Chapter 87: Old Master Tang (1)

After getting out of the car, Lin Fan studied the estate carefully and muttered to himself, “Damn, this Old Master Tang is loaded. This place is basically a park.”

An elderly man was standing at the entrance, as if waiting for someone. Though he looked to be in his sixties, he gave off an unexpectedly vigorous air. A master, Lin Fan judged him at once. But he knew this old man was definitely not the Old Master Tang his uncle had mentioned. Since Old Master Tang was so highly regarded, at his age he surely would not come out personally to greet guests.

“Hao Tian, you’ve hardly come by these last few years. Today the two of us must have a proper reunion,” the old man said with a hearty laugh, then glanced at Lin Fan. “And this is?”

“My nephew. This is Uncle Wu,” Lin Haotian introduced Lin Fan from the middle.

“Uncle Wu,” Lin Fan greeted him politely. At times Lin Fan was domineering, but in certain situations he knew very well how to observe propriety. Right now, for instance, this man was clearly very familiar with his uncle, so Lin Fan naturally had to be careful with his words.

“He’s Zhen Tian’s son?” Wu Bo asked with a hint of uncertainty.

“Yes,” Lin Haotian nodded.

Wu Bo said nothing more, only smiling at Lin Fan. “The old master is waiting. Let’s hurry over.”

That smile gave Lin Fan a very bad feeling, as though he had fallen under some hunter’s gaze. Could this old fellow have taken a liking to him? Impossible. Sure, he was handsome, but not so handsome that an old man would set his sights on him, right?

The three of them got into the car. This time Lin Haotian was still driving, heading straight for the deepest part of the estate.

Once inside, Lin Fan realized that in ancient times this place of Old Master Tang’s would have been equal to a grand residence. Along the way there were artificial hills, clear waters, and scenery so charming it was almost intoxicating. Lin Fan could not help admiring how well Old Master Tang knew how to enjoy life. When he had free time in the future, he too would need to find himself a proper place to live, and it had better be several times better than this.

Before long, the car arrived at a villa with a distinctly classical style. In front of the villa was a small square, and at its center stood a massive fountain. A mighty golden dragon soared up from the water, its head slightly lowered as it looked down upon everyone who came to the villa, radiating pure dominance.

Seeing Lin Yan’s car, Lin Fan knew his sister had already arrived.

Inside the villa, Lin Yan and Tang Rui were sitting together, chatting and laughing.

“Ting, you never told me you were Old Master Tang’s granddaughter,” Lin Yan said.

“Sister Lin, and you never told me that you knew my grandfather,” Tang Rui replied while eating a pastry.

“I remember when you came last time, Yan was only ten. Her little brother was even younger. As for Rui, she was always running behind the two of you,” Old Master Tang said with a smile, sipping his tea.

At that moment, Lin Fan and the others also entered the villa. “Old master, everyone is here,” Wu Bo said very respectfully. When he was young, he had followed Old Master Tang in the underworld. Later, as he grew older and the country’s crackdown on gangs became increasingly severe, he stayed here and lived a carefree life beside the old man.

When Lin Fan saw that Tang Rui and his sister were both present, he instantly knew his guess had been right. This Old Master Tang was Tang Rui’s grandfather.

“Boy, do you remember me?” said Old Master Tang from the seat of honor. His manner was somewhat bold, yet his features were full of the kindness one would expect from an elder.

Lin Fan shook his head in confusion. From the old man’s words, it was obvious they had met before, but he had no memory of it at all.

“When Dad brought us here before, you were still young. You probably don’t remember,” Lin Yan said, standing up.

With his sister’s reminder, Lin Fan also felt that the old man in front of him looked somewhat familiar. His memory was already hazy, but from the moment he first saw this elder, he had felt a kind of closeness to him. Perhaps he had met him when he was a child. And since his father had also respected this old master greatly while he was alive, Lin Fan smiled and called out with great respect, “Grandpa Tang.”

“Old master, you won’t blame me for never bringing the two of them to see you, will you?” Lin Haotian said, his tone carrying a trace of joking.

“Xiao Wu, hurry and have the people below prepare the meal properly. Haha, I haven’t been this happy in a long time,” Old Master Tang said with a loud laugh. “Ever since Zhen Tian passed away nine years ago, I haven’t been able to uncover a single trace of news about these two siblings. Isn’t that all thanks to you?”

Indeed, nine years earlier, after Lin Fan’s father, Lin Zhentian, died in a car accident, Lin Fan’s uncle had directly taken Lin Fan into Falcon, while sending Lin Yan abroad to study. The two of them vanished in a single night, and Lin Haotian used the authority in his hands to leave behind no clues.

It was only a few years ago, when Zhentian Group rose powerfully across China and even the world, that Old Master Tang managed to catch a few leads. But no matter how much he investigated, he only confirmed Lin Yan’s identity, and even then he still could not be sure whether she was the person he was looking for.

Later, Tang Rui told Old Master Tang that she and Lin Yan had known each other since university. Through Tang Rui, the old man learned that Lin Yan also had a younger brother named Lin Fan, who had recently returned from abroad. That made him even more certain of their identities. And now Lin Haotian’s arrival had happened to explain everything.

After hearing Old Master Tang’s words, Lin Haotian gave a dry laugh, clearly admitting the truth.

Lin Fan, standing nearby, smiled faintly and said to Tang Rui, “So the matter of cooperating with IBM should be settled by now?”

“Yes, thanks to your help,” Tang Rui replied with a small smile.

Looking at how happily Lin Fan was chatting with his only granddaughter, Old Master Tang could not help thinking, a talented man and a beautiful woman, a match made in heaven.

“Why thank me? We were only taking what we needed from each other,” Lin Fan said, the corner of his mouth lifting into a wicked smile that only Tang Rui could see. He lightly pressed his lips together, clearly savoring the memory of that earth-shaking kiss the other night. Even Lin Fan himself did not know how long he had kissed her for. If Lin Yan had not suddenly appeared, he certainly could have gone on a little longer, at least long enough for the little girl to fall in love with that feeling.

In fact, over the past two days, whenever Tang Rui had a spare moment, she would find herself thinking of that scene from time to time. Now that Lin Fan had hinted at it again, her face turned red in an instant.

“Are you all right? Why is your face so red?” Lin Fan asked with feigned concern. Of everyone present, probably only Lin Yan could guess what was really going on.

Seeing that even her grandfather looked puzzled, Tang Rui said, slightly evasive, “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Lin Yan, meanwhile, shot her younger brother a hard glare, clearly blaming him for bullying Tang Rui.

Old Master Tang looked at Lin Fan in surprise, as though he understood something. “Boy, the leader of the newly risen Dragon Soul Mercenaries these past two years is also called Lin Fan. Surely that isn’t you?”

His words were phrased as a question, but in Lin Fan’s ears they carried unmistakable certainty.

It seemed Old Master Tang’s information network was indeed highly alert. Who would normally pay attention to affairs on the international stage? Lin Fan thought to himself.

“If it isn’t this boy, then who else could it be? Now that his wings have hardened, he wants to fly,” Lin Haotian said with a hint of sarcasm.

After all, he was the supreme officer of Falcon Special Forces. Ordinary soldiers would have to address him respectfully as Commander, but earlier in the car Lin Fan had already made him swallow his pride. Now that he finally had a chance to recover some of his face, how could he let it slip by?

“Yes, yes. I’m nothing more than the head of a mercenary outfit, of course I’m not worthy of the nation’s attention,” Lin Fan said with almost no hesitation, smiling openly in front of everyone as he took the remark head-on. None of the people present were fools; they naturally knew he was clearly going against his uncle.

“You...!” Hearing the hidden meaning in Lin Fan’s words, Lin Haotian suddenly had a bad feeling. Could this boy have guessed why he had come to see him? That should not be possible. This was a state secret. Aside from himself, only a handful of people knew about it, and even Old Master Tang did not know. How could Lin Fan possibly know?

Lin Fan naturally had no idea what his uncle had come here for this time, but he knew his uncle had deliberately come looking for him, and there was no doubt about that. Otherwise, there would have been no need to wait for him outside the police station and drag him all the way here.

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