Ethan's Quest for Justice Beneath the Surface Chapter 9

The difference between the Shen family and the Gu family is like the difference between businessmen and politicians.

Many days had passed when Ethan Gu approached the Shen family mansion, which covered an area of   more than ten acres and had a garden and a western-style building.

As a big family, because Grandpa Shen is still alive, the four brothers of the Shen family, that is, Ethan Gu's four uncles, did not move out of the old house. They just chose one floor each as their residence in the five-story house with dozens of rooms. The remaining top floor is Grandpa Shen’s study and bedroom, and no one is allowed to go up easily.

Ethan Gu's mother, Shen Rou, was the only daughter of Mr. Shen and the youngest child. Ethan Gu was not that old among his dozen cousins, which led to the fact that every time he came to the Shen residence from the age of fifteen, his experience was similar. He would always be pulled by some people to talk, or meet them by chance. Of course, these conversations and coincidences became less and less as Ethan Gu grew up.

"Master Chen Zhou has arrived?" James, the butler hired from England, stood in front of the door, wearing a white shirt and tailcoat, and bowed politely, "Master is waiting for you upstairs."

Ethan Gu handed the car to the male waiter who came over, and followed James into the house: "How is Grandpa's health?"

"Not bad, but he has some old-age ailments." The butler from England spoke fluent Chinese. He smiled and said, "Mr. Chen Zhou was very happy to hear that Master Chen Zhou was coming. He even went to the study this morning and wrote a calligraphy, which he said he would let you take away later."

"Someone is going to pester me for something." Ethan Gu said with a smile, referring to Jordan Wei. Old Master Wei never liked alcohol, tobacco, flowers, or plants, but he liked to appreciate calligraphy, but he had no talent for it.

During the conversation, the two had already reached the top floor. James took Ethan Gu through the dome living room and gently knocked on the door of the study: "Sir, Master Ethan Gu is here."

"Come in." The old man's voice came from inside.

James took a step back, let Ethan Gu go in, and stood by the door.

The thick, light brown carpet absorbed the sound of footsteps.

When Ethan Gu walked into the study, the old man was wearing reading glasses and reading a psychology book at a desk facing a French window. He did not speak immediately, and even lightened his footsteps, standing by the desk and waiting quietly.

After about ten minutes, the old man finished reading a paragraph, took off his glasses and stood up.

"Grandpa." Ethan Gu took a step forward.

The old man waved his hand: "Come with me to the garden for a walk." He turned sideways as he spoke, and the light from the French windows slanted across his face, illuminating the age spots on his cheeks and his graying hair combed back. He walked out with his hands behind his back, his body a little hunched, but he didn't let Ethan Gu come forward to support him.

James, who stayed outside, obviously heard what the old man had just said and had already gone down to prepare.

At nine o'clock in the morning, everyone in the old house had either left or was still asleep. The maids busy in the hall on the first floor had all been strictly trained, and although they moved frequently, they did not make much noise.

They came to the garden behind the old house, which was almost a small garden: the garden was so endless that it was covered with grass, with low shrubs planted in the middle, and along the edge of the wall was a row of straight and lush sycamore trees with blooming flowers. When they walked to the end of the sycamore trees, the lake was shimmering, and the weeping willows on the shore swayed in the breeze, and the slender leaves fell on the lake surface, causing a circle of shallow ripples. Suddenly, a breeze blew, and the mirror-like lake water rippled layer by layer, startling the water birds that stopped on the shore.

"Someone came to see you again a few days ago." Mr. Shen came to the lakeside. The parasols and tables and chairs for people to rest were already set up, and snacks and tea were also ready. But the old man obviously had no intention of sitting down. He walked slowly along the long lakeshore, "Do you have any ideas?"

"Mom must be very happy." said Ethan Gu.

"If you still don't want to say it, I won't force you," Mr. Shen said with narrowed eyes, "Over the years, you have seen clearly that they want more than just what I have in my hand."

"I was just about to tell you, Grandpa, that I plan to use part of the inheritance left by mom to establish a social welfare fund. This might make mom happier." Ethan Gu said.

The old man paused for a moment: "Is this a question or a notification?"

"Yes, it's a notice, grandpa." Ethan Gu was still respectful, but there was no hesitation in his tone.

They continued walking and slowly came to a tall banyan tree.

The banyan tree has strong roots that are deeply rooted in the soil beneath its feet. Its arms stretched out to the sky are sturdy and strong. The leaves on its crown are stacked and densely woven like an umbrella, casting a deep shadow on the ground.

They stood in front of the rather old banyan tree, and the swing tied to one of the trunks was pushed by the morning breeze and swayed gently.

Old Master Shen looked at the swing and said to Ethan Gu, "Your personality is really different from your mother's. Your mother would never speak to me with such certainty." He didn't wait for Ethan Gu to reply, and continued, "I have often wondered in recent years, if I hadn't doted on her too much because I had a daughter in my old age, and hadn't expected her to be as carefree as a real little princess... and hadn't raised her to have such a soft and innocent personality, would she not have left me so early?"

"Grandpa..."

"I wish to be a silk vine supporting a tall tree..." Mr. Shen looked at the swing. His little daughter was swinging high on the swing he had made with his own hands. The days when she smiled sweetly seemed like yesterday. He seemed to be talking to himself, "The tall tree will leave one day."

Ethan Gu wanted to say something, but the old man didn't want to listen and quickly changed the subject: "I heard that you are going to hold a birthday party for your brother?"

"Yes, just in the past two days." Ethan Gu followed the old man's topic, "This time I came here to borrow James from you for help."

"Take it with you. You did the right thing." Mr. Shen was silent for a while, then said calmly, "Fifteen years is enough. Now that you have taken this step, keep going... It has not been easy for Yuelin over the years."

The current Mrs. Gu’s surname is Zheng, Zheng Yuelin.

Ethan Gu lowered his head slightly and said nothing.

Mr. Shen laughed again: "I forgot, you are not your mother, you have a lot of ideas."

"Okay, go ahead and do what you want to do." The old man refused to be helped as before, turned around and walked back the way he came, slowly and steadily, his body hunched and tall, "Your grandfather is still standing here now."

Tianxiang Mountain is located in the northern suburbs of Sijiu City, outside the urban area, not too far from the city, and there are few people around it. It is an undeveloped area. Since Ethan Gu bought this place two years ago, in addition to leaving a small yard for himself at the foot of the mountain, he also started to build the villa on the top of the mountain and the road up the mountain.

July 28th is Gu Zhengjia’s sixteenth birthday.

Although he had temporarily borrowed James from Mr. Shen, when the day really came, Ethan Gu still came to the villa early to make the final confirmation. As another organizer of the party, Jordan Wei, who had originally planned to come together, did not come to the villa until the evening because of some temporary matters.

"It's a nice place." The fields were open and the clear mountain breeze kept blowing, bringing down the hot summer air. The first thing Jordan Wei did when he got out of the car was to praise Ethan Gu.

On the side of the cliff, Ethan Gu was leaning against the wooden fence that had been erected early when the winding mountain road was being built to enjoy the cool air. He raised his eyes and said, "After buying it, of course I have to make it better."

"I also want to buy this place after seeing it so much." Jordan Wei muttered, and walked into the villa with Ethan Gu.

The villa is located on the top of a mountain. In order to preserve the mountain scenery as much as possible, the villa was not built in a square shape. Instead, it was built in the idea of   a "small house in the forest". The whole villa is made of wood and is completely embedded in the woods.

Jordan Wei followed Ethan Gu into the villa. The irregular cracks between the stone slabs were covered with moss, and the sound of running water came from the back of the villa. When they walked into the hall, James, who was arranging the work, came up to them:

"There are still three hours before the party starts. You two young masters can go sit in the backyard."

Ethan Gu nodded and said to James, "Notify me when Zhengjia comes."

"Yes, Master Shen Zhou." James bowed and agreed.

Jordan Wei followed Ethan Gu to the backyard. As soon as he sat down on the stone bench, a maid in uniform came over with a tea tray and quietly arranged everything. Then, when she saw that Ethan Gu had already started, she retreated again.

"You're being a bit generous." Jordan Wei said thoughtfully. He was helping Gu Zhengjia hold a party and specially using his newly built villa as the reception venue. Although it was a bit strange to pay so much attention to it, since he was going to hold it, he might as well do it beautifully. But borrowing people from the Shen family was completely beyond the scope of "doing it beautifully" - you know, even when Ethan Gu himself was 18 years old and an adult, he didn't spend so much effort.

After a few minutes, Ethan Gu had already brewed the tea. He handed a cup to Jordan Wei and took a sip himself. He said nonchalantly, "What does all this mean? It all depends on whether I am happy or not."

Jordan Wei raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Mr. Gu, what you said is really domineering." He did not continue the topic, but he was still a little confused in his heart, thinking that Ethan Gu's move this time seemed to be more than just to help Gu Zhengjia hold a birthday party. But what else was there besides this? He could not think of it for a while.

Nearing eight o'clock, all the classmates and friends invited by Gu Zhengjia arrived early. People from Ethan Gu and Jordan Wei's circle also came one after another. James, who had worked with Mr. Shen for nearly 30 years, was very capable and well prepared. The maids and waiters who walked through the crowd met the needs of every guest.

Born in the same family as the Gu family, the two brothers were destined to have overlapping social circles. The friends that Gu Zhengjia, who was still in school, might have had lower status, but most of them could talk to those at the top of the circle, and many of them were related by blood.

The party started on time at eight o'clock.

Gu Zhengjia, who was wearing gifts and dressed up, had his arms a little tense when he spoke at the beginning, but his expression was still natural. Ethan Gu and Jordan Wei led the applause, and then Ethan Gu took Gu Zhengjia and introduced him to the important people present one by one.

Mr. Qiu’s granddaughter, Mr. Shen’s grandson, three generations of the Chen, Wen and He families, Darren Sun… Although they had just returned after three years abroad, everyone in this circle knew when they were in their teens who they could make friends with and who they should stay away from, and they had established relationships early on: for example, Ethan Gu and Jordan Wei, three generations of the Chen and Wen families, and the Qiu and Shen families who were preparing for a marriage.

Three years was diluted to the point where it was almost unnoticeable in this context. All the people who could attend this party were those who were interested in dating Ethan Gu and Jordan Wei. Even Darren Sun, who was tricked by Ethan Gu some time ago, was very respectful and praised Gu Zhengjia a few words when Ethan Gu introduced him: If he lost at the poker table, he would lose. Anyway, sometimes he would spend more than this amount of money to find a lover that suits his heart. If he lost the face of the Gu family in this occasion, he might become a mortal enemy.

After a circle of introductions, Ethan Gu finally brought Gu Zhengjia to the young master of the He family. The three years might not be noticeable to others, but it could not be ignored to Blake: when Ethan Gu left Sijiu City, Blake had just arrived here.

"Mr. He." Ethan Gu and Blake shook hands lightly, and then put his palm on Gu Zhengjia's shoulder, "Thank you, Mr. He. This is my brother Zhengjia."

Blake was leaning against the wall drinking a glass of whiskey, a rare occasion without a companion. He held the glass in one hand and put the other in his pocket. He was wearing a well-dressed white suit and a twill tie, looking even more like a nobleman than Ethan Gu.

Hearing Ethan Gu's introduction, he glanced at Gu Zhengjia, then smiled at Ethan Gu and said in a long tone:

"Mr. Gu is such a good brother."