Chapter 83: Mu Shen Family Dinner (1)
Speaking of Mu Yuchen, he was no stranger to him at all.
Shen Yue had crossed paths with Mu Yuchen in business before. Personally, he had always admired Mu Yuchen who was a promising, young man.
He had the brains for business, was wise, farsighted, and strategic. Besides that, he had rather good capabilities and a very positive character. In fact, he was handsome too. He did match his beloved granddaughter from all aspects.
Back then, after understanding a bit about Mu Yuchen, he had hoped for Xi Xiaye to end up with him since a marriage connection between the Mus and the Shens would do no harm. Anyway, they knew them through and through. At that time, the Mu family wanted to be connected by marriage with the Shen family, so he intended to wed Shen Wenna to Mu Tangchuan. Therefore, he had strongly objected to Shen Wenna and Xi Mushan’s marriage. Later on, when it did not happen, both the families had only regret left.
When Shen Wenna had married into the Xi family, because her health was not too good, she had only got pregnant with Xi Xiaye a few years after that. Mu Tangchuan of the Mu family married Zhuang Shurong, and the two families lost touch until recently when he unexpectedly bumped into Wang Hui and the rest at a banquet.
Now that they had made this happen, it was considered a happy incident to everyone’s delight too. However, he just felt like the beloved granddaughter he had loved dearly for many years had suddenly become another young man’s wife. This was quite an upsetting feeling. He felt like his beloved was abruptly stolen away just like that.
Shen Yue felt quite sorrowful especially when he heard Wang Hui and Mu Yinan’s cunning laughter. The more he thought about it, the angrier he felt.
“Grandpa, I’m just telling the truth. Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, and Father are all very good to me. They knew that we were planning to return to the Shen residence this weekend, so they even prepared a bunch of things. In fact, aren’t Grandpa and Mother familiar with them? Mu Yuchen and I were even previously from the same school. He was my senior,” Xi Xiaye tried to explain.
Shen Yue replied quite unhappily, “Enough! Stop talking now. At this point, what can I say? I’m old and I can’t control you guys. This weekend, coincidentally, your mother will be back since the school is on holiday. You two had better make a visit home.”
As he said this, he stood up with the help of his staff and looked at them. “What are you still standing there for? I’ve already been mad for the whole day. Do you still want to make me starve as I lecture you?”
Xi Xiaye was startled. She looked at Shen Yue, then there were signs of cheer on her face. She was about to remind Mu Yuchen, but he already helped her up and answered modestly, “I’ve already told the people at Maple Residence to prepare some food and drinks. At the same time, I’ve asked Grandfather, Grandmother and my parents to come over. Ah Mo should be on the way to pick Mother-in-law up from University A right now.”
What a highly efficient person indeed!
When she heard his updates, Xi Xiaye stared in shock at Mu Yuchen while Shen Yue snorted, “At least you’re tactful and can show some sincerity.”
As he said this, he walked out of the door, and Lan Zilang who had been silent on the side followed him out.
“Hey, when did you invite Grandfather, Grandmother, Father, and Mother over? And my mother? I didn’t see you make a call earlier either. Also, why didn’t you just call all of them to Maple Residence?” Xi Xiaye looked doubtfully at Mu Yuchen.
Mu Yuchen raised his brows as he bent down slightly and whispered softly in her ear, “This is tactic. Grandfather and Grandmother can obviously take your grandpa down. As for your mother, leaving it to Father and Mother to handle should be just right. Us? We’ll just watch the fires burn from across the river. Sit back and enjoy the fruits of this war. Learn more from me, my dear. Isn’t your husband just terribly smart?”
When she heard this, there was a lag on Xi Xiaye’s beautiful face. A while after that, she snapped back to her senses. She could not help but look up and watch him in astonishment, her pink lips slightly parted. “Mu Yuchen, you’re really… really bad! Really evil!”
Mu Yuchen was smug. “This can even help them improve their friendship. Killing two birds with a stone is perfect. What argument could you possibly have against it?”
“I can’t win an argument with you, but now I realize that you have a huge potential to become an unscrupulous businessman. I won’t allow you to use these tactics against me in the future,” Xi Xiaye frowned as she glared at him and said.
“Fine, if you really fell for it, it will only reveal your self-awareness. You need to make up for that incredibly low IQ and EQ of yours that raises one’s hackles, milady.”
When he said this, Mu Yuchen walked away.
“Mu Yuchen, you’re not allowed to indirectly call me stupid, you hear me?” Xi Xiaye pulled a long face and followed him.
“But if I directly call you stupid, can you handle it?”
“You…!”
…
When they returned to Maple Residence, Wang Hui and the rest had already rushed over. They had just reached the door when they saw that it was all lit up inside. Wang Hui was directing Sis Wang and the rest of the servants to decorate Maple Residence for the festivities and had even invited a hotel chef to complement Zhuang Shurong’s cooking in the kitchen.
When he saw Shen Yue enter, Mu Yinan and Mu Tangchuan went up to greet him. They pulled Shen Yue to the sofa for an idle chat and tea right away, so there was basically nothing for Xi Xiaye to do.
She saw Mu Yuchen take his blazer off and push his sleeves up while she walked around the living room and did not know what to do, so she called out to him, “What are you doing?”
Mu Yuchen was wearing a tight black shirt at the moment. He unbuttoned his shirt sleeve as he rolled his sleeves up neatly and walked towards the kitchen. He answered, “I’m going to take a look in the kitchen. Ah Mo just called. There’s heavy traffic on the way, so your mother will probably only reach later. You go play yourself or maybe chat with them.”
“I’ll be your second fiddle.”
Xi Xiaye did not know what to converse with them about, so she followed Mu Yuchen and entered the kitchen.
At that moment, the four chefs in the kitchen were busily preparing several main dishes, while Zhuang Shurong was busy attending to some home-cooked specialties. When the married couple went in, the initially spacious kitchen suddenly seemed claustrophobic.
When Zhuang Shurong, who was about to start on another dish, saw Mu Yuchen and Xi Xiaye who followed behind him, she asked, “Why are you two here?”
“It’s fine, Mother. Go out and accompany Father to chat with Grandpa. Leave this to me,” Mu Yuchen said as he reached out to take the spatula in her hand.
“Mother, I’ll just follow him. You go on out and have a seat.” Xi Xiaye smiled and nodded at Zhuang Shurong.
Zhuang Shurong’s sharp gaze went back and forth the husband and wife, her eyes flickering a few times before she nodded. “Okay then. I’ll leave this to you two.”
Xi Xiaye nodded, then Zhuang Shurong undid her apron before walking out.
When she saw Zhuang Shurong’s figure disappear at the door, Xi Xiaye breathed a sigh of relief. She turned around and saw that Mu Yuchen had already begun cutting the vegetables.
“Grandpa and Mother both prefer less heavy flavors, so it’ll be enough to make them some tasty side dishes. There’s no need for them to be so sumptuous, but I know that your culinary skills are better than Mother’s. I’m sure she’ll have a great impression of you.”