I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

After yelling at Mike on the ground, Wei Shengjun quickly stepped forward and approached Shen Kang, asking with concern, "Mr. Shen, are you alright? It's all my fault for not raising my son properly! Sigh, it's all my fault. I've been so busy with work that I haven't had time to properly educate my child..."

Wei Shengjun was already cursing his bastard son a thousand times over in his mind: "I finally found a lifeline, and you, you little brat, actually led a group to surround this god of wealth! Luckily, I was lucky and got here quickly. If you had actually beaten this god of wealth, you little brat would be starving!"

Those around were still in a daze and remained silent; only Wei Shengjun's voice could be heard.

After Wei Shengjun had been concerned for a while, seeing that Shen Kang remained silent, his heart skipped a beat, and he felt that things were getting serious.

So, with a heavy heart, she angrily turned to Mike on the ground and kicked him, intending to beat the child in front of Shen Kang.

"That's what happens when you don't study properly!..."

After being kicked, Mike was even more confused and on the verge of tears: No, Dad, they hadn't even touched him yet, but he was the one who tried to touch me!

Seeing that Wei Shengjun had actually made a move, Shen Kang finally stopped standing idly by and quickly went up to hug Wei Shengjun and pull him back, saying, "Never mind, Mr. Wei, the child doesn't know any better. We'll educate him later..."

"..."

Yu Zeliang stood to the side, watching this scene, his face twitching uncontrollably, finding it very difficult to keep a straight face.

If Shen Kang were replaced by a middle-aged man, this scene would be fine. But Shen Kang clearly looks like a college student, and while he's stopping the middle-aged man, he's saying "the kid doesn't know any better." This scene is just too awkward to handle.

Fortunately, the group of people around him were still there, so even though Yu Zeliang was having a hard time keeping his composure, he managed to hold back and didn't burst out laughing.

The group of people around them also had strange expressions.

One of the boys, looking at Shen Kang's face, seemed to remember something, and his expression was the strangest.

Xu Wenjie and Mao Manyi looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xu Wenjie thought she could finally get her revenge, but she never expected such a reversal, and her mind was still a little dazed.

Just then, Mike, after being kicked twice by Wei Shengjun, also got up from the ground.

Xu Wenjie asked in a low voice, "Is this your father?"

Mike grunted in response, looking utterly dejected—the most tragic thing in life is trying to show off in front of a girl you like, only to end up completely humiliated.

Mao Manyi, however, was more focused: "Didn't you say your name was Wei Degao? Why does your father call you Wei Dazhuang?"

"..."

Mike felt even more hopeless and mentally refreshed his list of "the most tragic things in life": the most tragic thing in life is to lose face in front of the girl he likes and then reveal the things he least wants anyone to know.

Mike could only weakly try to explain, attempting to save face: "The name Wei Dazhuang was just something my dad randomly gave me. I'm planning to change it in the next couple of days, and I'll change it to Wei Degao..."

While the three of them were whispering amongst themselves, Wei Shengjun was finally persuaded by Shen Kang and gave Shen Kang face, saying that he would not hit the child anymore and would educate him properly later.

After making the promise, Wei Shengjun looked around and shouted again, "Go do what you're supposed to do!"

The people around him didn't disperse immediately; they all looked at Mike.

Mike waved his hand impatiently, "Everyone, go away." Then he whispered to Xu Wenjie, "You two go first, I'll contact you later."

Having witnessed the situation unfold, Xu Wenjie and Mao Manyi had long wanted to slip away. Upon hearing this, they quickly made their escape.

Upon hearing Mike's words, the others also stopped lingering and fled in a swarm.

After the matter was resolved, Wei Shengjun dragged Mike to Shen Kang and said, "Apologize to your Uncle Shen!"

Mike had no temper in front of his father, so he reluctantly lowered his head and mumbled a few words through clenched teeth: "I'm sorry."

Shen Kang accepted the apology, saying, "Alright, we've become friends through this fight."

Wei Shengjun observed Shen Kang's expression and saw that he was relatively calm and didn't seem to care about the matter, which relieved him.

Then he said, "Mr. Shen, why don't you wait here for a moment? I need to talk to him about something."

Shen Kang nodded. "Okay."

Wei Shengjun then kicked Mike, turned around and walked forward, saying, "Come on."

Mike obediently followed.

The father and son walked a distance, almost to the alley entrance, before Wei Shengjun stopped, turned around, and looked at his son who had followed him. He had originally intended to speak calmly, but upon seeing his son's attire, he was instantly enraged.

Immediately, he grabbed Mike's clothes and started yelling, "Look at what you're wearing! And that thing on your ear, that chain in your backside, you look like a thug! Do you think you're a decent person?!"

Mike was used to it. Although he was resentful, he obediently lowered his head and kept quiet, letting his dad scold him.

After hurling a few insults, Wei Shengjun stopped. He paused, his expression softening, and sighed deeply, his eyes filled with worry: "You've already graduated, why can't you do something serious? All you do is fool around and mess around all day. I don't even expect you to amount to anything. If you could just find a decent job, like working in HR in an office, something to support yourself, that would be great."

Hearing this, Mike finally spoke up, nonchalantly: "Dad, what are you saying? How much does a HR person make in a month? It's not even enough for me to stay in a hotel for a few days. Isn't that just a waste of time?"

Mike had just been kicked twice by Wei Shengjun—oh no, three times in total—and he was a bit temperamental. He said, "Besides, aren't you supporting me? If I really had to support myself, then you wouldn't be of any use, and how would that demonstrate your value?"

Normally, upon hearing Mike say this, Wei Shengjun would have launched into a tirade, but today he was unusually silent for a moment, and then sighed.

"Sigh... Dazhuang, have you ever thought about what would happen if your dad went bankrupt and was burdened with debt that he couldn't repay, and couldn't support you anymore? You have to be able to support yourself."

Mike scoffed. "How could that be..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

He wasn't stupid. Seeing Wei Shengjun say such a rare thing, he had a bad feeling and looked at Wei Shengjun.

Wei Shengjun looked at Mike and said, "You're all grown up now, so I won't hide anything from you. I've been asking you to come to the factory, but you just wouldn't come. When you did come, you'd only stay for half a day before sneaking away. I really couldn't do anything with you. I bet you still don't know the factory's business processes, so I'll tell you now."

"Our factory is an OEM manufacturer of electric kettles for a big brand. We make them and they just put their brand on them."

"Business was going quite well before, but who would have thought that this financial crisis would come! Sigh... After the financial crisis hit, exports plummeted, and even the big brands had to go through a tough time, so we didn't get many orders."

"If it were just one factory like this, we could try to find other brands to manufacture for them. But with the financial crisis, all factories have no orders. The few that still have orders are all trying to survive by providing subsidies to their own employees. So our factory is in a very precarious situation right now. If this continues, it's very possible that it will go bankrupt..."

Mike listened intently.

When Wei Shengjun was young, he already had a small business, and his business grew bigger and bigger. So Mike grew up in a good family environment and his life became more and more comfortable.

Growing up, Mike basically had everything he wanted and lived a carefree life. His biggest trouble in life was probably when he was 17 and was dumped by the girl he liked, which caused him pain for more than ten days.

Mike believed that there was no greater suffering in the world than this.

But he now realizes that there are even bigger troubles ahead.

The mere thought that his father's factory might go bankrupt and his family might lose everything... made Mike feel like the sky was falling, and he felt dizzy and unable to accept it.

Compared to this kind of trouble, being dumped in the past seems insignificant.

"...Are we really going to go bankrupt?" Mike asked after Wei Shengjun finished speaking.

Wei Shengjun nodded. "That's possible. If the company really goes bankrupt, you'll really have to be able to support yourself. And as for your wedding, your parents won't be able to help you much. You'll have to rely on yourself for everything."

Mike remained silent, his eyes glazed over.

In an instant, he thought of many things he had never considered before, and his mind was in a jumble of thoughts.

Wei Shengjun remained silent.

After a moment, he looked at his son, estimating that it was about time, and then said, "But it's not certain. If this Mr. Shen is willing to lend a hand, our factory can still hold on for a while longer. He's practically our family's god of wealth and savior now, which is why I was so angry when I saw you doing such a lousy thing and kicked you."

At this point, Wei Shengjun paused and asked, "Did it hurt?"

Mike pursed his lips. "No."

He was indeed very unhappy and aggrieved that his father had suddenly kicked him several times without any explanation, but now that he heard the whole story, his resentment dissipated.

Wei Shengjun nodded. "That's fine then. Also, if you see President Shen in the future... never mind, it's alright."

Wei Shengjun originally wanted to say, "If you happen to run into President Shen again and see him in trouble, you have to go and help him out." But then he thought, "My son is a bit reckless and doesn't have much of a brain. What if he happens to be in that kind of situation and goes up there after I tell him? What if something happens?"

It's just a business deal; there's no need to involve this kid.