Chapter 121 - Subconsciously Jealous (1)
At that moment, Zhao Youlin did not know that after she had left, the crowd started arguing and debating hotly with each other over her wilfulness.
She held Joy and walked out of the Zhao family's main mansion. As she stared at the empty gate, Zhao Youlin immediately felt troubled. She was now outside with her son, but she had not called for a cab. How was she going to go back now?
When they came over earlier, the two of them had sat in the Zhao family's car. At that time, she had not thought much about it, but now that she was in this situation, Zhao Youlin instantly understood everything.
The old man must have done this intentionally. He had asked someone to pick her up so that she would show up, making it hard for her to leave even if she had wings. Then, even if she was halfway through the banquet, she could not leave easily even if she wanted to.
Once she understood this, Zhao Youlin cussed him for being a devious jerk. She looked at the endless green landscape and started worrying. How should she leave the place? Should she just walk?
Before she even reached the gate, she might end up running into the people who were in a hurry to leave after the banquet was over, right? Besides, with her current outfit, walking back was a little…
As Zhao Youlin was worrying and did not know what to do, a small sedan that had practically fused with the night slowly drove over from some place not far away. It stopped in front of the mother-son pair.
Zhao Youlin was stunned. She found the car really familiar, but before she could collect her thoughts, the car window of the back seat slowly rolled down, revealing a really familiar, stoic face.
"Mom…" Joy was terrified by that person's cold facade, and timidly, he pushed himself further into Zhao Youlin's arms.
With an expressionless face, Mu Tingfeng cast Joy a glance. Then, he looked away and said flatly, "Get in."
Zhao Youlin was shocked by Mu Tingfeng's firm words. She hugged Joy and stood where she was before she finally registered his words after a long time passed. She snorted and started walking away.
Xia Zhetao instinctively looked at Mu Tingfeng and saw his swiftly darkening expression. He trembled and wept in his heart, because he knew that he was going to have a nightmare tonight.
"Follow her."
Xia Zhetao did not dare disobey him. He drove the car and slowly followed the mother-son pair.
After a long while, Zhao Youlin was finally unable to bear it and cussed under her breath. "What exactly do you want?"
Mu Tingfeng stared at her for a while before he said clearly, "If you don't want others to stare at you like a display, get in."
Zhao Youlin was so angry that she was rendered speechless. But she had to admit that Mu Tingfeng was right. Joy looked at Mu Tingfeng's cold expression and became even more afraid. He held Zhao Youlin's neck and refused to let go.
Xia Zhetao sat in the driver's seat and looked like he could not bear this sight. 'Mr. President, is it really okay for your son to be so scared of you? Also, what are you doing, sounding like you're giving a command? Mr. President, if you act so arrogantly, Mrs. President is going to be terrified and run away, right?
'Look at Mrs. President's conflicted expression. It's clear that she's scoffing at you! If you continue doing this, Mrs. President is going to leave you sooner or later.'
To sit in a car with her ex-husband or to be viewed as some sort of display, that was the question. In the end, Zhao Youlin was still defeated and chose the former.
However, when it came to the time when she had to choose between sitting in the back seat and the passenger seat, Zhao Youlin rationally chose the latter.
Hence, with heart-racing fear, Xia Zhetao watched the former Mrs. President hug the cute son of the president and get into the car from the other side. She sat beside Xia Zhetao, and then, the atmosphere in the car instantly dropped by so many degrees Celsius that he could not count it.
Xia Zhetao shuddered. He did not dare to look at the expression that was so dark that it looked like a demon from hell. He should not look at things that did not conform with the code of ethics, because if he did, he could kiss his sleep goodbye tonight!
"Um… Former… Ms. Zhao, isn't it cramped for an adult to squeeze into one seat with a child? Should you…" 'Sit at the back, please?! The back is really spacious, you know! Why did you come here and squeeze into this space with me?! Please, spare me!'
"No, I think that this place is pretty good. I can just hug Joy."
Once Zhao Youlin said those words, the temperature in the car dropped by several more degrees Celsius.
Joy seemed to have sensed that the atmosphere in the car was really chilly. He shuddered and wrapped himself around Zhao Youlin like an octopus, refusing to let go.
"Are you cold?" Zhao Youlin bumped Joy a little higher and hugged him tightly in her arms.
When Mu Tingfeng saw this, he narrowed his eyes and said, "Turn the heater on."
Xia Zhetao looked like he had just been pardoned by the emperor itself. In a flurry of motion, he turned on the heater in the car.
Wisps of hot air spread in the car, and Joy's complexion slowly became better.
The neon lights outside the car started lighting up, but the car remained silent.
After remaining silent for a long while, Mu Tingfeng was the first to break the silence. "It's not good for a child so young to sit in the passenger seat."
Zhao Youlin scowled. She thought. 'What's with this man tonight? Why is he caring for the child that he never looked properly in the eye all this time?'
"It's fine. I will protect him."
"..."
Xia Zhetou was about to burst into frightened tears because of the bizarre atmosphere between the two. 'Former Mrs. President, the president isn't showing concern to the young master, he's clearly suggesting that you sit together with him in the back seat with the child!'
As if he could sense that Xia Zhetou was breaking down, a really abrupt sound rose in the car, causing the people in the car to be simultaneously shocked.
"Joy?" Zhao Youlin looked down in surprise at the flushed boy in her arms.
Joy buried his face in Zhao Youlin's neck and refused to show his face. He gave off a bashful, embarrassed presence. "Mom, I'm hungry."
Zhao Youlin was stunned, then she remembered that aside from the desserts and snacks he took during tea time at Duan Yarong's place to fill up his tummy for a while, Joy did not have anything else before the banquet, and just now, he only had time to eat a cake. He did not even manage to finish it.
Ever since leaving the Mu family, the boy ate several meals a day, and he was now one size bigger. His appetite also grew. That bit of cake would not be enough for him. So, he was definitely very hungry right now.
Once she registered the situation, Zhao Youlin could not hold her laughter back. She reached out and patted Joy's butt and asked lovingly, "My hungry kitten, what do you want to eat?"
Zhao Youlin seldom showed this gentle smile in front of Mu Tingfeng, and it tugged hard at the heartstrings of the man who had been observing the mother-son pair all this while from the back seat.
But he soon registered the situation. Zhao Youlin's smile was not for him. Instead, it was for the boy. Mu Tingfeng's expression… instantly turned dark again.
This time, Joy did not sense the bone-chilling aura coming from behind him, because he was so tempted by good food that he had started drooling. He said with sparkling eyes, "I want cake. Fruit cake."
"Alright." Zhao Youlin looked at the streets outside the car and politely asked Xia Zhetao, "Could you stop at the cake shop ahead of us?"
Since she had been softly cooing at Joy, she had not changed her tone just yet. Zhao Youlin had asked the question in a gentle tone as well, and it caused Xia Zhetao to feel overwhelmed.