Chapter 1296: I Want to Make You Stay (174)
“Take it, let’s go quickly.” She pa.s.sed him an amulet and then grabbed onto his arm to pull him toward the wall leading to the Donggong family mansion.
This wall was different from other walls in the mansion because, while other walls were especially tall, this one was about the same height as An Xiaoning. It was not difficult to climb over it at all.
An Xiaoning let him climb over first and followed afterward. The moment they had gone over the wall, she vomited first. As he could not take it either, he vomited after her. The two completely emptied out their stomachs of their dinner.
An Xiaoning took out two bottles of mineral water from her bag, and the two each took one to rinse their mouths.
The feeling that they had in the mansion earlier was absolutely disgusting. Donggong Lianzhi still had not realized where the stench had come from as he remarked, “That smell was absolutely terrible.”
“How can the smell of corpses possibly smell good?”
“Corpses?”
“You were too focused on going ahead just now that you didn’t notice a pile of corpses lying around near the entrance. The stench is so strong because the corpses are all highly decomposed.”
Donggong Lianzhi stood on his toes confidently and looked a distance away. When he saw the pile of bodies clearly, he retreated hurriedly and exclaimed, “Why are there so many…?”
“After seeing how your grandmother wanted to punish me so readily, I’m not surprised. To beat up someone to death and leave them lying there without incinerating them is far more than just being wicked. The amulet I just pa.s.sed you only lasts the whole of tonight. You can just place it in your pocket, you don’t have to keep holding onto it.”
“Alright.”
“From now onwards, we should try to refrain from talking. At this time, most people should still be awake. But since the elderly sleep earlier than young people, we should head to your grandfather and grandmother’s place first. You lead the way. I’ll pull you away when there’s a need to hide from the surveillance cameras later.”
Donggong Lianzhi nodded in agreement. He was definitely more familiar with the routes inside the Donggong family mansion than An Xiaoning was.
While he led the way, An Xiaoning took note of the surveillance cameras. The two were working together with rather great chemistry and managed to hide from the surveillance cameras, the guards on duty, as well as the servants and family members of the Donggong family. They successfully arrived at the wall outside the Old Master and Old Madam’s mansion.
Needless to say, there were many surveillance cameras and guards on duty near the entrance, so the two could only climb over the wall again.
This time, they did not enter the mansion directly from climbing the wall but used the wall to climb to the roof.
They were extremely careful when they stepped on the tiles on the roof, as a single sound they made could attract attention, ruining all their plans for tonight.
Aside from that, because the roof was slightly tilted to one side, they had to watch out to balance themselves and not fall down.
An Xiaoning whispered to him, “Is this side your grandparents’ bedroom? Or the other side?”
“The other side.”
An Xiaoning’s gaze landed on a tile not far away, and she cautiously stepped on it and bent down to pick up the tile. Underneath the tile was a piece of oilcloth that had been placed there because rain tended to leak through the roof of such old houses. Usually, simply placing a piece of oilcloth with a tile pressed down on it would block the rain from leaking through. With the tile and oilcloth removed, they were able to see the situation inside the house.
With one leg stepping on the tile, she lowered her body and crept over the empty hole, peeking inside the house.
There were more than ten young men seated inside, and they appeared to be Donggong Lianzhi’s cousins, judging from their age.
This morning when they came here, she had heard some servants calling Donggong Lianzhi Seventeenth Young Sir. That meant that he still had sixteen older cousins.
This was really a family that could give birth to so many children.
Old Madam’s voice was crisp and clear, and everything that she said was heard loud and clear above by the two.
“I’ve discussed things with your Old Master. A traitor like Lianzhi is to be expelled from the Donggong family as punishment. From now on, he won’t be a part of this family anymore. Also, even though he called off the marriage with Miaomiao, we cannot let this affect our relations.h.i.+p with the Jin family. Hence, I called all of you here to give you guys a great opportunity. Later, when Miaomiao comes, anyone who gets chosen by her will be rewarded handsomely.”
An Xiaoning did not know what the handsome reward the Old Madam was referring to, but she felt that this was simply a blessing for these hungry men.
Regardless of whether they liked Jin Miaomiao or not, they would do their best to earn her affection, so as to allow the marriage to take place as per normal.
“Your grandson will do his best to earn the affection of Ms. Jin.” This line was uttered so neatly that An Xiaoning almost thought they had practiced this chant.
“Very good.”
“Old Madam, Ms. Jin is here.”
“Welcome her in quickly,” Old Madam answered earnestly.
Her words had just landed when Jin Miaomiao walked into the room dressed to the nines. She was stunning and eye-catching, unlike how she looked at the stairway.
The speed at which Old Mrs. Donggong changed her expression made An Xiaoning thoroughly impressed.
“Aiya, my dear granddaughter is finally here. Come, take a seat.”
“Good to see you, Grandmother Donggong.”
“It’s great to see you. I’ve been calling for you all day, but you never came. I missed you so much. That unfilial grandson of mine really made me furious.”
Jin Miaomiao appeared calm and indifferent. “I wonder what the reason is for Grandmother to have called me here?”
“Isn’t it all because Lianzhi’s useless? I thought it over, and we can’t let you suffer, Miaomiao. So, I called all the unmarried grandsons in our family here for you to pick one, Miaomiao. See if there’s anyone that you fancy.”
Jin Miaomiao scanned the men who were smiling at her. All the men in the Donggong family looked pretty decent, perhaps because of the genes they inherited.
However, no matter how she looked, she could not feel a sense of attraction toward any of them. Just when she thought that she could finally get what she had wished for, everything slipped away from her hands.
“I still want Lianzhi…”
Old Madam laughed and replied, “Could Grandmother possibly not know what you’re thinking? But that brat isn’t worthy of you anymore, Miaomiao. He not only dated someone behind your back, that woman is even pregnant now.”
“She’s pregnant?”
Jin Miaomiao’s voice changed completely while she uttered these words.
“Yes. So, don’t think of him anymore. His cousins are all more outstanding than he is. Miaomiao, give yourself a chance to try them out. Moreover, Lianzhi is not someone from our family anymore. He’s been expelled from our household.” Hearing her words, Jin Miaomiao felt like there was something bottled up in her heart that could not be swallowed down nor let out of her.
After staying silent for a few seconds, she pointed to the one who was considered the most handsome of the group. “I’ll pick him, then.”
“Fifteen, Miaomiao picked you.” Old Mrs. Donggong could finally rest a.s.sured.
Donggong Lianzhi’s cousin was so elated that he did not know what to say. On the other hand, An Xiaoning could not stand watching this scene anymore and simply stopped looking. She just quietly sat there enjoying the breeze with Donggong Lianzhi.
After a while, when Jin Miaomiao and all the grandsons had left, she continued to lean over to check out the situation inside the house again.
Old Mrs. Donggong was sitting there drinking tea by herself, with a woman in her fifties or sixties who appeared to be her maid standing beside her.