“What’s with that look?” Lin Xi had been watching Lin Ran from beginning to end, so naturally she didn’t miss the smugness in her eyes that belonged to a victor.
“What? Still not willing to accept it?”
Lin Xi tilted her head and deliberately glanced at the spot on Lin Ran’s face where she had slapped her yesterday.
That damn man had been holding her wrist down, so she hadn’t even been able to put much strength into the slap!
And the swelling had already gone down overnight.
Being looked at as though she were some object under inspection made humiliation surge through Lin Ran.
She had refrained from fighting back all this time because she wanted to secure a sufficient dowry before getting married.
But that didn’t mean she intended to keep tolerating this.
Lin Ran cast a pleading look at Lin Jianguo.
Lin Jianguo caught the look and, as expected, couldn’t hold back.
He slammed his chopsticks onto the table and roared, “Lin Xi! What are you making such a fuss about first thing in the morning?”
“Making a fuss?” Lin Xi raised her voice slightly and looked over.
She stretched out her arm and pointed straight at the tip of Lin Ran’s nose.
“Dad, I’m just helping you set the family straight.”
“A daughter who’s shameless and doesn’t know how to conduct herself should be grateful that New China saved her from being thrown into a pig cage.”
“I let you sit at the table and eat, and you dare glare at me just because you got one less fried dough stick?”
“Which one of these things on the table did you earn yourself?”
Lin Ran’s face turned red, then white.
Across the table, Li Yufen felt the insult hit her as well. She stopped chewing and stepped forward to defend her daughter.
“Xiaoxi, you can’t put it that way.”
“It’s a special period right now. Neither you nor Xiaoran has a job. Isn’t it only natural for your father and me to support both of you?”
Her stepmother really wasn’t stupid.
Lin Xi had accused Lin Ran of living off others, and Li Yufen had immediately dragged her into it as well.
Unfortunately…
Lin Xi put down her chopsticks, smiled, leaned back against her chair, and looked at Li Yufen with a slight raise of her brow.
“You support me?”
“What exactly are you using to support me?”
“When you married into this family, apart from bringing a belly full of your own child with you, what did you buy for this household?”
“Oh, right. I forgot. Your illegitimate child counts as marital property too, doesn’t it?”
Lin Xi pretended to be troubled as she tapped her temple.
The next second, a bowl came crashing to the floor.
“Lin Xi! How dare you!”
A son was not supposed to speak ill of his father, and Lin Jianguo believed that all these years he had never denied Lin Xi food or clothing. Yet this daughter of his was just like her mother—headstrong and impossible to control.
Lin Jianguo’s eyes widened as he glared at Lin Xi.
Lin Xi merely gave him a faint smile in return.
“It’s not like this is the first time I’ve dared to do it. Why are you making such a fuss? You’ve lived this long without seeing much of the world, yet you’ve been freeloading in our family for all these years.”
No man could stand being called a kept man.
The word “marry into” had always been a thorn in Lin Jianguo’s heart. He slapped the table and stood up.
“Old Lin, Old Lin!”
Li Yufen hurried over and stopped him.
“The child is just angry and saying things she doesn’t mean. All the neighbors are home at this hour. It won’t look good if we make a scene.”
Her fingertips tightened around Lin Jianguo’s arm, silently reminding him that the marriage was what mattered today.
At the mention of the marriage—and of his future son-in-law, the regimental commander—Lin Jianguo’s expression softened somewhat.
He sat back down.
Lin Xi had remained completely calm in her chair from beginning to end.
“That’s more like it.”
“You eat my mother’s food and live in my mother’s house, so you should at least have some self-awareness.”
“But you!”
Lin Jianguo still held her household registration in his hands, so Lin Xi had never truly intended to push him too far. After getting a few insults off her chest, she shifted the subject back to Lin Ran.
“Stop thinking you can eat the same things I do every day.”
“What kind of mother do you have, and what kind of mother do I have?”
“If you want fried dough sticks, have your mother buy them for you. If she has no money, then go without!”
“I’ve never heard of someone feeding a pig only for the pig to start getting picky about what it eats.”
Besides, if she kept going, breakfast would get cold.
Lin Xi knew when to stop. After getting her fill of the argument, she lowered her head and continued eating.
The three people at the table were left staring at one another with ugly expressions. None of them touched their chopsticks for a long while.
After breakfast.
The family of three gathered in the living room, whispering as they discussed going to Zhao Mingze to set a wedding date.
Lin Jianguo was too proud to go himself. He wanted to put on the airs of a father-in-law.
“I’m not going. Call the guesthouse and tell Zhao Mingze to come here.”
“Does he not know what he did yesterday?”
“Besides, when has the bride’s family ever gone to the groom’s family to propose?”
As for whether Zhao Mingze would become a regimental commander someday—that was a matter for the future. Right now, Zhao Mingze was just an orphan with no parents, and he was the one asking to marry Lin Jianguo’s daughter.
“We need to establish the rules first.”
Tsk.
Lin Xi leaned against the second-floor railing, watching the show. When she heard Lin Jianguo say that, she laughed.
After spending half his life as a live-in son-in-law, he had finally become a father-in-law.
It was finally Lin Jianguo’s turn to throw his weight around because of someone else’s status.
What an inferiority complex.
Though this kind of inferiority complex was different from the other kind.
A woman’s insecurity tended to be focused inward.
A man’s insecurity?
Ha. It was about cutting down the person he loved once he finally made it to higher ground.
After all, who would willingly keep someone beside them who had once seen them struggling miserably in the mud?
For thousands of years, men had always been like this.
Lin Xi went back to her room to wash up.
With the door open, she could hear Li Yufen actually calling the guesthouse downstairs.
Less than half an hour later, Zhao Mingze arrived.
He wore a white shirt with military trousers. He was about six feet tall and had a refined appearance.
When he entered, he was carrying two net bags filled with canned food.
“姨芬, Uncle Lin.”
Lin Ran shyly lowered her head.
“Brother Mingze.”
Zhao Mingze gave her a perfunctory response before looking at Li Yufen.
“Aunt Fen called me because you wanted to discuss my marriage to Xiaoxi, right?”
“Sorry. I didn’t come over first thing this morning because I had a mission…”
“Wait, wait, wait!”
Li Yufen hurriedly interrupted him.
“What marriage to Xiaoxi?”
Li Yufen grabbed Lin Ran, who was standing beside her, and pushed her in front of Zhao Mingze.
“Are you saying you don’t intend to take responsibility for our Xiaoran?”
“Take responsibility?”
Zhao Mingze’s expression remained completely calm.
He looked at Li Yufen.
“Aunt Fen, I don’t understand what you mean. What exactly did I do that was inappropriate enough for us to be talking about taking responsibility?”
“You!”
Lin Ran was stunned, her face instantly flushing bright red.
Yesterday morning, when Zhao Mingze had woken up, he had clearly recognized who she was!
He had even told her to go home, take a bath, and get some good sleep.
So what did this mean now?
Was he going to turn his back on her and pretend nothing happened?
Men were supposedly creatures who loved you right up until they put their pants back on.
From the second floor, Lin Xi watched the marriage proposal in the living room unfold like a short drama, enjoying every twist.
Li Yufen took a deep breath and asked Zhao Mingze, “At the guesthouse yesterday, you haven’t forgotten what you did, have you?”
“Oh?”
Zhao Mingze raised his eyebrows slightly, looking surprised.
“How did you know about that, Aunt Fen?”
Zhao Mingze continued, “I was wondering about that myself. The guesthouse has such good security, so how did a girl manage to sneak into my room yesterday and drug me?”
“Assaulting an active-duty serviceman—I figured she must be a spy. I was just about to report it to the police.”
“What? Do you know who that person was, Aunt Fen?”
Zhao Mingze narrowed his eyes at Li Yufen.
There was a threat in his gaze, as well as a warning.
As an active-duty serviceman, he had the protection of his status.
The guesthouse receptionist had seen Lin Ran walk in by herself.
It was obvious who had made the first move yesterday.
Zhao Mingze wasn’t afraid of making a big deal out of it. After all, he was the victim—and he was also a man.
Once Lin Xi understood Zhao Mingze’s line of thinking, she smiled and shook her head.
This man was certainly smarter than the pig-brained members of Lin Ran’s family.
At least he had some brains.
Too bad he was still a shameless, disgusting coward who refused to take responsibility.
Lin Xi lost interest in watching the spectacle.
She clapped her hands and prepared to go back to her room to read.
Just as she reached the doorway, Zhao Mingze’s voice drifted up from the living room below, rising and falling with deliberate emphasis.
“Aunt Fen, we’ve always agreed that the person I’m going to marry is Xiaoxi.”
“I’ve already brought the betrothal gifts.”
“Please call Xiaoxi down. Let’s set the wedding date today.”