He Wan is indeed the biological mother of Yan Sui, the patriarch of the Yan family, the top wealthy and influential family in Haicheng. However, not all biological mother-child relationships are harmonious. She and Yan Sui are enemies, enemies who can’t see the good in each other.
However, Yan Sui matured early and became the patriarch of the family even earlier. The only thing she could control was his marriage.
Help him find a wife who is smart, good-looking, and has a similar background. She will never do this kind of thing that obviously helps him and creates obstacles for herself. However, she also won’t do anything that will openly give people ammunition against her. In her eyes, the status of an illegitimate child from a distinguished family is quite equal.
However, she had been picky not because those illegitimate sons and daughters were not good enough; quite the opposite, it was because they were too good, too outstanding.
Before choosing Meng Ting, she was actually more optimistic about Su Siyu, the illegitimate son of the Su family. Meng Ting is stupid and useless, while he is a demon, high-maintenance. He is four years older than Meng Ting. He eats, drinks, whores, gambles, and attracts bees and butterflies. His reputation in the wealthy circle is no better than that of Meng Yide.
Of course, he has a better life than Meng Ting. His father dotes on him, protects him, and treats him as a treasure, which also makes him more and more mischievous and lawless.
She just wanted Yan Sui to live a life of complete chaos, but just when the marriage was about to be finalized, Su Siyu suddenly changed for the better and made progress. He also won the favor of the Old Madam of the Su family and his reputation improved, so it would be strange if He Wan would still be satisfied with him.
Feng Zejiao vaguely understood what He Wan had in mind, which is why, when he learned that the Meng family happened to have a ‘waste’ like Meng Ting, she became interested. While taking the person back, she negotiated with He Wan, and the result was almost an instant hit.
Although the Meng family is also an old family in Haicheng, compared to the Yan family, they’re still a grade lower. Using an illegitimate son to marry the Yan family, even Old Master Meng couldn’t find any unwillingness to do so.
As for Yan Sui, there is He Wan to solve the problem, and judging from her meaning, he won’t have much objection.
Feng Zejiao and He Wan separated in the flower arrangement room, and went back to their respective homes, each reporting their own ‘good news’.
For the Meng family, it was naturally good news in the true sense of the word, but for Yan Sui, it was not necessarily the case. Just like He Wan defined her relationship with him, Yan Sui also knew it in his heart.
***
“Let’s do it like this.”
Yan Sui stood with his back to her. After finishing the phone call, he turned around and looked at his biological mother, He Wan, who had the sense to knock on the door. He Wan had her usual gentle smile on her face, while Yan Suo was indifferent, the kind of indifference that showed his unwillingness to care about her.
Mother and son are like enemies. He Wan always tried to make things difficult for Yan Sui everywhere, but Yan Sui never cared much about it. Or rather, he watched with cold eyes, watching He Wan continue to cross his bottom line, and then, when he’s not willing to tolerate it anymore, he will completely break off their relationship.
He Wan, who is 1.65 meters tall, is only about the height of his shoulders. He has a perfect figure1九頭身 (jiǔ tóu shēn): lit. nine-head body; nine-head figure; refers to a body proportion where the length of a person’s head is approximately one-ninth of their total height. This concept is often associated with beauty standards and is considered an ideal body proportion in certain industries, such as the entertainment and fashion world. This is called the golden ratio of perfect figure., and with such a body proportion, he is enough to sweep a group of male stars and male models in the entertainment industry or fashion world. What’s even more rare is that he looks good, but his aura is too strong. When facing him, it is generally difficult to notice anything else.
His eyes sunk slightly, and He Wan felt as if she was being coldly looked down upon. The anger and resentment in her heart became stronger, but the gentle smile on her face did not dissipate.
“I know you are not satisfied with Su Siyu, so I won’t force you. This is the Seventh Young Master of the Meng family. His appearance is quite good, and he also has a good temper.” As she spoke, He Wan handed a freshly printed photo to Yan Sui, adding, “I think he looks pretty good.”
Yan Sui’s eyes swept over the photo, but he did not take it. Instead, he turned around and sat on the main seat in the study. His powerful aura intensified even more, and his indifferent eyes turned sharp, making even He Wan’s heart jump. After a long silence, he finally said, “Okay.”
Yan Sui responded as she expected, but the feeling of being blocked in He Wan’s heart showed no intention of dissipating. In fact, many times, she couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. She smiled falsely and said, “As long as you like it, it’s settled then.”
Yan Sui still didn’t say anything. He Wan put the photo on the table and then turned around to leave, her steps were eager, as if she was suppressing something.
He Wan left, and Yan Sui redialed the phone.
“I want all the information about Meng Ting of the Meng family.”
***
Meng Ting didn’t know that he could get his wish so quickly. After those people left his room, he lay down on the bed and slept for a while, only to be frightened awake by a similar dream. However, he was basically used to his sleeping condition, which was difficult but helpless.
At present, he has a more urgent problem that needs to be solved. He is hungry. Apart from the two boiled eggs he ate in the school cafeteria in the morning, he had not eaten any grains of rice that day. At seventeen or eighteen years old, his body was still growing up, and he was already starving.
He put on his clothes and pulled the door open, but there was a maid in her thirties guarding him at the door, looking straight into his eyes.
Meng Ting’s eyes widened, and the frustration of an unsuccessful search for food came over him. He murmured for a long time before speaking, “What’s the matter?”
The Meng family was indeed very scary. They didn’t even let people have enough food to eat, and even let someone stare at him at the door. He thought about how many days he would be hungry, and he estimated that it would not exceed three days. But within three days, could he get married and have enough to eat?
Among the reasons why Meng Ting was eager to get married, was a strong desire to be able to eat to his content.
The maid smiled politely at Meng Ting and said, “The Old Madam wants to see you.”
“Okay,” Meng Ting nodded and followed her. When one is under the care of someone, they have to be obedient to that person; even though it was hunger that made him obedient.
Actually, Feng Zejiao didn’t have any particular reason to see Meng Ting. Although his marriage had been arranged, the Old Master Meng still needed to find a suitable time to announce it. She just couldn’t help wanting to see Meng Ting and bask in her own sense of accomplishment.
“Just got back home. Are you getting used to it?”
Meng Ting resisted the urge to clutch his stomach and hesitantly nodded.
The corner of Feng Zejiao’s lips curled up. She knew that he was favored by He Wan because of his foolishness, so there was nothing to dislike at the moment. She covered her mouth and said, “There’s a banquet tomorrow night, so you’ll go with me.”
“No need to be nervous, it’s just to bring you to familiarize yourself with it.”
“Ok… okay,” Meng Ting nodded. He simply has no position or reason to refuse.
Meng Ting was not very talkative, and even though he was pleasing to the eye, Feng Zejiao couldn’t always lower herself to start a conversation. She glanced at Meng Ting again, and then raised her hand, “You can go back now.”
“Yes,” Meng Ting nodded and turned to leave, very simply.
As he left the small hall, it was still the maid in her thirties who sent him back to his room.
When Meng Ting opened the door, he paused and looked back. As expected, the maid was still standing where she had been waiting for him. Meng Ting deeply felt the feeling of suffocation, then turned around, pushed the door in and closed the door.
Isn’t it just to starve him? He’ll endure it. It’s not like he hasn’t endured hunger before.
This was actually negligence on Meng Zhong’s part. There was a rule in the old house that meals were served ‘punctually’, and he should have told Meng Ting on the way here. However, Meng Ting was lost in thought the whole way and treated him with indifference and neglect. He mentioned what he felt was necessary to mention, but he didn’t bring up the matter of the meal.
However, he couldn’t have expected that Meng Ting would be so… stubbornly convinced that the Meng family was deliberately not giving him food and intentionally starving him.
Of course, according to Meng Ting’s own logic, there is nothing strange about this. He was considered ‘useful’ before, but his treatment was not very good. Now he is ‘waste’, and it is normal to be starved. And this is not just his logic, it is the logic that his grandmother forcibly instilled in him.
***
At 5:30 in the morning the next day, Meng Ting woke up on time, found the sportswear in his pile of new clothes, put them on, and went out. The maid was indeed gone, and Meng Ting breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could go down the stairs, a man who looked like a bodyguard blocked the way and then bowed to him.
“I’m going for a run.”
In the closed high school, every morning both boys and girls were required to do morning exercises, running at least ten laps. If they didn’t run enough, their meals for the day would be reduced. Meng Ting always ran the most in order to eat a full meal.
However, after leaving that place in his previous life, he subconsciously rejected everything he had experienced there. He ran in college for a year, but then got busy with his studies and stopped running. Especially when he came to the experimental base. He felt ‘overworked to death,’ partly because of the Meng family, but also because of his own negligence in exercising.
Now that he returns to the Meng family, he doesn’t intend to fall behind either. e feels a little guilty about eating from the Meng family, but he is the one who is sweating through exercise. He no longer felt there was anything to be embarrassed about.
Sure enough, the man got out of the way. Meng Ting came to the flower bed in front of the house and started running along the path. The entire Meng family occupies a huge area, with a small forest next to the flower bed. Running around the outermost road, he still ran ten times before stopping. After running back, an hour had passed.
He went back to his room, took a shower, put on another white shirt and jeans, and went downstairs. Relying on his ‘glutton’ instinct, he found the kitchen. The lady in the kitchen was quite nice. She thought Meng Ting was a servant of the Meng family and casually pointed to the table on one side.
“There are sandwiches and milk over there, you can help yourself.”
Old Master Meng of the Meng family got up early, and the cooks were very busy at this time of the day, so they didn’t have time to pay attention to anyone at all.
Moreover, Meng Ting was also easy to deal with. He took away two sandwiches and two bottles of milk, went back to the room, ate one portion, and kept the remaining portion for lunch. There would be a banquet in the evening, so there should be something to eat.
When thinking about this, Meng Ting’s eyes brightened, shining with longing.
Uncle Wen arrived not long after Meng Ting finished breakfast, and he was not alone; he was accompanied by several people. Meng Ting was then put through the wringer from beginning to end again and then was forced to cram in a lot of common sense at the banquet.
But looking at his slightly confused and apprehensive eyes, Uncle Wen knew that this over-cramming supplement might not be able to make up much.
At around five o’clock in the afternoon, Meng Ting was asked to go downstairs again and took a car with Feng Zejiao to go to the Gu family where the banquet was held. It was said to be the maternal family of her eldest uncle, and also Feng Zejiao’s in-laws. It was her in-law’s birthday. Not only would she and Meng Ting go there from the old house, but her eldest son’s family would also go there.
After all, Meng Ting should be from the side of Old Master Meng’s little wife, Li Yifei. But he was an illegitimate child and had never been raised by that person. Now it was she who arranged the marriage, so Meng Ting could not be considered to be someone from that person’s side.
Feng Zejiao swept a glance at Meng Ting. The exquisite suit was not as exquisite as his appearance. She thought about it and felt that it was only natural. If Meng Ting’s mother had not been really good-looking back then, she would not have made Meng Yide want to get a divorce.
The only eldest son of the Meng family, Meng Yihang, is her son. The other two sons and one daughter were all born to Li Yifei, the second wife. However, she endured this kind of anger and ‘peaceful’ coexistence for so many years, just for what Old Master Meng had promised her back then. That he would leave the position of patriarch of the Meng family to her son, Meng Yihang.
However, if a man can be trusted, even a sow can climb a tree2男人的話能信，母豬都能上樹 (nán rén de huà néng xìn, mǔ zhū dōu néng shàng shù): lit. If a man is reliable, a sow can climb a tree. Part of the lyrics from a song sung by Zhang Ji [張吉 (Zhāng Jí)], 《男人靠得住豬都能上樹》. This sentence is usually used by women to describe men who are unreliable and unworthy of trust.. It would be better for them to fight for the property themselves. Feng Zejiao no longer believes in the promise that Old Master Meng made to her.
Moreover, such a wealthy and influential family like the Yan family is naturally the force that their main house should win over. If it weren’t for the fact that He Wan’s thought was so strange that it was unbelievable, she actually wanted her Xiang’er to marry into the Yan family. After all, that was also the position of the lady of the house.
After being watched for a long time, Meng Ting finally raised his head and looked at Feng Zejiao, “Is there something you need?”
Feng Zejiao looked away after hearing this, and then she said with a smile, “I will introduce you to your uncle and the others later, they’re all part of the family, so you don’t have to be nervous.”
“Okay,” Meng Ting nodded. He only felt nervous when facing various strange courses, but everything else was fine, even now.
Meng Ting talks little, but can still be considered quite obedient, so Feng Zejiao can’t be dissatisfied either. Moreover, the purpose of bringing him to the banquet was not only to win over him but also to tell Li Yifei that Meng Ting was already the people of her main house.
Of course, Li Yifei and the others didn’t care much about it. If Meng Ting hadn’t been favored by He Wan, he really wouldn’t have much special value.
After getting out of the car, it was almost six o’clock in the afternoon. Looking at the brightly lit courtyard, Meng Ting once again felt a little nervous. He came here with the idea of finding food and eating a full meal, he didn’t know if there would be that much food for him to eat at this banquet.
With a sense of worry and nervousness, Meng Ting followed Feng Zejiao into the Gu family courtyard.
The author has something to say:
Xiao Tingzi is pitiful, he has no food to eat.
Thank you for your reward, dear friends, mua, mua, mua~~
List of Idiom in Chapter 003
吃喝嫖賭 (chī hē piáo dǔ): to go dining, wining, whoring and gambling; to lead a dissipated life; indulge in eating, drinking, gambling and frequenting brothels—lead a dissipated/dissolute life; refers to some people who do not do their job properly.招蜂引蝶 (zhāo fēng yǐn dié): (of a flower) to attract bees and butterflies; (fig.) to attract the opposite sex; to flirt; attract bees and butterflies—(of a woman) flirt (with); be flirtatious; attracting others’ attention metaphorically.
無法無天 (wú fǎ wú tiān): regardless of the law and of natural morality (idiom); maverick; undisciplined and out of control; no respect for law and order; unruly; defy human laws and divine—be unscrupulous; become absolutely lawless; run wild/riot; completely without law and order; stop at nothing (in breaking the law); it used to mean doing bad things at will regardless of national laws and natural principles. Nowadays, it is often used to describe breaking laws and disciplines and being unruly.
雞飛狗跳 (jī fēi gǒu tiào): lit. chickens flying and dogs jumping (idiom); fig. complete chaos; in disarray; complete turmoil; hens flying and dogs running―utter confusion; great disorder.
一拍即合 (yī pāi jí hé): lit. to be together from the first beat (idiom); (of two parties) to hit it off immediately; things fit together at one go; to click together; to chime in easily; fit in readily; to catch up with the rhythm of the music in just one beat; it means that the two parties can easily agree, or they can talk together or combine together because of similar feelings or interests.
心驚肉跳 (xīn jīng ròu tiào): lit. heart alarmed, body leaping (idiom); fear and trepidation in the face of disaster; to palpitate with anxiety and fear; to be filled with apprehension; quake with terror; be in a state of terror; palpitate in dread; be nervous and shivery; shiver in one’s boots/shoes; describes fear of impending disaster and panic.
賞心悅目 (shǎng xīn yuè mù): warms the heart and delights the eye (idiom); appealing; pleasing; delightful; Refers to seeing the beautiful scenery and being happy.
理所當然 (lǐ suǒ dāng rán): as it should be by rights (idiom); proper and to be expected as a matter of course; to be only right and proper; to be taken as a matter of course; naturally; needless to say.
匪夷所思 (fěi yí suǒ sī): not what an ordinary person can imagine; unimaginable; unusual; fantastic; outrageous; freakish; (of ideas or actions) unimaginably/incredibly queer; bizarre; refers to behaviors that are bizarre and beyond the ordinary, and cannot be imagined by ordinary people based on common sense; From I Ching, Hexagram 59 (《易经·渙卦》): 六四：渙其群，元吉。渙有丘，匪夷所思。, The fourth SIX, divided, shows its subject scattering the (different) parties (in the state); which leads to great good fortune. From the dispersion (he collects again good men standing out, a crowd) like a mound, which is what ordinary men would not have thought of.
燈火輝煌 (dēng huǒ huī huáng): be ablaze/alight with lights/lamps; be brilliantly illuminated; be brightly lit; describes the bustling scene with bright lights at night.
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