If applauding right now would not have seemed a little out of place, Lin Tingyue would have clapped for Situ Chen.
"You scumbags! You pair of filthy men! I'll fight you!"
Driven mad with rage, Jiang Peipei slapped Situ Chen and the young master once each.
When she tried to hit him again, Situ Chen caught her hand and frowned. "Jiang Peipei, what are you doing? There's a limit to my patience!"
"What am I doing? You lied about going to a morning meeting, when you were actually with him!"
"A morning meeting?"
The young master looked at Situ Chen. "A-Chen, didn't you say your dad suddenly needed you for something?"
[Oh-ho, now he's done for.]
"I came straight from the old residence to the morning meeting."
"But you came from the direction of the art museum. You even said your dad hadn't been very happy lately, so you wanted to buy him a present to cheer him up. Since you were seeing me later, you picked up one for me too."
Enlightenment poured over Jiang Peipei and the young master. "You scumbag! You were lying to both of us!!!"
With two against one, Situ Chen was driven steadily back. While Situ Chen paused to catch his breath, the restaurant manager said, "Everyone, you'll have to pay for everything you've broken!"
Situ Chen was furious. He was Situ Chen, the heir to the Situ family! Would he be short of such a paltry sum?
Situ Chen's eyes were bloodshot. "Put it all on my tab."
Jiang Peipei and the young master then hurled things at him without the slightest restraint. Hadn't he said it himself? He would pay.
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like domineering CEOs still need bodyguards when they're out and about.]
[Besides guarding against danger from their rivals, they have to guard against danger from those around them too.]
"Darling, this is the restaurant I told you about. You shouldn't stay cooped up at home all the time. You need to get out and about too."
A smartly dressed woman pushed open the glass door and froze at the sight before her.
She hurriedly told the woman behind her, "Darling, there's been a little incident here. I think we'd better go somewhere else."
But the woman behind her had already gone still. "A-Chen?" she asked incredulously.
Situ Chen looked up and said anxiously, "A-Wen, what are you doing here?"
Jiang Peipei grabbed Luo Wen's hand. "Girl, let me tell you, this man is keeping a foot in two boats! Look, just look! There's even a man!!!"
Luo Wen murmured, "But he's my husband."
Jiang Peipei said, "...Your husband?"
Clutching her handbag, Luo Wen nodded, her face deathly pale.
[I've never seen this much excitement in my life.]
[Sure enough, once one fuse goes off, all the others explode in a chain reaction.]
Afterward, the police arrived. Both those who had done the hitting and the one who had been hit had to go to the police station. Li Pengtao was about to accompany Situ Chen there, but for some reason, he came back.
Lin Tingyue asked, "Why are you back?"
Li Pengtao said, "There's good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first, miss?"
[Why is Li Pengtao so much like a moldy mushroom in a corner that gets a bit of sun-sunny one moment, gloomy the next?]
Ying An: "..."
Perhaps it was because he had originally been a dead man and was now slightly alive.
Lin Tingyue ventured, "The bad news?"
Li Pengtao said brightly, "I've been fired."
Lin Tingyue sucked in a cold breath. "Then what's the good news?"
Li Pengtao said happily, "I've been fired."
Lin Tingyue: "..."
Why were the workers in novels in the same mental state as those in the real world?
When Lin Tingyue returned home, she found that everyone had changed clothes. "Are we going out?" she asked.
Bai Yaxin nodded. "Your aunt invited us over for a meal. I was just about to call you, but you're already back. Go get changed."
[Aunt?]
[The aunt whose husband is planning to elope with their daughter-in-law?]
The Lin family: !!!
Chapter 38
Her aunt Liao Hong's home was a traditional Chinese courtyard residence. Bamboo grew on either side of the bluestone path, its shadows swaying gently. Walking through it, one almost felt less hot. Beyond the moon gate was the banquet hall where they would eat today.
Bai Yaxin and Lin Rusong walked ahead, with Lin Tingyue and Lin Yuhuan following behind them.
There was a wrap-up meeting after the art exhibition, so Lin Xiawan was still at the exhibition hall. Meanwhile, Lin Shengyan had received a last-minute booking that needed him to fill in. He had rushed off in a great hurry, looking utterly bereft as he left, as though he had lost a hundred million.
Lin Tingyue could not understand it.
[Honestly, Second Brother. He's unhappy about making money?]
Lin Yuhuan glanced at Lin Tingyue beside him. He thought Lin Shengyan probably was not unhappy about making money, but rather about missing out on the huge piece of gossip at their aunt's house.
The phone in Lin Yuhuan's pocket vibrated. He took it out and found Lin Shengyan bombarding him with messages.
In his last message, Lin Shengyan said he was determined to get his fill of today's gossip.
It was followed by a sticker expressing his determination to succeed.
Lin Yuhuan: "..."
Why didn't Lin Shengyan usually show this much drive?
"Yaxing, Rusong, didn't I call you first thing this morning? Why have you only just arrived?"
Lin Yuhuan and Lin Tingyue looked up at the same time-
The woman speaking wore a purple qipao and looked very elegant. She was presumably Liao Hong. After speaking, she affectionately linked arms with Bai Yaxin.
"Cousin, it's my fault. Something came up at the company, so we're late," Lin Rusong explained.
"Oh, Rusong, there's no need to say that. You men need to work hard at your careers, don't you? Your Yuhuan and Shengyan are so capable."
As Liao Hong spoke, she unexpectedly caught sight of Lin Tingyue. "Tingyue came too?"
Her tone cooled somewhat.
Lin Tingyue: "?"
[Why do I get the feeling this aunt doesn't like me very much?]
Bai Yaxin discreetly withdrew her arm and said mildly, "Tingyue is busy too."
Liao Hong was still stunned by the voice that had suddenly appeared in her head. She smiled and said, "It was just an offhand remark, and you're already upset. You have two girls in your family now. That saves you so much trouble."
[How do girls save anyone trouble? Whether you have boys or girls, aren't they all your children? Girls take time and effort too.]
Worried that Lin Tingyue might misunderstand, Bai Yaxin took her hand. "I worry about all my children equally."
"That's right, Cousin," Lin Rusong chimed in. "Every one of our children is the flesh of Yaxin's heart and mine."
Liao Hong paid no attention to what Lin Rusong said. She looked at Bai Yaxin. Was Bai Yaxin picking a fight with her?
Liao Hong said discontentedly, "What's there to worry about with girls..."
Lin Jiaxin, who had hurried over, interrupted her. "Cousin, didn't you invite us over to announce some happy news? Everyone's here now, so why keep it under wraps?"
Lin Jiaxin's few words put Liao Hong in a good mood. She smiled. "There is some happy news, but Xing'an and Xiao Qing aren't back yet. We'll talk once they're here. Auntie Liu, serve the tea."
They had only just sat down in the banquet hall when they heard Lin Tingyue's thoughts.
[I'm afraid she won't get to announce it. Aunt's husband and daughter-in-law are about to board a plane right now.]
Board a plane?
In disbelief, Liao Hong snapped the spoon in her hand. Brief bewilderment flickered in her eyes. Why would her husband be boarding a plane with Shen Zirou out of the blue?
[Sigh, Aunt still doesn't know. Whenever she and her son aren't home, her husband sneaks into their daughter-in-law's room. Sometimes, when Aunt goes to play mahjong with her friends and stays out all night, they even sleep in Aunt's bed...]
"Ah!!!!"
Liao Hong screamed and sprang to her feet. Her face looked awful as she told Auntie Liu to call the young master immediately.
[What's wrong? What's wrong?]
Seeing this, Bai Yaxin said, "This cup is so hot."
[So Aunt burned herself?]
With that thought, Lin Tingyue took Bai Yaxin's fingers and carefully blew on them. Frowning, she said, "Mom, be more careful."
"Mom, have mine."
Lin Yuhuan placed his cup of tea in front of Bai Yaxin, then took hers for himself.
Although it had only been an excuse, seeing Lin Tingyue and Lin Yuhuan act this way filled Bai Yaxin's heart with warmth.
Liao Hong was at a complete loss, but she had also realized that what she was hearing must be Lin Tingyue's thoughts. If Lin Tingyue found out, she might stop talking. Liao Hong said with a strained smile, "Auntie Liu, bring us some juice instead."
[We should have had juice from the start. Drinking hot tea in weather this hot really isn't great. Aunt shouldn't keep giving up her own preferences just because her husband likes something.]
Like Lin Rusong, Tan Xing'an was a businessman. However, he always touted himself as a scholar-businessman, different from merchants like Lin Rusong who saw nothing but money. He was extremely aloof.
Yet now this aloof man was going to elope with his daughter-in-law...
Lin Rusong shook his head, feeling that all that learning had ended up in a dog's belly.
Liao Hong froze. When had she ever given herself up for Tan Xing'an? They simply couldn't appreciate her premium tea. Especially Lin Tingyue, a mere little girl-she even dared to point fingers at her.
That was right. Lin Tingyue was just a little girl. Why should she believe her thoughts? Perhaps her husband simply hadn't returned from the office yet.
At that thought, Liao Hong calmed down considerably. She looked at Auntie Liu and asked, "Where is the young master?"
"He's already at the entrance. He said he's brought friends too."
"He should bring friends for such a happy occasion." Liao Hong thought nothing of it.
In the end, Auntie Liu still did not say it. With so many people present, saying it would make her mistress lose face.