"Impossible, absolutely impossible."
Charles refused to believe it. In the stories, his father-in-law's savior was wonderful, kind, gentle, and open-minded. But looking at the Su family members he had interacted with...
The first one, Su Ning.
She was a complete villain. If placed in a play, she would be the type who covers the sky with one hand, arrogant and domineering yet immune to any punishment, constantly scheming to plunder from others.
And then there was this old man in front of him.
His looks were okay, but his demeanor and the sheer meanness when he spoke didn't fit his imagination at all—the eldest grandson in his father-in-law's story was a lively yet handsome Chinese youth.
Not only did he often come to chat with him.
He was also full of interest in religious teachings.
Comparing them...
How... how could this be the same person!
"What's so impossible about it? Is your father-in-law named Anderson?"
"Yes."
"He was locked in prison, didn't know a single soul, crying out to heaven and earth with no response. Finally, my grandfather saved him in passing. Then he shamelessly clung to his savior, staying at our house for free food and lodging, even trying to drag me into being baptized and joining his religion. Finally, my grandfather took pity on him, bought him a ticket, and sent him on his way."
"This, this isn't right."
"What's not right?"
Half-Immortal Su looked triumphant and waved his hand. "If you strip away all those words Anderson used to flatter himself, isn't that how it happened? He was locked in prison, and then he was saved?"
"That's true, but..."
Charles kept saying 'but' for a long time, yet couldn't come up with anything else.
But he still didn't want to believe it.
"Mr. Anderson should have told you his savior's surname, right?"
Su Ning spoke up lazily.
"Yes."
"The surname is Su." Speaking of this, Charles finally realized something was wrong. He snapped to his senses and looked in astonishment at Su Ning, whom he had been avoiding like the plague... Wasn't her surname Su?
"So, do you understand now?"
"My great-grandfather is the so-called powerful Chinese figure who saved your father-in-law back then. Stories are just stories. Reality doesn't have that many thrilling adventures. Just as my uncle said, it was simply saving a person's life."
The cold female voice was slow but clear.
Charles was completely dumbfounded.
Did his father-in-law lie to him or not? It seemed like a lie, yet also not a lie.
"Hahahaha, to think there is such a coincidence in the world."
He was dumbfounded, but the ambassador certainly wasn't.
Laughing heartily, he broke the silence in the room and spoke warmly to Charles, "You came to repay a debt of gratitude, so how did you end up causing trouble for your benefactors instead? It's just like the old Chinese saying: the flood washes away the Dragon King's temple—a family failing to recognize its own members."
Setting everything else aside.
Su Ning realized that the American ambassador's Chinese proficiency was truly excellent. Not only did he know such idioms, but even his pronunciation was very standard.
But were they a family?
She simply smiled.
............
"It's my fault." Charles snapped back to reality, suppressing the complicated feelings in his heart, and hastily seized the opportunity. "I hope you won't have a bad impression of my father-in-law because of me. He has always kept this debt of gratitude in his heart, it's just that..."
"It's just that he repaid the wrong people."
Half-Immortal Su said sarcastically.
Whenever he thought about how the person his grandfather saved ended up giving all the benefits to the damned Fang family, he felt incredibly suffocated with anger. Not only did he hate the Fang family, but he also had no patience for Anderson, who had caused this huge misunderstanding.
What was that?
He just repaid the wrong people, but his heart was in the right place?
Bah! Half-Immortal Su couldn't care less about that. The end result was that the people who received the gratitude weren't him and his family.
That was equivalent to not repaying the debt at all!
Feeling indignant, he turned his head to look at his eldest niece, only to see a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips.
He grew anxious.
Yet he couldn't just urge his niece in front of that whatever-ambassador to ignore this bit of sentiment and demand what she was rightfully owed.
Taking a huge step back to look at the situation, they were still the ones who had suffered a loss.
"You really cannot blame my father-in-law for this. China was in utter chaos at the time. He truly thought his benefactor's entire family had perished, leaving only a little girl alive. He even considered bringing her over, but heard she was already engaged and couldn't leave the country. It was out of respect for your customs that he repaid his gratitude to the wrong person."
Charles hurriedly tried to explain.
His father-in-law had been deceived too! All the blame lay entirely with that Fang family.
"I don't want to hear this."
Su Ning looked at him.
Her eyelashes were long, and her eyes were large, but her irises were incredibly dark and heavy. They did not resemble obsidian, but rather a bottomless, dark abyss.
That single glance made Charles shudder into silence.
His heart sank.
"I only look at the results. And the result is that my great-grandfather saved someone and received no reward; instead, it brought harm to my uncle's family. And you came to China under the banner of repaying a debt of gratitude, yet you brought trouble to me. The only reason you didn't succeed is simply that you lacked the ability."
Su Ning felt it was almost laughable as she spoke.
No good deed goes unpunished.
No, even bad people doing good deeds don't get good returns. If she hadn't come, the Fang family would have enjoyed all the benefits brought by Anderson, and the moment he died, they would have kicked Su Zhenzhu and the Su family to the curb.
So much for risking everything for love.
It was all just a facade.
If it wasn't Ye Tang, it would be Wang Tang or Li Tang.
A plot is a plot, but reality is reality. Some things really cannot bear close scrutiny.
It might just disgust you.
Charles was rendered speechless and looked pleadingly at his ambassador uncle, who simply lowered his head to sip his tea, acting as if the black tea he was so used to drinking tasted exceptionally delicious today.
In stark contrast to these two relatives...
Half-Immortal Su was elated, deeply moved by the tacit understanding between him and his eldest niece.
Look, this is the power of bloodlines.
They thought exactly alike!
"Did you understand? Stop trying to cozy up to us. What needs to be done will be done."
In the end, Charles still paid the price.
But it didn't cost him his life.
What a joke, what is a life worth? It's a worthless thing, and Su Ning didn't want it anyway. Besides, she wanted to maintain her kind nature; how could she just take a life casually?
She only took half of his net worth.
Su Ning actually looked down on it anyway.
She gave it all to Half-Immortal Su as compensation, treating it as a belated repayment of gratitude.
…………
After Su Ning left.
"Charles, the name your parents gave you is wrong. You should be called Fulton."
Fulton meant lucky.
"Uncle, please stop mocking me," Charles replied weakly. Not only had he lost half his fortune, but he also had to work under Su Ning for twenty years. He dreaded to think how many people would laugh at him if word got out.
Mediocre Charles was about to become Laughable Charles!
"I am not mocking you."
The ambassador shook his head.
He leaned in and said a sentence to him with an intimate expression. Charles's eyes suddenly lit up. Surprise and doubt alternated on his face, finally settling into sheer delight.
If Su Ning was truly going to get involved in the oil industry...
Then he really was a Fulton!
"Your encounter today is just like a certain story they have here: an old man lost a horse, but it ended up bringing him a greater blessing. So you must work hard for Miss Su, do you understand?"
"Yes."
Charles was brimming with smug satisfaction.
The ambassador also smiled with contentment. He was still so easy to fool.
It was true that the profits from oil were massive.
But whether there was actually any oil in China was still up in the air!
However, with his relative by Su Ning's side, if there was any news, he would definitely be able to seize the initiative without taking any risks. It just took a few words, after all.
Hahaha, a guaranteed win with zero losses.
Meanwhile.
Countless people keeping a close eye on the situation received the news. Su Ning, who had stayed at the ambassador's residence for an entire afternoon, had finally come out, and—
She was personally escorted to the door by the ambassador himself!
He even waited until she got into her car before heading back inside.
Everyone was shaken.
No one knew how Su Ning had managed it, but according to reliable sources, the American ambassador had even called her his closest friend in Chinese and invited her to visit again.
Those who had been proven wrong couldn't even care about the sting of their bruised egos.
Because Su Ning publicly announced that she was going to host a housewarming banquet. Nominally, it was to celebrate moving into a new home, but the guests she invited were anything but ordinary.
What was even more extraordinary was...
Most of these invited bigwigs indicated they would attend, and at the very least, they would send family members in their stead.
Suddenly, this banquet became the hottest ticket in town.
People all over the city were pulling strings, desperately trying to get their hands on an invitation stamped with the character Su.
At this time, someone let a detail slip.
They mentioned they would be bringing the young men of their family... The intention was self-evident. Others quickly followed suit, figuring there was no harm in trying their luck. What if Miss Su took a liking to their own child?
In the house of the next-door neighbor.
The madam was excitedly directing the servants to iron clothes, fetch jewelry, and tailor new outfits for her children.
"Come on, our son is only ten years old. Why join in this fuss?"
Her husband asked in confusion.
"What do you know?"
The madam rolled her eyes at him. "Our son is still young, but our daughter is not! Miss Su's banquet will be full of outstanding young talents. When else do we get such a rare opportunity to have them all gathered in one place?"
"It's the perfect time for matchmaking!"
She said with a delighted smile.
Miss Su was only one person. Even if she was dazzled by all the choices, she could pick ten at most as candidates; there would still be a whole bunch left over for the rest of them.
"Shoo, shoo, go to work if you have nothing else to do. Don't cause trouble here. At least try to get a promotion. If we weren't Miss Su's neighbors, getting an invitation this time would probably be impossible."
"Don't you look down on me..."
