The room was full of Tan family members, and she was the only outsider.
Meng Jiuyi appeared calm, but she swallowed hard countless times. Facing everyone's gaze, she didn't know where to put her hands. Please, can everyone stop looking at her?
Tan Yuchen pressed her shoulder and sat her down on the sofa, sitting right next to her, and introduced them to each other.
"Grandma, this is my girlfriend, Meng Jiuyi."
God knows, Meng Jiuyi shuddered after he said that. Damn it! Wasn't it supposed to be a secret relationship? Less than a month later, his whole family knew.
She wanted to settle accounts with him, but her hand was still being held and played with by him, so she didn't dare to move.
The old lady raised her hand slightly.
Tan Yuchen said slowly, "No need to ask, it's your grandson who has been coveting it for a long time."
The old lady's mouth moved slightly.
He shamelessly said, "Then I used trickery and force to seize what I wanted, step by step, and finally won the heart of the beauty."
Meng Jiuyi: "......."
He summarized the whole process of how they met in just a few words. The old lady could hardly bear to watch. He usually avoided other girls from prestigious families and looked down on them. She never expected that he would be so cheap and eager to please her.
The old lady said, "Why make such a big mystery about a normal relationship? You didn't even show your face in the newspaper. You rascal, you're not allowed to bully her."
Tan Yuchen, with a smug look on his face, clicked his tongue and said, "Injustice! Who's bullying me here—"
He placed his hand on the back of her sofa chair, where faint scratch marks were visible on the back of his hand—Meng Jiuyi's handiwork from last night. Before he could finish speaking, Meng Jiuyi pinched his waist hard again, telling him to shut up.
Tan Yuchen immediately fell silent. Meng Jiuyi thought he had behaved himself, but who would have thought that the look he gave him would be much deeper.
If no one else were around, he would have already kissed her.
The old lady watched their interaction with a smile in her eyes, then glanced at the maid who brought in afternoon tea.
"He usually keeps it a secret. If it weren't for these few monkeys, I'd probably still be in the dark. Such a good opportunity, Jiu Yi, would you like to have some tea with me?"
Meng Jiuyi had no reason to refuse.
Tan Yuchen whispered in her ear, "Don't worry, Grandma just wants to get to know you. She's wanted to understand you for a long time. If you're really scared, just come and elope with me."
She knew most of the other people. When her gaze swept over Tan Sheng, she didn't dare to linger for a moment, as if they had never crossed paths. But the other man's eyes seemed to be glued to her, filled with resentment and lingering affection.
"Third Brother..."
Tan Sheng said, "Don't you think you should tell me something?"
"have."
Tan Yuchen glanced at him lazily and said, "You've grown quite a bit taller. You must have been drinking a lot of milk."
Stop beating around the bush!
His indignation was so intense that even the old lady found it strange.
"What's wrong?"
Tan Sheng has a straightforward temper, and Meng Jiuyi was afraid that he might say something wrong and then turn to her.
Tan Ni tried to salvage the situation, saying, "Fourth brother broke up with his girlfriend abroad, and he felt unbalanced seeing how well his boyfriend was doing in his relationship."
After saying that, she glanced at Tan Yuchen again, her intention to curry favor was obvious.
Tan Yuchen ignored her completely, got up and grabbed his collar.
"come out."
After Feng Lan interfered and resolutely forbade him from being with Meng Jiuyi, Tan Sheng was depressed for a long time. It was Tan Yuchen who couldn't bear to see him like this and sent him abroad for a trip. He thought his third brother meant well, and with the beautiful scenery abroad, he gradually let go of his worries.
Who would have thought that upon returning to China, he would see his third brother with the person he had been longing for? Anger and betrayal ignited a fire in Tan Sheng's mind.
Once outside on the balcony, he shook off Tan Yuchen's arm.
"Tan Yuchen!"
Tan Yuchen kicked him in the knee.
"What did you call me?"
His face was expressionless, yet he exuded an overwhelming aura of power; the innate pressure from his bloodline immediately made Tan Sheng cower.
"Third...Third Brother, you've gone too far! You didn't allow me to be with Xiao Jiu back then, did you have designs on her all along?"
Tan Yuchen: "Yes."
He choked Tan Sheng with just one word.
"You've gone too far! You know perfectly well what I feel about her—"
"What do you mean 'she'? She's your sister-in-law now."
Tan Yuchen slightly lifted his eyelids, his tone cold and impatient, "Do you know what kind of person she is? If you like her, she's yours. You can't even handle your unruly mother, letting her be bullied by your mother as much as you want, and you don't dare to utter a word on the spot. So what are you talking about treating her this way and that way?"
"If someone says no, you'll cry and complain and stay in bed all day. Go back and wean your baby before you talk about love again."
It wasn't very harmful, but it was extremely insulting. Tan Sheng glared at him angrily, as if he wanted to die with him.
Tan Yuchen gave him a cold look. "If you keep throwing a tantrum, don't force me to beat you up."
--
The view from the balcony is stunning, with cliffs and the sea and sky merging into one. Yachts even sail through the private waters, leaving long arcs in their wake.
Meng Jiuyi had never sat alone with the old lady like this before, and she immediately felt a little uneasy.
Sensing that they had something else to say, Tan Yuhuai slipped away first, while Tan Ni, fearing she would get into trouble, also made a hasty retreat.
Meng Jiuyi stirred her coffee cup with a teaspoon, trying to think of a topic to talk about. Tan Yuchen had told her that she was a very polite person, and she wondered if their behavior would make her feel that it was improper.
"Don't be nervous."
The old lady smiled and said in a gentle tone, "Sometimes I'm quite good at judging people. Last time when you and the rest of the Meng family came to the villa, I felt that the rascal treated you differently. He usually avoids these girls like the plague, afraid that I'll arrange a marriage and get involved with them. But that day, he deliberately or unintentionally steered the conversation towards you."
Meng Jiuyi pursed her lips and chuckled softly.
He probably didn't... at the time.
Meng Jiuyi wanted to say that he was just being sarcastic and foul-mouthed.
At that time, their relationship must have just calmed down from the brink of conflict, so how could they possibly have such thoughts?
"I watched him grow up from a young age. Even at such a young age, his mind was full of twists and turns. You could never tell what he really liked from what he played with or ate, because his grandfather taught him not to show his emotions and to choose the right side even if he liked the left. I even argued with his grandfather about these things, just wanting him to be happier."
But his grandfather said that this kid was born with a talent for these things, a genius at manipulating people's hearts. He also said that if a person is born with everything, and their desires cannot be controlled, then they will become arrogant and eventually trap themselves. At the time, I didn't think that was a bad thing.
The old lady's thoughts drifted away, and she gazed calmly into the distance.
"He didn't react at all until his maternal grandfather and mother passed away, like a wooden doll standing idly by." The old lady smiled and glanced at her after saying this.
Has he told you?
Meng Jiuyi nodded.
The old lady wasn't surprised at all; her brow simply relaxed.
“I know he swallowed all his emotions. Except for the months he disappeared, no one noticed anything unusual about him. He continued to play and eat as usual, acting like a lawless person. But the indelible hurt and guilt weighed heavily on his heart. I never worried that he would collapse sooner or later. No hurt is more devastating than causing the death of loved ones with one's own hands, let alone three.”
The old lady was talking about Tan Yuchen.
She overcame prejudice, hatred, and arrogance, navigating the difficult journey in that small boat to reach the real him.
He once picked her up when she was devastated, helped her to cheer up, and let her experience the cyclical nature of life.
A gentle breeze blew up, carrying the fragrance of jacaranda trees.
Meng Jiuyi's brows relaxed, showing no anxiety.
"Whether it collapses or not doesn't matter. To me, every single fragment is him."
---
good evening.
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