Chapter 114: “You Aren’t Dead, Aren’t You?” Su Changxin Screamed
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yan Beicheng brought Lin Chu back to Ding City. Lu Lixin and Zheng Yuntong called to check up on her and Lin Chu explained everything while thanking the both of them.
Aunt Zhuang learned about it by listening to most of the conversation on the phone. She did not say a word but went to the fridge and took out two pig trotters, deciding to boil them tonight as it would be nutritious for Lin Chu.
Yan Beicheng received Lawyer Zhou’s phone call. As Lin Chu was also on the phone nearby and the signal affected the call, he moved in front of the French window and looked down at the quiet night scenery below. “Did you give it to them? What were their reactions?”
Lin Chu finished her call and turned to look at the tall, slender Yan Beicheng standing in front of the window. He had a hand in his pocket with the other holding the phone. His long fingers resting against the phone casing looked elegant. He emanated a clean, crisp aura, and had a uniquely mature temperament about him. Looking at him standing there made her feel at peace.
She heard Yan Beicheng saying ‘yes’ every now and then. As for what the matter was, it was difficult to tell even when listening in to it.
“We’ll do it according to plan,” Yan Beicheng hung up after saying that.
He turned back to see Lin Chu’s curious gaze and Yan Beicheng explained, “I got Lawyer Zhou to give Lin Yuwen a lawyer’s letter. We’re suing her for intent to murder.”
Lin Chu nodded. She did not mind.
Lin Yuwen had wanted to kill her. There was no reason for her to take pity on Lin Yuwen.
Her previous sympathy was for the baby in Lin Yuwen’s tummy because it had a mother who did not know how to care for it. But for Lin Yuwen, sympathy would be wasted on her.
Yan Beicheng held Lin Chu in his arms and gently picked up her left hand. He was careful not to touch her wound. “I’ll give you a month’s holiday. You can rest at home.”
Lin Chu’s right finger was drawing a circle at the back of his hand. “Please don’t. My left is hurt but not my right hand. There’s no problem with it. If you let me rest at home and not let me do a thing, I’ll feel terribly bored.”
Yan Beicheng frowned slightly. “Don’t people say that you need a hundred days to rest if you hurt your muscles or bones? I’ve given you fewer days than that.”
“I’m really fine.” Lin Chu looked up from within his arms with a disagreeing look. Her gaze fell on his slightly pressed lips.
She lifted her right hand and gently rubbed his chin to relax his tight muscles there. She quickly kissed him gently on his slightly stern, thin lips. “Let me go to work, please? Wei Zilin is there and my mentor knows I was hurt. He won’t allow me to do anything too tiring.”
Yan Beicheng got soft-hearted following her kiss, he lowered his head and looked at her soulfully for quite a while and finally pouted unwillingly. “Then at least rest a few days at home. Even if your hand is fine, you’ve got to relax after going through such a big shock today.”
Before Lin Chu could say anything, Yan Beicheng held her tighter in his arms. “Just treat it as a way of making me feel better about your condition, okay? What happened today really frightened me. I need you to be at home to feel better. At the very least, give me two days to feel better about things.”
“Okay,” Lin Chu did not argue and agreed to rest two days at home.
Yan Beicheng contacted Wei Zilin directly, this was an easy leave to apply.
After hanging up with Wei Zilin, Yan Beicheng looked at Lin Chu. He gave it a thought and decided to inform her of his decision. “This matter isn’t over. Lin Yuwen tried to knock you down but lost her baby instead because she did not have good intentions. This is retribution created by her own hands. That was not me. I didn’t retaliate with hate.”
However Lin Yuwen ended up, Lin Chu did not care. She pointed to the cherries on the table and tugged at his hand. “I’d like to eat that.”
Yan Beicheng said nothing but took out a piece of tissue to place on the palm of his left hand. His right hand picked up the plate of cherries and gave them to Lin Chu. He let her spit the pits into his palm.
Lin Chu chewed on the cherries that were so red that they looked black, her mouth had turned bright red. “What do you plan to do?”
Yan Beicheng told her about the lawsuit he slapped Lin Yuwen with. “When the time comes, you would need to bear witness in court.”
Yan Beicheng said as his fingers unknowingly curled the tips of her hair playfully. It was never his intention to send Lin Yuwen to jail. It would be good if his lawsuit would be able to do that, but Lawyer Zhou had analyzed the case for him beforehand. The worst that would come out of it was Lin Yuwen getting fined.
There was another reason why he wanted to sue Lin Yuwen with such a serious charge. But he did not dare tell Lin Chu the truth, he was not sure if Lin Chu would think badly of him for doing so.
No matter what, Lin Chu had to testify in court.
Lin Chu was not burdened by it and spat out a cherry pit into his palms as she nodded. “No problem.”
“You won’t be able to hide the fact that Lin Yuwen tried to knock you down. Even if you didn’t testify, the reporters would still report the story of her trying to knock you down. As for you testifying in court, I’ll do my best to stop the media from reporting about your testimony.” Yan Beicheng pinched his eyebrows. The most worrisome thing for him about this was having to involve Lin Chu in it.
“It’s okay. I’m not that fragile. Besides, I’ve been in front of the media plenty of times when I was with the Lin family. The Lin family depended on me to build up their reputation. They were always arranging for me to meet the media. As you said, Lin Yuwen’s retribution was by her own hands, and I’m not prepared to let her knock me down for nothing.” Lin Chu picked a cherry and stuck it into her mouth. One side of her cheek became puffy from it.
She held Yan Beicheng’s face with both her hands. “You don’t need to worry about me, don’t feel guilty about implicating me. You are going after Lin Yuwen for my sake. This world doesn’t guarantee one to have everything they desire. If we want to punish Lin Yuwen, we have to give up something. There’s no such thing as allowing us to get away with whatever we want.”
Lin Yuwen lifted her head and kissed him on his chin. “Besides, I believe you will protect me.”
“That’s right.” Yan Beicheng smiled as he hugged her tight, and kissed her on the lips.
…
On the second day, Yan Beicheng got someone to deliver a few potential rental addresses to Xu Moyan. Xu Moyan picked a place and moved in with Zheng Yuntong on the third day.
Lin Chu might not be able to help them move due to her injury, but she did go out for a meal with both of them.
While she was at Xu Moyan and Zheng Yuntong’s house, Zheng Yuntong found the video for the Lin family’s press conference. Lin Yuwen had suffered a miscarriage and was still in the hospital, so she did not attend.
Besides the Lin family, only Lu Lixin and Zheng Yuntong were present. Lin Chu was on medical leave, so naturally, she did not attend as well.
Su Changxin was very worried about Lin Yuwen because of her accident and the miscarriage, additionally, there was also the lawsuit Yan Beicheng slapped on her for intent to murder. She was in a particularly poor state of mind, which made the effects of the press conference even better.
There was no need for her to make any pretense when she was apologizing. Her pale, haggard face made her look full of regret and remorse. It was a very touching scene. Everyone really thought that she was apologetic as they knew that she was in the wrong.
As for Lin Zhenghe, he berated his wife and daughter for betraying his trust and not taking good care of Lin Chu. At the same time, he reproached himself for not discovering the problem in time and allowed Lin Chu to suffer for so many years as he did not take good care of her.
As he admonished himself, he did not forget to stress that he was always busy with work in order to distance himself from the situation.
As for Cheng Ziming, he sincerely told the story of his love for Lin Yuwen, which had nothing to do with fame and money. It was just that Lin Yuwen happened to be rich, which was all a coincidence. He admitted having let Lin Chu down, but when love came knocking, no one could do anything about it. He added that Lin Yuwen and he had always been apologizing to Lin Chu but Lin Chu never offered them her forgiveness.
Lin Chu had thought the worse of them, and in addition to her grudge with Lin Yuwen, had always hated them.
“This is all meaningless. You have no idea how disgusted me and our mentor were when we were watching their acting from the bottom of the stage. This whole family is really sickening. Sanctimonious!” Zheng Yuntong said.
Lin Chu felt it was meaningless too after watching it. So, she turned the video off.
Lin Mao did not retain much of their reputation, mainly because of Lin Yuwen’s unsuccessful murder attempt that resulted in her miscarriage. They had dropped rock bottom instead.
The courts had also decided on a court date, which was two days later.
As the defendant, Lin Yuwen was taken into custody.
Lin Zhenghe was also preparing for what was to come. The lawyers had used the excuse of Lin Yuwen’s poor health to apply for the courts to allow Lin Yuwen to continue staying in the hospital.
However, Lin Yuwen was in an awkward situation. She no longer needed to stay in the hospital. All she needed was to rest at home. Hospitals would normally not allow patients who had suffered miscarriages such as hers to stay in the hospital for too long.
The courts rejected the lawyer’s appeal after the doctor’s report came out.
Yan Beicheng had told Lin Chu all these while she was on her way back to Ding City from Xu Moyan’s place.
Lin Chu looked at Yan Beicheng. She had a feeling that the results had something to do with Yan Beicheng. With Lin Yuwen’s health condition, it would not be wrong to allow her to continue her stay in the hospital. Of course, it was not wrong for the appeal to be rejected either.
But it was really decisive of the courts to do so…
Yan Beicheng sat on the bed and stretched out his long legs as he crossed his feet. He was leaning against the pillow and worked with his laptop placed on his legs.
When he noticed Lin Chu in the room, he could not concentrate on work in the study. He had to be by her side in order to concentrate on work.
When he had work to do at night, he no longer did them in his study. He would sit on his bed with Lin Chu accompanying him at the side.
When he was tired of work, he would turn to give her a kiss and become full of energy.
Yan Beicheng could no longer focus on work when he felt Lin Chu’s gaze on him.
He put aside his documents and turned to her while she was watching him in a daze. He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “What are you looking at?”
Lin Chu thought about it. It did not seem like something really worth knowing the truth about, so she shook her head. “Nothing. I just wanted to look at you.”
Yan Beicheng’s suddenly had a hungry look in his eyes while staring at her. He closed his laptop and pushed her down in a hold. He kissed her furiously.
“My… My hand is hurt!” Lin Chu held up her left hand.
Yan Beicheng carefully pulled her right hand. “It’s not disturbing anything. Who allowed you to seduce me with your gaze?”
Lin Chu was kissed breathless by him. “I’m looking at you normally. I’m not seducing you.”
“You’re seducing me when you look at me,” Yan Beicheng said and pulled down her waistband without hesitation.
“Master Yan, Old Master Yan, and Old Lady Yan, as well as Second Master Yan and his family are here,” Aunt Zhuang’s voice called from outside the bedroom door.
Lin Chu quickly pulled up her pajama pants. “Get up quickly.”
“What are they doing here so late at night? They should be sleeping at home.” Yan Beicheng clenched his teeth and squeezed over towards Lin Chu. He was not willing to get up. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was actually only 8 pm.
“Go downstairs quickly. We can’t let grandpa and grandma wait that long,” Lin Chu said. She suddenly realized that she was unable to pull her pants up. She lowered her head and saw that his hands had not moved away from there.
“…” Lin Chu blushed bright red. This was too enticing. She moved a little in an attempt to slide out of her pants.
“Don’t move.” Yan Beicheng lowered his head and buried his face into her neck quite a while before taking a deep breath. He suddenly flipped over and laid flat beside Lin Chu.
Lin Chu lowered her eyes and saw his ‘standing ovation’. She quickly averted her eyes.
“You can go down first. I’ll join you in a while,” Yan Beicheng said while dissatisfied with not getting what he wanted, he reached over to give her another passionate kiss.
He mumbled a complaint, “They’re real troublemakers.”
Lin Chu held back her laugh. She did not dare think about if he would choose to let his ‘reaction’ calm down or solve it ‘by hand’. She quickly tidied herself and went to the mirror to make sure she looked okay before heading down to the living room.
Yan Ningbai was teasing Chu Xi with a cheese slice in the shape of a bone. Chu Xi’s four short little legs tried jumping as high as it could but still could not get to the cheese in Yan Ningbai’s hands. In the end, it stood on its hind legs helplessly and put its front paws together and prayed to Yan Ningbai. Yan Ningbai was so tickled by it, he gave it the cheese slice.
Lin Chu blushed as she called out to the elders. Old Lady Yan took a look and knew that they had come to visit at the wrong time.
It was too early for these two youngsters to…
Old Lady Yan coughed and quickly pulled Lin Chu over to her. “My child, I heard that you got hurt. We came over to visit you. There are still some tonics at home that I’ve brought over for you. Let me quickly take a look at your hand.”
Old Lady Yan felt much better after seeing that Lin Chu’s wound was not serious. “Luckily only your wrist were hurt. All is well, all is well. That Lin Yuwen is too much! It really scared us when we heard it. Cheng’er told us about suing her. We can’t let her get away with this so easily.”
“My older brother personally went to the courts yesterday and sat in the office of the presiding judge. He did not say a word. All he did was sit there angrily and he scared the judge. In the end, he could not take it and gave the order to reject Lin Yuwen’s appeal to continue staying in the hospital. It took a lot of coaxing to finally get rid of older brother,” Yan Huaian laughed as he said gently.
Old Master Yan went to the courthouse and it was like he was a statue of Buddha. Word had got out to the Lord Justice. Old Master Yan went straight towards the office of the case’s presiding judge and sat there stubbornly. He even called Aunt Chen at home, right in front of the presiding judge, asking her to deliver his lunch through his driver, Xiao Deng.
The presiding judge did not dare to really allow Old Master Yan to eat his lunch box there. Besides, he had not even had his own lunch and could not leave Old Master Yan in the office while he left for his meal.
Unfortunately, he could not berate this old gentleman nor could he advise him. The only thing he could do was to coax him.
In the end, he could only give in to Old Master Yan’s request. Only then, did Old Master Yan leave his office smiling all the way.
Lin Chu finally understood this was not the doing of Yan Beicheng. It was because of Old Master Yan.
Lin Chu did not know what to say. She was really touched. These two elders came to help with this minor situation of hers. Yan Beicheng had told her once that Old Master Yan no longer involved himself in anything. Even though he still had his network of people, he did not utilize them unless necessary.
This time, he had taken matters in his own hands for her sake.
Lin Chu started to sniffle as her voice went a little scratchy, “Grandpa, grandma, you’re doing all this for me. Thank you.”
She never imagined Yan Beicheng’s grandparents to be such adorable people.
Before she met them, she had thought of them to be strict people. The Yan family was, after all, a family that came from a long line. They must have high standards and conducted themselves in a strict sense.
When she had followed Yan Beicheng back to the old mansion on the second day of the lunar new year, Old Master Yan did not say much. From Old Lady Yan’s description, she had understood that Old Master Yan acted like a stern man, but he was, in fact, very soft-hearted. From what she has seen now, he was an upright man through and through.
Old Lady Yan was just like a little child.
The two elders did not mention anything about her background and still, they treated her so kindly. They did not mind her being together with Yan Beicheng. It was something that she had never expected.
Even though she did not see the Lin family much but when she was younger and still staying with the Lin family, she could tell from the Lin family’s conversations that rich people were very particular about matching statuses. Even the Lin family was particular about it, what more reputable and richer families?
She had never imagined that Old Master Yan and Old Lady Yan would have such a nonchalant attitude towards this. They had even taken the time to personally handle her situation.
Old Lady Yan rubbed Lin Chu’s head. “Sigh, aren’t you a silly child? It’s not something that major at all. Your grandpa has nothing to do at home anyway. All he does is walk around in front of me, and it’s making me dizzy. Finally, he has an opportunity to show off his versatility, of course he should take the chance to flaunt it. He was getting bored at home, anyway.”
As she said this, Yan Beicheng came down. He had changed his pants. Lin Chu knew immediately what had happened.
Chu Xi was letting Yan Ningbai rubbed its tummy when it rolled over and stood up. It especially went over to Yan Beicheng in an attempt to get into his good books by rubbing itself at his legs. It rolled over and showed Yan Beicheng it’s fat, little pink tummy. It wanted Yan Beicheng to give it a rub.
Yan Beicheng lowered his eyes to glare at it. He silently crossed it and continued forward, but Chu Xi rolled over again and ran over to Yan Beicheng with its short, little legs and laid down to show its tummy once more.
Yan Beicheng, “…”
“Hahahahaha! Chu Xi, Chu Xi, have a little backbone! Come over here, let your granduncle give you a rub,” Yan Ningbai waved Chu Xi over.
Yan Huaian, “…”
Yu Zi, “…”
Dear son, have you ever asked us if you were allowed to treat Chu Xi as your grandnephew?
Chu Xi realized that Yan Beicheng would not be giving it a tummy rub and rushed towards Yan Ningbai. It did not even stop and plonked right in front of Yan Ningbai. Its doggy head hit the floor but it did not hurt. Its paws went up in the air as it waited for Yan Ningbai to rub its tummy.
Old Lady Yan was tickled by this. “This little fellow understands our words!”
“Does Chu Xi look a little bigger than the last time we saw it?” Yu Zi asked.
Lin Chu nodded. “Chu Xi is from a pedigree of large dogs. It’s growing fast.”
It was as if Chu Xi knew they were talking about it. It looked up at them and then looked back again. It was so comfortable with Yan Ningbai rubbing its tummy, its legs thumping away as it enjoyed it.
…
Lin Chu left for work the next day. The whole company had found out about everything as it was such big news, coupled with Lin Chu’s two days off.
When Lin Chu reached the office, many of her colleagues had come over to show their concern. She was surrounded continually by people.
It was only when work hours began that everyone went back to their posts. Only then, did Lu Lixin and Zheng Yuntong had the opportunity to ask about her condition.
Less than half an hour before lunchtime, Lin Chu received a call from reception informing her that Su Changxin was here to see her.
Lin Chu frowned. Su Changxin must be here because of Lin Yuwen.
Either she would shout at her for causing Lin Yuwen’s miscarriage and landing her in a weak state at the hospital, or she was going to confront her about Lin Yuwen’s lawsuit and get her to withdraw it while taking the opportunity to give her a scolding.
If she could guess the outcome of the meeting, there was no point in making herself go through Su Changxin’s scolding, so she told the receptionist, “Tell her that I’m on leave and away from work.”
The receptionist heard her and hung up. She looked at Su Changxin, who was sitting at a nearby sofa and informed her politely, “I’m sorry. I gave a call to the Public Relations Department and they told me that Miss Lin is off and did not come to work.”
Su Changxin’s eyes narrowed. The receptionist knew that she was here to see Lin Chu, her reactions did not reflect the fact that Lin Chu was not at work.
“Is that so?” Su Changxin smiled sardonically and replied in a sarcastic tone. She took another look at the receptionist and left through the door. She did not go away, however, and stood by the door to wait.
Judging by the reaction of that receptionist, she knew that Lin Chu was at work today. Do not even think about lying to her!
There were 20 minutes to go until lunchtime. Lin Chu would definitely come out for lunch.
She could afford to wait 20 minutes.
Su Changxin looked at her phone irritably. The receptionist was not aware of the situation and made a call to Lin Chu to inform her that Su Changsxin has left. Lin Chu thanked her.
After taking care of the Lin Mao project, Lin Chu’s team was less busy. There was no need for overtime during lunch hour, so Lin Chu went for lunch with Zheng Yuntong.
As Lin Chu’s wrist was hurt, they decided to have something light and chose a Jiangsu and Zhejiang restaurant near the office.
When it was lunchtime, there were a lot of office employees downstairs, which made the entrance look really busy.
When Lin Chu passed by the receptionist, she went to say hello and thanked her once again.
“Miss Lin,” a young man called out. He had a clean look and seemed to be about the same age as Lin Chu.
He had a purple thermos in his hands. Lin Chu looked over and recognized him. He was the driver from the old mansion, Xiao Deng.
“This is rib soup boiled by Aunt Chen. Old Lady Yan asked me to bring it over to you. Old Lady Yan said for you to drink this during lunch for nutrition. The weather’s cold now, you’ll feel warmer after drinking this. More care has been taken for the ingredients here than hotels,” said Xiao Deng.
This rib soup did not just contain pure pork ribs, but there were many tonics in it that was good for women. Xiao Deng was not aware of this but he did know that there was many good stuff in there.
“Thank you. Thank you for making the run here. You haven’t had lunch, right? Why don’t you join us?” Lin Chu smiled as she took the thermos.
Xiao Deng immediately waved no with his hands. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Aunt Chen made food for me. I’ll eat back at the mansion.”
Lin Chu nodded and did not insist.
Xiao Deng was about to take his leave when a sarcastic female voice called from the side, “So, landing Yan Beicheng is not enough, you’ve even set your eyes on this man. Lin Chu, you’re really something! You want delicacies, and even vegetables and tofu. I had no idea you have such a mixed palette.”
Lin Chu and Xiao Deng looked over and saw Su Changxin striding over.
The expression on the receptionist’s face changed. She saw her leave just now, why was she still here?!
“I always knew you were shameless but I had no idea there was no limit to it. So, you think you have so much charm, which is why you’re enjoying the attention of someone wooing you while being with Yan Beicheng? Does Yan Beicheng know how shameless you are?” Su Changxin said condescendingly, her words were especially terrible to listen to.
Lin Chu thought this was such a joke. She really wanted to ask, ‘Madam Su, does Lin Zhenghe knows how brainless you are?’
Xiao Deng looked blankly at Lin Chu. “This is…?”
“Why, don’t you know she has a boyfriend? Lin Chu, I see now that you rejected Yang Zhiyuan not because he did not earn enough, it was because he was old! Now that you have such a young thing after you, it must feel good, doesn’t it? One man is not enough for you, is it?” Su Changxin said sarcastically as she laughed coldly.
“Madam Su, you are a public figure, how can you such dirty words? Don’t you find it embarrassing?” Lin Chu replied coldly. Su Changxin’s words were low and disgusting.
She exhaled to calm down and turned to Xiao Deng. “This is Su Changxin, Madam Su, Lin Yuwen’s mother.”
Xiao Deng understood immediately when he heard the name.
Xu Changxin’s words had angered him. Now he would not need to stand on ceremony and said in a grim voice, “Madam Su, I am the driver for the two elders of the Yan family. Old Lady Yan instructed me to bring this soup to Miss Lin. It has nothing to do with the kind of dirty dealings Madam Su is describing. From what I know, Lin Mao may be a company of a middle scale but it is still a listed company. People are aware of it. I had not expected Madam Su to be so tactless with words. I’m just a nobody. Your insults don’t really affect me. As for your words to Miss Lin, I will repeat them exactly to Old Master Yan and Old Lady Yan.”
Xiao Deng was too humble in declaring himself a nobody. He may be just a driver, but one would need to take a good look at whose driver he was. The two elders of the Yan family only spent their time having fun with people they get along with and usually do not appear in front of most people. Many do not have the chance to meet the two elders of the Yan family, in turn, they have tried to get on the good side of Xiao Deng.
One could say that Su Changxin could not afford to even offend a driver of theirs.
Su Changxin was only thinking about scolding Lin Chu and did not think much. Now that her brain was starting to work, she immediately realized her mistake and she turned pale.
Su Changxin became nervous after hearing Xiao Deng’s words. But she was facing many of Lin Chu’s colleagues in Lin Yi who were out for lunch. So, she stood her ground and refused to back down on her words.
Even though Yan Beicheng liked Lin Chu, but it might not be the same with the two elders of the Yan family.
She looked at the thermos in Lin Chu’s hands. She had heard that the two elders of the Yan family doted on Yan Beicheng very much. It must be because of Yan Beicheng that they had to show concern for Lin Chu’s wounded hand.
They may actually look down on Lin Chu. Otherwise, they would not have just sent a driver over. It was obvious that Lin Chu was not important to them.
At their level, they would be looking at matching statuses. The Yan family belonged to a long line of an old family. The older the family line, the more traditional they were. Tradition was imprinted in their genes, it was not easy to change.
Which other families would be like the Qi family? That was an exception.
Besides, the Qi family granddaughters-in-law were different. One was a family friend of the Qi family before her family went bankrupt. The other had a grandfather who was an academician who was treated as a national treasure. Ordinary rich families could not compare to his reputation.
She did not believe that the two elders of the Yan family did not mind Lin Chu at all!
No one was sure if she thought it was logical reasoning or was she comforting herself with her thoughts. Su Changxin had actually managed to convince herself about her guess.
She decided to ignore Xiao Deng. His words just now had brought her down, so she tried to maintain her calm and change the topic of conversation. “Didn’t you say that you were off and not at work?”
She did not expect Lin Chu not to be embarrassed, instead, she said coldly, “Madam Su, do you need me to spell it out so clearly? I just don’t want to see you.”
“You…” Su Changxin did not expect Lin Chu to be so straightforward. She did not even give her a shred of dignity. She put up her hands in an attempt to hit her, just like when she was young.
Lin Chu at that time never retaliated when she was hit or scolded.
However, she had forgotten that not only Lin Chu was no longer that weak little child, she was no longer a child that she was allowed to lose her temper with.
She was stopped before the slap landed on Lin Chu. Xiao Deng caught her wrist and threw it aside coldly. Su Changxin lost her balance and stepped back precariously. She tried to steady herself.
“This is not a place for shrews to come screaming at people or to hit out at others when there is an argument. Madam Su, please do remember your place,” Lin Chu said coldly.
“Oh, is that so? Are you showing off to me now that you’re the daughter-in-law of the Yan family?” Su Changxin was raging with nowhere to let off steam, she was trembling with anger.
Zheng Yuntong quietly went to the receptionist. “Get security here now.”
Lin Chu did not plan to bother with her much longer. She saw Zheng Yuntong return and asked Zheng Yuntong to leave together.
Su Changxin quickly pulled her hand. No one knew if she did it on purpose but she caught hold of Lin Chu’s wounded left hand. She was afraid that Lin Chu would run off, so she held on tightly.
Lin Chu’s face turned pale. It hurt so much that she went bent and wanted to wrench her hand away. Su Changxin saw this. If she did it by accident before this, well, it was on purpose now. She held on even tighter to Lin Chu’s wrist.
“Lin Chu, I want you to withdraw the lawsuit!” Su Changxin revealed her reason to be here.
Xiao Deng’s expression changed and he rushed up towards Su Changxin to grab her wrists. Su Changxin screamed in pain and had to let go of Lin Chu.
“How are you?” Zheng Yuntong asked worriedly.
Lin Chu shook her head, there was no color on her face. Her wrist was getting better. It would not hurt if no one touched it, but because of Su Changxin’s doing, it hurt really badly now, even though no one was touching it.
Xiao Deng flung Su Changxin aside. This time, he was careful and shielded Lin Chu’s front.
Lin Chu appeared halfway from behind Xiao Deng and looked coldly at Su Changxin. “Based on your attitude alone, I won’t withdraw the lawsuit. It was Lin Yuwen who tried to knock me down. If it wasn’t for my colleagues who pulled me away, I might be dead now. If that was the case, Lin Yuwen would not be just facing a charge of intent to murder, it would be a direct charge of murder. She won’t even be able to dream about leaving prison. With such an evil intent, how can I withdraw the lawsuit? This time, I must teach her lesson, so she won’t do anything so brash again. Madam Su, since you do not know how to teach your daughter, then let reality educate her. The world does not revolve around her. You have to pay for murder, even hurting people would require you to pay the price!”
Su Chengxin’s eyes went red with rage. “Then what about the gratitude for bringing you up? You’re not repaying them? We’ve brought you up for nothing. You’re being ungrateful for sending our daughter to jail. I want everyone here and the Yan family to know that you are someone who repays our kindness with ingratitude!”
“Madam Su, is it necessary for you to hang your dirty linen in public? Do you really want to describe as me as repaying your kindness with ingratitude when you know very well what kind of life I had led in the Lin family? When you beat me until I contracted fever, when you beat me until I was hospitalized, when it was snowing and you made me stand in the courtyard with only a pair of slippers in the snow from afternoon until midnight, it was all because the heavens took care of me that I did not die in those situations. I was adopted by you, my life was not sold to you. Was it not enough that I’ve suffered all those years?” Lin Chu did not feel sad when revealing these. She was not angry either. She sounded like she was talking about a normal situation but her face was cold.
“Don’t you need to pay for murder? Doesn’t one need to be punished for hurting another? Lin Yuwen was reckless, she wanted to take my life. Why should I forgive her and withdraw the lawsuit?”
“You aren’t dead, aren’t you?” Su Changxin screamed.
Everyone around took a sharp breath. They did not expect Su Changxin to say those words shamelessly.
Lin Chu was their colleague, they would have stood on Lin Chu’s side as they knew her. But after hearing Su Changxin’s words, they had a worse impression of the Lin family.
“Since you’re fine and have only hurt your wrist, why should my daughter suffer? Her body is so weak now. Now is the time for her to be nursed back to health, but she has to… has to…” Su Changxin’s eyes turned red as she spoke.
Was prison a place fit for human beings?
She was terrified that Lin Yuwen would go in looking well, and leave fallen apart.
Lin Chu was so angry she laughed sardonically. “If I’m dead, Lin Yuwen would really need to pay with her life. Begging anybody would be useless for you then. You wouldn’t have the time to come pointing me in the face and screaming.”
Zheng Yuntong was still mumbling about how security was taking so long.
As there were many people using the elevator in the afternoon, security could not come upstairs quickly. Finally, they reached them.
They saw a group of people in a circle with Su Changxin screaming and shouting in the middle. Zheng Yuntong quickly pointed at Su Changixn and said, “Take her away, quick! She’s not from our company, she’s here to make trouble. How did you guys do your jobs? You allowed some random person to come in here. Remember this person’s face and don’t let her in the next time.”
“Which bitch is this who dares to say this to me?!” Su Changxin was raging mad. A small-timer had actually dared to talk about her that way!
The security guard had a headache hearing the words. It looked like Su Changxin was really a crazy woman here to create trouble.
They did not say another word and dragged her out.
“Let me go! You should let me go! Lin Chu, withdraw the lawsuit! How can you be so ungrateful to our family? You are a bad-hearted person who deserves to die! You should have died!” Su Changxin screamed. She had lost all self-restraint.
When she first came in, she was wearing a good-looking ensemble and her hair was tied up elegantly. Now that she was being dragged away by security, her clothes were rumpled up and her elegant hairstyle came loose as strands of hair fell down her face, making her look disheveled.
Chapter 114: “You Aren’t Dead, Aren’t You?” Su Changxin Screamed
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yan Beicheng brought Lin Chu back to Ding City. Lu Lixin and Zheng Yuntong called to check up on her and Lin Chu explained everything while thanking the both of them.
Aunt Zhuang learned about it by listening to most of the conversation on the phone. She did not say a word but went to the fridge and took out two pig trotters, deciding to boil them tonight as it would be nutritious for Lin Chu.
Yan Beicheng received Lawyer Zhou’s phone call. As Lin Chu was also on the phone nearby and the signal affected the call, he moved in front of the French window and looked down at the quiet night scenery below. “Did you give it to them? What were their reactions?”
Lin Chu finished her call and turned to look at the tall, slender Yan Beicheng standing in front of the window. He had a hand in his pocket with the other holding the phone. His long fingers resting against the phone casing looked elegant. He emanated a clean, crisp aura, and had a uniquely mature temperament about him. Looking at him standing there made her feel at peace.
She heard Yan Beicheng saying ‘yes’ every now and then. As for what the matter was, it was difficult to tell even when listening in to it.
“We’ll do it according to plan,” Yan Beicheng hung up after saying that.
He turned back to see Lin Chu’s curious gaze and Yan Beicheng explained, “I got Lawyer Zhou to give Lin Yuwen a lawyer’s letter. We’re suing her for intent to murder.”
Lin Chu nodded. She did not mind.
Lin Yuwen had wanted to kill her. There was no reason for her to take pity on Lin Yuwen.
Her previous sympathy was for the baby in Lin Yuwen’s tummy because it had a mother who did not know how to care for it. But for Lin Yuwen, sympathy would be wasted on her.
Yan Beicheng held Lin Chu in his arms and gently picked up her left hand. He was careful not to touch her wound. “I’ll give you a month’s holiday. You can rest at home.”
Lin Chu’s right finger was drawing a circle at the back of his hand. “Please don’t. My left is hurt but not my right hand. There’s no problem with it. If you let me rest at home and not let me do a thing, I’ll feel terribly bored.”
Yan Beicheng frowned slightly. “Don’t people say that you need a hundred days to rest if you hurt your muscles or bones? I’ve given you fewer days than that.”
“I’m really fine.” Lin Chu looked up from within his arms with a disagreeing look. Her gaze fell on his slightly pressed lips.
She lifted her right hand and gently rubbed his chin to relax his tight muscles there. She quickly kissed him gently on his slightly stern, thin lips. “Let me go to work, please? Wei Zilin is there and my mentor knows I was hurt. He won’t allow me to do anything too tiring.”
Yan Beicheng got soft-hearted following her kiss, he lowered his head and looked at her soulfully for quite a while and finally pouted unwillingly. “Then at least rest a few days at home. Even if your hand is fine, you’ve got to relax after going through such a big shock today.”
Before Lin Chu could say anything, Yan Beicheng held her tighter in his arms. “Just treat it as a way of making me feel better about your condition, okay? What happened today really frightened me. I need you to be at home to feel better. At the very least, give me two days to feel better about things.”
“Okay,” Lin Chu did not argue and agreed to rest two days at home.
Yan Beicheng contacted Wei Zilin directly, this was an easy leave to apply.
After hanging up with Wei Zilin, Yan Beicheng looked at Lin Chu. He gave it a thought and decided to inform her of his decision. “This matter isn’t over. Lin Yuwen tried to knock you down but lost her baby instead because she did not have good intentions. This is retribution created by her own hands. That was not me. I didn’t retaliate with hate.”
However Lin Yuwen ended up, Lin Chu did not care. She pointed to the cherries on the table and tugged at his hand. “I’d like to eat that.”
Yan Beicheng said nothing but took out a piece of tissue to place on the palm of his left hand. His right hand picked up the plate of cherries and gave them to Lin Chu. He let her spit the pits into his palm.
Lin Chu chewed on the cherries that were so red that they looked black, her mouth had turned bright red. “What do you plan to do?”
Yan Beicheng told her about the lawsuit he slapped Lin Yuwen with. “When the time comes, you would need to bear witness in court.”
Yan Beicheng said as his fingers unknowingly curled the tips of her hair playfully. It was never his intention to send Lin Yuwen to jail. It would be good if his lawsuit would be able to do that, but Lawyer Zhou had analyzed the case for him beforehand. The worst that would come out of it was Lin Yuwen getting fined.
There was another reason why he wanted to sue Lin Yuwen with such a serious charge. But he did not dare tell Lin Chu the truth, he was not sure if Lin Chu would think badly of him for doing so.
No matter what, Lin Chu had to testify in court.
Lin Chu was not burdened by it and spat out a cherry pit into his palms as she nodded. “No problem.”
“You won’t be able to hide the fact that Lin Yuwen tried to knock you down. Even if you didn’t testify, the reporters would still report the story of her trying to knock you down. As for you testifying in court, I’ll do my best to stop the media from reporting about your testimony.” Yan Beicheng pinched his eyebrows. The most worrisome thing for him about this was having to involve Lin Chu in it.
“It’s okay. I’m not that fragile. Besides, I’ve been in front of the media plenty of times when I was with the Lin family. The Lin family depended on me to build up their reputation. They were always arranging for me to meet the media. As you said, Lin Yuwen’s retribution was by her own hands, and I’m not prepared to let her knock me down for nothing.” Lin Chu picked a cherry and stuck it into her mouth. One side of her cheek became puffy from it.
She held Yan Beicheng’s face with both her hands. “You don’t need to worry about me, don’t feel guilty about implicating me. You are going after Lin Yuwen for my sake. This world doesn’t guarantee one to have everything they desire. If we want to punish Lin Yuwen, we have to give up something. There’s no such thing as allowing us to get away with whatever we want.”
Lin Yuwen lifted her head and kissed him on his chin. “Besides, I believe you will protect me.”
“That’s right.” Yan Beicheng smiled as he hugged her tight, and kissed her on the lips.
…
On the second day, Yan Beicheng got someone to deliver a few potential rental addresses to Xu Moyan. Xu Moyan picked a place and moved in with Zheng Yuntong on the third day.
Lin Chu might not be able to help them move due to her injury, but she did go out for a meal with both of them.
While she was at Xu Moyan and Zheng Yuntong’s house, Zheng Yuntong found the video for the Lin family’s press conference. Lin Yuwen had suffered a miscarriage and was still in the hospital, so she did not attend.
Besides the Lin family, only Lu Lixin and Zheng Yuntong were present. Lin Chu was on medical leave, so naturally, she did not attend as well.
Su Changxin was very worried about Lin Yuwen because of her accident and the miscarriage, additionally, there was also the lawsuit Yan Beicheng slapped on her for intent to murder. She was in a particularly poor state of mind, which made the effects of the press conference even better.
There was no need for her to make any pretense when she was apologizing. Her pale, haggard face made her look full of regret and remorse. It was a very touching scene. Everyone really thought that she was apologetic as they knew that she was in the wrong.
As for Lin Zhenghe, he berated his wife and daughter for betraying his trust and not taking good care of Lin Chu. At the same time, he reproached himself for not discovering the problem in time and allowed Lin Chu to suffer for so many years as he did not take good care of her.
As he admonished himself, he did not forget to stress that he was always busy with work in order to distance himself from the situation.
As for Cheng Ziming, he sincerely told the story of his love for Lin Yuwen, which had nothing to do with fame and money. It was just that Lin Yuwen happened to be rich, which was all a coincidence. He admitted having let Lin Chu down, but when love came knocking, no one could do anything about it. He added that Lin Yuwen and he had always been apologizing to Lin Chu but Lin Chu never offered them her forgiveness.
Lin Chu had thought the worse of them, and in addition to her grudge with Lin Yuwen, had always hated them.
“This is all meaningless. You have no idea how disgusted me and our mentor were when we were watching their acting from the bottom of the stage. This whole family is really sickening. Sanctimonious!” Zheng Yuntong said.
Lin Chu felt it was meaningless too after watching it. So, she turned the video off.
Lin Mao did not retain much of their reputation, mainly because of Lin Yuwen’s unsuccessful murder attempt that resulted in her miscarriage. They had dropped rock bottom instead.
The courts had also decided on a court date, which was two days later.
As the defendant, Lin Yuwen was taken into custody.
Lin Zhenghe was also preparing for what was to come. The lawyers had used the excuse of Lin Yuwen’s poor health to apply for the courts to allow Lin Yuwen to continue staying in the hospital.
However, Lin Yuwen was in an awkward situation. She no longer needed to stay in the hospital. All she needed was to rest at home. Hospitals would normally not allow patients who had suffered miscarriages such as hers to stay in the hospital for too long.
The courts rejected the lawyer’s appeal after the doctor’s report came out.
Yan Beicheng had told Lin Chu all these while she was on her way back to Ding City from Xu Moyan’s place.
Lin Chu looked at Yan Beicheng. She had a feeling that the results had something to do with Yan Beicheng. With Lin Yuwen’s health condition, it would not be wrong to allow her to continue her stay in the hospital. Of course, it was not wrong for the appeal to be rejected either.
But it was really decisive of the courts to do so…
Yan Beicheng sat on the bed and stretched out his long legs as he crossed his feet. He was leaning against the pillow and worked with his laptop placed on his legs.
When he noticed Lin Chu in the room, he could not concentrate on work in the study. He had to be by her side in order to concentrate on work.
When he had work to do at night, he no longer did them in his study. He would sit on his bed with Lin Chu accompanying him at the side.
When he was tired of work, he would turn to give her a kiss and become full of energy.
Yan Beicheng could no longer focus on work when he felt Lin Chu’s gaze on him.
He put aside his documents and turned to her while she was watching him in a daze. He gave her a quick peck on the lips. “What are you looking at?”
Lin Chu thought about it. It did not seem like something really worth knowing the truth about, so she shook her head. “Nothing. I just wanted to look at you.”
Yan Beicheng’s suddenly had a hungry look in his eyes while staring at her. He closed his laptop and pushed her down in a hold. He kissed her furiously.
“My… My hand is hurt!” Lin Chu held up her left hand.
Yan Beicheng carefully pulled her right hand. “It’s not disturbing anything. Who allowed you to seduce me with your gaze?”
Lin Chu was kissed breathless by him. “I’m looking at you normally. I’m not seducing you.”
“You’re seducing me when you look at me,” Yan Beicheng said and pulled down her waistband without hesitation.
“Master Yan, Old Master Yan, and Old Lady Yan, as well as Second Master Yan and his family are here,” Aunt Zhuang’s voice called from outside the bedroom door.
Lin Chu quickly pulled up her pajama pants. “Get up quickly.”
“What are they doing here so late at night? They should be sleeping at home.” Yan Beicheng clenched his teeth and squeezed over towards Lin Chu. He was not willing to get up. He glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was actually only 8 pm.
“Go downstairs quickly. We can’t let grandpa and grandma wait that long,” Lin Chu said. She suddenly realized that she was unable to pull her pants up. She lowered her head and saw that his hands had not moved away from there.
“…” Lin Chu blushed bright red. This was too enticing. She moved a little in an attempt to slide out of her pants.
“Don’t move.” Yan Beicheng lowered his head and buried his face into her neck quite a while before taking a deep breath. He suddenly flipped over and laid flat beside Lin Chu.
Lin Chu lowered her eyes and saw his ‘standing ovation’. She quickly averted her eyes.
“You can go down first. I’ll join you in a while,” Yan Beicheng said while dissatisfied with not getting what he wanted, he reached over to give her another passionate kiss.
He mumbled a complaint, “They’re real troublemakers.”
Lin Chu held back her laugh. She did not dare think about if he would choose to let his ‘reaction’ calm down or solve it ‘by hand’. She quickly tidied herself and went to the mirror to make sure she looked okay before heading down to the living room.
Yan Ningbai was teasing Chu Xi with a cheese slice in the shape of a bone. Chu Xi’s four short little legs tried jumping as high as it could but still could not get to the cheese in Yan Ningbai’s hands. In the end, it stood on its hind legs helplessly and put its front paws together and prayed to Yan Ningbai. Yan Ningbai was so tickled by it, he gave it the cheese slice.
Lin Chu blushed as she called out to the elders. Old Lady Yan took a look and knew that they had come to visit at the wrong time.
It was too early for these two youngsters to…
Old Lady Yan coughed and quickly pulled Lin Chu over to her. “My child, I heard that you got hurt. We came over to visit you. There are still some tonics at home that I’ve brought over for you. Let me quickly take a look at your hand.”
Old Lady Yan felt much better after seeing that Lin Chu’s wound was not serious. “Luckily only your wrist were hurt. All is well, all is well. That Lin Yuwen is too much! It really scared us when we heard it. Cheng’er told us about suing her. We can’t let her get away with this so easily.”
“My older brother personally went to the courts yesterday and sat in the office of the presiding judge. He did not say a word. All he did was sit there angrily and he scared the judge. In the end, he could not take it and gave the order to reject Lin Yuwen’s appeal to continue staying in the hospital. It took a lot of coaxing to finally get rid of older brother,” Yan Huaian laughed as he said gently.
Old Master Yan went to the courthouse and it was like he was a statue of Buddha. Word had got out to the Lord Justice. Old Master Yan went straight towards the office of the case’s presiding judge and sat there stubbornly. He even called Aunt Chen at home, right in front of the presiding judge, asking her to deliver his lunch through his driver, Xiao Deng.
The presiding judge did not dare to really allow Old Master Yan to eat his lunch box there. Besides, he had not even had his own lunch and could not leave Old Master Yan in the office while he left for his meal.
Unfortunately, he could not berate this old gentleman nor could he advise him. The only thing he could do was to coax him.
In the end, he could only give in to Old Master Yan’s request. Only then, did Old Master Yan leave his office smiling all the way.
Lin Chu finally understood this was not the doing of Yan Beicheng. It was because of Old Master Yan.
Lin Chu did not know what to say. She was really touched. These two elders came to help with this minor situation of hers. Yan Beicheng had told her once that Old Master Yan no longer involved himself in anything. Even though he still had his network of people, he did not utilize them unless necessary.
This time, he had taken matters in his own hands for her sake.
Lin Chu started to sniffle as her voice went a little scratchy, “Grandpa, grandma, you’re doing all this for me. Thank you.”
She never imagined Yan Beicheng’s grandparents to be such adorable people.
Before she met them, she had thought of them to be strict people. The Yan family was, after all, a family that came from a long line. They must have high standards and conducted themselves in a strict sense.
When she had followed Yan Beicheng back to the old mansion on the second day of the lunar new year, Old Master Yan did not say much. From Old Lady Yan’s description, she had understood that Old Master Yan acted like a stern man, but he was, in fact, very soft-hearted. From what she has seen now, he was an upright man through and through.
Old Lady Yan was just like a little child.
The two elders did not mention anything about her background and still, they treated her so kindly. They did not mind her being together with Yan Beicheng. It was something that she had never expected.
Even though she did not see the Lin family much but when she was younger and still staying with the Lin family, she could tell from the Lin family’s conversations that rich people were very particular about matching statuses. Even the Lin family was particular about it, what more reputable and richer families?
She had never imagined that Old Master Yan and Old Lady Yan would have such a nonchalant attitude towards this. They had even taken the time to personally handle her situation.
Old Lady Yan rubbed Lin Chu’s head. “Sigh, aren’t you a silly child? It’s not something that major at all. Your grandpa has nothing to do at home anyway. All he does is walk around in front of me, and it’s making me dizzy. Finally, he has an opportunity to show off his versatility, of course he should take the chance to flaunt it. He was getting bored at home, anyway.”
As she said this, Yan Beicheng came down. He had changed his pants. Lin Chu knew immediately what had happened.
Chu Xi was letting Yan Ningbai rubbed its tummy when it rolled over and stood up. It especially went over to Yan Beicheng in an attempt to get into his good books by rubbing itself at his legs. It rolled over and showed Yan Beicheng it’s fat, little pink tummy. It wanted Yan Beicheng to give it a rub.
Yan Beicheng lowered his eyes to glare at it. He silently crossed it and continued forward, but Chu Xi rolled over again and ran over to Yan Beicheng with its short, little legs and laid down to show its tummy once more.
Yan Beicheng, “…”
“Hahahahaha! Chu Xi, Chu Xi, have a little backbone! Come over here, let your granduncle give you a rub,” Yan Ningbai waved Chu Xi over.
Yan Huaian, “…”
Yu Zi, “…”
Dear son, have you ever asked us if you were allowed to treat Chu Xi as your grandnephew?
Chu Xi realized that Yan Beicheng would not be giving it a tummy rub and rushed towards Yan Ningbai. It did not even stop and plonked right in front of Yan Ningbai. Its doggy head hit the floor but it did not hurt. Its paws went up in the air as it waited for Yan Ningbai to rub its tummy.
Old Lady Yan was tickled by this. “This little fellow understands our words!”
“Does Chu Xi look a little bigger than the last time we saw it?” Yu Zi asked.
Lin Chu nodded. “Chu Xi is from a pedigree of large dogs. It’s growing fast.”
It was as if Chu Xi knew they were talking about it. It looked up at them and then looked back again. It was so comfortable with Yan Ningbai rubbing its tummy, its legs thumping away as it enjoyed it.
…
Lin Chu left for work the next day. The whole company had found out about everything as it was such big news, coupled with Lin Chu’s two days off.
When Lin Chu reached the office, many of her colleagues had come over to show their concern. She was surrounded continually by people.
It was only when work hours began that everyone went back to their posts. Only then, did Lu Lixin and Zheng Yuntong had the opportunity to ask about her condition.
Less than half an hour before lunchtime, Lin Chu received a call from reception informing her that Su Changxin was here to see her.
Lin Chu frowned. Su Changxin must be here because of Lin Yuwen.
Either she would shout at her for causing Lin Yuwen’s miscarriage and landing her in a weak state at the hospital, or she was going to confront her about Lin Yuwen’s lawsuit and get her to withdraw it while taking the opportunity to give her a scolding.
If she could guess the outcome of the meeting, there was no point in making herself go through Su Changxin’s scolding, so she told the receptionist, “Tell her that I’m on leave and away from work.”
The receptionist heard her and hung up. She looked at Su Changxin, who was sitting at a nearby sofa and informed her politely, “I’m sorry. I gave a call to the Public Relations Department and they told me that Miss Lin is off and did not come to work.”
Su Changxin’s eyes narrowed. The receptionist knew that she was here to see Lin Chu, her reactions did not reflect the fact that Lin Chu was not at work.
“Is that so?” Su Changxin smiled sardonically and replied in a sarcastic tone. She took another look at the receptionist and left through the door. She did not go away, however, and stood by the door to wait.
Judging by the reaction of that receptionist, she knew that Lin Chu was at work today. Do not even think about lying to her!
There were 20 minutes to go until lunchtime. Lin Chu would definitely come out for lunch.
She could afford to wait 20 minutes.
Su Changxin looked at her phone irritably. The receptionist was not aware of the situation and made a call to Lin Chu to inform her that Su Changsxin has left. Lin Chu thanked her.
After taking care of the Lin Mao project, Lin Chu’s team was less busy. There was no need for overtime during lunch hour, so Lin Chu went for lunch with Zheng Yuntong.
As Lin Chu’s wrist was hurt, they decided to have something light and chose a Jiangsu and Zhejiang restaurant near the office.
When it was lunchtime, there were a lot of office employees downstairs, which made the entrance look really busy.
When Lin Chu passed by the receptionist, she went to say hello and thanked her once again.
“Miss Lin,” a young man called out. He had a clean look and seemed to be about the same age as Lin Chu.
He had a purple thermos in his hands. Lin Chu looked over and recognized him. He was the driver from the old mansion, Xiao Deng.
“This is rib soup boiled by Aunt Chen. Old Lady Yan asked me to bring it over to you. Old Lady Yan said for you to drink this during lunch for nutrition. The weather’s cold now, you’ll feel warmer after drinking this. More care has been taken for the ingredients here than hotels,” said Xiao Deng.
This rib soup did not just contain pure pork ribs, but there were many tonics in it that was good for women. Xiao Deng was not aware of this but he did know that there was many good stuff in there.
“Thank you. Thank you for making the run here. You haven’t had lunch, right? Why don’t you join us?” Lin Chu smiled as she took the thermos.
Xiao Deng immediately waved no with his hands. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Aunt Chen made food for me. I’ll eat back at the mansion.”
Lin Chu nodded and did not insist.
Xiao Deng was about to take his leave when a sarcastic female voice called from the side, “So, landing Yan Beicheng is not enough, you’ve even set your eyes on this man. Lin Chu, you’re really something! You want delicacies, and even vegetables and tofu. I had no idea you have such a mixed palette.”
Lin Chu and Xiao Deng looked over and saw Su Changxin striding over.
The expression on the receptionist’s face changed. She saw her leave just now, why was she still here?!
“I always knew you were shameless but I had no idea there was no limit to it. So, you think you have so much charm, which is why you’re enjoying the attention of someone wooing you while being with Yan Beicheng? Does Yan Beicheng know how shameless you are?” Su Changxin said condescendingly, her words were especially terrible to listen to.
Lin Chu thought this was such a joke. She really wanted to ask, ‘Madam Su, does Lin Zhenghe knows how brainless you are?’
Xiao Deng looked blankly at Lin Chu. “This is…?”
“Why, don’t you know she has a boyfriend? Lin Chu, I see now that you rejected Yang Zhiyuan not because he did not earn enough, it was because he was old! Now that you have such a young thing after you, it must feel good, doesn’t it? One man is not enough for you, is it?” Su Changxin said sarcastically as she laughed coldly.
“Madam Su, you are a public figure, how can you such dirty words? Don’t you find it embarrassing?” Lin Chu replied coldly. Su Changxin’s words were low and disgusting.
She exhaled to calm down and turned to Xiao Deng. “This is Su Changxin, Madam Su, Lin Yuwen’s mother.”
Xiao Deng understood immediately when he heard the name.
Xu Changxin’s words had angered him. Now he would not need to stand on ceremony and said in a grim voice, “Madam Su, I am the driver for the two elders of the Yan family. Old Lady Yan instructed me to bring this soup to Miss Lin. It has nothing to do with the kind of dirty dealings Madam Su is describing. From what I know, Lin Mao may be a company of a middle scale but it is still a listed company. People are aware of it. I had not expected Madam Su to be so tactless with words. I’m just a nobody. Your insults don’t really affect me. As for your words to Miss Lin, I will repeat them exactly to Old Master Yan and Old Lady Yan.”
Xiao Deng was too humble in declaring himself a nobody. He may be just a driver, but one would need to take a good look at whose driver he was. The two elders of the Yan family only spent their time having fun with people they get along with and usually do not appear in front of most people. Many do not have the chance to meet the two elders of the Yan family, in turn, they have tried to get on the good side of Xiao Deng.
One could say that Su Changxin could not afford to even offend a driver of theirs.
Su Changxin was only thinking about scolding Lin Chu and did not think much. Now that her brain was starting to work, she immediately realized her mistake and she turned pale.
Su Changxin became nervous after hearing Xiao Deng’s words. But she was facing many of Lin Chu’s colleagues in Lin Yi who were out for lunch. So, she stood her ground and refused to back down on her words.
Even though Yan Beicheng liked Lin Chu, but it might not be the same with the two elders of the Yan family.
She looked at the thermos in Lin Chu’s hands. She had heard that the two elders of the Yan family doted on Yan Beicheng very much. It must be because of Yan Beicheng that they had to show concern for Lin Chu’s wounded hand.
They may actually look down on Lin Chu. Otherwise, they would not have just sent a driver over. It was obvious that Lin Chu was not important to them.
At their level, they would be looking at matching statuses. The Yan family belonged to a long line of an old family. The older the family line, the more traditional they were. Tradition was imprinted in their genes, it was not easy to change.
Which other families would be like the Qi family? That was an exception.
Besides, the Qi family granddaughters-in-law were different. One was a family friend of the Qi family before her family went bankrupt. The other had a grandfather who was an academician who was treated as a national treasure. Ordinary rich families could not compare to his reputation.
She did not believe that the two elders of the Yan family did not mind Lin Chu at all!
No one was sure if she thought it was logical reasoning or was she comforting herself with her thoughts. Su Changxin had actually managed to convince herself about her guess.
She decided to ignore Xiao Deng. His words just now had brought her down, so she tried to maintain her calm and change the topic of conversation. “Didn’t you say that you were off and not at work?”
She did not expect Lin Chu not to be embarrassed, instead, she said coldly, “Madam Su, do you need me to spell it out so clearly? I just don’t want to see you.”
“You…” Su Changxin did not expect Lin Chu to be so straightforward. She did not even give her a shred of dignity. She put up her hands in an attempt to hit her, just like when she was young.
Lin Chu at that time never retaliated when she was hit or scolded.
However, she had forgotten that not only Lin Chu was no longer that weak little child, she was no longer a child that she was allowed to lose her temper with.
She was stopped before the slap landed on Lin Chu. Xiao Deng caught her wrist and threw it aside coldly. Su Changxin lost her balance and stepped back precariously. She tried to steady herself.
“This is not a place for shrews to come screaming at people or to hit out at others when there is an argument. Madam Su, please do remember your place,” Lin Chu said coldly.
“Oh, is that so? Are you showing off to me now that you’re the daughter-in-law of the Yan family?” Su Changxin was raging with nowhere to let off steam, she was trembling with anger.
Zheng Yuntong quietly went to the receptionist. “Get security here now.”
Lin Chu did not plan to bother with her much longer. She saw Zheng Yuntong return and asked Zheng Yuntong to leave together.
Su Changxin quickly pulled her hand. No one knew if she did it on purpose but she caught hold of Lin Chu’s wounded left hand. She was afraid that Lin Chu would run off, so she held on tightly.
Lin Chu’s face turned pale. It hurt so much that she went bent and wanted to wrench her hand away. Su Changxin saw this. If she did it by accident before this, well, it was on purpose now. She held on even tighter to Lin Chu’s wrist.
“Lin Chu, I want you to withdraw the lawsuit!” Su Changxin revealed her reason to be here.
Xiao Deng’s expression changed and he rushed up towards Su Changxin to grab her wrists. Su Changxin screamed in pain and had to let go of Lin Chu.
“How are you?” Zheng Yuntong asked worriedly.
Lin Chu shook her head, there was no color on her face. Her wrist was getting better. It would not hurt if no one touched it, but because of Su Changxin’s doing, it hurt really badly now, even though no one was touching it.
Xiao Deng flung Su Changxin aside. This time, he was careful and shielded Lin Chu’s front.
Lin Chu appeared halfway from behind Xiao Deng and looked coldly at Su Changxin. “Based on your attitude alone, I won’t withdraw the lawsuit. It was Lin Yuwen who tried to knock me down. If it wasn’t for my colleagues who pulled me away, I might be dead now. If that was the case, Lin Yuwen would not be just facing a charge of intent to murder, it would be a direct charge of murder. She won’t even be able to dream about leaving prison. With such an evil intent, how can I withdraw the lawsuit? This time, I must teach her lesson, so she won’t do anything so brash again. Madam Su, since you do not know how to teach your daughter, then let reality educate her. The world does not revolve around her. You have to pay for murder, even hurting people would require you to pay the price!”
Su Chengxin’s eyes went red with rage. “Then what about the gratitude for bringing you up? You’re not repaying them? We’ve brought you up for nothing. You’re being ungrateful for sending our daughter to jail. I want everyone here and the Yan family to know that you are someone who repays our kindness with ingratitude!”
“Madam Su, is it necessary for you to hang your dirty linen in public? Do you really want to describe as me as repaying your kindness with ingratitude when you know very well what kind of life I had led in the Lin family? When you beat me until I contracted fever, when you beat me until I was hospitalized, when it was snowing and you made me stand in the courtyard with only a pair of slippers in the snow from afternoon until midnight, it was all because the heavens took care of me that I did not die in those situations. I was adopted by you, my life was not sold to you. Was it not enough that I’ve suffered all those years?” Lin Chu did not feel sad when revealing these. She was not angry either. She sounded like she was talking about a normal situation but her face was cold.
“Don’t you need to pay for murder? Doesn’t one need to be punished for hurting another? Lin Yuwen was reckless, she wanted to take my life. Why should I forgive her and withdraw the lawsuit?”
“You aren’t dead, aren’t you?” Su Changxin screamed.
Everyone around took a sharp breath. They did not expect Su Changxin to say those words shamelessly.
Lin Chu was their colleague, they would have stood on Lin Chu’s side as they knew her. But after hearing Su Changxin’s words, they had a worse impression of the Lin family.
“Since you’re fine and have only hurt your wrist, why should my daughter suffer? Her body is so weak now. Now is the time for her to be nursed back to health, but she has to… has to…” Su Changxin’s eyes turned red as she spoke.
Was prison a place fit for human beings?
She was terrified that Lin Yuwen would go in looking well, and leave fallen apart.
Lin Chu was so angry she laughed sardonically. “If I’m dead, Lin Yuwen would really need to pay with her life. Begging anybody would be useless for you then. You wouldn’t have the time to come pointing me in the face and screaming.”
Zheng Yuntong was still mumbling about how security was taking so long.
As there were many people using the elevator in the afternoon, security could not come upstairs quickly. Finally, they reached them.
They saw a group of people in a circle with Su Changxin screaming and shouting in the middle. Zheng Yuntong quickly pointed at Su Changixn and said, “Take her away, quick! She’s not from our company, she’s here to make trouble. How did you guys do your jobs? You allowed some random person to come in here. Remember this person’s face and don’t let her in the next time.”
“Which bitch is this who dares to say this to me?!” Su Changxin was raging mad. A small-timer had actually dared to talk about her that way!
The security guard had a headache hearing the words. It looked like Su Changxin was really a crazy woman here to create trouble.
They did not say another word and dragged her out.
“Let me go! You should let me go! Lin Chu, withdraw the lawsuit! How can you be so ungrateful to our family? You are a bad-hearted person who deserves to die! You should have died!” Su Changxin screamed. She had lost all self-restraint.
When she first came in, she was wearing a good-looking ensemble and her hair was tied up elegantly. Now that she was being dragged away by security, her clothes were rumpled up and her elegant hairstyle came loose as strands of hair fell down her face, making her look disheveled.
