Yu Meixuan comforted Yan Shuyu, but when she was alone, the person she thought of was Meng Yide. It was impossible for her to still have any lingering affection; instead, she felt a hint of interest. She even somewhat looked forward to Meng Yide’s expression when he discovered that she was the wife of the patriach of the Yan family in F Country.
Even Meng Yide’s wife and mistresses would have to look up to her. She had given up on Meng Yide in time, and although it had involved some twists and turns, she had finally obtained everything she had dreamed of.
However, she was now somewhat concerned about Meng Ting and his mother, Wu Fengjiao. She feared they might bring up her past with Meng Yide, but fortunately, despite the tumultuous events in Haicheng, not a single word about her had reached F Country so far.
What had she done wrong, after all? At most, she had sent Meng Ting to an orphanage in exchange for her own child and hadn’t returned the payment she had already received.
At that time, she had been desperate. It would have been good enough if Wu Fengjiao hadn’t tried to snatch her money. Back then, in order to make Meng Yide treat her differently, she had never taken his money either. She had resolved to follow Yan Mu to F Country, so how could she not have some money on her?
That payment had made the first few years with Yan Mingya a little less difficult. The social circles Yan Mu moved in were far beyond her reach. Even if Yan Mingya was Yan family blood, if she had approached him herself, she would probably have been dismissed with a sum of money.
If it was just about money, why would she have left Meng Yide and followed Yan Mu to F Country? What she wanted had never been just money.
“They won’t find out. They definitely won’t find out.”
Yu Meixuan murmured to herself. It wasn’t until Yan Mu returned and embraced her that she finally came back to her senses.
“What won’t they find out?” Yan Mu rested his chin on Yu Meixuan’s shoulder, closing his eyes as he asked. He truly adored Yu Meixuan now, loving her gentleness and the sense of tranquility she brought.
Yu Meixuan quickly composed herself, relaxing her body as much as possible. After a moment of silence, she replied.
“I was thinking about Shuya’s company. After all, this is the first time he’s been so serious about something. The outcome doesn’t matter; I just hope he grows through the process.”
Yu Meixuan’s words definitely struck a chord with Yan Mu. Not to mention Yan Zhengbo and Yan Sui favoring Yan Mingya, even he himself understood the difference between his son Shuya and Mingya. This so-called test was just a pretense, a way to make main house give up completely.
“Linda, marrying you was truly my blessing. How did we miss out on so many years?”
Yu Meixuan turned around and embraced Yan Mu, her voice still gentle, but her eyes no longer carried the same warmth.
“Yes, we’ve missed so many years…”
Those years were precisely the prime of her life, so everything now was a reward for her past sacrifices.
***
In Haicheng, Xia Country, Ning Zhou stayed at the Yan residence for a week, and Xiao Huimin came to visit her and Meng Ting three times during that period. His attachment to Ning Zhou was almost as strong as Meng Ting’s to Yan Sui. He had originally thought he would have to live a life of flying back and forth between the two cities for a while, but Meng Ting felt sorry for him first.
He took the initiative to persuade Ning Zhou, expressing that even if they didn’t return to the Xiao family’s Beicheng, they wouldn’t become estranged from them. Although Ning Zhou didn’t say it directly, she also felt sorry for Xiao Huimin in her heart. The third time Xiao Huimin came over, she went back with him.
However, they still decided that they would come to Haicheng to stay for two days every week. Xiao Zi’ang had already bought a house in Haicheng, and he and Xiao Zimo would also often come to stay for a while whenever they had time, frequently visiting Meng Ting.
Part of the reason Ning Zhou was willing to leave was that even if she stayed in Haicheng, she wouldn’t be able to see Meng Ting that often because he also had to go to the lab and had his own career to be busy with. If she stayed in Haicheng, it would only make Yan Sui and him have to take extra care of her emotions.
In the Yan residence, apart from He Yue who was recuperating, there was hardly anyone truly idle. Even Yan Yu had matters to attend to in Country A.
Meng Ting came to see He Yue, and Yan Yu was on the phone on the side again, speaking not in the language of A Country, but in a language Meng Ting couldn’t understand at all.
“Dad He, are you feeling better today?” Meng Ting asked this question almost every time he came to visit He Yue, but this time he asked very softly, as if he were whispering to He Yue.
Upon hearing this, He Yue smiled at Meng Ting and then nodded. “I’m much better. You also need to pay attention to rest and not tire yourself out.”
Meng Ting would get sleepy around nine o’clock every night, his head nodding. Even He Yue felt a bit sorry for him. He carefully looked at Meng Ting’s complexion and didn’t see anything wrong, but he still reminded him, “No matter how busy you are, don’t forget to eat.”
“Mm!” Meng Ting nodded, the corners of his mouth curving into a very sweet smile. “Yan Sui calls me every day to remind me to eat.”
Ever since he forgot to eat lunch that one time, as soon as it was mealtime, Yan Sui would call if it was convenient, and send a text message if it wasn’t, and then they would eat together.
Yan Yu hung up the phone, just in time to hear Meng Ting’s words clearly. He rolled his eyes silently. Meng Ting was even showing off his affection in front of him and He Yue.
When Meng Ting looked over, Yan Yu immediately straightened his expression and asked, “Is it time to eat?”
It would have been convenient to have a servant come and call them, but after they moved to the side building, Meng Ting took over this task. When he and Yan Sui returned, he would bring Dahuang and Maoqiu over, play for a while, and then call them to eat.
“Mm,” Meng Ting nodded, the sweetness on his face showing no signs of fading.
“Yan Sui asked Nanny Wang to cook my favorite eggplant[mfn]紅燒茄子 (hóngshāo qiézi): Braised Eggplant. 
[/mfn] and braised chicken wings. I’m going to eat an extra bowl of rice later.”
Clearly it was Nanny Wang who cooked the meal, but somehow Meng Ting’s words always circled back to Yan Sui, which was quite remarkable. After saying this, he glanced at He Yue, “Dad He, you can’t eat these things for now. When you get better, I’ll ask Nanny Wang cook them for you to try. They’re really delicious.”
He Yue’s second surgery was imminent, so it was a time to avoid certain foods. Everything he ate was carefully considered. Nanny Wang and Yan Manjia had spent a lot of time researching this recently.
“Alright,” He Yue nodded in agreement again. He wasn’t particularly concerned about food, but Meng Ting’s words suddenly made him crave it. He thought of the dishes his adoptive mother used to cook for him, but unfortunately, he would never be able to taste them again in this lifetime.
“So, we shouldn’t get sick in the future. Not only will we not be able to eat well, but the people who care about us will also worry,” Meng Ting said, glancing at Yan Yu. The person who worried most about He Yue was Yan Yu. Even Meng Ting could see this.
“That’s right,” He Yue responded again, feeling somewhat moved.
From the time he had known Meng Ting until now, he had never felt that he was foolish in any way. It was just that Meng Ting’s perspective on the world was more direct than anyone else’s, and he also expressed his feelings openly.
This wasn’t foolishness; it was a rare quality, something hard to come by. Not only did Yan Sui think so, but now, as part of Meng Ting’s family, they all also felt the same way.
***
Yan Yu pushed He Yue towards the living room in the adjacent building. Meng Ting picked up Maoqiu and called Dahuang to follow. Before they even reached the living room, Yan Sui also came out. He naturally took Meng Ting’s hand, led him to wash his hands, and then they went to eat.
After dinner, they took a walk, watched TV for a while, and then Yan Sui carried Meng Ting back to their room after he fell asleep. The evening ‘TV-watching’ routine at the Yan residence, which had been going on for some time, came to an end, and everyone returned to their own rooms to do their own things.
Yan Sui didn’t go to sleep so early. After making sure Meng Ting was sound asleep, he went back to his study to continue dealing with matters. Then, there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
The person who came in was Yan Yu. He had also finally managed to get He Yue to sleep before sneaking over.
There was no need for pleasantries between him and Yan Sui. He pulled over a chair and sat down, getting straight to the point. “I stumbled upon something related to Ting Ting.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Sui closed his laptop and listened attentively as Yan Yu continued.
“I detained someone in A Country, a native of Haicheng, Xia Country, who was involved in infant and child trafficking. She’s been doing this for nearly twenty years. She was afraid of being exposed if she stayed in the country for too long, so once she had made enough money, she fled to A Country…”
But life abroad wasn’t easy, especially for someone over fifty with no special skills. Her money was quickly squandered, and then she resumed her old trade in A Country. This time, she ran into trouble[mfn]踢到鐵板 (tī dào tiě bǎn): lit. kicking an iron plate; thinking that the other party is easy to bully, but it turns out that the other party is more powerful than expected (like kicking a thick iron plate and hurting yourself); didn’t achieve its purpose, but was rejected or reprimanded.[/mfn] by reselling a wealthy person’s child.
She was very sharp and ran away with the money in advance. The police couldn’t catch her, and then the wealthy person, unwilling to let it go, put a high bounty on her head in the black market.
Yan Yu had been involved in these underground businesses for years. The money came fast, and so did the information, which was convenient for him to find doctors for He Yue. This time, coincidentally, his people took on this task, and they caught the person, only to discover that she was also involved in the incident where Meng Ting being sent to the orphanage.
“I’ve had her thoroughly interrogated. She said that at the time, a woman came to sell her own child, but later changed her mind. She brought another child and took her own child back.”
Yan Yu paused again. As soon as he found out, he came to tell Yan Sui, but he hadn’t had time to investigate who that woman was.
“She’s probably the mother of the Meng family’s real illegitimate child.”
“Her name is Yu Meixuan,” Yan Sui replied. He tapped his fingers on the table, not feeling the need to hide anything from Yan Yu. “She is now Yan Mu’s wife. The child she took back is now called Yan Shuya. They are both in F Country.”
These were things Yan Sui knew, but if Yan Yu hadn’t said it, he wouldn’t have known that Yu Meixuan was also involved in Meng Ting’s trafficking.
Yan Yu frowned upon hearing this. It was really unexpected that Yu Meixuan would be pregnant with the Yan family’s child, and now they have all been recognized.
“It probably won’t be easy to get her to talk,” Yan Yu commented. He hadn’t met Yu Meixuan, but just by hearing what Yan Sui said, he could tell that her methods and scheming were not shallow.
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 080.2″]
夢寐以求 (mèng mèi yǐ qiú): to yearn for sth even in one’s dreams (idiom); to long for sth day and night; to desire strongly; to crave; to long for.風風雨雨 (fēng fēng yǔ yǔ): trials and tribulations; hardships; difficult times; disturbances; rumours; groundless talk; austerities; trials and hardships; groundless gossip; storms; winds and rains; rife rumors; gossip going the rounds; ups and downs; continuous wind and rain; metaphorically, it is full of obstacles; it is also a metaphor for the turbulent times and rumors.
喃喃自語 (nán nán zì yǔ): to mumble to oneself; to whisper to oneself; mutter sth. to oneself; mutter under one’s breath; to talk to oneself in a low voice.
口腹之欲 (kǒu fù zhī yù): desire for food; desire to eat and drink; desire for good food; usually refers to the desire for delicious food.
開門見山 (kāi mén jiàn shān): lit. to open the door and see the mountain; fig. to get right to the point (idiom); come straight to the point; without preamble; speak/write on a subject directly without beating about the bush; one can see the mountain when one open the door. It is a metaphor for talking or writing about the topic directly without beating around the bush.
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