Chapter 24 It seems she really isn't suited to be a "green tea" (a manipulative, manipulative woman)...
"After taking another sip, it just felt so-so. Indeed, tea is like people; you have to taste it carefully to tell if it's good or not."
Anyone with even a basic understanding of social etiquette would immediately recognize the hidden meaning in those words.
Tang Jianguo ultimately suppressed his displeasure, not wanting to make a fool of himself on such a good day and give his partner a reason to laugh at him.
"It's probably because the flavor has become weak after a few infusions; it's time to change the tea leaves."
As he spoke, he poured out the tea leaves that were clearly not fully steeped from the teapot and put in fresh ones.
Tang Mingli raised her eyebrows.
Having lived two lives, this was her first time engaging in subtle, manipulative tactics, and it ended badly. It seems she's truly not suited to being a "green tea" (a manipulative, manipulative woman).
Sitting next to her, Fu Ci sensed his wife's fierce fighting spirit and couldn't help but smile.
So this is what happens when a kitten gets all puffed up.
He had always known that his wife had a sharp edge, even though for the past two years she had been as lazy as a harmless kitten. She was simply too lazy to argue with anyone unrelated to her; that would be an extremely unprofitable and troublesome affair for her.
He could even imagine what she was thinking: instead of wasting time, why not get some more sleep, or do something that would make her happy?
This is the first time I've seen her show her thorns since I've known her.
However, Li Dazhu's mental fortitude was beyond expectation.
Neither Fu Ci nor Tang Mingli could detect the slightest change in his expression.
Even after seeing that Uncle Tang's face had clearly darkened, he jumped out to ease the tension.
"Drinking tea is like drinking alcohol; everyone has their own preferences, which is perfectly normal."
This response automatically ignored Tang Mingli's last question.
With that offered a way out, Tang Jianguo quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, if you don't like this tea, I'll give you a cup of plain water instead."
He then poured her another glass of water, while giving her a warning look.
Although she was already a member of the Fu family, he was still an elder.
He knew that Li Dazhu was inferior to Fu Ci in both family background and appearance, but the gift he brought today showed that he cherished his daughter dearly. This sincerity was more precious than anything else.
He only has one daughter. He doesn't ask her to be rich or powerful, but only that she have a peaceful and happy life.
My niece has been deliberately finding fault with me again and again today. Who knows if she just can't stand to see my daughter doing well?
Tang Jianguo became increasingly dissatisfied and didn't even want to invite them to lunch.
Tang Mingli didn't care about her uncle's attitude; she was determined to dismantle Li Dazhu's car today.
Moreover, she understood that regardless of whether she encountered Li Dazhu today, as long as she exposed Li Dazhu's true colors, no matter what the final outcome was for Tang Mingmei and Li Dazhu, she would inevitably be disliked.
Tang Mingmei, and even her uncle and aunt, would not believe that she did all this out of kindness.
But she still decided to do it, simply because they were both women.
If you don't want to waste time, let's get straight to the point.
"It's quite a coincidence, I have a friend whose older brother is also named Li Dazhu."
Li Dazhu's ever-smiling face finally cracked a few times.
Her lips twitched. She didn't really want to respond, but she had no choice but to: "Really? What a coincidence?"
"My friend's name is Li Baohua, do you know him?" Tang Mingli asked knowingly.
When asked, Li Dazhu wanted to deny it for a moment. But it was clear that the other party had come for him today.
Since the other party intends to expose him, Tang Mingmei will find out sooner or later, so there's no point in him denying it.
Before coming to the Tang family, he had thought it through clearly. The worst outcome would be that he and Tang Mingmei wouldn't be able to get together. Today, he came to the Tang family with a do-or-die attitude, and he couldn't back down.
Li Dazhu quickly calmed down and said with a forced smile, "What a coincidence, my sister is also named Li Baohua."
Anyway, he never answers directly, let alone says, "Li Baohua is my sister."
But if it's not like that, Tang Mingli has no other choice.
Having lived two lives, this is the first time she's tearing a scumbag apart, and she's full of fighting spirit.
"What a coincidence, but I really hope you just have the same name. After all, there are some things my friend's brother has done that are hard to describe."
A sister with the same name and a brother with the same name—what a coincidence! It's obvious that the brother Tang Mingli's friend was talking about is Li Dazhu.
Tang Jianguo finally realized that his niece might not have come to sabotage him on purpose, since she didn't know Li Dazhu was coming beforehand.
Perhaps it was all just a coincidence, a coincidence that she bumped into Li Dazhu, and a coincidence that she learned what shameful things Li Dazhu had done.
He stopped smiling and asked his niece with a serious expression, "What have you done that's hard to explain?"
Tang Jianguo was not a good son or a good husband, but he was definitely a devoted and responsible father to his only daughter.
He never hesitated when it came to his daughter's affairs.
Upon hearing Tang Jianguo's words, Li Dazhu could no longer maintain his feigned friendliness and glared angrily at Tang Mingli.
Under Li Dazhu's angry glare, Tang Mingli succinctly recounted what she had heard from Li Baohua.
“My friend’s older brother was a sent-down youth a few years ago. Because he was delayed in the countryside for a few years, he rushed to go on blind dates after returning to the city and quickly started dating someone. But for some reason, one day he suddenly wanted to break up with his blind date. When he asked, he found out that a female sent-down youth who had gone to the countryside with him had returned to the city and had been given a formal job. He preferred to be with this female sent-down youth.”
These words plunged the large living room into a terrifying silence.
The look in Li Dazhu's eyes when he looked at Tang Mingli was no longer one of anger, but rather one of murderous intent.
But Tang Mingli wasn't afraid. Fu Ci's hand had already landed on the back of her hand, and he was looking coldly at Li Dazhu.
Judging from their auras, Fu Ci is undoubtedly the clear winner.
Tang Mingli has a soft heart.
She has lived two lives, and faced almost every difficulty she encountered alone.
But today, she is not.
He not only accompanied her, but also acted as if he was there to support her.
Everyone was waiting for Li Dazhu to speak, especially Tang Jianguo.
His face appeared calm, but his slightly trembling hands betrayed his emotions.
Even if the possibility is one in ten thousand, he wants to hear Li Dazhu deny it and tell everyone that he is not the older brother of the friend she mentioned.
Just as the stalemate was at hand, Tang Mingmei returned, carrying a plate of washed cherries.
That was brought by Tang Mingli. She thought there might be a lot of unpleasant things happening today, so she brought it over to comfort herself.
Tang Mingmei was unaware that the atmosphere in the living room had already become awkward, and she greeted the group with a smile, offering them cherries.
As he spoke, he also grabbed a few himself.
Cherries are too expensive; ordinary families can't afford them regularly.
However, apart from Tang Mingli, the other three men did not make a move.
She finally noticed that her father and Li Dazhu's expressions were both off.
What happened when I was only gone for a short while?
That morning, Father and Li Dazhu had a very pleasant chat, but things suddenly became strange when Tang Mingli and her husband arrived.
Before she could figure out what was going on, Tang Mingmei blamed everything on Tang Mingli and Fu Ci.
"Why aren't you eating?" Tang Mingmei looked back and forth between her father and Li Dazhu, trying to figure out what was going on from their faces.
Tang Jianguo, with a stern face, answered irrelevantly, "Dazhu, why aren't you saying anything?"
Li Dazhu knew he had to face it.
When the moment came, he remained calm and smiled at Tang Jianguo, saying, "The older brother of the friend Mingli mentioned should indeed be me."
"So, what she just said is true?"
Tang Jianguo was angry, shocked, heartbroken, and trying his best to endure.
If he could, he would love to tear the man in front of him to pieces.
How could his only child be treated so cruelly?
"What is it?" Tang Mingmei had a very bad feeling and asked before Li Dazhu could speak.
But no one answered her.
Fu Ci hadn't even considered speaking up, while Tang Mingli had already said everything she needed to say. Now she just wanted to eat more fruit and wait to see how her uncle and aunt would react.
Tang Jianguo, on the other hand, wanted to see what Li Dazhu had to say.
Li Dazhu first reassured Tang Mingmei with his eyes, then calmly said to Tang Jianguo, "Not entirely."
Tang Mingli almost burst out laughing, if her mouth hadn't been stuffed with cherries.
Sure enough, scumbags love to make excuses.
However, she soon discovered that she still knew too little about human nature.
The truth can hurt people, and not everyone likes it; on the contrary, lies can please people.
Upon hearing Li Dazhu's words, Tang Jianguo subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief.
Tang Mingmei was completely confused and inexplicably panicked. She lost her appetite and pressed Li Dazhu for an explanation: "What do you mean not entirely? Explain yourself clearly."
Li Dazhu reassured her, "It's alright, calm down. It's just that your cousin has a misunderstanding about me."
Goodness, Tang Mingli thought to herself.
After doing something like that, he can still say she misunderstood him without batting an eye.
As expected, not just anyone can be a scumbag; not only do you need strong mental fortitude, but you also need to be utterly immoral.
Fortunately, Tang Mingmei was also a bit crazy. Upon hearing this, she immediately questioned Tang Mingli with righteous indignation: "What have you misunderstood about him? Don't think that just because you married into a wealthy family, you can look down on people at will."
Tang Mingli really couldn't take it anymore, so she rolled her eyes at Tang Mingli and repeated the "I have a friend" line again.
Tang Mingmei's eyes were filled with shock and anger.
Then she turned around, slapped Li Dazhu hard across the face, and gritted her teeth: "The first thing you did after returning to the city was to go on a blind date?"
"Let me explain. This was all arranged by my parents, not by my own will."
"Do you think I'm a three-year-old? We're tall and strong. If you don't want to do something, do you think your parents will force you?"
Hearing this, Tang Mingli secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems Tang Mingmei isn't completely brainless.
She has achieved her purpose for coming today, and she doesn't need to get involved in what happens next.
Just as Tang Mingli was about to finish her breakfast and leave, Tang Mingmei's anger, which had been directed at Li Dazhu, suddenly turned towards her.
"Tang Mingli, don't pretend to be kind here. You must be feeling very smug right now, seeing that I found a man like this. Let me tell you, my life is none of your business, so don't try to feel superior to me."
Such ungrateful words even made Fu Ci, who was usually the most emotionally stable person, secretly angry.
But when he looked at his wife, he found that she was not angry at all, but rather very calm.
Tang Mingli was indeed calm.
She did what she could and suffered injustices she shouldn't have had to endure, so why should she get angry and waste her emotions?
Tang Mingli stood up and said to Tang Jianguo, "I don't think it's very convenient for us to stay here any longer, so let's go back first."
Tang Jianguo was so angry that his head was buzzing. When he heard Tang Mingli say that she wanted to go back first, he couldn't wait for them to leave.
When there are no outsiders around, he can handle family matters more easily.
The most confused one was Li Hong.
To show off, she took a piece of meat downstairs to the water room to wash it, and told everyone that her daughter's boyfriend had brought a lot of meat over and she didn't know how to store it.
The neighbors knew she was showing off, but they were genuinely envious.
Several people gathered around her to offer advice.
Some say to salt it to make salted meat, while others say to chop it up to make pork jerky.
She wouldn't have wanted to leave if she weren't thinking about making lunch.
He returned from the water room in high spirits, only to find that Tang Mingli and her husband had already left.
She asked her husband and daughter what was going on, but no one answered her.
She was only gone for a short time, what happened?
-
Then there's Tang Mingli and Fu Ci, who have already left.
After leaving the tenement building, Tang Mingli's mood was clearly not affected at all. She even asked Fu Ci with great interest if he wanted to have lunch outside before going back.
Having a meal at a state-run restaurant and then catching up on sleep makes for a pretty perfect day.
Since his wife wanted to eat it, Fu Ci naturally had no objection.
But at this moment, he was more worried about his wife's feelings. So many unpleasant things had happened at the Tang family's house. Was she really unaffected, or was she just pretending that nothing was wrong?
After deciding where to have lunch, Fu Ci asked, "Are you really alright?"
Tang Mingli tilted her head to look at him and asked, "Why do you think something's wrong with me?"
Fu Ci didn't know how to put it, but he felt that everything that happened in the Tang family, whether it was Li Dazhu or Tang Mingmei, was very frustrating.
Tang Mingli smiled and told him, "Our main purpose in coming here today was to tell Uncle and the others the truth. And we did tell them, didn't we?"
Fu Ci nodded.
"Since the goal has been achieved, I have nothing to be unhappy about."
"But your cousin's attitude..."
When Tang Mingmei was mentioned, Fu Ci subconsciously frowned.
He really disliked his wife's cousin's personality; if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed that such a person existed.
Tang Mingli chimed in, "As for my cousin's attitude and how she treats Li Dazhu, that's beyond my control."
She simply couldn't bear to see a woman deceived by someone like Li Dazhu; she wasn't trying to force the other person to make what she thought was the right choice.
Respecting others' fates and not interfering in their karma is a highly valuable lesson Tang Mingli learned in her limited life in her previous life.
There are so many different kinds of people in the world. One should not overestimate one's abilities and presume to change others.
When you sympathize with someone, pity someone, or feel sorry for someone, you often end up taking on their karma.
I wonder if Fu Ci will think she's heartless.
Thinking of this, she asked with a smile, "Don't you think I'm being too heartless towards my cousin?"
Call her cold-hearted or heartless, she always felt that the saying was very true: "Without iron will, one cannot have the heart of a bodhisattva."
Fu Ci frowned and asked, "Why would you ask that?"
"She's my cousin after all?"
"After these two encounters, I feel that your cousin is simply someone who doesn't appreciate favors."
Tang Mingli responded with an "oh," her mood becoming even more cheerful.
It's easy to get along with someone as smart as Fu Ci; he always sees the essence of a problem.
However, thinking back to how Tang Mingmei slapped Li Dazhu and cursed him furiously before leaving, she figured the two of them would never be a good match.
After all that fighting, Li Dazhu should be scared by now.
That's fine, that's how you should deal with a scumbag.
In this respect, Tang Mingli admires Tang Mingmei.
If every young woman who has been deceived by a scumbag had the courage to retaliate, perhaps there would be fewer scumbags in the world.
However, the two did not expect that the outcome would be so unexpected.
Two weeks later, Tang Mingli began to worry about her husband, who had said he would only rest for a few days. After a month of rest, he started to enjoy this relaxed life when his uncle and his wife suddenly came to their door and told them some explosive news.
Tang Mingmei is getting married; her fiancé is Li Dazhu.
Their purpose in coming here was twofold: first, to inform the Fu family of this news, and second, to plead with Tang Mingli not to mention again that Li Dazhu had been two-timing her.
Even though she had watched many melodramatic short dramas in her past life, Tang Mingli felt that none of them were as melodramatic as this.
Given their current situation, why would they still want to get married?
What's even more outrageous is that the uncle and aunt only have one daughter, yet they actually agreed to it?
Isn't this like watching your daughter fall into a fire pit?
I really can't understand it.
Li Hong knew that Tang Mingli would definitely not understand, but they had no other choice.
Firstly, Li Dazhu wept bitterly and repented, and swore to heaven that he would devote himself to his daughter from now on, which coaxed his daughter back.
Secondly, that formal visit was too conspicuous, making it known throughout the neighborhood. If she didn't go with Li Dazhu, it would also have a significant impact on her daughter's reputation.
She could only plead with Tang Mingli: "Dazhu has already repented and turned over a new leaf. Can you please not bring this up again? Young people make mistakes, after all. As long as he is willing to turn back, that's good."
Tang Mingli: ...
People really shouldn't have close relationships with those whose values are seriously incompatible with their own, or they'll definitely die young.
She assured her pleading aunt, "Don't worry, there's no need for me to keep bringing this up."
They're about to become family, why is she bringing this up again?
Unless Tang Mingmei seriously offends him one day, he won't bring it up to annoy her.
With this assurance, Li Hong's husband felt relieved and reminded them to come to the wedding banquet on their wedding day.
They are relatives within three generations, so it wouldn't be appropriate for them not to attend such an important event as a wedding.
So even though she didn't really want to go, Tang Mingli agreed, just to repay the favor of them attending her wedding back then.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
