The day after Tang Yin stayed out all night.
After getting up, Tang Ning noticed that her mother, who was usually dressed elegantly and fashionably by this time, was standing in front of Tang Yin's door without even putting on makeup. Her face was shockingly gloomy and ugly. However, the moment she met Tang Ning's gaze, she quickly adjusted her expression, slammed Tang Yin's door shut, and yelled at her in a sharp and aggressive tone, "What time is it? Why are you only getting up now? Do you have to wait for me to cook the food, bring it to your bedside, and feed it to you?"
Hearing what Tang's mother said, Tang Ning raised an eyebrow slightly, then subconsciously braced her arm against the railing on one side and asked, "Sister Lan, is breakfast ready?"
"Alright, alright, Miss Tang, I've prepared your sweet tofu pudding, Madam's favorite steamed buns, and the savory tofu pudding that the Third Miss and Young Master like. I've also prepared the fried dough sticks and glutinous rice cakes as you instructed. They're still warm, just waiting for you to come down and eat."
Just then, half of a smiling woman leaned out from downstairs, wiping her wet hands with her apron as she answered methodically.
Hearing these words, Tang's mother, who was looking for trouble, turned pale and then green. She had just lost her mind. Back when Tang Ning earned her first money in Lidu, because she didn't like doing housework, Tang Ning immediately hired this Sister Lan from near the Tang family. She didn't live at home, but came over to clean, cook, and do laundry for them.
Although she occasionally cooks, it's only when she feels like it. Even then, she expects Lan Jie to wash and chop the vegetables first. She absolutely refuses to wash the dishes; they're so greasy that she feels nauseous just looking at them.
But the fact is one thing, and having Tang Ning point it out so blatantly is another.
Tang's mother, already in a terrible mood, felt her authority as a mother was being blatantly challenged when she saw the smile on Tang Ning's lips. A surge of anger rose within her, and she clenched her fist tightly. Before she could lash out again, she saw Tang Ning smilingly looking behind her.
"Ruoruo, Xiaojun, you're up too? Have you washed up? Sister Lan prepared something delicious this morning: Chen's tofu pudding, fried dough sticks, and glutinous rice cakes. Hurry down and eat before they get cold!"
Upon hearing Tang Ning's words, the two children's eyes lit up immediately, and they cheered in unison before hurriedly running downstairs.
Only then did Tang Ning have time to pay attention to her mother, and said reproachfully, "Mom, who offended you so early in the morning? Why are you so angry? Also, why didn't you even put on your lipstick this morning? Is it almost finished? It's okay, I'll have someone from Xiangfei bring you another set of cosmetics later. I heard they recently released some new lipsticks that are perfect for your age. I'm sure you'll like them."
As they spoke, Tang Ning smiled and took her mother's hand, leading her downstairs.
Slap him and then give him a sweet treat—that's what Tang Ning loves to do most.
Sure enough, judging from Tang's mother's expression, she wanted to get angry at her, but because of the lipstick incident, she couldn't vent her anger on her. In the end, she could only swallow her anger and follow Tang Ning downstairs.
At that moment, Tang Ning glanced subtly at Tang Yin's room, which had its door tightly closed, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.
At the dinner table, whether it was because Tang's mother was too upset or for some other reason, she started nagging Tang Ning again.
The implication was that Tang Ning had been staying at home for four or five days, so why hadn't she returned to the Xu family? And if not, why hadn't Xu Sinian come to see her in the past five days?
"...Mrs. Huang and Mrs. Tao, who I play mahjong with, have asked me several times. They said they saw you when they came to our house last time, and they saw you again yesterday. Didn't they say your wedding with Si Nian is coming up soon? It's not good for you to stay at home all the time. You...you didn't have a fight with Si Nian, did you? What am I supposed to say to you? Huh? You and Xu Si Nian have been together for five years. Everyone in Haicheng knows it. A girl like you, without your chastity, what good family can you find besides Xu Si Nian? Listen to your mother, go to the Xu family today and apologize to Si Nian. Get married as soon as possible, so I won't have to suffer the gossip because of you. Every time Mrs. Tao and the others talk about you, I feel embarrassed..."
Tang's mother spoke these hurtful words with self-righteousness.
Tang Ning, who was drinking tofu pudding, paused slightly, but before she could say anything, Tang Ruo on the other end of the line had already gotten angry.
"Mom! Listen to what you're saying! Don't you think..."
Before Tang Ruo could finish speaking, Tang Ning grabbed her hand from under the table, put down the spoon in her hand, and first looked seriously at Tang's mother, who looked completely matter-of-fact and didn't think she had said anything wrong.
"Mom, you're never tired of talking about me, but I'm tired of hearing it all..."
After saying that, she saw her mother frown, as if she was about to say something more. Tang Ning immediately looked up at the upstairs. "Alright, Mom, there's no point in talking about my business. But Yin Yin, why hasn't she come downstairs yet? I specially asked Sister Lan to make her some pan-fried dumplings. They'll get cold if she doesn't come down to eat them soon. I remember she usually goes to work very early. Last night I went downstairs to get a drink of water and found that she hadn't come back by 10 o'clock. Did she sleep in? Should I go upstairs and wake her up? Otherwise, she'll be late for work."
As soon as Tang Ning finished speaking with concern, Tang Jun consciously put down his chopsticks and ran upstairs. He had always been the one doing all the errands at home, and he was used to it.
Before he could even leave the table, Tang's mother pulled him so hard he almost knocked over the table full of breakfast.
Don't go!
Tang's mother's loud shout almost deafened everyone present.
"Mom, what are you doing? I spilled my tofu pudding..."
Tang Jun looked at the half-bowl of tofu pudding that had spilled because of the table shaking with heartache, and scolded him.
Tang Ruo, standing to the side, immediately looked at her mother with a puzzled expression.
A hint of understanding flashed quickly in Tang Ning's eyes, but she then maintained a proper expression of confusion on her face.
Seeing the expressions on their faces, Tang's mother realized that she had acted too aggressively. But she couldn't let anyone else know that Yinyin hadn't come home all night, especially Tang Ning. No, even Ruoruo couldn't know. She and her older sister had no secrets from each other. If Ruoruo knew, she would definitely turn around and tell Tang Ning.
She's always been at odds with Yin Yin. If Yin Yin finds out and it gets out, how will her Yin Yin ever be able to face anyone again!
Therefore, they absolutely must not find out.
Driven by her worry and fear, coupled with her resentment at Tang Ning's sudden provocation, Tang's mother immediately turned her anger towards Tang Ning, "Ningning, what do you mean by those words? What do you mean Yinyin hasn't come back by 10 o'clock? Are you determined to ruin your sister's reputation? What did Yinyin do to offend you? She told me before that you were always deliberately targeting her, and I was still speaking up for you. Now it seems that you don't care about Yinyin at all!"
“Yinyin came back very early yesterday, but she said she suddenly wanted to sleep with me, so the room was still empty past ten o'clock. Today, she was in a hurry to get to work, and left early this morning before Sister Lan even arrived. Yinyin wouldn't stay out all night; she's not like you…”
Without thinking, Tang's mother blurted out what was on her mind.
Tang Ning was fine, but Tang Ruo immediately slammed the spoon in her hand onto the table.
"Mom, you've gone too far! What do you mean Tang Yin is different from my eldest sister? How is she different? My eldest sister was just showing concern for her, how did it become that she had ulterior motives and was deliberately targeting her? Mom, I always thought you favored my second sister, but I never imagined you could be so biased that you can't distinguish right from wrong! You ask if my eldest sister has feelings for Tang Yin, then why don't you ask if Tang Yin has feelings for my eldest sister? All these years, she's been eating and using my eldest sister's things, and all she's raised is an ungrateful spoiled brat!"
"Tang Ruo!"
"Mom, you don't need to yell at me! What did I say wrong? Second sister knows perfectly well that you like her. If she had said even one good word about eldest sister to you all these years, would your relationship with eldest sister have deteriorated to this point? She's useless at everything, eats nothing but troublemakers. Eldest sister is different from her? Yes, eldest sister is indeed different from her. She's not as shameless, not as pretentious, and doesn't know how to eat one thing and then curse the other!"
As soon as Tang Ruo finished her scolding, Tang's mother was so angry that she raised her hand and slapped the little girl across the face.
Fortunately, Tang Ning reacted quickly and pulled Tang Ruo away from her stubborn neck; otherwise, given the force with which Tang's mother struck, Tang Ruo probably wouldn't be able to show her face today.
"mom!"
Upon seeing this, Tang Jun, who was always closest to Tang Ruo, disregarded his own tofu pudding and immediately spread his arms to shield Tang Ruo.
"Fine, fine, very fine. Now you only know about this eldest sister and have forgotten about me, your mother. I'm not going to care anymore. From now on, let your eldest sister take care of you..."
Tang's mother was about to say something harsh.
The outspoken Tang Jun immediately muttered, "It's always been my older sister who's in charge, you haven't done anything about it, you're just playing mahjong all day..."
These words made Tang's mother stagger. Pointing at Tang Jun, who didn't think he had said anything wrong, she couldn't utter a word for a long time. Finally, she threw down her chopsticks, grabbed her handbag hanging to the side, and stormed out, slamming the courtyard gate shut with a loud bang.
No sooner had she left than Tang Ruo's tears began to fall.
"She's going to hit me..."
"She just tried to hit me because I said a few words to my second sister..."
The more Tang Ruo spoke, the more choked up her voice became.
Upon hearing this, Tang Ning reached out and pulled the little girl into her arms, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked towards the courtyard gate.
Just as the Tang family was in turmoil because of Tang Yin, the instigator opened her eyes in a daze. Upon seeing the unfamiliar environment she was in, along with the mess of her clothes under the covers, she immediately screamed.
When Lu Chen opened the door, he saw Tang Yin, who was wrapped up tightly in the wall and huddled in the corner.
"You're awake?"
Upon hearing Lu Chen's voice, Tang Yin looked up as if waking from a dream, and a single tear fell at just the right moment, making her appear so fragile and pitiful.
“Lu Chen…brother…”
Seeing his expression, Lu Chen frowned immediately and explained earnestly, "I'm sorry, I was probably drunk last night, so I accidentally ended up sleeping in the same bed with you all night. But I can confirm that nothing happened between us, so..."
Upon hearing these words, Tang Yin's delicate expression froze instinctively, and she quickly lowered her head to hide her astonishment.
Nothing happened?
Why did nothing happen?
Last night, she made a point of noticing Lu Chen drinking alone in the corner, which is why she deliberately didn't refuse the toast from the editor-in-chief who clearly had ulterior motives. On the surface, she was trying to stop him from making things difficult for her, but only she knew what she was really planning.
Especially after unexpectedly learning from the conversation between Boss Qin Zhao and Manager Huang of Lidu that Lu Chen is now the only son whom Marshal Lu of Fengcheng has recognized.
God knows how excited and jealous I was when I heard that news.
Excited by Lu Chen's true identity and the kindness she had shown him, she was jealous that Tang Ning's suitors were either big shots in Haicheng like Xu Sinian or young marshals in Fengcheng like Lu Chen.
Her complex emotions prompted her to devise a perfect plan in the shortest amount of time, but she never expected that nothing would happen between her and Lu Chen.
No, they slept together all night, fully clothed...
“You…I…how could this happen? Even if nothing happened, we came here together last night, and a lot of people must have seen us, including that editor-in-chief at the newspaper who's been making things difficult for me. He'll definitely spread the word far and wide. And my mom, she knows I didn't come home all night because of you…she'll definitely beat me to death…”
Tang Yin's eyes immediately filled with panic and fear, and her face turned pale instantly.
If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, Lu Chen would have applauded and cheered for her.
Because of her behavior, he was immediately reminded of the pretentious concubines in his father's backyard—equally fake, equally... nauseating.
He also understood Tang Yin's subtext: she was determined to cling to him.
If he hadn't already intended to go with the flow, this woman might have had other tricks up her sleeve, and it might even have escalated to Tang Ning's side.
The reason he said nothing had happened between them was to see how she would react.
He thought about it all night and felt that involving another person in his and Tang Ning's matter was a bit too much, so he gave Tang Yin, who had once shown him kindness, one last chance.
But he never expected that she would give him such a big surprise.
In that case, he thought he knew what he had to do.
"No, I can go with you to explain to your mother, and I can also send someone to make sure the editor-in-chief keeps quiet. You don't need to worry about these things."
Lu Chen offered words of comfort.
Upon hearing this, Tang Yin suddenly raised her head, her eyes bloodshot.
"But I still want to be with you... with you... I... I don't want to go back to see my mother, I don't want anyone else to know what I did... I don't want... I don't want to be pointed at, I don't want to be ridiculed... I can't live like that, rather than be humiliated in every way... I'd rather... I'd rather..."
Tang Yin seemed completely unable to accept it. She raised her hand to cover her ears and said this with a somewhat broken expression. Suddenly, her eyes were fixed on the open window on the side. She was about to throw off the covers and rush over there.
Lu Chen, who immediately understood her intention, hurriedly said, "I'll marry you!"
Seeing Tang Yin looking up at him in disbelief, he hurriedly explained, "No, that's not what I meant. What I meant was that you could pretend to marry me. I... have made a name for myself in Fengcheng these past few years after leaving Haicheng. If you're worried, you can have a fake marriage with me and then come with me to Fengcheng. Once we're in a place where nobody knows you, we can start over. That way, you can give your mother an explanation and you won't have to worry about gossip. If you like being a journalist, there are many newspapers in Fengcheng. You can work there. What do you say?"
Hearing Lu Chen consider her feelings so much, Tang Yin stared blankly at Lu Chen, who was not far away.
Even though she was deliberately scheming, her heart still couldn't help but flutter. She couldn't understand how there could be such a good person in the world. She never expected that she could meet someone who treated her the way Xu Sinian treated Tang Ning, and that this person was so suitable for her from head to toe.
Thinking this, Tang Yin subconsciously lowered her eyes, "But...but you and my sister..."
"You mean Tang Ning? Indeed, I came back this time because of her..."
Just those words made Tang Yin clench her fingers immediately, a flash of resentment crossing her eyes.
Then Lu Chen's voice was heard, somewhat dejected, "But five years have passed, and many things have changed. I've changed, and Tang Ning has changed too. We can never go back to five years ago... Besides, she's about to marry Xu Sinian. No matter how unwilling I am, what can I do? Actually, as soon as I saw the news in the newspaper that Tang Ning and Xu Sinian's wedding was imminent, I wanted to leave, but I never expected..."
"Because there are some things in Fengcheng that I urgently need to go back to deal with, Tangyin, if you are willing, I will go to your house the day after tomorrow to propose marriage. We will get engaged first, and then you will come back to Fengcheng with me. Of course, if you are not willing, just pretend I didn't say anything."
Lu Chen's voice was exceptionally gentle.
"I do."
As soon as the man finished speaking, Tang Yin couldn't wait to reply like this.
After replying, he probably felt that his attitude was too eager, so he quickly made amends, "Right now, I just want to leave Haicheng, get away from that editor-in-chief, get away from all the troubles, and give my mother a proper explanation. I have no other requests, so I am willing. Don't worry, it's just an engagement. When we get to Fengcheng, nobody will know us. We can pretend we don't know each other. I will definitely not delay your marriage."
Tang Yin spoke with both sincerity and earnestness.
If it weren't for the light in her eyes being exactly the same as that of the concubines in the family, Lu Chen would have believed it.
He was even willing to guarantee that her true intentions were definitely not what she said; she might already have a plan on how to win him over.
Tsk.
Unfortunately, her plan is destined to fail.
Just as Lu Chen and Tang Yin were scheming against each other, Tang Ning, who heard the knocking at the door, opened the gate and looked at the person standing at the door. Her eyes were filled with surprise.
"Young Taoist priest? What are you doing here?"
Yu Ming, who was standing at the door, also showed a hint of surprise when he saw Tang Ning come to open the door.
"Miss Tang Ning? I...I came here looking for Miss Tang Yin. I wonder if Miss Tang Yin is at home?"
"My second sister? She went to work this morning. If you want to find her, you should go to the New Moon Newspaper office."
As she spoke, Tang Ning carefully examined the young Taoist priest Yu Ming, who was quite different from a few days ago. She noticed that he had become darker and thinner, but he looked much more robust. Gone was the ethereal and otherworldly figure they had first met; he seemed much more down-to-earth.
"you……"
Tang Ning asked again, "It's been so long, little Taoist priest, how come you've lost so much weight? Where have you been all this time? How did you end up like this?"
"I... I've been carrying sandbags at the docks these past few days. The expenses down the mountain are too high; the money I brought from the mountain was gone in just a couple of days. To avoid starving, someone introduced me to carrying sandbags at the docks. I used to be really good at it; others could only carry four bags at a time, but I could carry ten—I was better than them all. But those people were so mean. Because I carried so much, they ganged up on me and bullied me. So I beat them all up, and then... I was kicked out..."
At this point, Yuming scratched his head sheepishly.
This experience almost made Tang Ning burst out laughing.
Who would have thought that the young Taoist priest Yuming would have such a tumultuous time lately!
However, it's the kind of thing he would do.
"and you……"
"Coo coo, coo coo coo coo."
Just as Tang Ning was about to ask something else, Yu Ming, who was standing opposite her, immediately sang her a song with his empty stomach.
Even Yuming didn't understand why he always felt so awkward whenever he met Miss Tang Ning. It was the same last time, and it's the same this time.
The young Taoist priest, embarrassed, immediately raised his hand to cover his stomach, just like when they first met. But covering one's stomach doesn't stop hunger; instead, it growled even louder.
"Pfft."
On the other end, Tang Ning finally couldn't help but laugh, then pulled open the courtyard gate and looked at the little Taoist priest Yu Ming with a smile.
"I was just making dumplings. Would you like to come in and have some? We have pork and cabbage, beef and scallion, and chives and egg. If you're not picky, you can try them all. How about it?"
As soon as Tang Ning finished speaking, Yu Ming looked up at her with great surprise.
Yuming's current favorability rating: 40.
For foodies, there's no favorability that can't be increased in one meal; if there is, then two meals will do.
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