The Tycoon Inheritance

When the door was closed shut upon the old couple's departure, the somewhat loving atmosphere between Chi Rulan and Shang Ming disappeared. The two separated and lapsed into a weird silence.

Chi Rulan was tired from the long drive and thinking of a way forward with this new attachment to his side. Releasing a heavy sigh, he placed Shang Ming's suitcase on the bed and pointed out the bathroom door.

"I'll sleep on the sofa. It's a Murphy bed. Are you hungry?" he asked. His attention was on setting up his bed and putting away his things in the closet.

Shang Ming gave a quiet response of 'no' and pulled out packaged cakes and bread along with two fruit drinks from her handbag.

"Okay. I'll be back." Chi Rulan left the room without taking an extra look at her. He was too immersed in his thoughts to notice Shang Ming's uneasy expression.

Entering the kitchen, he quickly went to the fridge to get some possible leftovers from his parents' dinner but was a bit surprised to see the fully stocked shelves with one or two marinating containers. There was also a transparent sectional container with cold cuts.

He didn't like cold cuts. Chen Kai did.

Newly stocked vegetables and fruit, miscellaneous drinks, and condiments filled the shelves, all showing that they planned heavily for Chen Kai's visit.

Slamming the door shut, he moved to the dry goods pantry, where he found the mixture of processed foods everyone liked. His mood settled a bit when he saw his favorite ramen bowl.

Looking at the countdown of numbers on the microwave, Chi Rulan cursed himself for being affected by that kid. He thought with the years away from home and no contact with that kid, his disdain of Chen Kai will lessen. To know his parents are so welcoming for a bastard's visit ate him up inside. Plagued with his present troubles, the thought of seeing that kid again, placed him in a foul mood.

'Maybe knowing he's in a sorry state after graduating will put me in a better mood.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you."

Back at the hotel the next morning, Chen Kai received the breakfast he ordered before rousing Su Lian awake.

Their first night in the same bed was a bit awkward at first but they relaxed after falling back to their idle teasing of each other.

Chen Kai was the first to wake. He found himself in a delightful position with Su Lian practically plastered against his body stuck in her sweet dreams. She was using him as her personal body pillow.

It was tough in getting her to let go but it felt good that she was trusting to sleep that easily next to him.

Checking the time, he returned to the master bedroom only to find the restless sleeper with her head under a pillow and the blanket covering half of her body.

Approaching the bed, he boldly touched her exposed ankles and trailed them upward. Her fair skin was smooth to the touch, and her bent leg was fully exposed, leaving him to uncover her waist and her pert butt.

He climbed onto the bed and covered her with his body, careful not to put his full weight on her. The morning light was creeping into the bedroom, brightening her features and setting her red hair on an illusionary flame. Gathering her into his arms and wrapping his legs around hers, he quietly called out to her with a kiss on every pause.

"No. Morning breath," she mumbled through her last remnant of sleep, trying to hide her lips.

"There's none. If there was, I wouldn't care." His laugh tickled her ears, warming her neck at a quick rate, adding to the warmth she felt being held by him. "Breakfast is here," he added. Patting her on her butt, he untangled himself from her and slid off the bed.

Still, in her sleepy mode, Su Lian sat up and watched him move about the room. "What time is it?" she muttered under her breath and searched for her phone.

"7.30. Do you want to eat in bed or outside?"

"Outside."

He helped her with her robe and tamed her bedhead with a few strokes of his fingers through her hair. Su Lian didn't protest to his pampering, she loved the attention he gave to her. All of his small actions and his unwavering affection solidify her trust in him.

After last night, their intimacy level has risen, this was one of the minor hurdles they had to face after going into this 'friends to lovers' relationship.

Following his lead to the dining room, he threw out a suggestion of leaving for the reunion from his adoptive parents' house. As usual, she agreed without hesitation. How can she not see that Chen Kai placed this visit above a high school gathering? The pleased smile on his face reflected her quiet observation.

"I recognized them as my parents but never thought of getting too close to the point that they would officially adopt me. I understood their care for me and my position in this town. I also didn't want to upset their son." Chen Kai gave Su Lian a deeper look into his childhood. Over the four years, he only told her things one can see on the surface – possibly orphaned, self-reliant, and low-key.

It was his personality and his mutual liking for her that kept her attached to him over the years.

"Their son?"

"Brother Chi Rulan is three years my senior. Auntie began to care for me during my middle school years. He didn't accept his mother's kindness towards me. Auntie didn't understand at first and thought he was being selfish in sharing his mother's attention because he was an only child. It wasn't though. He was being stigmatized at school because of me."

Su Lian frowned at his words. He chuckled and enlightened her. His little wife was sometimes oblivious to how cruel one's peers can be. "I was… am… the town's bastard and my mother placed a green hat on one of their town's once prospective bachelor."

"…. Sins of the mother," she murmured not wanting to upset him.

"Yes." Chen Kai wasn't upset. He vaguely understood why his mother put herself in that position. A mother's love knows no bounds.

"When Auntie found out, what did she do?"

"I'm not too sure. When it was figured out, she simply told me not to be bothered by nonsensical things. Maybe she spoke to Brother Rulan but what can she do against teenagers."

"Well he's grown now, maybe his thinking has changed," she offered.

Chen Kai shrugged at her comment. "I don't have an obligation to form a brotherly bond with him. The most I can do is be polite and respectful, after all, it is his parents I call Auntie and uncle."

"You're right." She was thinking of her upcoming 'in-law' visit; she wanted to impress the couple, letting them know that she's not one to ill-treat the child they have in their heart. She understood how much they loved Chen Kai from the way he spoke about them. It made her a bit envious and hopeful that she could be treated the same but brushed those feelings away.

"Oh. It turns out that Brother Rulan came to visit with his new girlfriend. They surprised Auntie and Uncle last night." The tone was simple with no fluctuation of emotions. He read the text from Lan Yueran and relayed it all to Su Lian.

"I guess it's two unwanted reunions for you today. Fighting!." She teased.

He playfully pinched her cheeks and chased her away so they could leave for the day.

~~~~~~~~~~

Shang Ming found herself sitting in the family entertainment room, watching a C-drama re-run with Lan Yueran.

From the awkward breakfast till now, she was at a loss as to what to say to her future mother-in-law and how to act. There were polite questions asked from the woman which Shang Ming floundered to answer. That's how she knew this woman was wary of her and her son.

To be honest, she wanted to lay everything on the table for the couple but Chi Rulan was the one holding her back. Her confidence came from her observation. The couple was easygoing and open-minded.

If their son encountered a setback, she was sure they would support him wholly.

Shang Ming was regretting that night even more.

She stifled her irritated sigh and looked at the family photos placed around the room. Most of them held Chi Rulan from young to adult, but another young man probably appeared with the couple at the age of nine or ten. It was clear that the child wasn't blood-related as Chi Rulan was a mirror image of his father – ruggedly handsome with a tall stature.

The child was pretty.

Yes, that's the word that came to mind when she saw the kid. A pretty little boy. There were four other framed photos of the child at different ages. The last was of him as a high school graduate. The young man was gorgeous, is this the Chen Kai the couple spoke of last night?

Lan Yueran happens to spot Shang Ming staring at the photo. "He's our unofficial adopted son. Chen Kai. A sweet soul who grew too quickly in our eyes. You will meet him in a few minutes."

"Oh. Um. Okay. Sorry, I didn't mean to stare," Shang Ming stuttered. It was embarrassing and disrespectful to stare at another man so intently when the one she was tied to was his brother.

"What can I say, our Kai is mesmerizing, isn't he?"

Shang Ming caught herself blushing and wanting to move from this topic. Lan Yueran wasn't one to tease the young in such a manner. Glancing at her phone, she got up from her seat with an exuberant look on her face.

"Child, go wake Xiao Lan. Little Kai is close by."

Hearing the urgency in her words, Shang Ming rushed to the stairs to deliver the message. "Careful, child. Take it easy on the stairs," Lan Yueran called out.

"Yes, ma'am. I will."

If Shang Ming hadn't been too influenced by the vibrant energy, she would have heard the knowing tone in Lan Yueran's voice.

Turning off the main road and onto one of the many connected streets, a grey Maserati SUV smoothly maneuvered its way to its destination. In the co-pilot street, Su Lian looked out the window taking in the neighborhood her lover grew up in.

He pointed out his childhood home which was now occupied by a new family. There was no attachment to that place, at all. He didn't mention any special places, as there were none; he kept to himself most of the time. There were no friends to hang out with so he entertained himself. It may be a pitiful childhood but Chen Kai didn't seem bothered by it.

"Just around the corner," he murmured, turning onto a wide street with various homes with different designs.

"Uncle was lucky to get buy his house and land at a good price. He said the neighborhood was considered a wasteland to developers in those years so the value was low. The house was a two-bedroom flat but he did additional renovations to add on one more level. When he met Auntie, the house was three-quarters into completion. She didn't mind and saw his plans for a stable future.

She had her budding business and didn't mind helping out. They planned for a midsize family. Having two to three kids was their plan but the world had a different plan for them."

"Their story sounds like a very realistic romance article," Su Lian said with an appreciative sigh.

"Oh? So if our story is told, how would you describe it?" he asked curiously.

"Dreamy."

"Dreamy?"

"Yup. Think about it – we were friends who silently cared for each other but mutually stayed apart until the right time due to outside influences. You inherited millions and still decided to choose me as your woman. I'm possibly living a modern fairy tale at the moment."

Chen Kai reached the house and parked alongside the wall of the property. There was a car already there which made him take the spot after the front gate.

"A modern fairy tale. That seems about right." They were both leaning on the center console as they spoke. He simply had to turn his head slightly to the right, to kiss her.

"Behave," she mumbled but the blush was on her face.

"Its hard to do so when I'm around you."

In the rearview camera that's displayed on the dashboard, the two saw a middle-aged woman exiting the gate curiously looking around.

Knowing who the woman was looking for, Chen Kai quickly got out of the car and called out to her. The look of surprise and sincere joy were etched on her face.

"Oh my! You've grown so much. Look at you. I can only meet your shoulder. Nanjing has been good to you otherwise." Her ramblings were filled with scoldings and praise in her natural motherly way.

What can he say? The toothy smile on his face didn't fade at all even when he took her into a bear hug.

"I'm home, Auntie." He felt his nose get sour and his eyes tear up as he hugged Lan Yueran. The concealed love the previous soul had for the lady has now tethered itself to the new soul allowing Chen Kai to feel genuine affection towards the couple. He didn't mind as he missed being hugged by his birth mother.

This will do.

"Our little Kai has returned."

[Notice: Host has acquired 100% assimilation of present body……