Chapter 65: A Plea for Punishment (Part Four)

The Booklet Elder looked at the two of them and stood to the side without saying anything further. He knew that Wu Yu would definitely handle the aftermath for Wu Tianzhen properly; otherwise, he would not have returned already. However, Fatty was right about one thing: no matter what, the New Moon Hotel could not stop Wu Yu, so he was not worried at all.

Meanwhile, after leaving, Wu Yu found a spot and made a phone call to his old man first. Although his father must have already known about the incident at the New Moon Hotel, there were still some matters that needed to be explained.

"That old bastard Wu Sanshu! Next time I see him, I'll break his legs!" True to form, as soon as the call connected, Wu Erbai's furious roaring came through.

"And you, you little bastard! Why didn't you know to stop Tianzhen? When that brat gets that reckless streak, he acts just like third uncle and completely throws caution to the wind!"

"I was upstairs at the time!" Wu Yu retorted. "What do you expect me to do right in front of Deputy Commander Zhang?"

"You... you met with him?" Wu Erbai drew a sharp breath upon hearing this, his explosive temper instantly subduing. He asked cautiously, "What did you talk about?"

"Nothing much. I'm so handsome, dashing, and extraordinarily talented that even that person was moved upon seeing me and wanted to take me as a disciple!" Wu Yu spouted nonsense. "I'm calling you to talk about how to resolve this issue. I've already worked things out with Yin Jiangxue."

"How are you going to resolve it?" Wu Erbai said irritably. "Over ninety billion! Even if you liquidated our entire family fortune, it wouldn't even be half enough!"

"Of course I know we don't have that kind of money!" Wu Yu sighed. "If we don't have money, then we can only lose face instead!"

"What do you mean?" Wu Erbai's brows twitched as a bad premonition welled up in his heart.

"In our family, whose face could possibly satisfy the Yin family..." Wu Yu shrank his neck. Even though the call was spanning thousands of miles, he felt as though he could sense Wu Erbai's furious anger and gloomy glare.

"Are you fucking shitting me, you little bastard? Do you believe me if I go to Beijing right now, drag you up Dog Mountain, and beat you up for three days and three nights?!" True to form, Wu Erbai immediately burst into a torrent of abuse, going on for half an hour without repeating a single insult.

One had to know that externally, even though everyone knew Wu Erbai was ruthless and full of schemes, he had always maintained the appearance of a refined and cultured scholar-general!

Yet now, seeing him abandon his image like this, one could only imagine just how furious he truly was.

"What else could I do? If I didn't play a trump card, Yin Jiangxue would have hung that brat Tianzhen's head on the red notice board! What were we supposed to do then? You surely don't expect me to tuck him into my waistband every single day, do you?" Wu Yu said with utter helplessness.

It would have been one thing if that kid had just snatched the items, but why didn't he use his brain and cover his face?! Even people in ancient times knew to cover their faces when pulling off such stunts, yet he actually dared to do it openly and aboveboard!

If he had covered his face, even if everyone knew who it was, he could have just denied it to the death. No matter what happened afterward, at least there would have been plausible deniability, and he wouldn't have been left in such a passive position!

Yet neither of these two fellows had even thought of such a simple idea.

"Why don't you just hang him from your trouser waistband when you go to the toilet from now on?" Wu Erbai cursed angrily. But right at that moment, a voice suddenly came from behind him: "Second Master, we just received word that First Master has gone to the old residence..."

"Bang!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Erbai fiercely smashed the teacup on the table. "You little bastard! Was this your idea?!"

"Fine, very well, Wu Yu! Do you think your wings have grown stiff and my words don't carry any weight with you anymore?!"

"Dad..." Wu Yu truly had no other options left and could only obediently endure the scolding.

Indeed, this was why he had called Wu Yiqiong first, because he knew what the result would be if he called Wu Erbai, which would only waste time. Rather than doing that, it was better to first explain the ins and outs of the matter to his eldest uncle, Wu Yiqiong, along with the face the Yin family demanded back.

Looking across the entire Wu family, only the family's ultimate anchor had the prestige to pull this off. But when all was said and done, she was someone who hadn't stepped foot out of the old residence in decades; to trouble her old self over a matter like this, he really felt too ashamed to face his ancestors as a junior!

Yet apart from this, there genuinely was no other way.

Seizing auctioned items by force was no longer just a matter of money. If handled carelessly, the two families would inevitably end up clashing swords.

This had nothing to do with strength; wanting a peaceful resolution required someone whose word was absolute in both families to step forward and negotiate.

Wu Yu didn't have this capability, Wu Sanshu couldn't do it, and Wu Erbai was even less suited.

Although Wu Yiqiong was the eldest son, he had never intervened in the affairs of the Nine Gates, nor did he pay any attention to the Wu family's business ventures. Therefore, he lacked the qualification to meddle at a time like this, even though Wu Tianzhen was his son—yet unfortunately, Wu Tianzhen had ultimately become the notorious Third Young Master!

Therefore, the only person with the decisive authority for this was the Wu family's ultimate anchor, the old matriarch of the Wu family!

Just as Wu Yu had said, once money reached a certain amount, its significance was merely a string of numbers that might make people a bit happier when looked at.

Yet some things could never be bought back by these numbers.

This time, regardless of the circumstances, the Wu family was in the wrong first, and they had to give the New Moon Hotel more than enough face.

Wu Yiqiong and Wu Erbai both understood this principle clearly.

In this matter, not even Wu Erbai's prestige carried enough weight!

Across the entire Wu family, only their mother possessed this qualification!

Wu Yiqiong, who had already fallen fast asleep, instinctively felt that something was amiss when he saw Wu Yu's caller ID.

Sure enough, once he understood the sequence of events, he did not say anything more. Matters had already reached this point, and there was no turning back.

Therefore, Wu Yiqiong went straight to the Shacheng old residence. Upon stepping through the front gates, he walked without a word straight into the Wu family ancestral hall, knelt down on the ground, and began kowtowing, one heavy thump after another. Meanwhile, Bai Su, sensing that something was wrong and seeing Wu Yiqiong act this way, hurriedly rushed to the Wu family old residence as well. Although she did not know what had happened, it was clearly tied closely to Wu Tianzhen, so she quietly knelt alone outside the courtyard gates of the ancestral hall, saying nothing.

The agony in her heart—who could possibly understand?

As a son's incompetence and a descendant's unfilial behavior struck him, Wu Yiqiong deeply understood at this moment what true shame meant.

Now over fifty years of age, he still had to trouble his elderly mother to step forward and resolve these matters. The guilt within Wu Yiqiong's heart made him not even dare to lift his head to look at the ancestral spirit tablets.

Wu Old Madam, who had already caught wind of the situation, leaned heavily on her walking cane and hurried all the way to the ancestral hall. Seeing her eldest son in this state, her heart clenched even more painfully.

"Foolish child! Foolish child!"

Pulling Wu Yiqiong's head tightly into her arms, Wu Old Madam struck his back fiercely. "By acting like this, aren't you just making this mother's heart ache even more?!"

"This old woman's life is already drawing to a close; what need do I have for so much face to protect?! Our Wu family has never relied on saving face to get to where we are today! If we did, that old bastard Wu Dog-owner would have died ten thousand times over already!"

"Mother... I just feel like I'm useless. Even now, I still can't let you enjoy your twilight years in peace, having you worry and rush about for us..." Wu Yiqiong finally could no longer hold back his tears, weeping openly. "If back then... I had gone along with second and third brother..."