The Overbearing Mother-in-Law

"Good, very good!"

Zhang Cuifang walked into the living room, her voice shrill, "I was wondering why my bank balance dropped by ten thousand yesterday!"

Su Wan's face turned pale, "Mom, why are you here..."

"Why am I here? If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known you were secretly funneling money to your brother."

Zhang Cuifang lunged forward, reaching for Su Wan's pockets, "Hand it over, give me the money! How could you have the nerve to take your brother's money?!"

Jiang Cheng frowned and stepped in front of Su Wan, "Mother-in-law, let's talk this over calmly."

"Talk calmly? I'm talking to my own daughter, what business is it of yours!"

Zhang Cuifang skirted around Jiang Cheng, trying to reach for Su Wan's other pocket, and the living room instantly descended into chaos.

"Enough!"

Su Huan's face flushed red as he roared, "Mom! Big sister didn't take my money!"

"She didn't?"

Zhang Cuifang looked at Su Huan suspiciously, then glanced at Su Wan.

"The money is right here with me."

Seeing Su Huan actually pull out the ten thousand yuan, Zhang Cuifang snatched it away, licked her thumb, and counted it rapidly before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, so she didn't take it? That works out perfectly."

She stuffed the money into her cloth bag, her expression turning snide as she shifted the topic.

"By the way, your younger brother has joined a big company, something about heavy industry."

"Unlike this good-for-nothing."

Zhang Cuifang shot a glance at Su Huan and continued, "Since we're in the city, we should celebrate. As his sister and brother-in-law, shouldn't you show some appreciation?"

She plopped down onto the sofa, crossed her legs, and added, "And arrange for us to stay here for a few days while you're at it. It's not easy for us to make a trip to the city."

"Su Yao is working in the city? How come I didn't know?"

Su Wan frowned. She didn't like her spoiled younger brother; he had been given everything since childhood.

Zhang Cuifang replied as if it were obvious, "Well, you know now, don't you?"

"Hurry up, change into some decent clothes, and book a nice restaurant. Su Yao is a man of status now; you can't just fob him off with some roadside stall."

"As a matter of fact, I've already picked a place called the Four Seasons Pavilion."

The Four Seasons Pavilion was a famous hotel in Binhai City, and it wasn't cheap—prices started at a thousand yuan per person.

Su Wan realized in an instant that this had likely been Zhang Cuifang's plan all along; the ten thousand yuan incident was probably just a coincidence.

"Mom!"

She furrowed her brows, "What does Su Yao joining a company have to do with us?"

"Nonsense!"

Zhang Cuifang stood up abruptly and accused, "He is your own brother! His success is a credit to you! And you have money to buy new clothes, but not when it's time to help out?"

As she spoke, she reached for Su Wan again, but Jiang Cheng blocked her. He said coldly:

"Mother-in-law, our place is small and can't accommodate you. I can treat you to a meal, but once lunch is over, please head back."

Seeing Jiang Cheng speak so bluntly, Zhang Cuifang began to throw a tantrum, plopping herself down on the floor.

"Oh, woe is me!"

"Su Wan, look at the man you've chosen—he's actually kicking us out!"

"And you, you useless man, why are you standing outside? Your wife is being bullied and all you do is watch! It was my worst luck to marry you."

She wailed at the top of her lungs, and after cursing the middle-aged man outside, she turned back to Su Wan.

"I told you long ago to marry Boss Li; you would have been living in a big house by now instead of suffering like this."

Su Huan finally couldn't take it anymore, "Mom, enough!"

He shouldn't have come on this trip.

"You shut your mouth."

Zhang Cuifang jumped up and slapped the back of his head, "You're just as much of a traitor, not half as good as your brother Su Yao, who doesn't just earn peanuts like you."

Having finished her tirade, she glanced at the cold-faced Jiang Cheng.

She was a bully who feared the strong, and seeing that Jiang Cheng was genuinely furious, she didn't dare push her luck further.

"Hmph, we'll leave when we leave, but don't think you can skimp on lunch—we are going to the Four Seasons Pavilion!"

In the city center, the Mountain River Heavy Industry headquarters building.

Xie Chong lay lazily on the sofa, swinging his legs back and forth, and said with a troubled expression, "What on earth should I give as a gift for saving my life..."

Behind the desk nearby, a middle-aged man looked at the employee files in his hand and said casually, "What is your friend interested in?"

"Interested in..."

Xie Chong thought for a long time, then slapped his forehead, "I really don't know. Shen Qing is a total workaholic; he's busy cultivating all day long...

However, I did hear him say he envied big houses. The place he's living in really does need an upgrade!"

He sat up abruptly, his eyes brightening, "So, how about I buy him a house?"

The middle-aged man finally looked up, sighed at his son, and asked, "Do you think he would accept it?"

Xie Chong scratched his head, deflated, and flopped back onto the sofa, "That's hard to say... What a pain!"

He struggled with the thought for a moment, checked the time, and said, "Forget it, I'm heading out."

"Wait." The middle-aged man closed the file, "I'll go with you. Since he saved the life of a rebellious son like you, I should at least thank him properly."

Noon, city center.

Shen Qing finished his morning patrol and arrived at the location according to Xie Chong's message.

"Damn, is he really that rich?"

He looked up at the hotel in front of him, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

Four Seasons Pavilion—how to put it? This hotel was quite famous. It wasn't exactly ultra-luxurious, but it was one of the top-tier establishments in Binhai, with a minimum individual spend of at least a thousand yuan.

Regardless, if no one was treating him, he certainly wouldn't be willing to spend money to eat here.

"You're so slow."

Xie Chong walked out from the main entrance, waved at him, and said with a look of disdain, "If it weren't for the fact that you're the one who did the heavy lifting, I wouldn't have waited for you to start eating."

Shen Qing shook his head, "You really are a rich kid. I thought we were just going to find some random restaurant."

"Damn, I've got a Third-Class Merit, and you've got a First-Class Merit. How could we possibly celebrate at just any random place?"

Xie Chong hooked his arm around his shoulder, grinning, "Don't worry, all expenses today are covered by Young Master Xie!"

"Heh, it's all in a dark-toned Chinese garden style."

Passing by green bamboo screens, the two chatted as they walked through the lobby toward their private room.

At the same time, at a corner table by the window.

Su Xiaoxiao had a bitter look on her face, poking at the shrimp in her bowl with her chopsticks, "No, Jingshi, I'm talking about serious business here. What are your actual thoughts? Don't you want to get back together?"

"Xiaoxiao, didn't I already say? You don't need to worry about it."

Opposite her, Gu Jingshi looked indifferent and picked up another shrimp ball, "Here, I think this shrimp is quite good, try it."

Seeing that she was still as calm as if the sky were falling, Su Xiaoxiao got angry and started eating furiously, "Fine, I won't shortchange myself."

After talking for so long, seeing her still taking it so lightly, she felt helpless.

"What's wrong?"

Gu Jingshi looked at her puffed-up cheeks and smiled, "Is it really that big of a deal?"

"Nothing."

Su Xiaoxiao shook her head stubbornly, chewing hard on the shrimp ball in her mouth.

"Don't worry, Xiaoxiao."

Gu Jingshi shook her head helplessly, her gaze inadvertently sweeping across the lobby... That figure that just walked by, why did it look so familiar?