This was the scene Madam Zhong stumbled upon when she came back from the preparation room with the order of a guest. She instantly froze. Not because of the handsome Xiao Li but because of the woman in his arms.
She hurriedly brought the cups to the guest who had ordered them and then took her leave with a smile, running over to Xiao Li's side. "This Sir … what may have happened?"
Xiao Li looked up at her with a troubled expression. "This … I'm also not sure. It seemed she wanted to leave the teahouse but then suddenly collapsed. Are you working here? Maybe you could get the owner. I'm afraid it's not appropriate for me to handle this."
Madam Zhong instantly calmed down when she heard how reasonable he was. It really had to be said that Xiao Li was a great actor. Mn, he and Qiguan Cheng Da really were the same type of person.
"Ah, I'm in charge of the teahouse. You can leave her to me." She hurriedly reached out and took the woman who still pretended to be unconscious from him.
As soon as the person had changed hands, there was a tug at Madam Zhong's sleeve though and someone actually hissed close to her. "Auntie!"
Madam Zhong nearly rolled her eyes. Yes, this person was her niece, Zhong Guanyu. And it seemed that she still hadn't changed her ways one bit. After falling in love with Jing Yi and then falling in love with Xiao Dong, she had actually taken a fancy to Qiu Ling last year.
She had been intent on becoming his wife even when Madam Zhong told her that he was her son-in-law. Guanyu hadn't listened one bit. She even tried to 'reason' with Madam Zhong that since her elder cousin brother and that handsome man couldn't have any children together anyway it would be a great opportunity to have her 'help out'. She wouldn't even demand much. Just being his official wife would be enough.
For the first time since that detestable Li Bo had killed her husband, Madam Zhong had grown angry. If Guanyu married Qiu Ling as his official wife, what would her son be then? She didn't even want to remember the answer Guanyu had given to that. Thankfully, she trusted that son-in-law of hers very much. Considering the way he looked at Jing'er she could be sure that he would never cheat on him. He wasn't that type of person.
Hearing her niece call out to her, Madam Zhong knew what was up. Guanyu had obviously shifted her attention from Qiu Ling to this man in front of her. She looked at that man and found that he didn't look too shabby. He would probably make a good husband.
Madam Zhong definitely wasn't a ruthless woman but for the last year, she had felt pressured because of Guanyu's infatuation with Qiu Ling. Even Zhong Gang who had been helpless in front of his daughter's tantrums had asked if there was no possibility to arrange a meeting with her son-in-law.
Thus Madam Zhong had the sudden notion that this was a prime opportunity to save her son from future harm. "Aiya!" Her hold on Guanyu suddenly slipped and the girl tumbled toward the ground.
Xiao Li had no idea what was going on but the honest looking woman in front of him probably wouldn't pretend. Maybe that girl had made her let go? He definitely had heard how she had called out to her! Since this was obviously the mother of Zhong Jing Yi and this girl should be his cousin then he naturally couldn't do nothing.
He grabbed onto Guanyu again and even went so far as to lift her up into his arms. "Pardon me," he said like a righteous person and nodded at Madam Zhong. "I see it's asking too much of you to carry her. Is there any place in the teahouse we could bring her?"
Madam Zhong nodded hurriedly and motioned at the stairs. "Please, follow me." She turned around and went to the flight of stairs, her heart pounding wildly. Heavens! Had she really done that just now? She felt a bit bad about doing this but if her niece married, then she wouldn't be able to covet Jing'er's future husband any longer. For her son, she had to do this. Madam Zhong took another look at Xiao Li. At least, he looked like a decent man. There was probably no need to worry.
Xiao Li followed her up the stairs with Guanyu in his arms. He actually didn't feel that something was fishy about this situation thus he didn't raise his guard at all. On Madam Zhong's cue, he entered one of the small rooms on the upper floor of the teahouse and put Guanyu down at the table. He wanted to stand up again but sometime while he had carried her, the girl had actually grabbed the lapel of his robe. He tried taking it back but she refused to let go, her grip even tightening.
Xiao Li frowned. If this was his outer robe, he might still be able to just slip out of it and step back but this girl had somehow managed to accurately grab his inner robe. What kind of bad luck was this?!
Madam Zhong took a look at the situation and barely held back her smile. "Oh no! I'm so sorry. Now, something like this happened … Wait, let me go and get help!" She wanted to dash to the door but then remembered that the poor guy was just trying to help. She should at least accommodate him a bit. Thus she went back and got the seat cushion for him, smiling brightly at him. "Why not sit down until I come back?"
"But —"
Before Xiao Li managed to retort, Madam Zhong had already hurried out of the room and hastily closed the door behind her. She couldn't lose any time! She had to make sure this guy would marry Guanyu!
She ran down the stairs as fast as she could, went into the kitchen and grabbed one of the maids. "Xiao Lan, hurry over to owner Zhong's restaurant and tell him something has happened to his daughter! Hurry! He has to come as fast as possible!"
The girl was instantly frightened. She only nodded and then dashed out of the teahouse. Madam Zhong sighed. Ah, she felt despicable tricking a young girl and an honest man but … This was for her son. And for him, she would do whatever was necessary.