Chapter 144 - Chapter 144: Chapter One-Hundred and Forty-Four: Explicitly Expressed
Chapter 144: Chapter One-Hundred and Forty-Four: Explicitly Expressed
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Gu Man was about to cry. Lin Yu silently held her hand and helped her ask the question on her mind, “Auntie, didn’t you say Shi Nian didn’t like the woman he was arranged to marry when he was a babe? Isn’t Shi Nian engaged to Yun Liu? Shi Nian had once publicly stated that he didn’t like Yun Liu. Why is he suddenly married? How is that other woman, Yun Nan, involved in all this?”
Gu Man glanced at Lin Yu gratefully. Xu Yun took a sip of her warm tea, and her lips curled into a smile under the burning gazes of the four women. She couldn’t hide her pride and happiness as she replied, “No, no, no. You might not know this, but our Shi Nian was engaged to the Yun family’s biological daughter, Yun Nan, since he was a baby. However, Yun Nan went missing when she was a child, and the Yun family later adopted Yun Liu with the thought of marrying Yun Liu to Shi Nian.”
“But Shi Nian doesn’t like Yun Liu, so we decided to drop the arranged marriage. Thank the heavens, Yun Nan later found her way back. Our entire family liked Yun Nan very much the moment we saw her. We were originally worried Shi Nian—that blockhead—wouldn’t be able to fall in love, but in the end, that silly boy fell in love with Yun Nan, and we can finally put our hearts at ease.”
Still reluctant to accept it, Han Yuan asked, “Are you and your family worried those two wouldn’t last, so you didn’t hold a wedding? Keeping their marriage under wraps like this, no one would know even if they broke up in the future, and it won’t affect their search for a new partner, right?”
Xu Yun almost choked on her tea. She coughed as she waved her hand and said, “No way! Of course not! It’s not that we don’t want to hold a wedding; we’re just delaying it. Yun Nan’s recent movie was just released, and I heard it broke through three billion dollars at the box office. She didn’t have time to hold a wedding previously, and now, she’s so busy we barely see her. The kids are young and quite career-oriented. Although their Grandpa and I want to hold a wedding for them, we respect their wishes. The formalities aren’t important as long as the two of them are doing well.”
“How can this be?” Gu Man muttered. “How could this have happened?”
Xu Yun looked at her strangely and understood Gu Man’s intentions. She hurriedly turned around, pretended she hadn’t noticed, and said to Han Yuan, “Shi Yun and I were getting anxious when we saw Xi Cheng and Lin Yu get engaged. We didn’t know when our silly son would find himself a good girl like Lin Yu. I truly envied you for having such good fortune. Thankfully, our silly son now has someone to spend the rest of his life with.”
Han Yuan quickly suppressed her disappointment and smiled perfunctorily. “Oh, don’t say such ridiculous things. Shi Nian is such a good child; if I had a daughter, I would definitely offer her to you as a daughter-in-law! In fact, I
was just about to show you my goddaughter and see what you think about her, but you’ve already gone and got your son a wife!”
Han Yuan still felt a little discontented—mainly because she hadn’t met Yun Nan and didn’t know what kind of girl she was. She didn’t think Yun Nan could be better than Gu Man and wanted Xu Yun to reconsider.
Xu Yun smiled and remarked, “I don’t doubt your goddaughter is a fine young lady. However, I don’t make the decisions on Shi Nian’s matters. Of our entire family, only Shi Ke and his wife might be able to pressure him.”
Shi Gao suddenly piped up, “Shi Nian lets his sister-in-law interfere in his affairs?”
Xu Yun chuckled, “Our Xiang Yang treats Shi Nian as her own brother. She scolds and dotes on him when appropriate and has the demeanor of an elder sister-in-law, so Shi Yun and I don’t have to worry about him anyway. Xiang Yang even specifically designed wedding rings for Shi Nian and Yun Nan. The two of them liked the rings very much.”
Shi Gao opened her mouth but never had the chance to interrupt her. Only then did Lin Yu realize that the soft and gentle Mrs. Shi—who had seemed to be a trophy wife just like her future mother-in-law—wasn’t so simple at all. The four of them had come at her from all sides, but Mrs. Shi handled them with flawless ease. It was obvious her future mother-in-law was nothing compared to her in terms of EQand IQ.
‘Mrs. Shi probably already saw through Gu Man’s little plan,’ Lin Yu thought.
She was happy Gu Man had failed but worried she couldn’t marry the pest off. The longer Gu Man stayed around, the longer her position would be at risk.
However, she was still quite happy at the moment, though she had to hide it from the others. Lin Yu eased the situation by saying, “The harmonious atmosphere in Auntie’s family sounds pleasant. Nothing can compare to your family’s love and respect. We should have a get-together with Shi Nian, his brother, and their wives when we get the chance. We can chat, share our experiences, and learn from each other..”