Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Ying Ning had never heard of her dad having a romantic rival before.

But when she thought about it, it totally made sense. Her mom was so beautiful, with a great personality and family background—it’s like her admirers could line up all the way overseas.

Thinking this, Ying Ning playfully reached out and patted Ying Leyou’s shoulder. “Dad, it must’ve been tough to stand out among all those guys.”

Ying Leyou: “….”

Was she complimenting or roasting him? Well, since it came from his beloved daughter, he’d take it as a compliment.

Looking at the man in a suit before her, Gu Shaohua frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Zheng Xi replied, “I came to eat and just happened to pass by. When I saw you, I figured after all these years, I should come in and say hello. Y’know, back in the day—”

Even with her polite demeanor, Gu Shaohua couldn’t help but lose her cool at the mention of the past. “Give me a break.”

Zheng Xi froze. This wasn’t how he imagined it at all. His voice actually shook. “After all these years, Shaohua… have you still not let go of me?”

Huh?

Gu Shaohua nearly laughed in disbelief. In just a moment, he’d managed to come up with that nonsense?

She pointed at each person in turn. “Husband, daughter, son, son’s good friend. Tell me, where do *you* fit in here?”

Ying Ning quietly added, “Try the gutter.”

Zheng Xi turned to look at her. Ying Ning immediately put on an innocent face. “Uncle, I’m just a kid—don’t mind me.”

Seriously, Mom’s face says it all—this guy messed up. The fact that Ying Ning hadn’t torn into him yet was already a miracle!

“Sorry, sorry! Got stuck in traffic. I’m late.”

Just as Zheng Xi was at a loss for words, Gu Xuebing walked in from outside. The moment she saw Zheng Xi’s face, her own twisted in even more disgust than his.

She asked impatiently, “What are you doing here?”

Zheng Xi didn’t understand why both women seemed so hostile toward him. He explained, “I just came in to say hello.”

“No ulterior motives~ I’ll barf first to show respect.”

As if he’d even dare!

“Saying hello, huh?” Gu Xuebing sneered. “Now that I think about it—you ‘said hello’ right before stabbing my sister in the back.”

Cheated?

No wonder. Ying Ning’s hands balled into fists. Ying Leyou held tightly onto Gu Shaohua’s hand, while Ying An stepped protectively forward.

In his opinion, cheaters could get desperate—better safe than sorry.

“His way of saying hello was texting Auntie a pic of some hotel room…”

“This guy takes the cake for delusional.”

“Wait, does he actually think *he’s* the wronged one?”

Pretty much.

Seeing their reactions, Zheng Xi actually felt wronged. "Gu Xuebing, what are you doing? I've been completely aboveboard. Everyone knows your sister and I broke up peacefully back then."

Ever since Gu Xuebing witnessed her husband and niece in her hotel suite... she thought nothing could faze her.

Turns out she'd overestimated herself. Gu Xuebing rolled her eyes and snapped, "You cheated! If she didn't break up with you, was she supposed to keep you around for New Year's? Get lost! Go back where you came from!"

A server happened to walk by outside. Ying Leyou said, "This gentleman is disturbing our meal. Could you please ask him to leave?"

The server politely motioned, "Sir, please return to your own booth."

Fuming, Zheng Xi fumbled with his suit. Jutting his chin defiantly, he declared, "Don't worry, I wouldn't go back to my ex anyway."

All he got in response was Gu Xuebing forcefully slamming the booth door shut.

And a muffled—

"What a jerk!"

Zheng Xi: "..."

But then he spotted someone, instantly calming down. Whatever—if some people didn’t want him, others would.

Back in the booth, the drama with Zheng Xi wasn’t done yet.

"He really wouldn't go back to my ex anyway, because..."

Because what?

Lin Tingyue, unaware of everyone's curious gazes, was intently focused on her phone.

"He likes men."

Gu Xuebing instinctively looked at Gu Shaohua, who shook her head to indicate she didn't know either.

After all this time, truthfully, she didn't even know whether Zheng Xi's affair partner back then was male or female.

Wait—was it a guy?

Whatever, food first.

Gu Shaohua eagerly said to Lin Tingyue, "Tingyue, I asked your mom about what you like to eat. Would you like to check the menu yourself?"

"Wow, Auntie, you're so sweet, wuwuwu~"

Lin Tingyue politely replied, "Everyone should get whatever they want. There's no need to go out of their way for me specially."

"How is this going out of their way?" Gu Xuebing said. "You've done so much for us."

But Lin Tingyue blinked, confused: "What did I help with?"

Whoops—that was supposed to stay in her head.

Ying Ning quickly said, "We’re so lucky to have you. Otherwise, our secrets would have been stolen."

Lin Tingyue gave a soft smile: "Really, it was just luck."

"Coincidence or not, these chocolate pastries look amazing..."

"Totally."

Seeing Lin Tingyue distracted, everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Nothing could compete with good food—or money—in Lin Tingyue’s world!

The chocolate crisp pastry was the last to arrive and was too far from Lin Tingyue. Ying An stood up and brought it right in front of her.

"Thank you."

Ying Ning didn’t understand—wasn’t the table rotatable? Was her brother really going about it the right way?

"Here, yours."

Ying An handed another serving to Ying Ning.

Ying Ning: Hmm... it's alright, I guess?

After the meal, everyone went downstairs, only to find police cars parked outside.

The restaurant manager was explaining to the crowd, "This was a fight between customers—it has nothing to do with our restaurant. No need to worry."

"Holy crap, a brawl in a restaurant? Let me see, let me see!"

Not only Lin Tingyue was curious—Ying Ning was too. Both strained to see and spotted a familiar face.

Zheng Xi was bloodied and bruised, his suit jacket torn.

His face pale, he stammered, "Officer, I really don't know this man. He rushed in and just started hitting me..."

"What did you say—"

A black-clad man, restrained by the police, snapped at this, almost wrenching free to attack Zheng Xi again.

"Enough! One more move and—"

The man snarled, eyes burning with fury. "Zheng Xi, you were the one who said back then—even if you cheated, you’d still love me."

Gu Shaohua, who had been somewhat confused, finally understood. So, the other player in that cheating mess had never shown up until now.

Ying Leyou reached for his wife’s hand, only to find Gu Shaohua weirdly amped up.

Ying Leyou: "...How are you..."

"Guess karma’s just fashionably late—by twenty years."

Ying Leyou was at a loss for words. He’d totally misread his wife—she wasn’t one to hold grudges. She was all here for the drama.

"Be reasonable. If you hadn’t threatened me back then, would I have said those things?"

"Threatened you? Zheng Xi, cut the crap—"

Before the man could finish, a woman rushed in from outside, yelling, "Honey, what happened?"

Before he could react, she was already in front of him, grabbing his hands, frantic.

The man hadn’t expected to run into his wife here and immediately looked away sharply.

Han Wenyu stamped her foot, exasperated. "Why are you hiding? I saw the whole thing! What happened? Why are the police holding you?"

A cop cut in: "Are you really his wife?"

Han Wenyu frowned and said, "This can’t be fake! Officer, if you don’t trust me, I can show you our marriage certificate."

With that, Han Wenyu rummaged through her bag, pulled out the marriage certificate, and handed it to the officer next to the man.

After carefully checking it, the officer said, "Yep, she’s his wife alright."

Han Wenyu put the marriage certificate away. "So, can you tell me what happened to my husband?"

And boy, was it a mess.

Before the police could even speak, the crowd had already filled in all the details, spilling every word—word for word—of the conversation between Zheng Xi and the man.

The more Han Wenyu listened, the angrier she looked.

A woman nearby patted her shoulder and advised, "Honey, dump this loser of a husband."

"Divorce—yes," Han Wenyu muttered, snapping out of her daze. "I’m definitely divorcing him. Thank you, ma’am."

The woman gave a sympathetic shake of her head at Han Wenyu’s barely composed demeanor, signaling it was no trouble.

At the mention of divorce, the man freaked out. "Wife, you can’t divorce me!"

Han Wenyu replied coldly, "Why can’t I?"

"I—I just messed up for a second!"

"Messing up? That’s just cheating! Have some self-respect!"

With Han Wenyu dead set, the man doubled down. "He’s already married! The person beside him is his wife! I only went after him because I was furious!"

The person beside him...

Now under the spotlight, that person glared furiously. Previously unnoticed, they now shrank into the corner as everyone turned their eyes.

The crowd’s brains short-circuited trying to follow. This guy cheated, married her, then went after him… Someone get a flowchart!

Han Wenyu was utterly stunned. "You knew he was taken and still chased him?"

What a garbage human!

"No, babe, they—this guy—is a dude in drag!"

"HUH???"

The crowd lost it completely.

As for Lin Tingyue—

"Told you! I knew I was right."

Ying An grinned too, watching Lin Tingyue glow with vindication.

Han Wenyu couldn’t stand another word. She deadpanned, "No way out—we’re done."

"Wife, we can't get divorced. What would happen to Mom if we did?"

The man was sure Han Wenyu wouldn’t abandon her mother-in-law.

But this time, he was disappointed.

Han Wenyu said, "Mom can come with me."

"What's the point of asking? After all, she’s always been closer to her mother-in-law anyway."