Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Four hours later. Luo’s house.
The atmosphere in the main building’s dining room was strange and eerie.
The head seat at the long table was empty – Luo Jingyuan said that he wanted to force his unfilial son, who had finally returned to China, to fulfill his filial duties. So regardless of his daughter-in-law’s strong desire to meet her future in-laws, he dragged Luo Qingtang and Bi Qingyan to the Luo family’s resort in the neighboring province.
As the culprit who caused all the “troubles”, Young Master Luo was naturally left alone in the Luo family.
But Luo Zhan himself was obviously happy with this result.
Lan Jingqian and Tang Shiyu stared at each other across the long dining table. Tang Ran, who had been getting familiar with her mother for a whole day, sat next to Tang Shiyu. It was her first time eating at the same table with her parents, so she was still a little nervous and was very careful when cutting the steak.
On the other side of her, Luo Zhan was not affected by the eye battle at all.
He neatly cut his steak into cubes, then picked up the plate and replaced the one in front of Tang Ran.
Tang Ran was originally listening attentively to the movements beside her, while her mind was wandering. When she saw the plate in front of her being changed, she instinctively raised her eyes blankly.
“If you keep cutting absentmindedly like this, it will turn into beef paste.” Luo Zhan lazily placed Tang Ran’s original steak plate in front of himself, then raised his eyes, smiling, “Eat well first, don’t be distracted, be careful not to choke again.”
Tang Ran blushed at Luo Zhan’s teasing and nodded obediently: “Okay.”
The voices drew her attention, so Tang Shiyu held her cheek and turned her eyes to the side to watch the scene.
After staring for two seconds, she propped up her face and looked lazily at Lan Jingqian opposite her: “Hey.”
Lan Jingqian stopped holding the knife and fork.
After a second or two, he raised his eyes silently: “?”
Tang Shiyu tilted her head to the side: “Xiao Ran’s personality is nothing like mine, so quiet and obedient, and one that easily blushes – is she like you?”
Lan Jingqian: “.”
Tang Shiyu looked at Tang Ran with regret: “What’s the point of being a taciturn person like that? Don’t be like him again. Mom will be with you from now on.”
Tang Ran raised her head and glanced at Lan Jingqian sheepishly, but still agreed softly, “Okay.”
Tang Shiyu’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but reach out to pinch the little girl’s cheek: “Our Xiao Ran is so cute.”
Unfortunately, before she could succeed, the little girl in front of her suddenly moved five centimeters away from her, along with the chair.
Tang Shiyu: “…”
Tang Shiyu looked up unhappily and met the pair of even unhappier dark eyes of the young man behind the chair.
After staring at each other for a second or two, Tang Shiyu said, “Don’t think that just because I admitted that you were my prospective son-in-law, you really became one.”
Luo Zhan lowered his eyes, moved the plate back in front of Tang Ran, and put the knife and fork back in the girl’s hands: “I don’t need you or him to admit it.”
Tang Shiyu narrowed her eyes slightly.
“Also,” Luo Zhan lazily raised his eyelids, “It’s okay if you want to fight, but don’t delay the little girl’s dinner.”
“…”
Tang Shiyu went silent for a few seconds, then laughed angrily.
She turned her head and looked at Lan Jingqian opposite her: “On the plane back to China, I heard the housekeeper surnamed Lin from the Luo family say a lot of things – this young master seems to be your friend?”
Lan Jingqian was silent.
Tang Shiyu: “So what is your relationship now?”
Lan Jingqian continued to remain silent.
Tang Shiyu waited for a while and then frowned, muttering impatiently: “I can’t even get one sentence out of you after waiting for ten sentences. You’re still that taciturn person.”
After Tang Shiyu finished speaking, her phone on the small storage rack beside her began to vibrate. Tang Shiyu glanced at it, and after her eyes stayed on it for two seconds, she raised her hand and hung up.
Tang Shiyu turned around. After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly thought of something, turned back to look at Tang Ran and asked, “Xiao Ran, why don’t I take you to travel around the world, live in each country for a year or two, see different scenery and meet different people – how about it?”
“Can’t.”
“No.”
Two male voices spoke at the same time, one cold and the other lazy.
Tang Shiyu looked at the two men unhappily: “Why not?”
Lan Jingqian fell silent after he finished speaking.
Luo Zhan didn’t care about it and handed Tang Ran an iced drink to go with the steak: “Ran Ran has to go to college, so she doesn’t have time.”
Tang Ran nodded in agreement.
Tang Shiyu asked unexpectedly: “Are you going to take the college entrance examination next year? I heard that the college entrance examination in China is very difficult. Are you okay with it?”
Tang Ran said softly, “When I was blind, I also took Braille classes every day. Moreover, Luo Luo would help me with the knowledge I missed.”
Tang Shiyu looked at Luo Zhan with distrust: “Him? Is it okay for him to tutor you?”
Tang Ran quickly spoke up: “Luo Luo is amazing. He entered the junior class of K University when he was 14 years old. The store manager and others said that he is a genius and very, very smart!”
Tang Shiyu was stunned.
Tang Ran thought she didn’t believe it: “What I said is true!”
“… I know.” Tang Shiyu came back to her senses and smiled, “Why are you so protective of him? Girls should be more reserved.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Luo Zhan raised his eyes suspiciously.
Lan Jingqian, who was sitting across the table, seemed to be choking and also looked at Tang Shiyu with complicated eyes.
Tang Shiyu felt guilty for two seconds after being stared at by the two men. She raised her hand and rubbed her nose: “It’s okay to be unreserved.”
Tang Ran blushed and couldn’t help but lower her eyes.
Just as the atmosphere was unusually harmonious, Tang Shiyu’s phone suddenly vibrated again.
Tang Shiyu glanced over.
After two seconds of silence, the smile on her face faded.
The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence again.
Across the long table, Lan Jingqian picked up a napkin and wiped the corners of his mouth. After putting it down, he asked casually, “Why are you in such a hurry to avoid it? Is it your husband’s call?”
Tang Shiyu’s mouth twitched slightly, and after a few seconds she sneered: “Sister is single.”
“——” Lan Jingqian’s fingers on the tablecloth twitched suddenly. The calm mask on his face shattered, and he looked up in astonishment.
Tang Shiyu didn’t look at him.
She reached out her hand and answered the call. She wanted to put it to her ear, but after hesitating, she pressed the speakerphone button.
A male voice that was familiar to the other three people soon rang out from the phone: “Xiao Yu.”
“I remember I said,” Tang Shiyu interrupted lazily, “I don’t want anyone from the Tang family to contact me again.”
“…”
There was a long silence on the phone, and Tang Shixin sighed softly: “I know, you still blame me.”
“Don’t put the blame on me, brother.” Tang Shiyu smiled coldly, “I never said I would blame you.”
“Then why don’t you even want to see me?”
“I don’t blame you but am not willing to meet you. Is there any necessary connection? I just think there is no need for us to meet. After all, we haven’t seen each other for more than ten years. Aren’t you and I both living well?”
Tang Shixin was silent again.
This time, Tang Shiyu didn’t have the patience to wait for him: “If there is nothing else, then I will hang up.”
“Wait.” Tang Shixin stopped her, “Mother is sick, very sick… Do you know about this?”
Tang Shiyu’s eyes moved.
After a moment, she chuckled: “Now that I know, what does it matter?”
“Aren’t you going to come back and see her?”
“Why should I look at her?”
“No matter what she did, she raised us for more than 20 years and took care of this family for so many years.”
Tang Shiyu was silent for two seconds, then suddenly sneered: “So you already knew it. You already knew it, but you still treat her like your own mother… You are really a filial son.”
“——!”
When these words were spoken, the other three people in the dining room were shocked and showed varying degrees of surprise and unexpected expressions.
Tang Shiyu didn’t seem to care at all about what bomb she had just dropped. She leaned back on the soft leather back of her chair and said, “My relationship with the Tang family is over. I said this more than ten years ago. There’s no need for you to look for me now.”
Tang Shixin sighed: “She was so angry this time, the doctor said she might not make it. So you still won’t see her again?”
“What’s the point of meeting her again? To speed up her rage?”
This mockery made Tang Shixin lower his voice slightly: “Xiao Yu.”
“You don’t have to persuade me anymore.” Tang Shiyu also lowered her tone, “I’m not a saint. My daughter has been ill for more than ten years and I haven’t been able to see her. It’s all because of her. I’m doing my best by not adding insult to injury.”
“…”
“Also, if your purpose of calling me repeatedly is to use my relationship with Xiao Ran to ask Lan Jingqian or Luo Zhan for help, then there is no need to do so. The Tang family is a tree that is rotten to the root, and it should have fallen long ago. I think no one is more eager to see this happen than them.”
“…”
After a long silence, Tang Shixin sighed again: “I know.”
“Well, hang up the phone then.”
“I happened to be away that night and didn’t get to see you. I’m so sorry, Xiao Yu. You are my only sister and Tang Ran is my only niece. Although I have been forced by my mother’s dominance over the years, I have never made things difficult for her – so bring her out to see me again, okay?”
“…”
Tang Shiyu showed hesitation for the first time.
She and Tang Shixin were close siblings, and they had a deep relationship that no one could understand. Hearing Tang Shixin speak to her in such a humble manner, it was difficult for her to refute or ridicule him.
But she also knew that if she agreed, it would be too unfair to Tang Ran.
Just when Tang Shiyu was hesitating, footsteps sounded in the quiet dining room.
Luo Zhan had been accompanying Tang Ran to finish dinner quietly. But at this time, he stood up, walked around the table and chairs slowly, and stopped next to Tang Shiyu.
He lowered his hand and hooked Tang Shiyu’s cell phone with his slender knuckles.
Perhaps he heard the noise, so Tang Shixin asked in confusion: “Xiao Yu, you are at Luo’s house now, right? Is the speaker on? The sound is a bit hollow.”
“Uncle Tang is so calculating.” Luo Zhan said coldly.
The other party was stunned: “Luo Zhan?”
Luo Zhan sneered: “Yeah.”
“How did you…”
“You know that Ran Ran is the softest-hearted person, and you know that she will understand the difficulties you were in. So as long as you conquer her, the Luo family behind me and I will definitely listen to her – that’s why you deliberately made such a request.”
Tang Shiyu suddenly came back to her senses and her expression tensed.
The voice on the phone sounded a little angry after the silence: “How can you doubt me like this, Luo Zhan, I have been so kind to Tang Ran all these years-“
“I know you didn’t take the initiative to do anything to harm Ran Ran.”
Luo Zhan interrupted him lazily.
“You were just watching, weren’t you?”
Tang Shixin defended himself: “I don’t have the power in the Tang family to question my mother’s words. I wanted to help with some things, but I couldn’t do it.”
Luo Zhan smiled, his eyes cold: “Really? But when I heard it, why does it sound so hypocritical.”
“…”
“Since you were unable to do it at the beginning, don’t force yourself to do it now, Uncle Tang.”
“Luo Zhan, you——”
“Since you haven’t hurt Ran Ran, this is the last time I will call you this. If you have any problems in the future, don’t look for Tang Shi…” Luo Zhan paused, looked at Tang Ran hesitantly, and changed his words, “Don’t look for Aunt Tang, and don’t bother Ran Ran.”
After Luo Zhan finished speaking, he raised his hand and rubbed his shoulders and neck.
As he lowered his head, his eyes hid an extremely cold emotion: “The Luo family is just leaving now – don’t force it to stand opposite you.”
Tang Shixin froze for a long while before he asked unwillingly, “You really don’t care about the relationship between our two families that has lasted for nearly twenty years?”
“From the very beginning it was not a relationship, it was a debt.” Luo Zhan lowered his eyes and said in a deep voice, “Your Tang family has only just begun to pay her back.”
“…”
Luo Zhan lost interest, so he put down the phone, turned around lazily with his eyelids drooping, and prepared to return to Tang Ran.
After walking just one or two steps, he stopped and turned back. With one hand on the edge of the long table, Luo Zhan looked at the interface of the mobile phone and bent down.
“I almost forgot to say this. With everything Ran Ran has gone through over the years, Hang Wei is guilty of an unforgivable crime, so she doesn’t deserve to be forgiven or sympathized with. As for you.”
The young man has a sharp profile and cold eyes.
“A bystander may be blameless, but he is never innocent.”
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