Mr. Chen’s eyes softened at the sight of him, and a warm smile appeared on his face. “Hello Hui Lang. Hui Ye doesn’t usually talk about you, but when he has, he has only spoken good things.”
The breath he held inside escaped in a second. His body slightly drooped, but he smiled effortlessly. “I’m glad. Welcome to our home, Mr. Chen.”
“So polite,” Mr. Chen chuckled and slipped out of his jacket. “Am I the last one?”
“You aren’t late,” Aiden’s stepmother reassured.
“Then let us proceed.” Mr. Chen turned toward Aiden. “Hui Lang. I know this is your first meeting with the rest of the family heads, but please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions if you get confused.”
The sweatiness against Aiden’s palms evaporated. With a slight nod, he followed Mr. Chen to take his place in a seat around a round table. Mr. Zhou and Mr. Yang sat next to each other but apart, while Mr. Chen sat across from Mr. Zhou.
Aiden chose to sit next to Mr. Chen, across from Mr. Yang, while his stepmother lingered in the back of the dining room.
Mr. Chen took a sip of tea. “The chemical company is doing its job well. No one questions the formulas, and anyone who does has been taken care of.”
“I suppose these sorts of things take time.” Mr. Yang yawned and leaned back in his chair. “How long will it take?”
“It could take several months even with our ownership of other companies for our formulas to get popular.”
“The more important thing is to get it selling on the street,” Mr. Zhou interrupted. He interlocked his hands and stared a hole through Mr. Chen. “There is no point in just earning money through a corporation. We will be missing out on profits without the idiots hoping to make an easy buck through our products. It’s not as if the lesser quality in the formula will be noticed until years later.”
Aiden’s eyes widened in horror as the discussion continued. Desperately, he glanced back at his stepmother, who angrily motioned him to face forward when they made eye contact.I can’t—I don’t. I won’t listen to this. I can’t be a part of this. I—this is.His thoughts shambled. His knees crashed into each other, yet even still, he remained frozen in his chair.Ge was involved in this. Ge was okay doing this. How could he do something so cruel?
“Xiao Hui,” Mr. Yang sang across the table.
Aiden snapped his head up with his eyes still wide.
“Can you let us know if the sale will go through?”
“Wh-what sale?” Aiden’s voice came out in only a whisper.
“Your brother promised to sell the land to us. It was on paper at an inflated price, but that was just to keep other folks from buying and developing it. Surely you know about that. We’d like the sale to proceed, you know? There’s business to be made with that piece of land.”
“I…don’t know,” Aiden said. His scrambled thoughts continued to remain broken. “What were you guys going to do with the land?”
“Real estate obviously.”
“I…don’t think I can do anything when the will hasn’t even yet been executed.”
The room fell to silence.
What did I say? Was that inaccurate?Aiden’s heart pounded his eardrums with increasing alarm.
Mr. Zhou’s face darkened. “You don’t know Hui Ye’s businesses, do you?”
“My brother never talked about his businesses with me—”
“Are you stupid?” Mr. Zhou reached into his breast pocket, grabbed a cigarette, and lit it. “It’s not Hui Ye’s responsibility to tell you. It’s your responsibility to ask.”
“I…”
“Wow. You never even asked?” Mr. Yang leaned forward with a head tilt. “Not once?”
“I.”
“You didn’t even want to help him?”
“No, I.”
