Title: The Villain and the Cannon Fodder’s Mother
Translator: Fringe Fauna
Chapter 252-263
Chapter 252 - She couldn’t deny that a pretty boy was always so loveable! (2)
“Mom, why are you doing this again?”
The last time she was forced to go on an arranged date by her mother she wasted an entire day dressing up.
Of course, it was all for nothing. And she had mistook Lu Xun as her arranged date that day!
She could just foresee now that having to experience another arranged date would be nothing short of mortifying.
Most importantly, just from eyeing the stack of photos that Ms. Lin Ping was holding in her hand, there must be at least 20 ~ 30 photos.
Did Ms. Lin Ping just filled up her entire schedule for the next month?
“I have it all figured out already. You go into work as usual on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. You have a huge company, after all, and it is bad for optics if you are gone all the time. You will go onto arranged dates on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Tao Jiahui can take care of the company during these times. When push comes to shoves, I can sit in for you for a few days as well.”
Counting with her fingers, she said, “Starting this month, at three a week, you will be able to meet up with all of them by the end of the year… If not, we can always go into next year. Don’t worry, I will have them all lined up for you…”
Not just this year but they were going to go into next year as well?
The entire room fell into dead silence.
Lin Yiyi, “……”
Finally, Ms. Lin Ping asked her with a tender look, “So what do you think?”
What was she supposed to think?!
“Actually...”
Lin Yiyi tried her best to squeeze out a smile. “I think Lu Xun is quite nice.”
Lu Xun, who had been viewed as a transparent man the entire time reflexively thrusted his chest out when he heard his name, not unlike a piece of pork being sold in a market. He was short of saying, “Look at me! Look at me!"
Ms. Lin Ping gave him a look and the resentment in her eyes was stark naked.
Lu Xun, “……”
Lin Yiyi has a very strong sense of survival.
Compared to all those potential candidates that could make one’s knees weak, she already had auto-filters when it came to Lu Xun and looked at him in a much more favorable light.
Besides, it wasn’t like she had no feelings for him at all. Why else would she allow him to come over to bum dinner off her so frequently?
Truth was, she had been single for too long.
Those who had been single for a long time tended to get complacent.
She had gotten used to her current lifestyle and didn’t want anything to change. As such, she felt uncomfortable when anyone tried to get close to her.
All in all, she was happy with the way things were currently.
She was pretty and rich. She even had a son and daughter.
Speaking of, what did she need a man for?
Nevertheless, Lu Xun’s appearance had changed up her monotonous life.
He had made her realize that there were more to do in one’s life outside of routines and child-rearing.
These two conflicting thoughts were the exact reason that she had been dragging her feet.
She neither stopped him from being in her life nor did she admit to her own feelings.
Aye. She was such a conflicted woman!
She took a look at the man sitting next to her and got an anticipating look from him. That amused her. “Look, Mom, he’s not a bad looking man and he makes good money…”
“The company is not his.”
Boss Lu, “……”
Lin Yiyi carried on. “He’s a nice guy. You said so yourself before. He is much better than Meng Yan.”
Compared to Meng Yan, Lu Xun was almost as cute as an angel!
Ms. Lin Ping fell silent all of a sudden.
“Besides, you like Zhe too, right?”
Ms. Lin Ping paused a little and turned to look at Lu Mingzhe.
Lu Mingzhe, being mentioned by name, gave a docile smile reflexively.
Ms. Lin Ping, “……”
She couldn’t deny that a pretty boy was always so loveable!
Chapter 253 - Lin Yiyi didn’t feel anything odd about going through it all over again (1)
Boss Lu, who had been picked on by the Lin’s in all sorts of ways, hadn’t expected that he was finally able to score himself some points courtesy of his nephew whom he felt resentful towards all the time!
All in all, the end justifies the means and it was a happy ending after all… Not quite so!
Meng Yuran did not look very happy. That being said, he looked unhappy pretty much every day and everybody was already used to it.
Meng Shanshan blinked at a loss. She might be young and didn’t necessarily understand everything, but that did not stop her from figuring out some simple facts from the adult’s conversation.
“Is Uncle Lu going to be our new daddy?” The little girl’s eyes were rounded, and her voice was filled with disbelief.
Meng Yuran glanced over at her, and his lips curved upward stealthily.
The several adults all paused for a little bit.
When did the little girl come over?
Lu Xun was probably the most nervous one among all of them.
He had a good relationship with Meng Shanshan. The little girl quite liked him and had always been welcoming to him.
Yet, he knew fully well that what she had toward him was just the kind of fondness belonging to a child. It did not mean that she would be okay with the transitioning of him into a new role.
That was Meng Yuran’s thought as well! He couldn’t wait to find out how this Lu guy would react when Shanshan threw her hissy fit.
Most likely he would be tossed out by his mother… And take that Lu Mingzhe on his way out too, the other eyesore!
“Who said that Uncle Lu is going to become your daddy?”
Lin Yiyi patted her on her little head. “We are only talking about whether Uncle Lu will be Mommy’s friend.”
Meng Shanshan gave them a look of contempt. “You need to have a discussion on that? I never discussed with anyone when I became friends with Chen Linna.”
She gave them a you-adults-are-so-much-hassle look.
Sometimes a kid’s words could be very surprising.
Then, when one actually sits down and thinks about it, one would see that the logic behind their words is very sound.
Her words completely reflected what was on Ms. Lin Ping’s mind!
She pulled the little girl into her arms and felt very affectionate toward her. She even gave her daughter a stare and said, “Look. Even a 6-year-old knows better!”
That angry tone of Lin Yiyi not living up to her standard suggested that Ms. Lin Ping was, for sure, her real mother!
Lin Yiyi, “……”
Meng Shanshan struggled to stick her head out from under her grandmother’s arms and threw out more words that shocked everyone again. “It’d be awesome if I can have a daddy like Uncle Lu.”
Uncle Lu was nice to her. Nicer than how her own father had treated her!
Most importantly, he would take her to get barbeque fish!
That was the key.
Aiya, speaking of barbeque fish, she was about to start drooling again.
Meng Yuran was sitting to one side while coldly watching everything unfold, and his face quickly darkened visibly. He stared speechlessly at his own foolish sister.
Contrarily, Lu Xun only wanted to pick her up and spin her around; all the time that he was nice to her wasn’t wasted!
And now the two looked truly like father and daughter.
Meng Yuran was very unhappy.
Lu Mingzhe, on the other hand, was quite pleased with this outcome.
In the end of the day, he had more or less been leaving Grandma Lin with a good impression for his little uncle's sake.
Within the Lin’s, it was obvious that Ms. Lin Ping has the most say in matters!
Ever since the first time he had met them, Lu Mingzhe had noticed that it was warm and relaxing to be with a family like this. If his little uncle can marry into… ahem, can become a family with them, that wouldn’t be half bad.
Chapter 254 - Lin Yiyi didn’t feel anything odd about going through it all over again (2)
On the way home, Lu Mingzhe was already wondering about when his uncle and Lin Yiyi would be getting married.
Suddenly, he heard a loud cry coming from next to him. “OH!!”
Lu Xun, who was driving, fished out a jewelry box all of a sudden. Looking regretful, he said, “How did I forget this?”
He had brought this with him to profess his love after consulting Executive Assistant Zhou. Granted, the timing of him professing his love was probably not the best after all was said and done.
Lu Mingzhe was curious, “What’s in it?”
The box was so big that it didn’t look like it could be a ring.
If it really was a ring, then he wouldn’t even know what to say about his little uncle.
That being said, if his uncle was that proactive, none of these would have happened.
He would have done so within the first 50 chapters of this novel!
Lu Xun was quite proud of himself still. Hearing the question from Lu Mingzhe, he handed the box over to him. “Take a look. This was the best piece in the entire shop. I spent a fortune on it.”
Lu Mingzhe had already opened up the box while Lu Xun was still talking.
Lying quietly inside the box was – A dog!
Lu Mingzhe, “……”
A dog?
You were going to give a dog as a gift to a girl?
The girl just might beat you up as if you are a dog, alright?
“This is Khotan jade from Xinjiang. Its market price is several thousand yuan per gram. One this size is quite rare already. I had to pull some strings as the shop was going to sell this piece originally.”
Lu Xun, who was driving, did not pick up the weird vibe coming from his nephew. “Isn’t it said that giving jade as a gift means you treasure the person?”
Lu Mingzhe looked at the dog in his hand and found himself speechless.
Before he opened up the box, he figured that even if it wasn’t a ring inside of it, it would at least have been a bracelet, or even a necklace would work.
This was very unexpected!
“Do you feel that this is an appropriate gift?”
Lu Mingzhe looked at his little uncle with difficulty.
“Yeah. I think it’s quite good. And it will appreciate in value.”
Appreciate my @$$!
He almost cussed out loud.
The young man rubbed his temple and said to his little uncle very sincerely, “I think you should keep this until after you are married. Trust me.”
He had already bought it. Might as well keep it.
It would be alright for the purpose of appeasing someone.
Lu Mingzhe was somewhat relieved that his little uncle had forgotten about it. That was a bold move using this piece to profess his love!
Lu Xun, “……”
The next day, when Lin Yiyi arrived at the company, she was surrounded by gossipy looks.
Everybody was very curious about their boss’s romance, but they were relatively restrained. After all, the male lead in the scandal was Lu Xun, who had been punching in every day. Nobody was surprised by that at all.
Besides, it had taken the paparazzi so long to publish that. Whatever happened to their professionalism?
That was right. In everybody’s eyes, the two of them have been together day and day out. If that was not considered as being a couple, then one of them for sure was a scum!
Boss Lu finally stood up and clarified… er, admitted to it and everybody was pleased.
Lin Yiyi didn’t feel awkward about that at all.
To be precise, everybody had been looking at them with the same gossipy look since the very first time that Lu Xun went over there. After all that time, she had already gotten used to it.
Lin Yiyi didn’t feel anything odd about going through it all over again.
Chapter 255 - She didn’t even keep one picture of his? All of a sudden, Boss Lu felt happy again! (1)
In the elevator leading into the office, there were two other employees along with Tao Jiahui, who had just parked and squeezed her way into the elevator.
Compared to the others’ reserved attitude toward their boss, Tao Jiahui was much more relaxed. She took a look at her big boss and teased, “Oh boy. Should you start preparing your wedding candies soon?”
Which reporter was the one smart enough to dig out the romance between these two?
All Tao Jiahui wanted to say about this was: Beautifully done!
Lin Yiyi glanced over at her and said, “You have been the general manager for too long and are itching for a change?”
How dare she make fun of her!
Was she in need of a beating or something?
The two little employees behind them shrank into the corners as much as they could with tacit understanding and tried to reduce their presence as much as they could, but their ears were piqued.
Tao Jiahui chuckled and said, “I don’t object to taking on the role of CEO if you feel that I am ready.”
She was recruited by Ms. Lin Ping for an astronomical amount. In a sense, she played a big role in Xinri Media being able to get on track in such a short period of time. Besides, from what she knew about Lin Yiyi, she wasn’t an ungrateful person nor was she manipulative. She was easy to get along with and one could even joke with her from time to time.
Compared to other employees, she wasn’t worried about it at all. Even if she was to leave Xinri Media, many companies would fight over her given her experiences. Confidence came with one’s competency.
Sure enough, Lin Yiyi only harumped and was the first to walk out when the elevator stopped.
After their boss and their “future CEO” had walked out, the two employees pulled out their cellphones and started posting in their employee chat group.
“Extra! We will be receiving the boss’s wedding candies soon!”
An employee reached out her slender fingers and typed on her screen, “Boss Lu of Shengshi Entertainment, right? That’s yesterday’s news already.”
Then there was another employee, “These paparazzi were so behind. We’ve already learned about this a long time ago and they just now got a picture of it? …. That being said, did Boss Lu really spend the night over at our boss’s? That was quite something!”
Someone else chimed in right away, “Exactly! Haven’t the two of them been a couple for a while now? By the way, who was the one who said we will be getting wedding candies from the boss? What’s up with that?”
One of the two employees who heard the entire conversation in the elevator responded, “We heard our boss telling Manager Tao in the elevator with our own ears.”
“What? The boss is getting married?!”
Unbeknownst to Lin Yiyi, rumors were already heading down an uncontrollable path.
When she found out about it, the news of her getting married was already unstoppable.
And for that, Lin Yiyi, “……”
***
In the end, Lu Xun never had the opportunity to give away the jade dog that he had.
He had given it more thought later on and felt that what Zhe said was quite right. It would be more appropriate to give it away after they were married.
What does a dog represent after all?
It represents loyalty!
That is very meaningful.
Then, the term “marriage” brought all sorts of thoughts to his head.
Even though their relationship was official now, it didn’t feel real. Their days had not changed a bit. He was still going over to the Lin’s for a free meal every day without fail.
How was it any different than it was before?
Is this what being in a relationship is like?
He didn’t think so!
Lu Xun felt desperate.
Whatever happened to the lovey-dovey moments with just the two of them? Most of the time, it was the “family of five” fighting over food over the dinner table. And now, there were the added Ms. Lin Ping and Mr. Gu Chengyi!
The biggest difference, if he must say, was that there were employees discussing when their boss’s wedding was going to take place. Some of the bolder ones even had a wager going on this subject. Some said one month; others said three.
The most ridiculous speculation was that the two of them were already married on paper! They just never openly announced it previously until their affairs… ahem, romance, had been exposed.
And, if those around them had these kinds of speculations, the brain holes of the netizens would only be worse.
“Did anyone else remember how they went to the amusement park with their kids over the National Holidays? Someone came out and clarified for them which had misled me to think that it was fake news. Were they already a couple way back then?”
“It had been going on for so long before it was exposed and he was already staying over at her place. In a couple more days, this could very well turn into a life and death matter.”
“Ahahahaha, I think the previous poster had nailed it. Is Lin Yiyi already with child? Is that why they decided to announce their relationship?”
Chapter 256 - She didn’t even keep one picture of his? All of a sudden, Boss Lu felt happy again! (2)
Naturally, Lin Yiyi, who neither cared about social media nor followed Weibo, had no idea about any of these scandals on the internet.
That being said, as much as she wasn’t in touch with the most up to date news, she was, however, aware of the loaded looks coming from her employees. As slow as she was, she could still pick up the gossipy aura from their looks!
Lin Yiyi had also stopped dining at their company’s cafeteria. She felt that she had turned into a walking humanoid light bulb that was sparkling all the time. Everywhere she went, she would inevitably turn into the center of attention. That had even affected her appetite so she decided to get takeout and dine in her own office.
This was so tiring!
She had no idea how all this happened. She wasn’t even an actress anymore. To be specific, she was not a very well-known person either. Why was it that she would somehow end up on the most trending list from time to time?
That made the stars who wanted to leech off others’ popularity and increase their own exposure want to beat her up!
Lin Yiyi felt very speechless.
She didn’t want the attention, but she had gotten more than her fair share of it.
She had already switched her career and opened up her own restaurant and own company; yet she was still not able to avoid the fate of becoming a public figure!
How was it that when she was still an actress, she could, at most, touch the tiny hand of an 18th-tier actor? The only time she could leech off of someone else’s popularity was with Meng Yan. And they were talking about the kind of negative publicity where she was slammed by the public!
She thought about it long and hard and came to the conclusion that it was all due the fact that she was Meng Yan’s ex-wife!
In the end of the day, the attention on her stemmed from the film emperor. Who else would spare their attention for an ex-18th-tier actress?
Lin Yiyi had inevitably displaced her anger on her ex-husband!
When Lu Xun placed one foot into her office, he immediately saw Lin Yiyi staring at her computer, looking upset.
“What’s the matter?” He walked up and saw an enlarged handsome face on her monitor.
It even looked quite familiar. It was one that everybody in this country would recognize. It was Meng Yan, the film emperor!
He was so mad!
Lu Xun was a jealous one and that was reflected in the subtext of his words. “Why are you looking at him? He’s already married!”
No Sh*t! Everybody in this country was aware that he was married, alright?
On top of that, his wife and him made a very good couple which led to all sorts of mockeries, ridicules, and slamming toward her. To the point that she was traumatized toward any kind of social media and that she had stopped reading about what was going on under her Weibo page.
Lin Yiyi took a look at him and said, “I only pulled out his picture to yell at him and to blow out steam.”
Lu Xun, “……”
You can do that?
He joined her at looking at the screen.
Truth be told, Meng Yan was a very good-looking man. Little Yuran looked a lot like him, but comparing the father and son, Little Yuran was the better looking between the two of them. After all, his face shape and contours looked more like Lin Yiyi’s and were much milder, giving him a softer and more delicate feel.
As he looked, he suddenly said, “This is a very good picture of him. He looks very handsome in it.”
To be able to say that with such sincerity, Lu Xun was certainly a very honest man!
Lin Yiyi nodded and said, “That’s not the half of it. This has been photoshopped. And he had makeup on. Look, his skin looks way better than it really is.”
Most of the time when Lin Yiyi saw Meng Yan, he didn’t have makeup on. That led to the fact of her thinking that he was much more handsome on screen. Besides, there were also lighting effects on the screen which brought him up from a 7 or 8 to a full 10!
Lu Xun was enlightened. “Oh, is that so!”
And that was when it had dawned on him… He was critiquing Meng Yan with Lin Yiyi?!
More importantly, he truly felt that Meng Yan was a good-looking man?
Lu Xun was very bothered by it all of a sudden.
He turned and asked, “Why did you search for his picture online to yell at him?”
With the picture enlarged on the screen, the picture of the handsome film emperor was zoomed in by a lot.
Having said that, his attractiveness was pretty powerful when looked at closely!
Lin Yiyi stretched out her hands and said, “Welp, I don’t have any of his pictures at home.”
Lu Xun, “……”
She didn’t even keep one picture of his? All of a sudden, Boss Lu felt happy again!
Chapter 257- Had she known, she would have asked since when did he go blind! (1)
It was close to the end of the year and many new movies were being played. In particular, the two days around Christmas and the three days around New Year, those were the days with the most movies showing.
Lin Yiyi was paying particular attention to that because her company had invested a lot of money in them.
As far as that was concerned, Lu Xun was much more relaxed than she was.
According to him, the movies were already done filming and made it through the review process. The box office would be determined by the responses from the viewers. They had already done all of the early-stage marketing that they could and now all was left was just word of mouths. There was not much left that they could do to influence the outcome and being too overly concerned about it wouldn’t change anything.
The boss of this industry was, after all, the boss of this industry!
Lin Yiyi had tried to let it go and let Tao Jiahui be the only one running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Tao Jiahui even complained to Lin Yiyi over the phone that she had canker sores growing in her mouth and that she deserved a raise!
She was already making over a million yuan a year and with the year-end bonus, making more than 99% of the worker bees out there. How could she still be asking for a raise?
Was she kidding me?
“Are you kidding me?”
Ms. Lin Ping smacked Lin Yiyi upside her head and looked at her with regret. “You want the cow to work for you, but you don’t want to give it enough food to eat. How are you going to run a company like that? At this rate, it will be difficult to keep your company running for more than 2 years.”
Lin Yiyi, “… …”
Her hand that was holding on to the phone shook, and she quickly explained to Tao Jiahui, “My mother did not mean to call you a cow!”
Tao Jiahui, “……”
Ms. Lin Ping was displeased, “That was an analogy! Do you not want people to bend over backward helping you feed your 100 something employees at your company?”
How was this girl so unthoughtful?
She almost didn’t want to admit that this was her daughter!
Lin Yiyi thought about it a little and felt that what her mother had said was very reasonable. She then made up her mind, “Okay. I will give you a 20% raise this year. Keep up the good work. We are relying on you to see if we can double our revenue next year!”
Tao Jiahui, “……”
Hey to the both of you!
Or, should she say they were mother and daughter after all?
Obviously she was just joking and Lin Yiyi knew that. That being said, Ms. Lin Ping was obviously a person well versed in management. She didn’t need much explanation but just knew that keeping a talent like Tao Jiahui would save her a lot of headaches and that was key!
Ms. Lin Ping did not receive training from higher education, or major in business management, or have an MBA. She was successful because she had her own set of principles around others.
A female entrepreneur that was so well-respected was a completely different person at home. It would surely crush many people’s image of her should they find out!
And now, after Lin Yiyi had hung up, Ms. Lin Ping picked at her teeth as she asked, “What has Xiao Lu been up to these last few days?”
This lady could be extremely moody. When she was in a good mood, he was “Xiao Lu” to her; otherwise, he was “that Lu guy”.
Had Lu Xun knew that she actually asked about his wellbeing, that would probably bring tears to his eyes.
Chapter 258 - Had she known, she would have asked since when did he go blind! (2)
“Didn’t you pick on him for not having his own business? He's been spending his time at that little investment firm of his as of late.”
Truth be told, his start-up had already gone IPO. It was a pretty sizable company by any stretch of imagination. It just wasn’t as grand as Shengshi Entertainment that was passed down by his father. In his defense, Shengshi Entertainment had already been established for dozens of years and was a big player in the entertainment circle realm long time ago. It wasn’t fair to compare the two of them.
A few casual words from Ms. Lin Ping and he had taken them to heart!
Lin Yiyi knew that being ambitious wasn’t a bad thing, so naturally, she was supportive of him.
Ms. Lin Ping was taken aback a little before she recalled that the entertainment company would be returned to Lu Mingzhe in the future. She tsk’d.
“That little entertainment company hardly measures up to my standard. That being said, it will lend a lot to Zhe’s qualifications when he looks for a girl in the future. People nowadays are all about wealth and status!”
And Ms. Lin Ping was the epitome of double standard. The way she treated the uncle and nephew were completely different.
Lin Yiyi was baffled. “Lu Xun’s doesn’t look any worse than Zhe. If this was 10 or so years ago and he was Zhe's age, you would love him just as much as you love Zhe.”
This lady was your textbook mom-fan. She was particularly into adolescent little fresh meat.
She started to wonder that had Zhe been any less attractive than he was, would Ms. Lin Ping still talk about him all the time?
Ms. Lin Ping paused for a little bit and then went silent.
That was not a fair comparison.
Did he really think it would be so easy to marry her daughter?
It was her overlook that let Meng guy take advantage of her daughter. After that painful experience, she was very set on being successful this time!
Had Lu Xun not looked like he cared as much about Lin Yiyi as much as he did, Ms. Lin Ping would have for sure insisted on Lin Yiyi meeting a few other young elites and picking the best one among them.
Ms. Lin Ping did not believe that a woman who had been married once was any less worthy.
There were more men than women in this world. There were only men who couldn’t find a wife, never a woman who couldn’t find a husband, unless she chose not to. In this society, anything that a man could do, so could a woman. The competent ones could even make good money. Even if the woman wanted to remain single, they could still have babies. There were plenty of sperm banks to choose from and that was much more than a man could say about himself!
Lu Xun, who was lesser than a woman in Ms. Lin Ping’s eyes, finally finished his work for the day. It was already dark out when he walked out of his office.
Halfway through, Lu Mingzhe gave him a call. “I’m going over to have dinner at Grandma Lin’s!”
“No, you can’t go!” Boss Lu rejected him without even thinking it through.
He didn’t even have time to go, how could Lu Mingzhe go?!
That was not fair!
Lu Mingzhe went silent for a few seconds, then said, “I was merely informing you of it.”
His subtext was, I wasn’t asking!
Just like that, the teenage boy had successfully put a long face on his uncle.
After a little while, Lu Xun received a call from Lin Yiyi. “I have Zhe coming over for dinner. I’ll give him a ride home later tonight.”
Lu Xun, “……”
What was the point of him even being upset anymore?
He turned on his cellphone, checked his own bank account, and secretly did an estimation on Ms. Lin Ping’s net worth. He wondered if he would be able match hers in another 50 years. That seemed to be a bit of a stretch. QAQ
No wonder Ms. Lin Ping was picking on him left and right!
What did her having a high standard for him mean?
It meant that she had high hopes for him!
Had she not thought that he could rise to her standard, would she still talk to him calmly that way that she did? Giving this lady’s personality, of course not!
All in all, everything pointed to the fact that his odds were good and he didn’t think that Ms. Lin Ping was asking too much of him.
Luckily, Lin Yiyi had no idea what was going through his mind right now. Had she known, she would have asked since when did he go blind!
Chapter 259 - Lu Xun, who had never killed anything before in his life other than a couple of mosquitoes in the summertime, shuddered (1)
Lu Xun had been busy lately. Not only did he need to work overtime all the time, he also needed to go on business trips now and then. Once in a while, when Lin Yiyi remembered that she hadn’t seen him in a while and gave him a call, he would still be stuck in a meeting. He had been so busy that he had practically turned into a workaholic.
Never mind about time to go on dates, he couldn’t even find the time to go over and have dinner at the Lin’s. All he could do was resentfully watch his nephew go there every day for dinner!
Thinking how Ms. Lin Ping had high hopes for him, he could, once again, feel his blood stirring.
Naturally, he did not think that he was being brainwashed by Ms. Lin Ping at all. (Ms. Lin Ping: Meow meow meow???)
By the time he was ready to take a breather, it was already Christmas Eve.
With globalization, even Christmas holidays that came from the west had become quite popular in China. Businesses had all sorts of promotional activities to boost their income and others would take this opportunity to get together and have fun.
In a city where life is fast-paced, a festive time like Christmas met the needs of young people who were always after fun and excitement.
Lin Yiyi had started the preparation a few days ahead of time.
The decors inside the house had been swapped to bright-colored ones. In the corner of the living room was a 2.6-meter-tall Christmas tree. A white fence was placed around the tree. Within the fence, there was a Santa Claus that was half the height of an adult and there were also reindeers and a sleigh.
After all the decorations, the mansion was immediately filled with the feeling of warmth and festivities.
Meng Shanshan enjoyed that a lot.
Ever since the Christmas tree had been set up, she would go and stare at it from time to time. Sometimes she would tug at the antler on the reindeers; other times she would climb inside of the fence with her stubby little legs and stroke the Christmas tree. All in all, she had been busying herself with playing with the decorations.
After she was teased by Meng Yuran, the little girl’s ego was hurt. She finally pretended that she was already tired of it and wouldn’t even look at it anymore.
That, nevertheless, was short-lived.
She sneaked right back to the Christmas tree and resumed what she had been doing as soon as her brother had gone upstairs. On top of that, she put on a I-am-just-taking-a-look-because-I-happened-to-be-passing-by look.
Meng Shanshan’s actions made Lin Yiyi smile and her lips were curved upward all the way until she headed into the kitchen to bake cookies and cake.
There were a few sets of ceramic plates inside the cupboards and they were festive Christmas themed. They were particularly pretty after Lin Yiyi had arranged the candies and cookies on them and brought them out. She took a few pictures of them and posted them onto Weibo.
Lately, she'd go browse Weibo from time to time whenever she had some free time.
Mainly, she hadn’t been bashed anymore. Most of the comments under her Weibo page were compliments on her different dishes. That had greatly appeased and stroked her ego.
Vanity is but a human nature. Compliments on her cooking was, doubtless, a kind of assurance for her!
Sure enough, netizens were commenting below her pictures immediately after she had posted them.
“Is Lin Yiyi releasing poison again?”
“I saw the cake behind the cookies. Did you make that yourself as well? It looks very tasty.”
“Luckily I am spending Christmas Eve with my boyfriend at a fine restaurant. I am not envious at all.”
“Well played, previous poster!”
“I am kicking over this bowl of dog food!”
Chapter 260 - Lu Xun, who had never killed anything before in his life other than a couple of mosquitoes in the summertime, shuddered (2)
On Christmas Eve, even the mood on the web was particularly harmonious and warm. She took a couple looks before putting her cellphone away and bringing the cake from the kitchen.
Meng Shanshan was the first to run up to the cake. She had even forgotten all about her favorite Christmas tree that had her attention all day long. It was obvious that food would always take the first place in her mind.
“Wow! A strawberry cake!”
There was a thick layer of strawberries on the top of the cake. They were purchased just this morning and were super fresh. The fruit shop had just gotten them in, and they were freshly picked this morning. Each one of them were a bright red color and enough to make one salivate over it.
The little girl could barely walk the minute she saw the cake. She stared straight at it, salivating. Any minute now, her looks could bore holes into the cake
“You must wait till your grandpa is home before you can eat it, okay?”
Lin Yiyi pretended that she did not notice that her daughter was about to drool all over the cake. Resisting her moment of weakness to give in, she patted her daughter on her head.
Mr. Gu Chengyi’s one hobby was fishing and that was where he had gone today. He even said he would be bringing home lots for fish for dinner tonight.
Lin Yiyi and her two children all had doubts about that statement.
Your secret had been exposed a long time ago. Did you really think that we still believe all those fish that you had been bringing home was from your hard work?
Meng Shanshan’s head bobbed up and down from being patted by Lin Yiyi. Her eyes were still glued to the cake but she docilely agreed and said, “Okay, let me go give Grandpa a call then.”
Having said that, she reluctantly looked away from the cake, lifted her wrist, and dialed Mr. Gu.
While the little girl couldn’t wait to make the call, the door to the mansion swung open and a breeze came pouring inside.
Mr. Gu Chengyi had returned!
He had a bucket in his hand that looked to be quite heavy. It looked like he had a good haul today.
There were two silhouettes following behind him. One belonged to Lu Xun who was also carrying a bucket of fish. Lu Xun had his own tail behind him and that was, of course, Lu Mingzhe.
“You were able to catch fish in the winter time?”
Surprised, Lin Yiyi walked up to look inside of the buckets.
Most of them were Crucian carps.
Lu Xun waited till she was done looking before he took the bucket from Mr. Gu and carried both of them into the kitchen.
When they were getting out of the car, Mr. Gu had insisted on carrying the bucket that was filled to its brim with fish.
Lu Xun panicked when he saw how Mr. Gu’s arm trembled under the weight of the bucket. Luckily, he didn’t hurt his back!
Showing off was important to Lao Gu and he wanted to give Ms. Lin Ping a pleasant surprise. Lo and behold, when they walked inside of the mansion, Ms. Lin Ping was nowhere to be seen. He had carried the bucket of fish for no reason. As such, he did not put up much of a fight when Lu Xun took the bucket from him.
After putting down the fish and returning from the kitchen, Lu Xun finally said, “The season and the weather matter a lot when it comes to fishing. When we went in October, that was the best time to fish. Then again, skill matters a lot as well.”
As he said, he looked over at Mr. Gu with a smile on his face. “Fish are very similar to humans and don't like to move around in the winter time. They will usually gather around in groups. So you either get no fish, or if you drop the bait right next to them, you will have a full haul at once.”
Obviously, Mr. Gu was the one who spent all day fishing but ended up empty-handed.
Lin Yiyi smiled back at Lu Xun. She got what he was trying to say.
Chapter 261 - Lu Xun, who had never killed anything before in his life other than a couple of mosquitoes in the summertime, shuddered (3)
Being teased by the two of them, Mr. Gu quickly cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Where's your mom?”
Ms. Lin Ping loved being around other people. She would for sure be downstairs if there were people home, especially when her favorite Lu Mingzhe was over. If she was home, she would be right there with them by now.
He knew his own wife plenty well!
“She went to get her hair done.”
The fondness of having one’s hair down around New Year time seemed to be a staple of Chinese people (especially women).
And Ms. Lin Ping was not an exception to that rule!
More importantly, there were promotions around Christmas time!
Although, as far as Lin Yiyi could tell, the place that Ms. Lin Ping normally visited was allegedly a favorite of many celebrities, so it wouldn’t have made that much difference with or without promotions.
Lu Xun turned to look at Lin Yiyi. His eyes beaming, he asked, “What’s for dinner tonight?”
He hadn’t been able to come over for a while now and he was as particular as Meng Shanshan when it came to food.
And that was the other reason why Lu Mingzhe, who could come over everyday for free dinner, was an enemy of the people!
Lu Mingzhe couldn’t stand looking at that foolish look on his little uncle anymore. He waved at Meng Shanshan.
After Meng Shanshan had ran over to him docilely, he popped a piece of chocolate into her mouth and said, “Do you like it? I have someone bring these back from Switzerland.”
Meng Shanshan couldn’t nod any quicker. Her eyes glistened and oddly overlapped with the look on Lu Xun. “Are there more?”
“Yes.”
Lu Mingzhe had already pulled out the entire box from behind him and presented it to her.
Seeing how she had dedicated all of her attention onto the chocolate and didn’t even look up again, the teenage boy raised his brows and said forcefully, “Only one piece a day and you must brush your teeth afterward.”
Only one piece of this yummy chocolate a day?
The little girl looked up at him in disbelief, stunned.
The teenage boy would not budge.
Lin Yiyi gestured at Lu Xun. “You go take a look at the ingredients in the kitchen. Feel free to make whatever you like for tonight.”
Make it himself?
With his cooking skill, they would all die of starvation!
That being said, Lu Xun saw that she had already turned and started walking toward the kitchen so he quickly followed behind her. And then… he saw the electric barbeque machine on top of the countertop!
“Barbeque?”
Next to the barbeque machine was plates and plates of skewered chicken. No wonder she told him to make his own. They were having barbeque tonight.
“You guys brought home some fish as well. We can have barbeque fish too!”
“Let’s get the fish ready first so we can start as soon as my mother gets home.” Lin Yiyi was about to bend down and grab a fish when she was dragged away from them.
Lu Xun had already rolled his sleeves up and reached his hand into the cold water. He didn’t even look back when he said, “You just wait there. I will take care of this.”
How sweet was that?
Lin Yiyi went silent for a little while and watched as Lu Xun very skillfully scooped a carp out of the water, placed it inside of the sink, and picked up a knife. As though suddenly remembering something, he hesitated for a little while before he turned and looked at her in distress. “How do I slaughter a fish?”
“Pfft!”
Why were you volunteering if you don’t even know how to slaughter a fish?
Lin Yiyi was speechless. Taking the knife from him, she said, “Watch carefully.”
As soon as she finished saying that, one could hear two loud “SMACK!” She had slammed the body of the knife on the head of the fish twice, knocking it unconscious.
Lu Xun’s pupil contracted as he witnessed that. He felt as if the body of the knife had landed on him instead. He was so startled that he even took two steps backward.
“That’s taking a life…”
Lu Xun, who had never killed anything before in his life other than a couple of mosquitoes in the summertime, shuddered.
Chapter 262 - She didn’t expect him to straight up pawn it off to his sister! (1)
After the demonstration from Lin Yiyi, Lu Xun pretty much finished taking care of the rest of the fish.
Starting with the first one where he had to hold the handle of the knife with both hands and clean the internal organs of the fish with his eyes close, he had quickly become faster and faster. As time went on, he looked more and more skillful and less and less like a novice.
One must lament how sometimes pressure was a necessity in one’s life. Most people would be content with their current situation without a force nudging at them. Take Lu Xun for example, he could barely watch when Lin Yiyi was the one killing the fish. Once he did a couple on his own, he was getting more and more fierce and all of the guilt of being a butcher was gone.
Lin Yiyi watched him for a little bit longer. When she was comfortable that he could handle it on his own, she finally walked out of the kitchen.
Once she walked inside of the living room, she saw Meng Shanshan waving at her.
What she was doing looked somewhat familiar.
Lin Yiyi did not give it too much thought before she walked over to the little girl and squatted down in front of her. Right when she opened up her mouth and was about to ask her what was the matter, a piece of chocolate was popped into her mouth.
The little girl smiled and said, “Do you like it? It’s from Brother Zhe.”
Lin Yiyi’s lips twitched.
No wonder she thought what Meng Shanshan was doing looked familiar -- it was exactly what Lu Mingzhe had done to her a while ago.
Finally, Meng Shanshan did not forget to remind her, “Don’t forget to brush your teeth afterward.”
Lin Yiyi, “……”
Meng Shanshan, looking like a serious little adult, took a few steps with her hands behind her. Once she had reached the stairway, she pitter-pattered upstairs.
It didn’t take long before Meng Yuran carried her back downstairs.
The teenage boy had a long face on him and carried his sister by her neck like a mother cat corralling a misbehaving kitten. He stared at Lu Mingzhe angrily and said, “I knew it was you!”
Lu Mingzhe was a bad influence to his foolish sister.
What he got in return was a nonchalant look from Lu Mingzhe.
Lin Yiyi chose not to engage with them. Opening up the box of chocolate that she had tricked the little girl for, she felt no shame whatsoever from stealing chocolate from her daughter and popped another piece into her own mouth.
Then, after thinking about it for a little bit, she stole another piece out of it and walked into the kitchen.
Lu Xun had already finished rinsing all of the fish that he had slaughtered and placed them into a bucket that was sitting inside the sink when he noticed someone sneaking up behind him.
It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out who it could be. After all, other than Chef Lin who had claimed the kitchen, nobody else in the Lin’s would walk into the kitchen. He smiled and was just about to say something when something was thrown into his mouth.
“Is it sweet?”
The woman had red lips and white teeth and her smile was infectious and enough to make one’s mind wander.
Lu Xun’s throat twitched a little and the chocolate immediately melted away in his mouth. The sweetness and smoothness of it lingered on his tongue and teeth. Even the thought of it afterward filled him with sweet happiness.
There is a saying in Switzerland that roughly translates into: 9 out of 10 people like chocolates and the last one is lying!
Boss Lu, on the other hand, was a very honest boy. “Yes.”
Lin Yiyi, “… Don’t look at me when you say that!”
She would think he was talking about her had she not known any better.
Lu Xun chuckled lightly.
Once he started chuckling, Lin Yiyi couldn't help but laugh with him.
It was so harmonious inside the kitchen that Meng Yuran had second thoughts about entering the kitchen when he came looking for them.
After some hesitation, he decided to walk back out quietly.
Chapter 263 - She didn’t expect him to straight up pawn it off to his sister! (2)
Ms. Lin Ping had already taken off her jacket and put on her slippers. She looked behind Meng Yuran when she saw him walking out and asked, “I thought you went to get your mom?"
The teenage boy shuddered when he recalled the pink bubbles surrounding the two adults in the kitchen.
He shook his head and said, “She's preparing dinner and will be out soon.”
“I thought we're having barbeque. What is there to prepare?”
Ms. Lin Ping didn’t spend too much time mulling over this and had already turned and engaged in a conversation with Lu Mingzhe.
Let it be his mother or his grandmother, and even his fool of a sister, they were all addicted to the Lu’s.
The teenage boy felt very lonely all of a sudden.
Mr. Gu Chengyi was the other one who felt as lonely as him.
Looking at his grandson, Mr. Gu poked at the remote control and asked, “Watch some television?”
The two of them shared the same blue feeling.
Everybody was waiting quietly as they turned and looked over at the dining area repeatedly, while salivating. Especially when, from where they were sitting in the living room, they could see a corner of the dinner table with the red and festive plates on them... that did not help with the salivating at all.
Finally, Lin Yiyi brought the food out from the kitchen after the barbeque grill had been set up and the final few shrimp were skewered.
Following behind her was Lu Xun with a basket of fish that had been dried and marinated.
Had he not been standing there and observing how Lin Yiyi was doing it, he would have no idea how much work went into cleaning and marinating the fish and preparing the other ingredients for 7 people. They had been kept busy in the kitchen for a long time.
He could only imagine the amount of work entailed when she used to prepare meals for the entire family all by herself!
Come to think about it, it was not entirely out of question to have a servant helping out with the cooking.
At least it would be less work for the two of them!
Hmm, she wouldn’t need to cook every single meal in the future. An occasional meal now and then would suffice.
He glanced over at her stealthily and felt that a meal once in a while just might not be enough. Well, he could help out, so… maybe two meals?
Boss Lu was very happy with his own fantasy and Lin Yiyi had already noticed the others starting to gather around the dining room.
“Your new hairdo looks nice on you.”
Lin Yiyi wasn’t shy in doling out her compliments. “Short hair looks good on you. And the slight curl gives a novel feel too.”
Complimenting good hairdo meant she had good taste!
As such, complimenting on Ms. Lin Ping’s hair was the same as complimenting herself!
Ms. Lin Ping couldn’t contain her complacency. “Right? I had the hairdresser pick the eldest [female] cousin’s look. Well, I couldn’t quite pull off that hair color, so I had to have my hair dyed brown instead.”
That was very unfortunate, but even with a different hair color she was still a little fairy nonetheless!
Wow and you even know the eldest [female] cousin reference?! * Respect!
(T/N: Eldest female cousin = Jennifer Lawrence. Yes, I just learned that today myself. Here’s the link to the full back story behind it.)
Ms. Lin Ping had just got done with feeling complacent before her eyes were locked onto Lu Xun.
“Xiao Lu, how come you have lost so much weight?”
Ms. Lin Ping was shocked.
Lin Yiyi, too, followed in the same direction that Ms. Lin Ping was looking at and turned to look at Lu Xun.
No wonder she found him more attractive; it was because he had lost some weight.
Lu Xun was taken aback a little. Touching his own chin, he was still baffled. “Did I?”
He wasn’t aware of that at all.
He had been very busy a while back and hadn’t shown up in a few days. When he showed up again all of a sudden, the difference before and after was so drastic it made others wonder if he was the same person still.
He had been looking in the mirror everyday, so he didn’t really notice much difference. Men tended to have less attention to details and he did not notice the changes in himself at all.
But Ms. Lin Ping had acute observations!
She stared at him for a long, long time and, only when Lu Xun felt that her look was about to bore a hole on him before this lady finally smacked her lips and looked away with a long face. Even the excitement of having a new hairdo couldn’t save her mood right now.
“How come he could lose so much weight without even trying? I even signed up for dance classes and didn’t even lose a pound…” What in the heck!
Ms. Lin Ping felt very envious of that.
Mr. Gu glanced over at her and had no heart to point out the truth to her.
You have only been going to your dance classes intermittently and all two times since you have signed up. Not to mention that you did not stay for the full session in either one of those times.
What kind of world would that be if you could lose weight like that?