"Jiang Xinxuan?"
No wonder the voice sounded so familiar, it was Jiang Xinxuan, Su Mu's high school classmate, known as the School Beauty.
Su Mu knew that Jiang Xinxuan's family was very wealthy, and he had never hidden his own family's circumstances, so his classmates understood his situation.
Since Su Mu's academic performance was among the top in the school, Jiang Xinxuan, despite being the School Beauty, was also like a school overlord.
The two progressed from initial competition to later helping and supporting each other, becoming very good friends.
Of course, this friendship remained purely platonic, as Su Mu felt that with his family's condition, he couldn't dare to develop anything further with Jiang Xinxuan.
"What's happened to you?"
Wearing a waiter's uniform, Su Mu sparked some guesses in Jiang Xinxuan, who was aware of the modest economic condition of Su Mu's family.
Jiang Xinxuan thought that perhaps Su Mu was trying to earn some money for college living expenses during the summer break.
But now, this situation?
Jiang Xinxuan found it very strange. Was Su Mu about to get into a Lincoln?
But wasn't Su Mu's family just very average?
Not to mention this extended Lincoln, even a car worth several hundred thousand would probably be unaffordable for Su Mu's family, right?
She glanced at an older man behind Su Mu and the few men in black suits standing behind the elder.
Jiang Xinxuan subconsciously thought that Su Mu was in some kind of trouble.
Was Su Mu being coerced into the car?
"Su Mu, have you encountered some trouble?"
"Do you need me to call the police?"
Jiang Xinxuan felt that the men in black suits did not look like good people.
She naturally assumed that Su Mu was definitely being threatened.
"No need, this is my family's car, and my grandfather sent people to pick me up."
Fearing that Jiang Xinxuan would really call the police and create an unnecessary scene, Su Mu hurriedly declined her kind offer.
"Your family's car? Your grandfather?"
Jiang Xinxuan seemed to realize something and suddenly came to her senses.
"Su Mu, you've been deceiving everyone all along!"
Thinking back to how she was just worrying whether Su Mu was being held hostage, it all seemed to be her own groundless concerns.
And then there was the belief she'd held for the three years of high school, that Su Mu's family was very ordinary.
Jiang Xinxuan felt betrayed by someone she had trusted all along.
Su Mu looked at Jiang Xinxuan, and even he didn't know how to explain the situation.
He knew nothing about it before this evening.
Opening his mouth, Su Mu really didn't know what to say to Jiang Xinxuan.
"Hmph..."
Seeing that Su Mu showed no intent to explain, Jiang Xinxuan stamped her foot and walked into the hotel.
She had come out wanting to breathe some fresh air because the family dinner inside felt too stuffy and coincidentally bumped into Su Mu at the hotel entrance.
Watching Jiang Xinxuan's retreating figure, Su Mu knew that the beautiful School Beauty was truly angry with him.
Now was not the right time to explain things to Jiang Xinxuan. Su Mu felt it was more important to clear up his own confusion first.
Once the Lincoln had its young master on board, it slowly started moving.
The head waiter quickly seized the opportunity to express his respect for Su Mu's status.
"What is this all about..."
There were just too many questions in Su Mu's mind.
"Young Master, I am the Su Family's old butler. The master and young master call me Ah Fook, and you can call me Ah Fook as well."
Ah Fook, sitting in the passenger seat, didn't give Su Mu a chance to voice his doubts.
Turning his head, he seriously said to Su Mu, "Young Master, the truth is that the Su Family is a major clan, and your family is extremely wealthy."
A series of giant question marks popped up over Su Mu's head.
Could it be that my family is really this wealthy?
The Lincoln didn't head to the countryside as Su Mu had thought, but instead drove straight into the mountain by the seaside of Huadong City, known as the rich district.
On the way, Su Mu caught a glimpse of several quite luxurious villas.
Su Mu figured one of them must be the destination.
Without any stops, the Lincoln continued all the way to the top of the mountain.
"Where is this?"
What appeared before his eyes was not some modern villa, but rather, to be precise, Su Mu was looking at a castle.
It was a super huge castle!
"Young master, this is your true home, the only castle in Huadong City, a place coveted by the upper echelons of society, which money can't buy, no matter the amount," Ah Fook said, his tone filled with pride.
Shock was the only thing Su Mu felt.
Tonight's shocking revelations were many, and Su Mu wondered whether there were any more surprises waiting for him inside the castle?
While Su Mu and Ah Fook were talking, the Lincoln had already entered the castle gates and come to a steady stop.
"Young master, please come inside," Ah Fook said as he got out of the car, opened the door for Su Mu, and bowed while gesturing for him to enter.
Subconsciously straightening his clothes, Su Mu followed Ah Fook into the castle.
Sitting on the luxurious sofa in the hall was none other than Su Mu's grandfather—Su Junqiang—whom he had always heard was living in the countryside.
The current grandpa looked nothing like the plain old man Su Mu had seen before.
Hair mixed with strands of silver, was combed neatly, Su Mu noticed not a single hair out of place.
The ordinary clothes he used to wear had also been replaced by a very refined suit.
"Grandpa,"
Su Mu still recognized his own grandfather and stepped forward to call out to him.
"Xiao Mu, come here, sit by grandpa," the old man said and asked, "Your dad mentioned you had an accident? Are you hurt?"
Without any hints of severity, the old man warmly welcomed Su Mu.
"Grandpa, I'm fine, it's not that I had an accident, I broke a guest's antique by mistake," Su Mu explained earnestly, not wanting his grandfather to worry.
It must be that dad was in a rush and hadn't explained the situation clearly to grandpa.
"Grandpa, is this really our home?" Su Mu still felt it best to confirm, sitting beside the old man.
The old man nodded, affirming Su Mu's question.
"Then why have mom, dad, and I always lived outside?"
If their family was so wealthy, why were the three of them crammed into a two-bedroom apartment?
Throughout the year, Su Mu would see his grandfather a few times, most times it was his grandpa visiting with Ah Fook in tow.
Su Mu had never noticed anything about his grandfather that seemed different from any ordinary person's grandfather.
The only distinction might have been Ah Fook, who almost never left Su Junqiang's side by more than three meters.
"Xiao Mu, it's an unwritten rule of our Su family."
"Our family used to be nobility, and there have been a few profligate descendants in our history."
"The ancestors were afraid that the Su family's assets would be squandered, so it was decided that boys would be raised outside of the family estate by their parents, living an ordinary life, until they turned eighteen, at which point they could be brought back to the Su family ancestral home."
"This rule has been handed down to your generation, making you the fifth generation," the old man explained.
Su Mu blinked, had he suddenly become nobility?
"So, did dad also come back here when he turned eighteen?"
"Yes, your dad was brought back to the castle by me and your grandmother when he turned eighteen."
Well then, since it was a tradition set by the ancestors, Su Mu felt he had no choice but to accept it.