279: Taking her home

Taking her home

"So, you won't need to worry. You can just bring any normal plant. The species is not the main concern, as long as it looks pretty and festive. It won't matter if it's just any plant that you can see on the streets. My grandfather will be happy if he can care for it well," Xi Ting said.1

Qin Yan nodded with a smile. She heard Xi Ting continue, "I'll fetch you after I finish the other two families, and we can get the plant together."

"There's no need. It'll waste a lot of time. I don't have anything to do in the day anyway, and I don't have to visit anyone," Qin Yan collected Xi Ting's bowl and utensils when she noted that he had finished his meal and took it to the kitchen along with hers.

Xi Ting looked at the time and agreed with Qin Yan, "Okay, I got to go. I'll return in the afternoon as soon as I can."

It was two o'clock when Qin Yan reached the moonlight villa after purchasing the plant. She was about to call Xi Ting but saw that he had just arrived as well.

Both of them walked towards their villa when they saw the Range Rover and Bentley Mulsanne stopping near the gate of the villa.

Xi Ting walked at the front and just as he entered the door, a figure rushed towards him. An arm hooked over his neck before he was dragged inwards while another hand started squeezing at his throat.

"You're not loyal enough as a brother! You said that you had a wife now, but why did you need to rub it into our faces!" resounded Yan Ziqi's angry voice from right above Xi Ting's head.

Qin Yan knew that they were merely joking around so she paid them no extra attention.

Xi Ting immediately kicked Yan Ziqi once and the other man instantly loosened his grip.

There was no need to think about it; Old Lady Yan must have been pressuring giving Yan Ziqi again.

"When Zehai had gotten married, Old Lady Nei had called my grandmother almost every day. She would talk about how good her first granddaughter-in-law treated her. As if that wasn't enough, the actual doomsday was when the couple gave birth to children, and now I don't have the guts to return home anymore," Yan Ziqi was feeling so much bitterness in his heart that even tea was bitter to him. Instead, he asked Aunt Zhuang, Xi Ting's housekeeper, "Aunty, do you have any juice? My heart is bitter so I want something sweet for my mouth."

Qin Yan said nothing. "…"

Aunt Zhuang said nothing as well. "…"

Aunt Zhuang expressionlessly poured a cup of juice. Aunt Zhuang genuinely felt that this Master Yan seemed to be regressing in personality as he got older.

"Though it wasn't easy, but Old Lady Nei has stopped in her antics. Nowadays, she only provokes my grandmother once in a blue moon. Then, Old Lady Xi called my grandmother today and said that you would be bringing Qin Yan home. My grandmother said that even Xi Ting had settled down, so why was I still single and available! She even asked if I was waiting for Nei Zhaoyang to find a wife? She even said that if Old Nei managed to find a wife before I did, then I would be a disgrace to the family. Ah!" Yan Ziqi heaved a heavy sigh.

Nei Zhaoyang had already picked up his cup to sip some tea, but once he heard what Yan Ziqi said, he glanced at Yan Ziqi without uttering a word. Noticing Yan Ziqi still had half a glass of juice left, he stretched his hand out and poured his tea into the glass.

The orange-yellow color of the juice turned brown completely once the tea had blended.

"Old Nei, what're you doing?" Yan Ziqi exclaimed. His juice!

"Finding a wife for you will be difficult," said Nei Zhaoyang calmly.

"I, I'll fight you on it!"

After a while, Aunt Zhuang plated the takeout and called everyone to lunch.

When everyone left, Xi Ting brought Qin Yan to the family home.

Qin Yan was still clutching the poinsettia plant she bought for the old man in her hands. It was neither rare nor costly, but it was in a festive red that suited the New Year cheer.

Qin Yan did not know much about flowers. The last day, she had visited different shops before she was hooked by this eye-catching shade of red the first instance she entered one of them. This plant was ideal for the occasion, had an auspicious name, and the store owner said that it was easy to care for, so she bought it.

She had asked Xi Ting in the morning, and he confirmed that the family home did not have this plant. Qin Yan let out a breath in relief. Now the only thing important was that the old man liked it.

She also brought a Drumshanbo gunpowder Irish Jin Distillery for Xi Ting's father. It was an exclusive and limited edition bottle in the shape of a fortune cat holding a calabash gourd. Fortune cats are seen as mascots that bring good luck, happiness, success, wealth, and prosperity to households. The calabash gourd is also another symbol of good luck. So Qin Yan thought that this would be a good gift for Xi Ting's father.

For Xi Ting's mother, she bought a limited edition S Airlines mahjong set. The suits in this set were represented by symbols related to the industry, like luggages, runway lights, and aircrafts.

For Xi Ting's grandmother, Qin Yan bought a Yoshidaya Peony Kutani Japanese Teapot Set. Peonies are seen as the king of flowers, and the big petals on the flower are known to symbolise prosperity and happiness.

Qin Yan had thus considered every gift according to the occasion.

When they set out, Xi Ting called to inform them that they were departing.

Old Lady Xi was nearly crippled with guilt as soon as she hung up the phone. She glanced towards Old Lady Xi, who was setting out to water his flowers, water can in his hands, and asked, "Say, should I make up an excuse and act like I'm not at home? Just… just say that Old Lady Yan was jealous that I had a granddaughter-in-law, so she called me over because she wanted to mess today up by calling me over to her house so that I won't get to see my granddaughter-in-law?"

"…" Old Mr. Xi eyed her, speechless before he continued moving towards the French window.

"Don't stay quiet! Can't you see that I'm worried?" Old Mrs. Xi was desperate. She trailed after her husband. At the sight of him bending down to water his flowers, she had the urge to land a kick on his rear.

"Who asked you to pretend being lost in front of your granddaughter-in-law," Old Master Xi smirked, "Now you know to be afraid? Wait till your granddaughter-in-law arrives and look at you and be like, 'Hey, isn't this the old woman that lost her way from that time?' You lied to her even before you met. What would our granddaughter-in-law think of that? She would assume that we're evaluating her because we aren't satisfied with her. Would you feel good if you're being lied to in this manner? You knew that we're going to meet anyway when Xi Ting brings her here. If you chose to do that despite this, you should have known that this was going to backfire on you."

Old Master Xi was not anxious at all, thriving on his wife's nerves.

Now that he was getting old, he had no other pastime aside from caring for his pants and go fishing at home. Those were momentary, though. He could not possibly go fishing every day, could he? The rest of the time he was bored, and the only way he could inject some fun into his life was by bickering with his wife.

Old Lady Xi knew of this hobby of her husband, of course, but she could not resist her urge to kick him in the butt, which almost toppled him to the floor, "You're telling me this now. Why didn't you stop me when I went to bump into Qin Yan? You've sneaked a look of her when we got back, too. Leaving me to be the villain when you've got the good parts for yourself, huh!"

Old Master Xi kneaded his rear, "Didn't I advise you against it? You didn't listen. That said, I couldn't avoid taking a peek when you've brought her home anyway."

"Damn old man!" Old Lady Xi spat. She thought for a while, "No, I still have to go. What if I've angered my granddaughter-in-law? I'm going to pick my bag up. Just… just say that Old Lady Yan called me away."

"Come back, come back!" Old Master Xi stopped her.

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