Chapter 705: A Debt of Gratitude as Heavy as a Mountain

The moment Tang Sihai finished speaking, his cell phone suddenly vibrated on the tabletop.

The call was from Ye Chen.

He hurriedly wiped away his tears, feigned normalcy as he answered the phone, and said respectfully, "Young Master!"

At that moment, Ye Chen had just pushed his cart out of the orphanage. Standing on the side of the road at the orphanage entrance with his phone in hand, he said, "Steward Tang, thank you for all these years."

Tang Sihai hurriedly replied, "Young Master, what are you saying? I don't quite understand what you mean."

Ye Chen said, "I just came out of the Jin Ling Orphanage."

Tang Sihai said with a smile, "So you returned to the orphanage, Young Master. After all, that is the place where you grew up; you must have deep feelings for it."

Ye Chen said indifferently, "Enough, stop pretending. Auntie Li has already told me everything. Back then, it was you who had Auntie Li save me, and it was you who arranged for the entire Jin Ling Orphanage to protect my safety. I will always remember this debt of gratitude."

Only then did Tang Sihai sigh softly, "Young Master, you know everything now?"

"Yes, I know. That is why I called to thank you."

Ye Chen did not know that there were still some hidden circumstances behind this.

But at this very moment, he was truly grateful to Tang Sihai.

Tang Sihai hurriedly said, "Young Master, you overstate it. Your father was a benefactor to me. I failed to save your father and mother, and I have been unable to forgive myself for the rest of my life, let alone deserve a word of thanks from you..."

Ye Chen said, "I called not only to thank you, but also because there is one more thing I want to know: who exactly was it that harmed my parents back then? Do you have any clues?"

Tang Sihai sighed, "For so many years, I have been searching for clues, but I have never been able to find any trace..."

"Moreover, when that group of dead soldiers harmed your parents back then, every one of them had a soft capsule made of potassium cyanide in their mouths..."

"This type of cyanide has been a poison exclusively used by secret agents since World War I. 0.1 grams is enough to kill a person, and there is no antidote..."

"Back then, I watched them die from the poison right in front of me, but I was powerless. I wanted to check their fingerprints, but I discovered that the fingerprints on all ten of their fingers had been artificially filed away. I couldn't find any clues on their bodies at all; let alone identifying them, I couldn't even determine their nationality."

Ye Chen asked, "Then do you have any suspects?"

Tang Sihai said, "This... I feel there is a fifty percent chance that it was done by someone inside the Ye family."

"Oh?" Ye Chen asked coldly, "Why do you say that?"

Tang Sihai said, "Your father was exceptionally powerful and full of vigor in Yanjing back then. He was the rising star of the entire Ye family. He led the Ye family to expand its territory and conquer, bringing the Ye family's strength to its peak. But because of this, he became the target of jealousy. Later, he had some friction with top Western families, and subsequently, he was repeatedly framed. Later, he had a disagreement with the Old Master, and in a fit of anger, he left the Ye family..."

"Back then, the Old Master thought your father was just acting on impulse, so he wanted to let him take the opportunity to cool off. He never expected that your father and mother would unexpectedly lose their lives in Jin Ling..."

"From that time on, the Old Master was heartbroken. He was determined to find your whereabouts and bring you back to his side to nurture you. Because of his guilt toward your father, he even hoped to groom you into the next successor."

"However, I was terrified that someone in the Ye family would harm you again. After all, the Old Master was getting old. If he brought you back to the Ye family and exposed you to the Ye family members, he might not be able to protect you completely. So, I took the liberty of settling you in Jin Ling and completely concealed your information. When Gu Yanzhong of the Gu family came looking for you back then, I didn't even let him know you were here."

Ye Chen couldn't help but sigh, "I always thought that my father had hidden my identity information to protect me before he died, which is why the Ye family hadn't found me for so many years. I didn't expect it was you..."

Tang Sihai said guiltily, "Young Master, you were young at the time. I acted on my own authority and made you suffer so much. I hope you will punish me!"

Ye Chen sighed, "How could I? If you hadn't protected me back then, I might have been dead long ago. In the end, I am the one who should be thanking you."

After saying this, he asked again, "By the way, since you have been hiding my information all along, why did you ask me to go back a while ago?"

Tang Sihai said earnestly, "Young Master, I won't hide it from you. The Old Master's health has been getting worse over the last two years. However, he is quite dissatisfied with the current state of the Ye family descendants who are not seeking progress, and he is unwilling to let them inherit the Ye family. That is why I told him you were still alive. The Old Master was naturally extremely excited, so he wanted to groom you into the successor. The Dihao Group and the ten billion RMB were just for you to practice with. In the future, once you are willing to go back, the Ye family's trillion-dollar assets could all be handed over to you to manage!"

Ye Chen said indifferently, "I understand, Steward Tang. For so many years, you have gone to great trouble for my sake."

Tang Sihai hurriedly said, "Young Master, I am unworthy of such praise! Your father was a benefactor to me. Let alone this small matter, even if I had to sacrifice my life, I would never hesitate!"

Ye Chen sighed, "I am not interested in the Ye family's assets. However, when the time is ripe, I will definitely investigate the hidden circumstances behind my parents' murder. When that time comes, those who need to be settled will be settled, and those who need to pay with their lives will pay with their lives."

Tang Sihai was extremely excited and said with a trembling voice, "Young Master! With those words from you, I can die in peace! You are now the Supreme of Nanguang and a True Dragon among men. I believe that with your strength, you will definitely be able to avenge the Second Young Master and the Second Young Lady!"

Having said this, Tang Sihai was already sobbing uncontrollably.

Back then, Tang Sihai had not yet become the Chief Steward of the Ye family; he was an assistant to Ye Chen's father. Because he earned a good income, he was targeted by bad friends who tricked him into going to Macau, where he lost everything on the gambling table.

Tang Sihai subsequently degenerated into a degenerate gambler, borrowing usurious loans everywhere to go to Macau casinos in a vain attempt to turn things around, only to sink deeper and deeper.

In the end, Tang Sihai not only lost everything but was also hunted by loan sharks. When he was at his wit's end, he bet his own hands in the casino, but he never expected that he would lose his hands as well.

According to the underworld rules in Macau, in a casino, no matter what you lose, you must be willing to accept the loss. It is precisely because of this that in the nooks and crannies near the casinos, there are countless gamblers missing hands and feet who rely on begging to survive.

Yet even so, these gamblers still scrimped and saved, wanting to save a little money to go back into the casino for one more gamble. Their lives were completely ruined.

Tang Sihai back then had also nearly fallen to this point.

Later, it was Ye Chen's father who threw out tens of millions to redeem him from the casino, intact, and then forced him to take an oath to never touch gambling again.

To ensure he completely quit gambling and turned over a new leaf, Ye Chen's father specifically promoted him, making him his personal steward, keeping him by his side at all times, and never allowing him to touch any gambling games again.

Since then, Tang Sihai had a sudden realization and served Ye Chen's father wholeheartedly. Not only did he do his best to share Ye Chen's father's worries, but he also learned many valuable management and development experiences from him. Within a few years, he had grown into the most capable servant of the Ye family.

Later, he was appreciated by Ye Chen's grandfather. The Old Master had the intention of making him the Chief Steward of the entire Ye family, but he refused to agree no matter what. In the end, it was Ye Chen's father who forced him to accept the position.

In the words of Ye Chen's father, Tang Sihai's ability had reached a point where he should no longer be limited to being his own small personal steward; he should have a broader space for development.

In his view, the Chief Steward of the entire Ye family could be said to be the highest position that the upper class could give to an outsider. If Tang Sihai could sit in this position, he could ensure his glory and wealth for the rest of his life. He was unwilling to let Tang Sihai give up this heaven-sent opportunity for his own sake.

And Tang Sihai, although he was no longer Ye Chen's father's personal steward, became even more loyal to him, even regarding him as the object he would look up to and serve for the rest of his life.

It was just a pity that Ye Chen's father left too early, which was also Tang Sihai's greatest regret in this life.

He had always felt that if he were still Ye Chen's father's personal steward, perhaps Ye Chen's parents would not have died.

Even if he could have blocked a few bullets for them at a critical moment, they might have had a better chance of survival...