Chapter 111
The crisis at the Lin Group was resolved the next day. They successfully secured a hundred million loan from the bank, and when the money was deposited, Grandma Lin could hardly believe it. It was only when the funds truly reached the account that she believed the crisis was over. She let out a deep sigh of relief and sat in her chair for a long time before she began to smile, planning to host a celebratory dinner for Lin Mengyao at home that evening.
Grandma Lin announced the celebratory dinner. By eight o’clock in the evening, the people at the Lin Family Mansion were all assembled.
Li Lihua watched with a sullen face as Xu Ke and Lin Mengyao walked hand in hand through the door. The hatred in her eyes was almost palpable. As Xu Ke and Lin Mengyao were talking, Li Lihua walked over abruptly, forcibly pulled their hands apart, and slapped Lin Mengyao across the face, leaving her stunned.
This series of actions by Li Lihua was remarkably fluid, striking with such speed that it gave no one time to react. Before she could even speak, Xu Ke retaliated with a slap, turning her face away and even drawing a trace of blood from her mouth.
“You shouldn’t have hit her. Since you’re Yaoyao’s mother, I only gave you one slap. If you dare to hit her again, I’ll give you ten slaps in return. Try it if you don’t believe me.” Xu Ke, with a sullen face and ignoring the Lin family’s expressions of schadenfreude, directly threatened her.
This feeling of powerlessness where Lin Mengyao is bullied but he can do nothing about it made Xu Ke tremble uncontrollably, a destructive impulse and possessiveness rising from within him. He tightened his grip on Lin Mengyao’s hand until she couldn’t bear it and patted his arm, “Xu Ke, you’re going to break my fingers. Let go.”
Lin Mengyao’s voice snapped Xu Ke out of his emotions. “I didn’t mean to. Let me see.”
“It’s okay, it just hurt a little.” Lin Mengyao was not used to being so intimate with Xu Ke in front of the Lin family, but Xu Ke stubbornly held on to her hand, carefully inspecting where he had held her. Upon finding no more than redness, he finally exhaled a breath, releasing his tension.
Li Lihua was intimidated by Xu Ke’s gaze and stood frozen. When Xu Ke looked away, the palpable murderous intent disappeared. Although she was afraid to confront Xu Ke, it didn’t mean she couldn’t find trouble with Lin Mengyao.
“You damn girl, do you know that the card you gave me yesterday ruined me? I clearly asked you for two million, so why did you give me two hundred thousand? I was humiliated when I tried to settle the bill yesterday. You did it on purpose, didn’t you, just to see me embarrassed.” Li Lihua glared at Lin Mengyao with a ferocious expression. Recalling her ridicule at the sales office yesterday, she wanted to hit Lin Mengyao again, but with Xu Ke present, she didn’t dare to approach. Instead, she pointed at Lin Mengya’s nose from a not too distant range, cursing her.
“Shut up!” Xu Ke’s voice overlapped with Grandma Lin’s, making Li Lihua shiver and obediently close her mouth.
“What does it look like to create a scene here? Have you forgotten the Lin family’s upbringing? If I see you causing trouble and swearing outside again, with no manners at all, you won’t be allowed to participate in any Lin family events, nor use the Lin family name for anything outside. If I catch you, I’ll make sure you’re expelled with nothing,” Grandma Lin said disdainfully. She never liked Li Lihua’s common demeanor, working to change it for years, yet it seemed to have increased instead of diminished.
“Mom.” Li Lihua, who was so domineering in front of Lin Mengyao, behaved like a meek lamb in front of Grandma Lin, not daring to breathe heavily, which further disdained Grandma Lin.
“Don’t call me mom. If it happens again, you’ll never appear before me in your life.”
With Grandma Lin’s arrival, the celebratory dinner officially began. In truth, it was more of a family dinner, just with better dishes than usual.
The seating arrangement at the Lin family dinner was particular. Even though Lin Mengyao had just been slapped by Li Lihua, she had to obediently sit below her. Aside from being given a hard glare while sitting down, Li Lihua ignored Lin Mengyao afterwards, which allowed Lin Mengyao to breathe a sigh of relief internally.
Lin Mengyao and Xu Ke intended to quietly finish the celebratory dinner, but some people didn’t agree with their wishes. Previously, to overcome the Lin Group’s crisis, everyone was unusually united, but with the most dangerous times over, the once united group began to divide and fend for themselves.
“Cousin, how did you persuade Huaxia Bank to lend us money? They used to be so arrogant, none willing to show up. How did you manage such a difficult task in a day? Do you have any secrets to share?” Lin Mengxi asked, resting her chin on her hands and smiling at Lin Mengyao with ill intentions.
“There’s no secret. I don’t know why it succeeded, maybe I was just lucky.” Lin Mengyao said, glancing lightly at Lin Mengxi.
“I think not just luck; with cousin’s looks, it would be easy to get things done, huh.” Lin Mengxi’s obviously sarcastic remark instantly darkened the expressions of Lin Mengyao and Xu Ke. Anyone but a fool could guess the insinuations in Lin Mengxi’s words. How could they not be angry?
“You’d best watch your mouth. If you keep speaking irresponsibly and indecently, don’t blame me for helping you wash it out.” Xu Ke placed a large shrimp in Lin Mengyao’s bowl and shot a hostile, aggressive look at Lin Mengxi.
“I didn’t know when someone marrying in had the right to speak at the Lin family table.” Lin Mengxi slammed her utensils on the table and retorted angrily without hesitation.
“Enough, eat your food properly. What are you all getting so worked up about?” Grandma Lin smacked the table firmly, and the sound around the dining table instantly vanished without a trace, returning to silence in the room. “If anyone dares to nitpick during meals again, don’t blame this old lady’s cane for not recognizing people.”
Though Grandma Lin didn’t say it explicitly, her gaze toward Lin Mengyao began to change.