Yang Xiaojing kept her mouth shut and stared at the floor. She bowed her head in a sort of defeat and made herself as small as possible.
Yang Feng placed a warm hand onto Zhao Lifei's lower back. He did not need words to intimidate insignificant things like Yang Xiaojing. Her meager shares in the pany and a brief mention in Yang Mujian's will was enough to provide her social standing in the family.
Zhao Lifei saw there was only one empty chair at the table, reserved solely for Yang Feng. She found this indirect insult very amusing. She stared straight at Yang Qianlu who took a leisurely sip of his tea. He was engaged in a conversation with Yang Yulong. It seemed the only person who heard the smack-talking was Yang Ruqin and Zhao Lifei.
Yang Feng noticed the lack of a chair for her and was prepared to go home. He had spent less than an hour here and he was already fuming on the inside. No one would leave this place unscathed. While he stood there, Chen Gaonan and a team of people were already on their way tanking the stock market for certain panies. Investors will begin pulling out soon. They would never know what hit them.
He briefly glanced at Zhao Lifei and saw her willingness to stay here and tolerate this madness. There was only one seat open and he was not going to allow her to fend off the piranhas by herself. His bitter eyes shifted to Yang Xiaojing.
"Scram." He growled.
"P-pardon?" Yang Xiaojing squeaked out like a mouse, her eyes going wide.
It was at this moment that Yang Qianlu finally spoke up. "Ah, Xiao Xiu, you have returned." He saw the woman approaching and glanced around the table in search of an open chair. His eyes wandered over to Yang Xiaojing.
"Xiao Xiao, your aunt seems to be calling you." He pointed to the table beside them, forcing her to read in-between the lines: Get up and give the seat to Su Meixiu.
Yang Feng's gentle clutch tightened into an unbearable grip. "Do not test my patience." He seethed, a rumbling noise ing from his chest.
Yang Mujian enjoyed the show with a glass of wine. He wondered how territorial Yang Feng could get. He couldn't figure out if it was a good or bad thing. Currently, it was dwarfed to a negative perspective. When he discovered the mission to target Xia Mengxi, he briefly thought it was vengeance for Yang Ruqin. That is until Su Boyuan brought up Xia Mengxi and Zhao Lifei's unpleasant past.
"I am your father, do you think you can hurt me?" Yang Qianlu's patient words held a perilous edge to it.
A shadow covered Yang Feng's face, turning everything around him ghastly and stiff. The atmosphere became unbearable. A strong breeze circulated around the area, willowy ghosts clambering from the Netherworlds. It came to the surface, hiding behind his threatening frame. "I have my ways."
Su Meixiu could not feel any more unfortable than she already was. She knew it was a mistake to e here. All she wanted to do was go home and snuggle into the fort of her bed.
It was already embarrassing as it was to show up here when she didn't hold any impressive position by Yang Feng's side anymore. For some reason, whether it was by chance or force, all of her previous acplishments were flushed down the drain.
No one seemed to care or acknowledge the fact that she used to be his private assistant and one of the most loyal members of his team. It was also because everyone here was wealthier than the other, and her family was at the bottom of the food chain. The Sus were well-off but their money was a joke to these people.
Over the past few weeks, she was forced to think about her life. Everything she did was always set up by her family. When had she truly lived for herself? Did she like Yang Feng because her heart wanted her to, or was it because she was programmed to behave like that?
"You always seem to forget who's in charge now." For the sake of respect, Yang Feng left out the part where Yang Qianlu never stepped foot in the Underworld.
Being the eldest, Yang Qianlu should've been the first to volunteer. Instead, he turned his back to his designated path and went down the good route for 'clean money.' He had forgotten where his roots stemmed from and that there was no such thing as clean money in this world. Everything was handed to him on a golden platter, he never worked for it. Whatever position he presumed was because Yang Mujian planted him there to be useful.
Yang Feng was different, not because he wanted to, but because it was forced upon him. Yang Mujian made sure of that.
Yang Mujian hid his entertained smile behind a sip of his tea. It was bitter and tasted woody on his tongue. This show was simply too entertaining for him to ment on. A face-off between son and father.
It was foolish of Yang Qianlu to pick Su Meixiu's side over Zhao Lifei. He knew it was because his oldest son still thought his father favored the former.
Fan Jielan knew she had to put an end to this before they began to garner unnecessary attention. She opened her mouth to say something but her husband interrupted her.
"This is not how I raised you to behave. You're bringing shame to the family." Like everyone else in his family, Yang Qianlu was good at upholding a poker face. No one could understand what he was thinking. It was a facade that every one of the Yangs tried to cultivate. When half of your relatives were as backstabbing as the Yangs, it was the smartest thing to learn.
"You never raised me." Yang Feng unsympathetically replied. Shame to the family? Was he describing himself?
Yang Qianlu's clenched jaw ticked. He didn't need to be reminded that he abandoned his son. He didn't need to remember he was a coward for not being able to go against Yang Mujian. That was why he was very thorough in the way he raised Yang Yulong. He wanted to show his father that his way of teaching was equally correct in raising a spitball of a weapon.
Yang Mujian saw it was time to end this discussion. Pairs of unwanted eyes had begun to travel to the quiet dispute. "Xiao Fei."
Zhao Lifei's spine stiffened. When her grandfather called her that, she became warm-hearted because it was the same name he used to call her as a child. But, something about the way Elder Yang said her name made her unfortable. The hairs on her arms raised, goosebumps forming. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
She didn't have a chance to reply.
"e and sit down beside my granddaughter." He gestured toward Yang Xiaojing's occupied chair.
'Father, she is not family.' Yang Qianlu desperately wanted to say. But he wisely did not. If he had done so, Yang Mujian would've severely roasted him with words.
Su Meixiu didn't know what had happened to her prowess and confidence. Usually, she could find a way to sink her nails into the hearts of people and get things done her way. Her greatest weapon was her words and the way she could manipulate everyone around her. Tonight was different. She had been a ball of jumbled words, stuttering sentences, and dry replies all night long.
Yang Xiaojing desperately looked at her mother for help. The woman jutted her chin to the other table, requesting for her daughter to stand the hell up. 'What are you waiting for?!' Her mother seemed to scream with her eyes.
With no choice but to abandon her chair, she slowly stood up. She had the decency to politely nod her head at Yang Mujian and scurry off to the other table where her aunt already had an empty chair prepared for her.
Su Meixiu did not miss the dirty look Yang Xiaojing tossed at Zhao Lifei.
Yang Feng considered gouging Yang Xiaojing's eyes out. He was sure she didn't need them anymore, especially after glaring at his woman.
Zhao Lifei seemed to have read his mind. "Don't."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You considered it." She gave him a pointed look. A ghost of a smile lifted at the corner of his lips. She knew him too well.
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