Chen Suqiu saw how everyone was angry but dared not speak up, and thought that the Xi Family really lived up to its reputation. If any other family had done this, everyone would have kicked up a fuss and left long ago.
Bai Huizhang glanced at her and said sternly, "Don't talk nonsense."
"Oh, isn't this Chairman Bai? Long time no see."
Bai Huizhang smiled when he saw the newcomer. "President Xi."
Xi Defeng laughed and waved a hand. "You're my guests, so there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Old Xi." He smiled warmly and put on no airs at all. If Bai Le hadn't read the original novel, he might well have been taken in by his appearance.
"This is your daughter, isn't it? She takes after her mother. How old is she?"
His gaze fell on Bai Yin again, and he studied her without giving anything away.
"Twenty-one. Her personality isn't like her mother's. Both of them take after my rotten temper. They're here to collect debts from me."
At that, Bai Le and Bai Yin both looked at him, thinking in unison that the old man was pretty self-aware.
"Haha, what are you saying? I think both children are wonderful."
After they parted ways with Xi Defeng, Bai Huizhang looked conflicted. He seemed to have sensed something, and he glanced at Bai Yin again.
Bai Yin didn't notice his expression. Instead, she grumbled unhappily, "Who was that just now? Why did he keep looking at me?" There was something about the man's gaze that made her uncomfortable, though she couldn't quite put it into words. There was even a condescending contempt in it.
Bai Le frowned too. He could also clearly tell that Xi Defeng's attention had been focused on Bai Yin.
At the thought, he looked in the direction Xi Defeng had gone. Xi Defeng was talking to a girl who looked about Bai Yin's age. She was very pretty, and his manner toward her was noticeably warmer than it had been toward Bai Yin.
"Who's that?"
Bai Huizhang followed his gaze. "A girl from the Xie Family. She's a distant relative on Xi Defeng's wife's side."
Chen Suqiu had clearly heard about it. "The Xie Family? But didn't he stop having anything to do with them after his wife died? Why are they suddenly so close now?"
Bai Huizhang was evidently puzzled as well. He frowned and thought for a while before finally understanding what was going on. With mixed feelings, he said, "I see."
"What is it?"
"If I'm not mistaken, the Xi Family wants to choose Xi Yan's wife from the Xie Family and ours." Bai Huizhang looked at Bai Yin. "That means you and that girl from the Xie Family."
Bai Le was dumbstruck. He was so shocked that he couldn't process it for a long time.
Xi Yan is going to become my brother-in-law?
Author's note: Don't worry, there won't be any melodramatic plot about siblings fighting over a man, haha. It's just that neither the Bai family nor the Xi Family expected Bai Le and Xi Yan to have had a fling, or that he'd gotten pregnant with a little one. As for the setting of this story, I'll explain it all when Lele discovers he's pregnant. For now, Lele still thinks this is an ordinary world.
Chapter 15
It took Bai Le quite a while to recover. He forced down his shock and began to think.
If that were true, then the female lead was his own younger sister. For a moment, he couldn't even describe how he felt. Looking at Bai Yin, who was equally incredulous, he felt a little strange.
Wouldn't that mean he'd slept with his brother-in-law? Even if it had happened by accident, just thinking about it made him uncomfortable all over.
"Lele!"
The shout interrupted his thoughts. Bai Le looked over and saw Xiaozhouzi and Wu Hua waving at him.
He had no choice but to push his jumbled thoughts aside. As soon as he walked over, he noticed the change in Wu Hua's appearance.
"Trying to show off much? You actually went and got your hair permed." Looking at his head of alternative-colored hair, Bai Le was at a loss for words.
"I figured there might be lots of girls at the banquet. Isn't this what girls are into these days? Pretty boys and all that."
Bai Le said mercilessly, "When other people wear that hairstyle, they're pretty boys. When you wear it, you look greasy, got it?"
Wu Hua had a roguish, tough-guy face, and he already looked good with a neat buzz cut, but he'd insisted on messing around with flashy hairstyles.
He wasn't angry at Bai Le's words. He craned his neck to glance at Bai Yin. "I have to say, your sister's getting prettier and prettier. She's almost as good-looking as you."
Bai Le got goosebumps and made a disgusted face. "Get lost. I'm a grown man. Can you stop using words like that for me? And don't get any ideas about my sister. Someone else has already set his sights on her."
"Who? Tell me and we'll compete fairly."
"Forget it. If I said his name, you'd be the first to chicken out."
Wu Hua's competitive spirit was aroused, and he kept asking who it was. Bai Le hemmed and hawed, and somehow managed to get past the topic.
He didn't actually know whether Xi Yan knew about it either. If he did, he'd hidden it well enough, never having shown any sign of it before.
They had been left outside in the cold wind for ages. Bai Le saw that Bai Yin was shivering, and just as he was thinking of taking off his suit jacket and draping it over her, someone finally came out and told the guests to enter.
Bai Le filed in with the crowd. The hall on the villa's first floor was spacious enough to serve as a dance floor with room to spare. An intricately patterned carpet covered the floor, and a huge crystal chandelier hung overhead in the center, refracting the light into a dreamlike glow.
The crowd gradually quieted down. At last, Xi Yan was slowly wheeled out.
A thick blanket covered his knees, and there wasn't a trace of color in his pale face. His lifeless eyes looked especially unnerving, but he was also extraordinarily handsome, which softened that eerie feeling.
The young ladies present who had never seen him before couldn't help exclaiming in amazement to themselves.
"It's cold out, and I'm sorry to have kept everyone waiting." Xi Yan's voice was slightly hoarse.
"Not at all, not at all. Fourth Master must have had important business to attend to, which is why he was a little late. Haha, we understand. Everyone understands." The people below echoed the sentiment with smiles.
Xi Yan gave a slight nod. "It wasn't anything important. Taking my medicine delayed me a little."
Xi Defeng looked concerned and said with a smile, "Of course that counts as important. Your health comes first."