GC: Chapter 196

196. Do You Have Something to Say About That?

“Forgive her, Mr Mu,” said Yan. “My aunt’s hearing has been going off lately. YouRan greeted her just now and she couldn’t hear him either.”

Miao could feel her lungs bursting with anger. Why was everyone against her? All she did was not respond to Bai YiHan. Was it something worth picking at? Bai YiHan was only the youngest son of the Bai family. He had no real power. Miao might be young but she was of the older generation. If everyone strictly adhered to hierarchy, that young man still had to call her “Aunt”! So what if she didn’t respond to his greeting? It was so bland and unemotional!

However, the person picking at her response right now wasn’t Bai YiHan. It was Mu JingYuan. What could she do? She could only swallow down the humiliation of having her hearing questioned by Yan. Just as everyone said, not a single hair on Bai YiHan may be touched. She hadn’t even touched the man’s hair yet! Look at them!

She just knew it. As the Little Master Bai, Bai YiHan could have anything he wanted. There was no way he’d willingly be the submissive and lie under some other man. This was why. If not for Bai YiHan’s relationship with Mu JingYuan, how could the Bai family have tied Mu JingYuan so firmly allied to them? The man obeyed every word of Bai YiHan. No one can make a mistake when it came to Bai YiHan. Everyone said the Little Master Bai was as doted as anyone could ever be but look at him. Was he really loved? His family has used him as a sacrificial offering. No wonder people have started saying that the Little Master Bai had calmed down this year, that he wasn’t as arrogant as before, that he had matured. Was this maturity? He’s clearly frightened into submission because he realised just how ugly this world could be. Didn’t these two men formalise their relationship this year too? On the surface, Bai YiHan looked grand and powerful but he was actually given to someone else by his family, wasn’t he?

That thought pacified Miao a little. She looked up and down at YiHan, pity and contempt in her eyes.

“Madam He, what are you thinking about…?” YiHan asked. What’s with that look?

Due to the air of superiority induced by her thoughts, Miao immediately blurted out, “I was thinking about how the great Little Master Bai cannot be put in the same category as our two male brides. Why suffer…”

Miao’s face turned. Knowing she had misspoken, Miao hurriedly stopped herself.

“…” YiHan only wanted to help YouRan out and lead him away from this circle of quarrels. They were all done greeting each other and the old Mr Yan was away now. There’s no meaning to staying here and arguing with Miao. What’s going on now? Why had the fire jumped to him? He was only asking because he found the gaze she was looking at him with to be weird.

JingYuan was already simmering at the way Miao was scanning YiHan up and down. When YiHan spoke up, he decided to keep silent. However, upon hearing what Miao said, his face darkened.

“I see it isn’t just Madam He’s hearing that’s deteriorating,” JingYuan said, voice so cold that one could hear ice crackling in it. “There’s likely something wrong with her sight and mind as well. If you’re feeling unwell, please make an appointment with the hospital as soon as possible. We wouldn’t want a minor illness blowing up into something major. That would be terrible, wouldn’t it?”

Miao was frightened at the sight of Mu JingYuan’s gloomy eyes. Her entire body was frozen. It had never occurred to her that this man could be so spiteful over nothing. It was only one wrong sentence. She even swallowed back half of it. Because of that, he poked and nit-picked at a lady with a murderous face the whole time. There wasn’t an ounce of gentlemanly behaviour in him at all! Furthermore, her words might’ve mentioned something that can’t be publicly discussed but they were the truth!

Miao did her best to maintain a pleasant expression as she forced out, “Thank you for your concern, Mr Mu. I’m fine.”

When Cheng heard Miao’s reply, the desire to cover his face with his hands swelled in him.  His sister has been spoiled rotten. YouRan was merely the lover of her nephew. She was the elder here and was still rebuked until she was rendered speechless. Bai YiHan was the apple of Mu JingYuan’s eye. Did it need to be spelt out for her on what not to do? Everyone knew that one must treat Bai YiHan with the utmost respect if they didn’t want to offend Mu JingYuan. They also can’t stare at Bai YiHan for Mu JingYuan was jealousy incarnated. It was common knowledge. How could Cheng’s sister look up and down at Bai YiHan in that way and still speak such… unkind words? The fact that Mu JingYuan didn’t flip out on the spot was the greatest mercy the Yan family could’ve ever asked for.

JingYuan wasn’t a mean-spirited or narrow-hearted man. The only thing that will trigger his anger was Bai YiHan. One step in the zone and there will be an explosion. The chances of setting the man off were 100% all the time, let alone the fact that Cheng’s sister wasn’t someone JingYuan would’ve liked. Even if it had been someone from the Bai family who spoke meanly to YiHan, JingYuan would still be upset. Did Miao not understand that the Yan family wasn’t the sole ruler of this city? Even if they were, there must be a limit to everything. Now that Cheng thought about it, how many people had Maio offended over the years? No one dared to speak up all because she had the Yan family suppressing those dissatisfied with her. There might’ve been a lot of people who greeted Miao when she arrived but none of them was truly friendly other than a few powerless suck-ups. Did she not realise?

He Yuan let out a silent sigh as well. His wife may be part of the upper echelon but she’s talented at offending other people. She was even more stubborn at never letting herself suffer an ounce when it came to arguments and debates. Look at what’s happened. It’s only the first meeting and she had offended Mu JingYuan. That man didn’t have a good impression of He Yuan and Miao in the first place. From the look on the young man’s face, he has blacklisted them both now.

While He Yuan himself was once beaten up by Mu JingYuan, he would be fine if he didn’t play any tricks. It wasn’t anything major anyway. However, the one Miao offended was Bai YiHan. That’s a completely different matter on another level.

Most of the Yan family was gathered there but someone had to take care of the guests. Hui and his husband had been mingling and chatting on the other side of the room. He only thought of getting closer to the group to find out what was going on when he noticed JingYuan walking over to the group. He didn’t expect to hear such words from his family the moment he decided to do so though. In an instant, Hui and Zhang Su’s faces turned as dark as a wok’s bottom.

Similarly, someone else’s face twisted and turned. It was Bai Yan who had been secretly inching over ever since he saw his younger brother walking over to the host family.

It was a celebration hosted by the Yan family. Naturally, the important and powerful members of the Bai family had to attend the event. Bai FuRen had formally retired from his post. That’s why it was Bai Yan and Jiang Hua who attended the celebration this time. As for Bai XueQing, she came with Chen TianYang this time. Even she was slowly shifting her focus away.

Ever since YiHan moved out, Bai Yan had also been spending most of his time at Jiang Hua’s place. That meant the two brothers couldn’t see each other often. Then, at this event,     he still had to socialise and mingle because he was now the man in charge of the Bai family. The two brothers couldn’t find the time to speak for long. Although Bai Yan couldn’t be by his brother’s side, his eyes snuck glances at YiHan every so often. As the young man’s older brother, he could guess YiHan’s intentions the instant YiHan began walking towards the stormy group that is the Yan family. Bai Yan had laughed and commented to Jiang Hua about how his younger brother would never change. YiHan would always do everything he could for a friend of his. It was fortunate YiHan’s current friends were all dependable or YiHan would suffer.

Bai Yan knew YiHan would never suffer with JingYuan around and it wouldn’t be good for the entire Bai family to swarm over every time YiHan made a move. Even so, Bai Yan couldn’t help but worry. All he could do was silently move closer to the group. His explanation to Jiang Hua was he had to understand what was going on.

Jiang Hua’s only response to the bro-con was a chuckle because he wanted to check in on the group too.

However, when they had just shifted close enough to hear the conversation, the first words they heard were Yan Miao’s. Bai Yan fumed so hard that his hair almost stood up straight. That woman thought the Bai family was selling off their son, their brother! While she didn’t finish her sentence, no one attending the event was a fool. Who could be blind to what she really wanted to say?

When she spoke of the “male brides” of the Yan family, her contempt was clear in her tone and her body language. Her words, explicitly and implicitly, called the “male brides” of the Yan family gold diggers, people who’d do anything and everything to be part of a rich family.

Of course, Bai Yan didn’t care what she thought of her own family. What’s important was that she dragged his little brother in!

Why suffer? Why suffer, what? Why suffer through marriage with another man? Did she think YiHan marriage with JingYuan was just a political marriage? Did she think Yan’s little brother was the Bai family’s sacrificial lamb? That’s just like how a dog that eats poop thinks everyone does so too! It pissed Bai Yan off so much!

Yan shot a glance at XueQing whose eyes kept drifting over as she stood beside Chen TianYang. Thank goodness only he heard what Yan Miao said. He could keep a grip on his anger, barely. If XueQing had heard it, the whole room would’ve exploded.

Bai Yan took a few deep breaths to stop himself from speaking untowardly as he chanted to himself: today’s a celebration for the Yan family. He had to be more considerate. Be more considerate and thoughtful. Hold it in. Hold it…

To Bai Yan, he’d spent ages in thought. To the outside world, only a few seconds have passed. He thought his facial expressions were under control by the time he walked over to the group. In fact, his face looked as bad as JingYuan’s. Of course, Jiang Hua wasn’t faring any better. Bai YiHan was someone he chose to be his younger brother. YiHan was the first family member in the world to call him brother. Jiang Hua’s different when it came to YiHan.

“Madam He,” Bai Yan said, stepping forward with a gloomy face, “I didn’t quite get what you said. Could you please explain to me what you mean by that?”

Yan Cheng could tell that his sister had misspoken. While he was furious at his sister, he had to help her out and smooth some tempers. He didn’t expect to be interrupted before he had a chance to speak. When he looked up at the speaker, his heart went cold. His sister had done it now. She offended YiHan while his older brother was within hearing range.

Bai Yan might’ve only just taken over as the head of the Bai family. However, he was the person in charge of the company now. Even Yan Miao felt herself falter at the sight of Bai Yan. After all, it’s fine that everyone knew of something like this, but it’d look bad on everyone if the words were spoken. If Bai Yan heard of them, there would be no face to speak of.

Miao knew she was in the wrong here. She was a daughter of the Yan family. She knew what could and couldn’t be spoken aloud. Her mind was merely so overwhelmed by rage that she spoke without thinking.

“Don’t mind me, Mr Bai,” Miao said with an awkward smile. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m feeling rather unwell today.”

Yan Hui and Yan Yan’s faces might be a frigid green shade right now but the one who had misspoken was from their family. The Bai and Mu family heads were here, and the hall was filled with guests. It’d be bad if they followed suit in kicking up a fuss. All they can do was wait until the party was over before they could settle this debt. Even so, they were so enraged that their gazes were as sharp as daggers.

“If Madam He is feeling unwell, you should see a doctor as soon as possible,” Jiang Hua said in a deep voice. “We wouldn’t want you to say anything else that might harm the relationship between our three families.”

Miao had always been a proud woman. Saying something so akin to an apology was the most she could do. When she heard what Jiang Hua said, her anger shot through the roof. How dare this man she’d never even heard of speak to her.

“Who are you? How dare you speak to me,” she coldly spat out.

Bai Yan spoke up before Jiang Hua could. “He is Jiang Hua, my lover. We plan on getting married at the same time as my little brother. I will be marrying him as his ‘male bride’. Do you have something to say about that, Madam He?”

Translator’s Note

My apologies for disappearing for so long. Death comes swiftly to us all and my mother passed away just a week after the last update. The funeral and most of the paperwork is done. All that’s left is to wait for the court so we can finish up the rest. 2-chapter updates will resume next week.

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