Long Jian still wanted to succeed his father and become the next head of Long Industries. It was what his mother stamped into his consciousness ever since he could remember. From his childhood to teenage years and young adulthood till he was transferred to the main headquarters of Long Industries earlier this year, he had been working hard for this one goal. His desire was as great as his mother's, like a hungry beast eyeing a big juicy meat. His mother's great hunger remained as ever. As for his hunger? It felt like it had lessened.

'I wonder when I started feeling this way,' he thought, lifting his head up to let the steaming water rain down on his face.

It was around the time he started working under the COO that things started to change for him. The COO was strict yet passionate about his work. Seeing Long Jian working hard and performing beyond what was required of him impressed the executive. The COO took Long Jian under his wing, constantly testing his limits by dumping difficult tasks on him. Long Jian completed everything the COO threw at him with flying colours. The older man became instrumental in Long Jian's promotion as Deputy COO.

By closely working with the COO almost everyday, Long Jian finally experienced something that he never had all those years ago as a child—the presence of an active father figure in his life. The COO was very passionate in his work, yet was still able to balance it with his family life. Long Jian had been invited to dine at the COO's home. He had met the older man's family—his wife, adult children who all had their own successful careers, grandchildren, pets and other relatives.

Whenever Long Jian visited the COO's home, he was always amazed at its happy and warm atmosphere. It felt like a real family, a real home.

"They're so different from each other," he muttered under the hot shower, comparing the COO to his own father, Long Tengfei.

Both the COO and Long Tengfei were successful men in the business world, but why were their family lives so different from each other? One had a happy, complete and harmonious one while the other one had a severely broken and dysfunctional family (if it could still be called that) where wives, mistresses, children and the other branches were pitted against each other.

Yes, Long Tengfei cared about all of his children. He was generous in providing for them financial-wise and never batted his eyes about the eye-bulging costs of their education. However, he lacked in providing a constant presence in his children's lives, depriving them of a reliable father figure.

Compared to Long Tengfei's distant, hands-off paternal love, the COO's love was visible and tangible. Once the COO took Long Jian under his wing in the company, he treated him like a son, mentoring him not only about work but also about life in general. His words of wisdom gradually opened Long Jian's mind to a wider perspective outside his obsessed hunger to succeed his father as the next head of Long Industries.

As a result, Long Jian awakened his true passion in his work. Now he loved his work as Deputy COO. Truly loved it. It wasn't just a means to achieve the goal he shared with his mother anymore. This awakening of passion automatically made him perform even better at work, completely outshining Long Hui and his other peers in the company.

There were even some occasions that he would completely forget about his goal of competing against Long Hui, showing everyone that he was better and deserving to be their father's successor because he had become so engrossed in his work for the sheer love of it.

He turned off the shower but remained standing there for a few moments, as he was finally able to process the changes in his mindset.

"Long Tengfei is a pathetic excuse of a father." His low voice bounced in a subtle echo around the bathroom.

There was resentment inside him towards his father…but there was also pity.

"He wants all of his children to be peaceful." He sighed. "How? We weren't wired to do that. We were programmed to battle each other. It's too late."

###

About a week later, Long Jian was at the airport. He just returned from a quick two-day business trip in another far-away municipality.

He was often sent out on business trips to supervise official inspections, attend meetings and even close deals on his own. He was also quite a charismatic person, giving a positive impression to clients and partners. This was the reason why the COO liked sending him on important business trips in addition of trusting his ability to complete his assigned tasks.

The airport wasn't very busy at this time. He was able to exit quickly. His assistant picked him up. They were heading to the parking area when his assistant received a call. His assistant's expression changed all of a sudden and gave him a worried look.

"What's wrong?" Long Jian asked.

"Sir, your mother is in the police station right now."

"What?!" Long Jian was shocked. "What happened?!!"

He was about to grab the phone from his assistant when his eyes caught sight of one of the public TVs around the airport. It was playing the news.

His expression turned ugly as he watched his mother and Wei Lan fighting each other—clawing, slapping, hitting, punching, kicking, and hair pulling—on TV.

The video recording was shaky but the audio was clear.

"You slut! Don't act all high and mighty in front of me just because you married a viscount! You're still the same slut like before!" Zhu Ning shrieked at the top of her lungs as she pulled Wei Lan's hair with all her might, refusing to let it go, even when several bodyguards and other people were trying to separate the two women.

The fight happened in a spa. Various eyewitnesses, mostly the spa employees and other customers, spoke to the media and described what really happened.

###

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