The iron gate in front jingled as it opened. Ding Qiang lifted his chin with a smug expression. Catching each other's eyes, he and Lin Meifeng both puffed out their chests, instantly looking like honored guests of the Kong family.
Lin Xiao stood on the front steps with her arms crossed. Seeing the two's completely natural arrogance, her cheek twitched uncontrollably. She turned around first and stepped inside, forcibly suppressing the anger swelling in her chest.
"Hmph! I told you to open the door earlier, but you refused. Now you realize your mistake? Later, Kong Chengyi will fire you all! You think managing flowers and plants makes you special?" Lin Meifeng lifted her chin disdainfully, spat at the gardener, and swayed her thick waist as she strode into the house.
Lin Xiao ignored the couple behind her and took a sip of tea, then suddenly slammed the cup down. She felt as if the air in the room had changed; even sitting felt frustrating. The freshly brewed Biluochun tea tasted strange.
Ding Qiang stepped broadly into the spacious living room, turning his head and eyeballing every corner up, down, left, and right. The more he looked, the wider his eyes got. Unable to help himself, he reached back and tugged Lin Meifeng's arm.
Startled by the pull, Lin Meifeng shivered and anxiously pressed close, whispering, "What is it? What's going on?"
Grinning, Ding Qiang covered his mouth with one hand as he leaned toward her. "This marriage must happen. If it does, even if we're crippled for life, we won't lack bird's nest and shark fins! The Kong family is a gold mine, a bank!" Just one glance around—antiques and expensive, hard-to-name furniture—the Kong family was literally a gold mine.
"A gold mine? A bank?" One moment worried, the next moment they learned that the Kong family was effectively a bank. Their city-wide fame was no exaggeration—they must possess a fortune in the billions.
"Old man, we've truly turned our luck around! You can gamble as you please, I can buy whatever I want. Diamond rings? I need at least ten or eight on one hand. The number of workers? At least eight or ten. And a private plane, of course!" Lin Meifeng grinned eagerly, her flabby face trembling from excitement.
"Yes, yes, gamble however you want!" Nearly lost in joy, Ding Qiang squeezed her hand hard, already imagining himself gambling amidst beauties, smoking cigars in a casino.
"Ow!" Lin Meifeng cried out as he squeezed her wrist tightly; she also playfully bit his hand, "It hurts, hurts, you…"
Seated, Lin Xiao cast a disdainful glance at their whispering. Lin Meifeng's sudden outcry made her heart race. She couldn't hold back and blurted out, "Ding Jia has nothing to do with our Chengyi. If you keep spreading rumors, I'll call the police!"
"How can they have nothing to do? We have photos of them living together! If your son isn't the one sleeping with our daughter every day, then who is?" Hearing the denial, Lin Meifeng forgot about her aching wrist and stormed over to Lin Xiao, shouting, "Hmph! Even if your Kong family is rich, you can't just deny it at will—threatening to call the police and arrest people every time you open your mouth!"
"Where's Chengyi? We want to see him. You, as his mother, can't stop us!" Ding Qiang glared and plopped down opposite Lin Xiao, pouring himself some tea.
"He's not available and doesn't want to see you." Seeing Ding Qiang's nonchalant attitude, Lin Xiao grew angrier, pursed her lips, and refused to speak further.
"Honey, this tea is excellent, really fragrant!" Ding Qiang smacked his lips, poured another cup, and handed it to Lin Meifeng. "We'll drink tea here and wait for Chengyi to come back." He hadn't come empty-handed and wasn't about to walk away without anything.
Glancing back at Ding Qiang's calm demeanor, Lin Meifeng quickly dropped her shrewish attitude, took the tea, flushed it down, and nodded approvingly. "Right, we want to see Chengyi! I don't believe Kong Chengyi will refuse. After all, we're Ding Jia's parents. If he wants to be with Ding Jia, he must get past us."
"Aunt Yang, call the police! Tell them two thieves broke in!" Lin Xiao stood angrily and shouted to Aunt Yang, who was busy in the kitchen. The couple looked like sneaky rogues, making her very uneasy.
"What thieves? You're still the lady of the Kong family, and we'll be family soon too. Can in-laws talk like this? If Ding Jia marries in, we still have to get along well!" Hearing talk of calling police, Lin Meifeng grew anxious again, blocking Aunt Yang who had just come out of the kitchen, signaling Ding Qiang to help stop it.
Sipping fine tea leisurely, Ding Qiang sighed softly. "Going to the police is fine, but if reporters find out that Ding Jia's parents got arrested at the Kong house, who knows what'll be thought to have happened? What'll we do then? I'm afraid we'll be too aggrieved. We might leak details to reporters about Chengyi and Ding Jia. People will speculate on how they ended up living together!" Ding Qiang had already figured it out—if this got into the media and reporters kept chasing the story, the Kong family might wish they could sew every reporter's mouth shut.
"Scoundrels…" Lin Xiao spat bitterly, trembling slightly.
"What's going on? What happened?" Kong Zhendong had just stepped in and saw unfamiliar men drinking tea calmly, Lin Xiao looking furious, and Aunt Yang being stopped by unfamiliar women. It looked almost like a fight was about to break out.
"Is this Chengyi's father? We're Ding Jia's parents. We just want to see Chengyi. Since he's living with our daughter, shouldn't there be an explanation? As parents, aren't we right to be worried?" Ding Qiang rubbed his hands and smiled broadly as he stood. "But why is the lady accusing us of being thieves and calling the police? That's not right!" Even if it went to the police, barefoot as he was, he wasn't afraid of those with shoes.
"Ding Jia?" Kong Zhendong approached Lin Xiao, furrowing his brows in confusion. Recently, he had been staying with Fang Xiufang in the hospital, intentionally ignoring the news and basically remaining indifferent to Chengyi's scandals.
"Yes, Ding Jia! Look, they're living together. The reporters capture it every day!" Ding Qiang handed the newspaper to Kong Zhendong, regaining a proud expression. The evidence was undeniable, leaving no room for Kong family to deny.
Kong Zhendong casually flipped through the papers. The entire page was filled with photos of Chengyi, taking up two full pages: clear images arranged by date, even showing intimate moments enlarged.
Lin Xiao gave Aunt Yang a subtle head nod, signaling her to return to the kitchen. Secretly, she glanced at the newspaper in Kong Zhendong's hands. A sharp pain struck her temples, and she sank back into her seat, grinding her teeth in hatred at the ruffian couple.
"Aunt Yang, call Chengyi and have him return immediately!" After scanning a few photos, Kong Zhendong tossed the paper back to Ding Qiang and issued the order. This mess was beyond him to unravel.
"Zhendong!" Lin Xiao never expected Kong Zhendong to allow Chengyi to come back so easily, and protested sharply, "Who are these people? You just let them see him? What if they demand tens of millions from you? Do you just hand it over?" These scoundrels clearly just wanted money; all that talk about justice and concern for Ding Jia was nonsense.
"The one who caused this must take responsibility!" Kong Zhendong sat solemnly, ready to wait for Chengyi's return to handle things. After the Hua Lianxi incident, now Ding Jia's affair exploded—Kong Zhendong was full of anger.
"You understand things well!" Lin Meifeng beamed, thrilled that Kong Zhendong had resolved their demands so quickly as she happily took her seat.
Ding Qiang scoffed coldly and lifted his chin with disdain. "Whether or not to take tens of millions depends on us! If Ding Jia marries in, tens of millions will be just pocket money! What's the big deal? I'm running a big business; a few tens of millions is nothing to me."
"You!" Lin Xiao trembled with anger, and simply shut up, thinking of them as mad dogs—and trusted that Chengyi wouldn't let mad dogs bite wildly.
Chengyi received Aunt Yang's call. After some thought, he returned to the Kong family mansion.
"What's the matter?" He stepped into the house and immediately saw the couple who had been missing for some time. Raising his handsome eyebrow, a faint sarcastic smile played on his lips.
"Hey, Chengyi, remember us? We're Ding Jia's parents. Oh, it's been so long! You're getting more and more handsome!" Lin Meifeng turned and saw the tall, handsome Kong Chengyi. She immediately stood up straight. Since Ding Jia used to be with him, of course she had seen him before. After all these years, she was surprised he had grown even more handsome.
"Chengyi's back?" Ding Qiang also stood up smiling and rubbed his hands, plotting how to proceed.
"Hmm." Coldly, Chengyi responded and walked over to Kong Zhendong's side. "Dad!"
Signaling Chengyi to sit, Kong Zhendong asked calmly, "What's this about Ding Jia?"
"The reporters have detailed it all. Chengyi and our Ding Jia have gotten back together. The whole world knows!" Not knowing how to start, Ding Qiang eagerly seized the opportunity after Kong Zhendong spoke.
"We're just dating." Chengyi admitted their relationship coolly but showed no warmth toward Ding Qiang and Lin Meifeng, as if they were strangers before him.
"Dating? Aren't you living together? Aren't you sleeping over at our place every night?" Ding Qiang pointed at the newspaper, refusing to be fooled. He regretted leaving Ding Jia behind to evade loan sharks. If they'd stayed home, this would be a done deal—no need to keep forcing the press to confirm it.