Jingdu, in the main garden of the Tang mansion.
Completing a round of fist techniques, Tang Yunhai pulled back his palms and stood upright. His posture made him look like an old pine tree, vigorous and powerful.
Zhang Yumei went forward and passed him a towel with a smile. “Father, your agility makes you look so young. Mayhaps you might even outmatch me and Tianlong.”
“Oh you, you really do know how to sweet talk an old fella. I know my body and I am ageing fast. A set of drills is enough to make me pant, I’m not as good as before.” Tang Yunhai sighed audibly, his gaze landing on Tang Yuyan who was in a daze at one corner.
Tang Yuyan was seated atop a bench, palms resting against his cheek and expressions empty.
No one knew what was going through her mind.
Zhang Yumei turned to look at her. “Yuyan, don’t you have something to tell your grandpa? Your grandpa is done with his training, you may speak now.”
It was only then that Tang Yuyan gained some focus back. She stood up and approached them. “Grandpa, I’ll be heading over to Xia Lei’s place for dinner tonight.”
“You’re going over for dinner?” Tang Yunhai expression shifted into something dark. “What for? Did he invite you over personally?”
Tang Yuyan replied, “Yeah, he invited me. It’s just a simple dinner, nothing else.”
“You’re not going,” came Tang Yunhai’s stern reply.
“Why?” Tang Yuyan too wasn’t about to settle for a simple rejection.
“Because he is a married man! Because he brought the Tang family embarrassment! Aren’t those reasons sufficient to deter you from going over?!” Tang Yunhai was angered.
Her lips twitched, itching to defend the man. However, Tang Yuyan didn’t dare to utter anything else under the burning gaze of her grandfather. She swallowed her comebacks. Tang Yunhai had used twenty years to establish his authority within Tang Yuyan’s subconsciousness. She’d feel deep-rooted fear manifest whenever her grandfather’s anger was detectable. All she could do was submit.
Zhang Yumei spoke, “Yuyan, your grandfather is only stopping you for your sake. Think about how Xia Lei had treated you in the past. Are you sure you don’t mind it at all? He is already a man with four women. Yet, he is unsatisfied and still making approaches to you. I deeply regret misjudging his character from the beginning.”
Tang Yuyan could only muster out a bitter smile. “Mother, he’s a man that could have any woman he desires. The fact that someone of Fan Fan’s calibre is willing to share him with other women explains a lot of things. He’s not exactly trying to woo me, it’s me that…”
“Enough!” Tang Yunhai hissed fiercely. “Do not speak of things like that. Do you want him to degrade the Tang clan further?!”
Tang Yuyan avoided Tang Yunhai’s seething eyes.
Zhang Yumei continued to meddle softly, “Yuyan, I know you like him. Xia Lei does have likeable qualities but he is married. His wives are pregnant too. Please give up on him. There are many excellent men in this world, he is not the only one. You need to look further. I’ll introduce you to some wonderful matches in a bit, okay? I find Officer Wang’s son decent, he just got back from America…”
“That’s enough of this! I don’t want to listen anymore.” Tang Yuyan abruptly lost control over her emotions. “I don’t want anyone else that’s not Xia Lei!”
“You…” Zhang Yumei was never as imposing as Tang Yunhai. The woman sent a pleading glance for help at Tang Yunhai.
Tang Yunhai glared daggers at Tang Yuyan.
Seemingly, Tang Yuyan had decided to go all out. “Mother, you were the ones who tried to match me and Xia Lei together. You convinced me of how great he was. But once he got married to another woman, he was suddenly nothing in your eyes. I don’t think the problem lies in his messy relationships. It’s more of the fact that he cannot become a son in law to the Tang family, am I right?”
She hit the spot.
But as her sentence fell, Tang Yunhai delivered a harsh slap onto her cheek.
Slap!
A crisp sound rang out and red finger marks were added to her cheek. Tang Yuyan palmed her face, no longer daring to bark another word.
Tang Yunhai was merciless. “You need to remember that you’re a member of the Tang family! Anything you do, you need to think about this clan that brought you up! I admit that Xia Lei is one of the rarest men this world has to offer. But some things can’t be changed. A match between him and you will not work. You can’t expect the women of our family to follow him around like nameless trophies? If you wish to be with him, sure, but he has to divorce the other four women. That will be the only circumstances that I will welcome him as a son in law to the Tang family!”
Tang Yuyan smiled wryly. “Is that even possible?”
“You’re asking me that?” Tang Yunhai scoffed. “Then you should stick to your mother’s arrangements obediently!”
“I don’t want to!” Tang Yuyan turned around to leave.
“Hold it right there!” Tang Yunhai roared.
Tang Yuyan ignored his words to speed up her pace instead.
“You…!” Tang Yunhai pissed beyond words.
“Father, please calm down. I understand her temper well. She’ll be alright in a while. I’ll go talk to her later and have her apologize to you later,” Zhang Yumei attempted to comfort him.
Tang Yunhai fumed, “You both really spoilt her rotten!”
At this moment, Tang Bochuan made his appearance. “Grandpa, mother.”
“Ah, Bochuan, you’ve arrived at the nick of time. Go look after your sister and stop her from leaving. I’d love to see how she’d leave to see that bastard!” Tang Yunhai’s anger was still boiling bubbles.
Tang Bochuan muttered, “Grandpa, I fear that…”
“What is it that you’re trying to say?” Tang Yunhai furrowed his brows deeper. “Spit it out. Quit sputtering.”
“Alright.” Tang Bochuan inhaled and readied himself. “I received some results from the doctor.”
“What is it?” That seemed to place Tang Yunhai on the edge of his nerves. “Come on!”
“It failed.”
Tang Yunhai froze at his words. “Huh? How is that possible?”
Tang Bochuan offered him a bitter smile. “The samples extracted off Xia Lei were all dead. To make it worse, his cells had killed each other off. It’s technically impossible for us to extract genetic material to create a super child for the Tang bloodline.”
“This makes no sense. His four wives are pregnant without an issue. Could it be that the children are not his?” Zhang Yumei was equally bewildered.
Tang Bochuan retorted, “Mother, what are you saying? How can those children not be his? Among all four of his wives, other than Jiang Ruyi, the other three are ambitious women. I personally like Long Bing a lot, but it only took Xia Lei two tries to grab her heart. She loved her career at Bureau 101 more than her life. But after Xia Lei advised her to resign and become a stay home wife after getting pregnant, she resigned without hesitation. Does this not explain the situation?”
“But… How are his sperm cells completely dead after it leaves his body?” Zhang Yumei just couldn’t understand the situation.
Tang Bochuan shrugged. “How would I know? Perhaps we might need to find out through his women.”
“Father, what do you think?” Zhang Yumei turned to look at Tang Yunhai.
There was a moment of silence before Tang Yunhai gathered his thoughts. “I initially thought that there won’t be a need for Tang Yuyan to continue contacting the bastard. Looks like I have no choice but to let her visit his place. The American woman, Folsom, was right. Xia Lei is an advanced being that has surpassed overall human evolution. His genes will bear unimaginable value. If we can get our hands on it, then the Tang family will benefit from it twenty years down the road. I don’t think I need to tell you what to do now, right?”
Zhang Yumei nodded. “I’ll go talk to Tang Yuyan now and give her a green light to Xia Lei’s place.”
Meanwhile, in the Peace Mansion was a contrasting atmosphere.
“Hubby, I wanna eat sweet and sour ribs and pepper fried eggs,” mentioned Jiang Ruyi.
“Hubby, I wanna have vinegar fish and grilled fish,” said Liang Siyao.
“Hubby, I wanna eat French steak and foie gras for dinner,” whined Fan Fan from another corner.
“Hubby… Can I have an Italian pizza and some spaghetti? Uh, I’ll like to order a serving of steam beef too,” requested Long Bing.
“Are you guys pigs?” Xia Lei’s voice rang.
“Beat the shit out of him!”
“How dare you call us pigs!”
“Do you have a death wish to sleep on the sofa?”
“You’re the worst! Go away! Ew, your lips are so oily! Keep it away from me!”
The kitchen was a mess.
Tang Yuyan had arrived just as Xia Lei was done cooking. The woman had brought along four gifts for each pregnant wife, but none was for Xia Lei. It was a little odd but Xia Lei did not question her.
Five women and one man were gathered around the table for an oddly tensed meal.
The four pregnant women were expecting Tang Yuyan’s outrageous request to join the harem with unshielded worry. Weirdly, the meal progressed without a single mention of the matter from her. Their dinner table conversations were merely irrelevant topics like fashion trends or cosmetic brands.
The four women were long prepared for any confrontation but it did not seem like there would be one. It took some time but they finally saw it through. Tang Yuyan was feeling down today but kept up a happy facade.
“Yuyan, are you alright?” Approaching the final bites of their meal, Long Bing shot the question.
“I’m fine, what else could happen to me? I’m so happy to see everyone get along well as a large family. I’m very happy, I’m alright.” Tang Yuyan answered with a grin.
“If there’s something you want to say, I can listen. You’re free to come to me anytime, I have nothing to do now anyway,” offered Long Bing kindly.
Tang Yuyan returned her a light nod.
“Yuyan, come with me to the study. I’ll pass you the item,” said Xia Lei.
“Oh, sure.” Exchanges between Tang Yuyan and Xia Lei were kept to a minimum tonight.
After the two left for the study, the four pregnant ladies began to discuss.
“What is with Tang Yuyan today? She’s not acting like herself,” Fan Fan pointed out.
“Yeah, I feel that way too. She’s clearly troubled and down. She’s pretending to be cheerful,” said Jiang Ruyi.
“How about we follow them and eavesdrop on their conversation?” suggested Liang Siyao.
Long Bing declined. “There’s no need for that. I can make out part of the situation. There must be trouble at home. It is none of our business.”
In the study, Xia Lei pressed an encrypted USB stick into Tang Yuyan’s palm. “The list is inside this, take it home and look through it later.”
Without warning, the woman threw herself onto Xia Lei’s chest, no longer able to hold her tears. Watery beads broke free from the constraints of her rims like a damaged dam. “I’m so sick of this…”
Xia Lei made no move to push her away. He could feel her sorrow radiating form her.
“I don’t want to live like this. At this rate, I’m bound to crumble… Lei Zi, how long more do I have to wait for you?” Tang Yuyan relented.
Xia Lei went silent. “Are you really going to continue waiting?”
“Do you think I’d joke about that?” Tang Yuyan stared at Xia Lei through her muddled vision.
Xia Lei nodded. “If you really wish to wait for me, please give me another two years.”
“Two years?”
“Yes, two years.”
“Alright, I’ll wait for two years. When that time comes, regardless of how many women you have by your side, I’m going to marry you!” Tang Yuyan finished her sentence with a chomp to Xia Lei’s shoulder.
Xia Lei winced.
The woman finally let go of Xia Lei and left.
Xia Lei watched her retreating back, a bitter feeling settling at the bottom of his heart. “Two years… I might not even be around. I’m sorry, Yuyan. I’m not trying to keep your hopes up on purpose…”