Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Go to big brother's company?"

"But I don't know how to handle corporate battles!"

"Though if big brother needs it, I can pour boiling water on the rival's fortune plant... Sorry, big brother, that's the best I can do."

Pour boiling water on the rival's fortune plant?

Bai Yaxin and Lin Xiawan exchanged a glance. Where on earth did Lin Tingyue learn such outlandish corporate strategies?

Just as they were thinking, Bai Yaxin's phone rang. She glanced at it—it was Lin Rusong calling. "Hello, Rusong..." she said.

After hanging up, Bai Yaxin found three pairs of eyes fixed intently on her.

Lin Tingyue asked, "Mom, why isn’t Dad coming back for dinner?"

"Somehow, I sense some juicy gossip coming."

Bai Yaxin explained, "Grandpa’s mahjong buddy just welcomed a great-grandbaby today. He called your dad and insisted we all go over."

"Huh? Why do we have to go?"

"Is Grandpa going to nag about marriage again?"

"Hasn’t he had enough vomiting to last a lifetime?"

Bai Yaxin thought back—Grandpa’s face had turned green for days back then, and he had to be hospitalized before he got better. He’d probably had his fill.

"Since your dad said so, let’s all go take a look."

It was only 4 PM anyway—dinner's hours away. Plus, with Lin Tingyue around, there might just be some good gossip to enjoy.

"Will big brother be going?" Lin Tingyue asked again.

"Chengyan will head over directly from the company. Grandpa insisted—the whole family must show up."

"The whole family must show up... This is gonna be entertaining."

Lin Tingyue rubbed her hands excitedly, then turned to see her second brother even more excited than she was.

"Eh? Has second brother never suffered Grandpa’s... lectures before? Why so unaffected?"

Lin Chengyan: "..."

"Lin Tingyue, stop being so disrespectful here..."

Lin Tingyue put on a wounded look at Lin Chengyan. "Second brother, what did I even do to be disrespectful?"

Lin Chengyan was left speechless. After all, you can't subpoena someone's thoughts—how frustrating!

Lin Xiawan added, "Maybe we forgot to mention second brother being a lovesick fool?"

Oh wonderful, another one.

What a supposedly cool and collected sister—more like a little schemer.

One after another, throwing him under the bus like this—did they think he had no pride?

"Is that so? Does Second Brother urgently need me to help him with desensitization?"

...Desensitization, my ass.

The bickering continued even after they got in the car. Uncle Zhang remarked, "The young masters and young miss have such a good relationship. Madam and the Master can finally rest easy."

An awkward silence fell over the car.

"Somehow, that statement has the same vibe as 'the young master hasn’t smiled in a long time.'"

What’s the deal with "the young master hasn’t smiled in a long time"?

Lin Chengyan quickly pulled out his phone to search online, only to be bombarded with results about being "love-obsessed." He turned off his phone with a grim expression.

Dammit, did Lin Tingyue trick him?

...

The hospital where the granddaughter-in-law of Lin Grandpa’s mahjong buddy stayed was in the suburbs. It was nearly five o’clock by the time Bai Yaxin and the others arrived.

Lin Rusong and Lin Yuhuan, who had arrived earlier, came down to meet them.

"Look at this huge crowd. Anyone would think the Lin family just had a new baby."

When Bai Yaxin went upstairs, she found that the eldest aunt, second uncle, and third uncle had all arrived. The hospital corridor was practically packed with the massive family.

Seeing everyone gathered, Lin Grandpa assumed a formal tone: "Since everyone’s here, I’ll say a few words."

"Huh? This is a hospital corridor, not a place for family meetings!!!"

"Won’t the hospital security kick us out?"

Who said that?

Lin Jiaxin glanced at Lin Tingyue—she’d already been briefed by the eldest brother. Meanwhile, Lin Ruqiao and Lin Ruzhi were still scanning for who spoke.

Lin Grandpa placed both hands on his cane and declared, "I’m getting older, and many things are becoming harder for me. I don’t have many wishes left—my only hope is to hold a great-grandchild before I die."

After speaking, he swept his gaze over the younger generation present.

"Crap, he’s targeting me."

"Does that mean if you don’t get a great-grandchild, you won’t die?"

"Old Lin, Old Lin." Mu Haoguang, Lin Grandpa’s mahjong buddy, tugged at his sleeve.

Lin Grandpa said, "Old Mu, you don’t need to comfort me."

"Uh... he might not be comforting you. He might just be embarrassed. We’re hogging all the space—where will his relatives stand when they arrive?"

"Isn’t this just bass-ackwards?"

"Dad," Lin Rusong and Lin Jiaxin moved in unison to support Lin Grandpa. Lin Jiaxin said, "Dad, I’ve heard that the more people there are, the worse the air gets. What if it affects your health? Let’s find some space to talk."

Without waiting for Lin Grandpa’s agreement, the two of them began steering him toward the elevator.

Seeing this, Lin Ruqiao and Lin Ruzhi congratulated Mu Haoguang, slipped him a big red envelope, and made to leave as well.

Just as they approached the elevator, two frantic men rushed past them.

"Are there two women in labor on this floor?"

Lin Yuhuan said, "This seems to be the Mu family's private hospital. We likely won’t wait long."

"Ah, so Big Brother was talking about the elevator. I thought our brains were in sync."

Lin Chengyan: "...?"

Lin Tingyue, you’d rather believe we’re telepathic than suspect you have superpowers?

"Then why were those two men in such a hurry? Looking closer, you couldn’t even tell who the father was."

Lin Tingyue felt something was off and opened her phone.

"What???"

The elevator arrived, but Lin Rusong and Lin Jiasi, who were supporting Old Master Lin, didn’t budge.

Old Master Lin: "?"

He snapped impatiently, "The elevator’s here. Aren’t we going?"

Lin Jiasi patted Old Master Lin’s chest absentmindedly. "Dad, calm down first."

He’s already calm—what is there to steady?

Everyone, overtly or covertly, turned their gazes toward Lin Tingyue, anxiously waiting.

"Hah, to put it simply, his wife just had his baby brother."

Wait, what?

That one sentence broke everyone’s brains.

Lin Tingyue meant this shouldn’t actually be Mu Haoguang’s great-grandchild, but rather his grandchild?

Oof.

"Mu Jun has been running around on his wife all the time. Aside from his wife at home, he’s got a mistress three, four, five, six… Hell, you’d need both hands to count them all. One day, his son Mu Yi brought his girlfriend home, and Mu Jun realized the girlfriend was actually..."

"Neither of them said anything, keeping the relationship secret. Not long after Mu Yi and the woman signed the papers, she got pregnant. Mu Yi was overjoyed, but she panicked—because she had no idea whose child it was."

The hell???

Is this some *Red Chamber* drama IRL???

"Xiao Yi, what’s wrong?"

Mu Haoguang and Mu Jun’s shouts echoed down the hallway. The Lin family, who had been about to leave, all turned back from the elevator area to stare toward the end of the corridor.

Even Old Master Lin was maneuvered to look, roped into the mess.

Mu Jun and Mu Haoguang both reached out to steady Mu Yi, but Mu Yi silently brushed off Mu Jun’s hand and hauled himself up by Mu Haoguang’s arm.

Mu Haoguang looked at Mu Yi with concern. "Xiao Yi, what’s wrong? Is Minsi still in there?"

Mu Yi balled his fists, giving Mu Jun a glacial stare—so cold it was as if they weren’t father and son, but mortal enemies.

Mu Jun’s stomach dropped—why was his son staring at him like that?

Had Mu Yi discovered his affair with Wang Minsi?

Impossible. He’d been so careful to cover his tracks.

Mu Jun said, "Dad, don’t worry. Yi is probably just exhausted."

As he spoke, he tentatively reached out to place a hand on Mu Yi’s shoulder, but Mu Yi flinched away in disgust. His already pale and sullen face now looked downright terrifying.

Mu Yi turned to Mu Haoguang and said, "Grandpa, I’m fine."

"That’s good, that’s good," Mu Haoguang muttered, his eyes still fixed on the operating room doors, which had been closed for nearly four or five hours. "Wang Minsi has been through so much. Yi, you must treat her well in the future."

Mu Yi nodded. "I will."

"Mu Yi’s self-control is incredible."

"With that kind of willpower, he could achieve anything."

The elevator doors opened again, and this time, a silver-haired but lively grandmother and a well-dressed woman stepped out.

The woman recognized Bai Yaxin and nodded at her before heading toward the operating room.

"Sigh, Mu Yi’s mother has known about this for a long time but endured it in silence."

"What else could she do? Mu Jun has so many affairs, who knows how many children he has. Mu Yi’s mother was afraid she and Mu Yi would end up with nothing."

Hearing that his mother knew about this, Mu Yi jerked his head up in shock.

His reaction startled her. Guan Chenli ruffled his hair. "Are you exhausted?"

Mu Haoguang chimed in, "He is. Yi nearly fainted outside the operating room earlier."

"That tired? Since we’re all here now, why don’t you go sit down for a bit? Your father and I will keep watch."

Ever since Wang Minsi was hospitalized for delivery, Mu Yi had been wearing himself out. He didn’t trust the nurses, insisting on personally handling everything from shopping to caring for Wang Minsi. Guan Chenli had long been worried about him.

Mu Yi replied flatly, "He should be the one keeping watch."

"Yi…"

Was it her imagination, or was Mu Yi acting strangely today?

In a place no one could see, Guan Chenli glared daggers at Mu Jun. If it weren’t for him, if it weren’t for him…

If Mu Yi learned the truth, Guan Chenli wasn’t sure if he would snap right then and there.

Finally, the operating room doors opened. A nurse emerged, holding a baby. "It’s a healthy baby boy, seven and a half pounds. Dad, come meet your son."

Those words struck a nerve in Mu Yi. His eyes darkened as he turned toward Mu Jun, who was trying to shrink into the background. "Dad, tell me—am I the father, or are you?"

"Holy crap, how could he go that far?"

Then, Mu Yi slammed his fist into Mu Jun, sending him sprawling.

Old Master Lin gaped in confusion at the scene. Everything had been fine—why were they suddenly fighting?

Old Master Lin fumed, "A son hitting his father—what kind of world is this???"

"A father sleeping with his son’s wife—what kind of monster does that???"