After leaving the company, Cen Zhiyuan went home to drop off some things and then drove to the Cen family mansion.

It was almost 7 p.m. when he arrived at the Cen family villa. The butler welcomed him, and Cen Zhiyuan confirmed that Cen Shengli was in his room upstairs before heading straight there.

As he reached the stairs, a child, like a firecracker, suddenly rushed down and collided with him.

Cen Zhiyuan calmly stepped aside, avoiding the collision.

The chubby boy fell to the ground, wailing loudly. Following him, a girl and the butler hurriedly approached, helping him up from both sides.

Cen Zhiyuan was about to go upstairs when the boy angrily shouted, “You deliberately made me fall! You big villain! Bastard! Ugh…”

Cen Zhiyuan glanced at him, and the girl covered the boy’s mouth in a panic. It seemed that he wasn’t satisfied and stared at Cen Zhiyuan indignantly.

These two children were Xu Lan’s, the boy named Cen Cong, and the girl named Cen Fei, aged five and seven, respectively.

The girl timidly apologized to Cen Zhiyuan, “My brother doesn’t know any better. Please don’t be angry, Second Brother.”

The butler also chimed in with kind words. Cen Zhiyuan, with a cold gaze, ignored them and went straight upstairs.

Cen Shengli had another bout of illness a couple of days ago. At the moment, he was half-leaning against the bed, eyes closed, with only a nurse accompanying him in the room.

Upon entering, the nurse left to another room and closed the door behind them.

Cen Zhiyuan sat down by the bedside. Cen Shengli opened his eyes, turned his head to see him, and spoke with a slightly hoarse voice, “You’re here.”

Cen Zhiyuan tucked the blanket for Cen Shengli and directly spoke about his intentions.

He came to inform Cen Shengli that he planned to leave Cen An.

Cen Shengli remained silent for a long time after hearing this, eventually sighing tiredly, “If you’ve made up your mind, then do as you wish.”

In the living room downstairs, Cen Cong and Cen Fei stood side by side in front of the sofa, afraid to breathe too much. Especially Cen Cong, who had been arrogant just now, now hung his shoulders and lowered his head, looking as meek as a quail.

On the opposite side, Cen Zhisen sat in a relaxed manner on the sofa, and a casual glance from him made the younger siblings not dare to act recklessly.

Even the butler dared not say much, just watching from the side.

“Speak up. Who taught you the term ‘bastard’?” Cen Zhisen spoke, his tone not severe, but it made the two younger ones lower their heads even more.

He had just returned with Cen Zhiyuan. Originally, he came to visit the ailing Cen Shengli and report on matters at the company, but unexpectedly, he saw Cen Cong acting out upon entering.

Children may be uninhibited, and perhaps they didn’t understand everything, but the words they could say were learned from adults.

Cen Fei vigorously shook her head, “No, no one. My brother learned it from watching TV…”

Cen Zhisen’s gaze swept over her and landed on Cen Cong, “You say it.”

Cen Cong, sneakily glancing aside, still dissatisfied, couldn’t hold back and said, “He’s not Dad’s real son, so he’s a bastard. My mom says he doesn’t deserve to be part of our family at all.”

Once these words were spoken, Cen Fei became flustered, and Cen Cong, the little one, hadn’t realized he spoke out of turn, still grumbling.

Cen Zhisen sneered, “Your mom sure knows how to talk.”

“And one more thing,” Cen Zhiyuan said, “Dad, I’ve decided to change my surname.”

Cen Shengli was taken aback, “Change your surname?”

Cen Zhiyuan nodded, “Change it to Ning.”

In fact, it wasn’t just a decision; he had already done it. He had gone to Cen An this afternoon, and he had made up his mind since yesterday when he returned from the Ning family. He wanted a fresh start and didn’t want to be entangled in unnecessary troubles.

When Cen Shengli regained his composure, his eyes were slightly red, “Is it necessary to do this?”

Cen Zhiyuan smiled and reassured him, “Dad, don’t worry too much. As long as you still consider me your son, I will still consider you my dad. Changing my surname and resigning are just for a more peaceful life, away from unnecessary conflicts.”

He had ambitions, but he also had self-awareness. For things he could strive for, he would do his best, but for those he couldn’t obtain, it was better to withdraw early.

After hearing Cen Zhiyuan’s words, Cen Shengli gradually calmed down, “Does Mr. Ning know?”

Cen Zhiyuan replied, “I haven’t told them yet, but I will inform them later.”

When Cen Shengli was about to say something more, he hesitated and swallowed his words, “If you’ve decided, then follow your own thoughts. What outsiders say doesn’t matter. Whether you are surnamed Cen or Ning, whether you are in Cen An or not, you are still my son, Cen Shengli’s son.”

Cen Zhiyuan sincerely said, “Thank you, Dad.”

Xu Lan had just returned from outside. Upon entering, she saw Cen Zhisen reprimanding her children. At first surprised, she later understood the reason, and her expression changed immediately. She reached out to twist Cen Cong’s ear, “What nonsense did you blabber about your brother? Where did you learn to speak like this?”

Cen Cong mumbled, “I didn’t say anything wrong…”

Under Xu Lan’s stern gaze, the little troublemaker shut his mouth and dared not speak.

Suppressing the children, Xu Lan turned around and gave Cen Zhisen a forced smile, “Zhisen, don’t be angry. Congcong is just like this, outspoken. I’ll talk to him later.”

“His outspokenness is a result of adults not teaching him properly. Children aren’t born with these words,” Cen Zhisen’s tone was cold, showing no mercy, “If you can’t teach him well, I will tell Dad, and someone else will do the teaching.”

Xu Lan’s smiling face froze. She didn’t know how to respond.

She was indeed afraid of Cen Shengli, her husband. When she was eighteen or nineteen, still a minor star, the one she initially wanted to seduce was Cen Zhisen. She used all kinds of methods, but Cen Zhisen wasn’t interested. In the end, due to a series of coincidences, she ended up in bed with Cen Shengli, climbing up through her belly and becoming the mistress of the Cen family.

However, despite her external glory, Xu Lan knew in her heart that both Cen Zhisen and Cen Zhiyuan looked down on her. Over the years, she had often schemed against the two brothers behind their backs. Now that she found out Cen Zhiyuan was just a bastard, she felt quite pleased. Only Cen Zhisen, who held the evidence of her past actions, made her restrained, and she couldn’t be too presumptuous.

“What does ‘bastard’ mean?” Cen Zhisen threw the same question at Xu Lan.

Xu Lan’s face turned awkward, and she stammered, unable to answer.

Cen Zhisen didn’t bother with her anymore, focusing on educating Cen Cong and Cen Fei, “Your second brother was just mistakenly switched at birth in the hospital. He is not of unknown origin. His biological parents are teachers at a public high school. He has a name, a surname, and a clean background. The term ‘bastard’ is not allowed to be used in the future.”

Cen Fei quickly nodded, “I understand.”

Cen Cong still had an unwilling face, but he dared not defy Cen Zhisen, “Oh, I understand too.”

Xu Lan wanted to say something more but hesitated. Seeing Cen Zhiyuan, who had come down from upstairs at some point, standing at the front of the stairs without saying a word, she decided not to speak.

He was just enjoying the show with a delighted expression on his face.

Cen Zhisen looked up, and his eyes briefly met with Cen Zhiyuan’s.

Cen Zhiyuan walked forward, positioned himself, and addressed the mother and her two children, “Originally, I thought this matter had nothing to do with you. However, since you enjoy gossiping about me behind my back so much, I’ll inform you. I’ve already resigned and informed Dad and Cen Zhisen. I will submit a written report to the board later. I also submitted a surname change application to the household registration office this morning. From now on, I am no longer part of the Cen family. I just told Dad about it, and he agreed.”

The two children listened with confusion, but the most significant reaction came from Xu Lan. She could barely conceal her joy, although she hypocritically said, “Why bother changing your surname? Shengli must be feeling uneasy about it.”

Cen Zhiyuan was too lazy to argue with her. He had said what needed to be said and was ready to leave.

Cen Zhisen furrowed his brow, stopping him, “You’re changing your surname?”

Cen Zhiyuan replied casually, “Already changed.”

Cen Zhisen asked, “Let’s talk.”

Xu Lan, quite self-aware, took the two children upstairs. The butler asked Cen Zhiyuan if he wanted to stay for dinner, received a negative response, and left, giving them space.

Cen Zhiyuan sat down on the nearby sofa armrest and looked at Cen Zhisen, “Talk about what?”

Cen Zhisen said, “By drawing such a clear boundary, are you unwilling even to stay for dinner at home?”

“No, when I came down, Dad was already asleep. He probably won’t wake up for dinner,” Cen Zhiyuan teased, “Whom should I stay here to eat with? That trio, or you?”

The former didn’t interest him, and the latter, well.

“Do you have to change your surname? Do you think resigning and changing your surname will completely sever ties with the Cen family? Even if you leave the company and the Cen family now, what about the past twenty-something years? Can you erase that completely?” Cen Zhisen persistently questioned him.

Cen Zhiyuan tilted his head slightly, smiling ambiguously, “Brother, you’ve got it wrong. I didn’t intend to cut ties completely with the Cen family by changing my surname and resigning. If you think I’m avoiding trouble, so be it.”

He rarely called Cen Zhisen “brother.” Most of the time, he either addressed him by name or simply called him “President Cen.” Occasionally, a “brother” slipped out, often in a sarcastic tone.

Like now.

Cen Zhiyuan always felt that since Cen Zhisen disliked him so much, calling him “brother” should make him uncomfortable. It was somewhat childish, but it gave him a sense of satisfaction.

Cen Zhisen’s expression remained unchanged, perhaps accustomed to it, “As long as you’ve thought it through. Dad is getting old, and his health is not good. It would be good to visit him more often when you have time.”

“I know,” Cen Zhiyuan stood up, “I won’t say more. I’ll be going back now.”

As he turned around, he remembered something and said to Cen Zhisen, “Thanks just now.”

He didn’t know what was going on in Cen Zhisen’s mind when he spoke up, maybe it was just to educate his younger siblings. But Cen Zhisen was not someone who appeared to be a good elder brother, at least not to him.

Regardless of his thoughts, he didn’t want to owe him any favors. He expressed his gratitude when it was necessary.

Cen Zhisen probably didn’t care about his thanks. He calmly responded with a “Hmm.”

Cen Zhiyuan left, and outside, it was drizzling. His car was parked on the roadside, not in the garage. He didn’t bother asking for an umbrella and walked over with a few steps.

When he got into the car, he casually grabbed a handful of hair that hadn’t been cut in several months and was excessively long. Raindrops on his forehead flowed down to his chin.

Cen Zhisen, standing by the window, witnessed this scene. He had a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes slightly deep, and he didn’t move for a while.

It wasn’t until Cen Zhiyuan’s car drove away that he lowered his eyes, took a deep drag on the cigarette, exhaled, and flicked the cigarette butt into the ashtray beside him.