Chang Zhixing and his wife’s expressions darkened as they were not pleased to hear Chang Zhiyuan’s reprimand on their son, but they did not protest in this sort of situation.

“Don’t you know how huge the difference is between the Qi and the Chang family? What makes you think the Chang family can confront the Qi family? The confrontation only puts the Chang family at a disadvantage. Take a look at what happened today—no one dared to show up. Don’t you understand? Everyone will treat the Qi family politely when they meet each other, but look at you, pointing fingers and scolding them as you please. Do you think the Qi family can tolerate it? I went to apologize so that they wouldn’t take revenge on us and prevent situations like what happened today from happening,” Chang Zhiyuan rebuked as he was flustered and exasperated at Grandmother Chang’s attitude.

“Mom! The Chang family isn’t the king in this capital. There are a lot more families who are far superior to us, and the Qi family is certainly one of them. You can’t be so aggressive towards anyone you meet because not everyone will tolerate your defiance,” Chang Zhiyuan felt helpless as he advised angrily.

Grandmother Chang was not an idiot even though she always got angry and the rage would consume her logical thinking every single time. To be honest, she would feel regret whenever she vented her anger, but her pride prevented her from admitting her mistake.

She was fully aware that Chang Zhiyuan was right, but she was unwilling to accept his lessons, so she said brazenly, “Chang Zhiyuan, do you still know who am I? I’m your mother! Is that how you speak to your mother? You unfilial son!”

Chang Zhiyuan sighed and said grudgingly, “Mom, tell me the truth. Did you provoke the Qi family again afterward?”

“No,” Grandmother Chang answered. However, she retracted her neck unconsciously and her tone was not as tough and firm as before, appearing as if she had a guilty conscience.

Chang Zhiyuan noticed it and immediately knew that she was lying.

“Mom, when did you provoke the Qi family again?” Chang Zhiyuan asked angrily and grudgingly.

Grandmother Chang should not have the chance to meet Qi Chenglin privately unless there were some business issues to deal with.

Grandmother Chang realized that it was impossible to cover it up, so she truthfully said, “We saw Ruan Danchen taking her wedding dress in the shop while I brought Jingqiu to take her dress yesterday. She created such a huge scandal and yet she showed up casually in public instead of hiding at home. Her actions are a total disgrace to the Qi family. Was there something wrong with the Qi family? Why would they accept a woman who wasn’t even up to their standard? I felt that she was unworthy of the Qi family so I… gave her some advice. Who would expect her to reject my kind advice?”

However, Chang Zhiyuan knew his mother too well. It was impossible for Grandmother Chang to advise Ruan Danchen. She would scold and criticize Ruan Danchen instead.

Why would she feel that Ruan Danchen was unworthy for the Qi family when it was none of her business at all? Why would she worry in the first place?

“Mom, what else do you want me to say? That’s the Qi family’s issue. Why do you even feel that she’s unworthy for them?” Chang Zhiyuan complained and waved his arm angrily.

“What kind of attitude is that? Why don’t you comment that Ruan Danchen was rude to me? She didn’t show any respect to elders. What an uneducated b*tch!” Grandmother Chang was unwilling to listen to Chang Zhiyuan and protested.

Chang Zhiyuan was too tired to argue with her and asked, “Was Qi Chenglin there when you ‘advised’ Ruan Danchen yesterday?”

“…” Grandmother Chang remained silent.

Chang Zhiyuan was at the breaking point of his patience. Grandmother Chang’s rebuke must have been so harsh that Qi Chenglin brought his gang to teach the Chang family a lesson.

He had no idea how to plead for forgiveness now.

The ashen-faced Chang Jingqiu suddenly recalled that she had invited Xia Zishan and Chen Libai but they did not show up too. It was obvious that they were scared of Qi Chenglin and his gang.

Xia Zishan claimed that Chang Jingqiu was her bestie but acted otherwise when the situation became critical. Thus, Chang Jingqiu did not bother to give them a phone call as there was no need for her to embarrass herself when she was well aware of their thoughts now.

When Chang Zhiyuan was racking his brain on how to plead for forgiveness, the usherer at the entrance announced aloud all of a sudden, “Mr. Yan Beicheng wishes Miss Chang a happy birthday.”

The ashen-faced Chang Jingqiu was taken aback by the sudden announcement. Was this a surprise for her?

Otherwise, why would Yan Beicheng with a higher social class show up personally to wish her a happy birthday?

Even though she did not believe it intellectually, her vanity gave her some hope and the paleness on her face were slowly replaced with redness.

There was a person following behind Yan Beicheng with a white wreath in his hand. Then, without needing Yan Beicheng’s instruction, he presented the wreath to Chang Jingqiu after they came up to her.

More blood drained from Chang Jingqiu’s face afterward.

This… this was obviously a funeral wreath for the deceased!

Chang Jingqiu shuddered due to exasperation and tears started welling up in her eyes as she stared at the handsome man who was smiling at her.

The usherer’s voice traveled across the banquet hall momentarily. “Mr. Gui Zhiqian wishes Miss Chang a happy birthday.”

“Mr. Han Zhuoli wishes Miss Chang a happy birthday.”

“Mr. Wei Ziqi wishes Miss Chang a happy birthday.”

“Mr. Chu Zhaoyang wishes Miss Chang a happy birthday.”

They entered the banquet hall according to the announcements by the greeter, and each of them was followed by a man of ordinary temperament who looked like an undertaker. Each undertaker would carry a wreath in his hands, and the flowers consisted of several colors such as plain white, light yellow and so on.

The wreath Chu Zhaoyang ordered was the most horrendous of all as there was a huge ‘libation¹‘ wording hanging on it.

The birthday celebration was supposed to be grand and hectic, but it ended up being desolated thanks to those men, and they even brought these wreaths to disgust them. Their actions made Grandmother Chang shudder in exasperation immediately.

Were they cursing her granddaughter by bringing such whammy items to a birthday banquet?

The greeter announced again, “Mr. Qi Chenglin and his wife wishes Miss Chang a happy birthday.”

Then, Qi Chenglin held Ruan Danchen’s hand and entered the banquet hall. Ruan Danchen did not have the heart to enter the hall but she had no choice due to Qi Chenglin’s insistence.

It was not surprising to see a man following behind them with a wreath twice the size from the rest which he placed beside the other wreaths on the ground afterward.

Qi Chenglin glanced at the time when they were having dinner just now and stated softly that it was time to go. Then, he brought Ruan Danchen out of the dining room as Yan Beicheng and his gang followed closely behind them.

Subsequently, they saw a row of people standing outside the room with a wreath in each of their hands.

Ruan Danchen was curious at the identity of the individual who dared to bring bad luck to these gentlemen, but before she could ask aloud, Qi Chenglin said lightly, “Let’s go.”

These people then followed behind them with solemn and stern expressions as if they were conducting a funeral.

When they were on their way to the banquet hall, they met the manager from Dynasty whose face twitched as if he was having a stroke, but he could not give any comments to these gentlemen.

Ruan Danchen was interested to know Qi Chenglin’s intention and why these people carried wreaths initially, and her questions were answered when they came to the banquet hall which was occupied by the Chang family only and gave the wreaths to Chang Jingqiu.

“Grandma!” Chang Jingqiu wailed bitterly and pounced into Grandmother Chang’s embrace.

Grandmother Chang’s eyes started to glow red due to frustration as she stared at the gentlemen before her. All of them were elites and yet they stood proud and tall before her like a bunch of uncouth thugs.

“You… what are you guys doing?” Grandmother Chang raised her quivering arm but she was unsure who to point at amidst her anger. In the end, she pointed her finger at Qi Chenglin.

Qi Chenglin smirked while enjoying the sight of Grandmother Chang’s vexed expression as though the level of his satisfaction was directly proportional to her annoyance.

“The shop assistant mentioned yesterday that it was Miss Chang’s birthday today. Since fate brought us together yesterday, I thought I should visit and express my wishes today,” Qi Chenglin smirked.

“You guys went too far in your insults!” Grandmother Chang exclaimed exasperatedly. The increase in her volume induced pain in her throat and she yelled while covering her neck, “Water, give me water!”

Chang Jingqiu was disabled by her constant weeping and thus Chang Jingwan poured a glass of water for Grandmother Chang. The pain in her throat subsided once she gulped down the glass of water.

“Yo, you should appreciate our gifts. These wreaths were chosen personally and we even requested every flower to be as huge and fresh as possible.” Yan Beicheng took out a cigarette out of his pocket unconsciously again as he wanted to enjoy the pleasure of smoking after pranking Grandmother Chang.

“What do you guys want? You’re giving us these to curse my granddaughter when it’s her birthday today? Who do you think you are to demand our guests to stay away and giving us gifts that brings bad luck? You went too far in bullying us!” Grandmother Chang shuddered and pointed at them angrily.

“Exactly, we’re here today just to bully you so that you’ll remember not to scold and criticize my wife again in the future. Am I right to assume that you won’t know your place if I don’t do something about it? The Chang family is nothing to me—that’s what I told you yesterday. So now I’m showing you where exactly is the Chang family in my mind. The ruination of Miss Chang’s birthday today is all because of your stupidity.” Qi Chenglin smirked and his contempt grew stronger as he faced Grandmother Chang’s anger.

“You—” Grandmother Chang was furious but she had no idea how to respond appropriately.

Qi Chenglin was an unreasonable and arrogant savage at the current moment. He chose to disgust them openly and blatantly instead of going up against them in business or playing tricks behind their backs.

The Chang family could retaliate if Qi Chenglin opposed them in business, and they could pretend to be ignorant and launch a counterattack if he played tricks behind their backs. That way, the Qi family could not condemn their deeds since they were the ones who started it first.

However, Qi Chenglin chose none of it and took his revenge right in their faces like a shameless rogue. The Chang family had no choice but to take all of it silently since they could not rebuke or retaliate his indecent and blatant acts thanks to his identity.

“Grandmother Chang, I’ll take revenge on those who makes my wife unhappy, I hope you remember it now. Whoever makes my wife angry will feel my wrath immediately.” Qi Chenglin’s gaze on Grandmother Chang was full of contempt before shifting his gaze to Chang Jingqiu casually.

“It’s a pity that we’re unable to do this on Grandmother Chang’s birthday,” Qi Chenglin added disappointingly.

Grandmother Chang almost vomited blood after hearing his statement. Why did he even mention it with such a disappointing tone?

Chang Jingqiu was unaware of the commotion going on as she was still wailing in Grandmother Chang’s embrace.

This was the first time Grandmother Chang encountered such an unreasonable person whose actions were no different than a rogue. He made her feel incredibly vexed.

Grandmother Chang was feeling annoyed and the sight of Chang Jingqiu weeping continuously in her arms made her even more exasperated.

Qi Chenglin had enough of the Chang family and left the banquet hall with Ruan Danchen.

Han Zhuoli—on the other hand—felt reluctant to leave earlier because it had been a long time since anyone dared to provoke them. He wanted to enjoy the fun a while longer as it was a rare occasion to go up against one who was fearless with high combat efficiency such as Grandmother Chang.

“Hey, leaving so soon? Qi Chenglin, hit me up if you’re going to have similar fun next time! I’m a formidable teammate,” Han Zhuoli yelled as he was dragged away without any warning by Chu Zhaoyang even though he wanted to stay.

“Are you as formidable as Lao Chu?” Qi Chenglin replied coldly without turning around.

“…” The corner of Han Zhuoli’s lips twitched and he remained speechless when he recalled the huge ‘libation’ wording on the wreath Chu Zhaoyang gifted.

Grandmother Chang exploded with anger upon hearing the conversation between Han Zhuoli and Qi Chenglin and took another glance at the wreaths. She was at an advancing age now, waiting patiently for her demise and every year she spent was considered a gift from God.

However, the bunch of ominous wreaths that were placed before her appeared as if imprecating curses to welcome her death. Then, the world went black as she crumpled like a puppet suddenly released of their strings.

On the other hand, Qi Chenglin and his gang continued their dinner back in the dining room. It was almost time to depart for the banquet hall just now when they were only halfway through their meals. Fortunately, the food remained warm since they did not spend too much time in the banquet hall.

Ruan Danchen remained silent at Qi Chenglin’s revenge method and had completely forgotten about it afterward.

Ruan Danchen was more concerned about Qi Youxuan. The winter camp organized by his school was coming to an end and according to the schedule, he would depart from the resort at three o’clock in the afternoon and arrive at his school approximately two hours later, assuming there was no delay to his journey.

She already missed Qi Youxuan when they were on their way to Dynasty in the evening. She was worried that Qi Chenglin’s plan may take up too much of their time and delay their initial plan to fetch Qi Youxuan home. However, Qi Chenglin figured that there was nothing more important than avenging his wife, so he instructed Xiao Yang to fetch Qi Youxuan home instead.

While they were having their dinner before bringing trouble to the banquet hall, Xiao Yang called them at approximately six o’clock stating that he had fetched Qi Youxuan safely. He also explained that the children arrived late to school due to traffic congestion.

Ruan Danchen wanted to have a little chat with the kid but he threw a tantrum and refused to talk to her because he was unhappy that his parents did not fetch him personally. Even so, she felt at ease that Qi Youxuan had arrived at school safely and asked Xiao Yang to give her a call once he brought the kid home.

Nevertheless, Ruan Danchen kept glancing at the time and wondered why Xiao Yang had not called her yet. Qi Chenglin took a few pieces of poached fish fillets and picked out all the bones carefully before putting them onto Ruan Danchen’s plate. “Have your food first. Don’t keep staring at the phone.”

Ruan Danchen did not dare to call Youxuan, who was angry at her, which made her feel depressed and yet, she could not blame Qi Chenglin either because he was doing this just to avenge her.

Even so, she ate the poached fish fillet Qi Chenglin placed on her plate. The fish fillet smelled rich and spicy, and the softness melted instantly upon placing it in one’s mouth.

Finally, Xiao Yang gave them a phone call after they were done with dinner and told them that the kid had entered his home safely, and Aunt Zheng had prepared Qi Youxuan’s favorite dinner too.

“He’s still angry?” Ruan Danchen smiled when she imagined the kid’s angry expression.

Xiao Yang did not answer her question and instead, she heard Xiao Yang call out to Qi Youxuan on the other end of the phone. “Youxuan, Madam wants to have a word with you.”

“I don’t want!” Ruan Danchen heard him faintly through the phone. It was obvious that he was yelling at Xiao Yang angrily.

Ruan Danchen had no choice but to coax him when they returned home later, thus she asked Xiao Yang to convey her message. “Tell him that we were unable to fetch him today due to unexpected circumstances. We’ll be back soon, and remind him to have his dinner too.”

Xiao Yang conveyed the message to Qi Youxuan without hanging up the phone call.

However, the kid did not respond and thus, she had no choice but to hang up the call.

…

…

Grandmother Chang was already in the hospital when she woke up. It was just a normal syncope because of the intense rage she experienced, and was not any serious health conditions. She would be fine after waking up but the doctors were worried that their actions may be perceived as irresponsible by her family members, thus they offered the family advice and asked that she stays home and rest, and to keep her anger in check.

The Chang family did not dare to send Grandmother Chang to Chutian Hospital because of Chu Zhaoyang’s friendship with Qi Chenglin.

Chang Jingqiu pounced onto the hospital bed as soon as Grandmother Chang woke up. “Grandma, you’re awake! You scared me so much!”

Grandmother Chang was annoyed at Chang Jingqiu’s persistent weeping, and Chang Jingqiu continued crying again after she finally regained consciousness, as if mourning for her death. When she recalled the wreaths that were gifted by those men, her expression darkened further.

However, Grandmother Chang stroke Chang Jingqiu’s hair and complained after recalling the unjust treatment she received today. “Qi Chenglin went too far in his insult today!”

“Mom—” Chang Zhiyuan said grudgingly.

He could not deny that Qi Chenglin went a little too far in his revenge and Chang Jingqiu’s birthday banquet ended up in a mess. He initially thought that threatening the guests so that they would not dare to attend the banquet was Qi Chenglin’s way of teaching Grandmother Chang a lesson because it meant getting rid of Chang Jingqiu from this social circle, but he did not expect Qi Chenglin to come up with another outrageous act with his gang.

Chang Zhiyuan felt that Chang Jingqiu had received unjust treatment too when he recalled that she was the only daughter of his beloved deceased sister.

However, Grandmother Chang started venting her anger by yelling at Chang Zhiyuan the moment he opened his mouth. “You still dare to call me your mom? You kept quiet when Qi Chenglin and his gang bullied me and now you’re calling me? You watched them bully Jingqiu and I without any attempts in defending us. Is that how you’re supposed to act as a son or an uncle?”

Mo Yuxin was fed up with Grandmother Chang who was scolding her husband unreasonably and embarrassing him publicly. Moreover, this was not Chang Zhiyuan’s fault. Everything happened because of Grandmother Chang herself.

“Mom, what do you want Zhiyuan to say at the banquet just now? If he utters so much as one syllable and makes them angry, they’ll gather up and go against the Chang family. We’ll be doomed if that happens! What else can we do other than take the beating from them? Why would Qi Chenglin bring trouble to Jingqiu’s birthday if you didn’t provoke him? If you could just manage your own temper and don’t provoke the Qi family, none of this would’ve happened,” Mo Yuxin had reached the end of her forbearance and said angrily, feeling nothing but hatred when she stared at Grandmother Chang on the hospital bed.

“Are you blaming me now? Chang Zhiyuan, you married a wonderful wife who scolded her mother-in-law now. What else is she afraid to do? You allowed her to oppose me at will. Is this how you usually teach your wife, to pay lip service? She must be pretending to be respectful towards me but always talk behind my back, right? Mo Yuxin, I can see very clearly that you’re unhappy with me, so why don’t you blurt it all out today. Fuel my anger and let death consume me so that I won’t bother you guys anymore.” Grandmother Chang slammed her fist on the bed repeatedly which let out multiple soft bangs.

Mo Yuxin gritted her teeth with red-rimmed eyes, trying her best to contain her grievance.

Her husband was fantastic and her children were thoughtful, but why did she have such an unreasonable mother-in-law?

Chang Jingwan leaned closer to Mo Yuxin due to fear and held her mother’s hand quietly in an attempt to comfort her.

“Mom, what are you talking about? It was supposed to be a good day today,” Liu Xiangwen said after pausing for second thoughts.

Mo Yuxin glared at Liu Xiangwen angrily. Liu Xiangwen was adding fuel to the flame instead of advising Grandmother Chang. Did she really think that the family was not chaotic enough?

“Mom, Yuxin’s tone may be too harsh just now but she cares for this family. Tell me the truth based on your conscience, if you didn’t provoke Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen yesterday, will they bring trouble here today? Will Jingqiu’s birthday end up in such a mess?” Chang Zhiyuan said seriously.