NOVEL NEXT Chapter 16
Chapter 16: What Has Su Chen Done Again?:
While Su Chen was happily picking up trash, Su Zhenxing was at his office handling company documents when his phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and frowned, clearly reluctant to answer. The caller was Chen Guang, another wealthy businessman in Haishi, but the two had never gotten along. Whenever they met, they would either argue or trade insults.
Without hesitation, he declined the call. Just as he was about to resume work, the phone rang again. It was still Chen Guang. Annoyed, he rejected the call once more, but Chen Guang was persistent and called again.
Su Zhenxing frowned in frustration. It was clear that if he didn’t pick up, Chen Guang wouldn’t stop. Yet, he couldn’t turn off his phone in case an important business matter came up. Helpless, he finally answered. The moment the call connected, a burst of loud, obnoxious laughter erupted from the other end.
“Hahaha! Hahahaha! I can’t stop laughing! Su Zhenxing! Oh, Su Zhenxing! I never thought I’d live to see the day you became a joke! And such a ridiculous joke at that! Hahaha! This is too good!”
Su Zhenxing’s face darkened, his patience wearing thin. “Chen Guang, are you insane? You called me just to laugh like a lunatic? If you have something to say, say it. Otherwise, I’m hanging up!”
Chen Guang barely suppressed his laughter. “Wait a minute… don’t tell me… you don’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Your family is all over the trending searches!”
Trending searches? Su Zhenxing frowned. He hadn’t increased any promotional spending recently, so why would they be trending?
“Hahaha! So you really don’t know! Go check the trending topics right now! ‘Tycoon’s Son Collecting Trash’! It’s hilarious! Absolutely priceless! I can’t—I need a moment to laugh some more. I’m hanging up now!”
Before Su Zhenxing could respond, Chen Guang ended the call. A deep sense of unease settled in his chest. “Tycoon’s Son Collecting Trash?” What the hell was that supposed to mean? Suddenly, he thought back to Su Chen’s bizarre behavior yesterday and felt an ominous premonition rising inside him. Without wasting any time, he opened his laptop and searched for “Tycoon’s Son Collecting Trash.”
Within seconds, multiple trending headlines popped up.
Tycoon’s Son Collecting Trash.
Tycoon’s Son Was Once Kidnapped.
Tycoon’s Son Sells Trash for Money.
Kidnapped? That was Su Chen’s experience. A wave of dread crashed over him. His heart pounding, he clicked on the first trending topic. As the page loaded, the first thing that appeared was a photo—Su Chen, grinning ear to ear, rummaging through a trash bin.
Su Zhenxing’s face turned stone cold. It was undeniably Su Chen, and the background was clearly their villa neighborhood.
Rage surged through him. Yesterday, Su Chen had already caused enough trouble. Now, he was making a scene outside?! Humiliation! This was absolute humiliation! His face flushed red with fury. He didn’t bother looking at the other trending posts—he knew they would all be about this mess. There was no way he could focus on work now.
Snatching his phone and car keys, he stormed out of the office and drove straight home.
The moment he stepped into the villa’s living room, he was greeted by an infuriating sight—Liu Yanran, Su Qiqi, and Su Mu were sitting together, laughing and chatting as if nothing was wrong. A picture-perfect happy family scene. Seeing this, anger boiled in his chest. What the hell was Liu Yanran even doing at home?!
Su Chen had just disgraced the entire family, and she was sitting around like nothing had happened?!
With a furious roar, he shattered the peaceful moment. “Liu Yanran! Where is Su Chen?!”
“Where is he?! Why aren’t you keeping an eye on him?!”
The sudden outburst made all three of them flinch in shock. Su Qiqi and Su Mu looked at each other, confused and hesitant to speak. Only Liu Yanran dared to frown in displeasure.
“Su Zhenxing, what’s wrong with you?! You just got home and you’re already yelling like a madman! What kind of behavior is this?!”
Su Zhenxing let out a short, incredulous laugh. “You actually have the time to lecture me about yelling? Fine. Then answer me—where is Su Chen?! And do you even know what he’s doing right now?!”
Liu Yanran scowled. Again with Su Chen. His disappearance as a child had caused her endless blame from the elders. When he returned, he was nothing but an embarrassment with his lack of refinement. Yesterday, his crazed antics had made it look like she had mistreated him. How could she possibly like him? Every time Su Chen was involved, it was never anything good. And now, here was Su Zhenxing, furious about him once again.
Losing patience, Liu Yanran snapped. “Su Chen?! How should I know where he is?! He’s an adult! Am I supposed to watch over him every second?! But when he left earlier, he did say something… He said he was going to make money.”
Hearing that, Su Qiqi sneered. “That’s right, Dad. If Su Chen actually went out to do some menial labor, I wouldn’t even want to acknowledge him as my brother anymore! It’s just too humiliating!”
Su Mu, however, tried to defend Su Chen—though his words were anything but flattering. “Dad, Brother just doesn’t understand the ways of a wealthy family yet. That’s probably why he’s doing these low-class jobs. You shouldn’t be too harsh on him. Just teach him properly, and he’ll learn.”
But that only made Su Zhenxing’s fury rise further. “Humiliating? This isn’t just humiliating! This is a disgrace to the entire Su family!”
Turning to Liu Yanran, he seethed, “Liu Yanran, do you even know what Su Chen is doing right now?!”
He threw his phone onto the sofa in front of her. The screen displayed the trending topic: “Tycoon’s Son Collecting Trash.”
For the first time, Liu Yanran’s expression changed. Her anger cooled as a sense of foreboding settled in. Just what had Su Chen done this time?
Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone. The moment her eyes landed on the screen, she froze.