Chapter 90: The Filial Son Refuses to Continue “Filial Piety”
Shou Jiaxun only told Xiao Yu that he would be at “158” on Saturday afternoon. He didn’t confirm the gallery, nor the specific time. As a result, when Xiao Yu drove into the park and sent a message to Shou Jiaxun, he didn’t reply. When he called, there was only an electronic secretary prompting for a message.
At noon under the Imperial Capital’s summer sun, the temperature was pushing forty degrees Celsius. Xiao Yu sat in his car with the air conditioning on, struggling with himself for fifteen minutes before finally deciding to find a place for a cold drink first and contact his date later.
Most restaurants and water bars in the park were concentrated on two intersecting streets in the Central Park. Fortunately, these two streets were adjacent to the parking lot. There were no underground garages in the renovated old factory area. As soon as Xiao Yu got out of the car, he was blinded by the sunlight and furrowed his brows. He instinctively quickened his pace, looking left and right as he walked to screen for a shop suitable for a break.
Many young people came to visit exhibitions on weekends, and there were also many families bringing children to broaden their horizons. Since it was lunchtime, almost every restaurant was packed with customers. The young master Xiao neither wanted to wait in line nor was he willing to sit squeezed in with others. He could only furrow his brows tighter and tighter, his footsteps stubbornly moving forward.
He walked all the way to the end of the vertical street before finding a detached restaurant with a cutting-edge, pitch-black design. From the outside, forget seeing windows, you even had to find the door based on icons painted on the ground. Once a person stood at the entrance, the wall in front automatically “cracked” open.
As the door opened, a fragrant and icy breeze from inside the restaurant hit his face. The young master Xiao’s mood finally improved. This place not only didn’t require waiting in line, but he could even choose a private room.
A host came out of the middle door to invite the guest in, while softly asking for the guest’s requirements for the dining area.
“Whatever,” the young master Xiao was somewhat impatient.
The host continued to press, “Are you dining alone? Do you need to smoke?”
“Alone, no smoking.”
“Then please come this way. I’ll take you to the second floor. There are pods and a bar suitable for solo breaks and dining on the second floor.”
The host introduced the restaurant environment while leading the way, looking back once in a while to attend to the guest. After finishing this sentence and looking back again, he found that Xiao Yu had stopped. He was staring with eyes full of fire directly toward a table of diners in the open dining area on their side.
The host hurried back. “Sir…”
Xiao Yu raised his hand to signal him not to say more, and ordered in a low voice: “I’ll sit on the first floor.” After speaking, he turned straight into the right side of the main hall.
The host immediately nodded and attended to him. “Alright, our shop allows for self-ordering at the table, or I can help you place the order.”
“I’ll order myself.”
The interior of this restaurant was decorated as a post-apocalyptic mecha scene. Each dining table was a control console of a spaceship simulated by a large touch screen. The seats were also the kind of ergonomic aviation chairs seen in sci-fi movies, with high backs and side wings. Just then, Shou Jiaxun had leaned forward to clink glasses with the person opposite him, and Xiao Yu had inadvertently caught a glimpse of half his face.
There weren’t many guests in the hall. Xiao Yu bypassed the high-back chairs to avoid Shou Jiaxun’s line of sight and sat in an aviation chair at the neighboring table with his back to them.
Shou Jiaxun was excitedly talking about his fruit shop, saying that next month they would launch a new meal-replacement light meal, completely customized to his own taste, and he had a feeling it would be a new hit.
His companion laughed awkwardly twice. “That’s one thing I don’t dare agree with. Don’t you feel your tastes are quite extreme?”
Shou Jiaxun asked back, “How are my tastes extreme?”
“Like a white rabbit turned into a spirit.” Xiao Zhiheng spoke directly with a smile. “In this meal today, up to now, you haven’t even taken a single bite of high-quality protein.”
“Lately, indeed… it’s not been great.” Shou Jiaxun explained with a sigh. “Because I’ve been staying up late these past two days, I only want to eat things that are easy to digest.”
Xiao Zhiheng asked with concern, “A lot of work pressure lately?”
Shou Jiaxun curled his lip and raised his eyebrows, looking somewhat helpless. “It’s not all company matters; there’s also a part that’s my own private matter.”
The moment Xiao Yu heard his father’s voice, he was stunned by the excessive shock. He hadn’t expected that while Shou Jiaxun had an appointment to meet him, he also had an appointment with his father. The topics of conversation between the two behind him were unrestrained and very broad, and they chatted and laughed in an exceptionally harmonious atmosphere.
Xiao Yu’s brow furrowed tighter and tighter. His mind was currently in a mess, and he could no longer distinguish what jokes his father and the person he liked were telling. He only felt their laughter was exceptionally piercing, sharp as if two awls were drilling into his head.
In Xiao Yu’s impression, his father, Xiao Zhiheng, was a man who rarely smiled, was rigid in everything, and was so quiet he was almost boring. Moreover, he never cared about what the people around him ate or didn’t eat. Xiao Yu had learned to call for delivery himself when he was five, and Xiao Zhiheng called this “dietary freedom.” But at this moment, Xiao Yu suddenly understood that his father didn’t “respect dietary freedom” at all times; he simply didn’t care about most people.
At this very moment, he not only cared that Shou Jiaxun was “eating too vegetarian,” but he was also worried that Shou Jiaxun’s “complexion doesn’t seem very good,” and reminded him: “Get a physical examination at least once every six months.”
Xiao Yu’s breathing gradually became low and heavy. He silently took out his phone and dialed Shou Jiaxun’s number again. Still no movement on Shou Jiaxun’s side, and it was still an electronic prompt: “…Please leave a message.”
Xiao Yu took a deep breath and scrolled his call logs up to the number Liang Bo had used to contact him days ago. He sent a text message: [I warned you to keep a close eye on him and not let him come looking for me. Otherwise, I definitely won’t be able to resist.]
Liang Bo replied to him in a second with a string of question marks and an angry scolding: [Psycho.]
Xiao Yu stared coldly at his phone screen, making no response.
About three minutes later, Liang Bo called; Xiao Yu hung up directly. Liang Bo quickly called again. He was clearly just as worried as Xiao Yu, unable to get through to Shou Jiaxun’s phone. Xiao Yu again decisively hung up.
Two minutes later, when Liang Bo called for the third time, Xiao Yu neither proactively hung up nor answered, letting the ringtone sound for a full thirty seconds before it automatically disconnected.
Liang Bo sent a message in a fit of rage: [If you dare touch a hair on his head, you’re dead!]
The corner of Xiao Yu’s mouth curled into a cold smile.
Shou Jiaxun and Xiao Zhiheng finished their meal and strolled together to the parking lot. Shou Jiaxun watched the other get into his car and leave before he deactivated flight mode on his phone. Then he picked an exhibition of modern avant-garde painting at random and strolled in, feeling at peace as he waited for Xiao Yu to call him.
However, he would spend an hour here at most. If Xiao Yu came, he would have a good talk with him. If not, then forget it.
When President Shou had made the appointment to meet Young Master Xiao, he hadn’t planned to say anything nice. But meeting Boss Xiao today had changed Shou Jiaxun’s perception of Young Master Xiao again. He felt that Xiao Zhiheng was refined, humorous, and knowledgeable, so his son shouldn’t be too bad either. Xiao Yu was actually a victim of that “romantic brain,” and he should still do his best to guide him. Even if he couldn’t be saved, there was no need to keep going in the direction of mutual harm.
At this moment, Xiao Yu was trailing far behind Shou Jiaxun, watching him enter the gallery, watching him stroll leisurely around, and watching him sit down for a rest on a bench in the gallery. Xiao Yu lightened his footsteps, approaching the target silently from behind.
Then, he suddenly acted, pinching the spot at the back of Shou Jiaxun’s neck near the back of his ear. His thumb and index finger applied force together, like a pair of pliers suddenly compressing Shou Jiaxun’s posterior cerebral artery.
Shou Jiaxun only felt a sudden dizziness, somewhat like oxygen deprivation in the brain. The sensory feedback lasted only for an instant. He had no chance to think more—he didn’t even have time to let out a groan—before he lost consciousness completely.
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