Chapter 274 - The Family Business (1/2)

Danson woke up after a really awkward and intense night with Marissa's parents. Although the two elders let Danson sleep on the sofa in the living room, they did not approve of his controversial relationship with their daughter.

”No one can find out that Daniel is your child. From now on, you can visit your son and provide child support if you want, but you can't call him your son in public. It will raise too many questions...” Marissa's mother said.

”But, we can't hide the truth for the rest of his life...” Marissa said.

”You should have considered that before you decided to marry his grandfather. You were the one that made things so complicated. Now you need to face the consequences for your actions. As a parent, you need to take your child's welfare into consideration,” Marissa's father lectured. ”The two of you are too simple-minded. Did you think that by showing up here, you could just claim your son and live happily ever after as a couple, Danson? You will never be able to live as a normal couple.”

He then pointed to the sofa, ”Danson, you can sleep on the sofa tonight, but starting from tomorrow, you will be Daniel's stepbrother again. We will never mention that you are his father ever again! Even if Marissa decides to move back to Hong Kong with you, she will continue to be your stepmother in public. We will all take this secret to the grave...”

Danson sat up and thought about what Marissa's father said the previous night. The old man was right. He had been too simple-minded. This was real life...not a fairytale...

...

Meanwhile, in Guiyang City, Halia decided to show her husband around her family business.

”I've seen your family's casino. Now, let me show you where I grew up.”

As Halia said this, their car pulled up at a beautiful field up on the mountains. As soon as they stepped out, the strong smell of fermentation lingered in the air.

”We own this field of red sorghum. It is the basic ingredient of our baijiu and we have farmers that maintain it and harvest it for us. Not too far away is our distillery, I will take you there in a minute,” Halia smiled as she ran her hands through some tall stalks of sorghum. ”I used to run through these fields when I was small. Life was a lot simpler back then.”

Jackson looked out on the vast field of red. Although he lived in a safe house that worked as a functioning vineyard when he was in France, baijiu was very different, and it fascinated him.

”This entire region is famous for producing baijiu, so there are many distilleries and fields around here. You may have noticed the fermenting smell in the air. That's from all the distilleries. It's a bit strong at first, but you will slowly get used to it,” Halia explained.

She then led Jackson back into the car and the driver drove them up the road to the distillery.

The distillery was old but well maintained. Its ancient architecture made it nostalgic and charming to look at.

”My family has been doing this for over a century and everything has always remained the same,” Halia said as they began to walk inside.