Chapter 87: Enemies Meet Again
After chatting and laughing, Chen Tang took cousin Xixi to wash her hands. Zhao Wenzheng looked at her back and bumped into Qi Huaijing beside him.
"Good boy, you didn't invite me to such an important event as marrying a wife. I love you in vain!"
Qi Huaijing raised his eyebrows lazily and ignored him.
Because of the confrontation between him and the old man, he not only did not invite Zhao Wenzheng to the wedding, but he also did not invite any of his relatives and friends in Beijing.
At the beginning, Zhao Wenzheng also tried to persuade him.
"The old man is doing this out of good intentions. You shouldn't disobey him."
Qi Huaijing asked back: "Your father starved you for three days, and you cried and insisted on marrying no one but your aunt. Is it because your father wasn't good enough to you?"
Zhao Wenzheng: "...Forget it, even an honest judge cannot judge family affairs...Enemies always come together...No one can explain this matter clearly...Goodbye!"
The welcoming banquet in the evening was very lively. All the branches of the Yue family gathered together to welcome the couple.
Qi Huaijing sat next to Grandpa Yue, drinking and chatting with his uncle-in-law, cousins, and brothers.
Chen Tang followed Madam Du and successively recognized seven or eight aunts, five or six cousins, eight or nine cousins-in-law, and a dozen cousins...
Bai Lu served on both sides and told Chen Tang privately that Grandpa Yue came from a poor family. As soon as he became rich in his early years, his nephews and nieces came to him with their families.
The old man values friendship and loyalty, and doesn't mind people asking for money. If his nephews or nephews have some potential, he will arrange for them to work in the shop and help out a little.
Those who came to this welcoming banquet were considered close relatives. If everyone came, we would have to set up a few more tables.
Chen Tang looked at the family and friends, and thought to herself, the Yue family is her closest relatives, and they are in such a situation...but why has neither Qi Huaijing nor Mrs. Yue, or even Bai Lu, who is always generous and talkative, ever said a single word to her?
There must be a reason.
After the banquet, the female guests left early, and Qi Huaijing was still drinking with his cousins. Chen Tang held Bai Lu's hand and slowly walked back to the courtyard.
"...I met a lot of relatives today, and I almost didn't recognize them all. Fortunately, you accompanied me. It's a pity that I didn't see my cousin's wife. I heard that she is a very nice person. Bailu, do you know when my cousin and his wife left for their hometown?"
Bai Lu has been a maid in the Yue Mansion since she was young. She has many familiar young ladies and is well-informed.
"About four months ago."
"When will the couple come back?"
"I heard from everyone that the young master was ordered to renovate the ancestral home and build the ancestral tomb. The project is not small. This time, it will take at least three to two years."
"Oh... I didn't see my aunt today either. Miss Ling Shu and Aunt Cheng are both in the mountains. Do you think my aunt will come back with them this time?"
"I don't think so. Madam Cheng is not in good health and has been living in the mountains. She rarely comes home except for the time she came back to visit the master when he was sick two years ago."
Shen Tang nodded silently, knowing what was going on.
For four or five days in a row, Qi Huaijing went out early and came back late, and was very busy.
Before the whole year was over, a lot of important matters had piled up in his shops, including major expenses, new and old sources of goods, staff arrangements, cargo transportation... Anything that could not be explained in a few letters, the shop owners were waiting for him to make the final decision.
After returning home from work, Old Man Yue was not willing to let him go easily. They argued with each other in the study, banging the table and smashing teacups, each one louder than the other.
No one knew.
One day, Qi Huaijing came back from a banquet drunk.
He seldom went out for social gatherings and drank in Guangling City, and he just said it was boring. Now it seems that it was not boring, but it was not that boring.
Chen Tang helped him to sleep. Seeing that he was very drunk, he was afraid that he would get up to ask for tea, so he simply put on his clothes, gathered his black hair into a loose bun, and tied a light-colored hibiscus hairpin. He found a chessboard in the room, sat alone on the couch outside, played chess with himself, and thought about his thoughts in recent days.
As the night deepens, people become quieter, and the lights fall as chess pieces are played leisurely.
Just when she was at the critical moment and was lost in thought, someone suddenly grabbed her hand from behind and dropped the chess piece.
“We should go down here.”
Chen Tang turned around when he heard the voice and found Qi Huaijing had gotten up at some point.
"You're already so drunk, why don't you get up instead of sleeping well?"
After sleeping for a while, although there was a red tinge of drunkenness between his eyebrows and eyes, he was still clear-headed and his lips and teeth were clear.
"It's okay. Today's wine is Amber Spring. I get drunk quickly and wake up quickly. I just woke up and didn't see you by my pillow, so I naturally wanted to look for you... Madam, you are too careful! I have been watching from behind for a long time, but you didn't notice."
He put on his clothes, sat down on the couch opposite, picked up Chen Tang's teacup and took two sips, then questioned her as usual.
"What have you been busy with at home recently, who have you met, and what have you talked about?"
He often asked this kind of question. In the past, Chen Tang just thought he was a chatterbox and always spoke casually, but today, his answer was meaningful.
"I follow Madam Du all day, see a lot of people, and talk a lot... There is only one important matter. What does my husband want to know?"
Qi Huaijing was frightened by her for a moment and suddenly sobered up a little.
"…Just tell me about it."
Shen Tang collected the chess piece and handed it back to him.
"Why don't we play a game of chess and make a bet."
"…What are you betting on?"
"Let's bet on this important matter. The loser will tell you everything he knows."
Qi Huaijing simply pushed the chessboard away.
"No, I won't play. I would lose to you on normal days, not to mention you're so drunk today."
Chen Tang sighed softly, holding his chin with one hand, lowering his eyelashes, and deliberately fiddling with the chess piece at hand.
"If you don't want to play, then don't play. Then go back and rest... I want to be alone."
Qi Huaijing sat there without moving, just concentrating on observing her expression. He couldn't guess for a moment whether she knew it or not.
Seeing that he didn't move, Chen Tang sighed deeply and stood up to leave. As expected, Qi Huaijing leaned over and grabbed her.
"…Let's give it a try. What if I can win?"
Chen Tang smiled secretly, turned around and sat down, and asked him to play white first.
One white and one black, falling alternately, there are gains and losses.
Chen Tang remained calm and unbroken, Qi Huaijing forced himself to stay strong, and in the end... he narrowly won.
He narrowed his drunken eyes, smiled with great complacency, and casually scattered the unplaced chess pieces onto the chessboard.
"If you're willing to gamble, you must admit defeat."
Chen Tang nodded with a smile, and slowly put away the chess pieces. Qi Huaijing couldn't wait any longer, so he reached out and grabbed her collar, and brought her into his arms across the chessboard.
After all, he was a little drunk, and his hands were very strong. Chen Tang had to stagger across the chessboard, knocking the chess pieces to the ground, before he fell into his lap.
Qi Huaijing pinched her cheek and pressed it against his hot eyebrows.
"Tell me, what do you know?"
Chen Tang put his arm around his neck and leaned on his shoulder… The sound was soft, but steady, like the sound of chess pieces falling in the middle of the night.
"It's the family fortune, right? What your grandfather wants to give you is not only your cousin, but also the fortune he has earned throughout his life."
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