When the person outside the door did not hear any response from the duo, she could not help but yell at the door again, “Father, Youlin, are you guys inside there?”
“Yes… We are… Mother, is there anything else?” Zhao Youlin replied to her nervously.
When the person outside the door heard Zhao Youlin’s voice, she heaved a sigh of relief. “Why didn’t anyone inside there respond to me? Have you guys finished your discussion? Dinner is ready. Come down now.”
Duan Yarong sounded normal, they supposed she had not heard anything just now.
Zhao Youlin locked gazes with the former master. The two heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. Zhao Youlin shouted at Duan Yarong through the door, “Oh, okay. We’ll come down in a while. Mother, you may go downstairs first.”
By the time Zhao Youlin helped the former master to walk downstairs, Zhao Shunrong had already returned home. Apart from the two, the rest were already sitting at the dining table. Once the two came down, they could start the meal.
When Duan Yarong heard the movement, she turned her head around and was greeted by the sight of the former master’s grin. She smiled as she asked, “Father, why are you looking so happy today? Did something good happen?”
Right after Duan Yarong spoke, the people around the dining table shot their glances at the two, who were walking downstairs, in unison.
The smile on Zhao Youlin’s face stiffened. She wanted to hint at the former master discreetly, but she was worried that this might raise Zhao Shunrong’s suspicions. So, she got worked up.
Fortunately, the former master still remembered his promise made to Zhao Youlin. He naturally took over the conversation. “I am certainly happy to see Youlin’s growing improvement and the company is getting better.”
“So, that’s how it is.” Duan Yarong did not suspect him. She assumed that Zhao Youlin was really talking about the company’s recent situation with the former master just now.
How could Duan Yarong, who worked in the same company with others, not know how capable her daughter was? After hearing the former master’s words, she looked happy and a smile arched across her lips.
Zhao Youlin heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that Duan Yarong did not suspect them. She let go of the former master’s hand and sat beside Joy. She subconsciously cast a cursory glance at the living hall and realized that Su Ruixin, who was still there when she came home, was already gone.
“Mother, has Madam Mu returned home?”
“Yes. She told me that she needed to handle something at home. So, she made a move first. By the way, before she left, she specifically asked me to pass this over to you.” While Duan Yarong was speaking, she took out a big red invitation card and handed it over to Zhao Youlin.
“Is this… an invitation card? Whose invitation card is this?” Zhao Youlin asked as she took the invitation card.
“She mentioned that this full moon banquet invitation is from one of her nieces’ children. Ruixin said you know her niece. So, she specially invited you and Joy to join them.”
“Her niece?” Zhao Youlin furrowed her eyebrows and was deep in thought for a moment. She flipped open the invitation card in her hand.
Indeed, she saw Su Qing’s name at the bottom right of the invitation card.
Zhao Youlin’s eyes lit up. She recalled that the last time she met Su Qing had been the hospital. At that time, Mu Tingfeng had accompanied her for a prenatal care checkup. Zhao Youlin had misunderstood that the child that Su Qing had conceived belonged to Mu Tingfeng.
At that time, Su Qing looked like she was four months pregnant. It was only natural that she had already given birth to her child after so long.
Zhao Youlin did not speak for a long while since she flipped open the invitation card. When Duan Yarong saw this, she put down her chopsticks and locked gazes with Zhao Shunrong. She asked worriedly, “Youlin, is that any problem… about the invitation card?”
Only then did Zhao Youlin return to her senses. She placed the invitation card on the side and smiled gently as she said, “No problem. Tomorrow, remember to inform Madam Mu that I’m attending the banquet.”
“Oh, okay.”
Duan Yarong and the others had known that the reason Zhao Youlin divorced Mu Tingfeng was because he had looked for a female relative to act as his mistress in order to mislead Zhao Youlin. In the end, Zhao Youlin and Mu Tingfeng had separated because of this. However, they did not know that the actual person whom Mu Tingfeng had asked to act with him was this very person. Otherwise, they would not have allowed Zhao Youlin to attend Su Qing’s child full moon banquet without hesitation.
“Mommy, what kind of banquet are we going to attend?” Joy had attended the former master’s grand birthday banquet once. So, he more or less had a certain understanding about banquets. It mostly revolved around food.
Zhao Youlin took a towel that was placed by the side and wiped Joy’s stained mouth clean. She corrected him, “It would be next Saturday. Joy, it so happens that you would be on a holiday. So, we are going to attend a child’s full moon banquet.”
“A child? Is he like the kindergarten’s children? What is a full moon banquet?” At this age, Joy was very curious about everything. When he saw something and did not understand it, he insisted on getting to the bottom of it.
“We’re going to visit a child who is much younger than the kindergarten’s children. He was born less than a month ago. So, the child still doesn’t know how to walk and crawl. He still doesn’t know how to run and jump. As for the full moon banquet, it is a small party for the child when he is one month old.”
“Wow, that’s how it is!” When Joy heard Zhao Youlin say that the child was so young, he could not help but make an exaggerated exclamation. The next moment, he seemed to have thought of something. He looked up at Zhao Youlin, “Mother, did I have a full moon party too when I was born?”
Zhao Youlin never expected Joy would ask her this question all of a sudden. She was stunned and said awkwardly, “I… I don’t quite remember.”
When Joy was in the Mu family, the Mu family members had treated him as if his presence was invisible to them. They had not even held a one-year-old party for him, much less a full moon banquet.
Zhao Youlin did not want to hurt the child, nor did she want to let him know that she had lied to him after he grew up, so she chose to answer him in a subtle way.
Luckily, Joy did not continue to dwell on this issue. He nodded and switched to a topic that he was most interested in — food.
“Mommy, is there a lot of good food during the child’s full moon banquet?”
Zhao Youlin did not know if she wanted to cry or laugh. “You are already fed with so much good food at home, yet you still want to go to the banquet and eat their food…”
Right after Zhao Youlin spoke, the adults surrounding the dining table including Uncle Zhao, who was serving them at the side, could not help but laugh.
Joy’s small face turned red. He wished to bury himself into the rice bowl. Duan Yarong, who was sitting next to him, could not bear to watch him like this. She took the initiative to help him out of his embarrassment by saying, “It’s natural to get tired of eating at home every day. Joy only wants to taste the outside food which is different from home, right?”
When Joy heard that someone was speaking up for him, he quickly recovered his senses. He kept nodding and agreed to Duan Yarong’s words.
After he finished nodding, he seemed to have thought of something. He turned his head around and looked at Zhao Youlin seriously before he said smugly, “Mommy, I only want to know what is the difference between the taste of the desserts outside and the desserts at home. Don’t accuse me.”
Zhao Youlin thought to herself, ‘This kid is getting naughty nowadays. He’s exactly like his father!”
