The two of them sat and chatted for a while before heading into the screening room. They casually picked a movie. The synopsis sounded pretty good, but as soon as it started playing, Lin Yi’an realized it wasn’t the kind of film she liked. Seeing how intently he was watching, she didn’t suggest changing it and simply kept watching.
Over the past two years, Zhou Mingshi had rarely watched movies. It was a rare chance for him to have some free time. Since she enjoyed it, he was happy to keep her company, and he found himself able to get into the film as well.
Normally, Lin Yi’an went to bed at ten o’clock. But tonight, just after nine, she was already struggling to stay awake. Music could lull her to sleep, and apparently some movies could too. Before the film had even reached the halfway point, she could no longer keep her eyes open.
Zhou Mingshi turned his head to look at her as she yawned. “Sleepy?”
“Mhm,” Lin Yi’an replied.
“Then go get some rest. I should head home too.”
Lin Yi’an stood up. “You’re not going to finish the movie?”
She couldn’t help thinking that watching a movie really wasn’t a great date idea. Well, unless it was actually a good movie.
Zhou Mingshi chuckled. “I’m getting sleepy too.”
This movie was surprisingly effective as a sleep aid.
Lin Yi’an laughed along with him. “Looks like we picked the wrong movie for tonight.”
“Mhm,” Zhou Mingshi replied.
The two of them walked out together. Assistant Chen was chatting with Ye Lingzhi in the living room. When he saw them come out, he quickly stood up.
Lin Yi’an walked him to the door. Zhou Mingshi turned back and said, “No need to see me off. Go get some rest.”
After they left, Lin Yi’an returned to her room, washed up, and was just about to curl up in bed when she received a call from her second elder sister, Lin Jingyun.
“An’an, you’re not asleep yet, are you?” Lin Jingyun asked.
“I was just about to go to bed. When are you coming back?”
“I’ll be back in a few days. Have you checked your Moments?”
Lin Yi’an hardly ever looked at her Moments. “No.”
“Go take a look at what Wang Xiujun posted. It made me so mad I almost laughed,” Lin Jingyun said.
“What did she post?” Lin Yi’an asked.
Lin Jingyun snorted. “She was saying how cold and heartless people are. That even blood relatives are useless. When you run into trouble and ask them for help, all they do is make excuses and mock you. She even said relatives like that are better off not existing. Who do you think she’s taking a jab at?”
“She wanted to open a beauty salon and came to mom asking her to invest. Mom refused.”
Lin Jingyun let out a derisive laugh. “Open a beauty salon? She really has some nerve. Even I wouldn’t dare open one, yet she actually wants to run a beauty salon? She only got the idea because she saw other people making money.”
The two of them chatted for a little while longer before hanging up.
No sooner had she ended the call than she noticed someone had tagged her in a family group chat. She tapped it open. It was the Wang family group, which her uncle had created.
Wang Xiujun had posted a message. It was a screenshot of her Moments post. Apparently she was afraid they wouldn’t see it there, so she’d deliberately shared it in the group and even tagged everyone. What exactly was she trying to do?
Very quickly, a new message appeared below it. It was from her eldest sister, Lin Manqing.
“So much money has been spent on you by the Lin family over the years. Even raising a dog would have been better. At least a dog knows how to protect its owner. All you know is how to bite the hand that feeds you.”
Next came a message from her eldest brother.
“Since you think your relatives are so cold-hearted, and that family members like us are better off not existing, I don’t mind being even more cold-hearted. Uncle, when are you going to repay the money you owe?”
Immediately afterward, her mother sent a message as well.
“Give someone a small favor, and they’ll be grateful. Give them too much, and they’ll come to resent you. I refused to help you just this once, and now I’ve become the villain in your eyes. I had originally planned to give you a little money this month when I gave An’an her allowance, since you don’t have a job. But now it seems I was simply too soft-hearted. As your aunt, I’ve already done more than enough.”
After reading the messages, Lin Yi’an looked again and saw that her mother had already left the group chat.
It looked like her mother was truly heartbroken. Soon after, her father, her eldest sister, and her eldest brother all left the group chat as well.
Lin Yi’an left one final message before exiting. “You weren’t asking your relatives for help. You were demanding it outright. Looks like calling you an ungrateful ingrate wasn’t wrong after all.”
Wang Yuehua was so angry that she was pacing around the room, complaining to Lin Weiqi. “How can there be such an ungrateful child?”
Lin Weiqi said, “Taihua called me tonight. I refused to help them, and they panicked.”
Wang Yuehua had completely lost heart. “We’re not helping them. Absolutely not. And from now on, we don’t need to have anything to do with them either.”
When Wang Taihua’s family saw that they had all left the group chat, they were dumbfounded. He immediately turned to Wang Xiujun and scolded her, “What nonsense were you posting in the group?”
Wang Xiujun pressed her lips together without saying a word. She hadn’t expected her aunt to be so resolute. She had actually meant it when she said she was done with her, and had even left the family group chat.
Her cousin-in-law, Zhang Qing, sighed. “Looks like you’ve really offended Auntie’s family this time.”
Her sister-in-law had been far too impulsive. She had always believed that because Auntie treated her well, no matter how much she threw a tantrum, Auntie would never truly get angry with her. But she had forgotten that everyone had their limits. Push someone too far, and they would eventually turn their back on you.
Wang Taihua hadn’t expected his elder sister’s family to take such a firm stance this time either. He was so frustrated that his head ached.
…
After returning home from his date, Zhou Mingyuan found his parents sitting in the living room. He took a seat and casually asked, “After Second Brother came back, why didn’t he come to the old residence?”
“Your second brother’s back from Changping?” Zhou Kanghui only learned that his second son had returned from Changping after hearing those words.
Seeing the expression on his father’s face, Zhou Mingyuan realized his second brother hadn’t mentioned anything about himself. He breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt somewhat stifled. His second brother simply didn’t think much of him. If it had been any of their other siblings who’d seen him out on a date with a girl, they definitely would have told their parents.
“I ran into him today. He was out on a date with Third Miss Lin.”
Zhou Kanghui snorted. “He has time to go on dates, but no time to come home. He came back without even telling me. Does he even see me as his father?”
Zhou Mingyuan remained silent.
As soon as Zhou Mingshi got home, he went straight to the bathroom for a shower. After he came out, his phone rang. He picked it up and saw that it was his father calling. After a brief pause, he answered, “What is it?”
Zhou Kanghui said, “You came back but didn’t return to the old residence? If Mingyuan hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t even have known you’d returned to the capital.”
Zhou Mingshi replied, “Grandpa and Grandma aren’t home. What would I go back there for?”
“So if your grandparents aren’t home, you won’t even come back to see your father?”
Zhou Mingshi said flatly, “It’s not like you’re short of children to visit you.”
Zhou Kanghui choked back his anger. “You… Even if I have other children, I’m still your father.”
Zhou Mingshi replied, “Since you’re my father, then do what a father is supposed to do.”
Suppressing his temper, Zhou Kanghui asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Zhou Mingshi said, “Miss Lin and I are getting married next year. As my father, where do you think our marital home should be?”
Without a second thought, Zhou Kanghui answered, “Naturally the old residence. Don’t tell me you plan to move out after you get married?”
“That’s fine,” Zhou Mingshi said. “Then you can move out.”
A sharp pain flared in Zhou Kanghui’s chest again. “What do you mean? You’re telling me to move out?”
Zhou Mingshi said calmly, “After all, the old residence will be transferred into my name after I get married. Do you really think it’s appropriate for you to continue living there with your wife and children?”
Only then did Zhou Kanghui remember that matter, and he shifted uncomfortably. “I’ve lived here my whole life. You can’t expect to throw your own father out just because you’re getting married, can you?”
“You can stay,” Zhou Mingshi replied. “But your wife and children will have to move out. Think it over.”
With that, he hung up.
Listening to the string of beeps on the other end, Zhou Kanghui was so furious he wanted to smash his phone.
What an unfilial son.