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"We were willing to give him the identity of the Su family's Second Young Master and pull him out of that pit of fire and mud for no other reason than to have him donate some bone marrow. Not only is he ungrateful for the Su family's kindness, he's been unwilling and kicking up a fuss. And now he's gotten mixed up with the Cao family of First-Rank Pavilion, causing such a huge uproar that everyone thinks the Su family and the Bai family deliberately tricked a child. It's made both our families look bad!"

"What does he think he's doing?" Bai Yueling rolled her eyes. "If my brother-in-law hadn't pitied him, pitied you and your son, he'd still be rotting away in his hometown with that drunkard father of his. Oh, right. I heard that drunkard father of his died too. That makes him an orphan."

"An orphan born to a drunkard, and just because he has good bone marrow, he gets to transform into the Su family's Second Young Master? How could there be such a bargain in this world? And yet he doesn't know how to be grateful. He actually takes what he gets and still acts spoiled." Bai Yueling sneered and looked Lu Manzhen over. "He truly is your son. Just as incapable of knowing contentment or gratitude!"

"Bai Yueling, you—" Lu Manzhen's face turned livid as she abruptly stood up.

"What do you want?" Bai Yueling stood as well, refusing to back down. She looked straight at Lu Manzhen. "Did I hit the nail on the head, so now you're lashing out in embarrassment?"

"I knew you mother and son were no good."

"Don't think I don't know what you're plotting..." Before Bai Yueling could finish, another sound came from the doorway.

Su Shiyuan had returned from work.

"Brother-in-law!" Bai Yueling's eyes lit up. With a sweet smile, she hurried forward and fussed over him. "You're back from work? You must be tired. Hurry, give me your briefcase. Mom is here too."

Su Shiyuan gave his sister-in-law an impassive glance, then looked toward Old Madam Bai on the sofa. "Mom, Yue Ling, you're here."

"If we hadn't come, this mother and son would have turned the Su family upside down." Old Madam Bai snorted. "That fine son you adopted. Yue Ling and I have been here for so long, yet he's hiding upstairs playing at being the Second Young Master. He doesn't even know to come down and greet his elders."

"His upbringing is so poor. You and Man Zhen need to teach him properly too. He is, after all, the Second Young Master acknowledged by the Su family. When he goes out and deals with people in the future, he'll be carrying the Su family name."

Su Shiyuan said nothing. He looked at Lu Manzhen. "Where's Huo Jiu?"

Lu Manzhen replied irritably, "Upstairs counting money!"

At that, Lu Manzhen glanced at Bai Yueling and her mother and deliberately said, "I don't know what madness took hold of him, but he suddenly withdrew ten million in cash from the bank. He spread it all over his bed and floor in his room. He's counting bills while taking online classes. If I say one thing to him, he talks back ten times. I can't control him anymore."

After saying that, Lu Manzhen paused slightly and explained to Su Shiyuan, "It's not that I didn't call him down to entertain the guests because he doesn't understand manners. It's just that you know Huo Jiu's mouth. If I call him down, he might casually say a few words and aggravate Old Madam Bai into having another episode. I can't bear that responsibility."

Thinking of Huo Jiu's mouth, Su Shiyuan's expression tightened. He had quite the headache as well.

"Don't blame Man Zhen for this. She truly can't control that child." Before Old Madam Bai or Bai Yueling could say anything, Su Shiyuan added, "Neither can I."

"That child is extremely opinionated. He got lucky and won seventy or eighty million in the lottery. His cooking is good too—at the very least, better than Yan Dongge's from First-Rank Pavilion. He's capable, and his temper is even bigger. It hasn't been easy for me just to soothe him enough to stay in the Su family." Su Shiyuan warned, "But don't worry. I've already arranged the time for the bone marrow transplant. He'll be admitted to the hospital next week."

Hearing Su Shiyuan's words, the Bai family mother and daughter first looked angry, then delighted. "As long as nothing goes wrong with the surgery, everything else will be easy to handle."

Old Madam Bai said gently, "Xiao Zhuo is your only child. I trust that you know what you're doing."

Su Shiyuan shook his head and said, "It's getting late. Stay for dinner."

At the mention of dinner, Bai Yueling remembered something else. "Brother-in-law, did you tell that little brat what I mentioned before, about having him cook for Xiao Zhuo?"

"Let me tell you, Xiao Zhuo's illness has been getting worse and worse lately. He's only had a few sips of porridge these past two days. This can't go on. You need to take this seriously."

Su Shiyuan said nothing.

Bai Yueling said furiously, "I really don't know what the two of you are worried about. If you won't say it, I'll say it. Aunt Zhao, call that little brat down. I'll talk to him personally. At worst, I'll beg him. I refuse to believe he can be so heartless and so shameless. He eats and lives in the Su family, yet he won't even agree to such a small request?"

Aunt Zhao answered and immediately said, "I'll call him down for dinner right away."

Because she was so agitated, Aunt Zhao nearly tripped over the stairs as she went upstairs.

Huo Jiu was attending class in his room when he heard Aunt Zhao knock and call him down to eat. He did not delay. He directly pressed pause, got up, and went downstairs.

Following behind Huo Jiu, Aunt Zhao said with glee, "Old Madam Bai and the Second Miss of the Bai family have come too."

Huo Jiu raised an eyebrow but did not care.

Aunt Zhao sneered and said nothing more.

The two entered the dining room one after the other. Huo Jiu pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

Bai Yueling found everything about him displeasing and could not help scolding him. "What is wrong with you, child? Can't you see there are guests in the house? Don't you know to greet your elders?"

"You have no manners at all!"

Huo Jiu glanced at Bai Yueling. He did not know who she was, but that did not stop him from snapping back.

Huo Jiu immediately copied Bai Yueling's words. "What is wrong with you, adult? You come to someone else's home as a guest and don't even know to introduce yourself? You don't know to greet your junior either. I have no manners, and neither do you?"

"You—" Bai Yueling had not expected Huo Jiu to be so difficult. For a moment, she was left speechless by his retort. After staring blankly for a while, she finally sneered. "So young, yet with no sense of propriety at all. All you know is how to argue."