Chapter 141 – Messing Up (1)
Lan Jinyao and Fu Bainian arrived at the Chen household half an hour later. Grabbing a box with exquisite packaging, Lan Jinyao handed it to Fu Bainian. “I heard that he’s fond of expensive things. These are a pair of jade carvings that I brought back from abroad; they mean longevity.”
“Give them to him yourself later; I prepared my own gift,” Fu Bainian said as he picked up a box from the back seat.
“Let me take a look at what’s inside.” Lan Jinyao quickly snatched the box.
The box had a magnet attached to its cover and looked stylish without any special packaging. Lan Jinyao opened the box as soon as it was in her hands. Inside, there was also a jade carving. It seems to be a Qilin, but there was only one piece.
“Is this thing customised? You just ordered one though, aren’t you too stingy? Not to mention, it’s so small.” Lan Jinyao closed the box, casting it a look filled with disdain.
Fu Bainian didn’t refute her as he took back the gift with one hand, while the other reached out to take Lan Jinyao’s hand. Then, they walked side by side towards the Chen residence.
Chen Meile had been waiting for them at the door, and as soon as she saw Lan Jinyao, she frowned and said, “Why did you arrive so late? The banquet has already started, quickly follow me in!”
Donning a crimson evening dress, Chen Meile looked like a tempting rose in full bloom. However, the moment her eyes landed on the two of them, she no longer had a smile on her face.
Lan Jinyao lowered her eyes to hide her feeling of self-remorse; it was her soul that was occupying Chen Meimei’s body.
Fu Bainian’s hand, which was holding onto hers, slightly tightened as he said, “This is the will of Heaven!”
Lan Jinyao nodded, her eyes reddening as she thought: Fu Bainian always seems to be able to guess her thoughts. At this moment, even though she didn’t say anything, he was able to guess everything from her expression.
Thinking up to here, she took a deep breath and said, “You’re right, this is the will of Heaven!”
Perhaps, she was given a chance to reincarnate in order to fulfil Fu Bainian’s love. Or, it was to let her personally settle her scores with Shen Wei’an. In any case, she wouldn’t live in vain this time!
At this moment, determination was clearly visible in Lan Jinyao’s eyes.
During the birthday banquet, the usually serious and strict Old Chen actually had a smile on his face.
Chen Meile gifted him a Buddha sculpture made from gold. With just one look at the shiny object, one could see that it was worth a lot. Old Chen couldn’t help but smile until his eyes turned into crescents and he continuously approved, “Very good, very good!”
Thus, as soon as Lan Jinyao thought of Fu Bainian’s gift, she inwardly sighed. Old Chen had always been the kind of person who liked to be richly bedecked, and the gifts given to him by others were mainly of exceptional value. The higher the value, the happier he was, and he didn’t conceal his feelings at all.
When Chen Meile was presenting the gift to Old Chen, she cast Lan Jinyao a meaningful glance.
Old Chen doted on Chen Meimei after all, so when he saw Fu Bainian, the smile on his face somewhat disappeared, and he commented, “What’s going on with the recent scandals? Meimei married you because she loves you. You mustn’t let her suffer any grievances.”
Fu Bainian’s lips curled up into a faint smile, and he replied, “I love her dearly, so of course I won’t let her feel wronged.”
When he said these words, Lan Jinyao peered up at him. She was trying to discern whether he was putting on a show for Old Chen, or if he sincerely meant what he said. But, Fu Bainian’s expression was impeccable, so no one could clearly discern what he was thinking about.
On the other hand, when Old Chen heard those words, he instantly burst into laughter.
Fu Bainian took advantage of this opportunity to present his gift box to Old Chen. Instead of accepting it, he said, “Open it for me!”
Lan Jinyao couldn’t bear to look at this and wanted to cover her eyes.
Fu Bainian opened the box in front of Old Chen, and then Lan Jinyao witnessed a surprising scene. Old Chen seemed to like this small toy a lot as his eyes were wide open and he stared at the gift with an obvious look of astonishment.
“Hey, Bainian, how did you find this thing? I collected one a few years ago, and strenuously searched for the other one, yet I couldn’t find it. You’re truly considerate.”
Lan Jinyao was astounded; she didn’t expect Fu Bainian to understand Old Chen so well. However, she now believed that Fu Bainian must have put in a lot of thought into this gift.
Fu Bainian’s expression remained calm as he explained, “A friend of mine happened to have this, and I thought that you would like it. So, I bought it from him.”
When he said this, Old Chen was even happier. In fact, what made Old Chen even more content wasn’t Fu Bainian’s attitude, but the looks those people surrounding them gave him. Who didn’t envy him for having such a blessed daughter and good son-in-law?
The first half of the banquet was very tranquil, but the second half wasn’t peaceful at all, because…Jiang Cheng appeared.
Jiang Cheng had quietly entered, avoiding anyone’s notice. It was only now that he chose to suddenly appear in front of Lan Jinyao.
Following the second half of the banquet, Fu Bainian was dragged over by a group of people to talk about work and future business developments. Lan Jinyao didn’t want to join those boring talks, so she just stayed in a corner and drank by herself. In the face of the many guests and Old Chen, she wanted to remain as quiet as possible and not speak when she didn’t have to, to not expose anything.
Even Chen Meile reminded her to be more careful. Things like rebirth and soul switching were truly too bizarre to speak of, so Chen Meile didn’t tell Old Chen about this to avoid him getting broken-hearted.
And, right at this moment, Jiang Cheng appeared.
Jiang Cheng held a glass of wine and stood behind her as he abruptly said, “I didn’t expect Fu Bainian to accompany you tonight. Here I thought that you’d be stood up again by him!”
Lan Jinyao was scared witless by the sudden voice behind her, and she quickly turned around, spilling a bit of wine as she did so.
“If he doesn’t attend this kind of occasion, then he would no longer be called Fu Bainian.” Having seen things unfold tonight, she was now certain that Fu Bainian had her in his heart. As for those matters that made her broken-hearted, there must be a hidden meaning behind all that. She was sure that Fu Bainian was a person of the same mind and body.
“Haha, it seems that you’re quite stubborn. Even though you were hurt to this point, you still unwaveringly love Fu Bainian. I think I’m falling deeper for you.”
Lan Jinyao slightly smiled and said, “But, I don’t like you.”
Jiang Cheng’s gaze became profound as he continued, “Is that so? Then, I’ll make you fall in love with me.”