. It was as if the son in front of him didn't seem like he was only twelve years old at all. In his eyes, there wasn't just the usual dullness, but rather a kind of wisdom. Gao Jian continued to observe Gao Hua Yuan carefully, remaining silent for a long time.

  Gao Jian kept staring at him, Gao Huaiyuan straightened his back and looked back at the father of this life with a calm and composed attitude. The main hall completely quieted down.

  Looking at the tall and upright Gao Huaiyuan wearing a short, old, and worn-out shirt with several patches on it, Gao Jian suddenly felt a sense of guilt. Thinking back to all these years, his actions as a father towards this son were extremely unqualified, not even fulfilling the most basic duties. He was also an erudite scholar who had studied the classics, but his behavior was in stark contrast to what he had learned, and thus he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh, breaking the suffocating silence of the great hall.

  Gao Jian spoke up and said to Gao Huaiyuan: "Third Brother, are you resentful of your father?"

  Gao Huaiyan looked straight at Gao Jian, smiled slightly and shook his head: "The child dare not, can only blame the child's own bad luck! Can't blame Father! Father has let me live until today, the child is already grateful!"

  Gao Jian detected a hint of sarcasm in Gao Huaiyuan's words, although the latter claimed he had never resented him. However, Gao Huaiyuan himself felt guilty and thought that listening to these words was somewhat unpleasant, as if being ridiculed. His face changed slightly before he steered the conversation in a different direction and said: "I heard your words clearly earlier. Your behavior today is indeed beyond our expectations. Now that you've come back to your senses, it's naturally a good thing. However, you shouldn't have been so rude to your stepmother! Can you tell me what happened to you? Why did you suddenly... become clear-headed again?" Gao Jian asked the questions in his mind.

  Gao Huairen sneered inwardly, the white-faced middle-aged man in front of him was putting on a virtuous and dignified act, trying to make himself appear like a benevolent father. However, Gao could clearly sense the hypocrisy in his tone, but he didn't show it, because he knew that for now, this man was still important to him if he wanted to survive in this world. Whether he liked it or not, Gao Jian was his nominal father, and he had to temporarily put up with him, otherwise, he wouldn't even have the ability to protect himself here.