"I think I"m considered to be lucky. I"ve only dated him and nothing happened between us. But he and Yuwen are husband and wife. Yuwen would lose so much if she were to meet with something like this!"
Old Lady Lin blinked. She did not know what else to say. In her heart, she thought that Lin Chu reasoned well.
Lin Chu did not say that Lin Yuwen had s.n.a.t.c.hed Cheng Ziming. Saying it this way would be telling people that he was s.n.a.t.c.hed away. But she had placed the blame on Cheng Ziming and it made Lin Yuwen so angry that she did not know what to say.
"Yuwen kept saying that I can"t let go of Cheng Ziming but why can"t I let go a man who is never satisfied with what he has? I"ve let him go a long time ago. I don"t like him anymore. More so now that he belongs to someone else and Yuwen is already pregnant with his baby. I have no interest in something that belongs to someone else." Lin Chu wiped off the unexpected tears from her face and continued. "But Yuwen refused to believe me and it looks like Uncle Lin and Aunt Su refused to believe as well. I really don"t know what more can I do to make everyone believe me. As for Cheng Ziming, what"s worth of him for me to be stubborn about? I really can"t think of anything."
"Lin Chu, this is so evil of you to create a rift between Yuwen and Ziming"s relations.h.i.+p!" Su Changxin suddenly slammed the table and stood up pointing at Lin Chu while shouting.
Lin Chu went pale and her lips trembled. She stood up in trepidation and lowered her head at Old Lady Lin and said, "Grandma, good advice is always difficult to take in. I"m saying this for Yuwen"s good but I"ve been misunderstood. To be honest, even if Cheng Ziming came back to me now, I wouldn"t want him anymore. If he can betray me once, he will do it again. In the end, it will only become a habit. But I guess none of you will listen to my advice anyway. Moreover, Yuwen is already pregnant, it"s too late to say anything now."
Lin Chu turned towards Lin Yuwen and said sincerely, "Yuwen, I know you won"t listen to anything I say but I"m sincere about this and I"m not trying to give you any trouble. You will understand one day."
"Enough!" Su Changxin yelled. She raised her hand attempting to slap Lin Chu.
However, there were two people between them and Lin Chu was already prepared for it, so she moved towards the back and said, "I know that me being here has created trouble for everyone. I think you wouldn"t want to see me here any longer. I"ll take my leave first. Grandma, I"ll visit you some other day."
Lin Chu ran off after finis.h.i.+ng her words. Su Changxin did not even have the chance to stop her and give her a few slaps. Besides, it would create such an awkward situation with Cheng Ziming here.
Lin Chu finally felt relieved after running out of the room. She was well aware of Old Lady Lin"s treatment of her. Old Lady Lin was the one to help apply medicine on her every time after she was beaten by Su Changxin, but she would also be the one to stand by and watch while she was being beaten up. She did not even attempt to stop it because she did not dare and did not want to clash with her daughter-in-law.
However, she was grateful that Old Lady Lin was still willing to help take care of her and did not abandon her when she contracted fever.
There was a level of gratefulness she felt for Old Lady Lin and she listened to her to a certain extent.
The moment she left the room, her tears were already dried, but she still went to the restroom to clean herself up before leaving. When she walked past the private room, she set her mouth in a hard line and raised her chin. If Cheng Ziming and Lin Yuwen created trouble for her, she would not let them have a good life either.
Lin Chu walked out of Sheng Yue in a lighter mood than when she first arrived. Cheng Ziming was going to have a headache after her big release of frustration.
However, Lin Chu was stunned after taking a few steps.
She blinked, thinking there was something wrong with her eyes. There was a huge black Grand Cherokee parked at the front door. Lin Chu had the urge to take a look at the license plate and see if it belonged to Yan Beicheng.
Before she could do so, the car door opened and a pair of long legs strode out of it. Below the pant legs of those perfectly tailored pair of pants were a pair of Brogue shoes that did not have even a sign of dirt on them. The shoes were elegant and had a hint of playfulness in them. Lin Chu could not help but feel that they suited Yan Beicheng very much.
Not surprisingly, Yan Beicheng came down from the car.
Judging by the words of that manager from Sheng Yue, Yan Beicheng should have already been here. Why was he waiting in his car?
Lin Chu could not pretend that she did not see him, she was just a few steps away from Yan Beicheng, so she had to walk up and say to him, "Master Yan is here for dinner? I"ll not disturb you then."
She started to turn away when Yan Beicheng moved forward and blocked in front of her, "Didn"t you say you would cook me a nice meal once I recovered? I"m already well."
Lin Chu, "…"
She could have given the reason that she had already eaten but the moment she looked into Yan Beicheng"s deep, dark eyes s.h.i.+ning in the bright lights under the dark sky, she felt an antic.i.p.ation that she could not reject.
The stars in Yan Beicheng"s eyes lit up the starless sky of the city"s night, turning the dark night into an interesting one.
A mesmerized Lin Chu nodded in consent.
Until the moment she sat down in the pa.s.senger"s seat of the Grand Cherokee did Lin Chu realize that she had agreed to this in a daze, as she had been under a spell.
"Has Ningbai eaten?" Lin Chu turned to ask.
"Nope. He"s waiting to eat his grilled chicken. Aunt Zhuang has prepared the chicken and cleaned it up. It"s just waiting to be grilled," Yan Beicheng gave her a quick look. He was in such a good mood that he was smiling.
Lin Chu, "…"
So, did that mean the chicken was waiting for her to get it grilled?
In the private room, Lin Yuwen was crying in the arms of Old Lady Lin, "Grandma, you heard what Lin Chu said. I"ve always known that she is not happy with me and Ziming being together, she resents us for it. I sincerely wanted to reconcile with her but she slandered Ziming instead and tried to provoke the relations.h.i.+p between me and Ziming. If she had wanted the best for me, why would she say all these? She wanted us to fight each other, and she wanted mum and dad to think the worst of Ziming. We already have a child coming, was it necessary for her to say those words?"
"But Lin Chu"s words just now…" Old Lady Lin was a soft-hearted person and said this hesitantly.
"She"s lying! She"s always been jealous of me since we were young, how could you listen to her! She"s an orphan who is jealous that I have my parents" love, jealous that I am the true little mistress of the Lin family. If it wasn"t for her, I"d be the only daughter of the Lin family. She just had to come and fight for my share of the family but I have never said anything about it. I am well aware that she"s always wanted everything I had since we were young. She hates that Ziming loves me and not her, which is why she wants revenge on us. Ziming had already tried to break up with her a few times when we were together but she didn"t want to listen."
Lin Yuwen gave Cheng Ziming a hinting look.
Cheng Ziming immediately understood and nodded, "That"s true. I"m not an irresponsible person. It was until I met Yuwen that I realized that she"s the woman I love. But I had a girlfriend then and couldn"t be unfair to Yuwen. I tried to break up with Lin Chu but she always pretended it wasn"t true and even interrupted every time I tried to break up with her. She refused to let me say the words and even took the opportunity to approach my parents while I was busy working. She treated herself as the daughter-in-law and even took care of guests at my house by claiming that ident.i.ty."
Cheng Ziming sighed, "My parents are honest people. When we were dating, she was always coming by the house and have gotten to know my parents well. She was always telling my parents about how she led a poor life without parents. My parents were not aware of the real situation at all. I think you would be able to tell from her words just now that she is very good at twisting words. This was why my parents had loved her. When I broke up with her and she visited, my parents did not want to chase her off because they felt that I have wronged her. They treated her well to make it up to her. In the end, she misunderstood that we did not break up. But for me, I"ve already broken up with her."
"I"ve always been busy with work and was not in contact with her, so naturally I thought our relations.h.i.+p was over. Who knew she would think that I"ve cheated on her? I felt that I did do bad by her by not telling her about the true love I felt for Yuwen. It was never her fault that I broke up with her for Yuwen, which was why I felt that I owed her. She had always felt that I"ve let her down and that I broke up with her for money. I didn"t attempt to explain to her even when she thought that I was despicable. I"ve always thought that if it could make her better by thinking this way, then I"ll let her be. I did not expect her to go overboard today."
Old Lady Lin came to a realization and believed the words of Cheng Ziming and Lin Yuwen, "So, that"s what happened. In this case, Lin Chu has indeed gone overboard. But we can"t let her continue to be this way, can we? She would need to get out of this rut sooner or later. Besides, Yuwen and Ziming are about to get married, we can"t avoid each other since we need to make appearances as a whole family, we need to eat at the same table. Our relations.h.i.+p shouldn"t be affected because of this."
"Mum, I"ve thought about it. Lin Chu is just feeling dissatisfied with the situation as she thinks that she has suffered from this. Why don"t we just introduce a man that matches up to her and help her forget about Ziming? When she is in a new relations.h.i.+p, she will forget about Ziming and stop creating trouble for Yuwen and Ziming. Besides, with a man watching over her, it would give her caution when it comes to bugging Yuwen and Ziming," Su Changxin smiled.
Old Lady Lin nodded, "This is a good plan. Then, Lin Chu would have someone to take care of her."
"Yes, mum. Take a look. This is President Yang from Cheng Yuan. He is 45 years old and divorced. His ex-wife has custody of their daughter," Su Changxin was already prepared and took out a photo from her purse.
"This… Isn"t this man a little too old? Lin Chu is only 24," Old Lady Lin hesitated.
"Mum, although Cheng Yuan is a company that could not compare to Lin Mao, but Lin Chu will still be a n.o.ble lady if she marries him. It"s much better than her condition now. She has no job and is sharing rental with someone else. President Yan might be divorced but his ex-wife has custody of their daughter. Lin Chu will not have the embarra.s.sment of being someone else"s stepmother. Besides, President Yang is a das.h.i.+ng and suave man and is talented. He may look plain but for a man his age, it"s considered pretty good. You have to remember that Lin Chu has not much of a background. She is fortunate enough to get to know President Yang because of the Lin family. Otherwise, she would never have the opportunity to know someone like him. Young women now have been targeting rich men since high school and university. Look at those young online models, not only are they not married, they"re not even given a t.i.tle. They"re willing to do anything for money and to be frank, isn"t that just being in that sort of industry? All President Yang needs to do is give a wave of his hand and many of these young girls would be willing to be Mrs. Yang. Lin Chu is not losing out on anything by being with President Yang, in fact, she is moving up the ladder," said Su Changxin.
Old Lady Lin felt that it was solid reasoning, "That"s right. Age and looks are not important. Isn"t stability what a woman wants? Introduce him to Lin Chu. She"s not losing out at all."
"Yes. I wanted to show her this picture today and get them to meet. Who knew she would create so much trouble? She has a lot of pride in her and doesn"t understand our efforts. She thinks we are out to get her," Su Changxin sighed.
"I wanted to invite her to be my bridesmaid and take the chance to improve our relations.h.i.+p," Lin Yuwen said in disappointment as she pouted.
Old Lady Lin rubbed Lin Yuwen on the head, "I know you"re a good girl. This is very nice of you. I"ll personally ask her out. She"ll give an old lady like me some face. We are doing everything for her own good. She"ll understand."
Lin Chu did not expect to come back to Ding City again at night after leaving in the morning.
She followed Yan Beicheng out of the elevator. Yan Beicheng lifted his hands and the door opened before he had the chance to place his thumb on the fingerprint reader.
Yan Beicheng"s door was wide, Lin Chu would easily see the man standing inside even when standing next to Yan Beicheng. He looked to be slightly older than Yan Beicheng but seemed more mature. They were 60-70% similar to each other but he looked more temperamental and upright than Yan Beicheng was.
This decent-looking man"s eyes were also much warmer than Yan Beicheng. His gaze was now on Lin Chu.
This man, who seemed upright and cheerful in Lin Chu"s eyes, suddenly broke into a smile and said very warmly, "You"re my grandniece-in-law, aren"t you? Do come in."
Lin Chu"s mouth twitched, "You"re Ningbai"s father?"
"Yes, I am. I"m also Beicheng"s granduncle," Yan Huaian gave Yan Beicheng a pleasing look. He did not do anything else special other than that, but it was enough for Lin Chu to feel that he was showing off.
Lin Chu now understood Yan Beicheng"s dilemma, she accidentally allowed Yan Huaian to take advantage of being a senior member of the family. Yan Ningbai this little 6-year-old boy had taken the opportunity to refer to her as niece-in-law every chance he had, and now, there was another Yan Huaian who was going to refer to her as his grandniece-in-law all the time too.
"Mum, dad is flirting with a woman at the door," Yan Ningbai"s voice could be heard as he shouted.
Yan Beicheng, "…"
Lin Chu, "…"
Not long after, a hand reached out behind Yan Huaian and he was pulled roughly to the side. A short-haired pretty woman appeared beside Yan Huaian.
Her short hair reached just above her shoulder and she wore a white s.h.i.+rt with long pants. This must be Yan Ningbai"s lawyer mum.
"You must be Lin Chu. Please come in and ignore this pair of father and son. They have too much time on their hands. Oh right, I"m Yu Zi. Please don"t call me grandaunt, it makes me sound old. Just follow Beicheng"s lead and call me Ah Yu. Ningbai already told me that you"ve been taking care of him for the last few days. Beicheng is a man, and he tends to be a little coa.r.s.e with his ways," Yu Zi pulled Lin Chu into the house.
Lin Chu listened to Yu Zi go on as she was pulled to the front. Yan Beicheng did not look happy as he came in and did not bother to be cordial with his granduncle.
"Why did you guys come by? Aren"t you supposed to be working outstation?" Yan Beicheng lowered his voice as he asked.
"I"ve finished my work, so I went directly to T City to pick up Xiao Yu yesterday and brought her home today. We didn"t want to trouble you further, so we thought to take Ningbai home immediately. Who knew Ningbai told us that you"d be bringing home our grandniece-in-law home to make dinner. Since we haven"t eaten, we might as well wait here and take the opportunity to get to know her," Yan Huaian raised his eyebrows, looking pleased.
"Well, then, I"m sorry to have disrupted your family reunion," Yan Beicheng clenched his teeth.
"Don"t worry, it"s nothing. We"ll just treat it as Lin Chu meeting the parents. This way, she would understand you better and realize that you"re sincerely thinking about marriage while you"re dating. This way, she would feel secure being with you, won"t she?" Yan Huaian looked at Yan Beicheng with the look of a senior member of the family being concerned with a younger family member.
Yan Huaian patted Yan Beicheng on the shoulders, "Don"t need to thank me. As your granduncle, it"s only right that I am concerned over your lifelong happiness."
Yan Beicheng, "Hoho!"
Dinner was prepared very quickly with Yu Zi"s help. Yan Huaian and Yu Zi were very easy to get along with, much unlike what Lin Chu had thought. Yu Zi was a lawyer who sounded professional and domineering but in private, she was a lively person. Although she was older than Lin Chu, they had no problem getting along. Yu Zi was in fact, a much more energetic and livelier person than Lin Chu was. She would even take shots at her own husband now and then with no mercy.
The timer on the oven pinged and Lin Chu took out the grilled chicken. While she was tearing up the chicken with heat resistant gloves, Yan Ningbai looked in discreetly and took a deep breath of the fragrance of grilled chicken floating in the air. His saliva was dripping out of his mouth.