Free Web NovelChapter 584: Chapter 246: I Have Ten Apartments—Confident Enough to Pursue Your Girlfriend, Right? (3)
For Tang Chenghu and Tang Chengbao’s generation, the tradition is to pass the succession to the eldest, not the youngest, so Tang Chenghu became the patriarch.
Now it’s time to choose the next generation successor, and the Tang family is very conflicted.
Tang Chenghu doesn’t have a son, so it’s absolutely impossible to pass the position of patriarch to Tang Xia.
Therefore, many members of the Tang family suggested that the old man persuade Tang Chenghu to nurture his nephew Tang Chunlai as the next successor.
But people are greedy, aren’t they? Who is willing to let go of the power once it’s in their hands?
Tang Chenghu doesn’t reject the idea of passing the position of the next patriarch to Tang Chunlai on the surface, but deep down he still wants Tang Xia to take over as the patriarch.
However, Tang Chenghu is not blindly biased toward his daughter. His idea is to have his daughter marry a man who would take their last name so that their future children would carry on the Tang name, thus continuing the lineage.
But this is not orthodox succession, and Tang Chenghu doesn’t dare to express this idea right now.
He wants to wait for the right time, and when it comes, he will make Tang Xia the head of the Tang family so swiftly that others won’t have time to oppose it.
Tang Chengbao and his son Tang Chunlai’s idea is naturally to have Tang Xia get married and leave as soon as possible. As long as she marries now, Tang Chenghu won’t have other options and will have to pass the patriarch position to Tang Chunlai.
Yang Chen can certainly analyze the situation of the Tang family. His reason for urging Tang Chengbao to seize the patriarch position is to drive Tang Chengbao out of the Tang family while Tang Chenghu is still in charge, ensuring Tang Xia’s future stability.
Yang Chen got back into the car, and Tang Xia quickly asked, "What did my second uncle say to you?"
Yang Chen: "Nothing much, just some business friction, it’s got nothing to do with you, no need to ask."
Tang Xia nodded, obediently not asking any further.
Tang Xia herself is quite open-minded, understanding that as a girl she shouldn’t inherit the family business. Her goal is to become a pianist and never meddle in business affairs.
Tang Chengbao thought it through along the way and finally realized.
"I should support Yang Chen and Xiaxia being together and facilitate their marriage soon. As long as Xiaxia marries early, when big brother retires in the future, he’ll have no choice but to pass the patriarch position to Chunlai." Tang Chengbao thought to himself.
Upon returning home, Tang Chengbao immediately reported the situation of Tang Xia dating Yang Chen to his father Tang Hengyu.
"Nowadays young people dating is nothing new, but they’re already taking quilts and food with them, they must be living together outside. I’m not against Xiaxia dating, but it can’t be that way without a proper status. I think big brother should call that guy home to have a talk and promptly settle their matter. If other prominent families find out that our family’s young lady is living together with someone outside without proper status, we won’t be able to bear it. Dad, don’t you think I’m right?" Tang Chengbao said.
Tang Hengyu shivered and hurriedly called someone to bring Tang Chenghu over.
Tang Chenghu: "Second brother is here too. Dad, what’s the matter?"
Tang Hengyu: "Did you know Xiaxia is living with someone outside?"
Tang Chenghu: "What? Impossible! Xiaxia doesn’t even have a boyfriend yet; how could she be living with someone?"
Tang Chengbao: "Big brother, I witnessed it myself, no mistake about it. I saw them carrying quilts and food together to Yihai Apartments. If this isn’t living together, then what is? Xiaxia is old enough that dating should be no problem. The key issue is she’s living with someone but hasn’t brought him home to meet the parents and is without proper status. If this gets out, it’ll reflect poorly on the face of our Tang family. So, big brother, I think we should bring that guy home for an interview. If he’s not suitable, we should immediately have Xiaxia sever ties with him. If he’s decent enough, we should promptly have him establish a relationship with Xiaxia, and preferably they should marry early. Young people tend to be impulsive, and if Xiaxia accidentally gets pregnant one day, we’ll be on the back foot, and our Tang family will look even worse if word gets out. Big brother, what do you think?"
The reason Tang Chenghu originally dissuaded Tang Xia from associating with Yang Chen, testing his sincerity, was actually to intentionally separate them, thus giving Tang Chenghu time to plan the succession to Tang Xia.
Now that his second brother deliberately made things clear, Tang Chenghu naturally understood the underlying motives.
Now the two brothers are engaging in a game, to see who can achieve their wishes.
Of course, the old master Tang Hengyu’s thoughts matter most.
If he chooses to let Tang Xia and Yang Chen freely date, it means he’s willing to give Tang Chenghu time to arrange everything.
If he chooses to have Yang Chen and Tang Xia come home to meet the parents, it means he wants Tang Xia to marry as soon as possible, so in the future, the patriarch position will belong to Tang Chunlai.
Tang Hengyu has always favored his eldest son, asking, "Ah Hu, you really don’t intend to have another child?"
Tang Chenghu replied with a helpless expression, "Dad, Xiaoyan and I are both 50, how can we have another child now."
Tang Hengyu: "In a large family, it’s quite normal to have an affair outside, who doesn’t have an illegitimate child or something?"
Tang Chenghu: "Dad, you know my character, I would absolutely not do such a thing."
Tang Hengyu nodded. Since the eldest refused the last chance, he couldn’t blame the father for being ruthless.
"Then you should call Xiaxia and have her bring that guy home for a look," Tang Hengyu said calmly.
This meant he made a choice for Tang Xia to marry soon, so the future patriarch position would be given to his grandson Tang Chunlai.
