Chapter 796: Is a Daughter (2)
Ye Xigu knew that Huo Ci used to be pretty reckless, but after so many years, no illegitimate child had come looking for him. Why had an illegitimate daughter suddenly appeared?
Besides, if she had wanted to find Huo Ci, there was no need for her to appear after becoming an adult and having had a child this big. Wouldn’t it be better if she came to find him earlier to con him?
Rong Yu choked and sized them up carefully. This was a big joke. He had skipped right past marriage. His daughter and grandson had already grown so big. He was indeed the number one devil incarnate in China. Besides admiration, he could not find another word to describe them.
Ah Yin had mentioned Huo Ci to him before. He had said that he was already so old, but had not gotten married or had children. He did not know what he was thinking, but he would still worry about him. Now, everything was fine. His family had popped out of nowhere.
However, who was this girl’s mother? Why had she only come to find Huo Ci after so many years? Where had she been for so long before? She did not seem like she wanted to extort Huo Ci.
Jiang Jianhong’s thoughts were a little different from others’. Inwardly, he thought that the Old Master’s words did not make sense. If she was not worthy of being Huo Ci’s wife, how was she worthy of being his daughter? However, on a closer look, their features really did resemble each other, especially their temperament. They were very similar.
“Sheng Sheng, come and greet me. Xiaoqi should come too.” Huo Xiao was overjoyed. He did not even look at Huo Ci, treating him like air.
Ling Sheng led Xiaoqi over and greeted everyone ‘Happy New Year’ one by one.
Ye Xigu and the others picked the two biggest red packets they had gotten for New Year’s greetings. The mother and son each got one. Before the red packets had warmed up, they were passed over to someone else again.
Huo Xiao was so happy that he could not close his mouth. He made Ling Sheng and Xiaoqi accept them, saying that it was a gesture of kindness from the elders. He only gave out red packets early in the morning. He felt very happy to take the red packets back.
Everyone present was smart. Upon seeing the Old Master and Old Madam’s attitude, they knew that the two of them really doted on the granddaughter they had just acknowledged. However, this girl and her son were really sweet. They knew how to talk and make others happy.
Huo Ci became the unwelcome person. After drinking a cup of tasteless tea, he got up to leave.
Huo Xiao pointed at him. “Where are you going? Go out and pay New Year calls. Look, whose child is like you?”
Huo Ci said, “Isn’t it fine so long as all my older brothers go? Everyone knows that I’m a scumbag, an unfilial son. They wouldn’t care if I went to pay New Year’s greetings or not.”
In the past, he definitely had to go home on New Year’s Eve. He could not miss New Year’s Eve dinner or the New Year greetings. Otherwise, he would definitely be punished by the Old Master. This was the first time he had skipped New Year’s Eve dinner and his New Year greetings.
“Take Sheng Sheng and Xiaoqi out for a walk.” Huo Xiao got angry whenever he saw Huo Ci. But he did not want to punish this scumbag on the first day of the new year.
“Exactly. My Old Master talks about you often,” Ye Xi looked at him and said politely. No one cared about these New Year greetings. They were just doing it for fun and auspiciousness.
Huo Ci frowned and sat back down. “I haven’t unpacked my luggage!”
Huo Xiao said, “Do you need to unpack? You can choose not to go to other families but you should go to the Rong, Jiang, and Yan families! Bring Sheng Sheng to meet them.”
Huo Ci nodded in agreement. He was right. He had to go and take a look, and get back the red packets he had given out before. He could not always give more red packets than he received. That was such a loss. He had to take them back. He told Ling Sheng, “Go pack your things. We’ll leave in half an hour.”
Chapter 797: Status Symbol (1)
Ye Xigu and the others had been here for a long time. Upon seeing Ling Sheng get sent away by Huo Ci, they knew that their family had to talk, so they bade farewell and left.
Ling Sheng’s room was on the second floor. It was a very big and bright room. It was decorated like a little princess’ room, and the decoration was the best. The big bed was a round, princess bed that could revolve. There was even a brilliant crystal canopy hanging from it. It was dreamlike.
There was also a separate washroom and dressing room. The clothes hanging in there were all new season products from various luxurious brands. There were hers and Xiaoqi’s.
The room was very big, and there was a plush rug placed on the ground. When Xiaoqi reached his new house, he ran around to familiarize himself with the new environment and even went to the study room.
The study had been renovated, and there was a warm blanket laid on the ground. There was also a small slide, a ball pit, and a small shelf full of Xiaoqi’s favorite picture books and even Lego toys.
Huo Xiao looked at Ling Sheng. “My good grandchild, do you like it?”
Ling Sheng nodded. She liked it. Of course, she liked it. “Grandpa, you didn’t have to go to so much trouble.”
The decoration was a little too nice. The room was also really big—one-third the size of her father’s place. It was truly luxurious. She would not be staying for long during the New Year.
“It’s fine so long as you like it. What trouble are you talking about? I got the fifth son of the Lu Family to design it for you.” Huo Xiao was very satisfied. As long as his dear granddaughter liked it, he would be happy.
Su Xiyin was watching over Xiaoqi, and playing with him in the study. She had not seen him in more than ten days, so she missed him very much. She could not get enough of him.
Ling Sheng had brought her luggage over herself, but she had not expected her grandpa to prepare everything. She went to the dressing room to unpack her luggage and put her clothes in it.
When she came out, she heard people arguing at the door.
“Father, how can you not keep your word? You promised me that you’d let Feifei stay in this room. We had agreed last year during the new year.” Huo Family’s Fourth Sister-in-Law, Xiao Hui, was angry as she tried to reason with him.
Two days ago, she had seen the Old Master decorate the room very carefully with much fanfare and even invited the Lu Family’s Fifth Brother to design it. She had been overjoyed. She thought that Feifei’s years of hard work had not been in vain after all. The old man had finally remembered to treat her better.
However, she had not expected the old man to give the room to the b*stard Huo Ci had brought back in less than half a day she had been out!
As expected, he had never really liked Feifei. Why would he suddenly be so concerned about her? It turned out that he had prepared this for that illegitimate daughter!
“When did I agree? This room belongs to my Huo Family’s eldest granddaughter. How can I randomly let an outsider stay in it?” Huo Xiao’s face was cold and severe.
“Father!” Xiao Hui looked at him in disbelief. She looked like she was about to cry from anger as she said furiously, “So my Feifei has never caught your eye in all these years? Feifei grew up by my side and treats you as her biological grandpa.Is she not even worthy of living in a room? Can’t she compare to a mere illegitimate daughter?”
This room was specifically reserved for his granddaughter by the old man. It was the best room in the house—in terms of lighting and ventilation, and it was also the biggest one. The old man liked granddaughters, but he was not that blessed. The house was full of sons.
After she had given birth to her eldest son, she had brought her sister-in-law’s obedient, sensible, and sweet-tongued youngest daughter over. She had wanted to make the Old Master happy. After she controlled the old man, he would have to favor their particular branch of the family. He had even changed Feifei’s surname to Huo.
Who knew that this old man would only like the granddaughter in his imagination? No matter how much Feifei tried to please him, he had always been indifferent to her.
Chapter 798: Status Symbol (2)
During the Lunar New Year last year, Feifei had been here too. She had only mentioned letting Feifei stay in that room as it would be a waste to leave it empty all the time. Why not stay there? The Old Master had agreed too.
Now that he had found his biological granddaughter, he immediately refused to admit it. Since this old man was heartless, he could not blame her for kicking up a fuss.
“Fourth Daughter-in-Law, watch your words. Who’s an illegitimate daughter? My dear granddaughter is the legitimate eldest granddaughter of the Huo Family. She’ll acknowledge her ancestors tonight.” Huo Xiao hated hearing people call her an illegitimate daughter the most. His face was livid, and his expression turned cold.
“Oh, Father, it’s not like you don’t know how ridiculous Sixth Brother was back then.” Upon hearing the Old Master’s protective words, Xiao Hui felt a ball of anger inside and laughed sarcastically. “Now that a biological granddaughter has come, who knows if the b*stards who have stayed outside all these years will come one after another? When the time comes, shall we vacate all the rooms for them?”
She knew that the old fogey wanted to bring back the b*stard from Sixth Brother’s family. She had thought that he would at most let her stay in the guest room. Oh, no! Now, he wanted her to stay in the best main room. She could not take this lying down!
“Stop calling her an illegitimate daughter. I’ll tell you something then. If all of Sixth Son’s illegitimate granddaughters are found, I can even spare my own room for them.” Huo Xiao was not a good-tempered person in the first place, so he got annoyed when he saw this snarky thing. “Don’t try to climb all over me.”
Upon seeing that the Old Master was angry, Xiao Hui knew that she had gone a little overboard. She hurriedly changed her words and tried to persuade him in a different way. “Father, please don’t be angry. My heart simply aches for Feifei. You too know that Feifei will be bringing her fiance back this year. Her fiance is a prince, and his family lives in a castle. If he comes to our house, how can we let him stay in the guest room? How will he talk about the Huo Family? What will the foreign media report about our Huo Family?”
Her Feifei had lived up to her expectations. After studying overseas for two years, she found a prince who would inherit the throne in the future. His family assets were spread all over the world. Any random search on the internet would find reports about him. Feifei had finally earned her respect and made her proud in front of others.
“Prince? They haven’t even married yet. You should tell her to be more careful. Do you think there are princes everywhere in Europe during her studies? Would a prince like her?” Huo Xiao was not happy at the mentioned Huo Feifei.
That girl was far inferior to his granddaughter. From her looks to personality, she could not even compare to a single finger of his dear granddaughter. What prince? She should take care not to be deceived and even end up helping the person to count his money[1].
As for that prince, he was a prince from a small country in Europe. He was just like a lucky charm. There were only a few people with power and money. She spoke about him as though he was worth a lot of money.
“Father, you’re too much. I know you don’t like Feifei, but you don’t have to humiliate her like this. What did Feifei do to you?” Xiao Hui was full of anger, but she did not dare to flare up at the Old Master. She could only pretend to suffer from being wronged. “If I had known that you didn’t like Feifei, I wouldn’t have asked her to come home. Feifei treats you respectfully like her biological grandpa. It turns out that filial piety can’t be exchanged for affection.”
Great!
How great!
He could look down on Feifei like this just because she was not his biological daughter. He was probably feeling unsettled that Feifei had found a prince whom that b*stard from Sixth Brother’s family could not compare to!
Humph!
Let them wait and see!
Feifei would be back tomorrow. Then, she would show them what a prince, a true aristocrat, looked like!
[1] This is a Chinese saying about how not only is someone unaware that he has been used by others, but he even feels gratitude toward them.
Chapter 799: Status Symbol (3)
“What happened?” Huo Li had gone to the washroom. When he came out, he saw his wife arguing with his father. He frowned and walked forward, looking at her unhappily as he lectured her. “Why are you angering our father again?”
“Hubby, I’m not trying to anger your father. Do you still remember? Didn’t your father personally say himself that he would let Feifei stay in this room last year?” Upon seeing her husband arrive, Xiao Hui tried to pull him to her side and reason with him.
“What is it about Feifei staying or not? The whole Huo Family belongs to Father. He can let whoever he wants live here.” Huo Li had been begging the Old Master for the past few days to let him take over the jewelry business owned by the Huo Family. How could he have the guts to offend him?
Besides, the Old Master had always been the person with the most authority in this family. The Old Master had always been a man of his word as well. So what if he regretted it and retracted his words? No one would dare offend him.
“Hubby, you’re right. It’s my fault.” Although Xiao Hui said that, she gritted her teeth in hatred inwardly. She wanted to see exactly how impressive that b*stard from Sixth Brother’s family was. She smiled and said, “I heard Sixth Brother came back with his daughter. Where’s she? Why hasn’t he come out to let us meet him?”
Ling Sheng was standing right at the door. The voices outside were quite loud, and the door was not closed tightly either. She could hear their conversation clearly.
The door was knocked twice. When it was pushed open, she pretended to walk out of the dressing room. She looked at the woman in front of her and nodded politely with a smile.
Grandpa had just said that Fourth Brother’s wife, the so-called Fourth Uncle Huo’s wife, was called Xiao Hui. Her family was not a well-known big family. She had used some means to enter the Huo Family back then, so she looked quite petty.
Ling Sheng had heard from her grandma that the Huo Feifei she mentioned was the daughter of her Fourth Aunt’s brother. There were no girls in the Huo Family, so she had brought her niece over to live with her. She had wanted to make Grandpa happy, so she had even changed her surname and transferred the household register to the couple’s name. She had become their daughter and changed her mind.
However, she did not know what she had done wrong. Grandpa had never liked her. He had said that she was scheming and not pure.
“Oh, you’re Sixth Brother’s daughter, right? I’m your Fourth Aunt.” Xiao Hui knew her. Wasn’t she the celebrity who had been involved in Sixth Brother’s scandal?
So this was the b*stard the Old Master had been longing for. One look at his face and one could tell that he was not easy to deal with!
“Hi, Fourth Aunt.” Ling Sheng greeted her with a smile.
Upon hearing that someone had come, Xiaoqi ran out of the study. When he reached Ling Sheng, he called her Mommy and Huo Xiao great-grandpa.
Xiao Hui’s expression changed again and again, and she could not help but laugh coldly in her heart. This young girl was not simple. The Old Master had only said that he would bring her back, but he had not said anything else. They did not know who she was or what was going on either. She smiled and asked Ling Sheng, “Is he your son?”
Ling Sheng nodded and asked Xiaoqi to call for help.
Xiaoqi greeted her obediently and called for help. He stood beside Ling Sheng timidly, holding her hand and looking at the person in front of him quietly.
In order to verify her thoughts, Xiao Hui said, “Why are the two of you here? Shouldn’t the child’s father be here with you? This is his first time home to meet his parents and acknowledge his roots. How can he not come?”
Ling Sheng’s expression changed slightly, and she could not help but laugh coldly in her heart. The scheming was about to start. One could tell from her words that she was finding fault.
However, before Ling Sheng could speak, Huo Xiao let out an angry snort. “Do you think my granddaughter can’t live without a man like you?”
Xiao Hui hurriedly said, “Father, you’ve misunderstood. How could I think that? Don’t say anything if it’s not easy to say.”
Chapter 800: Status Symbol (4)
Ling Sheng thought, there is nothing to say anyway. Upon seeing her grandpa’s livid face, she knew that he was worried about her. However, she did not care. After all, she had a strong heart. Her expression changed, and her voice lowered too. “The child’s father died long ago.”
“Oh my, look at my stupid mouth. Sheng Sheng, you mustn’t take my words to heart!” Xiao Hui had not expected her to answer herself. However, when she saw the Old Master’s expression, she knew that things were not that simple. If he was dead, the Old Master would not be in a hurry to speak up for her. She was probably like Sixth Brother; she probably did not even know who the child’s father was!
Su Xiyin’s expression was not good either. None of these daughters-in-law were easy-going. They all kept thinking about the Huo Family’s assets. With every day that her husband did not reveal his will, they would be restless!
Ling Sheng said, “I won’t.”
Huo Li too had not expected that the illegitimate daughter Sixth Brother had brought back would turn out to be a young artist managed by his company. His father had only said that he was bringing someone back. He had not said anything else. None of them knew who she would be either.
Upon seeing Ling Sheng, he felt that this was unexpected but also logical.
“Are you done?” When Huo Ci walked out of the room, he saw a group of people gathered at the brat’s door. His fourth brother and sister-in-law were also there. His fourth sister-in-law was not a good person. He strode over in a few steps and looked at Ling Sheng. “What are you waiting for? I’ll take you two to pay New Year’s greetings.”
Then, he walked over and picked Xiaoqi up.
Xiao Hui could not tell if Huo Ci really cared about the b*stard mother and son he had just found or if he was deliberately putting on a show for them. She only smiled and said, “Congratulations, Sixth Brother. You found your daughter.”
Huo Ci said, “Congratulations to you too, Fourth Sister-in-law. Don’t you have an additional niece now? If Sheng Sheng does anything wrong in the future, please forgive her.”
Ling Sheng stood by the side. When she heard her father call her Sheng Sheng, she shivered suddenly. The sun had risen from the west. This was truly the first time he had called her by her nickname so intimately. For a moment, she really could not accept it!
“Sixth Brother, didn’t you see how much Father dotes on Sheng Sheng? She’ll be our family’s precious princess in the future,” Xiao Hui smiled as though she was half-joking. “She’ll be Father’s favorite person in the future. Even if we had the guts, we wouldn’t dare do anything to Sheng Sheng.”
When she heard this, Su Xiyin’s expression darkened. She had always tried her best to exercise patience at home, and she had never interfered with her daughters-in-law unless she truly could not take it anymore. What did this Fourth Daughter-in-law mean?
Huo Ci tugged at her and stood in front of her. He looked at the woman in front of him and smiled. “Fourth Sister-in-law is right. In our Huo Family, girls are the apple of our eye. If Fourth Sister-in-law and Fourth Brother feel unhappy, you can have another child!”
Xiao Hui was already close to 50 years old, so how could she have a child? When she heard Huo Ci’s words, fury balled up in her chest with nowhere to vent. Her face turned pale. “Fourth Brother, how can you say that?”
Huo Ci’s handsome face was full of smiles as he added infuriatingly, “If Fourth Sister-in-law has nothing to do, go tidy up the guest room for your Feifei.”
The two words “guest room” were deliberately emphasized.
Xiao Hui’s heart was burning with anger. Upon seeing Huo Ci walk down the stairs with his daughter and grandson, her eyes were full of ruthlessness and mockery as she said in a sarcastic tone, “Looks like Sixth Brother is going to make New Year visits. I remember that Sheng Sheng hasn’t acknowledged her roots and returned to the family register, right? With such an unverified identity, she better not embarrass our Huo Family.”