Hitting his father's face, besides making him a laughingstock in public, served no other purpose.
Their relationship would only grow further apart.
From then on, his father started to give up, openly defying the old man.
He simply wouldn't come home, nor go to work. Even if it meant cutting ties with him and forfeiting any money from the Zhan family, he would not return.
The old man, in his anger, sent people to trick him into going abroad to calm down.
Right after his father left, Hu Jia Sheng was born.
That day, the old man personally went to the hospital to pick up the child.
Zhan Bei Jue's mother had never gone to that hospital for prenatal checkups. But that day, she was dragged there by a friend and ran into them.
Upon learning that the old man and Zhan Bei Jue's father had colluded to keep a bastard child from her, she nearly went mad.
She caused a huge scene at the hospital, demanding that the old man strangle Hu Jia Sheng to death in front of her, or she would find reporters and expose their entire family.
The old man, seeing her, four to five months pregnant with a belly like a balloon, dared not anger her and could only concede.
He said that killing him was illegal. The best course of action now, he stated, was to prevent him from ever entering the Zhan family home, to never be allowed in, and to never bear the Zhan family name.
He promised Zhan Bei Jue's mother that the Zhan family would forever only recognize her as their daughter-in-law. If the child was sent away, she would never have to deal with this bastard again.
By this time, the marriage had already taken place, and the child was conceived. Divorce would only result in mutual destruction, serving no purpose.
Zhan Bei Jue's mother was a smart woman. Seeing the old man concede to such an extent, she decided to let the matter rest.
However, sparing the child did not mean she would spare the vixen.
A few days later, she led a group of people to Hu Jia Sheng's mother's hospital room.
The two women first engaged in a discussion about who was more worthy of love and whose child had the right to inherit the Zhan family fortune.
Then, unable to find common ground, they began to curse each other.
With her superior numbers, Zhan Bei Jue's mother beat Hu Jia Sheng's mother soundly. Then she ordered a bucket of ice water to be brought over and forced her head into it.
"You like seducing other people's husbands, don't you? You like giving birth to other men's children? I'll let you have enough!"
"Sit here. You're not allowed to come out until an hour has passed. If you have the guts, let your man come save you now."
The woman struggled desperately, but being held down by several people, she couldn't move at all.
She wept without tears, only able to endure silently.
Zhan Bei Jue's father, far away in a foreign land, had no idea what had happened. He only knew that by the time he returned, the child had already been born, and his beloved woman had long since disappeared.
He was grief-stricken and asked the old man for the whereabouts of the woman and child, but the old man refused.
"If you keep making such a fuss, I'll truly disown you as my son! You're shaming the Zhan family's name!"
Fine, disown me then. His father turned to leave.
It was Zhan Bei Jue's uncle who rushed forward to stop him.
"You Zhan, you're not human!"
"First you used our family's strength for business, and now that you've made enough money, you bully my sister like this, abandoning her. How can you take all the advantages?"
"Try walking out of here today, and tomorrow we'll make your Zhan family go bankrupt! Keeping women? You can't even satisfy yourself, how are you going to play around!"
"Bankrupt, so be it. Do you think I care about your rotten money? I can live perfectly well without you lot. Just you wait and see!"
The old man, infuriated by his arrogance, had a heart attack and fainted on the spot, which finally stopped him.
After waking up, the old man spoke reassuringly, using both persuasion and threats, to finally stabilize him.
"I've worked my entire life, what was it all for? Wasn't it for you and your future descendants?"
"A true man's ambition lies in all directions; he shouldn't be confined by romantic entanglements. You're not young anymore. You've played and you've fooled around, now it's time to settle down. Do you really want the Zhan family's enterprise to be ruined, to be a lifelong laughingstock?"
No one wants to be a laughingstock for a lifetime. Moreover, he had known from the beginning that the social status difference between him and Hu Jia Sheng's mother was too great, making it unlikely.
Since the old man had arranged everything, it was acceptable for now.
When he became powerful and capable of making his own decisions, he would definitely go find them, mother and son.
From then on, his father started working early and returning late.
Although he came home every day, he was like a robot, cold and distant, which deeply hurt Zhan Bei Jue's mother.
Even on the day she gave birth, he used the excuse of being busy with work and unable to return, and did not go.
From then on, their marital relationship became notoriously superficial within their social circle.
Zhan Bei Jue's uncle, being young and impulsive, would occasionally encounter his father outside and reproach him a few times, speaking up for his sister.
Over time, Zhan Bei Jue's father grew very annoyed with him.
Furthermore, he resented being led by the nose by their copper factory for his entire life, and he planned to gain control of the factory's management.
Zhan Bei Jue's maternal grandparents always liked him. They believed that a significant portion of their daughter's marital unhappiness was caused by Zhan Bei Jue's mother herself.
She was too overbearing and had a terrible temper. Which man doesn't like a delicate girl?
But she wouldn't listen after he told her many times.
Zhan Bei Jue's father deliberately curried favor with his father-in-law. Coupled with his uncle's dissolute behavior, he was indeed unreliable. When Zhan Bei Jue was five years old, his maternal grandfather fell seriously ill. Before he died, he told his daughter to give the management rights of the copper factory to them, the couple, to operate jointly.
He was foolish, but Zhan Bei Jue's mother was not.
She knew perfectly well how this man treated her and how he treated her as if she were air.
For such a man to eagerly offer his family's business, wasn't that a sign of a sick mind?
Zhan Bei Jue's father diligently ran errands and completed the funeral arrangements, then asked his mother for the management rights.
But his mother told him: impossible. Unless you sign a contract with me and meet all my requirements.
The two argued fiercely again, parting on bad terms.
What happened afterwards was unclear, with a long period of blanks in between.
The next clue came years later, as told by that same uncle.
After several years of searching, Zhan Bei Jue's father found Hu Jia Sheng's mother.
He abandoned his work, secretly went to meet her, and then openly brought her back to Nan City.
When Zhan Bei Jue's mother found out, they argued fiercely again, and Zhan Bei Jue's father left home.
After wandering outside for nearly a month, he ran out of money. It was Zhan Bei Jue's mother who sent someone to contact him, knowing he was wrong and voluntarily yielding, that he finally agreed to return home.
Not long after his father returned to Nan City, he fell ill. Within less than a year, he passed away due to the illness.
During the period of his absence and illness, all company matters, big and small, were handled entirely by Zhan Bei Jue's mother.
Her husband didn't love her, and her child was still young. Busy with company affairs every day, she too had a difficult life.