Chapter 152: Mr. Chu, Are You Kidding Me?

"Everything has two sides!"

"Xiaofeng, do you really think you will never be interested in Lingshuang in your lifetime?"

Chu Tianli's confident and articulate voice echoed in the room, carrying the absolute air of someone holding all the winning cards!

There was no other reason; he only needed to look at the background checks he had conducted on Lin Feng to know.

Having lived under someone else's roof since childhood, the boy inevitably possessed a maturity surpassing his peers. What he lacked, however, was precisely the guidance of an elder.

Chu Tianli was more than willing to step into that role, especially since this was the son of his benefactor.

He was also the candidate he had chosen to be his future son-in-law.

To be honest, had Chu Yunran's personality not been naturally vibrant and restless, he would never have handed the family business over to Chu Linghuang at such an early stage.

In Chu Tianli's view, neither Chu Linghuang nor Lin Feng was currently qualified enough; they both lacked life experience.

Yet—

"Mr. Chu, are you joking?"

Lin Feng's voice rang out abruptly, mixed with a hint of helpless laughter, while the corners of his eyes bore a heavy, biting mockery.

He had changed his form of address.

He no longer called him uncle, addressing him as Mr. Chu instead, and even dropped all honorifics from his speech.

This sudden shift caused Chu Tianli to frown deeply as he stared fixedly at Lin Feng. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hah."

Lin Feng let out a faint chuckle, his gaze piercing and unwavering. "Since Mr. Chu has told me a story, how about I tell Mr. Chu one in return?"

Chu Tianli remained silent, his stern eyes locked onto Lin Feng, a growing sense of urgency filling his gaze.

Lin Feng hooked the corners of his lips slightly and began to narrate in a steady, unhurried tone.

"Once upon a time, a lion walked down a street. The passersby thought the lion was untameable and rebellious, so they locked it up, attempting by every forceful means to make it submit. But no matter what methods they tried, they never achieved the desired result—"

"This person never expected the lion to possess such untamed wildness, and gradually, she found herself developing special feelings for this lion..."

His voice was light and calm, yet it landed heavily in Chu Tianli's heart.

Both of them were clever individuals, and Chu Tianli naturally understood. The lion in Lin Feng's story was none other than himself, while that person was his daughter.

Before having the two young people brought over, he had also investigated their situation—of course, even without an investigation, he was well aware of his daughter's methods, but after all, there were reasons behind everything.

He hoped Lin Feng could understand his daughter, but—

"So she began to escalate her actions, because the lion's unyielding nature was driving her to the verge of madness—"

Lin Feng's voice sounded once more, and this time, his tone dropped a few degrees lower.

With a stern expression, he looked straight into Chu Tianli's eyes and sneered with an aura of arrogant, unbridled mockery once again, "What? Mr. Chu, are you afraid that I might drive Chu Lingshuang mad?"

His words struck like a sharp sword, piercing straight toward Chu Tianli!

Chu Tianli never imagined that Lin Feng, who outwardly appeared soft and easy to talk to, could actually be so fiercely formidable!

Lin Feng sat upright across from him. His calm face remained soft and gentle, but those eyes were like deep pools—beneath their icy, piercing chill, they radiated an overwhelmingly powerful and breathtaking pressure—

He had far exceeded his expectations.

Suddenly, Chu Tianli felt an inexplicable tremor in his heart. Clearly, this was his own Chu household, and he was the towering head of the prestigious Chu family within the realm. Facing Lin Feng, whom he had invited, it should have been natural for the guest to defer to the host.

Yet at this very moment, he distinctly felt that everything had changed. The very instant Lin Feng's words fell, the entire dynamic had completely reversed, seizing the initiative from him!

Chu Tianli's lips quivered slightly, and for a long moment, he was utterly speechless.

With a cold expression and a predatory gaze, Lin Feng pressed closer, locking eyes with Chu Tianli as he spoke again:

"Then, Mr. Chu, leaving aside the fact that you are her father, what gives you the right to think she possesses the privilege of demanding my understanding, and by what logic do you expect to persuade me to understand her?"

And you do so with such a condescending posture.

Do you take this for a child's game?!

Just because of her tragic background, I am supposed to show sympathy toward a rampant, habitual abuser?!

Instead of punishing the perpetrator, you tell the victim to understand and willingly accept it.

How utterly insane this world is!

Faced with Lin Feng's suddenly towering presence, Chu Tianli's words were choked right back down his throat.

He stared speechlessly at Lin Feng, and at that very moment, realization finally dawned on him.

Some children are simply born needing no guidance, for their inner strength is profound enough that any counsel from "elders" is never anything more than icing on the cake.

The question he had posed earlier was entirely superfluous when it came to Lin Feng!

He had been wrong.

In this bustling, noisy world, surrounded by all sorts of information and ideologies crisscrossing every direction, Lin Feng had not only avoided being swallowed by secular society, but had walked out of it standing tall and upright.

His inner strength had grown to an unimaginable degree.

What qualifications did he have to persuade him, leaning on that ultimate fallback of an "elder"?

In that mere fraction of a second, Chu Tianli felt as though all his inner thoughts had been laid bare, and the crushing defeat of losing face overwhelmed him entirely!

Clenching his teeth tightly, a desperate threat slipped uncontrollably from his lips: "Lin Feng, how dare you speak to me like this? Aren't you afraid I'll use my methods to torture you?"

"Is that so?"

Lin Feng suddenly laughed.

He looked at Chu Tianli with a smile, showing not a trace of fear. "Compared to the Chu family, I am indeed no different from an ant. But wasn't the father you keep mentioning actually your benefactor?"

Just who was holding the winning cards after all?

Meeting the faint smile on Lin Feng's face, Chu Tianli froze, his breathing suddenly accelerating. He looked at Lin Feng in sheer disbelief as belated realization struck him.

From the very moment he uttered those words, he had already lost.

He had lost the entire game completely!

From the very beginning, this was a game Lin Feng was destined to win.

A sense of defeat unlike any he had ever known surged into his heart. Chu Tianli gazed deeply at Lin Feng, who sat with a posture of upright integrity and an open, untroubled expression. In sharp contrast, Chu Tianli felt that at this moment, he resembled nothing more than a despicable villain.

He no longer even had the courage to meet Lin Feng's eyes.

Seeing Chu Tianli's evasive gaze, Lin Feng's tone softened. "I can understand Mr. Chu's desire to look out for his daughter. However, this has nothing to do with whether you wish to take me in as a son, so I must ask Mr. Chu not to conflate the two concepts."

This was a classic de-escalation tactic.

It was a method Chu Tianli frequently employed in the business world—while driving an opponent to a dead end, he would leave them a way to catch their breath, thereby avoiding mutual destruction.

Traditionally, the one who offered an out was always Chu Tianli himself.

Yet at this very moment, the roles were reversed, and the one offering the way out was Lin Feng...

With an open and calm gaze, Lin Feng smiled faintly and raised his wrist. Right before the astonished eyes of Chu Tianli, he removed the red fortune bracelet from his wrist and placed it down on the tea table.

Then, with a stern and resolute expression, he added: "Similarly, Uncle Chu, I must now reconsider whether what you previously told me about my father was actually the truth..."