Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

Chai Huirui called his dad with shaky hands, but the call didn’t connect.

It didn’t matter—it couldn’t be true unless his father admitted it himself. Still, no matter how much Chai Huirui tried to convince himself, he still felt uneasy.

He dialed his father five times in a row, but every time it went unanswered. By the last call, Lin Tingyue and Lin Xiawan caught him in the act.

So embarrassing!

“Your dad’s busy buttering up your grandpa right now, trying to get that mistress and her kid into the house. Of course he doesn’t have time to answer you.”

Right! Chai Huirui’s eyes lit up—there was still his grandpa. As long as his grandpa refused, those outsiders wouldn’t be allowed in.

Chai Huirui took off running outside while calling his grandfather.

As for bothering Lin Xiawan? He’d already forgotten all about it.

“Not totally clueless after all.”

Lin Tingyue turned around to find both Lin Xiawan and Ying An staring at her. She touched her face and asked, “What? Is there something on my face?”

“No,” Lin Xiawan reached out and took Lin Tingyue’s hand. “I just wanted to ask if you still want some cake?”

“Of course—”

Lin Tingyue nodded vigorously. “Yes.”

After walking a few steps with Lin Xiawan, Lin Tingyue suddenly seemed to remember something. She stopped and turned back. “Why don’t you join us, Mr. Ying?”

“He probably doesn’t need to worry about his weight right now, right?”

Ying An looked down. The first thing that came to mind wasn’t his eight-pack abs—it was what Lin Tingyue kept bringing up…

His ears turned pink as he replied, “Sure, Miss Tingyue.”

Lin Tingyue smirked.

When they got home, Bai Yaxin asked Lin Tingyue and Lin Xiawan what had stood out most.

Lin Xiawan: “Four loves?”

Lin Tingyue: “The cake?”

Bai Yaxin: “…”

What were they even talking about?

So she answered just as vaguely: “What you learn is yours to keep.”

Lin Tingyue and Lin Xiawan shared a look. Neither understood what their mom meant, but they nodded along anyway.

After Lin Tingyue went upstairs, Lin Xiawan looked at Bai Yaxin, who sat smiling gently. She asked, “Xiawan, is there something you want to tell me?”

Bai Yaxin was everything Lin Xiawan had imagined a mother could be—gentle, someone who really listened, and always on her side.

Back when her adoptive parents mistreated her, it was these imagined moments that had kept her going.

Lin Xiawan took Bai Yaxin’s hand, making her eyes widen slightly. They sat together on the sofa, and Lin Xiawan leaned forward and said, “Actually, I think if Tingyue gets into a relationship, she should keep her options open.”

Huh?

How did we jump to Tingyue dating?

Bai Yaxin thought carefully and said cautiously, "More options are always better..."

Lin Xiawan suddenly stood up, her gaze firm as she declared, "Mom, I get it now."

Bai Yaxin: "?"

What did Xiawan get?

That afternoon,

After hearing Second Young Miss praise the cakes at the banquet, Zhang Ma went ahead and baked some cakes to serve as today's afternoon tea.

The mother and daughters were leisurely enjoying their treats, like they were having their own little tea party, when Bai Yaxin's phone rang.

Bai Yaxin set down her cup. As she listened, her brows gradually furrowed: "It's that bad?"

"Got it, I'm on my way."

After hanging up, Lin Tingyue asked, "Mom, what's wrong?"

"Your uncle called, saying your aunt has been hospitalized."

Lin Xiawan asked, "Food poisoning or something else?"

Bai Yaxin stood up and said, "I'd better get over there."

"Sigh, Aunt Hao brought it on herself."

Bai Yaxin paused—she'd almost forgotten about Tingyue. She tentatively asked, "Tingyue, do you know what happened to Aunt Hao?"

Lin Tingyue shook her head: "Mom, I don't know."

"Aunt Hao believed in some old wives' tale about a surefire way to get a grandson, so she secretly added the medicine to her daughter-in-law's vitamins. Unexpectedly, her daughter-in-law found out and switched the medicine back into the calcium tablets Aunt Hao often takes. And now, it made her sick."

Bai Yaxin was exasperated: "I've told her before—what will be will be with grandchildren. Yet she insisted on scheming like this!"

Lin Tingyue tilted her head, puzzled: "Bad intentions?"

"Does Mom already know?"

Bai Yaxin: "!"

Experience told her it was best not to let Lin Tingyue know they could hear her thoughts.

Bai Yaxin quickly said, "Just a wild guess. Your Aunt Hao is stubborn... and I suspect your uncle was in on this too. No, I still need to go."

When Bai Yaxin arrived at the hospital, Hao Xiu was already out of the ER.

Bai Yaxin asked her cousin Feng De, "How is she? Nothing too serious, I hope?"

"Nothing too serious. I told her not to bother you, but she had to call you anyway..."

"Enough. You're Hao Xiu's husband—you should be taking care of your wife now, not making excuses."

Bai Yaxin was always the strong one, and as the one who married best among her siblings, Feng De awkwardly replied, "Right, right, I understand."

Hao Xiu had come to by now. Pale and trembling, she gripped Bai Yaxin’s hand. “Yaxin, this is a freak accident.”

Bai Yaxin, recalling Lin Tingyue’s inner thoughts, replied, “Not so sure about that.”

“*What?*” Hao Xiu blinked.

Bai Yaxin asked, “Where’s your daughter-in-law?”

“She was so worried about you, she fainted. Sijie is waiting outside the door,” Feng De answered.

Bai Yaxin advised gently, “Some things just can’t be forced. You shouldn’t believe in those quack cures—they only bring harm to yourself and others.”

“Yaxin, how did you—”

Hao Xiu tried to sit up, but Bai Yaxin eased her back down. Soon they reached the hospital room, where Feng De and a nurse helped transfer Hao Xiu from the gurney to the bed. Bai Yaxin tucked her in carefully.

She said, “Hao Xiu, I brought you some nourishing foods. Rest well—I’ll come see you again soon.”

“Okay.”

Just as Bai Yaxin reached the doorway, she heard a heated argument erupt from another direction, along with the angry demand: *Whose child is this anyway?*

Bai Yaxin murmured to herself, “Strange, that voice sounds so familiar,” and walked toward the ruckus.

As she approached, she realized it was Feng Sijie and his wife, Jiang Cui.

Jiang Cui snapped, “Of course it’s yours! Didn’t your mom always want a grandson?”

Feng Sijie’s neck veins popped. “The hell it is! I got a vasectomy months ago. The baby’s only two months old—how could it be mine?”

Bai Yaxin felt her eyelid twitch. Why on earth would Feng Sijie get fixed? Had he even talked to his mother?

Jiang Cui fired back, “Feng Sijie, what’s wrong with you? Why would you do something like that for no reason? Even if you did, why didn’t you tell your mom? Do you know what she’s been making me eat?”

“I get it now. My mom ended up like this because of *you!* Jiang Cui, you’re stone-cold! That’s my mother!”

“Puh-lease,” Jiang Cui rolled her eyes, arms crossed. “Now you remember she’s your mom? Before this, I thought she was just some stray granny mooching off a total stranger.”

“My god, she really knows how to read someone,” Bai Yaxin muttered.

She turned around—and sure enough, Lin Tingyue, who was supposed to be waiting in the car, had arrived.

Feng Sijie shot back indignantly, “You married into our family—what’s wrong with taking care of my mom?”

“And what about *you?* Are you dead? Did you marry a wife just to have her take care of your mother?”

“Unbelievable. The son’s a freeloader and the mom’s a leach.”

Bai Yaxin wrapped an arm around Lin Tingyue’s shoulders. Her prim-and-proper daughter was going full savage behind closed doors—adorable.

“Why should I take care of her? You and your whole trash family can kick rocks!”

“Hold it!” Feng Sijie grabbed Jiang Cui’s wrist. “You’re not walking away until you tell me whose kid that is. I can handle being cheated on—but I deserve to know who put me in this mess!”

“How weirdly principled. But the truth is, he couldn’t be bothered with condoms… so he got snipped to raw-dog in peace.”

“Wow, players will really say anything to get some side action.”

What?

Jiang Cui let out an angry laugh. She turned back and said, "I shouldn’t have walked off like that."

Feng Sijie frowned. "Jiang Cui, what do you mean?"

Jiang Cui gritted her teeth. "I mean I’m gonna hit you."

A nurse cried out in alarm. "Please don’t fight in the hospital!"

By the time security pulled them apart, Feng Sijie's face had been scratched to shreds by Jiang Cui.

As Bai Yaxin and Lin Tingyue went downstairs, they could still hear Feng Sijie and Jiang Cui cursing at each other.

Bai Yaxin quickly told her mother, Feng Chao, about what had happened. The old lady fell silent for a long moment before finally saying, "Let them sort it out."

"Wow, Grandma’s got style."

Bai Yaxin chuckled. Feng Chao then added, "Just bring my precious granddaughter and grandson back for me to see sometime, that’s all."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Always thinking about your grandkids."

"I think about my daughter too, but who knows if she’s even willing to come back."

"Alright, Mom. Sweet-talking at your age? You’ll get cavities."

Since Feng Chao had said so, that weekend Bai Yaxin and Lin Rusong took the kids home for a visit.

Feng Chao had lost her husband years ago and raised all by herself one daughter and three sons. Now nearing eighty, she was still sharp as a tack.

The old lady was dressed to the nines. It wasn’t until Bai Yaxin stood before Feng Chao that she noticed her good-for-nothing second brother had also returned.

Bai Yaxin's smile faded slightly. "No holiday—what brings you back?"

Bai Weiye said, "Sis, I know you don’t like me, but as your older brother, I rushed here today to warn you—don’t let anyone scam you."

"Uncle should worry about himself first. That ‘get-rich-quick’ scheme your friend told you about? It’s actually a gigolo…"