Chapter 259

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"You didn't forget again......"

Guben smiled black-belliedly: "That mulberry tree in the Military District Compound witnessed our first meeting, right?"

"Fine, you're laughing at me again?"

Lin Xiyu's hackles rose, and she threw the signing pen over in one smooth motion.

"Hey hey, careful......"

Guben shielded Lele and dodged: "Hitting me is fine, but don't hit our girl, Lele can't take a hit."

Lin Xiyu was angered into a laugh: "Stop using your daughter as a human shield."

"Lele, Mommy's bullying Daddy......"

Guben appealed to his daughter for justice: "When you grow up, you have to back Daddy up."

"Hee hee."

Lele thought Daddy was teasing her to play, and grinned happily with her little mouth wide.

"Lele laughed, Lele agreed......"

Seeing his daughter laugh, Guben laughed genuinely from the heart, muttering to himself in a way that left one speechless.

Lin Xiyu clicked her tongue, deeply moved: "No wonder Sister said men become dim-witted once they have kids; I didn't believe it before, now I do."

"Thanks, Wifey."

Guben's next words proved with facts that not only had he not become dim-witted, his EQ had actually gotten higher: "Having such an adorable child gives me the chance to be content with mediocrity too, just like other fathers, enjoying the joy of raising a kid."

"Heh."

Lin Xiyu laughed in anger: "You're actually quite pleased with yourself, thinking I'm singing your praises?"

"I'm sincerely thanking you."

Guben took the opening to lean in, puckered his lips, wanting a kiss: "Come, Wifey, let me kiss you once, express my most sincere thanks."

"Get lost....."

Lin Xiyu laughed and scolded: "Dreaming pretty, don't you know our daughter's watching, how embarrassing."

"Lele, Mommy won't let Daddy kiss......"

Guben lowered his head to look at his daughter again, deliberately feigning grievance.

"Hee hee."

Lele still thought Daddy was teasing her to play, kicking her little short legs, very happy.

"You're impossible, hurry up and go out."

Lin Xiyu couldn't stand watching anymore, used some brute force, pushed him out the door: "I have to write materials, don't waste my time anymore."

"Tomorrow's the Full Moon Banquet......"

Guben stood rooted, taking the chance to add: "I told Qu Peng and Liangzi and them, quite a few people should come."

"Let them come then."

Lin Xiyu didn't care: "Anyway you're the one drinking, not me; if you get drunk no one will care about you."

"Lele, Mommy doesn't love Daddy anymore."

Guben whined and whimpered at his daughter again, feigning grievance.

"Just go already......"

Lin Xiyu really couldn't take it anymore, exerted some brute force, shoved him out the door.

——

The Full Moon Banquet was just as Guben predicted, quite a few people came, truly a hall full of guests.

Worth mentioning, not only did Qu Peng bring his newlywed wife all the way from BJ, Wang Fan and his wife also appeared at the banquet unexpectedly.

This couple coming was truly unexpected.

Even more astonishing, they didn't come together, but with zero prior contact, happened to run into each other at the banquet.

Li Qing brought her own biological son to congratulate; the moment she saw Wang Fan appear at the doorway with his mistress, her facial expression was nothing short of spectacular.

From resentment and anger, to calm, to coldness, to utter disregard, the instantaneous change left even Lin Xiyu marveling.

"Mrs. Gu, we really have quite the fate......"

Wang Fan's mistress, Zou Yan, thinking that having borne a son made her status different from before, openly provoked the legitimate wife's dignity.

She arrogantly set her sights on Lin Xiyu, using her to strike at Li Qing: "My son and your daughter happen to be born on the same day; isn't there an old saying, born same month same day means husband and wife? Fan Ge also says it's fate, specially brought me here to form a good karmic tie, maybe later we'll be in-laws."

In-laws with who?!

Guben and his wife's faces changed at those words.

"A mistress's son, delusionally wanting to marry my daughter, who are you insulting?"

Before Guben could speak, Lin Xiyu had already slammed the baby bottle onto the table with a *pa*, retorting very rudely: "What makes you think you're qualified to say that? Our Gu Family's door, is it that easy to enter? Any random Tom, Dick, or Harry dares come here to show off?"

"Mrs. Gu, you might have misunderstood."

Zou Yan's smile stiffened, forcibly enduring displeasure to explain: "That's not what I meant, it's Fan Ge's meaning?"

"I don't care whose meaning it is, yours or the couple's?"

Lin Xiyu forcefully rebutted: "An illegitimate child has no qualification to marry my daughter, and neither do you; our family doesn't welcome anyone who destroys other people's families, people without moral bottom lines. Now, immediately, please leave, and don't come back ever again."

"Fan Ge, look at her......"

Zou Yan could no longer keep up the pretense; her face twisted.

"Since I told you to scram, then scram......"

Beyond everyone's expectations, Wang Fan not only didn't help her, but instead waved his hand in disgust: "Don't embarrass yourself here."

"Brother Fan......"

Zou Yan was struck dumb with shock; the color drained from her face in an instant.

"Why haven't you scrammed yet?!"

Wang Fan glared at her again in dissatisfaction.

Zou Yan trembled in fright, dared not cling to Qiao Lin any longer, and left unwillingly.

"Xiyu, thank you."

Li Qing mistakenly thought Lin Xiyu was speaking up for her, and was so moved she nearly cried.

"No need to thank me; I wasn't doing it for you."

Lin Xiyu exuded a domineering aura: "As a mother of four children, how could I allow a mistress to swagger before my face?"

"Well said!"

Qu Peng's new wife, Qiao Lin, was the first to respond, clapping and cheering: "That's the way it should be; in this society nowadays, men are all no good, mistresses run rampant, and propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame are all gone."

"You can say what you want, but don't drag me into it."

Qu Peng put on a bitter face and cried injustice, then expressed strong dissatisfaction to Wang Fan: "You really are something; you come if you want to come, but you insist on bringing such an eyesore, and even dragging us down......"

"I didn't ask her to come; she wanted to come herself."

Wang Fan seemed completely unaffected, strolling in leisurely, sidling up to Qu Peng and Li Liang, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the banquet.

"You brat, you really know how to stir up trouble."

Li Liang gave him a look that said only an idiot would believe you; acting on brotherly loyalty, he still had to play peacemaker, changed the subject to ease the atmosphere: "Did you forget? Qu Peng's wife is a detective; are you trying to give him a chance to die young?"

"This has nothing to do with whether she's a detective or not."

Wu Meng, holding Nuan Nuan, suddenly interjected: "If your wife weren't a detective, you'd dare to mess around?"

Li Liang: "......"

Under his wife's cross-examination, he decisively chose self-preservation and simply shut his mouth.

——

"We were originally very harmonious; the moment you came the atmosphere changed."

As the host, Guben expressed displeasure; for the sake of the babies' Full Moon Banquet, not wanting things to get too stiff, he forcibly endured it and didn't chase the person out.

"Exactly."

Qu Peng also chimed in with a complaint: "My wife's gaze at me has turned sharp, like she's scraping with a knife blade....."

"I'm not having a good time either."

Li Liang pointed at Wu Meng, laughing bitterly: "She's been staring at me here the whole time; say one wrong word and I get the bear market."

"The way you put it, it sounds like I'm some kind of fierce tiger?"

Wu Meng was a bit unhappy, plopped Nuan Nuan onto his lap: "You watch the kid yourself; I'm not watching anymore."

"Uh."

Li Liang froze for a moment, but his movements weren't slow at all; he hurriedly steadied his daughter, deathly afraid she'd fall.

"Hee hee."

Nuan Nuan was already ten months old, raised plump and fair; when she smiled she had two little dimples, very cute.

Li Liang held his daughter close, his gaze changing completely, gentle enough to drip water.

"I'm going......"

Qu Peng shook his arm, deliberately needling him: "Liangzi, don't smile so lecherously, okay? You gave me chicken skin bumps all over."

"You're the lecherous one."

Li Liang's face darkened; he kicked him in annoyance: "I just dote on my daughter, what's it to you? If you don't have a daughter yourself, stop being an eyesore here; nobody treats you as a mute if you don't speak."

"Hee hee."

Nuan Nuan understood her father's words, climbed up from his legs on her own, and bounced up happily.

Li Liang cupped his daughter's armpits with both hands, letting her frolic on his legs, his face beaming with indescribable radiance.

"Tsk."

Qu Peng clicked his tongue, and couldn't resist wanting to needle him again.

"You've got a lot of nonsense today, huh?"

Qiao Lin saw through his intention; her right hand reached under his armpit and twisted hard.

"Hiss."

Qu Peng sucked in a sharp breath of cold air from the pain; the words about to fly out of his mouth were forcibly swallowed back down.

"Qiao Lin, you are this......"

Wu Meng raised a thumb in admiration.

"Hahaha......"

Qiao Lin laughed heartily: "I'm just this kind of person; I can't stand people acting like a woman, yapping away annoyingly."

"I like this personality......"

Wu Meng, angry at Qu Peng for calling her husband lecherous, twisted the knife in someone's heart: "Some people just deserve a lesson; should've twisted even harder."

"I think so too......"

Li Liang cooperated with her in perfect sync, quickly matching the rhythm.

"No way....."

Qu Peng was left speechless by the couple's antiphonal retorts: "We're supposed to be on the same battle line, aren't we? We're talking about Wang Fan, so why are you both coming at me?"

"Isn't that your own fault?"

Wu Meng rolled her eyes: "Your talent for drawing aggro onto yourself — even I have to admire it."

"Hahaha."

This banter amused Wang Fan too; he slapped his thigh, laughing heartily.

——

"Jiarui, come with me."

Seeing this, Li Qing's mind stirred; she took her son away from the wine table and sought out a secluded corner, and only after glancing around and seeing no one did she stop.

"Mom, what is it?"

Her and Wang Fan's son, Wang Jiarui, was already ten years old.

Perhaps because he had experienced more family upheavals than his peers from a young age, his personality was rather introverted; he had quite the air of a little adult, not showing joy or anger on his face.

"Do you still remember what Mom told you before?"

Li Qing looked at her son and said earnestly: "To inherit the family business, you need a strong backer."

"I remember."

Wang Jiarui nodded, a trace of bewilderment flashing in his eyes, not understanding why his mother would suddenly say these things to him.

"That Aunt Lin just now..."

Li Qing didn't give her son time to think, immediately continuing: "Scolding the mistress — you saw it, right?"

"I saw it."

Wang Jiarui had a deep impression of the scene just now.

Although that Aunt Lin had once had some grievances with the two of them, mother and son, he still felt from the bottom of his heart that even if she wasn't deliberately protecting them, she had genuinely vented a spleen for them.

"That Aunt Lin..."

Li Qing glanced again toward the wine table: "She is your best backer."

Wang Jiarui frowned, clearly not grasping her deeper meaning.

"Did you see the little girl she was holding in her arms?"

Li Qing signaled her son with her eyes, dropping a bombshell: "If you can marry her daughter, the Gu Family will give you their full support."

"Ah?"

No matter how mature Wang Jiarui's mind was, he was still only a ten-year-old child; hearing his mother's words, he was genuinely quite startled.

"Mom isn't joking with you."

Li Qing put on a stern face, her tone brooking no argument: "You saw it too — that Zou Yan has already given birth to a son, and your father indulges her, clearly wanting to work against us; if you still can't figure things out at this juncture, it would truly waste the many years of teaching Mom has given you."

"Do I have to marry Aunt Lin's daughter?"

Wang Jiarui glanced back at a certain little darling wearing a diaper, feeling quite speechless toward his mother who was setting him up.

"Your dad, that man, is extremely arrogant and conceited..."

Li Qing spoke bluntly: "Only Guben and his wife can handle him; if you want to inherit Dingsheng, you must get on good terms with them, and the best shortcut is to marry their daughter."

"Can I only marry her?"

Wang Jiarui glanced again at the baby who had just turned one month old, and proposed an idea himself: "Can't I recognize a younger sister?"

"Oh, right..."

Li Qing slapped her forehead, overjoyed: "How did I not think we could still operate like this — first use the pretext to recognize a younger sister, wait until they grow up and have feelings, then marry."

Wang Jiarui: "..."

He had been happy for less than two seconds when, hearing his mother's last sentence, two drops of cold sweat dripped down the back of his head.

——

"Xiyu, your Lele is so cute; the more I look, the more likable she is."

Li Qing returned to her seat and immediately began implementing her plan.

Lele is the youngest, her body the weakest, so her parents naturally dote on her a bit more.

Not knowing the truth, seeing the couple take turns holding Lele, doting on their daughter to the bone, she naturally took Lele as the marriage-alliance target.

"Lele, Auntie is praising you; thank Auntie."

Lin Xiyu didn't think much of it; someone praising her daughter — as a mother she was naturally very happy.

She held her daughter's little hand, gently shaking it, amusing Lele greatly.

"Lele laughed."

Harboring her own little scheme, Li Qing deliberately curried favor: "Lele is so happy to see Auntie? Looks like Auntie's greeting gift can't be skipped."

"You hit the nail on the head."

Wu Meng's eyes lit up at the mention of a greeting gift; she smiled and urged: "You're a bona fide rich woman; hurry up and produce the greeting gift, let's see what rare treasure it is?"

Li Qing was pleasantly surprised by her unintentional assist, and took the opportunity to pull out the gift she had prepared in advance from the handbag she carried.

"Wow!"

"Such a big gemstone?"

"A rich woman is a rich woman indeed — not the same grade as us at all."

The gift box opened; two gemstones, one red and one blue, glittered in the sunlight, each the size of a pigeon egg, their intense visual impact filling everyone's sight.