When she saw that her son had returned to his usual attire, Zhao Youlin let out a huge sigh of relief.
To be honest, although Joy was cute, he resembled Mu Tingfeng enough that he looked like a miniature Mu Tingfeng in drag. Although it was unbelievably cute, it still greatly disturbed her worldview.
Fortunately, this episode only lasted for a short while. The former master went downstairs, and Joy had already changed back into his clothes. The adults who had seen Joy in a cross-dressing outfit also had the same intention of not mentioning this matter, silently letting the matter die off.
When Su Ruixin and Mu Xiaoyang came back, the Mu family’s dining table became more lively.
After lunch that day… the former master suddenly said, “It’s Christmas in a few days. I plan to take this opportunity to call a few of my relatives over so that they can meet Youlin. You should also prepare in advance.”
The former master was naturally not talking about the weird distant relatives that Zhao Youlin had met on the first day. Instead, he was talking about a few of the more prestigious uncles of the Mu family.
Zhao Youlin was holding a bowl of fetus-soothing tonic and pouring it into her mouth. Upon hearing the former master’s words, she almost choked. “Grandfather, there’s no need to go through so much trouble. I’m not particularly familiar with the relatives of the Mu family. If there’s anything that’s not well thought out and ends up offending them, wouldn’t it be a waste of time for people to gossip over? Besides, Tingfeng and I will be returning to the country in a few days. There’s really no need to make such a big fuss about it. If we really want to meet, there’ll be plenty of opportunities in the future. There’ll be plenty of opportunities.”
“Why not? I think father’s suggestion is very good. It’s rare for our family to be here, and Youlin now has a child of the Mu family. I think it’s quite good to have uncle and the others come over and let them get to know Youlin and Joy.”
The smile on Zhao Youlin’s face froze because of Su Ruixin’s words. She thought to herself, ‘Mom, can’t you just stay out of trouble?’
Mu Tingfeng looked at Zhao Youlin as if he had sensed something and replied in a low voice, “Actually, I think so too.”
Before he could finish his sentence, Zhao Youlin had already cast a glance at him.
Su Ruixin became even happier after receiving his support. “Tingfeng, you think so too, right? This is the first time Youlin and Joy are spending Christmas with us here. Many of our family members don’t know about the two of you yet. We’ll let you meet the others early so that no one will be able to see you and Joy’s identities in the future and offend you, like the others did.”
Su Ruixin and Mu Xiaoyang had heard the former master and Mu Tingfeng mention the matter of Zhao Youlin and Joy being offended by their weird relatives as soon as they arrived home. Su Ruixin was furious. Su Ruixin’s daughter-in-law and grandson were reluctant to say anything about it, but in the end, they had been offended by some gossipy women. How outrageous!
The former master did not pursue the matter of introducing Zhao Youlin to her relatives at Christmas, but she would find an opportunity to punish some people.
Zhao Youlin was stunned. She knew that Su Ruixin and the others were doing it for her and Joy. Zhao Youlin sighed and nodded in the end, agreeing to it.
To Westerners, Christmas was like Chinese New Year. It was the most important day of the year.
The Mu family had moved their focus to their homeground many years ago. Some of their habits had started to align with Westerners, especially since Mu Tingfeng’s grandma was of foreign descent. Therefore, in the eyes of the Mu family… Christmas was actually a very grand holiday.
A few days before Christmas, the Mu family’s old house had started to liven up. The servants who came and went happily decorated the house, which made Zhao Youlin and Joy really feel that the spring festival had come early.
Joy had never celebrated Christmas before this. As he stared at the Christmas trees that had been added to the house, as well as the small gifts that were wrapped in various colors, he grew to like it.
Every day, he would chase after Su Ruixin and ask, “Grandma, there are so many small gifts on that tree. What’s inside? Do I also have small gifts? When will I be able to open the small gifts?”
At first, Su Ruixin patiently explained it to Joy, “Joy, the gifts on that tree are all fake. The ones on the bottom of the tree are the real ones. Of course, you also get gifts, but you can only open them on Christmas.”
However, after answering his questions… the child had countless more questions. “Grandma, why are there so many fake little presents on the tree? Why do you have to open presents only at Christmas? Do mom and the baby have presents too? Or am I the only one who has presents?”
Su Ruixin was speechless.
Su Ruixin was stumped by the child’s 100,000 questions. Fortunately, Alice appeared at the right time and pulled Joy’s attention away with a plate of sandwich biscuits in her hand.
Only then did Su Ruixin let out a sigh of relief and ran away.
Ever since the day Zhao Youlin and the others arrived, Alice had stepped forward with a plate of biscuits and stood up for him and his mom when those weird relatives made things difficult for them, Joy had fallen in love with this sister, as a result, Joy’s daily routine was to follow Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng outside to play, to ask Alice for snacks in the kitchen, to play around with Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng, and to ask for snacks in the kitchen.
As a result, Zhao Youlin had no choice but to make a rule that Alice could only give Joy a few snacks a day, not more, for fear that Joy would gain too many cavities if he did not know how to control himself.
Under the intensive preparations of the Mu family, Christmas arrived very quickly.
The day had not yet turned dark when a group of elders gradually arrived at the Mu family. The first thing they did when they arrived at the old house was to greet the former master and then give Joy a red packet.
The news of the few women that day had long spread among them. They already had a certain understanding of Zhao Youlin’s standing, the eldest granddaughter-in-law of the Mu family, and Joy, the grandson, in the former master’s heart. Moreover, as closer relatives of the Mu family, they were not all as brainless as the few women from before. Most of them knew how to read people’s faces.
The former master had called them here today to give them a public beating, to tell them that these two juniors were the people he acknowledged and the people he protected, as long as they were slightly smarter, they naturally would not dare to go against their god of wealth. Not only could they not go against him, but they also had to ensure he remained pleased.
Therefore, most of the red packets that Joy received reached up to six figures.
Zhao Youlin could not help but tremble when she first saw them, but she calmed down afterward. This was the first time that Joy had received red packets from these people. She would hold on to them for Joy in the meantime. Moreover, which of these people did not take the money from the Mu family? Joy was now the future heir of the Mu family, and it was only right. With this justification in mind, Zhao Youlin quickly calmed down.
