Chapter 20: Brothers in Distress
Tan Zhao was recuperating in the Tan family"s ancestral home. He had to rest for a while longer and couldn"t go to school. The secretary who was sent to supervise Tan Zhao didn"t dare to interfere with this young master"s matters and could only call Tan Jing.
As soon as Tan Jing entered the house, he saw his brother lying on the sofa without doing anything. He even had to be fed fruits by someone else. Tan Jing was furious.
"I asked you to rest at home, not to let you boss people around." Tan Jing"s cold voice suddenly sounded, startling Tan Zhao so much that he jumped up and fell from the sofa with a bang.
"Second Brother, why are you back?" Tan Zhao gritted his teeth and held his b.u.t.t, which was in pain from the fall. When he stood up, he saw Tan Jing"s swollen face.
"Second Brother, you were beaten up by Sister-in-law too?"
This brat really deserved to be beaten up. He was rubbing his nose in it.
As Tan Zhao looked at Tan Jing"s gloomy expression, he handed him a cup of orange juice warily and said, "Brother, please calm down. I won"t tell anyone."
Tan Jing didn"t take the gla.s.s of fruit juice, but asked coldly instead, "What did she hit you with?"
"She whipped me with a belt…" Tan Zhao was originally embarra.s.sed to say this, but when he saw his brother"s face, he suddenly felt that it wasn"t a big deal.
It was embarra.s.sing to be whipped by a belt, but at least couldn"t see his injuries. As long as he didn"t admit it, he wouldn"t suffer embarra.s.sment.
When Tan Jing heard that his brother was whipped by a belt, he calmed down.
Although he had been slapped in the face, being whipped by a belt probably hurt even more. With so many marks, Tan Zhao was probably in a sorry state as he dodged. Tan Zhao was probably even more embarra.s.sed than him.
The brothers suddenly found comfort in each other.
Tan Jing looked at his brother with sympathy. Tan Zhao didn"t know what his brother was up to, but he could only smile at Tan Jing ingratiatingly and hand over the orange juice in his hand again.
This time, Tan Jing took it and placed it on the table after drinking it.
Then, Tan Jing stood up and kicked Tan Zhao"s calf. "Go to school tomorrow. Don"t cause trouble at home every day. Watch your mouth outside. Don"t cause trouble everywhere."
Tan Zhao nodded repeatedly. Since his brother had spoken, how could he dare to cause trouble anymore?
Besides, how could he repeat the same mistake twice? In the future, when he saw the Shi family, he would definitely avoid them.
The news of Tan Jing"s visit to the Shi family spread quickly in the circle, but each version was different.
Some said that Tan Jing had been beaten up and left the Shi family in a sorry state, while others said that the Tan family was about to befriend the Shi family and Madam Shi politely sent Tan Jing out the door.
Gao Shan had also received the news, but under Tan Jing"s intentional misguidance, he heard that Tan Jing had come to ask for an explanation in anger, but he was politely sent out by Madam Shi and even gave Tan Jing fruits.
Gao Shan couldn"t understand what trick Yuan Shu used to coax a difficult person like Tan Jing.
She even gave him fruits. What did this mean? The two families wanted to shake hands and make peace?
Furthermore, the Shi family and the Tan family had never been on good terms. The two families had been compet.i.tors for a long time. Previously, even when Shi Xiao was still around, their relationship wasn"t that good, so how come they got along now?
He couldn"t figure it out!
Gao Shan understood that the complicated relationships between wealthy families weren"t something a person like him, who came from humble beginnings, could understand.
However, he was unwilling to accept it. It wasn"t easy for him to seize this opportunity. If Yuan Shu became friends with the Tan family, the trouble wouldn"t be resolved.
So the question was how to deal with Yuan Shu now.
Chu Mei sat in a corner as she cried.
She looked at Gao Shan, who was pacing back and forth, with a vacant look in her eyes as she muttered, "Is Li Ran coming back tomorrow? What about me? What about me and the child in my stomach?"
Gao Shan was already vexed, so when he heard her mention this name out of the blue, he felt even more angry and terrified.
"Alright, stop crying. Don"t we still have time? Let"s think of a way together." Gao Shan lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.