"Master Fox, let's go!"
The car stopped in front of the manor, and Lin Bingyun, who had been waiting at the front gate, opened the car door for Lin Ying. Lin Ying stepped out from the backseat, stood upright, turned, and reached out to take Master Fox's arm.
"I always feel like something's not quite right..."
Holding Ansheng's hand, who stepped down from the backseat, Lin Ying looked at him and said.
"What's... not right?"
Lin Ying looked at Master Fox, smiled, and spoke to him: "After all... you were the one who picked me up back then. Now, as I hold your hand, I sincerely invite you to the banquet, which shows my sincerity..."
"Is that how you explain it?" Ansheng slowly raised a questioning brow, looking at the smiling Lin Ying, unable to resist the urge to retort inwardly.
Don't think I haven't watched British dramas! From our positions now, we look just like the ones in those roles.
Ansheng, despite his internal grumbling, didn't take it to heart. After all, he was here at Lin Ying's house for business, so rather than explaining this or that,
it was better to just gloss over it. Later, when the banquet starts, after hammering out the issue, he'd just go back home.
Master Fox was full of joy, believing that after tonight, his wish list, his wisdom could significantly improve, and he would become a wise fox.
"Wow—it's the white-haired one!"
Among the people watching at the manor's entrance, a girl looked at Ansheng in surprise and exclaimed.
"Be careful what you say...."
The well-dressed man next to the girl quickly covered her mouth, full of apologies, looking around at his kin, laughed it off: "The kid just woke up and is still groggy, talking nonsense..."
"Huh?"
The girl looked at her father in confusion, not understanding why her mouth was covered.
She received no explanation for her bewilderment.
Because her father was still puzzled, wondering, Didn't the entire Lin family already leave for the Spirit Bone Tower?
How come there's a boy here now? Where did this boy come from?
Can't bear to think, can't bear to think, if I keep thinking, I might end up drunk-driving into the river.
"Wow! It's a steamroller!"
The identity of Master Fox stirred some commotion among the crowd, but no one discussed it, because since Lin Ying could bring someone to the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, she would surely introduce the boy formally.
As the little girl approached the manor, she spotted a steamroller parked by the roadside. Her eyes lit up, and she exclaimed, pulling her father to look at the steamroller.
"Hmm? Why is there a steamroller here?" The girl's father was full of confusion.
.....
"Great-grandmother!"
A girl dressed in a variant Lolita puff dress waited at the manor's second-floor entrance. She sat on a leather-covered stool, her feet swinging in boredom, until she saw the elegantly dressed Lin Ying entering, her eyes suddenly lit up.
Lin Tongshu's face showed joy as she hugged Lin Ying's leg excitedly and called out.
"Tongshu? Why are you sitting on the stairs?"
Seeing Lin Tongshu, Lin Ying's expression paused, not understanding why this little one was here.
The Lin Mid-Autumn Festival banquet, although named a family dinner, had a stronger business atmosphere than a family one. The children were all led by their respective housekeepers to the third-floor hall to eat, drink, and play, not participating in the banquet.
"The elder's child, Lin Tongshu...." Lin Bingyun softly introduced the person in front of Master Fox.
The "elder" refers to the great family elder Lin Wu.
"I don't know!"
Lin Tongshu hugged Lin Ying's leg, raised her head with a cheeky smile, and mysteriously said: "Great-grandmother, bring your ear closer...."
"Just tell me whatever it is." Seeing this, Ansheng firmly inserted himself between Lin Ying and Lin Tongshu, pulling Lin Tongshu away from Lin Ying.
Master Fox stood protectively in front of Lin Ying, looking at Lin Tongshu with full vigilance.
"You petty whiner!" Lin Tongshu puffed up her cheek and went "bleh bleh bleh" straight at Master Fox.
She was a bit unhappy, but still secretly looked around, then lowered her voice, mysteriously saying:
"Great-grandmother... my dad said when he calls Great-grandfather later, the old men and women in the family might collectively try to force your hand."
"Hmm..... Dad told me to give this to you." As she spoke, Lin Tongshu, right in front of Lin Ying, took out an item from the metal frame within her puff dress.
A brand-new .50 caliber revolver, openly held aloft by Lin Tongshu.
The straight barrel in bright silver gleamed, nearly the length of an adult's forearm, its weight should be no less than five pounds.
Ansheng's eyes widened, completely not expecting the girl's puff dress could open up like an umbrella.
After taking out the item, Lin Tongshu glanced around to ensure nobody was watching, lifted the left side of her puff dress, and pulled out a fully automatic rifle and a drum magazine from the metal frame, handing them to Lin Bingyun.
"Hmm..."
"That's all Dad said. He said once you see the items, you will understand, Great-grandmother."
Lin Tongshu let down her skirt, waved cheerfully at Lin Ying: "Dad also said, once I hand over the items to Great-grandmother, I should immediately go back to play on my phone."
"Hmm..... I'm off to play on my phone now."
Under Ansheng and Lin Ying's watchful gazes, Lin Tongshu elegantly lifted her puff dress, revealing round-toed little shoes, and joyfully ran towards the third-floor lounge.
With her five or six-year-old understanding, she didn't grasp the concept of "forcing hands."
But she knew that as long as she delivered the items from the underground practice range to Great-grandmother, she'd earn an additional hour of phone time today.
"Can I report the great family elder to the police?" Ansheng looked at Lin Ying with a blank face and said: "Child labor!"
"The elder is probably being held up and can't get away...." Lin Ying defended Lin Wu with a word, then, using the concealed gun technique she learned while studying in the US, discreetly hid the revolver within her skirts.
Lin Bingyun stepped to the side, naturally as she lifted Lin Ying's skirt slightly.
As for the automatic rifle on her, it was entirely invisible; if not for the slightly bulging tail of her coattails due to the drum magazine's size, Ansheng would have thought he was hallucinating.
"An initiation skill for the quick-draw technique in America." Lin Bingyun smiled at Master Fox.
"The revolver can empty its magazine in a second, a handy tool in a Western showdown."
Ansheng withdrew his gaze, his mouth twitching, unable to comprehend what those American international students were learning in their classes daily. Even if Lin Ying claimed she mastered gun-fighting techniques, Ansheng would believe her.
Lin Tongshu's arrival was merely an interlude, but she brought a new message.
The clan elders, in collusion with the Longevity Club and who issued the Fox Hunting Order, had reached a consensus and were preparing to force Lin Ying's hand.
The great family elder had prepared firearms for Lin Ying, meaning this was very clear, anyone who speaks up gets a gun muzzle pointed at them.
Let the muzzles 'speak' to each other, to see whose 'words' are harder.
However.
From the elder's arrangement, Ansheng discerned something else.
The elder likely hadn't gotten involved in any of those dubious dealings.
If he knew about the Longevity Club, he wouldn't be sending guns, but a revolver grenade launcher or a rocket launcher to Lin Ying, adding some heavy firepower.
Upon receiving the elder's warning, Lin Ying's expression showed no change. Calmly, holding Master Fox's little hand, she rode the elevator into the permanent fortress.
"Housekeeper Lin, notify everyone to gather in the basement hall, Master is preparing to announce the new clan leader....."
Lin Ying sat on the executive chair, glanced around the room at everyone already seated, especially Lin Zhe, who wore a self-assured look and wasn't even playing his usual favorite games, and spoke to Lin Bingyun.
Ansheng paid no mind to those affairs, he simply and quietly lifted his gaze upward towards the chandelier on the ceiling.
A rectangular shadow outline.
Appearing on the frosted light cover.
"The elevator's maximum weight is only a ton, how did Old Feng and the others manage to get things inside..."