Chapter 437 - 379: The Predicament of the Sun Family’s Main Branch
Chapter 437: Chapter 379: The Predicament of the Sun Family’s Main Branch
"Mother, if you find someone suitable, you can have Yining get married first. I’ve said it before, I won’t get married before I’m thirty," Sun Yiming replied to Mrs. Sun, his tone flat.
Sun Yinong chuckled. "That’s not right, Brother. Just because you want to wait until after you’re thirty doesn’t mean you can push me out front. I’m only twenty-three, and you yourself often say I’m childish. An immature man shouldn’t get married too early..."
"You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? The father is like this, and so are the sons! You’re only happy when you see me heartbroken and humiliated!"
Mrs. Sun took out a handkerchief and, covering her eyes, began to sob. "Has it been easy for me all these years? I’ve raised my children, but not one is willing to get married. I’m worse off than some bed-servant! Just look at how Shaoyao acted at the Mo family’s home today! She had to be ahead of me in everything; I couldn’t even get a word in. The Mo couple and that Miss Xiao Man treated her like a true, honored guest. If I hadn’t come, would she have just sat down next to your father and played the part of Mrs. Sun? Where does she get the audacity? Isn’t it just because she gave your father a daughter? And her daughter made her proud, marrying early and giving him a grandson. The moment your father returned to the country, he started doting on that boy like a precious treasure! But me? I don’t have a single grandchild to my name, not even a granddaughter. No wonder she dares to walk all over me! I can only imagine how she laughs at me behind my back!"
The father and his two sons were left speechless. Sun Yinong, sitting in the back seat with his mother, sighed softly. He turned and put an arm around her shoulder to comfort her, but with his father present, he didn’t dare say much.
Sun Jingzu’s face was cast in shadow, his expression dark as he spoke, suppressing his anger. "What is it you really want? Shaoyao may have been my grandmother’s handmaiden, but she was treated like a granddaughter. We grew up together, and she was the one I first loved—it’s not like you don’t know that! Our marriage was arranged by our parents. You were willing to marry, so I married you. I took you far away and left her and her daughter behind for over twenty years, yet I still expected her to fulfill my filial duties, to care for my grandfather and parents until their dying days... She did so much for me without any official status.
"Xin’er was only conceived because you were careless and neglected to give her the medicine, but she is still my own flesh and blood! She was still in her mother’s womb when we left, and only now has she finally met her father. Is it so wrong for me to treat them a little better? If Shaoyao hadn’t brought us to see Mo Youmu today, do you think the Mo family would have received us without suspicion? Do you think Miss Xiao Man would have so readily returned the ancestral medical books?
"Bao Yun, I have told you many times: you need to look at our situation clearly. After my granduncle and uncle passed away, we lost our footing in the Southern Ocean! Getting the ancestral medical books today is a good start. This is a treasure left by our ancestors for us, the direct line of descendants. With this, we can start over in our home country. Whether our children have a bright future depends entirely on this! You are the matriarch of the Sun Family, the mother of our children. You need to see the bigger picture and stop being so willful!"
Mrs. Sun lowered her head, sniffling. Though she felt she was in the wrong, the humiliation of being lectured by her husband like this was too much. Just as she was about to lift her head to retort, Sun Yinong patted her back twice. Mrs. Sun had no choice but to grit her teeth and hold her tongue.
The car was quiet for a moment before Sun Yiming suddenly turned around. "Father," he asked, "the year before last, and again last year, you changed your plans to return home at the last minute. You didn’t board the ship to come back via Xiang City as scheduled. Was it really because..."
Seeing Mrs. Sun staring at him with wide-eyed alarm, Sun Jingzu couldn’t bear to frighten his wife. He simply nodded at his eldest son. "Before setting out, I usually consult an expert for a divination. As it happened, it was an inauspicious time for our family to travel a long distance, so I changed our plans. It’s a good thing I listened to the expert, too. The ship we were supposed to take two years ago ended up running into pirates, didn’t it? Then last year, we had that accident at home, and your sister almost... Thankfully, she pulled through. With such mishaps, it was best not to risk a long journey."
Sun Yiming fell silent. ’The ship they decided not to take two years ago... it wasn’t just pirates, was it? The ship had exploded and sunk shortly after leaving port. The newspapers claimed there were no casualties thanks to a timely rescue, but who could know for sure? Then there was the sudden fire at home last year, his sister’s kidnapping, and the various "accidents" he and his brother would encounter from time to time while they were away. Recalling it all now, none of it seemed coincidental.’
He clenched his fists. ’The people behind such a tragedy had to be utterly vicious, treating human life as if it were grass. They would only care about getting the job done and getting away, with no regard for who lived or died. Sun Yiming couldn’t bear to imagine that members of the Sun family would resort to infighting and murder over fortune and inheritance. But if other branches of the family were truly trying to wipe out his own and had caused the deaths of innocents in the process, then the sins of the Sun Family would be enormous. The merit from over a dozen generations of practicing medicine to help the world, even entire lifetimes of atonement, would not be enough to wash it away!’
Sun Yinong couldn’t help but ask, "Father, are you certain this set of ancestral medical books is authentic? The fourth and fifth branches of the family, and our two great-aunts, have been dreaming of getting their hands on these books. They lived with Great-Grandfather in Wancheng for so many years—how could they not know he gave the books to Xiao Man?"
Sun Jingzu let out a long sigh. "I just inspected them thoroughly. They are without a doubt authentic. This just shows how shrewd and wise your great-grandfather was. Who would have ever imagined that he would place such priceless medical classics in the hands of a young girl from the countryside? What’s more, that girl now has an impossibly powerful background. Even if the other branches of the Sun family knew Xiao Man had the books, they wouldn’t dare make a rash move and provoke the Tang and Gu Families—not unless they had a death wish!"
Sun Jingzu marveled at his great-grandfather’s sharp foresight, but he was wrong about one thing: when Mo Xiaoman first received the Sun Family’s medical classics, the Tang and Gu Families had no idea she even existed.
"Shaoyao... your Aunt Zhao, was always by Great-Grandfather’s side, so she knows the inner workings best. On his deathbed, Great-Grandfather repeatedly urged that he hoped you boys would distinguish yourselves and form a marriage alliance with the Mo family by marrying Miss Xiao Man. He said she not only possesses a noble character but also a face that promises great fortune. A truly wonderful and rare child... what a pity..."
He sighed again in regret. "Regardless, from now on, you must treat Miss Xiao Man with the utmost respect and care. She is the greatest benefactor to the direct line of our Sun family. If she hadn’t kept the ancestral medical classics, guarding them so secretly all these years before finally returning them to me, our family would have struggled to survive in this country. You’ve all seen it: the lesser branches here are growing stronger, the direct line in the Southern Ocean is actively pushing us out, and we are the main branch, the one truly entrusted with the inheritance. My father—your grandfather—was too lenient and kind, which created the mess we’re in today. Thankfully, Great-Grandfather had foresight and has been helping us from the great beyond. Now, we are fully confident we can break this stalemate and counter them... In short, you just need to remember this: if Miss Xiao Man ever has need of the Sun family, you must do everything in your power to help her. In the future, when Sun Pharmaceutical is back on its feet, Miss Xiao Man must be given a share of the company’s stock."
Sun Yiming and Sun Yinong answered solemnly, "We’ll remember."
Mrs. Sun pressed her handkerchief to her lips, remaining silent. When the men of the Sun family discussed important matters, the women were not to interrupt. She was only able to overhear things because they were in the car together; she had gotten used to it long ago.