Chapter 76

The night before Qin Lao's birthday banquet.

Qin Yuyang stood in the corner, facing Qin Yuchen, mouth open, wailing loudly, crying while saying: "I know I was wrong, Grandfather already hit me, why do you still make me stand as punishment?"

Qin Yuchen sat on the sofa, arms crossed, face stern as he watched him; Qin Zhe and Liu Ran beside him lowered their eyes, sipping tea and eating fruit, coldly watching the little son's wailing.

"Grandfather punishing you doesn't mean this matter is over for me." Qin Yuchen said coldly: "You're not young anymore; how could you be so stupid?"

Qin Yuyang couldn't stop crying; he only glanced briefly at his parents, seeing them ignore his misery and pleas, he silently held back his tears and sobbed: "I know I was wrong, I will go apologize to Cousin Wen Ling."

"I hope you truly know your mistake." Qin Yuchen snorted coldly, got up and went upstairs to find Qin Lao.

Qin Lao stood at the table, brush in hand, writing calligraphy; hearing the door open, he needed no guess to know it was his eldest grandson barging in without knocking.

"Educated well?"

Qin Yuchen walked to his side, lowered his eyes to look at the few pieces Qin Lao had written, then lifted his brother and sneered: "It's fine now, but I fear he remembers eating but not the beating; tomorrow he'll forget again."

"That's possible." Qin Lao laughed: "Even being hit with a ruler doesn't stop him from eating burgers and watching cartoons; I guess making him stand won't help much."

"Even if it's not effective, we must punish him, at least let Wen Ling know that what Qin Yuyang did and said isn't what we taught; grievances have a source and debts have a owner—don't blame us."

"Hmm." Qin Lao glanced at him, recalling that this afternoon he had the butler call Wen Ling to invite her; Wen Ling seemed hesitant on the surface, but in fact every sentence was a refusal.

He sighed deeply: "She is deliberately distancing herself from me, her grandfather."

"Grandfather, about those chaotic rumors in Sijiucheng, you probably know who spread them." Qin Yuchen picked up the characters Qin Lao had just finished writing, placed them on the drying rack beside him, and said lightly: "Wen Ling and Zhou Yinhe are likely reconciled; if Wen Ling wants to take revenge on Ruan MiaoMiao, we probably can't stop her."

Qin Lao stared for a moment, put his brush on the holder, and after a long while said: "If we can't stop it, we won't. Your great-aunt is just brainless, and the man she found is no better; I never expected two idiots to produce a clever one—clever is fine, but this one happens to be full of evil intentions."

Qin Yuchen couldn't help laughing out loud, then asked: "Shall I call Wen Ling later to invite her?"

"No need; if she doesn't want to come, forget it. After the birthday banquet, let Qin Yuyang go with me to see her, and by the way have Qin Yuyang apologize. It's strange—how did I ever believe those clumsy lies, even scolding her before she left?"

Qin Lao now deeply regrets it and can't understand.

The birthday banquet was at ten o'clock in the morning.

Zhou Yinhe had tormented Wen Ling until she was breathless before he finally got up; he kissed her swollen eyes from crying and whispered: "Lingling, I'm going home to change clothes; where's the gift? I'll bring it with me after I change."

"Shut up!"

Wen Ling had been tormented by him all morning, already impatient; yet he came over to ask, making her angrily kick the blanket a few times, straining her already sore thigh roots, so much that her eyes turned red.

"Okay, okay, I won't say more, go to sleep." Zhou Yinhe hurriedly rose, tiptoed out of the room, afraid any movement would annoy Wen Ling.

He had no choice but to ask Aunt Zhou, who was busy in the downstairs living room; fortunately Aunt Zhou knew where the gift was.

After changing clothes at home, Zhou Yinhe arrived at the Qin residence to find Jiang Jibai and others already there; they sat beside Qin Lao chatting, each putting on an air of refined elegance.

Zhou Yinhe's arrival surprised the guests greatly; he paid it no mind, walked to Qin Lao's side and smiled: "Grandfather Qin, long time no see."

"Yo, Xiao Wu is here?" Qin Lao, seeing him come, felt puzzled—when had this kid ever attended such an occasion?

Zhou Yinhe handed the gift he was carrying to Qin Lao; Qin Lao took it, still puzzled—guests usually handed gifts to the butler, so why bring it himself?

Zhou Yinhe explained: "This is what I brought for Lingling; I thought I should hand it to you personally."

"Lingling? Wen Ling?"

Qin Lao looked at the leather gift box in his hand, his face showing slight astonishment.

Qin Yuchen, standing aside, lazily interjected: "Made up with Wen Ling? Preparing to go from love‑brain to errand boy?"

"Yeah, what about you—does Miss Xu still want you?" Anyway, everyone present knew his character; he and Qin Yuchen had basically grown up together halfway, so there was nothing to hold back, and he shot back directly.

Qin Lao didn't hear the two juniors' conversation; he gently opened the leather gift box, and inside lay a tea set?

The silver pot was engraved with exquisite patterns; its handle was carved from warm, lustrous translucent jade and inlaid. Qin Lao, an avid tea‑ware collector, couldn't help drawing a sharp breath after closely examining the pot's delicate motifs.

Zhou Yinhe didn't know what Wen Ling had prepared; hearing Qin Lao's intake of breath, he glanced down briefly, then, uninterested, withdrew his gaze.

On the contrary, Ke Chengyu, seated closest to Qin Lao, sighed after seeing it: "No wonder she's the great Miss Wen—she can get hold of something like this."

This is clearly not a Hua Guo item; it resembles something from M Country, like what royalty used a few centuries ago—so precious you can't even buy it if you wanted. Only a family like the Wen Family, deeply rooted in M Country as a large overseas Chinese clan, could obtain it.

"She still remembers my preferences." Qin Lao sighed, closed the leather box, and ordered the butler to keep it safe, placing it on the highest shelf of his study.

The butler acknowledged, then carefully carried it away.

Zhou Yinhe didn't want to interact with those who occasionally came over to greet Qin Lao, so he made an excuse to leave Qin Lao's side, only to be pulled aside by his elder brother right after.

Zhou Yinhe frowned and asked: "Why are you pulling me?"

Zhou Yanqiu glanced at him, annoyed by his brother's attitude, and gritted his teeth: "If you could show even a tenth of the attitude you have for Wen Ling toward us, we wouldn't be driven half‑dead by you."

When Wen Ling was mentioned, a flicker of softness unconsciously passed through Zhou Yinhe's eyes; Zhou Yanqiu, who understood him well enough, caught it, rolled his eyes, and said: "What could I possibly do by pulling you? Come with me to meet some people—don't just focus on your own affairs."

"Not going."

"Why not go?"

Zhou Yinhe didn't understand, puzzled: "Not going is not going—why are you asking?"

"There ought to be a reason, right?"

"I'm just too lazy to see people, alright."