“So, Shu Zhenhao was raised by her?” Susu thought, even an adopted son should have some affection, why had she never heard of such a person in the Shu family?
Uncle Xu said, “Not exactly. Initially, Jia Nanfang kept all the children Mr. Shu recognized at the Shu family mansion to look after them. But later, she had a daughter of her own, and then she only cared about her own child, neglecting the others. Those were all children without mothers, and they didn’t have much affection for each other. When they were young, they would fight and play, and once they almost drowned Miss Shu Yan in the swimming pool of this mansion. After this incident, Mr. Shu was also very angry and sent all these children to boarding schools. Most of these children were left unattended afterwards. After finishing high school at boarding school, they went abroad for further studies. Upon their return, Mr. Shu looked at their academic performance and kept those who excelled to train them in the Shu Group, perhaps hoping to select suitable heirs from among them. But one by one, they were disappointing, making me anxious.”
Susu felt that these children acknowledged by Shu Zhongze, apart from having their basic needs met and receiving a good education, were actually quite pitiful, not much different from orphaned children.
No one knew what they had experienced during their growth, or whether their minds and bodies were healthy.
“I saw that although the positions held by others in the Shu Group were not high before, they weren’t fired by my father. What exactly did this Shu Zhenhao do?”
“Initially, Mr. Shu had the highest hopes for Zhenhao. Although he wasn’t the smartest, he was diligent and steady in his work. At that time, I thought the child was good too. Mr. Shu privately told me to teach him more when I had the chance…”
“He’s diligent and steady? But looking at him today, he’s so decadent and irritable, not like someone who can do things properly,” Susu couldn’t help but interrupt.
“Alas, that was after he changed. He was doing well in the group, and Mr. Shu was gradually entrusting him with more important matters. But suddenly, he heard something about his biological mother from somewhere, and then insisted that Mr. Shu had deceived his mother back then. He claimed Mr. Shu forcibly separated mother and son, and that his mother actually didn’t receive a single cent from the Shu family. Later, she lived in poverty and died of illness in the dirtiest part of Lancheng.”
“Was someone deliberately distorting the truth and instigating discord between my father and him?”
Uncle Xu nodded and said, “That’s what I thought too, and I kept advising him not to fall into some people’s traps. But he wouldn’t listen to anyone’s advice, and then he started slacking off at the group, often frequenting nightclubs, drinking heavily, and even deliberately sabotaged several group projects, causing the group severe losses. Mr. Shu couldn’t tolerate it any longer and fired him, cutting off all his financial support.”
“Then he became self-destructive.”
“It’s a pity. After losing his financial support, he couldn’t carry on his wild behavior. When he came to find Mr. Shu again, Mr. Shu strictly ordered him not to return to Lancheng, and to only stay abroad, otherwise his financial support would still be cut off. If he didn’t obey, he also tasted the pain of having no money to squander, so he went abroad and never returned.”
Susu vaguely understood Shu Zhenhao’s plight. It seemed he was manipulated into self-destruction. He hadn’t improved much in all these years abroad, and now he was still being manipulated, which was why he suddenly returned to cause trouble.
“By the way, Uncle Xu, I just heard that the old master of the Shu family actually had many siblings, but they were driven away by the old master. For what reason?”
“Oh, that. They had always opposed the old master’s marriage to the old madam and had been making things difficult for the old madam in various ways. The old master, out of necessity to protect the old madam, drove away his sister who had the worst intentions. That sister, in anger, went abroad, started a company there, and lured all her other siblings to her side, intending to undermine the old master’s control over the Shu Group. But unexpectedly, the old master, with more than half of the Shu Group’s senior management gone, didn’t bother with them and relied on himself to help the Shu Group overcome the difficulties. The Shu Group still stood firm.”
“So, when their siblings fell out, it caused such great turmoil in the Shu Group,” Susu sighed.
“I didn’t personally experience those events. I heard them from some of the older employees in the group. Later, the old master and old madam rarely interacted with those relatives, and those people had all settled abroad.”
Listening to Uncle Xu recount the grievances of the previous two generations of the Shu family, Susu finally understood many things.
Not long after the old master married Wen Shuman, she brought Lu Yuanhong to live in the Shu family mansion for a few years. However, other members of the Shu family could not tolerate the old master marrying a divorced woman with a child.
In fact, Lu Yuanhong was only three or four years younger than Shu Zhongze. It would have been good for the two of them to grow up together, but unfortunately, the Shu family members disliked Lu Yuanhong and always bullied him.
Later, because others falsely accused Lu Yuanhong of being dishonest and prone to stealing, the old master and Wen Shuman had no choice but to send him back to the Lu family.
Originally, Wen Shuman’s ex-husband, Lu Yuanhong’s father, was always looking for opportunities to pester her. Coupled with the interference from the Lu family and other members of the Shu family, who resorted to underhanded tactics, the already complicated entanglement of emotions and interests worsened.
Finally, Lu Yuanhong’s father, along with Lu Yuanhong, took extreme action and jumped to their deaths.
At that time, Lu Yuanhong’s father died on the spot after the fall, and Lu Yuanhong was injured. Wen Shuman, to protect Lu Yuanhong, lied to the Shu family that he had also died.
In reality, after Lu Yuanhong recovered from his injuries, she handed him over to a relatively benevolent relative of the Lu family.
Wen Shuman gave that relative a large sum of money and asked them to take Lu Yuanhong with them to Nanyang at that time.
And amidst this chaos of schemes and entanglements, Wen Shuman’s second pregnancy was unfortunately miscarried, and she lost her fertility thereafter.
When the old master learned the truth and the whole story, he deeply resented his siblings. This was why he resolutely drove away his closest sister and prevented others from interfering in any Shu Group matters.
His siblings then gradually left the Shu family and went abroad.
Wen Shuman’s diary also mentioned some of these matters. Combined with what Uncle Xu knew, the events of Wen Shuman’s generation became clearer.
After Uncle Xu left, Susu remained alone in the Shu family mansion, still sighing with emotion. She wandered through the mansion again. Many old but still new furniture, decorations, portraits, and photos were still there, as if quietly telling their past stories to the new owner.
She asked a servant to bring dust covers and covered the items she considered precious and important. When Hengheng grew up, she would solemnly hand over everything here to him.
…
After dealing with Shu Zhenhao’s matter, Qin Tianyi contacted Susu. He learned that she was not at home but had gone to the Shu family mansion, so he also went to the Shu family mansion to find her.
That Shu Zhenhao, who claimed to be Shu Zhongze’s eldest son, was actually a good-for-nothing.