Xu Keke was drinking soup when she felt Du Bingtian's gaze and looked at him with some confusion. She didn't quite understand what Jin Yan had to do with her.

Judging from their demeanor that day, it was clear that the other party had their eye on Du Yuan.

At this moment, Du Bingtian was already calculating in his mind: his eldest son would marry Li Dakang, and his second son would marry into the Jin family. As for the Sun family, Du Bingtian looked between his sweet third daughter and his obedient fourth daughter.

He suddenly realized that his mother was right all those years ago. He needed a virtuous and capable wife who could take the big picture into account and help him arrange all these things.

Instead of having him, the deputy director of the education bureau, act like a matchmaker, deciding who should be paired with whom.

Du Bingtian turned his gaze to Xu Keke again.

If she hadn't formed a group of wives back then, I wouldn't have been assigned a position so quickly. Unfortunately, she was too fixated on her relationships and lacked tolerance for others. Otherwise, I wouldn't still be just a deputy bureau chief today.

Xu Keke had no idea that Du Bingtian was looking at her while thinking about the original owner's mother. She sat back a little, using Du Yuan, who was taller than her, to avoid Du Bingtian's gaze.

It was unclear whether her movements had startled Du Yuan. Du Yuan, who hadn't spoken to her until now, suddenly turned to look at her. "Big sister, what are your thoughts on tomorrow's hospitality?"

"Thoughts?" Wanting to leave, does that count? Xu Keke muttered to herself.

“Since eldest sister has no idea, then I’ll make the arrangements. Everyone in the family is here, so you can all share your thoughts.” With that, Du Yuan called the housekeeper over.

Then we started deciding which restaurant to use for tomorrow afternoon's tea and snacks, tea or coffee.

She said that we could bring up any ideas we had, and Du Shan suggested that we should prepare both, but she directly rejected that suggestion.

Du Yuan was in high spirits, her eyes shining. Whenever Li Dakang was involved, Du Yuan's cold beauty persona would appear and disappear intermittently.

The scale of the operation has grown larger and larger, extending from what flowers to prepare in the living room to replacing the living room furniture overnight.

"I remember there was some furniture in the storage room at the very back of the second floor. It was much more high-end than what we have at home."

The butler looked somewhat troubled and turned to look at Du Bingtian, hoping to find help. However, Du Bingtian was whispering something to the second concubine and did not look in their direction.

The butler could only bite the bullet and say, "The things in that room on the second floor were left by the previous mistress. Without the master's permission, nothing in there can be touched."

Du Yuan glanced at Xu Keke and loudly interrupted Du Bingtian and the second concubine's conversation, "Father, the furniture in the small living room is outdated. Nobody else uses it anymore. And the color is yellow, which doesn't match the paintings on the wall or the curtains at all."

Du Bingtian nodded in agreement, "I mentioned it to your mother; it's her insistence."

Du Yuan cleared her throat. "I want to replace the furniture in the storage room on the second floor. The housekeeper said that your consent is required."

After pondering for a while, Du Bingtian surprisingly nodded in agreement. However, he instructed the butler, "Only move the small pieces of furniture; nothing else is allowed to be moved."

Then, turning to Xu Keke, he said as if explaining, "Since your mother passed away, I've put away all her things. Now that you're back, take out some of her things. Seeing those things will always remind you of her."

Xu Keke found it laughable; this man's affection seemed far too contrived. If Li Dakang hadn't appeared, he probably wouldn't even remember his ex-wife. He was simply trying to use that deceased woman to maintain a father-daughter relationship that wasn't there. A hypocritical man.

However, they did remind themselves of this. Xu Keke said to the housekeeper, "When you're moving the furniture, call me to come along."

He then said to Du Bingtian, "When my wet nurse was alive, she often told me how good you were to my mother. I actually want to know what my mother was like."

Du Bingtian nodded in satisfaction; that was exactly what he had been thinking. That woman's daughter would probably be just like her. Perhaps, like her mother back then, she would clear the way to Nanjing for him.

"I'll come with you in a bit." Du Bingtian decided to personally tell his eldest daughter about her mother.

Du Shan's eyes were practically spitting fire as she looked at Du Yuan. She couldn't understand what her older sister was thinking. What good would it do for their branch of the family to push their father further and further away?

Du Yuan, however, didn't care at all. Her mind was only on Li Dakang, whom she was to meet the next afternoon. How could she let him see the family's taste and know how good she was? Just like the second young lady of the Sun family had said, she wanted him to understand her better, to know that she was a girl who appreciated life and had a refined sense of style. As for whose side her father favored, she hadn't cared before, and she cared even less now.

She's currently considering that she's a bit short on time; she needs to see her third concubine later to ask for advice on what to wear to home tomorrow. It can't be too formal, nor too restrained.

After finishing their meal, the family went together to the innermost room on the second floor, the so-called storage room.

This room is actually the master bedroom of this Western-style house. Thick red velvet curtains are drawn inside, and the crystal chandelier is quite old; when it's turned on, the dim light creates an eerie visual effect.

This reminded Zeng Jin of the backstage corridor of the theater, with its mottled mahogany floors under the warm orange lights.

It was more than twice the size of Zeng Jin's current bedroom. It was crammed with furniture. Clearly, this furniture originally belonged to the two living rooms and the dining room downstairs.

The dining table, sofa, sideboard... these are the things Lin Meijuan, the new mistress of the house, doesn't want to leave any trace of the previous mistress. And it's something Du Bingtian doesn't want to see either.

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