Chapter 288

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Hmph, what did I say? Men are no good at all — they see a pretty woman and their souls fly away; it'd be a ghost if they didn't refuse."

"Using the pretext of a younger brother-in-law to keep someone here — this move of deceiving heaven and crossing the sea is played very smoothly."

"Li Qing, you lost — each of us sisters gets an LV bag, no going back on it......"

At a spot not far from the three of them, several wealthy wives saw this and all wore expressions of 'just as expected.'

Li Qing's face darkened; she raised her mobile phone, aimed at Zhu Luoxuan, and snapped a photo.

Shortly after, far away in Jinan, Lin Xiyu's QQ account received a new friend request.

She didn't think much of it, merely stunned for a moment, then pressed the accept key.

Immediately after, a photo was sent over in the friend list — precisely the one Li Qing had just taken with her phone.

Lin Xiyu's delicate brows furrowed slightly; she enlarged the photo and could clearly see the three people's different expressions on the seat.

Guben lightly rested one hand on his forehead, looking somewhat helpless.

Chen Xiaoyi's smile froze on his face; the whole screen was filled with capital-letter EMBARRASSMENT.

That other woman's expression, however, was a bit unfathomable.

Tears hung on her eyelids, as if she were very wronged, looking like she had cried.

Yet her eyes revealed a bright gleam, full of longing and hope for the future.

Most notably, she was clearly facing Chen Xiaoyi, but the person she was looking at was Guben.

That kind of scorching, focused gaze made one unable to help but harbor suspicion.

"Heh......"

Lin Xiyu laughed rather speechlessly, then dialed the other party's phone number.

"Xiyu, don't blame me for meddling......"

Li Qing anticipated she would call and had already prepared her lines: "That younger brother of yours — he looks like he might not be too smart; I just wanted to remind you to keep a closer eye on him, don't let anyone deceive him."

"You sent the photo over for Xiaoyi?"

Lin Xiyu didn't believe it — did she take her for an idiot to deceive?

That woman obviously had no interest in Xiaoyi; the person her eyes were fixed on staring at — she didn't believe the people right there on the scene wouldn't be able to tell.

"I'm not doing it for him; I'm doing it for you."

Li Qing deliberately pretended not to understand her words: "Since you've seen it, giving you a heads-up — isn't that only proper?"

"What use is telling me?"

Lin Xiyu laughed in anger: "Separated by this distance, I can't go over there and drag the person away."

"Anyway, you knowing about this is enough; I won't say more......"

Li Qing, fearing Guben and the others might hear, put on an 'I'm doing this for your own good' posture and hurriedly hung up the phone.

"Tsk, this person — making it sound like I was the one begging her to speak......"

Lin Xiyu listened to the busy tone coming from the earpiece, feeling quite speechless.

——

Old House.

Guben didn't stay long in Shanghai; after handling matters, he flew back to Jinan that very afternoon.

The four babies, having finished their afternoon nap, were being watched by the nanny playing in the yard; through the courtyard wall one could hear the children's innocent, cheerful laughter.

Guben smiled gently, his steps quickening as he entered the courtyard gate pulling his suitcase.

He didn't expect that the scene greeting his eyes would nearly scare his heartbeat to a stop.

Dabao's little body was the sturdiest; recently he had unlocked a new toddler skill.

Taking advantage of the nanny's inattention, he grabbed a sapling and stood up, tentatively trying to run forward.

The little darling hadn't learned to walk yet; he toddled forward a few steps, couldn't control his balance, and plunged headfirst into the fish pond.

"Aiyo, my Heavens ah, Dabao fell into the water."

Liu Jie was scared stupid; she rushed over wanting to fish him out, but her own foot tripped and she fell too.

This fall of hers was no small matter — it tripped Xu Jie and Huang Jie who were coming up behind, sending them stumbling and toppling one after another onto the ground.

"Wah......"

Dabao choked on a few mouthfuls of water; he was frightened himself, wailing and struggling in the water.

Guben had no time to think further; he tossed the suitcase aside and rushed over like a gust of wind.

By the time Lin Xiyu and Grandma Gu, hearing the commotion, ran out from their respective rooms, Dabao had already been fished out of the water by his dad.

Guben lightly patted his back, helping him catch his breath.

Fortunately he arrived in time; Dabao had only suffered a bit of a fright, nothing serious.

"My precious darling ah, you scared Great-Grandmother to death."

Grandma Gu beat Lin Xiyu to taking Dabao over, examined him carefully once more, saw the child's consciousness was normal and there were no bruises from bumps on his body — only then did she truly set her heart at ease.

"Good thing you came back."

Lin Xiyu patted her chest in lingering fear, her small face pale white, drained of color.

"This family still can't do without me......"

Guben comforted his wife in his own way, full to the brim with the pride of being a father.

"Don't just stand there, hurry up and go bathe the child and change his clothes."

Grandma Gu shoved Dabao into Lin Xiyu's arms, then shot her grandson a profound, inscrutable look: "Before you go to sleep tonight, call out Pingping's name a few times by the fish pond. Children can't take a fright; it's easy for their souls to scatter."

So this is the legendary soul-calling?!

Guben wore a completely baffled expression; he never expected he'd have a day of calling souls himself.

"Don't you laugh, this isn't superstition......"

Grandma Gu glared at him in dissatisfaction: "Both you and your older brother got frightened when you were little; calling out a few times fixed it right up."

That IS superstition?!

Guben didn't know whether to laugh or cry; seeing the old lady's face darken, he didn't dare make another sound, and simply nodded along with her wishes.

——

That very night, fearing Dabao had been frightened and would have nightmares, Lin Xiyu stayed by the small bed the whole time, only setting her mind at ease after personally watching him fall sound asleep.

Guben didn't dare defy the old lady; true to form, before bed he took Dabao's little clothes to the fish pond and called his son's name a few times.

Lin Xiyu watched him through the window, the corner of her mouth unable to keep from curving up slightly.

"Hiss......"

Guben turned back shaking the little clothes, just about to call his son's name and head back inside, when he saw a figure reflected in the window, startling his little heart into trembling three times.

"Can't stop, start calling again......"

Lin Xiyu found it amusing, teasing jokingly through the screen window.

"Oh my goodness, you scared me to death......."

Guben feigned a frightened look, patting his chest: "Wife, you standing there without making a sound, that's just too scary."

"Told you to do something, and look at you, so clumsy."

Not wanting to disturb the children, Lin Xiyu gently pushed open the screen window, propped herself up with one hand, and climbed out through the window.

"What are you doing out here?"

Guben saw her climb through a window for the first time, and was visibly stunned for a moment.

Lin Xiyu held out her hand to him: "Give me the clothes, I'll do it......."

"You believe this stuff too?"

Guben rarely widened his eyes in surprise.

"Since Grandma said so......"

Lin Xiyu gave him an unexpected answer: "If I don't do it, my heart always feels panicked and unsettled."

"Same here......"

Guben smiled knowingly, handing her the clothes: "Feels like having a child makes the heart go soft."

"Heart too soft, easy to make mistakes, you know......"

Lin Xiyu took the clothes, then suddenly raised her eyebrow, giving him a sidelong glance that was half-smile, half-not.

Guben: "......"

Seeing a ghost in the middle of the night.

What's with this sudden chill down my back?

——

Lin Xiyu shook the little clothes, calling her son's name as she went back inside.

Guben felt uneasy inside, always sensing his beloved wife's words had hidden meaning, as if she knew something and was deliberately targeting him.

The babies were all asleep, so he couldn't very well chase back into the room to ask; he lay in bed all night, tossing and turning, sleeping very uneasily.

Early the next day, Dabao had slept his fill, and after waking up started jumping around lively again.

His dad was a different story, walking out of the room sporting a pair of panda eyes, looking particularly funny.

"Pfft."

Lin Xiyu was brushing her teeth by the sink; seeing his panda eyes, she couldn't hold back and sprayed a mouthful of water.

Guben carried his washbasin to the sink with a rather resentful face, draped the towel over his shoulder, and scooped water to wash his face.

"Tsk."

Lin Xiyu lifted her eyelid to glance at him, deliberately teasing: "President Gu, what's the deal? You go to Shanghai for one trip and come back a changed man, no spirit at all — did you leave your soul behind there?"

"Hiss."

Guben, being so smart, instantly tasted a different meaning from those words.

So his wife's sudden attack was related to the Shanghai trip.

"Person returned, soul didn't" — that line sounded a bit sour with jealousy.

He'd only stayed in Shanghai for half a day, went and returned the same day, didn't see many people.

Who could provoke such a big reaction from her.......

——

"What are you spacing out for?"

Lin Xiyu finished brushing, wiped her mouth with the towel, and kept needling him: "Normally so eloquent, how'd you turn mute? Could it be you really have a guilty conscience? Got something hidden from me, afraid to say it......"

"Wife, just say it straight — who's stirring trouble here? I'll torment her to death."

Guben would've been an idiot not to hear it now; gritting his teeth, he countered with a question instead of answering.

"What's with the big temper?"

Lin Xiyu's beautiful eyes widened, feigning displeasure: "I can't have a few friends now? Friendship between women has nothing to do with men."

"Women's topics have everything to do with men."

Guben felt the need to argue a few sentences in his defense: "You can't have this double standard, mouths yelling for economic independence, telling men to get lost, but the gossip content — why not say you're keeping men isolated from that too?"

"Men have so many wandering thoughts."

Lin Xiyu, unjustified yet unyielding: "You lot are the creators of scandals; eighty percent of the amusement comes from men's belt buckles......"

Guben laughed in exasperation: "You're just doing it for kicks, deliberately fabricating stories about us, right?"

"I don't have that kind of idle inclination."

Lin Xiyu denied it: "My time and energy are all occupied by paper-cutting and family; I don't have that much spare time to gossip."

"I don't have that kind of idle inclination either."

Guben reacted swiftly, turning her own words back on her: "My time and energy are all occupied by you and the babies; I don't have that much spare time to manufacture scandals."

"You say that at home, but outside it's not necessarily so."

Lin Xiyu pinched the soft flesh at her waist, a bit worried: "Those young girls are so young and pretty, not like us who've given birth, our figures all deformed."

"A bit plump looks good, prosperous air."

Guben used the words he'd once used to persuade Wu Meng to now persuade her: "Having kids makes a woman more womanly; I just like raising my wife fair and plump, one look and you can tell the family has a mine, taking her out is terribly face-giving."

"You're raising a pig?"

Lin Xiyu giggled and shot him a glare.

"A pig isn't as pretty as my wife."

Guben seized the chance to hold her hand, pinching it quite contentedly: "Look at this little chubby hand, so tender, one pinch makes a little dimple, softer than the babies."

"Go to hell......"

Lin Xiyu laughed in anger, *pa*—slapped his hand away.

"Wife, let's talk some proper business."

Guben saw his wife laughing and seized the chance to sidle over.

Lin Xiyu raised a brow: "What kind of business is your so-called proper business?"

"This trip to Shanghai......"

Guben curried favor, acting cute: "But I went to great lengths to settle quite a few things for your younger brother; he's your younger brother, me as the brother-in-law, doing it to this extent, even if there's no merit there's hard work, right?"

"The trouble Xiaoyi stirred up, he should bear it himself."

Lin Xiyu, angry at her younger brother's ignorance and stupidity, wished she could go to Shanghai herself and teach him a lesson: "Everything gets you to step in, what lesson will he learn? He should be made to take a huge tumble, only then will he have a profound lesson, and won't make the same mistake again."

"This time, he'll probably take a nasty fall......"

Guben heard this and laughed meaningfully.

Lin Xiyu froze: "How would you know?"

"This kid is still a bit childish......."

Guben analyzed from a man's angle: "Heart too soft, a woman cries and he's helpless, willingly led by the nose; with a personality like that, running into someone with impure intentions, sooner or later he'll suffer a huge loss."

"You mean......"

Lin Xiyu understood now, and a few points of worry rose for her younger brother: "The woman you met in Shanghai this time, will she deceive him?"

"Wife is smart......"

Guben flattered: "One guess and you hit it."

Lin Xiyu gave him a disdainful white-eye: "Since you think that person will deceive him, why didn't you stop it?"

"Couldn't stop it......"

Guben wore a bitter face, crying injustice: "You don't know the situation then; your precious younger brother, seeing a beauty shed tears, was like scalding teardrops dripping on his own body, his face changed color with heartache."

"If I stopped it on the spot, it would definitely backfire, stimulate his rebellious psychology, deliberately go against me; if I don't let that woman into the company, he'll use other ways to help her; rather than that, better to keep the person under my eyelid, at least with Li Hao and them watching, no big mess will be stirred up."

——

"You let her into the company?"

Lin Xiyu's complexion changed slightly, suddenly understanding why Li Qing had specially sent a photo to remind her.

Putting a woman with ulterior motives like that by his side, whoever saw it would feel the purpose wasn't pure.

Saying one doesn't suspect is false!

Thinking of that woman's scorching gaze looking at her own husband, a very uncomfortable feeling would surge in her heart.

"It wasn't me......"

Guben saw his wife's expression was off, decisively washed his hands of it: "It was Xiaoyi insisting on helping her, wanting to let her into the company."

Lin Xiyu didn't believe it: "He's just an intern; if you disagreed, what could he do?"

"He's not just an intern."

Guben quickly defended: "He's still my brother-in-law; looking at wife's face, I also couldn't make him lose face publicly, let him step down from the stage."

"You couldn't have failed to see......"

Lin Xiyu didn't want to beat around the bush with him, asked straight out: "That woman, her true purpose, is aimed at you, right?"

"Is there?"

Guben played dumb: "Wife, how did you figure it out?"

"I'm not blind, it's that clear......"

Lin Xiyu's anger rose, almost blurting out the two words 'photo'.