Utter Defeat

29. All That Glitters Is Not Gold

"Has A'Yang gone?"

Zheng Hao nodded and took his seat back in front of the kitchen table, across from Mrs. Sun. After the breakfast, Xiao Yang went to university and now it was time to hear Mrs. Sun's promised story.

"I don't know where to start," she declared with a nervous smile which Zheng Hao returned.

"From the beginning?" he suggested, swirling his hands around his coffee mug. His smile was understanding and his eyes were amiable.

Exhaling a breath, Mrs. Sun nodded and started to tell her story from the very beginning.

"You know TongYong Plastic as a very successful company, but thirty years ago, it wasn't the case. My father worked day and night; however, he wasn't able to run the company by himself. At the end, he swallowed his pride and asked his best friend for help. This friend was willing to help, but my father wouldn't accept it without giving something in return."

"Was this friend your husband's father?"

Mrs. Sun chuckled silently, "you are indeed smart. Yes, my husband's father, Mr. Sun, was my father's best friend. Poor uncle, in terms of business, he was lucky, but his son was his curse. Sun Liang was a typical rich boy; handsome and spoiled. The girls were coming and going on a daily basis, making uncle embarrassed as well as angry to his very core. As you can guess, a marriage would make both sides happy, so in a month, I married Sun Liang after a detailed contract. According to it, we had to stay married for twenty five years; otherwise, my father's company would be gone and Sun Liang would be disowned, not getting a single yuan from his family wealth."

After that, Mrs. Sun was silent for a while. In order to give her some time, Zheng Hao grabbed the now-empty mugs and took them to the kitchen top to pour some more coffee for himself and tea for her. When he came back to the table, she took a sip from the hot beverage and continued.

"Where was I? Ah, I remembered. Well, you may not believe me, but Sun Liang and I actually got along quite well. While he continued with his spoiled life, I covered for him and endured his temper, and in return, he let me continue working for my father's company as well as leaving the entire household to my hands. We lived that way for a few months, but then our father took a bid together and we had to work with Sun Liang day and night..."

With a subtle idea where it was going, Zheng Hao softly asked "and?"

She smiled instinctively as she reminisced about those days, "maybe because we spent too much time together, we grew on each other. Sun Liang stopped going to clubs and we also started to spend time together at home. Gradually we fell in love and one year later we had A'Yang."

Now, Zheng Hao was confused; the story surely didn't flow as he expected. Still, there should be a breaking point as Mr. Sun was anything but loving towards his family. Trying not to be too intrusive, he chose his words really carefully, "when did everything change?"

Her smile was wiped off from her lips, "maybe it was when uncle died and Sun Liang took his position. Suddenly, he devoted himself fully to his company and his temper came back. Then Xiao Yang had an unfortunate incident with his cousin..."

"I know," Zheng Hao interrupted, "Xiao Yang told me about it."

Mrs. Sun looked at him with surprise, "my son really trusts you," she hummed and continued with the relief of not repeating that damn story again, "after that incident, a cold war broke out at our house. Sun Liang accused A'Yang of being a weakling and grew extremely cold on him, and I became the buffer zone between them. Luckily, Sun Liang was working all day, so it was very rare for them to encounter each other at home. For a few years, I handled the situation, but then, when I was at work, A'Yang declared he was gay and the hell broke loose. I will never forget that day. When I came home, I found A'Yang beaten on the cold floor and Sun Liang was nowhere to be found."

There was a silence after that as both of them drowned in their thoughts. After what seems to be an eternity, Zheng Hao rose to his feet and brought a bottle of Baijiu and two tiny cups to the table. Mrs. Sun looked at the items with shock, but she didn't decline the filled cup offered to her. The unlike duo toasted the cups and guzzled down the bitter content in one go. As their tensed bodies relaxed a bit, Zheng Hao took the word again.

"Why didn't you leave the house with Xiao Yang?"

"I wanted to... but my father's health was bad and Sun Liang threatened me with the contract. Luckily, shortly after what happened, Sun Liang moved to Malaysia for the new headquarter. He used to come only for the holidays and I made sure that Xiao Yang was at my family house when he came. Indeed, at some gatherings, we had to be present as a family, but other than throwing disgusted glances and a few mocking sentences towards him, Sun Liang didn't dare to touch A'Yang again. However, after five good years, he came back and our peaceful days ended again. Fortunately, my father died before his return, thinking we had a loving family... Can I perhaps get another cup?"

Zheng Hao nodded amiably and filled the cups again. Like the first time, they toasted the cups and swallowed the liquor, making a grimace with the bitter taste.

"When Sun Liang returned, he started to pester A'Yang to find a good girl and settle down. No matter how much A'Yang insisted that he was gay, his father was deaf to his voice. Whenever they were both present at home, they fought and sometimes A'Yang got hurt by the things Sun Liang threw at him. I tried everything to stop them, but in the end, the only thing I could do was to convince A'Yang to move into my family house. As if I had no problems at all, by that time, my mother got sick and was admitted to the hospital. While I was attending her, Sun Liang used the opportunity and got A'Yang from the university. He forced him to marry a business partner's girl and they argued again before A'Yang jumped out of the second-floor window to run away."

Hearing those horrible words, Zheng Hao poured another cup and emptied it immediately. My poor baby, you have suffered a lot.

"That day, I realised nothing could be done to mend their relationship, so I had to do something to ensure A'Yang's future. My mother had some hidden shares in the company, so I implored her to give those to A'Yang. Knowing she didn't have much time left in this world, she agreed immediately, but being a traditional woman, she added a condition, stating A'Yang could have the shares only after he got married. At least she didn't add anything on the spouse's gender. After getting the will, I called A'Yang and told him the situation, but he declared he was in love with a senior and wouldn't marry a random girl."

"It is..."

"You. Yes. I tried everything to convince him, but he resisted. By that time, luckily there was a problem with the Indonesian headquarter, so Sun Liang had to go there at least for a year. I wanted to use this opportunity to get you to marry A'Yang, but like my son, you were adamant. Asking... begging... nothing worked on you, and helpless, I had to threaten you."

Looking at her doleful face, Zheng Hao couldn't help but reach for her hand on the table. Squeezing the small hand, he said "I am glad you did that. I was a moron to push away a treasure like Yang Yang. I am also so sorry for my terrible attitude."

Smiling softly with tears in her small eyes, Mrs. Sun trapped his hand between her hands, "thank you, but if A'Yang learns about it, he will never forgive me. Especially with that horrible timing, your father... I mean. He even had to..."

"He even had to...?," Zheng Hao asked with a frown.

"You don't know? The day when Mr. Zheng passed away, A'Yang collapsed and was hospitalised for two days. As he didn't have a father figure in his life, he cherished your father as his own, so he couldn't deal with the news."

Hearing the story, Zheng Hao wanted to cut his tongue for yelling and accusing his poor angel. While he thought bad about him, the poor soul was trying to cope with his own grief. How blind he was! What an asshole he was! He surely didn't deserve such a pure heart. With guilt tugging in his heart, he said "don't worry, Yang Yang won't learn about our deal. Also I swear on my life, I will protect him from everything bad."

In the face of genuine promise, Mrs. Sun smiled, but said "with Sun Liang around, it won't be easy, he will do everything to upset you two."

"We can deal with an old guy," he smiled to ease the tension, "and how long do you need to keep the big luggage at home?"

"One month."

"Then let's make a toast."