When the three people got far away from the formal dining area, Grandpa Lu stopped walking and turned around to face the still scowling Lu Zihao and the red-faced Long Jinjing. Then he grinned and started smacking his grandson’s back.
The loud, thumping sounds made Long Jinjing flinch. She was about to ask Grandpa Lu to stop hitting his grandson but Lu Zihao gestured to her that he was fine. She looked hesitant but still followed what he wanted.
“Bahahaha! Did you see the expression of that old pretentious dingbat when we all walked out one after another?! Did that mutton-headed snoot think that he can bully my beloved granddaughter in front of this old man? Hah! Over HIS dead body! Not mine because I still want to live very long to meet, play and dote on all my great-grandbabies! Hmph!”
Lu Zihao’s scowl transformed into a bemused expression as he watched the old man trashtalking another old man who was younger than him by more than a decade and even cursing him to death.
“When Xiulan my girl told us that Long Jufang will be joining us for dinner, this old man didn’t think too much about it until Ying Yue my girl declined to eat with us tonight! Ying Yue is such a good girl and an excellent mother. Her only fault is having loved a wishy-washy, cowardly scoundrel who only thinks about himself! Ying Yue my girl didn’t say anything bad about that Long Jufang or even show anything negative about him on her expressionless bodyguard face but this old man clearly saw all the pain, humiliation, and anger in her eyes at the mere mention of that old coot. Why would she look like that?! This old man knows!
“Long Jufang and all those backward Longs must have hurt her! Poor girl! The Longs have always been a bunch of elitist snobs who think too highly of themselves just because of their noble roots. What noble roots?! Whatever noble roots they had before already fell into decay a long time ago! Their narrow minds are stuck in the ancient times! Do they really think that they can continue acting like pompous bastards to everyone who they think are beneath them? Tell me, I want to know! Do they really think that, huh?!”
Lu Zihao allowed the old man to release all his bad feelings in his long tirade about the Longs. Then he noticed that his woman looked like she was about to cry but was just trying hard to hold it in. His eyes became cold again but there was also worry in them. He pulled her into his arms, embracing her.
“What’s wrong, hm?” he whispered directly to her ear.
She shook her head and just wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her face against his chest to hide. She didn’t care anymore if others saw her acting this intimate with Lu Zihao even when she usually got shy.
“Jinjing my girl, what’s wrong? Tell Grandpa Lu. I want to know!”
She finally showed her face. There were tear stains on the front of Lu Zihao’s shirt. She shook her head and forced herself to smile. “I’m fine, Grandpa Lu. Please don’t worry about me.”
“Is it because that old snob back at the dining table didn’t treat you right compared to Xiulan my girl? Hah! This old man isn’t blind. I saw everything with my own two eyes! That haughty goat only began paying proper attention to you when this old man said that you’re going to be my granddaughter-in-law! Hmph! Typical backward Long! He thinks he’s above everyone else but doesn’t hesitate to kiss the asses of those who have higher statuses than him! Does he think we’re all stupid that we can’t see what a calculative bastard he is? I want to know! Does he really think us stupid, huh?!”
Long Jinjing sighed. She tried to hide it but both Grandpa Lu and Lu Zihao still saw the sadness in her eyes. “I’m really fine, Grandpa Lu. I’m used to it. Not everyone in the clan are, uhm, discriminating. There are some who are good people. Besides, I’m already used to them not really accepting me because I’m…illegitimate.”
Lu Zihao’s expression turned dark. He started to head back to formal dining area.
She pulled him—or tried to pull him back. “Ni—Zihao! What are you going to do?”
“I’m gonna beat up that motherfucking—”
“No!” She hung on to him like a koala as if her light weight and petite body could physically stop him from moving. “I said I’m fine! Elder Long Jufang is Little Sister Xiulan and Brother-in-law’s guest. I don’t want to give them any trouble. Little Sister Xiulan is pregnant. We shouldn’t upset her by creating a big ruckus!”
Both Grandpa Lu and Lu Zihao stopped upon the mention of the pregnant Iris. Their expressions were both ugly but at least they weren’t going on an angry tirade or threatening to beat up Long Jufang anymore.
“Hmph! Although this old man knows why Xiulan my girl is putting up with that pretentious old snoot, I’d rather not eat at the same table with that kind of fake person! Instead of having a bellyful of food, I’ll have a bellyful of anger if I just force myself to pretend to be nice to that Long Jufang! I’m too old to start acting plastic now! Come, Haohao my boy and Jinjing my girl. Let’s go find Ying Yue my girl and my precious great-grandson Little Junjun my boy and eat dinner together with them instead!”
Grandpa Lu started walking away, expecting the two of them to follow him.
Lu Zihao didn’t move but Long Jinjing gently shook his arm.
“Let’s go, Nikolai. I’d also rather eat dinner with Sis Yue and Little Jun than Elder Jufang.”
“Hm.”
They started walking together but at a much slower pace than the sprightly old man who was already chatting with a houseboy headed to the same direction.
“Nikolai?” she whispered.
“Hm?”
“Can I ask you a question?”
He glanced down at her from the corner of his eyes and grunted.
“What was on your mind when Grandpa Lu said earlier that I’m going to be…uhm, his…granddaughter-in-law?”
