Father’s Ultimatum

"Father, nice to see you too. You're in such good health!" Jingwei comments, wiping the dripping tea from his face using his sleeves.

'At least the tea is cold this time, and I'm not bleeding,' he thought to himself, even as the floor around him was littered with shattered porcelain.

Small mercies.

He licks a few drops of tea that ran down his face.

Chrysanthemum today. Perfect for his funeral.

"So you still know how to come back home?" Jingwei's father thunders. Such a loving statement to receive, in addition to the welcoming familiar embrace of his father's cup of tea.

"Hello Father, how could I forget? The chauffeur drove me all the way in," Jingwei says charmingly. His father remains unamused.

"Hmph. Sit down."

"Father, I'm dripping tea -"

"Sit."

Jingwei gingerly makes his way to the soft leather couch and sits, feeling a bit like a dog.

"First of all, do you know how much trouble you're in?"

This was a trick question, wasn't it?

"Father, what do you mean? I don't understand."

His father's face slowly started to turn red. Jingwei hastily amends.

"If you're talking about the tabloid piece that claimed I was drugging people, that was false. I was the one nearly drugged!"

"Exactly!" His father slaps the table hard enough that the tea cups rattle, spilling tea from the rim. "How dare you end up in such a position!"

"Huh?" That sounded almost like… his father was concerned? That was new. 

He leans forward slightly to take a closer look, and was surprised to see how his father seemed to look more tired, with dark eye circles that could rival the prized pandas in the zoo, bags under his eyes (non-luxury brand ones), and Crow's feet that could almost reach the greying hair at his temples.

His father suddenly looked older and more haggard. This new development sobered him, however his father's actions left him reeling in confusion.

The last time his father showed him abject concern that wasn't wrapped in insults aimed at demolishing his self esteem was around ten years ago, before his mother died.

What could he say?

"Don't worry Father! This son of yours is blessed by heaven - how can anything bad happen to him?" He even adds a jovial smile.

His father shoots him a flinty glare. His smile dies and he looks back down at the carpet instead. There were footprints on it, which meant that someone had to be pacing frantically up and down hard enough, long enough, to make marks that would last.

Jingwei's heart twinged. He was such an unfilial son. 

"Sorry for not coming back sooner. Please fling more teacups at me if it makes you feel better," Jingwei says, hanging his head in guilt.

Even if his father had not been the kindest or nicest to him, and downright tried to control him like a dog sometimes, it still felt wrong to have his old man worry to the point of stomping all over the carpet. He had arthritis for god's sake. What if his kneecaps gave out?

"Hmph," his father repeats, taking a sip of tea from another tea cup as he watches his son sit morosely on their sofa.

"I was worried about Xue Ning - I mean Miss Li," Jingwei continues to explain, sensing that his father wasn't going to say anything unless he started first.

"The doctor said the drugging was more serious than he expected, because she drank the dose meant for me. And the drug wasn't even the usual date rape drug. Father, she was unconscious for hours! I couldn't leave then! And when she woke up, she was so weak! How could I leave her in that state?" He stares beseechingly at his father, hoping that he would understand.

"You would have done better if you had come home and told us immediately what went on so we could investigate, instead of wasting precious time waiting for an unconscious woman to wake," his father replies harshly. "You're too softhearted, you didn't think things through and you prioritised all the wrong issues."

Ah, there was the customary insult, but even that was weaker than the norm.

"The culprits have long fled the crime scene," his father says, gripping his tea cup so tightly his knuckles were white.

"If you had even used an ounce of intelligence, you should have made sure the culprits were restrained before bothering with saving Miss Li. Instead, now they have escaped and will most likely be making more attempts at harming you. Your actions have indirectly caused more trouble for yourself!"

"How can you say that Father?" Jingwei protests hotly. "If not for Miss Li, the one lying in the hospital bed, or worse, in some dingy two-star hotel might be me! How could I leave her lying on the ground without trying to help her first?"

"See! Too softhearted! You are my son, your life is worth more than the life of some random woman!" Sun Haowei thunders, face beginning to resemble the colour of puce.

"Then why do you want this random woman to become my bodyguard then?" Jingwei challenges, sensing an opening. "Shouldn't you actually get a professional to protect this precious son's life?"

"Because this idiot son of mine somehow thinks he is invincible," his father hisses through his teeth. "That's why I want an amateur guard with no experience or training. That way, you'll learn that whatever stupid dangerous decision you make has consequences. Consequences that'll hit her harder than you, because she's smaller, weaker, poorer."

"Father! You can't do that!" Jingwei protests. "How can you treat Xue Ning like my - whipping boy? How can you use her like this? She's my saviour!"

"I have to. Because you do not listen to reason, you do not listen to sense, you simply do not think!" His father roars.

"Did you forget I was listening to the both of you argue? I heard everything - this mess happened because you were not paying attention to your own drink, distracted by a woman's chest. Have you not looked at enough breasts in your lifetime? Why did I need to pay all those club hostesses then?" His father rants, angrily pointing at him.

"B - but " Jingwei tried to argue, but his father still wasn't done.

"Maybe if your bodyguard is a woman you can stare at her chest instead of going out for parties nightly!"

"Father that's improper she's -"

"Because of your reputation the Zhou family has refused to even think about letting their daughter meet you, and no family in our circle would entertain a marriage meeting -"

His father was on a roll, the same way a boulder rolled downhill and crushed everything in its path, and poor Jingwei's arguments were the sad little flowers heartlessly flattened before they could bloom.

"It's not like I want to meet Zhou Yu either, she's so irritating -"

"Your actions continue to damage company stocks -"

"The company stocks rebound anyway!"

"And that's why I cannot leave the company to you!" His father yells.

"I didn't say I wanted the company!" Jingwei protests.

"You certainly wanted money to spend though! Where do you think it came from? Heaven?"

Jingwei falls quiet. Even if he had alternative income streams, it was true that the bulk of his spending was financed by his father.

"See! Until you become more successful than me - you'll do what I say!" He declares with grim finality. Jingwei clenches his fists, but remains silent.

"Tianwei, get Miss Li's situation sorted out. She'll start work as soon as she's able." Jingwei had nearly forgotten that his older brother was still in the room, so focused on arguing with his father.

"Don't worry Father, it'll be done." Tianwei promises easily. Father nods in approval before turning back to Jingwei.

"Do not get yourself into any more trouble, or I will personally disown you. Do you understand me?"

"...Yes." Jingwei replies glumly. It wasn't the first time he was threatened with disownment, and it would not be the last.

"Good, now both of you can scram. I want some peace and quiet." Father says, and Tianwei and Jingwei slink out of the room like sad pets. Well Jingwei does; Tianwei moved with weary purpose.

"Make sure you don't get into trouble," his brother warns. "It won't only be you that suffers from now on."

"...I know," Jingwei mumbles, running his fingers tiredly through his hair.

"Get some rest," Tianwei pats his shoulder before making his way to his home office. To his surprise, Jingwei follows behind him.

"Jingwei?"

"I want to see the contract you're giving her," Jingwei says. "If she's going to become my person, my bodyguard…if we're going to be responsible for each other… then I must know everything. All of her information too."

"Fair enough," Tianwei responds, raising his eyebrows slightly. This was new - Jingwei had never really bothered with the nitty gritty details, but perhaps this new hire could change the way his younger brother dealt with things.

He could become more responsible. More reliable. More respectable.

And Tianwei didn't want that.

=

Back in the living room, Sun Haowei sinks into the leather couch, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Li Xue Ning. He frowns. No matter what, she is only good enough to be a shield for his son, a method to develop his son's potential.

He would never allow for any relationship to develop between her and his son.

She would break his heart, the same way her parents broke his.