281: Love rival

Love rival

"Yes," Qin Yan nodded in agreement.

Old Lady Xi acquiesced happily and proceeded to stuff Qin Yan with food.

Remembering that she had not shown her gift to the couple, Qin Yan gave Xi Ting a look.

Xi Ting smiled and got up to bring the gift in, "She's pulled in by you after she walked in, and she hasn't gotten the chance to show you her gift. This is the plant that Qin Yan bought for Grandfather."

The old man took a look at the festive, auspicious-looking red plant and it cheered him up. He quickly put the plant by the French window, rambling on about Qin Yan's stellar taste throughout, and searched for the methods to care for the plant on his phone.

Xi Ting then took out the Yoshidaya Peony Kutani Japanese teapot set and said to Old Lady Xi, "This is the teapot set Qin Yan bought for you."

Old Lady Xi took a look. Peonies were seen as king of flowers and the big petals on the flowers were known to symbolise happiness and prosperity.

Old Lady Xi loved it and kept it well. Her happiness had still not dissipated by then, "I… I now have a granddaughter-in-law!"

Old Lady Xi took her phone out and made a call, "Old Yan!"

"…"

"Haha, there's nothing much, just that Ah Ting has brought his girlfriend home today. Do you want to come over? Have a meal together happily while I introduce my granddaughter-in-law to you."

"…"

I'm not going to bother calling Old Lady Nei, she's at home caring for her great-grandson. You are surely bored anyway because you don't have a granddaughter-in-law or great-grandchildren. Come over!"

"…"

"You don't have time? That's impossible — you don't have a granddaughter-in-law to visit you."

"…"

"Fine. Do you have time tomorrow? I'm taking my granddaughter-in-law to your house for cards."

"…"

"You're busy tomorrow too? You must visit me the day after that. We can have tea in the teapot that my granddaughter-in-law has brought for me!'

"…"

Qin Yan's face convulsed when she struggled to hold in her mirth. Even she had found the old woman's words quite infuriating; it was hard to imagine just how furious Old Lady Yan on the other end of the phone was.

Old Lady Xi looked at her phone and said to Old Master Xi, "Say, why did this Old Yan hang up on me?"

Old Master Xi thought, 'I would have hung up the phone too if he was Old Lady Yan. How infuriating!'

Old Lady Xi looked out from the window, "Why are the neighbors not coming yet?"

Old Master Xi tweaked his beard. He said, "Don't mind her. She has notified people that she'll only be visiting her neighbors on the second day of the New Year because many will visit on the day before. After she'd said so, the neighbors can only visit her today. She's waiting for you to come so that she can show you off to the neighbors."

"And you're not showing off, too? If you don't have the intention, you won't go fishing and return with a tiny fish in your bucket every day, telling everyone that you're catching this to make a dish for your granddaughter-in-law!" Old Lady Xi aired Old Master Xi's dirty laundry without reserve. "This went on for a week until you've finally bought a larger fish stealthily from the market. When you came back, you were yelling so loud that everyone in the area knows that the fish is for your granddaughter-in-law. When I went out today, our neighbor Xiao Lin pulled me aside and told me that your voice nearly shocked their old lady into hospitalization and that she had to stay home for a while before she recovered."

Old Master Xi: "…"

Before Old Master Xi could attempt to regain his dignity, the doorbell rang. Father and Mother Xi entered the house with Nei Mianmian following them.

Nei Mianmian's hands were full with gifts as she staggered to walk inside.

"Mianmian, you should let Xiao Chen carry these gifts. It's too tiring for you to carry them on your own," Mother Xi smiled and advised Nei Mianmian kindly.

"Aunty Xi, Xiao Chen is already carrying a lot. How can I push all this onto him. He will have to do double rounds to bring this inside," Nei Mianmian smiled amicably.

"What a good child!" Mother Xi was very satisfied with Nei Mianmian's behaviour.

Everyone was surprised seeing Nei Mianmian enter along with Mother and Father Xi while Qin Yan's expression changed hearing Nei Mianmian's voice.

Previously, she didn't know that Nei Mianmian liked Xi Ting, and hadn't thought much of her as Xi Ting's childhood friend.

But now…

After knowing that this woman liked her boyfriend, she felt like she didn't really want to see Nei Mianmian.

This wasn't out of jealousy. Rather, she didn't like the feeling of being regarded as a love rival. But she couldn't say these words.

After all, Nei Mianmian and Xi Ting had met first and had even known each other for more than 20 years. She couldn't possibly tell them to break off their friendship just because he was now committed to her.

When the trio entered, they saw Qin Yan sitting in the living room with Xi Ting and the two elders. Mother Xi looked at Qin Yan from head to toe. She didn't seem to like her.

Qin Yan was too beautiful. She gave an impression of a witch to Mother Xi. Mother Xi felt that Qin Yan had captured Xi Ting's heart with her beauty. She forgot that she herself had given Qin Yan approval when Qin Yan and Xi Ting had gone to drop the little guy to their house.

Another reason for disliking Qin Yan was that Nei Mianmian was the daughter-in-law that Mother Xi wanted.

She'd been trying to matchmake Xi Ting and Nei Mianmian for the longest time. And yet, he just did not have a thing for her.

Even with all the opportunities she'd created for them to interact, their relationship hadn't improved much.

Even so, Mother Xi still felt that Nei Mianmian was the most suitable daughter-in-law she could have. In fact, she'd long treated Nei Mianmian as her daughter-in-law.

But who would've known that her son would bring another woman home!

Mother Xi was very upset at these happenings. But seeing the Old Madam talk to Qin Yan so nicely, she couldn't utter a word.

Old Madam was definitely the one with the most say in the Xi family since even Old Master listened to her. Mother Xi had actually somewhat feared Old Madam all these years. She never really dared to offend Old Madam.

But now that Nei Mianmian was back, she couldn't fully accept this to be daughter-in-law whom Xi Ting had brought with him.

Actually, Mother Xi and Father Xi already knew that Xi Ting was going to bring his girlfriend home today. They were excited at first but the appearance of Nei Mianmian faded out Mother Xi's excitement.

On the other hand, Nei Mianmian's eyes had been on Xi Ting the moment she entered the living room with Mother Xi and Father Xi.

Seeing how affectionately Xi Ting looked at Qin Yan and patted her on the head, Nei Mianmian felt as if her heart had been ripped in half.

The jealousy was also overwhelming. She and Xi Ting had grown up together. And she was the only female friend he had by his side. But Xi Ting had never been this gentle towards her before, nor had he looked at her so lovingly.

Not even once. They'd known each other for over 20 years and shared a close bond. This was the treatment that even she never received, how could Qin Yan deserve it?

Nei Mianmian was indignant as much as she was jealous. She should've been Xi Ting's wife. Everyone around her, including the elders of the Xi family, had thought that she would surely marry Xi Ting. Everyone assumed they would be together.

But why did he love another woman? She was obviously more compatible with him! She was losing rationality with the bitterness clouding her mind.

Her chain of thoughts was broken by Mother Xi's question, "Mianmian, do you know anything about Qin Yan?"

Nei Mianmian clenched her teeth. "Ah Ting brought her along for a meal with us a few days ago. He said that she's still a student."

"What, a student?"

Mother Xi frowned, "So you saw her long ago? Why didn't you tell me about her?"

Nei Mianmian felt aggrieved to be have been questioned this way, "Aunt Xi, it was Ah Ting who didn't allow me to let you know more about Qin Yan. He said that she was timid and wasn't prepared to meet the rest of you yet. He was only going to bring her here when she was willing to come. Then you would know everything about her."

"If he found out that I revealed this before he even brought her back, he'd definitely hold it against me."0

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