Chapter 183: Chapter 176: So-Called Self-Awareness
The Yin Family left Yijing Manor, and Shan Minglang hid in the yard, refusing to come out, so the Yin Family left him alone.
Yin Shixiu didn’t leave either.
After all, his stance had always been clear. As long as his mother hadn’t accepted Meng Meng, he would rather not go home than be separated from Su Xiaomeng.
Bai Fengmao did not see Yin Shixiu as an outsider, but seeing his mother’s attitude, he couldn’t help but vent his anger on Yin Shixiu.
As a result, he looked at Yin Shixiu with displeasure.
Then he turned to Su Xiaomeng, "My granddaughter, what on earth are you thinking?"
Su Xiaomeng sat on the sofa, feeling very dejected...
She murmured, "Grandpa, I’m sorry..."
Bai Fengmao sighed heavily, "Grandpa is so old, if he has to suffer some grievances, so be it. But your life from now on..."
"Dad."
Bai Sixian walked over, having brewed a pot of tea, and seeing his father looking worried, he couldn’t help but laugh.
Bai Fengmao looked at Bai Sixian, "Baby, you can still find it in yourself to laugh?"
Bai Sixian sat on the sofa, pulling Su Xiaomeng into his arms with pride.
"You all think Old Madam Yin’s words can be trusted?"
Bai Fengmao couldn’t understand the situation anymore.
Even Yin Shixiu was a bit confused...
"She’s a real iron lady," Bai Sixian laughed, "If today Meng Meng had brazenly asserted that she could handle the position of Yin Family’s daughter-in-law, Old Madam Yin would have immediately turned and walked away and used every means to force Xiao Meng and Shixiu to divorce."
"If she doesn’t even have this bit of self-awareness, there’s no need for any further expectations."
Bai Sixian said this.
On the other side of the mountain path, Zhou Mengqin was telling her husband the same thing...
"It seems, Shixiu isn’t completely blinded by a ghost."
Yin Shaohui smiled and couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental, "It turns out you’re better at handling social relations, Madam..."
"Poking fun at me?"
Zhou Mengqin glanced at him, "Didn’t you see Brother Bai’s eyes glaring at me as if he wished to eat me alive."
Yin Shaohui reached out to hold his wife’s shoulder, giving it a gentle rub.
In his palm was her thin shoulder bone, a bit uncomfortable to the touch...
They were getting old.
"Su Xiaomeng, this girl, really makes one’s heart conflicted."
Zhou Mengqin took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled. The gentle expression on her face was heartfelt but never shown before Su Xiaomeng.
"Just when you have some expectations of her, she smacks you with a blow, making you feel disappointed all over again, but then she acts so sensible..."
"She’s still young..."
"But we’ve grown old... can we still wait?"
Zhou Mengqin sighed heavily.
The two elders were talking ahead, while Yin Bowen and Zhu Lan, lagging a bit behind, discussed secretly for a while before trotting up to their grandparents.
"Grandma... it was just a joke in front of Mr. Bai, right?"
Yin Bowen tentatively asked.
"Does it seem like it?"
Zhou Mengqin glanced at him.
"Grandma, could you really bear... to see me enter the police station?"
Zhou Mengqin remained cold-faced and unmoved.
This made Zhu Lan and Yin Bowen even more anxious, feeling uneasy along the way.
Yin Shiqing turned back to the Yin Family’s villa, and as soon as Yin Bowen and Zhu Lan returned, they immediately rushed into their father’s room.
Yin Shiqing looked at his son and daughter-in-law, his face stern, "Now do you understand the seriousness of the matter? Why didn’t you consider the consequences when you did it?"
Yin Shiqing sat on the sofa, his severe gaze sweeping over his son and then falling on his daughter-in-law, "You’re Bowen’s wife. When he was confused, you added fuel to the fire?"
"Dad, why are you saying that?"
Zhu Lan coyly said, "Who could have thought that inconspicuous little girl had such a strong backing?"
"You’re always aiming high and looking down on people, and that’s why this happened! Whether she has backing or not is not the point!"
"Dad..."
Zhu Lan lowered her head, her lips moved, and then she changed her tone, "But Grandma, in order to appease the Bai Family, she targeted Bowen so harshly... isn’t that too much? After all, Bowen is her eldest grandson..."
"Your Grandma’s temper has always been like that. If you do something detrimental to the Yin Family’s reputation, she’d uphold justice even without blinking an eye."
"Uphold justice... sounds nice."
Zhu Lan murmured, "Bowen hasn’t committed murder or arson... is it necessary to be so serious? If you ask me, it’s just because Bowen isn’t her biological grandson..."
Yin Bowen quickly tugged Zhu Lan, "Enough."
Zhu Lan pouted, glanced at her father-in-law, "Dad, I know you don’t like to hear this, but the reason Grandma is making a big fuss is partly to curb your spirit!"
Yin Shiqing narrowed his eyes, fixing them on Zhu Lan.
"To be blunt, Grandpa and Grandma are so old, who knows how many years they have left. When the positions of Family Head and Mistress are vacant, will it be you or Uncle who inherits it? What does it depend on?"
"This younger uncle, though young and promising, the Yin family’s influence mainly comes from political circles."
"In this regard, Dad, you definitely have the upper hand. Plus, with Second Aunt willing to support you, in terms of influence, the younger uncle can’t match you, no matter what."
"Now that Bowen finally managed to secure a footing in the municipal department and got a position as the finance minister, why does Grandma want to use this insignificant traffic accident as an excuse to send Bowen to the police station?"
Zhu Lan became increasingly indignant as she spoke, showing a righteous indignation while watching Yin Shiqing’s face grow more rigid and his expression more unpleasant.
She knew she had hit the right nerve.
Not being a biological member of the Yin Family is a pain that will forever haunt him.
No matter how excellent, successful, or powerful he is, he could be disqualified in the family head succession because of this fundamental bloodline issue.
"Isn’t this just blocking Bowen’s future, weakening your influence, Dad?"
Yin Bowen, seeing his father being affected emotionally, couldn’t help but echo lightly, "Grandma, being such a discerning and sensible person, surely must know the implications of blowing this matter up on my career path..."
Yin Shiqing closed his eyes, slowly exhaled, and felt nothing but anxious and frustrated.
"I understand. I will talk to your grandparents about this again. You two should leave now."
"...Dad, once that Bai family member, Bai Sidong, gets involved, it will truly become troublesome."
Zhu Lan reminded once more.
"Get out."
Yin Shiqing showed a hint of impatience.
Zhu Lan took cue and immediately left Yin Shiqing’s room with Yin Bowen.
The couple exchanged a glance and went to the servants to find their son, Yin Junchao.
They wanted Yin Junchao to say a few words in front of his grandparents... Although the old lady had a hard exterior, she was very soft-hearted towards the children.
At this moment, compared to the Yin Family after the ancestral rites, the Bai Family seemed significantly more lively.
Especially with the two little children, Shuangshuang and Huanghuang, even their cries were full of warmth and humanity.
Shan Minglang refused to return, lingering at the Bai Family, and Yin Meng also hadn’t left.
Bai Sixian counted the number of people and suggested making dumplings for lunch.
This Shan Minglang seemed to have been a monkey in a previous life, resulting in unbelievable antics in this one.
With just a handful of flour, he could come up with a dozen tricks, smearing it on his face to amuse Shuangshuang at one moment, then putting some on Huanghuang’s face for his own amusement.
Yin Shixiu and Bai Fengmao were playing Go in the study. Few words were exchanged between them; although the study was quiet, the battle on the board was fiercely intense.
Su Xiaomeng and Yin Meng were in the kitchen making dumplings with Bai Sixian.
Yin Meng discovered she might not even be as good at making dumplings as Su Xiaomeng.
Su Xiaomeng felt a bit smug about it.
"Auntie, you’re amazing, it seems like you can do anything."
Yin Meng said, feeling quite admiring of a woman like Bai Sixian.
Even though she didn’t know much, just from the earlier verbal sparring between Bai Sixian and her grandmother, she could sense that Bai Sixian was not someone to be trifled with.
And there’s no negative connotation to being not easy to mess with.
"If you get married and have a daughter like Su Xiaomeng in the future, you too will become able to handle anything."
"Mom, what do you mean by that..."
Su Xiaomeng pouted, that sounded like saying she was troublesome, causing her mother to worry more, wasn’t it?
Seeing Su Xiaomeng with a darkened face, Yin Meng chuckled, "I think having a daughter like Xiaomeng would be very blissful."
"Hehe, it’s still Meng Meng who understands me."
Su Xiaomeng said, and her small mouth moved over to Yin Meng’s side, to which Yin Meng quickly evaded, saying disdainfully, "Don’t be disgusting!"
"Tch."
Three women make a scene, and they chatted away in the kitchen until the topic turned to Bai Sidong, who was already on his way to Yijing Manor.
Speaking of Bai Sidong, Bai Sixian seemed to have endless things to talk about.
"He’s five years older, but ever since I was born, he hasn’t stopped bullying me. Thinking back, he was really a terrible brother."
"Is Uncle really that bad?"
Su Xiaomeng blinked her eyes.
Bai Sixian’s eyes were filled with laughter and... nostalgia.
She spoke with a sense of sentimentality...
"Other people’s brothers are quite loving towards their sisters, but your Uncle Sidong was a bit of a bully, only knowing how to pick on me."
"Hahaha! Even Mom has times when she got bullied!"
Bai Sixian laughed, placed the dumpling she had just finished pinching down, and picked up another dumpling wrapper.
"From competing for affection to quarrels, to physical fights, he didn’t give me an inch..."
But when she left that time... among the siblings, only he cried.
Over these years, among the siblings, only he came to find her...
She has three elder brothers, and though age difference posed a problem, they still were her real brothers.
Elder Brother Bai Zhengxiang and that Bai Zhenghan, who’s far away overseas, had always played the role of gentle brothers since she was young.
But when she got into trouble, the ones who ended up opposing her were apparently the two brothers who seemed to love her the most.
Of course, she understood that the two had already established their own families. Compared to a sister, maybe the thoughts and words of the woman they planned to spend their life with held more significance.