By the time they returned from their walk, Ning Zhou and Yan Manjia had already discussed Meng Ting’s birthday plans in detail. Occasionally, Xiao Huimin chimed in with suggestions. In short, their enthusiasm had remained high from the afternoon until now—even Old Master Xiao had called several times, equally delighted.
“Oh, right, Nuo Nuo, aren’t your final exams coming up soon? Your eldest brother has good grades—I’ll have him come over to tutor you,” Ning Zhou said as soon as she saw Meng Ting. Her worries naturally multiplied, to the point where she even wanted to micromanage every little detail, even what he ate every day.
“No need. Yan Sui’s grades are good too,” Meng Ting shook his head in refusal. His requirements for college entrance exam scores weren’t high—just enough to get into a university in Haicheng. Besides, he already spent less time with Yan Sui due to his daily lab visits; how could he let Xiao Zi’ang intrude further?
As he spoke, Meng Ting glanced at Yan Sui, worried he might not catch his meaning. He then reached out and pinched Yan Sui’s waist, then rubbed it gently twice, afraid he might have pinched him too hard. What he thought was a subtle gesture was, in fact, completely visible to everyone sitting in the living room.
Yan Manjia averted her eyes, slightly pained by the display. Ning Zhou and Xiao Huimin paused briefly before refocusing on each other.
“That’s true,” Yan Sui said, catching Meng Ting’s mischievous hand and wrapping an arm around his waist.
Still oblivious to being caught, Meng Ting smiled at Yan Sui and leaned his head against his shoulder, assuming Yan Sui had pulled him close specifically for this purpose, so he made himself comfortable.
“Auntie, what’s happening in the show now?”
Meng Ting, still leaning against Yan Sui, directed his question at Yan Manjia, who was staring at the TV. They watched TV every night and had even found some enjoyment in it.
Yan Manjia, who had been staring at the screen without actually watching, took a closer look for a few more seconds before answering Meng Ting’s question, “They had an argument… probably about to make up.” Nowadays, most TV shows followed the same formula—conflicts between couples, in-laws, or siblings were inevitable.
Meng Ting turned his attention to the TV. He watched for over half an hour before turning back to whisper to Yan Sui, “Why don’t we ever argue?”
His eyes sparkled as if he were eager to argue with Yan Sui. But the truth was, he and Yan Sui had never argued—not even small disagreements. The thought alone made him reluctant. No, the moment the idea crossed his mind, he immediately became unwilling.
He shook his head lightly. “We don’t need to argue. Our relationship will still be good, right?”
The idea that relationships get better with arguments was incomprehensible to Meng Ting. Arguing with Yan Sui would only make him very sad—how could that possibly improve their relationship?
“Right,” Yan Sui murmured softly, unable to resist ruffling Meng Ting’s hair.
Their interactions were quite frequent, and Ning Zhou and Xiao Huimin gradually got used to it. Whenever Meng Ting and Yan Sui couldn’t resist being affectionate, they would just focus on the TV. No wonder Yan Manjia seemed so fond of watching television—it was all out of helplessness.
After watching TV for a while longer, Meng Ting started feeling drowsy again, as he often did. However, he remembered that Ning Zhou and Xiao Huimin were there. After a yawn, he whispered to Yan Sui, “Let’s go to bed. I’m sleepy.”
“Alright,” Yan Sui nodded, then turned to Ning Zhou and Xiao Huimin. “Ting Ting and I are going to bed. You should rest early too.”
“Alright, go ahead, go ahead,” Ning Zhou replied to Yan Sui. She was growing increasingly satisfied with Yan Sui—his kindness toward Meng Ting was evident, and since he was around the same age as her son, Zi’ang, she also regarded him as one too.
“Good night, Dad, Mom, Auntie.”
Meng Ting also stood up to bid them goodnight before holding hands with Yan Sui and heading back to their room. As soon as they entered the room, Meng Ting leaned against Yan Sui again. “So sleepy. Why am I always so sleepy…”
Lately, with more free time on his hands, Meng Ting had taken to pondering these odd questions—sometimes even Yan Sui didn’t know how to answer. Supporting Meng Ting, Yan Sui paused for a moment before scooping him up into his arms.
Meng Ting relaxed into the embrace, letting his drowsiness take over. His eyes blinked sleepily as Yan Sui undressed and redressed him, then carried him to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Only after everything was done did Yan Sui carry him back to bed before tending to his own routine.
Meng Ting hugged the blanket, his eyes fluttering open and shut until Yan Sui returned. He wrapped his arms around him and finally closed his eyes in contentment.
Yan Sui kissed Meng Ting’s lips softly and murmured, “Goodnight.”
Meng Ting nodded, nuzzling against Yan Sui without a word, drifting off to sleep immediately.
On a cold winter night, being able to snuggle up with someone and fall asleep early was truly a fortunate and blissful thing—something both Meng Ting and Yan Sui cherished deeply.
***
Meanwhile, far away in Licheng, Su Siyu had also been living a somewhat comfortable life for a while. After all, Yán Yunsheng needed him and wouldn’t treat him too harshly. But this so-called ‘comfortable’ life only meant better living conditions compared to when he was constantly hiding. He still couldn’t show his face in public or walk freely under the sun.
The psychological torment and anxiety made him seem even more desperate than Yán Yunsheng. He yearned for the Yan family’s downfall. After all, having lived with the Yan family for so long, he knew all too well how formidable the Yan Corporation and Yan Sui were—especially Yan Sui.
There was probably no one in this world who lived more clearly than he did. No matter the predicament, he always managed to maintain his rationality, then struck when no one noticed, turning the tide. This was true for the Yan family in F Country, and it was true for the Meng family’s main house.
That was why, at the beginning of his rebirth, he had given up on Meng Qi and wanted to seize Yan Sui by any means possible. Being sheltered under his wings was a stroke of luck, but being regarded as an enemy would be equally terrifying.
However, because of Meng Ting’s interference, he had completely lost his advantage and had become Yan Sui’s enemy. So now, the only way to avoid continuing in such a pitiful and miserable state was to drag Yan Sui and the Yan family down from their lofty position.
From Yán Yunsheng, he had learned more about Meng Ting and confirmed who Meng Ting had been in his previous life. He wasn’t someone who had appeared out of nowhere; he was someone who had once caused significant upheaval in both the Xiao and Yan families.
Back then, the second house of the Meng family had been in power for a long time. Yan Sui and Meng Qi had secretly reached an agreement—Yan Sui would help Meng Qi deal with the Meng family’s second house. But in the process, they discovered that the Meng family had been hiding the Xiao family’s youngest legitimate son. By the time they found him, however, the boy had already become a brain-dead vegetable.
The Meng and Yán families allied, while the Yan and Xiao families joined forces. That business war became a classic battle of their era. Yan Sui led the Yan family to the top of the four great elite families, achieving the pinnacle of what he could for his clan.
In their time, Yan Sui had always been an unattainable legend. Now, Su Siyu intended to cut off that path before Yan Sui could truly become that legend. The difficulty of this task was unimaginable.
But there was one fortunate thing—Su Siyu knew absolutely far more than Meng Ting. At most, Meng Ting only knew of Yan Sui’s existence. He couldn’t know the many secrets of the Yan family, nor the events that occurred after his imprisonment and brain death.
“Darling, what are you thinking about? Is the midnight snack I made not to your liking?”
While Su Siyu was deep in thought, a somewhat plain-looking man in his thirties sat beside him. The man was a skilled cook, and even Su Siyu, with his picky palate, had few complaints about his cooking.
“No, it’s not that,” Su Siyu replied, his train of thought interrupted, his expression slightly annoyed. He waved dismissively at the man. “Brother Nian, you should go to sleep. I’ll finish the snack you made.”
The man he called Brother Nian was named Nian Wu. He looked at Su Siyu with a mix of eagerness and disappointment in his eyes. After a moment of hesitation as if he wanted to say something, he stood up and retreated to his own room.
Once Nian Wu was gone, Su Siyu’s expression showed a hint of disdain. Even in his reduced circumstances, he hadn’t fallen to the point of settling for someone like Nian Wu. But for now, since Nian Wu could cook for him and take care of his daily needs, he was willing to string him along.
What Su Siyu didn’t expect was that once Nian Wu returned to his room, the lovestruck, simple-minded act he put on for Su Siyu vanished. He took out an old-fashioned phone, typed out a text message, deleted it, then lay down and quickly fell asleep.
Not long after, Yan Sui received a similarly worded message, though he didn’t see it until the next morning when he woke up. He then sent a reply.
Meng Ting glanced over, and Yan Sui pulled him into an embrace, kissing his lips. “Come to the company with me today?”
Upon hearing this, Meng Ting hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. “Mom and Dad are here. I’ll stay home in the morning and come find you at the company in the afternoon.”
Yan Sui responded softly with an ‘Okay’, then pulled Meng Ting into another kiss. The two of them, already washed up and dressed to go downstairs, ended up tumbling back onto the bed, sharing a passionate kiss until they were both left breathless.
As a result, Meng Ting was even more reluctant to part with Yan Sui. After breakfast, he walked Yan Sui all the way to the iron gate and stood there for a long while before finally heading back inside with Dahuang.
However, even after lunch, he still couldn’t immediately go find Yan Sui. Yan Mingya came over with an invitation, enthusiastically talking to Meng Ting for quite some time.
The invitation was for the International Fragrance Exchange Conference, considered to be the most prestigious event in the industry. While Meng Ting certainly had the talent, his experience was still too shallow; he wasn’t yet at the level to qualify for such a high-level gathering in such a short time.
But the perfume he had gifted Yan Sui was so astonishingly brilliant that it would have been a shame not to invite such a prodigy. The president of the Xia Country Fragrance Association personally wrote the invitation for Meng Ting, which also signified the industry’s recognition of their company.
For Tingya, which was about to go public, this was an opportunity they couldn’t afford to miss.
However, as Meng Ting had once told Yan Sui, although Mingya was older than him, he was still actually a generation below him. No matter how much he wanted to persuade Meng Ting, he didn’t dare to be too forceful. The once straightforward young man had recently mastered the art of playing pitiful quite well.
He went on and on about the benefits of attending the fragrance conference with such enthusiasm, leaving Meng Ting almost no room to interject. Meng Ting stared wide-eyed at Yan Mingya and finally spoke up when Mingya paused for breath. “I don’t understand all that… Just tell me how many days it’ll take.”
“This year’s event is in the capital of A Country. Everyone will gather in Beicheng first before heading there together,” Yan Mingya said, looking at Meng Ting expectantly, deliberately lowering his voice—he was really getting into this pitiful act.
[dropdown title=”List of Idiom in Chapter 088″]
東躲西藏 (dōng duǒ xī cáng): to go into hiding in many places; hide oneself from place to place; dodge about; flee in all directions for cover; hide/flee here and there; hiding everywhere in order to avoid disaster.拋頭露面 (pāo tóu lòu miàn): (slightly derogatory, originally of women) to show one’s face in public; to put oneself about; (of a woman) show oneself in public; flaunt oneself in public; appear in public; seek public attention; seek the limelight; to show one’s head and face. It originally refers to women appearing in public; now it refers to public appearances.
力挽狂瀾 (lì wǎn kuáng lán): lit. to pull strongly against a roaring tide; turning the tide; to pull strongly against a crazy tide (idiom); to try hard to save a desperate crisis; to do one’s utmost to save a desperate situation; save the day; reverse the situation; pull back from the brink; make a lastditch effort; stem the tide; to try one’s best to save a dangerous situation. From a famous verse by Han Yu (768～824): 障百川而東之，回狂瀾於既倒。先生之於儒，可謂有勞矣。, You have channeled and brought home the hundred streams, have turned back a raging wave, already crested. Truly, Sir, it must be said: your labors for Confucian teaching are uncontested.
可想而知 (kě xiǎng ér zhī): one can well imagine; it is obvious that; the result can be known through logical reasoning or empirical association, emphasizing the inference of the development trend of things.
眉飛色舞 (méi fēi sè wǔ): with dancing eyebrows and a radiant face; beaming with joy; exultant; radiant with delight; be (as) cheerful/gay as a lark; be enraptured.
天花亂墜 (tiān huā luàn zhuì): lit. a deluge of heavenly flowers (idiom); fig. extravagant embellishments; (derogatory) wild boast about something; hype; flowers cascading from the sky—wild boast about sth; Originally referring to a Buddhist priest expounding the Buddhist sutras, so flawless and persuasive that it moved the god of heaven, leading to a deluge of heavenly flowers.
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