Chapter 49: The International Settlement Part 4
The next time Si Yansang got the chance to visit the Lin Mansion was on the day of the family banquet. She wore a rather traditional, five-embellished, five-ribbed, light silk jacket with a green, ingot-shaped collar. She slouched in the corner of the crowd, making a low profile, while her sister, dressed in a festive crimson, embroidered cheongsam, basked in the praises of the other ladies.
"—Young girls just don't care about clothes. On them, clothes flatter them, but on us, the clothes overshadow us."
"——You still have to choose the right person. This dress wouldn't be the same if it were worn by Secretary Zhao's niece."
"--like Nezha, he was beaten back to his original form, piece by piece."
The ladies thought of Miss Zhao's figure and all smiled in approval: "Isn't that Nezha?"
…
Si Yansang finally got the confirmation from his father. He carefully held a swaddling baby in his arms, and unable to contain his excitement, he ran from the Si Mansion to the Lin Mansion. He was tall and had long legs, and his strides were big. The maids behind him were chasing him and were out of breath. "Young Master—please run slower."
The doorbell of the Lin Mansion rang - "Young Master Si... and Second Young Master Si are here!"
Amidst the laughter of the maid who opened the door, Si Yansang, holding little Yanbai, asked as soon as she saw the people around her, "Where is your third young lady?"
After asking three or four people, Si Yansang finally found Chu Wang in an inconspicuous corner at the end of the corridor. He took a deep breath and said with a smile, "Let me show you..."
Chu Wang leaned up from the front wall, his gaze moving from Yan Sang, who couldn't contain his excitement, to the little meatball sleeping soundly in his arms.
"Yan Bo," Si Yansang whispered, "His name is Yan Bo."
Yan Bo stretched out a small hand from the red silk swaddling clothes, looking a little aggrieved. Chu Wang extended his index finger, and it was firmly clamped by the small hand. She smiled and said, "From now on, your status in the family will plummet and you will fall out of favor."
"Falling from favor?" Si Yansang pondered the word for a moment and said with a smile, "Your status has plummeted since you were born."
"How could that be?" Chu Wang asked with a smile.
"My father called me over and told me that Madam Lin had a younger sister. He said," Under the tungsten light, Si Yansang stared at Chu Wang with a smile, but his words imitated his father's tone, "'Yansang, from today on, your life will no longer belong to you alone. Therefore, before you speak, act, or make a decision, you must first think about whether what I do will benefit her or burden her. You must not harm her.' When my father said that, didn't I feel like I was in such a bad mood?"
Chu Wang lowered his head in silence, then raised his head and thought for a while before coming to a conclusion: "...water spilled out?"
Both of them laughed.
He had been taking care of the baby at home for a few days and had learned some basic techniques for holding a child, so he insisted on letting Chu Wang hold him too. "Hold his back... and his head too..."
Chu Wang was caught off guard and fumbled to take it. Yan Bo in his arms simply cried out "Wow!" Everyone looked over at the sound of the sobs. Chu Wang was even more tearful than Yan Bo. Fortunately, Mrs. Si came over, supported by a maid, took Yan Bo from her arms, and comforted him in no time.
Mrs. Si had been lying in bed for days and wanted to get out and about, so she dressed up in a padded jacket, scarf, and hat. She was in her early thirties, with a round, blessed face and a very kind demeanor. Her Chinese wasn't very good, so she simply chided Yan Sang, "How impetuous!"
Then he took Chu Wang's hand again and asked Yan Sang kindly, "Is it the... Third Miss?"
Yan Sang pursed his lips, smiled, and nodded.
"Very cute," Mrs. Smith praised her in the simplest and most straightforward terms. "She will be a great beauty in the future."
Si Yansang was polite and modest, as if he was being praised, but he couldn't stop smiling: "Really?"
Mrs. Smith looked her up and down again: "She's beautiful and smart, how can she not be liked?"
Si Yansang said from the side: "It's not bad, it's not bad."
"It's a good match," Mrs. Smith concluded. "Are you going to Europe with Yansang and Father in a few days?"
Chu Wang stared at the two people in front of her, laughing and joking, and was silent for a while. Just as she was about to speak, the maid came to call her, saying that the master asked her to go to the study. She apologized to Mrs. Si and followed the maid. After taking two steps, she turned back to Si Yansang and said, "Wait a minute, I have something to tell you."
He stood in the corner, smiling and nodding.
There were two cups of tea in Lin Yu's study. The one opposite him was still smoking, which seemed to indicate that he had just left not long ago.
"Do you have any plans for yourself in Hong Kong?"
Chu Wang stared at the tea, thought for a moment, and said with a smile, "I can live in the school building."
Lin Yu had prepared a lengthy speech, with a heartfelt premise, but he hadn't expected Chu Wang's response to be so blunt. He pondered for a moment, then threw all his previous deliberations aside and tentatively said, "I... can discuss this with your aunt."
Logically, she should have replied, "That's fine. I'll just live in the school building."
Chu Wang did not play by the usual routine. He still smiled and said, "Then I'll trouble my father to discuss it again." After that, he turned around and closed the door for him.
After leaving the study, she looked around for Si Yansang. She was still in the same corner, but Mrs. Si was gone.
She walked through the crowd and asked, "Why are you here alone?"
He straightened up from the corner and said, "Didn't you ask me to wait for you?"
"I have something to tell you." Chu Wang nodded, "I can't go to Europe with you."
"Sorry, I won again—" a lady said with a smile. The others shushed a few times, and the mahjong tiles rolled around on the table, and a new round began.
Because of the loud noise around him, he couldn't hear clearly, so he lowered his head to look at her, "What?"
"I'm not going to Europe," Chu Wang repeated, looking at the pair of dark pupils, "Sorry, I should have told you earlier..."
"Why?"
"Many reasons."
"Uncle Lin won't allow you to go with him?"
Chu Wang shook his head, "No."
At this moment, Si Yansang raised his eyes and caught a glimpse of Lin Yu and Mrs. Qiao coming down the stairs. He strode through the crowd and headed in that direction. Realizing his intention, Chu Wang hurriedly followed him to prevent him from asking any inappropriate questions.
The boss hurried over. Chu Wang grabbed his shirt sleeve in a panic and said seriously, "It's my own choice. It has nothing to do with anyone else."
"So I can't even know the reason?" Si Yansang laughed. "You'll always be in my life plan. If you ask me why I do something, it's all for the benefit of both you and me. So let me ask you, why don't you want to go to Europe with me? How will you answer me?"
"Many things in this world cannot be explained clearly by you and me, whether they are beneficial or not."
"Why did your father and sister agree to this? Can't you explain it to me?"
"Because I believe in you." Chu Wang said seriously.
My father and aunt were partial to my sister, and my mistress who lived overseas was always eyeing me covetously...So in my life, you were my only lifeline.
Your father taught you since you were young to be a person who values friendship and keeps his word. Since then, you have felt that you must abide by the marriage agreement with me for a lifetime so as not to let me down.
And one day, I found a new meaning for my life in this world, and that was another straw that broke the camel's back.
So I trust you and don't want to use you anymore.
But how can I tell you?
"Believe me?" Si Yansang laughed out loud, "Believe that I won't be angry no matter what?"
"no."
"I'm sure I won't be like other international students who think, 'Even if I have a wife back home, it's better than nothing, the same as being single.' Oh, and by the way, we're only engaged. Getting married? It's too early to say."
She stared quietly into those dark eyes and said, "You won't."
"How do you know not?" The smile on his face disappeared in an instant. He just looked at her silently and confusedly, turned around and strode towards the door.
Chu Wang took two steps in pursuit, but the man in front had already slammed the door shut. She stared blankly at the door for two seconds, then opened it and looked out: the man had already strode to the door of another house on the far side of the lawn.
She stood at the door and sighed. Just as she was about to close the door and go back to the house, she heard a female voice coming from the corner of the door:
"A quarrel?"
She turned her head and looked over: Mrs. Ge was dressed in black from head to toe, with her fishnet hat lowered, immersing her face in darkness. But only the tips of her fingers lit up, waving as her hand moved. She asked again, "Do you regret it?"
Chu Wang sighed and shook his head, "No regrets."
Mrs. Ge agreed. "Well, you're quite clear-headed."
Chu Wang narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Why is my aunt here?"
"Can't you come? I, your aunt, haven't expelled the Lin family from the family tree yet."
"I'm not afraid that everyone in this room will bring bad luck to you."
"Looking for bad luck on me?" Mrs. Ge seemed to have heard some ridiculous joke. "When it comes to looking for bad luck, your aunt has never lost."
Chu Wang chuckled.
"I just had a card game and was winning, but I got really nervous halfway through, worried something might go wrong at the Lin Mansion. I went out and took a rickshaw and came here. I'm freezing cold," Mrs. Ge said, stubbing out her cigarette against the wall outside the Lin Mansion. "Let's go."
"Where are you going?"
"Looking for bad luck."
Mrs. Ge turned and walked a few steps, stepping onto the steps of the Lin Mansion. The door was still open, but she rang the doorbell. If it didn't work once, she rang it twice. When one of the two maids in the Lin Mansion, who were better than nothing, finally came to greet her, she had successfully attracted the attention of the men and women in the mansion.
The ladies sitting around the mahjong table paused their play. The noise and laughter gradually ceased, and everyone looked towards Hei, who stood alone at the door.
Such a strong and imposing appearance... Chu Wang thought tremblingly as he followed behind his aunt.
"Miss Third, who is this lady looking for?" The maid followed behind Chu Wang and asked tremblingly.
At this moment, someone in the hushed crowd recognized the former Third Miss Lin, "Isn't this Jin...Mrs. Ge?"
"What is she doing here?"
"Hasn't she been removed from the family tree? Isn't that shameful enough?"
Mrs. Ge happened to pass by the eldest wife who had said "shameful," and she slowly took two steps back, then sat down beside her, legs crossed, straightened her clothes, and said with a smile, "How could you have known that I had been removed from the family tree? Left eye or right eye, or did you ask a Taoist priest to open your third eye?"
The eldest lady didn't know how to respond for a moment, and seemed to be really thinking about which eye it was.
Mrs. Ge touched her ear and sighed, "In that case, please go and ask Lin Yu and Lin Fei to come down and sit down. On this day of family reunion, let everyone hear the story of the Lin family and see who is the most shameful."
There were two coughs upstairs, and another maid came down in a flash, saying, "Master, please ask Mrs. Ge and the third young lady to go to the study to talk."
"Tell him I'll just sit here and ask him to come down and talk." Mrs. Ge touched her nails again.
The maid looked embarrassed. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, she went into the study and came out again, almost begging: "Master, please ask Mrs. Ge to come up and talk."
Mrs. Ge raised her eyelids lazily and asked Chu Wang, "Do you think we should go?"
Chu Wang blinked: "Let's go?"
Chu Wang followed Mrs. Ge up the stairs again, staggeringly.
There was complete silence downstairs for a long time, until the study door closed and a gentleman broke the silence: "What are you all standing there for? Play cards!"
The sound of mahjong continued to ring out again.
Mrs. Ge entered the study, picked a chair at random and sat down, and said straight to the point: "If you don't agree, the third son will live with me when he is in Hong Kong in the future."
Mrs. Qiao looked at Lin Yu's expression, then at Mrs. Ge's expression, and said with a smile, "Living with you will definitely have some impact on a girl's reputation... right? Even if I agree, her father won't agree."
Mrs. Ge raised her eyebrows, her eyes stern and imposing. "It seems you are very confident in the daughter you have raised? Before she even got married, she was already arguing with me about having secret meetings with men, tearing up people's photos without permission, and replying to letters with a cold response..."
Lin Yu had also heard about these things. Both of them looked embarrassed, and Lin Yu said, "She said she was going to live in the school dormitory."
"Schoolhouse?" Mrs. Ge snorted and laughed. "After pampering her for three years, you're going to let her live in the schoolhouse all of a sudden? Don't let people think the Lin family is on the decline. You have no shame, but we do."
Chu Wang listened to Mrs. Ge scolding his sister and brother like an adult scolding a naughty child, so he had a hard time holding back his laughter.
"Don't say such harsh words. You have so much contact with people in those places, and it's not good for the girl to live there forever. You should know that." Mrs. Qiao persuaded.
Mrs. Ge raised her eyebrows. "Then what do you say we should do?"
Mrs. Qiao sighed and decided to find a compromise: "You can stay at your place on weekdays—there's a direct bus to the university from outside the Ge Mansion. Stay at my place on weekends—if you have any social engagements, you can postpone them to those days. And by the way, you and the girl at my place can hang out together on weekends."
After hearing this, Mrs. Ge looked at Lin Yu with a questioning look.
Noticing her gaze, Lin Yu came back to his senses and said, "That's a good idea. I think it will work."
Mrs. Ge sneered, "I didn't ask you that. I asked you, who are you giving her food, clothing, and living expenses?"
Mrs. Qiao spoke first, "Of course... I'll leave it to you."
Mrs. Ge emphasized: "It must be exactly the same as how you raise your second child."
Lin Yu also chuckled, "Of course."
Mrs. Ge smiled and looked at the two of them for a while, then stood up, turned around and walked out. Chu Wang had no choice but to follow her.
After the two left, Mrs. Qiao was furious: "Really... really, how could they be so shameless."
——
Chu Wang escorted Mrs. Ge to the gate of the mansion. The two stood in the moonlight. Mrs. Ge glanced inside the mansion and said, "These prominent families are very proud. They are most afraid of falling out with others, and they are also most afraid of encountering shameless people."
Chu Wang nodded in approval.
After a while, Mrs. Ge said again, "From now on, all the money your father sends will be used as pocket money for you."
Chu Wang was stunned.
"Don't refuse. It's given to you by your aunt, so I'll pay for it separately. It's just a little more money?"
Chu Wang smiled and said, "I won't refuse."
Mrs. Ge hummed, "It's good to know the benefits of money."
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