Chapter 224 - Strange Attitude
The people inside sat on the ground on both sides.
There was a short table in front of each of them with a tea set on it.
The theme of the tea party today was to brew tea.
Of course, brewing tea was only secondary. The most important thing was the idle chat between the brewing of tea.
Hearing the waiter's words, Bai Shuangshuang frowned slightly, but hearing the end, her frown could not help but loosen.
She didn't expect anyone else other than Qin Bailu.
"I've embarrassed myself in front of you ladies. My daughter doesn't know any rules.. Perhaps she's bored at home and wants to join in the fun."
"What are you talking about, Mrs. Qin? Speaking of which, we've long heard that Mrs. Qin has an obedient, sensible, and outstanding daughter, but we've never had the chance to meet her. We can take this opportunity to meet her," one of the ladies said.
Although these people looked polite, did they really not think that Qin Bailu was rude?
Of course not.
They didn't really like Bai Shuangshuang, who was the third party and had a low status, but because of the Qin Family's status, and she was the wife of the head of Qin Family, they did not show it on their faces.
Couldn't Bai Shuangshuang tell what these ladies were thinking?
Of course not.
She just didn't care what others thought of her, nor did she care what they thought of Qin Bailu. She was already the wife of the head of the Qin Family and had a higher status than many other ladies. As for whether Qin Bailu would leave a bad impression in the hearts of these ladies, would she care?
She was someone who had pushed Qin Bailu into the open to be used.
"Everyone, you're flattering me. How is my daughter as good as you say? On the other hand, the daughter of the Min Family, Sisi, is really sensible and obedient. Bailu must have known that it was very rude for her to suddenly come over like this. She was afraid of being scolded, so she called Sisi along."
As she spoke, Bai Shuangshuang looked at Min Qinglan, "I heard that Mrs. Yin has always liked Sisi?"
"I grew up in the Min Family. Sisi is the daughter of my elder brother. I have more interaction with her," Min Qinglan glanced at her and replied ambiguously.
She did not know if it was an illusion, but Bai Shuangshuang always felt that Min Qinglan was especially strange today.
In the past, she would not talk to others so indifferently.
Was she in a bad mood?
Because Master Nine brought the daughter of the Yan Family back to the Yin Family?
"That's true."
She said to the waiter, "Invite them in. Since they're here, let them learn from the elders. Give them two seats."
"Alright, Mrs. Qin."
The waiter moved away and invited them in.
Min Sisi walked in calmly. "Sorry to disturb all of you, Aunties."
Then, she looked at Min Qinglan. "Aunt."
"Since you're here, learn more from the elders." Min Qinglan did not invite her to sit beside her warmly as usual.
Min Sisi was a little surprised, but she quickly restrained her emotions. "Yes."
Compared to Min Sisi's calmness, Qin Bailu was more nervous, especially after she felt that Bai Shuangshuang's gaze was a little unfriendly.
"Hello, ladies."
Then, she looked at Bai Shuangshuang timidly, "Mom."
"Didn't I tell you that I was the one entertaining the ladies today? You're a junior, so it's not appropriate for you to follow me? Don't you know this rule?"
"I-I'm sorry, Mom. I-I just haven't appeared on such an occasion before. I wanted to come and see and learn more from the elders."
"You know very well if you're here to learn or you're actually so bored that you can't sit still and want to join in the fun!"
After saying that, she looked at Min Sisi with a completely different attitude. "Sisi, don't mind me. Auntie is just habitually lecturing Bailu. I don't have any intention of not welcoming you. Since you're here, accompany the elders."
Min Sisi looked up at her. "Thank you, Mrs. Qin."
Bai Shuangshuang's hand that was holding the tweezers paused.
"There's no need to be so polite. You're Bailu's friend. Just call me Auntie."
Min Sisi looked at her deeply and then lowered her eyes. "Alright, Auntie."
At this moment, a lady came out to smooth things over, saying that Qin Bailu was just a child, and such a likable child. She treated it as them accompanying these elders for a chat and telling Bai Shuangshuang not to scold her anymore.
Bai Shuangshuang symbolically expressed that she was ashamed, saying that the daughter she raised was so insensible and made everyone laugh at them.
The two seats that the waiter had added were also arranged.
The two of them sat down.
It was all those ladies chatting. Min Sisi and Qin Bailu were juniors, so it was not appropriate for them to speak on such an occasion.
Min Sisi looked unchanged, but Qin Bailu was anxious.
She did not come here to cultivate her character today!
She kept winking at Bai Shuangshuang, but Bai Shuangshuang ignored her.
Bai Shuangshuang always looked at Min Sisi from time to time and even asked her occasionally, "Sisi, I heard that you're in your first year of university this year. Are you under a lot of pressure to study at the Imperial Capital University's medical school?"
"I'm still fine."
"Did Bailu delay your studies by calling you out today? I see that you still have books with you."
"This is the mission I assigned to myself. I'm trying to memorize this book in two days. I've embarrassed myself in front of Auntie."
"Finish memorizing it in two days? Such a thick book? How tiring would that be?"
"Fortunately, I'm almost done memorizing. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come out with Bailu. I brought the book because I wanted to flip through it in the car."
"What a sensible child."
***
The two of them chatted like this, mostly it was Bai Shuangshuang who was enthusiastic, while Min Sisi's response was a little cold.
"Mrs. Qin, you seem to like Sisi a lot?" one of the ladies asked.
Qin Bailu couldn't hold it in anymore.
Her mother had never been so gentle and patient with her!
She was actually so good to Min Sisi. Was Min Sisi really that outstanding?
And these ladies all clearly liked Min Sisi very much!
"That's what I wanted to ask too."
Min Qinglan said, "Mrs. Qin seems to like Sisi very much."
Bai Shuangshuang smiled and actually did not hide it, "Of course I like her. Who wouldn't like such an outstanding and obedient child? Don't Mrs. Yin and the other ladies also like Sisi very much?"
"That's true, but according to what I know, Bailu is also very outstanding. Why do I feel that Mrs. Qin doesn't like Bailu very much?" Min Qinglan valued status and had never liked someone like Bai Shuangshuang, who came from a humble background and was a mistress before she married into the Qin Family.
Compared to the other ladies, Min Qinglan wouldn't give Bai Shuangshuang so much face. She would insult her as she pleased.
Originally, she did not intend to accept Bai Shuangshuang's invitation, However, it was mainly because everyone at home was guarding against her like they were guarding against a thief, so she did not want to stay at home, and coupled with the fact that Bai Shuangshuang was now the lady of the Qin Family, she should at least give the Qin Family some face, so she accepted the invitation to attend the appointment.
How could Bai Shuangshuang not tell that Min Qinglan was looking for trouble?
Although she was angry inwardly, the smile on her face remained unchanged. "Mrs. Yin, you must be joking. Which family doesn't scold their children? If I keep praising Bailu in front of everyone, won't you all think that I'm shameless?"
[Which family doesn't scold their children?]
Scold…
This was considered to be Min Qinglan's sore spot.
She had two sons but she was the one who was scolded every time.
Moreover, one of those two sons was more eccentric than the other. She couldn't afford to offend the bad-tempered one, nor the good-tempered one.
"Just like the two young masters of the Yin Family. Didn't Mrs. Yin never praise them in front of outsiders?"
Min Qinglan looked at her. "Do I still need to praise my two sons? My eldest son is mature, stable, and successful in his career. He took over his grandfather and father's job. Now, even if his father retires, he can still support the entire family. As for my second son, I don't think I need to say anything more. In the entire capital, who among the young generation can compare to him?"
Her words…
No one dared to refute her.
Even though they were very jealous.
Why could Min Qinglan raise such an outstanding son, but not them?
How was Min Qinglan more outstanding than them?
"Oh, Jianjia's younger brother can compare to Jin'er, but the two of them are in different fields. In addition, the two of them have been on good terms since they were young and were comrades who fought side by side in the past. There doesn't seem to be anything to compare with."
"I almost forgot. Jianjia and Hao'er are also children of the Qin Family, and Mrs. Qin is their stepmother. I've never been someone else's stepmother, so I don't know what a stepmother should be like. Jianjia has been married into the Yin Family for three years now, but I've never seen Mrs. Qin visit the Yin Family once."
Bai Shuangshuang's expression froze.
She was embarrassed and angry.
Qin Bailu hurriedly said, "Aunt Yin, you might not know this, but my brother and sister… don't have a very good relationship with my mother. Everyone knows that very few stepmothers and stepchildren get along well with each other."
"This doesn't mean that my mother doesn't care about my siblings enough. She just doesn't know how to interact with them."
"My mother didn't go to the Yin Family to visit Sister. But didn't I go to the Yin Family a lot? Actually, I always go to the Yin Family. Other than my good relationship with Sister, it's also my mom's instructions."
"I'm mostly visiting Sister on Mom's behalf."
Of course, that was not the truth.
She wanted to use the excuse of visiting Qin Jianjia to go to the Yin Family more to get close to Master Nine!
In fact, her mother didn't like Qin Jianjia, and she didn't like her even more!
Especially recently, when she said that she wanted to visit Qin Jianjia at the Yin Family residence, Qin Jianjia actually told her not to go. She said that the Yin Family was busy recently and didn't have the time to entertain guests!
It was such an obvious rejection!
Qin Jianjia was up to something.
If it wasn't for Qin Jianjia not letting her go to the Yin Family, why would it be so difficult for her to probe Mrs. Yin?
Min Qinglan looked at her mysteriously. "Is that so?"
"Perhaps I misunderstood Mrs. Qin."
"It's nothing. This was normal anyway. Being a stepmother is difficult," Bai Shuangshuang sighed softly.
Then, she glanced at one of the ladies.
The lady received her hint and said, "It's a happy gathering today. Let's not raise such depressing topics. Let's talk about something happy."
"Mrs. Yin, I heard that Master Nine brought the eldest daughter of the Yan Family back to the Yin Family yesterday. I wonder if it's true?"
"Speaking of the eldest daughter of the Yan Family, we've heard a lot of rumors about her. However, no matter how many rumors there are, we've never seen her with our own eyes. I wonder what kind of girl she is? She can actually be valued so much by someone like Master Nine?"
As she spoke, she smiled embarrassedly. "Look at what I'm saying. No matter how formidable Master Nine is, he's still Mrs. Yin's son."
"Mrs. Yin is really lucky to have such an outstanding son."
Min Qinglan was initially unhappy that she mentioned Yan Jinyu, but when she heard the last sentence, her anger dissipated a lot. "Mrs. Yu sure knows how to talk."
"No, no. I'm telling the truth. Who present doesn't envy Mrs. Yin for your two outstanding sons?"
"Yes, yes. We're very envious too…" They didn't dare to say that they weren't envious. With the Yin Family's status, they didn't dare to offend Min Qinglan.
Furthermore, they were indeed very envious.
Mrs. Yu continued, "Why don't you tell us what kind of girl the Yan Family's eldest daughter is? Or you can find an opportunity to bring her out for us to take a look. We're all very curious."
"To be liked by Master Nine so much, she must be a beautiful, sensible, and obedient girl."
Min Qinglan's expression changed slightly.
She was beautiful, but sensible and obedient…
Ha!
How could that kind of evil girl be sensible and obedient when she talked about taking someone's life?
"After all, Old Madam has chosen her for Jin'er. It doesn't matter what kind of person she is. What's important is that Jin'er likes her himself. As elders, it's not good for us to interfere too much."
Most importantly, she could not interfere either!
When Min Qinglan said that, not only Qin Bailu, but everyone present, including Min Sisi, was shocked.
They all thought inwardly, Min Qinglan clearly didn't have such an attitude in the past. Why is she…
Didn't she advocate matching families?
Didn't she look down on people from small families?
Didn't she already have a suitable daughter-in-law candidate?
Could it be that the eldest daughter of the Yan Family really had something so outstanding that even Min Qinglan was convinced?
Everyone looked at her in surprise. Min Qinglan's expression froze.
She knew what they were thinking.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? Am I wrong?"
"Putting aside the fact that Jin'er likes that daughter of the Yan Family, even if he didn't like her, she's the granddaughter-in-law of the Yin Family that the Old Madam has decided on. As her daughter-in-law, how can I deny this marriage simply because the Old Madam is no longer alive?"