Ten minutes after the car left, Duan Mingxuan's call came through.
"Why didn't you wait for me?" he complained. Lin Xi replied, "Your girlfriend said you had plans, I didn't want to hold you up."
"Uh..." Duan Mingxuan was momentarily embarrassed, "It was a previous arrangement, I forgot to tell her. Just wait for me at home."
"No need, I—" Before she could finish, Duan Mingxuan had already hung up. Upon returning home, Lin Xi greeted the elders one by one, receiving much affectionate attention, and the smile on her lips became more genuine. The old man said to her, "Your eldest brother is tied up with work, he'll probably be late. We won't wait for him, let's eat first."
Lin Xi felt a strange sense of relief, but said, "Wouldn't that be impolite?"
The old man replied, "We're family, what's there to be particular about? Come and sit down."
Lin Xi glanced at Duan Zheng and Chen Baiwei. The former completely agreed, while the latter's smile was very faint. It was well known that in this family, except for the old man, Duan Yiheng didn't get along well with anyone.
It wasn't exactly that their relationship was bad, but rather that Duan Yiheng was aloof and distant. Even Duan Zheng was somewhat intimidated by him, let alone Chen Baiwei, his stepmother. When she first came to the Duan family, she mistakenly thought Chen Baiwei was Duan Yiheng's biological mother and was harshly pushed by him.
A light-colored scar on the back of her hand was a result of that injury. Already timid in a strange new home, Lin Xi had avoided him ever since.
"I'm back." Duan Mingxuan's loud entrance interrupted Lin Xi's thoughts.
Chen Baiwei gave him a reproachful look, "You went to pick someone up and ended up disappearing yourself." Duan Mingxuan's family didn't know about his relationship, and he didn't intend to let them know. Hearing this, he simply smiled, "A friend was in a car accident, I went to check on them."
Lin Xi glanced at him, understood, but didn't expose his lie about the "friend" being his girlfriend. "You're a grown man, yet you're so irresponsible all the time. I told you to go to the company, but you're just slacking off."
Duan Zheng reprimanded him, "Why don't you just quit altogether? Save yourself the embarrassment."
Chen Baiwei cautiously glanced at the old man's expression and tried to defend her son: "Mingxuan is still young, he's still playful. He naturally can't compare to Yiheng, and he never will."
Duan Zheng snorted. His eldest son wasn't close to him; it was as if he didn't exist. He wanted to cultivate his second son, but the second son was a disappointment.
The old man watched coldly. He didn't interfere with his son's parenting, but he couldn't let Lin Xi go hungry, so he spoke up to stop them: "Eat." No one dared to contradict those two words.
There weren't many "no talking during meals" rules in the family. The old man was the authority in the family; when he spoke, others didn't dare to interrupt. For a while, there was only his and Lin Xi's quiet conversation at the dinner table.
Lin Xi didn't have much appetite, and the old man smiled, "If you don't have an appetite, then don't eat. When you're rested, I'll have Ah Mei make something for you."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
The old man: "Xiaoxi, what do you plan to do when you get back?"
All eyes at the dinner table turned to her. Lin Xi paused with her chopsticks, thought for a moment, and said, "Grandpa, I want to work at Yin Fan."
As soon as she finished speaking, Duan Mingxuan suddenly stood up: "No, I disagree."
Lin Xi was angry and confused: "Why do you disagree?"
"I—" Duan Mingxuan was speechless. Could he tell the old man that Duan Yiheng had a lot of power at Yin Fan and that he was afraid he would hurt Lin Xi? And what about Duan Yiheng's feelings for Xiaoxi... he couldn't.
Duan Zheng's emotions were unclear. Putting on the airs of an elder, he said, "Xiaoxi, I treat you like my own daughter, why do you need to tire yourself out at the company?" Lin Xi held 8% of Yin Fan's shares, not just a symbolic stake. Although it wasn't a high percentage, if she joined the company, she would have some say in the decision-making.
In time, she could even participate in the company's core business and build her own network. Chen Baiwei lowered her head slightly, as if thinking of something, and softly said, "If Xiaoxi wants to go, then let her go. After all, she's studied business for so many years; it would be a waste if she didn't go."
Duan Zheng was about to say something else, but Chen Baiwei looked at him steadily. After a long period of contemplation, a look of sudden understanding crossed Duan Zheng's face.
The subtle exchange between the two did not escape the old man's eyes. He sighed inwardly and shook his head, knowing his son was incompetent, but he hadn't expected him to be so narrow-minded. Although Chen Baiwei was thinking of her own interests, at least she could think of the word "alliance."
If he hadn't protected his eldest grandson back then, who knows what kind of mess those two would have made of things. But his health was deteriorating...
Thinking of this, the old man suddenly turned his gaze to Lin Xi and asked her, "Xiaoxi, do you have a boyfriend?"
Before Lin Xi could answer, Duan Mingxuan suddenly smiled, "Grandpa, what are you thinking? I only see her once a month, I wouldn't know if she has a boyfriend."
"My health is failing," the old man said with a smile, "I hope to find a good husband for Xiaoxi before then."
Duan Mingxuan immediately became anxious, "Grandpa, our family is Xiaoxi's support system, she's still so young."
The old man said, "Although Xiaoxi is a little young, she's such a good girl, it's better to settle things early, so that others don't snatch her away."
Duan Mingxuan said, "Xiaoxi won't easily go with someone else."
The old man said, "I wanted you to marry Xiaoxi, but Xiaoxi said she also needed to consider the feelings between the two of you, so she refused. What do you think now?"
Lin Xi subconsciously looked up at Duan Mingxuan.
"I—" Chen Baiwei suddenly interjected, "Dad, Mingxuan is only 24, isn't that too young?"
Her tone was as if she was afraid Duan Mingxuan would agree. Lin Xi lowered her eyes; she knew that Chen Baiwei was neither warm nor cold towards her, only maintaining appearances.
But she understood; after all, she wasn't her biological daughter. If she treated her own daughter this way, let alone her daughter-in-law. She interfered in everything concerning Duan Mingxuan, and she certainly wouldn't let his marriage be an exception. The old man remained unmoving, like a mountain: "She's not too young, they can get engaged first." Chen Baiwei smiled, "Engagement is fine, but I'm worried that if things don't work out during this period, it would be a loss. How would the two of them get along in this house then? Don't you think so?"
"If you don't want to, then forget it," the old man said indifferently.
"It's not that I don't want to," Chen Baiwei chuckled awkwardly.
Duan Zheng stepped in to smooth things over, and the atmosphere at the dinner table calmed down, at least on the surface. After dinner, Lin Xi was exhausted and went back to her bedroom on the second floor to rest.
Duan Mingxuan came twice during this time. The first time he asked if she wanted to eat more, saying the kitchen had made her some tremella soup; the second time he said he wanted to throw a welcome party for her.
Lin Xi didn't want to deal with these messy parties, but Duan Mingxuan said it was just a few friends she'd known since childhood having a meal. Lin Xi, unable to refuse him any longer, finally nodded in agreement. She finally lay down to rest for a while, but then there was another knock on the door.
Lin Xi was at her breaking point. She had landed at around four in the afternoon, been left in an awkward situation by his "darling," and then had to deal with his overly sweet girlfriend and the tense atmosphere at the dinner table. She had been on the hot seat for three whole hours.
The more she didn't want to see him, the more he seemed to be around her. Lin Xi's nose tingled, and tears welled up in her eyes. She angrily got out of bed, opened the door, and accused, "What do you want—" A tear fell, but Lin Xi froze, unable to move.
Standing outside the door wasn't Duan Mingxuan, but the late-returning Duan Yihang.