“Country bumpkin bastard of the The Perry Family... What a cultured and refined university president, intellectual, and renowned scholar! Don’t forget, sixty or seventy years ago, he—yes, him—was just a naked little cowherd! Looking down on farmers? Have you forgotten your roots?!”

Brian Perry grew more and more agitated as he spoke. He suddenly raised his hand and pointed at the photo of Ryan Morris on the small tea table. “You’ve forgotten, all of you have forgotten—who was it that secretly carried you to the hospital for treatment when you were being denounced? It was my dad! And who was it that again and again saved his own rations, braving wind and rain to bring food to your whole family... Still my dad!”

“In the most difficult times, when your The Morris Family was abandoned by everyone, my dad stood by your side without hesitation... My dad, to protect my mom, to avoid divorcing her, was finally tortured to death!”

“Now the turmoil is over, the The Morris Family has been rehabilitated, and you’re back to being the privileged class... Take a good look at your own conscience and ask yourselves, what have you done? Not only did you force my mom to remarry, you even forced her to abandon her own flesh and blood!”

“Is this what you so-called cultured, upper-class people do?”

“A whole family of heartless, ungrateful, morally bankrupt snobs—what are you so proud of? If anyone dares to humiliate my mom again, I’ll fight them to the death!”

Brian Perry roared out in a cathartic fury, all the humiliation and anger accumulated over two lifetimes erupting like a storm of words, scolding the entire Mark Morris family so harshly that he finally vented his pent-up resentment.

“Enough! Shut up! Get out!” Mark Morris could no longer contain himself. He slammed the tea table and roared.

Chapter 003: A Shocking Origin

“Mom, let’s go!”

Brian Perry completely ignored Mark Morris’s outburst and calmly dragged Evan Morris out with him.

After leaving the The Morris Family, Evan Morris was in very low spirits, sighing heavily all the way.

The mother and son walked for a while. Suddenly, Evan Morris looked up at Brian Perry and said, “Yuanzheng, you shouldn’t have done that. After all, they’re your elders. I was going to ask your second uncle for help—he’s the deputy mayor. One phone call and your job problem would be solved. But now, after this scene, everything’s ruined.”

“Mom, we don’t need their help! Look at how they treat you. Relatives like that aren’t worth having!”

“One day, the The Morris Family will regret humiliating you and my dad!”

Brian Perry said resolutely, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

He didn’t want to dwell on the grudges of the previous generation, nor did he want to hold on to them; but the The Morris Family had gone too far. Even if they looked down on the The Perry Family and him, the so-called bastard of the The Perry Family, they shouldn’t have raised the The Morris Family children to be such scoundrels!

Have they lost all basic humanity and family upbringing?

What do Ashley Morris and Little Mark Morris know? Aren’t they just influenced by their parents and elders?

“Sigh... Why has my child suddenly become so hot-tempered...” Evan Morris sighed again. “You’re my only son, I absolutely can’t let you suffer in the countryside. I’ll ask around again tomorrow, see if someone at the personnel bureau can help you transfer.”

“Mom, don’t worry about my job. I’ll figure it out myself. I have a classmate in Beijing whose parents are high-ranking officials in a central ministry. I’ve already called him, and he said he can help me. I’ll go to Beijing to find him tomorrow—his father has already agreed to meet me.” Brian Perry had his own plans, so he told a well-intentioned lie.

Evan Morris was overjoyed. “Really? Son, that’s great! If your classmate can help, we can always bring a gift to thank them!”

Her son Brian Perry had always been obedient since childhood and had never told a lie, so Evan Morris believed him completely.

Back home, Evan Morris went to cook, while Brian Perry quietly slipped into his mother’s bedroom and found a yellowed cloth bundle in the drawer where she kept her pay slips and diary.

Opening it, he found a crumpled piece of coarse yellow paper and an antique jade pendant with a dragon pattern. On the paper, a few lines were written in brush calligraphy, the writing slightly faded and blurred:

Little John Ford, born May 16, 1944 (33rd year of the Republic), fostered in the mountains of Zhengyang, Jiangnan. One family heirloom jade pendant left as proof for future recognition. William Ford. July 21, 1944.

The handwriting on the paper was very sloppy, especially the last “day” character, clearly written in haste, as if the situation at the time was urgent.

Brian Perry picked up the exquisite dragon-patterned jade pendant and gazed at it. With his more than forty years of life experience from this and his previous life, he could tell that this jade pendant was anything but ordinary. The jade was pure, the carving exquisite and smooth, very much like something from the imperial court.

Gently setting the pendant down, Brian Perry let out a long breath, his memories rolling back once again.

These items had been left to his mother Evan Morris by his father Eric Perry before his death, and were related to his own origins.