Chapter 51 The first day of the new year, a celebration for my nephew…
“My boss’s wife.” Chen Zhao knew his temper all too well; he was already at his wit’s end, and he would smash her no matter what, but not now. “He has so many people around him.”
Even if they had eight mouths, they couldn't explain themselves if they committed the crime on the spot.
"If you're still angry," he quickly said after a rapid thought, "we'll do it tonight, sneakily."
"I'm already furious, and you still want me to hold back until tonight?" Luo Yunqing slapped away his hand blocking her way, picked up a brick, and was about to pass by.
After only a couple of steps, Chen Zhao pulled him back again.
Luo Yunqing turned her head and grinned at him, "It's the New Year, don't make me slap you."
"There's surveillance footage!" Chen Zhao panicked, covering his face with one hand, afraid that he would really be slapped, and pointed forcefully to the upper left of where the group of people were.
During the Lunar New Year, the area is crowded with people, so there are even more security cameras in the old house.
If it's just a few people seeing it, you can still argue your case afterward. But if it's caught on camera, you're really done for.
Even if the old man liked the boss and the second wife, he couldn't possibly turn a blind eye to this kind of thing, especially with the entire Pei family gathered together. Wouldn't that make him a laughingstock?
Luo Yunqing remained silent.
Seemingly heeding his words and intending to give up, he not only switched the brick from his right hand to his left, but also stretched his right arm a few more times.
"The bricks must be heavy," Chen Zhao said, reaching out to take them.
Luo Yunqing moved the bricks behind her in an instant, glanced around and found that there was a torii gate every two trees. She squinted at it for a moment and said inexplicably, "You know, physical education is a compulsory course for freshmen at Peking University. You have to choose at least two sports."
"That's good." Chen Zhao followed his gaze and glanced at the bricks on the tree, which were the same color as the ones in his hand and used to secure the torii gate. Suddenly, he felt uneasy. "What did you choose?"
"Swimming...and shot put." The former was the one Luo Yunqing carefully chose, while the latter was not an option because other popular sports, such as badminton and tennis, had already been snapped up.
He could choose any subject, and he went to class diligently, achieving pretty good grades.
"The men's shot put is 5kg, and the standard is 8.8 meters, like this." Luo Yunqing took a step back with his left leg, held the brick in his right hand, raised it to his shoulder, close to his cheek, and threw it out in a half-circle.
"Wow! The proprietress's movements are quite standard..."
The exclamations of praise abruptly ceased.
A parabola suddenly flashed before my eyes.
Wait, what just passed by?
He threw something over there!
"Where did the bricks come from?"
"Heng-ge, you're bleeding from your head!"
"Quickly, call a doctor!!"
...
A chaotic scene of war and turmoil filled my ears.
Chen Zhao stared in astonishment at his empty palm, which was still slightly covered in mud, and without saying a word, he grabbed the man and ran away.
The news of the disturbance quickly reached the ears of the old man and several clan elders.
Upon receiving the news, the butler rushed to the scene and hurriedly returned to report: "The young master was hit on the head by a brick and has been taken to the hospital."
The old man frowned: "Why are there bricks out of nowhere?"
"It might be... the wind," the steward guessed. "There are many bird nests on the treetops around the ancestral hall. When it snowed a while ago, the nests were secured with bricks to prevent them from being blown away by the wind. I guess a strong gust of wind just blew the bricks down."
This was far too dangerous; if it had hit someone else, the New Year would have been ruined. The housekeeper then followed Luo Yunqing's advice and had all the bricks securing the bird's nest removed, replacing them with wire.
The old man's expression darkened slightly. At first glance, it made sense, but then he felt something was amiss, so he quickly asked, "Were any others injured?"
The butler shook his head.
Strangely enough, the others who were with the young master were all fine, but he was the one who got hit.
"My nephew's luck has been bad lately," one of the elders couldn't help but say after listening for a while.
Since last autumn, he caused a scandal by drunk driving and speeding, which led to a sharp drop in Pei's stock price. Later, he went racing and accidentally fell off a cliff. Now that he has finally woken up, he was knocked unconscious by a brick.
This is definitely bad luck befalling me.
"Fortunately, it's the beginning of the new year." Another clan elder suggested to Pei Wenxian, "Quickly take Xiao Heng's birth date and time to the temple to ward off bad luck."
What could Pei Wenxian say while on the phone with his wife, inquiring about his son's condition? He could only nod and smile apologetically.
A clan's ancestral worship ceremony will not be stopped just because a junior member is injured.
At exactly 8:00 AM, the ancestral worship ceremony officially began.
Before that, Luo Yunqing quietly returned to Pei Yanli's side. The process was almost the same as the ancestral worship ceremony he held the day after his marriage. However, there were only a few people there then, but now, the ancestral hall was almost full of people according to their seniority.
Wash your hands, take three incense sticks, kneel three times and kowtow nine times, and then insert them into the bronze incense burner, which is as thick as two people can hug, according to the order of seniority.
Luo Yunqing pushed Pei Yanli over, placed the incense sticks, and then went around in the opposite direction. After everyone, including the youngest glutinous rice ball, had placed the incense sticks one by one, and after listening to the old man say a few words about his New Year's wishes, the ancestral worship ceremony was considered complete.
After staying for about half an hour, the younger generation finished their New Year's greetings and left one after another, leaving only a few elders who would have lunch at the old house later.
Pei Wenxian, as the eldest son, should have accompanied him, but unexpectedly, Pei Hengzhi had this accident and went to the hospital long before the ancestral worship ceremony.
"Second brother, second brother's wife, don't go yet." Luo Yunqing and Pei Yanli were called back separately by the old man.
In an instant, Luo Yunqing's heart was pounding in her throat.
Could it be that he was the one who did Pei Hengzhi's thing? Didn't Chen Zhao say there were no security cameras where they were standing?
"Second son's wife, don't be nervous." The old man softened his tone: "It's nothing serious, just asking if you've remembered the ancestral worship procedures for today."
Luo Yunqing nodded repeatedly, "I...I've got it."
"That's good." The old man turned to look at the elders present. "We old folks are getting on in years, and sometimes it's hard to handle these kinds of things. We'll have to rely on you all for help in the future."
help?
Is that what he meant?
"Hahaha!" Just as he was biting his lip in deep thought, an elder burst into a loud laugh. "Patriarch, you're being too serious. Look, you've scared the child."
He smiled and pointed to the old man, explaining to Luo Yunqing, "Your father intends to appoint the second son as the new head of our Pei family. But the second son insists that he is not in good health and needs to wait, so we will have to trouble you to take care of him during this time."
These words were far more direct than what the old man had said.
But since it was said with a smile, the elders must have agreed.
Luo Yunqing pondered for a moment, then nodded without hesitation, "Dad, uncles and elders, don't worry, I will definitely take good care of Second Master!"
…………
As she left the ancestral hall, Luo Yunqing was so happy that she even started humming a little tune.
Pei Yanli: "So happy?"
“Of course.” Luo Yunqing said with a smug look, “My husband will be the head of the family from now on.”
There's no need to single out the matter of taking care of Pei Yanli; the old man has already made up his mind.
"You clearly..." Luo Yunqing looked around and whispered, "You were almost fully recovered, so why didn't you agree?"
If we had told the old man he was much better before the new year, I believe he would have been able to officially succeed as the head of the family within three months.
"Haste makes waste."
"You're just thinking of your elder brother, aren't you?" Luo Yunqing couldn't help but purse her lips. "Your elder brother can't support the Pei family."
In his previous life, from the time he stepped down from his position in the group to recuperate, the Pei family's fortunes declined year by year, not to mention after his death.
The once revered family plummeted to the bottom of Yanjing's elite in just five years. Any member of the Pei clan with a modicum of sense saw the signs of decline and left early on.
"Didn't Dad see that too?" Otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen him over the eldest son.
As Luo Yunqing pushed him along, she tentatively placed her icy-cold hand on his neck.
Pei Yanli grabbed it, breathing on her hand to rub it, "It's not that I'm being considerate of my elder brother, but firstly, my health isn't fully recovered, and taking over the position has too many complicated matters to handle rashly; secondly, I've only been back in the country for a short time and haven't achieved anything yet, which makes people think I'm unworthy of the position. Before that, I have to deliver a satisfactory report card."
The most important third point is Luo Yunqing.
As the estranged son of the Song family, he has no background or connections. If he were to take over the position of family head now, it's hard to guarantee that he wouldn't become the target of attacks from his clan.
He needed to give Luo Yunqing enough leverage to solidify her position within the Pei family.
"Alright, alright, you must have your own reasons." He was talkative, and Luo Yunqing couldn't argue with him.
*
Not long after returning to the courtyard, the little glutinous rice ball who had been paying New Year's greetings and calling for Grandpa in the ancestral hall was brought over by his mother.
"She was originally supposed to go with her great-grandfather." The mother poked her daughter, Roubao, helplessly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry: "She insisted on having Xiangxiang's grandpa, and she cried if she wasn't given one."
The little glutinous rice ball was the great-granddaughter of one of the clan elders. The whole family doted on her like a precious treasure, so how could they let her cry?
Great-grandfather waved his hand and told her mother to bring her to find Luo Yunqing.
"Grandpa, it smells good!" The little dumpling had stopped crying and, shaking her head with her little tufts of hair on both sides, rushed out of her mother's arms.
Luo Yunqing took the bag with a smile and played with it in the yard.
When Chen Zhao arrived, he saw the young man squatting on the ground with his hands slightly outstretched on either side of the little girl to prevent her from falling if she lost her balance.
His face was beaming with a bright smile, without a trace of gloom, making it impossible to tell that just a few hours earlier, he had cracked someone's skull open by throwing a shot put.
As Chen Zhao walked into the study, he silently pursed his lips. Once outside the study, he put away his indescribable expression, knocked on the door a few times, and went inside.
"Boss, you wanted to see me?"
There was something Pei Yanli had never told Luo Yunqing.
He pulled up the trending search terms on his phone, flipped through them, and said, "Let's find out who did this."
Chen Zhao glanced at it and saw entries with the words "Luo Yunqing" and "Lucky Star". Was there even a need to look it up? He could figure out who it was with just a little thought.
Oh! He remembered that the boss still didn't know that Pei Hengzhi had been eyeing the boss's wife for a long time, and... well, never mind, those filthy videos, just thinking about them is disgusting.
After a moment's hesitation, he feigned ignorance and asked, "Isn't this a good thing?"
On the surface, it's all about building up the boss's wife's image.
"Who did this, and what was their purpose? Is this what you call a good deed?" Pei Yanli couldn't help but sneer.
Before the ancestral worship ceremony began, besides deciding that he would be the head of the family, the other matter was about Xiao Luo.
On the surface, it seems like they're praising Xiao Luo, but in reality, they're raising him to an unbearable height. "This will only backfire. Go and remove all these entries from my list."
"oh."
"During the Spring Festival, the salary will be tripled."
"Mission accomplished!"
Chen Zhao went out happily, walking briskly with a smile on his face. When he passed by Luo Yunqing, he even had the interest to tease the little dumpling.
Then, she bit my finger.
"What does Ali want with you?" Seeing him come out of the study, Luo Yunqing was afraid that he would blurt out everything that happened that morning.
If Pei Yanli finds out that he was the one who cracked his nephew's skull, he'll definitely get another beating.
"Oh! So you can be scared too." Chen Zhao withdrew his drool-covered hand, took out a tissue, and slowly wiped his face without changing expression. "You're usually pretty brave, aren't you?"
Even if there are surveillance cameras and people around, he still has to smash a brick to vent his anger first. That's how powerful he is.
If it weren't for the old house's long-standing tradition of providing nests for passing birds, let's see how he would have ended up today.
"Let's get this straight," Luo Yunqing said, rejecting his sarcasm, "you're an accomplice too."
Chen Zhao: "..."
Good heavens, now I finally understand what it means to be implicated in the execution of nine generations of one's family. They didn't do anything, yet they've been labeled as accomplices.
"You're deliberately trying to drag me down with you!"
Luo Yunqing blinked innocently.
Even if that's the case, so what?
Weren't they already in the same boat?
"Because of what you've done, I won't say anything more about what will happen in the future. You can find someone else." Chen Zhao was also quite angry.
How could we let him do such things again and again, dragging himself down with him?
Luo Yunqing was not afraid at all: "It's the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth, right? We should give red envelopes too."
"Boss lady, let me tell you..." Chen Zhao turned her head and smiled, even though her face was covered in saliva from the glutinous rice ball.
"Hmm!" Luo Yunqing raised her long eyebrows slightly. "Speak."
"Song Xuechen went to the hospital."
"Then what."
"Upon receiving the message, I anonymously sent the video you gave me yesterday to Pei Hengzhi."
"Oh~" Luo Yunqing exaggeratedly covered her mouth, "Wouldn't he be furious?"
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