At noon, Xu Wang and Pei Yanchuan stayed for lunch at the old family residence.
The dining room adjoined the courtyard, so they could hear the running water in the pond and birdsong as they ate.
In the dining room, the servants set one exquisite dish after another on the enormous round red sandalwood table.
Xu Wang sat beside Pei Yanchuan.
Elder Pei tapped his cane, took a stack of things from the butler beside him, and placed them on the table before reaching out to push them toward Xu Wang.
"Good boy, these are Grandpa's wedding gifts to you."
In front of Xu Wang were three red booklets, a small box, and a card.
Looking at the things before him, Xu Wang almost had money signs in his eyes, but he held himself back. Good heavens, a fortune had just fallen into my lap!
Pei Yanchuan showed no surprise at the scene. He merely picked up his teacup and took a light sip.
Pei Yanchuan looked at his newlywed partner. He did not miss the pure delight in Xu Wang's eyes, entirely free of greed, and a trace of amusement appeared in his own deep blue eyes without him even realizing it.
"Thank you, Grandpa. With your wonderful blessing, Pei Yanchuan and I will definitely stay happy together forever." Xu Wang accepted the gifts readily, making no attempt to refuse.
Seeing how untroubled and unafraid Xu Wang was, Elder Pei's inner self nodded in satisfaction once again. Good, very good.
Had Xu Wang known what the old man was thinking, he would certainly have curled his lips dismissively. I'm already with Pei Yanchuan, so why turn down the gifts? Only an idiot would spit out meat already in his mouth. If we really can't beat this world in the future, these can still be a safety net for Pei Yanchuan and me. Why not?
The dining room gradually fell quiet.
Xu Wang was eating the food on his plate when he looked up and suddenly saw a dish of poached prawns rotate toward him on the turntable.
Xu Wang gazed thoughtfully at the palm-sized prawns before him. He remembered the novel mentioning that the villain's mother had fallen gravely ill and died just a few years after he was born. His scumbag father had wasted no time, marrying a new wife a year later. The following year, she had given birth to a son, an Alpha, and in the third year, a daughter, an Omega.
As a child, the villain Pei Yanchuan had been practically invisible in that household, sitting at a corner of the dining table and watching the new family of four chat and laugh. He had loved prawns as a child, but precisely because he liked them, he had hardly ever seen a prawn dish on the table. His stepmother would not openly make things difficult for him, but she would quietly ensure that any food or things Pei Yanchuan liked no longer appeared in the house.
When Xu Wang read that recollection, he had really wanted to give that stepmother a good pummeling and teach her how to behave.
Fortunately, Pei Yanchuan still had a grandfather who doted on him. Once he noticed something was wrong, he immediately took Pei Yanchuan in to raise him.
After growing up, Pei Yanchuan had used his outstanding abilities to bypass his scumbag father and inherit the entire company. He had also repaid them in kind, an eye for an eye, making his father's family lose whatever mattered most to them, such as their company shares and their good reputation.
But even so, Pei Yanchuan would never reveal his preferences in front of anyone again.
Xu Wang sighed as he watched Pei Yanchuan eat his greens without any expression. Look at you, you poor thing. Let me spoil you a little.
Xu Wang picked up a few large prawns, asked a servant nearby for a clean pair of gloves, and carefully peeled them before putting the prawn meat on Pei Yanchuan's plate.
Seeing the prawns Xu Wang had peeled for him on his plate, Pei Yanchuan's expression briefly softened, but it lasted only a few fleeting seconds.
As Elder Pei ate, he kept watching the two of them out of the corner of his eye.
When he saw Xu Wang peel a prawn for Pei Yanchuan himself, relief briefly crossed his face. But when he looked at his grandson, his expression was full of exasperation. My dear grandson, do you understand the meaning of giving something in return?
"Ahem..." Elder Pei pretended to cough. He was just about to give his grandson a proper lesson, only to find...
"What is it, Grandpa?" The plate in Pei Yanchuan's hands was now piled high with shelled crabmeat.
Pei Yanchuan placed the plate in front of Xu Wang, then turned to look at his grandfather.
Eating the shelled crabmeat on his plate, Xu Wang also looked up at Elder Pei when he heard this.
Elder Pei felt a breath catch in his chest, unable to go up or down.
"Nothing. I just wanted to tell you to eat more if you like it."
With a calm expression, Elder Pei picked up some shredded potato and put it into his mouth.
Seeing this from the side, the butler instinctively raised a hand to stop him, but it was too late.
As Elder Pei chewed, his expression grew worse and his face became increasingly ashen. "What dish is this?"
"Master, it's shredded ginger stir-fried with shredded potato." The butler silently lowered his head.
Pei Yanchuan sighed, stood up, and poured his grandfather a cup of tea.
After drinking it, Elder Pei let out a long breath of relief, and his unpleasant expression eased considerably.
Xu Wang wanted to laugh as he watched. How could this old man be so funny?
Just as everything was peaceful in the dining room, a commotion suddenly came from the doorway.
"Dad, I brought the children to see you." A voice that sounded very feeble to Xu Wang came from the living room.
Pei Yanchuan's expression instantly turned cold when he heard the voice.
Elder Pei showed no sign of pleasure either.
One look at their expressions told Xu Wang that the visitor had to be that scumbag father.
Xu Wang and Pei Yanchuan helped the old man into the living room.
A curly-haired, middle-aged man stood in the middle of the living room with his wife.
It seemed that this middle-aged man was Pei Father, and the middle-aged woman beside him was Mu Tingting, the mistress who had become his stepmother. The two younger people beside them were presumably their children, Pei Feng and Pei Yan.
"Dad, how have you been feeling lately?" Mu Tingting's expression visibly stiffened when she saw Pei Yanchuan, and in the end, she could only turn awkwardly toward Elder Pei.
Elder Pei sat on the sofa in the seat of honor and snorted. "I was doing perfectly well without you coming here."
His face reddening at the rebuff, Pei Father turned to Xu Wang. "And this young man is?"
Everyone looked at Xu Wang, with Pei Feng's and Pei Yan's gazes particularly unpleasant.
Xu Wang glared straight back, startling them both.
Elder Pei's expression grew even colder at the sight.
"I see none of you took what I said to heart. Today is the day Pei Yanchuan and Xu Wang got together. I already informed you. If there's something wrong with your ears, go see a doctor instead of coming to see this old man."
As though remembering something, Pei Father slapped his forehead.
"Look at my memory. I nearly forgot. Xu Wang, right? I'm Pei Yanchuan's father, she's Pei Yanchuan's mother, and little Feng and little Yan are his younger brother and sister."
"Mr. Pei, Miss Mu, hello." Xu Wang looked at them coolly while the hand he had behind Elder Pei's back quietly caught hold of Pei Yanchuan's.
Hearing how Xu Wang addressed them, Pei Yanchuan suddenly felt much better. Then, feeling the unexpected touch on his hand, he instinctively looked at Xu Wang.
Xu Wang smiled and winked at him.
Watching his expression, Pei Yanchuan's lips curved slightly.
Pei Father, however, felt rather uncomfortable.
One look at her husband told Mu Tingting what he was thinking, and she quickly stepped forward.
"Xu Wang, now that you're with Pei Yanchuan, shouldn't you change how you address us?"
Looking at the woman before him, putting on such a sincere expression, Xu Wang really wanted to spray a mouthful of soda in her face. How could anyone be so good at putting on an act?
Xu Wang began considering the possibility of throwing a sack over her.
Without saying a word, Xu Wang turned to the old man.
There was no anger on Elder Pei's face. Instead, he even wore a hint of a smile.
"Change how he addresses you? Did you bring any gifts? And you call yourselves his elders? You don't understand even the most basic etiquette."
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