Su Chen originally wanted to argue a bit, but upon seeing Chen Qing's "resolute" gaze, he decided it was best to remain silent. The more he spoke, the more mistakes he would make.
"Auntie Chen, don't worry. I won't pressure Su Chen right now. I truly love him, and I can wait for him to break off his engagement with Lin Qingyan," Yang Yuxin said, putting on an innocent face. At this moment, she was only missing a sign on her face labeling her a manipulator.
Su Chen felt a chill run down his spine. He understood that this kind of behavior would undoubtedly win over both sets of parents. Sure enough, Chen Qing eagerly responded, "Yuxin, don't worry, I will definitely make Su Chen handle this matter properly."
She was ecstatic! Maybe it was because she harbored resentment against Lin Qingyan, but now Yang Yuxin completely met her expectations. With such a daughter-in-law, what more could she ask for?
As a father, Su Long also found Yang Yuxin to be quite good, and quickly chimed in: "Chen Qing, why are you still letting the girl call you 'auntie'? She should start calling you something else."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qing immediately softened her eyes and said, "Yuxin, since we're settling things today, why don't you call me 'Mom' and let me hear it?"
After saying this, she shot a satisfied glance at her husband, Su Long, clearly pleased with his behavior. A significant reward awaited him when they got home.
The entire situation made Su Chen's skin crawl.
"Mom, how could you do this? Yang Yuxin's parents are watching," Su Chen said, clearly concerned about the family's reputation, which mattered a lot to both the Su and Chen families.
The engagement was not even confirmed yet. While Chen Qing was willing, Yang Yuxin's mother hadn't given her consent. Yang Yuxin's mother, feeling a bit uncertain yet moved, said, "It's alright, Yuxin, go ahead and call your future mother-in-law."
After speaking, she glared fiercely at Su Chen. This made Su Chen shiver involuntarily. Being stared at with such intensity by a still-attractive woman was unsettling to anyone.
Yang's mother couldn't pretend she didn't care; in her eyes, Su Chen was the root cause of all this. She couldn't fathom what devious tricks Su Chen had employed to make her excellent daughter decide that she would marry no one but him. Su Chen thought, "I wish I knew, too!"
Chen Qing looked at Yang Yuxin with great anticipation at this moment. She had made up her mind; no matter what Su Chen said or how much he opposed, she would not let a good daughter-in-law like Yang Yuxin slip away.
A glint of joy flickered in Yang Yuxin's eyes, but she quickly composed herself. First, she glanced at the visibly angry Su Chen, then softly said, "Auntie Chen, I dare not."
After saying this, she even managed to squeeze a tear from her eyes. She truly resembled a wronged daughter-in-law. This was a tactic of advancing by retreating.
Su Chen didn't need to think to know what would happen next. "Humph," Chen Qing snorted and shot Su Chen a stern look. "What's there to dare not? As long as I'm here, Su Chen won't get to say another word."
Su Chen quickly shot a pleading look at his father, Su Long, seeking rescue.
But Su Long acted as if he hadn't seen Su Chen's pleading look, completely ignoring it. While Chen Qing didn't come from a prominent family, even the patriarch of the Su family held her in high regard. Su Long, Su Chen's father, had even less say in the matter.
Su Chen was on the verge of tears. He knew that Chen Qing was quite anxious about selecting a daughter-in-law.
[I give up. Yang Yuxin, I never thought you'd be such a duplicitous woman.]
[Mom, how could you fall for this? Yang Yuxin is just putting on an act.]
[Thankfully, as long as we're not breaking off the engagement immediately, I can make Yang Yuxin dislike me. Then, it's her own decision, and Mom can't blame me.]
[Young lady, you dare to play games with me? If you're an unyielding shore, then I am the sea, and all my waves can crash upon you at will.]
Observing Su Chen's gloomy silence, Chen Qing assumed that her threats had worked. She cast a triumphant glance at him.
On the other hand, Yang Yuxin was elated. While she admitted she couldn't match Su Chen in cunning, she now knew his inner thoughts, which meant he couldn't escape her grasp. The thought filled her with even more delight.
As for that Qin Yu, she felt he wouldn't be spared either. She didn't have memories of a past life and didn't know what had transpired, but she wouldn't allow any tragedies to occur. Yang Yuxin looked at Chen Qing, her face flushed, and softly said, "Mom."
The utterance was soft, almost inaudible. Clearly, Yang Yuxin was feeling shy because she meant the term genuinely.
Chen Qing was absolutely delighted and quite pleased. "Very good, very good!" It had been a long time since she had felt this happy. To her, this simple utterance of "Mom" was worth more than any amount of wealth.
Everyone could see that Chen Qing was genuinely joyful. In fact, Su Chen found himself liking this atmosphere as well. At first, he had considered marrying Yang Yuxin and living a happy life with his parents. However, circumstances simply did not permit such a wish, and he had to abandon the idea.
During the meal, Chen Qing gave Su Chen an ultimatum to promptly deal with his engagement to Lin Qingyan. In her eyes, as long as Su Chen agreed, everything would fall into place. After all, Lin Qingyan clearly wanted to call off the engagement. Back in the day, the Lin family had agreed to the engagement with the Su family patriarch because they were in a difficult situation, but now Lin Qingyan had elevated the Lin family to new heights and no longer needed the engagement.
Everyone was happy throughout, so the dinner concluded quite amicably. Once they reached the parking lot, Su Chen felt a sense of relief, albeit he knew this was merely the beginning of a nightmare. His next step was to make Yang Yuxin willingly break off the engagement.
[God, are you messing with me? I was supposed to be idly waiting for death at home, and now I have to do overtime?]
Yang Yuxin suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared blankly at Su Chen. That stare immediately alerted Su Chen to a whiff of a sinister plot. Chen Qing could see that Yang Yuxin genuinely liked her "silly boy," Su Chen, and that there wasn't a trace of pretense in her feelings.
"Su Chen, why don't you go out and have some fun with Xin'er?" Chen Qing suggested. Su Chen was baffled and strongly objected, "That wouldn't be appropriate. She's a young lady, and if she goes out with me like this, it might fuel some rumors."
Chen Qing frowned, and Su Long quickly intervened, "What do you mean, 'she's a young lady'? We're all family here. Stop talking nonsense and just go as you're told." Yang Yuxin's lips slightly curled up, revealing all her thoughts. The feeling of having Su Chen completely under her control was gratifying to her, a joy like she'd never felt before. She had always felt overshadowed by Su Chen, but now she was finally turning the tables, feeling utterly delighted.
Under the coercion of his parents, Su Chen had no choice but to feign compliance. He was now getting anxious and found it all too troublesome; he simply got into the car, leaving Yang Yuxin to her own devices. "You could at least be gentlemanly and open the door for the lady," chided Su Long. Chen Qing's former indulgence towards Su Chen had entirely vanished, or rather, shifted to Yang Yuxin.
"No need, I'm not some delicate flower who can't do anything for herself. Many dangerous criminals have failed to escape from my grasp; I can handle opening a car door," Yang Yuxin replied, displaying an impressive amount of virtue and capability. Both Su Long and Chen Qing were relatively pleased with this, while Su Chen, now in the driver's seat, was incredibly frustrated.
All he wanted to do now was to get Yang Yuxin out of his parents' sight as quickly as possible. However, he couldn't help but wonder, 'What on earth is Su Xian'er doing? I already had Zhao Menghan send her the message, so why hasn't she shown up to stir the pot yet?'
"Could it be that Zhao Menghan didn't act according to my wishes?" Su Chen suddenly realized, "Damn it, I forgot she's loyal to Qin Yu." At this moment, Su Chen's feelings were extremely complicated. On one hand, it was a good thing that Zhao Menghan hadn't listened to him, as it meant she hadn't completely betrayed Qin Yu.
On the other side, Yang Yuxin observed Su Chen's downcast expression and instantly felt elated. "This is so entertaining," she thought, "I need to toy with him more in the future to make up for the years I've lost." As Su Chen sat in the driver's seat, memories of a past encounter in the car surfaced, and he felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation.
"Fasten your seatbelt; I'm about to drive." Su Chen's eyes inadvertently flickered towards Yang Yuxin's alluring, fair ankle. Little did he know, Yang Yuxin caught his small movement. A teasing smile appeared on her face. "Hehe, so the puppy is getting greedy, huh? This time I won't let you have your way so easily," Yang Yuxin thought, well aware of the art of feigned retreat.
In reality, her legs were incredibly beautiful, the stuff of many men's dreams. Su Chen wanted nothing more than to boast loudly, "I've had my fun with these legs more than once." However, on the surface, he maintained a stern expression. "Yang Yuxin, what are you trying to do? Playing tricks in front of my parents, aren't you? Do you even know your own worth?" His words were a blatant threat, marking the start of his plan to make every sentence out of his mouth repulsive to Yang Yuxin.
But his internal monologue had fully reached Yang Yuxin's ears, unbeknownst to him. Yang Yuxin's smile remained unchanged as she confidently said, "I'm not the same little girl who used to follow you around anymore."
"I'm far more formidable now than you can imagine," Yang Yuxin said confidently.
Su Chen chuckled slightly.
[Joking, right? I know how your mind works; you dare to challenge me?]
Disdainfully, Su Chen said, "What could have possibly changed? When you were younger, a spanking would make you cry. Now you might shout. Even if you've grown, what difference does it make?"
Yang Yuxin felt a tremor in her heart.
Just as Su Chen thought she would get angry, Yang Yuxin suddenly leaned closer to him and whispered so softly it was almost inaudible: "Would you believe me if I screamed right now and said you were harassing me? Have you considered the consequences?"
Su Chen's face changed dramatically. He glanced down before quickly shifting his gaze out the window. To his surprise, he saw that Chen Qing was still watching them.
Regretting his earlier underestimation of Yang Yuxin, Su Chen felt deeply frustrated.