Old Master Zhou’s smile disappeared instantly.
Seeing this, Lin Qilan’s brow began to twitch, and her heart tightened.
In the past, Meng Jixue had never tattled on anyone. She was kind and easygoing, with the graceful manners of a well bred young lady that made everyone like her.
It was precisely because Meng Jixue had such a good upbringing that Lin Qilan had taken a liking to her and had been determined to make her daughter-in-law. But what was going on now? The sensible and understanding girl from before was actually playing the victim and tattling on her.
Lin Qilan wanted to explain.
But at that moment, Guo Huixiu, who was standing beside Meng Jixue, seemed to have just realized what had happened and immediately chimed in.
“No wonder. I was wondering why Jixue had been standing outside talking to Third Aunt instead of coming in. I even thought she was wearing so little and wasn’t afraid of freezing. So it turns out Third Aunt had been keeping her at the gate and not letting her in.”
The moment these words came out, Lin Qilan’s face turned pale.
Old Master Zhou was so angry that he slammed his cane hard against the floor.
He glanced at Lin Qilan, his expression turning stern.
“Zhishu doesn’t even know to leave early to pick someone up. Since he hadn’t agreed on a time with her, he should have prepared even earlier. That’s basic upbringing. Jixue didn’t even mention anything bad about Zhishu, so why did you have to criticize her? Jixue is a guest whom I personally invited. As an elder, instead of reminding your son, you blocked my guest at the gate and wouldn’t even let her inside in the middle of a snowstorm. Third Daughter-in-law, where did you leave your manners?”
His words were already extremely harsh.
Moreover, there were people from the other branches in the living room. Lin Qilan was a vain woman who cared deeply about her reputation. Being humiliated like this in front of everyone was something she simply couldn’t bear. Her eyes immediately reddened.
Although she resented it in her heart, she didn’t dare anger Old Master Zhou. She swallowed her pride and said quietly, “Dad, I didn’t think things through.”
Old Master Zhou remained expressionless. “What good is telling me that? You might as well apologize to Jixue.”
Lin Qilan was stunned. She instinctively looked at Old Master Zhou. “Dad, but…”
Meng Jixue was a younger generation! How could an elder like herself apologize to a junior?
If she really apologized, what would the other younger members of the family think of their Third Aunt?
Old Master Zhou let out a cold laugh.
“Looks like I’m getting old, and my words don’t carry any weight anymore. If you don’t want to apologize, then don’t come here again. I don’t want to reach the point where you’ll start lecturing even me.”
He was actually doing this to stand up for Meng Jixue.
Now that the two families had a marriage arrangement, and the Meng family had fallen into trouble, who knew whether someone from the other branches might have ulterior motives? In the past, everyone had treated Meng Jixue courteously, but when someone fell on hard times, there were always people willing to kick them while they were down.
Old Master Zhou would not allow anyone in the Zhou family to treat Meng Jixue that way.
Once she married into the Zhou family, he would be the one backing her. He wanted everyone to know that no one was allowed to bully Meng Jixue.
There were quite a few people present today.
It was a day off, so aside from the eldest branch, nearly all the elders were there. Among the younger generation, there were also quite a few unmarried men of marriageable age.
With so many people watching, Old Master Zhou had made his attitude crystal clear, and everyone naturally understood.
Lin Qilan was now caught in an impossible situation.
She could only look toward her husband, Zhou Honghe.
However, Zhou Honghe was not yet fifty, but his mindset was already like that of a man in his sixties or seventies. He had no enthusiasm for anything and basically avoided anything he could avoid, and pushed away anything he could push away.
It wasn’t that he was stupid. He was simply extremely selfish and lazy.
Zhou Honghe’s philosophy in life was simple, never take responsibility, never cause trouble, and quietly enjoy the privileges he currently had. In other words, he cared only about his own comfort.
At present, he was the deputy head of a publicity work group under the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. The position suited him perfectly. It sounded impressive, but he actually had very little authority. It was practically a retirement post.
Every day, Zhou Honghe simply played with his birds, drank tea, and practiced calligraphy.
A man like him had already hidden himself away the moment his wife looked toward him. There was no way he would step in.
In Zhou Honghe’s opinion, if she had to apologize, then she should just apologize. Why provoke Meng Jixue for no reason? Everyone knew how much the old master favored her, and the Zhou and Meng families had been family friends for generations. If they could maintain a good relationship, they should. If not, they could simply remain on polite terms. There was no need to become enemies.
Watching all this, Meng Jixue continued standing beside Old Master Zhou with an aggrieved expression, pretending not to notice anything.
She was going to marry into the Zhou family in the future.
Meng Jixue intended to make use of Old Master Zhou’s backing. No matter how unwilling Lin Qilan was, she would just have to endure it!
With so many people watching, Lin Qilan knew she had no choice but to apologize.
If she truly angered the old master, the Third Branch was already mediocre enough. From now on, they would probably not even be able to get a share of the Zhou family’s core resources.
And Old Master Zhou’s attitude toward Meng Jixue made something even clearer to Lin Qilan, if her son wanted to enter the old master’s good graces, he had to marry Meng Jixue.
She wanted Meng Jixue as her daughter-in-law now, so naturally, she couldn’t afford to offend her. What if Meng Jixue refused to marry Zhou Zhishu because of this?
Thinking of this, Lin Qilan took a deep breath and forced herself to speak.
“Jixue, Third Aunt was in the wrong. I didn’t handle this properly, and I spoke without thinking. Third Aunt apologizes to you. Don’t take it to heart.”
She thought to herself that once Meng Jixue married her son, she would naturally have a chance to get back at her for today’s humiliation.
At that time, she would make sure Meng Jixue understood that offending her would not end well.
Meng Jixue could clearly see through Lin Qilan’s pretended sincerity and the viciousness that flashed in her eyes. How could she not know what her former mother-in-law was thinking?
Meng Jixue didn’t care about Lin Qilan’s apology at all, but on the surface, she put on a flattered expression. Her voice was gentle and soft, with a hint of carefully restrained grievance.
“Third Aunt, what are you saying? Please don’t say that. Brother Zhishu is your son. It’s only natural for you to stand up for your own son.”
“You’re my elder, and you’ve experienced more and seen more than I have. If you wanted to guide me and teach me how to conduct myself, that was my good fortune. It’s precisely because I thought what you said was right that I came to apologize to Grandpa. Everything you said was for my own good. You just wanted me to adapt to the Zhou family’s rules more quickly. I understand all of that. Please don’t blame yourself over this, or I’ll be too ashamed to face anyone.”
After saying this, Meng Jixue linked her arm through Old Master Zhou’s and became even more gentle and considerate.
“It’s cold outside. Please don’t let what happened to me upset you, Grandpa. You should sit down and have some hot tea to soothe your throat.”
Meng Jixue’s words had been flawless.
Some of the people present had initially thought she was making too much of the situation. After all, it was normal for an elder to say a few words to a younger person. There was no need to take it all the way to Old Master Zhou.
But Meng Jixue’s seemingly understanding words made it sound as though Lin Qilan had only said those harsh things because she cared about her son.
Even her supposed “tattling” had become Meng Jixue sincerely believing that she had done something wrong and telling Old Master Zhou about it out of fear and remorse. In the end, she had even made it clear that she didn’t want her own matter to make everyone unhappy.
Everyone knew that Old Master Zhou wanted to arrange a marriage alliance with the Meng family, but who Meng Jixue would choose was entirely up to her.
Yet Meng Jixue had said that Lin Qilan was trying to teach her the Zhou family’s rules. Wasn’t that basically saying that before she had even chosen a husband, Lin Qilan had already put herself in the position of a mother-in-law and was trying to assert her authority over Meng Jixue?
The way everyone looked at Lin Qilan immediately changed.
And how could Lin Qilan not understand what Meng Jixue was doing?
Every word was like a soft thorn, stabbing her painfully, yet she couldn’t find a single word to refute her. Her face alternated between pale and ashen.
But she could only swallow her anger, force a smile at Meng Jixue, and even squeeze out a compliment.
“…Jixue really is such a sensible girl.”