"Mom, why did you leave me? I said wait for me a minute, but you leave first without telling me. I looked for you everywhere until I came to see Uncle Wen and asked him, you know," Shen Ke said in a sulky tone.
Tang Shiliu looked so pleased with Shen Ke's presence, so she ignored Jiang Yanxu in front of her. She replied with a smile, "Son, I just didn't want to disturb you while you were talking to your new friend."
"Hmph! Still, you have to tell me if you want to leave," Shen Ke showed a pouting face when he spoke.
Shen Ke was a seventeen-year-old teenager presently. The way he spoke also sounded energetic and enthusiastic. People who only knew that disposition would surely get a pleasant impression when they talked to him, and for the same time, they had been duped for sure!
Who would have thought that a teenager like Shen Ke wasn't as innocent as they thought?
Jiang Yanxu sat there quietly, watching Tang Shiliu and her son chatter away expressionlessly. Until Ye Xinxin realized his husband's mood, and thought that his husband was still in a bad mood in their conversation—or even getting worse for now.
Ye Xinxin felt that the situation had become a little more complicated. He scratched his head awkwardly and felt uneasy at the moment. He thought naively that his husband wouldn't interrupt when his stepmother spoke as before, but it was completely beyond his expectation. Until he then whispered to Jiang Yanxu, "Honey, let's talk outside for a bit."
Jiang Yanxu heard that and immediately glanced at Ye Xinxin beside him, but he didn't respond other than showing a cold expression on his face.
'What else do we need to talk about?'
'After this happened ... after I sat here, listening to that bcth's ramblings, do you feel sorry now?'
'What had happened was already found out because you told her, then what do we need to hide so you ask me to talk outside secretly?'
'How stupid!'
Jiang Yanxu cracked a smile when he had that thought in his mind. There was a mix of cunning and mocking that could be seen in the grin that hung on his face.
In this case, Jiang Yanxu thought that there was nothing to talk about anymore —since everything was clear—that Ye Xinxin had just complained to Tang Shiliu and he hated that act of him!
In the eyes of those in his family, including Ye Xinxin, if Jiang Yanxu showed that expression, then it would be tantamount to a strict order for them to be shut up.
The young man often found Jiang Yanxu berated at his incompetent subordinates; watching the glass fly towards them, clattering and scattering on the ground loudly; bringing them into a tense atmosphere, causing tension that caused their faces to turn pale like corpses.
All the scenes looked horrible, giving off a callous mood. However, that was what would happen if Jiang Yanxu found an outcome that wasn't the same as what he expected, while Ye Xinxin would laugh at them playfully to see how they were shaking nervously when facing that grumpy man.
Only, now Ye Xinxin seemed to be getting hit by a boomerang.
Ye Xinxin might have been too confident back then to think that his husband would never be angry with him even if he made a mistake, let alone show such brutality.
However, now he felt it firsthand. With just those eyes, Ye Xinxin was already shaking!
Ye Xinxin could immediately understand the situation, so he didn't dare to bring up anything else. He went silent for a moment, lowering his head like a frightened puppy after being scolded.
While Jiang Yanxu sipped his coffee leisurely, then leaned his back against the back of the chair. He turned to Ye Xinxin, being silent for a while before he asked, "Xinxin, I'm tired of discussing this, to be honest. Now, tell me, what do you want actually? I said sorry before, but what's the problem now?"
Jiang Yanxu waited for Ye Xinxin's response, but there was nothing he got. So, he continued, "Okay. I'm truly sorry. Then please don't talk about this matter anymore, okay?"
Although Jiang Yanxu spoke calmly, the cold tone that escaped his throat seemed to force Ye Xinxin to say, "—Al ... Alright then."
Hearing Jiang Yanxu's voice, Tang Shiliu and Shen Ke, who had been talking perkily, suddenly froze in silence.
The mother and son looked in the same direction at the same time, staring at Jiang Yanxu with an unsightly look.
A smirk flashed before Jiang Yanxu turned his gaze to Tang Shiliu in front of him, glaring at the middle-aged woman intently as if his eyes were the tip of a dagger drawn right at the corner of her eyes; rendering Tang Shiliu unable to move as if she was locked in as a target.
After a few seconds, Jiang Yanxu asked haughtily, "Are you done? Is that all you want to say?"
Tang Shiliu looked agitated. Her lips shivered; she wanted to spit out many swears, but something seemed to keep stopping her.
At this chance, Jiang Yanxu intentionally sneered, "You know consciously that you ain't my mother, right? So stop advising me like you're my mother." There was a pause before he added rigorously, "I never thought of you as my parent though and I'm sure that you never thought of me as your son as well, so stop that sht and let's live as we supposed to do; just pretend that we don't know each other even though we're family."
Hearing Jiang Yanxu speak such impoliteness, Shen Ke, who had been silent for a long moment, couldn't help but scold, "How dare you say that to her! She may not be your mother but at least respect her as your father's wife!"
"I've always been quiet this time. That's how I respect her." Jiang Yanxu replied indifferently, "But, she's always meddling in my businesses. So a snotty kid like you should shut his fcking mouth. You don't even know anything, so shut up."
Hearing Jiang Yanxu's words, everyone at the dining table froze in shock!
The one who didn't expect Jiang Yanxu's reaction the most was Ye Xinxin. He knew that Jiang Yanxu hadn't been pleased with Tang Shiliu's presence for a long time, only that Jiang Yanxu could still control that feeling he had.
Ever since his father was still alive, Jiang Yanxu had never shown such distaste openly, and even he had always tried to cover it up in public for the sake of his family's good name. But now, Jiang Yanxu seemed to be ignorant, though he didn't hesitate to speak like that bluntly.
Fortunately, the chairs in the hall were taken by foreigners who came from Europe, so how they argued at the dining table right now was like family conversations for the crowd, so no one would mind them.
However, before Ye Xinxin could give a reaction, Jiang Yanxu, who hadn't been in a good mood ever since, stood up. He didn't say anything and left immediately, leaving the dimness in his seat.
Ye Xinxin also stood up and was about to follow Jiang Yanxu, but Tang Shiliu rapidly stopped him while inciting, "Where the hell are you going? Why do you have to chase someone who doesn't want to listen to his mother? Just wait here, okay? He'll come to you when he gets tired."
Ye Xinxin hesitatingly sat back down on his chair. He looked at Jiang Yanxu, who was getting further from his sight, with such a sense of worry, that he couldn't respond to his mother-in-law's words.
Until Shen Ke spoke to him, trying to soothe him by words, "Brother, Jiang-shi Company has recently been having a bit of issue after Brother Jiang's divorce, so he must have been thinking about it lately, so I think that's why his mood is unstable."
That reason sounded reasonable, but Ye Xinxin still felt that something was wrong with his husband today, so he couldn't stop wondering inside worriedly!