"Old man. Sign my document before we talk about anything else." Bai Li needed to get his ducks in a row. "It seems like I have been going too easy on you."

 

Julian's head was whipping back and forth between them. He kept opening and closing his mouth. 

 

"Have you?" Bai Tao drummed his finger against the arm of the chair. "My son really is the best."

 

"Save it for Bai Fang." Bai Li said. He wasn't making any decision until they had both signed and notarized that document.

 

Jullian squeaked and jumped in his chair. "Tao...Ta...Tao." He stuttered while pointing a finger in Bai Li's direction.

 

Bai Tao shot a look at his friend, silencing him.

 

Interesting. He couldn't help but wonder why Bai Tao had told a person like Julian about Bai Fang. 

 

Bai Tao uncrossed his legs. "Why are you so adamant about giving up your rights to Wen Shi. You are the rightful heir."

 

Julian made an undignified squeak. 

 

Those words sent panic and shivers down his spine. No way. He did that in his last life. It was a waste of time. Even with the support of his father, he didn’t want to do it again in this life. He was determined to work smarter, not harder.

 

He did have a list of reasons that he could talk about. Yet, they would come across as childish. It was a good thing that he was a child. 

 

"One, it is too much work. Two, he might not want it now, but Bai Fang might want it later. Three, Ping An would kill me. Four, there is no reason for it to be me. Five, I don't want to do it. Six, there are a million people who don't want me to do it. Seven, the work and risk needed isn’t worth the benefits I would get."

 

"Are you planning to become a rich third generation?" Julian had a knack for talking when it would be best if he stayed quiet.

 

"Why? Jealous." Bai Li taunted. 

 

The doctor's face turned a mottled shade of red. Again, he wondered where his father found this adorable friend.

 

He looked back at his father. He was sure Bai Tao knew those weren’t his only reasons. It was clear in documents he gave his father that he wasn’t planning to sponge off of his family’s acquired wealth.

 

There was a seedy smile on Bai Tao’s face. "I wonder if I should bring your grandfather involved in this."

 

Bai Li flinched. He really should have gotten that document signed first. This is what he got for making assumptions. 

 

He couldn't afford to get Ping Zen involved. He couldn't even afford to let Ping Zen catch a whiff of this.

 

Why did he have to go back in time? 

 

Couldn't have been reincarnated or something? He didn’t mind the risk. If he was reborn poor, he could make money. If he was reborn as a girl, he would die alone or marry a guy. He would let his husband take care of things. Bai Li would make his money under the quiet.

 

"What are you, and aren't you willing to compromise on?" He asked. Walking, he sat opposite his father. 

 

Why wasn't he mad about this? 

 

Bai Tao smiled. "I don’t give a crap about whether you want Wen Shi or not. Still, you shouldn't be so quick to sign away your rights. The money you want is negotiable. Your living situation is negotiable. Your school is negotiable as long as you choose between S or A school. I will leave all decisions about your life and businesses up to you. On the premise that you discuss them with me first. Naturally, anything that you can keep hidden you have the right to do, but if you get caught, this father of yours will get creative with his punishments." He sounded far too happy saying all that.

 

Bai Li slumped in his chair. He'd been played. He realized it now. His father never planned to let him go to boarding school. From the day they had their first meeting in his office. His father had been working out how to get him to stay.”.

 

Shitty old man.  

 

There was little to no difference between A and S schools. Scholastic, they were the same. It was the children attending where the difference showed. 

 

S school had a long history, as such attracted students from more prominent families. 

 

Whereas A school focused less on tradition and more on the family’s current abilities.

 

Either way, both churned out political leaders and heads of industries. Attending either, as an heir to Wen Shi was asking for trouble.

Between S and A school, he would choose A. He was not ignorant to the reason his father picked that school. Bai Tao probably thought he was going to set out on his own. He would need to develop connections to run his business.

 

That wasn’t in his plans. He would either start companies and sell them after they became profitable. Or take a back seat hiring other people to do the day-to-day running of his companies.

 

He had no desire to show his capabilities. If he could, he would never show up in front of that crowd again.

 

He appreciated the consideration, but it was misplaced. How could he get his father to see this without showing his hand?

 

Wait.

 

Something wasn’t right. 

 

His father planned to send him to boarding school. He probably didn’t plan to let him go there for long, but he planned to send him. 

 

His father had been taking small steps to get closer to him. Never interfering too much. Especially the ultimatum that screamed he would be investigating his actions. 

 

Why change now? 

 

It couldn’t simply be because of Ping An poisoning him. What could they have talked about that made his father bring up this matter now? 

 

He looked at the files on Julian’s desk. Something in those made his father impatient. 

 

Ping An couldn’t act in C school, but Ping Zen could. Ping Zen…

 

He sat up straighter and looked over at his father.

 

Would Ping An be that daring? Was it even possible?

 

Wen Shi and Bai Tao. Those two things were inseparable in Ping An’s mind. For his mother and father’s relationship to work, Wen Shi was the biggest tool his mother had. 

 

Who stood in the way the most of what she needed to get what she wanted. It was her own father.

 

His grandfather was sick during this period. During the corresponding time in his last life, his grandfather had gone to recuperate. She poisoned her husband and her children. Would she draw the line at her father?

 

Bai Li thought about the words his father said. 

 

Rights to Wen Shi?

 

Did Ping Zen really acknowledge the illegitimate Bai Fang this early? 

 

Ping Zen doted on his daughter. Even if Bai Li was a disappointment, there was still Bai Wei. His father would have connected Ping Zen to get Bai Wei checked. It stood to reason that his grandfather would also check himself. 

 

Ping Zen was cautious and would get checkups regularly. It would have to be a fast-acting poison.

 

His father spoke as if Ping Zen would eventually find out. No, it was as if Ping Zen knew something now. It was more telling him to prepare, more than threatening him. 

 

Wasn’t this his mother’s Modus Operandi? Borrowing a blade to end a life. Bai Li had messed with his mother’s plans, but he also gave her an opportunity.

 

In his last life, Ping Zen became guarded against Ping An. His grandfather used Bai Fang to balance the scales. That meant he didn’t have proof. 

 

“What did Ping An make Bai Wei do?” His voice was low.

 

Both men looked at him with shock in their eyes. 

 

It seemed he got it right. 

 

Bai Li focused on Julian Simmonds. He never met this man in his last life, but he was not a simple doctor. The Bai family drama was playing out in front of him, and he seemed privy to most of the information anyway.

 

“Did you know this was happening?” Julian asked. He had a look of censure in his eyes.

 

He raised an eyebrow, and the doctor shrunk back. “I can’t trust her. Maybe it is because I don’t have any left, but her innocence terrifies me. I can’t tell if she is acting.” This was a partial truth.

 

“She is young.” Julian protested loudly. “She doesn’t know any better.” 

 

“That is why it is more terrifying. It would be what she was taught. She wouldn’t know that wasn’t how she should behave and what was wrong with what she was doing.” Bai Li remembered the way his sister smiled and dipped her head when she wanted something.

 

Stroking the chair arm, he chose his words carefully. “She is old enough to know what gets her the reactions she wants. Every child is. That is when they cry and act cute.” he looked at his father. “Who does Bai Wei spend the most time crying and acting cute in front of? What does Wei Wei do so that Ping An will call her a good girl and give her a treat?” 

 

There was bitterness in his tone, enough to span two lifetimes. He didn’t allow either of them to talk. “Whose side do you think Bai Wei would have ended up at?”