Chapter 82 A Call from Father

"The master's phone..." Chen Shaotian said to Chen Hao.

Chen Hao could also see the words on the other person's phone screen and nodded, signaling Shaotian to answer the call.

Shaotian didn’t hesitate and pressed the answer button.

"Hello! Master, good day!"

"Put me on speaker!" A strong, resonant voice came through the phone, loud enough that even Chen Hao, sitting nearby, could hear it clearly.

From Chen Ding’an’s words, it was obvious he knew Chen Hao and Shaotian were together. He wasn’t planning to secretly talk to Shaotian behind Chen Hao’s back, but to converse with them both directly.

This was unprecedented. In the past, no matter how much Chen Hao tried to discuss important matters with his father, the old man would always sidestep, never answering directly and finding ways to avoid him. What was different today?

Shaotian didn’t think as much as Chen Hao did; he simply followed the master’s command and turned on the speaker.

"It’s done!"

Then, the two heard Chen Ding’an’s voice on the phone, scolding Chen Hao: "You brat! You know it’s your father calling, and you don’t even bother to greet me? Is this how I taught you?"

Chen Hao replied with disdain, "Tch~ Old man, apart from teaching me martial arts, you haven’t taught me anything else since I was a kid. Whether it’s textbook knowledge or life skills, it’s always been Mom who taught me! As for you… Old man, in these twenty-odd years, I might have spent less time with you than I did with my colleagues during a few years working outside."

"With your attitude, you still dare claim you educated me? Give me a break, will you?"

"Ah! So now you’re getting bold, huh? Daring to talk back to your father? Believe it or not, I’ll cut off your living expenses!" Chen Ding’an was clearly irritated, his voice rising in anger.

The volume was so loud that Shaotian instinctively moved the phone away from his ear.

"I just have to laugh~ Living expenses? It’s always Mom who’s given them to me, okay? When have you ever given me a single penny? And do I care if you cut me off? I’m already working, you know? Granted, I can’t compare to your grand business and income, but at least I don’t have to worry about supporting myself. So threatening me with living expenses? That’s not an effective tactic at all."

"Heh heh~" Chen Ding’an chuckled. "Don’t think I don’t know you just resigned a couple of days ago. Without a steady income, how are you going to support yourself? In the end, you’ll still rely on me."

"Tch~ I resigned for a reason. Soon, I’ll be starting my own business." Chen Hao replied indifferently, clearly dissatisfied with his father.

Shaotian listened helplessly to the banter between the father and son. Scenes like this were nothing new for him. Though they were clearly family, every meeting seemed like a clash between rivals—always arguing and bickering. Amusingly, because they were father and son, their appearance was strikingly similar. Chen Hao’s father had him when he was young, and now, in his early forties, he looked much younger than his age thanks to good care.

If Shaotian didn’t know their relationship, he’d have thought Chen Ding’an and Chen Hao were brothers.

"Kid! I’m warning you, don’t talk to me so arrogantly. When I was strutting around, you were still playing with your toy games!" Chen Ding’an said, showing off.

"Old man, quit bluffing. You’ve got one foot in the grave, yet you’re still pretending to be tough? Even if you were a wolf, you'd just be a gray wolf—every time you face Mom, you wilt." Chen Hao retorted without backing down.

Shaotian continued to watch the exchange, never attempting to mediate. First, neither would listen to him anyway; second, their bickering seemed, to Shaotian, a way of deepening their relationship. Only those familiar enough could insult each other so freely—if they were strangers, fists would fly rather than words.

He’d seen their quarrels before, usually face-to-face, escalating until they started fighting physically. The outcome was always Chen Hao being thoroughly schooled by Chen Ding’an.

As Chen Ding’an would say, "That half-baked skill of yours? I taught you everything you know. Want to beat me? Wait until I’m old and feeble, or train for another ten or twenty years!"

Chen Hao was never convinced. Since he stopped training with his father, he believed there was nothing left for the old man to teach him. He thought the only reason he lost was because he hadn’t mastered his martial arts as thoroughly as his father, who had more experience.

Moreover, since he was taught by his father, his moves and habits were familiar to him, making it easy for the old man to defeat him.

But there’s an old saying: "Fists fear the young, sticks fear the old wolf." Every time he sparred with his father, it was a test of fists and feet. At twenty-something, he was at his physical peak, while his father, in theory, should be slower and weaker.

In theory, he should have a chance to win. But no matter how many times he tried, the result was always the same—he never beat his father!

That left Chen Hao frustrated. What annoyed him even more was that, at first, his father would spar with him to test his progress, but gradually, he stopped fighting and stopped pointing out flaws. No matter how Chen Hao provoked or taunted him, his father would just cast a dismissive glance, snort, shake his head, and walk away.

Chen Hao couldn’t stand it. If you won’t spar, I’ll force you to.

He started attacking his father, pulling no punches. He thought his father would have to defend himself, and finally spar with him.

But what happened was even more shocking. His father countered, but with just one move, dismantled his attack and responded. After one blow, Chen Hao was left flat on the floor, unable to move.

Shaotian had witnessed this once, back when he’d just started working as Chen Ding’an’s assistant. He’d been so stunned by the scene. Was this really his future boss? So terrifying? His own father had never told him about this.

When he was a child, his father, then Chen Ding’an’s assistant, had told him Chen Ding’an was a master, but Chen Hao was already impressive in Shaotian’s eyes. Yet Chen Ding’an had defeated him in a single move—how vast must their difference be?

After that, Shaotian never saw them spar again. Instead, every time they met, Chen Hao and Chen Ding’an would trade barbs. Maybe Chen Hao knew he couldn’t win, so he indulged in verbal sparring instead. Truly an interesting pair.

Today, seeing them argue again, Shaotian couldn’t help but feel nostalgic.

But nostalgia aside, business needed attending. The master wouldn’t call out of the blue, ask for speaker, unless there was something important to discuss. So Shaotian tugged Chen Hao and coughed twice, "Ahem! Master, is there something important you wanted to discuss?"

Then, from the other end of the line, they heard a loud "smack!"

Both paused, exchanging glances.

"Did Dad just slap himself?" Chen Hao thought wickedly.

"Damn! Almost forgot the main point! All because you kept interrupting, I lost track of what matters," Chen Ding’an yelled.

Chen Hao rolled his eyes: "Getting old means forgetfulness. Hurry up! Mengyan and the others are waiting for me!"

Chen Ding’an’s tone grew serious: "Yes. What I need to discuss is about Mengyan. I know she’s come to Kostar with you, and I believe it was she who booked the tickets?"

"That’s right," Chen Hao answered, setting aside his earlier levity.

"Did she tell you the real reason for coming to Kostar?" Chen Ding’an asked.

Chen Hao recalled their conversation and replied truthfully, "Not in detail. She just said she wanted to travel and relax..."

"That’s clearly a brush-off. You didn’t notice? Didn’t you ask more carefully?" Chen Ding’an sounded dissatisfied.

"Come on!" Chen Hao said, exasperated. "You know Mengyan’s temperament. If I asked, would she tell me?"

"Mm..."

"So what’s the real reason? Why are you so agitated about her coming to Kostar? I guess it’s because she’s not over what happened years ago, wants to search for her parents’ whereabouts, or recover lost memories or something." Chen Hao thought aloud. "This is all your fault, old man. If you’d just tell her, none of this would be happening. I’ve learned a bit about Kostar’s situation now—what exactly happened back then? How did Mengyan end up losing her memories?"

There was a silence on the other end.

"It’s not time to tell you yet, especially not Mengyan. I don’t care how much you know about Kostar, do not tell Mengyan anything for now. And you must ensure Mengyan doesn’t set foot in Kostar’s primeval forest, or the consequences will be very serious!"