Chapter 155: The Glorious Past of the Old Con Man

Chapter 155: The Old Con Man's Illustrious Past

The old con man had never mentioned any of this before!

In Chu Fei’s mind, everything regarding his mother was a complete blank. He had no memory of her, no one had ever told him anything, and the old con man had always deliberately avoided the subject entirely. Consequently, he felt no emotional connection to the word "mother," as if he were hearing about a total stranger. Sometimes Chu Fei even wondered if he even had a mother at all.

Hearing Xie Yuqin’s words now, however, sent a slight ripple through his heart. Just as he was about to press her for more details about his mother, the phone in his pocket rang at the most inopportune moment.

Pulling it out, he saw it was a local Donghai number.

"Answer it quickly. Calling you at a time like this has to be that mad dog from the Xiao family," Xie Yuqin said, curiously leaning in to take a look.

Chu Fei placed the phone to his ear, and sure enough, it was Uncle Xiao the Second, asking if he had time to meet.

Just as Chu Fei was about to say he didn't have time, Xie Yuqin chimed in from the side, "Go ahead. That mad dog was one of Chu Zhantian's most loyal followers back in the day. It's completely normal that he wants to see you."

With that, she flicked her wrist and tossed her car keys to Chu Fei, saying with an open mind, "Just take my car. I'm going to go discuss skincare matters with Jing-er right now."

Before Chu Fei could even open his mouth, she turned and walked away with a graceful stride, acting with utter decisiveness.

His prospective mother-in-law was truly somewhat different from ordinary women, Chu Fei reflected with a sigh.

Still, he didn't stand on ceremony. He first told Uncle Xiao the Second that he would be right over, then took the keys and drove off in Xie Yuqin’s red Porsche.

***

The meeting place chosen by Uncle Xiao the Second was somewhat unexpected for Chu Fei—it turned out to be a club with a distinctly military aesthetic.

As soon as Chu Fei stepped through the club's main entrance, someone came forward to greet him and escorted him directly to a large window-side private room on the second floor.

The room was vast, easily spanning over a hundred square meters, yet Uncle Xiao the Second was the only one inside.

Just as Chu Fei was about to offer a smiling greeting, Uncle Xiao the Second beat him to it, walking over with a hearty laugh. He clapped Chu Fei firmly on the shoulder and blurted out, "The car you drove here in belongs to that girl Xie Yuqin, right?" A playful glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at Chu Fei.

"Uh." Chu Fei's smile froze for a moment. He thought to himself that Uncle Xiao the Second truly had piercing eyes to spot that instantly. But he quickly understood; although Donghai was vast, to certain circles it was remarkably small. As someone who also lived in Donghai's upper echelons, it was hardly strange that Uncle Xiao the Second recognized his prospective mother-in-law's ride.

"Second Uncle is truly brilliant," Chu Fei flattered with a smile.

"Brilliant my ass. A custom-built limited-edition Porsche in red—there are only two such cars on the entire streets of Donghai. Aside from that vixen Bai Miaoqing having one, the only other one belongs to your prospective mother-in-law. Anyone who's laid eyes on it once would recognize it immediately," Uncle Xiao the Second laughed and cursed good-naturedly.

Chu Fei smiled faintly, not expecting his prospective mother-in-law to be quite so flashy.

"So, that means she just came to find you?" Uncle Xiao the Second motioned for Chu Fei to sit down and asked casually.

"Mhm." Chu Fei nodded without hiding anything. Besides, he had driven Xie Yuqin's car here; concealment was useless anyway.

"As I thought!"

Uncle Xiao the Second sighed, casting a complex look at Chu Fei before asking very directly, "When she saw you, did she ask you for your old man's contact info?"

"How did you know, Second Uncle?" This time, Chu Fei was genuinely startled, thinking that Uncle Xiao the Second was practically psychic.

"Does that even need guessing?" Uncle Xiao the Second curled his lip dismissively and sighed with emotion, "Back in the day, that girl Qin was head-over-heels in love with your old man, more than once voluntarily crawling into his bed. If the boss hadn't only had eyes for your eldest mother, that girl Qin wouldn't be your prospective mother-in-law right now; she'd be one of your stepmothers."

"Huh?" Chu Fei was dumbfounded once again. He felt he had experienced far too many shocks today. If Xie Yuqin's previous admission that she had pursued his old man had merely surprised him, this was sheer shock mixed with utter disbelief. His prospective mother-in-law had crawled into the old con man's bed more than once?

Chu Fei had just seen Xie Yuqin’s exquisite face and sexy figure. While perhaps falling slightly short of his fiancée Fu Ziqing, she easily ranked among the top tier of beauties in Donghai. Moreover, back in her youth, she must have been even more breathtaking and heart-stirring. Could that old con man, utterly devoid of any moral bottom line, really resist a woman that gorgeous and alluring crawling into his bed?

Chu Fei simply didn't believe it.

Could the old con man have some unspeakable physical condition?

A certain possibility immediately crossed Chu Fei's mind.

"What are you thinking about? Feeling pretty shocked, are you?" Uncle Xiao the Second asked with a smile.

"Yeah, quite shocked. I never expected the old con man to be so fierce back in the day, actually having Aunt Qin throw herself at him," Chu Fei said with an awkward smile, phrasing it as euphemistically as possible.

"Throwing herself at him? Do you want to say that even with all that, your old man managed to hold back, and wonder if he's even a man?" Uncle Xiao the Second pierced straight through Chu Fei's polite lie with a single sentence.

"Uh—" Chu Fei grew slightly awkward. He realized that Uncle Xiao the Second was exceptionally astute, with eyes far sharper than average, capable of seeing straight through his thoughts in a single glance. It gave him the exact same feeling he got when facing the old con man—he was often seen right through by him as well.

Truly, none of these people were ordinary mortals.

Chu Fei clicked his tongue inwardly. Originally, upon hearing Uncle Xiao the Second's moniker "Mad Dog," coupled with his performance at the birthday banquet, he had briefly assumed this was an unbridled, simple-minded brute. But now, that assessment was thoroughly overturned. Uncle Xiao the Second might indeed be a mad dog, but he was unquestionably a deep-thinking, ruthless powerhouse.

"Sigh, actually, you've really misunderstood your old man. The crux of the matter is that your mother was simply too extraordinary. Whoever possessed your mother would probably lose all interest in any other woman under the heavens," Uncle Xiao the Second sighed once more, even more intensely than before, a look of reminiscence washing over his face.

"Is that so? My mother was very pretty?" Chu Fei asked after a moment of hesitation. This was the first time he had ever asked about his mother. He had wanted to ask Xie Yuqin earlier, but hadn't found the opportunity; now, he finally had a chance with Uncle Xiao the Second.

"Pretty? Of course she was pretty—no, not just pretty—"

Uncle Xiao the Second shook his head in frustration at his own choice of words, then gave a bitter smile. "How should I put it? Your mother transcended the category of mere prettiness; it wasn't something beauty could describe. Let me put it this way: she was holy, yet enchantingly seductive. You could call her a peerless beauty capable of felling cities and kingdoms, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration at all. By the same token, you could call her a femme fatale who brings ruin to the country and bewitches all living beings. In short, any man under the sun who laid eyes on her would be hopelessly captivated. Kid, you weren't around to see how many of Huaxia's top young scions gathered on the streets of Donghai back then just for a glimpse of your mother, just to be able to say a single word to her... The Donghai of that period was truly a gathering place for the nation's elite young masters..."

Chu Fei was already dumbfounded. This time, he was genuinely frightened—frightened by Uncle Xiao the Second's words. Praising his mother for being good-looking was something he could understand, and calling her a peerless beauty capable of toppling kingdoms was something he could barely accept. But for Uncle Xiao the Second to claim that the nation's top young scions had flocked to Donghai en masse just for that? That was simply too exaggerated! And all just to see his mother and exchange a single word with her?

Could it possibly be any more far-fetched?

"Kid? You don't believe it?" Uncle Xiao the Second asked, noting the expression on Chu Fei's face.

"Uh, it's not that I don't believe it, it's just... don't you think Second Uncle is exaggerating a bit?" Chu Fei said with a twitch of his mouth.

"Exaggerating? Haha, if you had experienced that era firsthand, you wouldn't be saying things like that. The sensation your mother caused back then was far more sensational than what I'm describing; it's just that I'm not a man of many words and don't know how to express it properly," Uncle Xiao the Second shook his head and laughed heartily.

Chu Fei curled his lip in silent disdain. If this counted as not being a man of many words, he could practically go write web novels.

"Forget it, why am I telling you all this? Judging by that expression of yours, the boss seemingly never told you any of this before," Uncle Xiao the Second shot Chu Fei a meaningful look, but didn't pry further. He continued, "Since he didn't talk about it, I won't run my mouth either, lest your old man gets angry and comes to discipline me."

Chu Fei had just been about to press for more details about his mother, but hearing Uncle Xiao the Second say this, he knew that asking further would be pointless as Uncle Xiao obediently shut his mouth.

"Right, that girl Qin came looking for you to get the boss's contact info. Did you give it to her?" Uncle Xiao the Second asked abruptly.

"I've been agonizing over it, afraid that giving it to her would disrupt Aunt Qin and Uncle Fu's lives," Chu Fei said with a headache. If Uncle Xiao the Second hadn't called him out for this meeting, he still wouldn't have known how to handle it.

"You, you're overthinking things."

A trace of heartache surfaced on Uncle Xiao the Second's face. "Since she asked for it, just give it to her. Back then, when your old man left without telling a soul, girl Qin practically went mad. She knew I had a good relationship with your old man, so she came and blockaded the gates of my Xiao residence for a full half-month, scaring me so much I didn't dare step outside. I heard later that she even attempted suicide twice, only being saved because she was discovered in time—she almost perished. I witnessed her madness back then with my own eyes. It's just a pity that none of us brothers knew where the boss had gone either, so there was no way to tell her."

Chu Fei was deeply shocked by Uncle Xiao the Second's words, but another question quickly came to mind. He asked, "But Second Uncle, you should have known the old con man's whereabouts long ago, right? Didn't she come and ask you?"

"No!"

Uncle Xiao the Second shook his head, casting a meaningful glance at Chu Fei. "For the first few years, none of us really knew the boss's whereabouts. Later on, even though we found out, by that time she had already married that kid Fu Pengsheng and had the girl Ziqing. I suppose her heart had grown calmer, or perhaps she forced herself to stop remembering the past, which is why she never came looking for me. However, it's not like she never saw your father again. When Ziqing was three years old and the Fu family faced a massive catastrophe, the boss appeared out of thin air, averting a disaster for the Fu family. Not only did he save the girl Ziqing, but he also created the opportunity for the Fu family's rise. But ever since then, your father vanished into thin air again without a trace, and it's only in recent years that we got news of him once more..."

"Is that so?" Chu Fei nodded, though many doubts lingered in his mind. Seeing that Uncle Xiao the Second didn't seem inclined to explain any further, he knew better than to pursue it.

"I think girl Qin has deliberately tried to push thoughts of your father out of her mind over the years. She doesn't even look us straight in the eye when she runs into us. If you hadn't suddenly appeared, she probably would have forced herself to keep forgetting forever..."

Uncle Xiao the Second gave Chu Fei a complicated look and added, "As for your worries about her relationship with Fu Pengsheng, there's completely no need for that. Fu Pengsheng's obsession with your mother back then was not a shred less than girl Qin's obsession with your father. He was one of the most powerful competitors your father faced back then, it's just that he ultimately lost out to your father as well."