RLTT CH 28

Chapter 28: Kitchen · Cola · The Young Yachtman

Yun Shaofeng stood in the kitchen, trying his best not to peek at what was happening in the living room.

Early in the morning, Secretary Fang from the company came up and informed him that Mr. Wei’s son would be coming over today. At first, Yun Shaofeng found it strange—if Wei Jiayi wanted to visit, he could just come. Why did a secretary need to inform him specifically?

Then, Secretary Fang clarified that it wasn’t Young Master Yi—it was the other son.

Only then did Yun Shaofeng realize that Mr. Wei had another son. He was naturally a bit curious and wanted to meet this mysterious son. However, before the son even arrived, Mr. Wei’s wife showed up first. So, Yun Shaofeng found an excuse to retreat into the kitchen. He wasn’t too keen on interacting with Li Anna because he always felt like she didn’t like him.

Li Anna always carried an air of arrogance. Other than speaking to Wei Jiayi in a slightly softer tone, she even acted high and mighty toward Wei Junlin. Yun Shaofeng didn’t really understand why. Based on the way she gave him instructions about Mr. Wei’s daily life, it didn’t seem like she didn’t love him. But for some reason, she simply never showed a pleasant attitude to anyone.

After she arrived, she didn’t say much—just sat on the sofa and flipped through a magazine. Mr. Wei also sat there, doing nothing, looking a bit uneasy.

The doorbell rang.

Yun Shaofeng was in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil. He thought that the two people outside would go and answer the door, but the bell rang for a full thirty seconds, and they remained seated on the sofa, unmoving.

Yun Shaofeng didn’t think much of it. After all, he was technically just a servant in this household. He turned off the stove and jogged to the door. When he opened it, he saw Wei Jiayi standing there with his hands in his pockets. The moment the door opened, he barged right in without a word.

Yun Shaofeng was already used to Wei Jiayi’s disregard for others and instinctively stepped aside. It was only then that he noticed someone following behind him.

It was a boy about his age, with his head slightly lowered. He was dressed in a school uniform and carried a backpack. His features were refined and handsome, and he had a clean, well-groomed appearance—completely different from anyone Yun Shaofeng had met in the gang.

This was his first time seeing Wei Jiaxi.

Wei Jiaxi didn’t seem to notice him. He walked straight into the living room and chose the seat farthest from Wei Junlin before sitting down, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Meanwhile, Wei Jiayi stood to the side and lit a cigarette.

Yun Shaofeng stared blankly for a moment before closing the door and silently returning to the kitchen to continue boiling the water. However, his gaze kept drifting outside, and his ears perked up, straining to catch any movement in the living room.

At first, there was complete silence.

It wasn’t until the water had already come to a boil and Yun Shaofeng carried out a tray of freshly brewed tea that Wei Junlin finally stirred, as if suddenly snapping back to reality.

“How… how has your father been lately?” Yun Shaofeng heard Wei Junlin ask hesitantly as he turned to leave again.

“He’s fine,” Wei Jiaxi responded, his tone short and detached. Yun Shaofeng silently took note of this voice.

“How’s school going?” Wei Junlin asked again.

“It’s fine.” The exact same answer.

Wei Junlin fell silent for a moment before finally asking, “Do you have enough money?”

“I do.”

And with that, the conversation ended.

Yun Shaofeng was a little surprised. He had been here for over two months, but this was the first time he had heard someone speak so coldly to Mr. Wei. Although Wei Jiayi often acted arrogant and domineering, he was still polite to Mr. Wei—after all, if he wasn’t, Li Anna would scold him. But this person… even if he was also Mr. Wei’s son, wasn’t he being a little too bold?

“You brat, your father went through so much hardship, carrying you for ten months and giving birth to you, and this is the attitude you show?” Li Anna’s sharp voice cut through the air, making Yun Shaofeng suddenly understand. So that’s how it is…

“Enough, just leave it,” Wei Junlin said in his usual gentle tone, stopping Li Anna from saying more. Then, he called out, “Ah Feng?”

Hearing his name, Yun Shaofeng poked his head out of the kitchen. “Mr. Wei?”

“Bring out a can of soda,” Wei Junlin instructed.

Yun Shaofeng obediently opened the fridge, took out a can of cola, and walked to the living room. Wei Junlin tilted his head slightly, motioning toward the boy who had been sitting with his head lowered. Yun Shaofeng then walked over to Wei Jiaxi and held out the can.

Without even looking up, Wei Jiaxi turned his head away, refusing.

Yun Shaofeng froze. This was the first time he had ever encountered someone rejecting anything given by Mr. Wei. So, he didn’t withdraw his hand and continued holding out the can.

Noticing that the soda was still being offered to him, Wei Jiaxi finally looked up in confusion, glancing at Yun Shaofeng. His expression stiffened slightly, then turned to one of mild surprise—perhaps because he had never seen someone around his own age in this house before.

Being stared at so directly made Yun Shaofeng’s heart suddenly start pounding. He didn’t know why, but he felt that this person before him was unlike anyone else in this world.

Wei Jiaxi said nothing, but after a moment, he reached out and took the cola.

From that point on, the conversation in the living room had nothing to do with Yun Shaofeng anymore. He returned to the kitchen, secretly eavesdropping on their exchange. Wei Junlin continued to ask harmless, trivial questions, and Wei Jiaxi answered with the same distant, indifferent tone.

From their fragmented conversation, Yun Shaofeng gathered that Wei Jiaxi’s other father seemed to work at a hospital, though his specific position was unclear. Wei Jiaxi was a high school student, with grades that were neither particularly good nor bad, but he excelled in sports and was apparently on the basketball team. His family’s rent had recently increased again, but it was still within an acceptable range. His school had a field trip next week…

Before leaving, Wei Jiaxi spilled a little bit of cola on his hand and went to the kitchen to wash up. Yun Shaofeng had just been idly standing around, but when he saw him enter, he immediately straightened up and pretended to be busy wiping dishes. Their shoulders brushed lightly, but neither of them looked up at each other.

“Next time, bring your father along,” Wei Junlin said just before Wei Jiaxi left.

Wei Jiaxi glanced at him, his voice carrying a hint of scorn as he replied, “If you want him to come, ask him yourself.” With that, he turned and left, while Wei Jiayi rolled his eyes and followed after him out the door.

Li Anna shot a furious glare at Wei Junlin. “What do you mean by this? It’s bad enough that you keep letting that little yacht boy come here, and now you want to invite that man over too?”

Wei Junlin said nothing and simply lit a cigarette.

Li Anna stormed off angrily. Yun Shaofeng brought out a plate of fruit, only to find that the living room was now just the two of them. But Wei Junlin didn’t say anything else either.

From then on, Wei Jiaxi would come by about once every two months, always picked up and dropped off by Wei Jiayi. But his other father never showed up.

Meanwhile, Yun Shaofeng was getting busier. In addition to handling everyday chores, he was also being taken to various places by people from the organization—sometimes even by Wei Junlin himself—to do all sorts of odd things. He went to shooting ranges to practice with firearms, to nightclubs to drink, to martial arts gyms to train, and to gambling dens to play mahjong. These activities might have seemed like mere pastimes, but every time he visited a new place, he had to immediately memorize all the faces he saw, along with the tangled web of relationships and business dealings involved. Most importantly, he had to ensure that no one ever realized he was paying attention to everything around him—that was the hardest part.

But Yun Shaofeng was sharp. As Wei Junlin put it, Ah Feng was like a blade—razor-sharp and deadly, yet quiet and restrained. When you looked at him, all you could see reflected in the steel was your own face.

Yun Shaofeng was lean but not frail. His skills in combat were impressive—so much so that the martial arts gym owner almost tried to recruit him. His marksmanship was also unexpectedly good. The only thing he wasn’t good at was handling places of vice. Other boys who had been in the gang life from a young age were already visiting brothels by the time they were teenagers, but Yun Shaofeng would stiffen awkwardly just from being near the hostesses at karaoke lounges.

Before officially working for Wei Junlin, Yun Shaofeng had vaguely known that his benefactor wasn’t involved in anything legal, but he had no idea about the specifics. After spending time within the Hongsheng organization, he remained smart enough not to actively snoop around, but he gradually pieced things together.

Wei Junlin and his father had fled to the Special Administrative Region in the 1960s—essentially escaping for their lives. The Wei family had a complicated political background; the generation before them had been considered war heroes, but in a crucial moment, they had backed the wrong side. At the time, Wei Junlin had an older sister who stayed behind on the mainland with their mother… But his father didn’t last long—he died of tuberculosis within a few years of arriving.

In their early years, they didn’t dare to contact their relatives back home, nor could they reveal their family background. They could only make a living by running small, discreet businesses.

What businesses could make someone rich in the ‘70s and ‘80s?

Wei Junlin was bold—he started with fake gold, fake silver, and even fake abalone. That gave him his initial capital.

The two brothers were fearless. With a bit of money, they hired a few enforcers and began collecting protection fees in the seafood markets, running illegal loans, smuggling liquor, and speculating in the stock market.

Step by step, they climbed their way up.

From “Ah Lin” to “Mr. Wei” to “Boss Wei.”

Their business even reached the colonial government—foreign officials paid them for certain “services.”

Twenty years passed in a blink. When the handover of Hong Kong was imminent, Wei Junlin finally managed to reestablish contact with his older sister in the mainland.

He took a trip back.

The three siblings spoke behind closed doors for a long time. No one knew what was said. No one knew how much money he got from her.

But when he returned, three things changed.

First, the triad officially had a name—Hongsheng.

Second, their funds, which used to come mostly from business profits and a few personal sources, now had more… mysterious origins.

Third, a strict rule was put in place—Hongsheng would never get involved in politics.

Before the handover, Wei Junlin married Li Anna, and she gave birth to their eldest son, Wei Jiayi.

“What about Young Master Xi?” Yun Shaofeng asked.

“Young Master Xi is Boss Wei’s son, but his other dad isn’t from the underworld,” Secretary Fang said, removing his noise-canceling earmuffs and gazing into the distance at the shooting range.

“We don’t usually talk about him or his father, especially around Young Master Yi and Miss Anna. He’s a threat, after all.”

Just then, someone called out to Yun Shaofeng.

“Are you Ah Feng?”

A man wearing sunglasses appeared at the entrance. It was Mo Chao, a rising figure within Hongsheng.

“Boss Wei has a task for you.”

To be continued…