Female Novel
Chapter 236
Winston was complimenting his brother when he suddenly changed the topic. “It’s too bad that thebetter he’s doing there, the angrier Father is at him. He’s the one who’s most suitable at handling theantique business, but he’s not the tiniest bit interested in antiques at all.”
Casper narrowed his eyes slightly. The Lanes are really something. Not only is Mr. Lane talented andintelligent, but Winston is also humble and polite. I’ve only met him for less than half an hour but hesounds so genuine when he talks. He’s the oldest son of the Lanes but he’s not arrogant at all!
The Lanes were definitely not ordinary people. One would just have to look at the people in a family todetermine if they were strong. Casper could tell that they were a powerful family judging by Winston’sattitude.
“Mr. Simpson? Mr. Simpson, are you listening?”
Winston’s voice brought him back to reality and he scratched his head while saying, “Please don’t callme Mr. Simpson, Winston. You’re much older than me and you’re also the Lane family’s oldest son.”
“You’re worrying too much. My father has been praising you since he came back from Victoria’sChamber. He said that you’re very knowledgeable ever since you’re young and he wanted us to learnfrom you. How could I not properly address you when he treats you as his good friend?”
Casper didn’t know how he should answer. Mr. Lane is sure zealous.
They drove into a manor and stopped in front of the mansion.
There were a few servants who came forward to Casper the moment he got down from the car. “Thisway please, Mr. Simpson. Mr. Lane is waiting for you in the dining hall.”
They treated him like a king. Feeling embarrassed, he told them that he could make his way there onhis own.
He studied the interior of the Lane family mansion as he walked. Even though the land wasn’texpensive in the suburbs, the decorations in the building must have cost at least ten million. Besides,they were also involved in the antique industry, and hence there had to be a lot of treasures hidden inthe mansion.
Casper followed the servants down the corridor and into a dining hall. Plates of dishes were arrangedon the table and Tony was waiting for him with a smile on his face.
“You’re finally here, Casper. You must be hungry after your journey here, right? Let’s eat first. We’ll talkafter our meal.”novelbin
The latter invited him to take his seat and instructed his servants, “Go call the others so that I canintroduce them to Casper.”
Casper knew that the rich followed a lot of etiquette rules so he sat quietly while waiting for the rest ofthe Lanes to arrive. Tony smiled. “You don’t have to be so cautious with what you do at my place. Iknow that youngsters aren’t fond of pointless formalities. You don’t have to be so tense.”
The former chuckled upon hearing that. This old man seems pretty easy going, so why is there aconflict between him and his youngest son?
A few moments later, a few people who looked just a few years older than Casper walked in. Theymust be Mr. Lane’s children.
Since Winston was the oldest, he started to introduce his siblings. Tony had four sons and twodaughters in total, including Wyatt. All of them were polite and it showed that the Lanes had taughtthem well.
While their family was polite, the same couldn’t be said for the rest. The wives of Tony’s second andthird sons were disdainful after they saw what Casper was wearing.
Everyone took their seats and Winston whispered after sitting down beside him, “My sisters-in-law arefrom rich families. Please forgive them for their arrogant attitude.”
Casper nodded to let him know that it was okay. Besides, he was quite fond of Tony, so he wouldn’thave gotten angry in front of him.
“It’s too bad that none of my children are as accomplished as Casper,” Tony sighed suddenly.
His children instantly lowered their heads in shame at his words.
“I finally had a promising child but he just had to anger me. He would always go against me no matterwhat.” He was obviously talking about Wyatt from Business University and it seemed like he valued hisson a lot.
“It seems I’ve embarrassed myself in front of Casper. Let’s just start eating. Sigh… The times havechanged. There used to be a rule where we wouldn’t talk while eating in this household. Now, even Ifind the rule troublesome, so I have abolished this rule.” Tony smiled bitterly as he picked up his cutlery.Only then did the others dare to start eating.
“Rules are fixed but people are not. The point of not talking while eating is to develop good habits. Tome, it seems like everyone from the Lane family is respectable and polite. This shows that even withoutthis rule, you have all achieved the original purpose of establishing the rules.”
Tony laughed at that. Anyone would be happy when praised. After sipping on his glass of wine, he said,“It’s fun to chat with you, Casper. Judging by your sitting posture and your etiquette before the meal,you must be from a rich family too, right?”
Casper was slightly shocked but was relieved that he had only mentioned it instead of asking morequestions.
“A rich family? Him?” the second son’s wife uttered, “The clothes he’s wearing right now don’t evencost a hundred. Which rich family is he from that’s so stingy?”
Her husband quickly gestured for her to shut up. Tony looked unhappy after hearing what she said butstayed silent.
“Casper, you’re studying at Business University. Do you speak to my youngest son frequently?” heasked.
“To be honest, I just met with Mr. Lane earlier today. I had some questions for him, and he’s quitefamous when it comes to economics,” Casper answered.
Tony stared at the glass of wine before him and he sounded joyful as he said, “That brat. He actuallyhas people calling him Mr. Lane. That must mean he’s putting his talents to use.”
He started to chat away at the mention of his youngest son. Casper noticed that the father and sonactually had quite a good relationship and were unlike fire and ice, like how Wyatt had described themto be. He also realized that the only other time he had seen the look in the former’s eyes was when hewas examining the authenticity of the antiques.
“How old do you think my son is, Casper?”
“He should be about thirty. He wore a beard when I met him and he looked quite old,” he replied aftergiving it some thought.
Tony shook his head. “He’s only twenty-five, just a few years older than you. He never cares for hisappearance and people would always assume that he’s older than his actual age. He had graduatedfrom university when he was nineteen and went abroad to study for his PhD. After that, he became alecturer at Business University. He was a child prodigy and had an IQ of 160 when he got it tested
when he was younger. Everyone was talking about how we had a genius in the house and that theLane family finally had an heir. Yet God had only given him the brains.”
He became more emotional as he spoke and Winston quickly reminded him, “Calm down, Father.You’re going to fall sick!”
Tony glared at him and said, “Have you been watching too much drama? Do you really think that olderpeople have such weak bodies? That we’ll get a stroke or a heart attack when we’re angry? You’ve gotto change your perceptions and attitude. You’re very thoughtful and would have backup plans foreverything. However, the fact is that you’re just not shrewd enough nor good at strategizing. If only youhad thirty percent of your brother’s capabilities, I could have retired and lived in peace.”