Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“Where are you going?” Avril asked as she clung onto Xia Fei’s arm tightly.
Xia Fei smiled, extending his hand to caress Avril’s golden hair. “Your father and your second uncle want to have a chat with me; it’ll only be a minute.”
Pang Xing quickly turned his focus somewhere else, trying his best not to pay attention to this display of affection between Xia Fei and Avril. Having watched over Avril as she grew up, he naturally had a special connection to her, but in this intergalactic society, if Avril chose to marry someone miniscule like Xia Fei as opposed to someone belonging to another big corporation, it would cause irreparable damage to Starlink Corporation, yet he and his father still hoped for Avril’s happiness. The two conflicting emotions were entangled with each other, placing him between a rock and a hard place, unsure of what to do.
“You can’t go.” Avril held even tighter onto Xia Fei when she heard that her father was looking to speak with him.
“My second uncle is alright, but my dad is strongly opposed to us being together. He’s the reason you couldn’t reach me. Just ignore them.” Avril huffed angrily, evidently still have not forgiven her father.
Xia Fei pinched Avril’s soft cheek. “Don’t worry; I’ll be back in a jiffy. At the end of the day, he is still your father.”
Avril reluctantly let go of Xia Fei, then he followed Pang Xing out of the pavilion. They walked along a winding path for ten or so minutes to arrive at some artificial rockery where two, middle-aged men were already waiting. There was even an incredibly cool black hovercar parked at the side.
There was a table laden with fruits and tea, and two chairs were next to it behind the rocks. One of the men seated at the table had his eyes trained on Xia Fei.
He had a stern face, a rigid and square jawline, as well as piercing eyes. Although he was not tall, he had broad shoulders. He gave off a trustworthy vibe. His grey suit was not anything flashy, and overall, he looked like the classic, successful businessman.
The other middle-aged man was missing the lower half of his body and sat in a floating wheelchair before the table. He was dressed more casually and had a smile on his face as he looked at Xia Fei.
“I’m Newman, Avril’s father. This is my brother, her second uncle, Barty,” the middle-aged man introduced.
Barty, who was in the wheelchair, gave Xia Fei a gentle nod as a greeting.
Avril’s second uncle was not that bad, but her father was a bit stiff, even his greetings were incredibly serious.
“I’m Xia Fei; nice to meet both of you,” Xia Fei responded politely.
“Have a seat.” Avril’s father pointed to a chair, inviting him to sit down and have a chat with them. Pang Xing nodded at the host before taking his leave, evidently today’s discussion was not suitable to have anyone listening in.
Xia Fei pulled over the chair and sat down before asking as he lit a cigarette, “What can I help you with?”
Newman poured a cup of tea for Xia Fei. “If it hadn’t been for you, Avril might’ve ended up in the hands of those people. We, brothers, have invited you here today to thank you for saving Avril.”
“Thank you.” Newman and Barty humbly bowed at Xia Fei.
Xia Fei took a sip of tea, then he replied, “Avril and I are friends; I’m just doing what I should be doing, so you don’t need to be so polite. By the way, has the one behind it been captured?”
Newman shook his head sadly. “Unfortunately, though the capital police have given it their all, they haven’t had any luck in finding the one behind the kidnapping attempt. The Jian family has never done anything shady, so whoever that person who tried to abduct my daughter, they’re simply unforgivable.”
Barty patted Newman on the shoulder consolingly. “Brother, don’t jump to conclusions so fast. It’s the capital; nothing will ever happen to Avril again with this many security personnel and police guarding the area.”
Xia Fei hesitated for a few moments before telling his analysis to Avril’s father and second uncle. Newman then said, “We, at Starlink Corporation, have the monopoly of the entire internet in the Alliance, so we obviously have competitors, but nobody stands a chance against us. Our family has been in the interplanetary internet business for so long; our success is definitely not something that happened overnight. If not for our interplanetary internet, the communication system in the entire Alliance would be difficult.”
Xia Fei nodded. “I know the place the interplanetary internet has within the Alliance, but your enemies may not be feuding with you over business. Considering how large Starlink Corporation is, you must have some other businesses, right?”
Newman was shocked. Xia Fei was correct; Starlink Corporation was massive, so of course it had many other businesses outside of the main one, such as mining, machinery, even military, and more—just that they were not as influential as the interplanetary internet. Any conflict might have risen from any of these other businesses of theirs.
He decided in his heart that he would look through all his businesses in detail once he got back.
Newman nodded in agreement with Xia Fei’s hypothesis but did not continue the topic. The latter was an outsider, after all, so it was normal that the former would not want to talk to him about the sensitive matters of his company. He completely skipped Xia Fei’s other hypothesis that it was someone from the family as it was a familial matter and it was not up to an outsider like Xia Fei to comment.
Xia Fei merely narrowed his eyes and smiled. He knew that Newman did not invite him here just to talk about catching the killer, so he must have something else in mind.
Sure enough, Newman and Barty exchanged glances. Barty did not seem to care, but Newman appeared exceedingly resolute.
They turned around and looked at Xia Fei. Newman said seriously, “Xia Fei, everybody in the Jian family is incredibly thankful that you saved Avril, but do you know that you’re not the same as Avril? She is the first in line to the Jian family fortune and has a lot of responsibility on her shoulders.”
Xia Fei shook his head. “I didn’t know, but I do now.”
Newman might look serious and upright, but he was still a businessman who possessed an astuteness well beyond an ordinary man. He said just enough, leaving the rest of it for Xia Fei to consider.
Xia Fei clearly understood his meaning; the middle-aged man was reminding him not to get too close to Avril. As for the reason, it was one that everybody knew.
Xia Fei pretended not to understand. “Indeed, there are many eyes on Avril; her safety should be an even higher priority, so hopefully, kidnappings like this won’t happen again in the future.”
Newman locked his eyebrows. He now had doubts in his mind. From the information he had gathered, Xia Fei shouldn’t be a dunce; everything he had done throughout the years could be described as astute. He could not have failed to understand his meaning; so could he just be giving the expected response facetiously?
Barty let out a gentle smile as though he did not care if Avril and Xia Fei got together. Xia Fei became suspicious because of this, and he started to observe each expression Barty made.
“Basically, the Jian family has to thank you for saving Avril no matter what, or else would have been the butt of jokes in the high society. I’ve prepared a gift for you; I’ll get someone to deliver it to you once you leave the capital.” Newman expressed his thoughts in another way.
The words had two meanings to them; first, he was telling Xia Fei that they belonged to the higher society—a completely different social status from his. Second, he was telling Xia Fei that there were benefits to be gained if he left Avril.
Xia Fei smiled bitterly as he shook his head, thinking, ‘Just a businessman doing business; must he take such a roundabout way to convey this? Doesn’t he get tired of that?’
Xia Fei stood up and shook hands with Newman and Barty. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll bid you two elders farewell; Avril is still waiting for me in the pavilion by the lake.”
Barty smiled and waved at Xia Fei. “Oh, then do hurry back; don’t let my niece wait too long. The lassie has been spoiled by us, so she has quite the temper.”
Newman stood up and sighed. “Xia Fei, I hope you’ll seriously consider what I said.”
Xia Fei smiled. “There’s nothing to consider. Saving Avril was something I did out of my own will. You can forgo the gift, too, if I accept it, my peers would think that I did it for money.”
These were incredible words, declining Newmans plea yet maintaining each other’s face, not putting the Jian family in a sticky situation.
After saying that Xia Fei turned around and went back, not even glancing back once.
Newman sighed before returning to his seat, appearing incredibly sad. “Do you think that he’ll accept it if I give an even bigger offer?”
Barty shook his head. “I think he’s quite resolute; he wouldn’t accept it even if he were offered a mountain of gold.”
Newman was left speechless. He did not hate Xia Fei. The latter risked his life on the line to save his daughter, after all—something that not everyone could do. It was just that his conservative mind believed that someone like Xia Fei was unfit for his daughter. He was convinced that this was all an impulsive decision and that Avril would surely regret it once she got older. As a father, he must stop all this from happening.
At this moment, Barty suddenly laughed, muttering, “I think anyone else in his position then wouldn’t give, too. Is there a bigger mountain of gold in the world than Avril? Xia Fei’s a smart kid; of course, he knows the path that will lead to the most benefits.”
Back in the pavilion, Avril propped her chin on her hands, feeling bored out of her mind as she waited for Xia Fei’s return. She could not help but be worried that her father and uncle had said something to anger him, and Avril’s already smittened heart feared that Xia Fei would leave her again. Past actions clearly indicated that Xia Fei was someone who would disappear at any time.
Avril was not worried about her second uncle as the latter was not in charge of the company due to his missing two legs. He spent his days living in luxury, traveling and playing, leading a life that was less rigid than her uptight father.
She rarely had the opportunity to leave the house, so chatting with Xia Fei through the interplanetary internet, as well as listening to her second uncle about the world outside, had been her greatest sources of joy. To her, the two of them treated her extremely well, so she liked hanging out with her second uncle and Xia Fei.
On the other hand, the word ‘father’ was a blur in her memory. Because of his busy work, Newman left caring for Avril in the hands of Pang Hai. Although he was the one providing her with food, warmth, and a roof over her head, material objects were not enough for a child’s development.
Xia Fei followed the quiet path back, while Avril was imagining all sorts of things.
“Do you think Avril’s second uncle is a bit weird?” asked Xia Fei.
“Why do you say that?” Phantom was confused.
Xia Fei went quiet for a few moments before muttering, “Hopefully, I’m wrong.”