Chapter 76 – Crazy Father and Son
Si Xu was very busy and had originally planned to come over in the evening. But after that phone call, he couldn’t wait until then.
During lunch, Si Xu took some time to drop by. The restaurant was packed with customers, and Lin Jiu was busy with no time to entertain him, so Si Xu just stood by the counter to keep him company.
When Lin Jiu finally finished, they carried their lunch upstairs, finally getting a moment of privacy.
Lin Jiu brought up the matter of Song Mo Zhi again. Her leg was no longer an issue, but now the main focus was her overall health, and Lin Jiu wanted to help her recover.
Si Xu had left so much money with Lin Jiu that Lin Jiu needed to figure out a way to turn it into store revenue.
Ordinary people could eat magic meals and drink magical wine as long as they were consumed in moderation. Lin Jiu planned to prepare both lunch and dinner for Song Mo Zhi, not necessarily full magic meals, but incorporating at least one magical ingredient per dish.
Of course, this wouldn’t count as a full magic meal and wouldn’t contribute to Lin Jiu’s tasks in the Chef God system.
Si Xu thought for a moment. “Is the money enough? I can transfer more if needed.”
Lin Jiu laughed. “Please don’t! I’m afraid if this keeps up, all your liquid assets will end up in my account.”
Si Xu raised an eyebrow. “What’s mine is yours. It’s fine to leave it with you.”
Lin Jiu firmly declined. “When I run out, I’ll ask for more.”
Si Xu, resigned, agreed, knowing that Lin Jiu wouldn’t ask. So in a while, he’d still have to transfer more.
Si Xu arranged for the family driver to pick up meals from the restaurant for lunch and dinner, just like how he used to have his assistant fetch the food.
During this period, Song Mo Zhi would reduce her outings, greatly lowering the chances of danger. By the time she could go out again, those who wanted to harm her might no longer have the strength to do so.
The two had just finished lunch when they heard shouting from downstairs.
Lin Jiu stood up. “I’ll go check.”
When he got downstairs, there was a man sitting at the entrance holding a dark bottle, sitting on the ground, crying and cursing.
“Dad, look at what kind of person you adopted! He’s driven our whole family to the brink! Dad, our family is doomed because of him! We can’t survive like this!”
Lin Han approached. “Boss, he’s holding a bottle of pesticide, threatening to drink it if anyone comes close. What should we do?”
Lin Jiu’s expression darkened. He quickly walked over and shouted, “Lin Hai! If you want to die, go do it somewhere else! Don’t dirty my place!”
The moment Lin Hai saw Lin Jiu, hatred filled his eyes, almost tangible.
“Die!” he yelled, throwing the bottle at Lin Jiu with all his might!
Lin Han, standing beside Lin Jiu, instinctively reached out to block it, but the bottle froze mid-air, suspended half a meter away, with its contents spilling out.
Lin Hai’s face changed, and he hastily pulled out another small bottle from his pocket, fumbling to open it. Lin Han and Chang Beimu immediately lunged at him.
Seeing that he wouldn’t make it in time, Lin Hai hurled the bottle at the nearest table of customers. However, the bottle suddenly changed direction and flew back towards him, dumping its contents all over his clothes and pants.
With a howl, Lin Hai tried to jump up, but instead, he crashed into the glass door and flew outside.
The customers watched as Lin Hai scrambled to his feet, frantically tearing off his clothes. In the freezing weather, he was left in nothing but underwear and a thermal shirt, hopping around barefoot in the street.
“Hongcheng! Hongcheng, come quick! Burn them! Burn them all!!”
Lin Hongcheng appeared from the side, tossing a bucket of liquid at the restaurant’s entrance and flicking a lighter toward it.
The liquid caught fire instantly, and the doorway was ablaze.
Lin Han pushed the door open and chased after Lin Hongcheng, tackling him to the ground.
Chang Beimu turned to grab a fire extinguisher, but Wen Jie had already rushed over with two of them. The two quickly doused the flames, and fortunately, the fire wasn’t large, and it was soon put out.
The diners were terrified, but thankfully no one was hurt, and the fire hadn’t spread.
Lin Hai was still cursing as he hopped around. Chang Beimu kicked him to the ground and pinned him down.
“You bastard Lin Jiu! That old man favored you! He gave you everything—the cooking skills, the money! What are you? I’m his real son! Hongcheng is his real grandson! Who are you?!”
Lin Jiu hadn’t expected them to go this far.
When it came to cooking, it was true that Lin Jiu had learned some skills from his grandfather, but the techniques he used in his restaurant came from the Chef God system.
His expression was hidden beneath his mask, so no one could tell what he was feeling.
Lin Jiu said, “I won’t deny the cooking skills, but I don’t acknowledge that Grandpa left me any money. When I left the Lin family, I took nothing with me, let alone money. You took the house, and everything Grandpa had. What more do you want?”
Lin Hai roared, “You liar! You think I don’t know? He left you 500,000 yuan when he died! That’s just what I saw. How much more did he secretly give you?!”
This is completely impossible. During his last days, Grandpa Lin didn’t even go to the hospital to save money. With no hope of recovery, he didn’t want to waste any more money.
Lin Hai spat, “Got nothing left to say, huh?! That old geezer left a card in the drawer for you and even wrote a letter, saying the money on the card was enough for you to finish school, and if you saved, it would even cover a down payment! Look, see! That old geezer planned everything out for you, leaving you everything. What did he leave for us?!”
Lin Jiu was stunned. He never saw the card or the letter.
Anxiously, Lin Jiu asked, “Where’s the letter?”
“I tore it up! I’m his biological son, all his money should’ve been left to me! You tell me, how much money did that old man leave you?!” Lin Hai’s face twisted in anger.
Lin Jiu was furious.
At that moment, Si Xu spoke up, “Where’s that card?”
Lin Hai shouted, “Hongcheng! Show him the card!”
Lin Hongcheng, who was pinned to the ground, said, “It’s in my pocket!”
Lin Han rummaged through his pocket and found a heavily worn-out card. Jiang Xiwen took it and handed it to Si Xu.
Si Xu took one look at the card and frowned. “Where’s the money?”
“I spent it! It was my father’s money! I have every right to spend my father’s money!” Lin Hai said confidently.
“I kept the card all this time just to prevent this ungrateful brat from taking it! Look, I was right!”
Si Xu asked calmly, “Did you cancel the card?”
“So what if I did?!” Lin Hai hadn’t realized why Si Xu knew about the cancellation.
Si Xu held the card, “Not much, just wanted to tell you that if you hadn’t been so quick to cancel it, you’d have been getting 10,000 yuan a month deposited into it. You canceled it too early.”
Lin Hai was stunned. “W-what do you mean?”
Lin Jiu, now realizing something, looked at Si Xu in shock.
Si Xu explained, “The card belonged to your father, but the money was mine. It was for Xiao Jiu’s tuition and living expenses, 10,000 yuan a month, for over four years — about 500,000 yuan. Your father leaving that money for Xiao Jiu was only right because it was his money to begin with, but you held it back. Don’t you think you owe him that money?”
Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng were dumbfounded, as were all the onlookers.
Lin Jiu stared at Si Xu in disbelief, while Si Xu simply held his hand without elaborating further.
Lin Hai went berserk, struggling violently, and Chang Beimou almost couldn’t hold him down.
“No way! That’s impossible! Just because you say so?!”
Si Xu remained calm. “I know you don’t believe me. I’ve kept all the transaction records for those years. You’d better gather up the money and pay Xiao Jiu back, or we’ll have to pursue this through legal channels.”
“Go ahead! I’m not afraid of you!”
At that moment, the police arrived and took Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng into custody. The police photographed the scene as evidence — the clothes Lin Hai had thrown on the ground and the areas where the liquid had spilled were already corroded and blackened, with a few holes burnt through.
The liquid in the bottle was confirmed to be concentrated sulfuric acid, while the liquid splashed on the restaurant door was gasoline. No need for tests; the smell was obvious.
The police reviewed the surveillance footage from the Mo Yu restaurant. The evidence was clear.
Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng had attacked Lin Jiu in public, thrown sulfuric acid at customers, and Lin Hongcheng had tried to set the restaurant on fire with gasoline. The lives of dozens of customers were in serious danger, and the situation was extremely severe.
Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng didn’t seem to care. As they were being taken away, Lin Hai yelled, “Lin Jiu, just you wait! I’ll get out of this just like I got in! What can you do to me?! As long as I’m alive, I’ll make sure you’re dead!”
Everyone was shocked, murmuring if the man had gone mad. To be this arrogant in front of the police, did he think the police station was his family business, where he could come and go as he pleased?
Lin Jiu had no time to deal with Lin Hai’s crazy threats. He left the scene to Wen Jie, Lin Han, and Chang Beimou to handle, pulling Si Xu upstairs. He needed answers — what was really going on?
Si Xu was helpless. If Lin Hai hadn’t brought it up, he hadn’t planned on revealing this.
After the extortion incident years ago, Si Xu had secretly donated money for Grandpa Lin’s surgery. Knowing how hard it was for Grandpa Lin to support Lin Jiu, Si Xu asked his agent to contact Grandpa Lin and offer monthly financial aid for Lin Jiu’s education and living expenses.
Worried that Lin Jiu might feel self-conscious if he knew, Si Xu instructed Grandpa Lin not to mention the aid and to act like it didn’t exist. The agent would wire 10,000 yuan a month to Grandpa Lin’s card, which was more than enough for them to live comfortably in that remote town.
That year was tough for Si Xu. After being extorted, his mother, Song Mozhi, also got seriously ill. Si Xu was overwhelmed by her condition and his career, leaving the matter of sending money to Lin Jiu entirely in the hands of his agent.
When Si Xu later remembered to ask about it, his agent told him that the card had been canceled, and he hadn’t sent any money for several months.
Si Xu was shocked and asked why he wasn’t informed earlier.
The agent, also surprised, thought it wasn’t a big deal — the cancellation meant the family no longer needed the money. Given how busy Si Xu had been with his family’s health issues, the agent hadn’t mentioned it.
This event made Si Xu lose trust in that agent. Upon investigating, he found that the agent had been making decisions on his behalf without his knowledge. This was something Si Xu could not tolerate.
He dismissed that agent, and Wen Qin later became his new agent.
Si Xu sent people to Lin Jiu’s hometown to investigate, only to find that the old neighborhood had been demolished, and Lin Jiu and his grandfather had disappeared.
It was then that Si Xu completely lost contact with Lin Jiu.
Si Xu hadn’t expected that Grandpa Lin had already passed away and had never told Lin Jiu about the money. He left behind a card and a letter that Lin Hai took, leaving Lin Jiu with nothing at all.
Si Xu could almost imagine that, despite his financial support, their lives hadn’t improved much. Grandpa Lin must have saved all the money, intending to leave it for Lin Jiu, but things had gone wrong.
It wasn’t until today that Lin Jiu learned about this money.
Lin Jiu’s eyes were already red.
Si Xu pulled him into his arms, “I’m sorry, I didn’t expect things to turn out like this.”
Lin Jiu shook his head. It wasn’t Si Xu’s fault. What hurt him was that even though they treated him so badly, Si Xu was still willing to secretly support him.
Si Xu gently patted him to comfort him, “It’s okay, don’t cry.”
Lin Jiu mumbled, “I’m not crying…”
Si Xu hurried to soothe him, “Alright, alright, you’re not crying, just got something in your eye.”
Lin Jiu, with his red eyes, couldn’t help but laugh and pushed him away, “If Lin Hai hadn’t brought this up, were you just going to pretend this never happened?”
Si Xu: “…”
That was pretty much the case.
Lin Jiu said, “Did you know, all these years, I’ve been your fan with no confidence? I always thought you hated me, terrified that you’d find out I was that kid from back then…”
Si Xu hugged him again, trying to comfort him.
Lin Jiu thought of the system — it had spent so much magic power investigating, so why didn’t it find out about this?
[I won’t take the blame for this. You only asked for the truth about the incident from back then. This wasn’t part of the extortion case.]
Lin Jiu: …
Sorry, I wasn’t clear enough.
There were still many things downstairs that Lin Jiu needed to handle, so he pulled himself together and went back down.
The customers hadn’t left yet, and the whole place reeked of gasoline, making it impossible to continue eating.
Lin Jiu decided to give everyone a free meal.
Thinking about how much food would go to waste, which the system would surely penalize him for, Lin Jiu added, “Sorry for the disturbance today. If anyone would like to take their food to go, you’re welcome to do so.”
Given the circumstances, it was a special case. The environment in the restaurant was too bad to stay for long.
Free food and the option to take it home? The customers were more than happy.
Lin Jiu had Lin Han and Chang Beimou hand out take-out boxes, covering the cost of the meal himself.
Once the customers were gone, Wen Jie urgently contacted professionals to clean the entrance and floor, hoping to reopen for dinner service.
There was nothing Si Xu needed to help with, so Lin Jiu told him to focus on his own work, reassuring him that everything was under control.
Si Xu, planning to investigate why Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng had been so brazen, left.
After a few hours of emergency cleaning, the restaurant was ready to serve dinner.
The gasoline smell had been completely purified by the Kitchen God system.
News of the lunchtime incident at the Mo Yu restaurant quickly spread online, drawing widespread attention. Rather than scaring people off, it only attracted more curious visitors for dinner.
As long as the Mo Yu restaurant stayed open, they were willing to come and eat.
What was there to be afraid of? Didn’t Boss Lin have that harpoon for a reason?!
Many of the onlookers had come after hearing that a powerful figure who could make objects float had been present. Diners from lunch had seen it with their own eyes, and some even posted videos online, claiming their worldview had been shattered!
Public demand for the truth was so high that the information wasn’t taken down from the internet, signaling that the truth would eventually be revealed. It was just a matter of time.
Everyone was waiting — waiting for a truth they could either accept or refuse to accept.
—
The next day at noon, Si Xu called Lin Jiu with some news.
Liao Tingwang had woken up.
The reason Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng had gone so crazy was because of money.
Liao Yuan had given them 2 million yuan in cash, telling them to ruin Lin Jiu — by any means necessary, whether by destroying his reputation or physically harming him. As long as they succeeded, the money would be theirs.
If only one of them went, they’d get a million yuan. If both went, they had a better chance of success and would get two million yuan.
Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng had never seen so much money in their lives. They hated Lin Jiu to the core, and even without the money, they wouldn’t have let him off. With Liao Yuan backing them and promising that the Liao family would protect them, they had nothing to fear.
Tempted by the money, they recklessly went after Lin Jiu.
Their limited access to information meant they didn’t know that the Liao family was in no position to protect anyone, let alone themselves.
After being taken away, Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng weren’t worried at all. It was as if they were sure someone would come to their rescue. In fact, that afternoon, a lawyer came to see them. Whatever was discussed during the meeting, their behavior changed after the lawyer left.
Lin Hai started claiming he had a mental illness and experienced hallucinations, accusing Lin Jiu of trying to harm him, which is why he acted in self-defense. He made a huge scene in the detention center, but all the tests came back normal, disproving his claims.
Eventually, they stopped causing trouble and cooperated fully, but they refused to admit there was a mastermind behind them. That is, until the police found the place where they had hidden the money, and they panicked.
They had thought they could serve a few years in prison and still keep the money. When faced with the choice between exposing the mastermind and going to jail or keeping the two million and still going to jail, both father and son chose the latter. After all, even after years of hard work, they would never earn so much money. A few years behind bars for two million? It seemed like a good deal to them.
Neither Lin Hai nor Lin Hongcheng trusted anyone, not even Lin Hai’s wife of many years. Lin Hai hadn’t mentioned the money to her, and Lin Hongcheng certainly wouldn’t share it with his fiancée. The father and son had hidden the money in different places, even guarding against each other.
When the two bags of money were dug up and brought in front of them, Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng finally confessed that Liao Yuan had paid them to do it. They promised to cooperate fully with the investigation, as long as they could keep the money.
Just as the Liao family’s troubles were escalating, the police from City A immediately went to City B to make arrests.
Lin Jiu had already suspected that the Liao or Zhou families were involved. Cornered animals fight the fiercest, but he hadn’t expected it to be Liao Yuan.
Liao Yuan is only a few months older than Lin Jiu. You could say that he truly embodies the ruthless and foolish characteristics of both the Liao and Zhou families. In their eyes, money can solve everything.
And indeed, this is often the case—once someone benefits from it, they become unshakably convinced.
Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng are the best examples. As long as you give them money, they’re willing to go to jail.
It was the same with the nanny and the human traffickers back then—when the money’s right, everything is negotiable.
“The evidence that Liao Yuan orchestrated Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng is undeniable. He will definitely be sentenced. The Liao family might get your father involved, asking him to write a letter of understanding to reduce Liao Yuan’s punishment.”
The Liao family is capable of such a thing. Now, it’s up to Liao Tingwang to decide.
Lin Jiu remained silent for a long time before finally saying, “I understand.”
*
Liao Yuan was panicking. He originally thought his plan would surely make Lin Jiu pay, but he didn’t expect Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng to be so brainless and use such a method. Even an ambush in the dark would have been smarter.
But it was too late to regret now. His lawyer reported back that everything had been taken care of with Lin Hai and Lin Hongcheng—they chose the money and wouldn’t testify against Liao Yuan.
Still, Liao Yuan couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in his heart. He didn’t trust them.
He picked a time when only the old man, Liao, was home and planned to discuss the matter with him, hoping for help.
Trembling, Liao Yuan recounted the whole story to the old man. Old Liao’s face turned livid, and without saying a word, he lifted his cane and beat Liao Yuan, cursing him for being as brainless as his mother. He blamed both mother and son for dragging the entire Liao family down, and said the Liao family would have nothing to do with this. If Liao Yuan had the guts to do it, he should also have the guts to bear the consequences!
After the scolding, the old man turned and went upstairs, not wanting to deal with this troublesome grandson anymore.
Liao Yuan, now bruised and in pain, chased after him, “Grandpa, please help me! What if those two idiots turn me in? What will I do then?!”
Old Liao, enraged, raised his cane and continued beating him, shouting, “Then go to jail! You can join your mother in prison! Stop dragging the Liao family down! Tomorrow, I’ll have Tingwang divorce your mother, and you can go back to the Zhou family. If your Zhou family is doomed, don’t take the Liao family down with you!”
Liao Yuan grabbed the cane, unable to believe what he was hearing.
“Grandpa, are you even human? I’m a Liao family grandson! How can you treat me like this?!”
The old man yanked the cane back and slapped Liao Yuan hard.
“Your mother and the whole Zhou family are no good! Your mother was so desperate to marry into the Liao family that she claimed to be pregnant before the wedding. That night, Tingwang was drunk—who knows if he was even with your mother?! Look at how stupid you are, then look at Lin Jiu. He’s the real Liao family blood! You don’t resemble the Liao family at all! Who knows whose grandson you really are? Don’t expect the Liao family to clean up your mess!”
Liao Yuan’s eyes were bloodshot, trembling with rage. He grabbed the old man’s throat, strangling him in a frenzy!
“All you care about is yourself and the Liao family! You don’t care about anyone else! Now that you think that bastard Lin Jiu is great, you don’t even acknowledge me as your grandson? Because he’s successful, capable, and valuable to you, he’s suddenly better? What about me and my mom?! My mom took care of a vegetable for years! She raised me all by herself! Do you know how hard that was?! How dare you talk about her like that?! HOW DARE YOU?!”
“Bastard!”
Old Liao’s eyes bulged, his face turned purple, and he fiercely clawed at Liao Yuan, leaving deep scratches on his face. Before the second strike could land, Liao Yuan pushed the old man away in panic.
Liao Yuan watched in horror as the old man toppled over the railing. His eyes widened, and he lunged forward to catch him…
The dull thud of a body hitting the ground echoed, and Liao Yuan was paralyzed with fear.
He saw blood slowly spreading from beneath the old man’s head. The old man lay motionless on the ground.
Liao Yuan’s mind went blank, and only one thought echoed: He had killed someone. He had killed someone…
With a scream, Liao Yuan stumbled downstairs and ran out of the villa toward the gate, only to collide with Liao Tingyue and several policemen approaching.
Liao Yuan let out another scream and turned to run back inside.
Liao Tingyue stood frozen in shock, seeing half of Liao Yuan’s face covered in blood as he panicked and turned back.
The policemen, experienced, recognized the signs of guilt immediately.
“Is that Liao Yuan?”
Liao Tingyue nodded dumbly, and two policemen quickly chased after him.
Liao Yuan was quickly caught. His legs had already given out from fear. Crying and wailing, he yelled, “I didn’t mean to… He kept hitting me, kept scolding me. I didn’t want to kill him… No, no, it wasn’t me! I didn’t kill him! He fell by himself! It wasn’t me…”
Hearing Liao Yuan’s words, the policemen realized things were serious. They dragged him back into the villa.
Only then did Liao Tingyue understand something was wrong and rushed forward. When he entered, he saw Old Liao lying motionless in a pool of blood.
“Father——!!!”
Liao Tingyue rushed forward, crying out.
“Call an ambulance! He’s still breathing!” one of the policemen urged.
With trembling hands, Liao Tingyue fumbled for his phone to make the call.
What a complete mess