Chapter 103

Chapter 103

So, both the father and son are gay?

Being gay isn’t a big deal—society’s way more accepting of gay folks now. But a cheater? Not so much.

And if the father’s gay, how’d he end up married with a grown son?

Song Hezhu muttered to Xu Lanfeng, "Turns out he’s not just a cheater but a man who tricked her into marriage."

Xu Lanfeng nodded.

The son had already pulled out his phone, but his father snatched it away and smashed it to bits on the ground.

Staring at the phone in pieces, the son was gobsmacked. "Dad, what are you doing?"

"You can’t call your mom."

"Why not? You cheated—doesn’t Mom even have the right to know?"

"This kid’s got principles."

Yeah, hopefully he won’t side with his dad and keep Mom in the dark. Song Hezhu shook her head while soaking up the tea.

"I just did what every guy does. It’s no big deal."

"No big deal?" The son fumed. "You call this no big deal?"

"Why won’t you listen? Why drag your mom into this? You wanna see our family implode?"

"The way you twist logic is unbelievable. If you cared so much, you shouldn’t have cheated!"

Most folks in the bar had figured out what was going on, and one good Samaritan even offered the son their phone.

That good Samaritan was Gong Nian’an.

Ever since getting scammed herself, she couldn’t stand seeing another woman get played.

She tossed her phone into the son’s arms. "Call. Do it now."

The father exploded. "Who the hell asked you to butt in?"

Gong Nian’an didn’t flinch. She crossed her arms. "That’s my thing—I’m Nosy Parker. Got a problem? Then scram."

"LOL! Nian’an-jie, you’re on fire!"

The praise made her grin. Her past dumb acts had been love-blindness, but now that her head’s on straight, she’s back in her element.

This was the real her—otherwise, she’d never have clicked with Shen Bingyan back when they were kids.

"Make way, make way. Thanks."

A man pushed through the crowd toward the father and son. "Hey, brother-in-law! Little Le, what’re you doing here?"

Ji Le brightened at Cui Tianrui. "Uncle!"

With him here, he’d totally have Mom’s back. Ji Le shot his father a glare.

Gong Nian’an said, "Perfect. Look, your family’s here now. If outsiders can’t meddle, surely family can, right?"

The arrival of his wife's family did not alarm Ji Mingjie; instead, he seemed relieved, as if a savior had come. When Gong Nian'an said this, he replied, "What’s it got to do with you?"

He glared at Gong Nian'an, who glared right back. What kind of person was this, so brazen about cheating, and now his sister-in-law had come—let's see what he would do.

Ji Le pulled Cui Tianrui aside and quietly recounted what had just happened.

But after hearing it, Cui Tianrui's reaction was surprisingly calm. He said, "Le, don't air the family's dirty laundry. We'll discuss this matter in detail when we get home."

That's not right.

In his eyes, his uncle had always been a fierce protector of his sister. Ever since they were young, whenever his mother felt the slightest bit wronged, his uncle would stand up for her.

This time, with such a big issue, Ji Le thought his uncle would grab a chair and go after his father. He had even prepared himself to hold his uncle back, but...

"Ah, a gay man who tricked someone into marriage is one thing, but his boyfriend is also this uncle."

Ah, as expected... Wait, what was that again?

The one deceiving his sister was actually his brother, was that right?

"Long ago, their parents passed away, leaving the sister, only three years older than her brother, to take care of him. Even after she married, she still let her brother live with them, never imagining it would make it easier for her brother and husband to have an affair."

With a thud, Ji Le knocked over a bottle of wine on the table.

He remembered how, whenever his mother was on a business trip, his uncle would often sleep in the same room as his father.

Back then, being young and naive, he had even asked about it. His father said it was because they wanted to drink together, and they feared disturbing Ji Le in the living room, so they moved to the bedroom.

So, they were already...

Ji Le grabbed a liquor bottle and rushed at his father, cracking it over his father’s head. When he tried to strike his uncle next, passersby held him back.

Ji Le cursed furiously, "You two shameless pieces of trash! How could you do this to my mom?"

Cui Tianrui walked over, looking at Ji Le with concern, "Le, what’s gotten into you?"

In response, Ji Le broke free and broke the bottle on Cui Tianrui’s head.

"Ugh, still putting on an act now? Serves you right—hope it hurt. It makes you wonder—do such utterly shameless individuals really exist in this world?"

Yeah, they do.

Not only do they exist, but they even have the nerve to play innocent.

Of course, Ji Le landed in jail for assault. Upon receiving the news, Cui Tianyan took off work and raced over in a panic.

Once there, she first pulled Ji Le aside to check on him. Seeing he was unharmed, she relaxed slightly before sternly scolding, "Real tough guy now, huh? Daring to hit people?"

Ji Le's eyes reddened, "Mom, do you know who I hit?"

"No matter who it was, you can't just resort to violence."

Cui Tianyan turned and spotted Ji Mingjie and Cui Tianrui. "Why are you two here?"

Noticing the bandages on their heads, she asked anxiously, "Were you two attacked?"

Ji Le yanked Cui Tianyan back, grinding his teeth, "I’m the one who hit them! Mom, do you have any idea what they’ve done?"

Cui Tianyan’s response hit Ji Le like a ton of bricks.

"You knew all along?"

"Mom, what do you mean? You knew this whole time...?"

"Yes."

When Ji Le hit his father and uncle, he felt no remorse—only satisfaction. He was taking down two scumbags. But he never imagined his mother had known about it all along.

Ji Le stared at the three people before him.

These three used to be his closest family, but now they felt like strangers.

Could his so-called home even be called a home?

...

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, the family I know has been living together as four—mistress, wife, getting along just fine."

"Mom's generation was really progressive for its time."

Hearing Lin Tingyue's inner thoughts, Bai Yaxin stopped mid-sentence, grabbed the fruit tray, and walked over. "Having a good time?"

"Totally!"

Bai Yaxin turned to Lin Xiawan, who smiled. "Yeah, the lead singer's band sounded amazing."

"You really like them?" Bai Yaxin asked. "Wanna go see them in concert next time?"

Lin Xiawan agreed eagerly.

But Lin Tingyue—

"Concerts aren't really my thing. Just a country hick who doesn't get fancy stuff."

Lin Xiawan and Bai Yaxin cracked up at the self-deprecating joke—who calls themselves a pig?

Bai Yaxin played dumb. "Tingyue, got other plans?"

"Well, since Mom's giving me an excuse..."

Lin Tingyue nodded. "Yeah, I'll be crazy busy that day."

Bai Yaxin.

She hadn't even named a date yet.

But it didn't matter.

"Then I'll go with Xiawan first, and we'll hang out when you're free, okay?"

"Sounds good!"

Lin Rusong, who'd been listening in behind his newspaper, finally stood up and gave a little cough. "Since everyone's going out, you'll need some fun money."

"Wow, Dad's gonna shower us with cash!"

Lin Rusong said:

"......"

Well, Lin Tingyue wasn't wrong.

Lin Rusong took out his phone. "I'll transfer 200,000 to each of you. Is that enough?"

"Plenty! Plenty! Plenty!"

Hearing the notification sound from her phone, Lin Tingyue cheered, "Thank you, Dad!"

"Dad, don't I get a share too?"

Everyone turned to look at the staircase, where Lin Chengyan had apparently just woken up, his hair sticking up in all directions as he leaned lazily against the railing.

"Second Brother still loves his staircase so much."

Lin Chengyan almost tripped again.

Bai Yaxin reminded him, "Chengyan, we do have an elevator at home."

Lin Chengyan: "......"

He muttered, "Of course I know that!"

Lin Chengyan came down the stairs and walked up to Lin Tingyue. "I just like using them every day to exercise, unlike some people. Hmph!"

Someone silently raised an eyebrow.

"Who are you implying? Hmph!"

"Got you mad, didn't I?" Lin Chengyan was smug as could be.

"Second Brother," Lin Tingyue's cheerful expression made Lin Chengyan nervous, "I know you're training so hard to get those eight-pack abs. Lin, you're seriously impressive. Keep it up!"

Lin Tingyue gave a thumbs-up.

Lin Chengyan automatically said, "Thank you..."

Wait, no—Lin Tingyue was obviously mocking him. Why was he thanking her?

Lin Chengyan ground out, "Lin Tingyue, I do have abs!"

"Yeah, right."

That night, Lin Chengyan's fans were thrilled to discover he'd posted a nine-photo grid of his abs, captioned "Some people say I don't have abs. Well, see for yourself."

OMG.

Though no one knew who this "some people" was, they were all for more of such content.

Scrolling through Lin Chengyan's comments, Lin Tingyue thought about how predictable he was to provocation.

Spotting a few trolls making trouble, she quickly reported them.

The next day.

With the New Year approaching, Bai Yaxin assigned Lin Tingyue and the others the task of holiday shopping.

Lin Tingyue blinked, puzzled.

"Do rich folks really need to go to the supermarket themselves? I thought they could just order things and have them airlifted straight to our doorstep."

Lin Chengyan was amused. He had always told Lin Tingyue to read fewer novels—clearly, they were rotting her brain.

Lin Yuhuan, however, thought that if Lin Tingyue liked the idea, they could totally make that happen.

Lin Xiawan suddenly realized, "Oh, so that’s Tingyue’s thing."

Unaware of her siblings' thoughts, Lin Tingyue asked, "Mom, what should we buy then?"

Bai Yaxin replied, "Whatever you want. Go wild."

"Aren’t we visiting relatives?"

"Your father and I will handle all that."

"So this is just a full-on supermarket haul???"

Lin Tingyue rolled up her sleeves, her eyes lit up with determination. She was ready to plunder the supermarket.

"Go ahead, but be back for lunch."

"You got it, Mom."

With four of them going, one car was enough.

Lin Yuhuan drove, while Lin Chengyan, bundled up, sat in the passenger seat. Lin Tingyue and Lin Xiawan piled into the back.

At the supermarket, each of them pushed a shopping cart. If the place weren’t so huge, four people and four carts side by side would have been impossible.

"Lin Tingyue, lay off the junk food."

Lin Chengyan deliberately put back the chips she had just placed in her cart.

"What’s your problem? I don’t need to watch my figure!"

"Snacks wreck your appetite. I’m just worried you won’t eat properly and won’t grow taller."

"Quit babying me! I want these chips!"

Lin Tingyue grabbed five bags of chips and shot Lin Chengyan a look.

The two of them were now in a showdown by the chip aisle.

Lin Xiawan and Lin Yuhuan couldn’t even look.

Are these two seriously three years old combined?

As their battle escalated, some kid started bawling.

Lin Tingyue said, "Second Brother, since when do you pick on kids?"

Lin Chengyan: "?"

"This is straight-up fraud."

Upon closer inspection, it turned out a child pushing a kid-sized cart had accidentally rammed into another kid’s butt. The impact must have hurt, because the other kid started wailing.

A second later, both kids’ moms arrived.

"You???... You???"

Lin Chengyan, who was about to leave, stopped. Do these two know each other?

Could they be friends?

Suddenly, the two supposed friends began fighting violently.

Lin Chengyan asked in confusion, "Why are they fighting?"

"When two mistresses meet, claws come out."