Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Lin Wanyu Cried

Across from Lin Wanyu sat a refined and elegant middle-aged matron.

The matron watched the crying Lin Wanyu with a frosty expression, radiating a furious aura that was chilling to behold.

She slammed her palm on the table and said, her voice laced with disappointment, "Cry, cry, cry! Is that all you know how to do?"

Then, the matron turned to the middle-aged man sitting beside her. "This is all your fault for spoiling her. She’s completely out of control."

"Mom, please calm down. Isn’t it a good thing that Sister Wanyu has found a new partner?"

The atmosphere grew awkward. Seeing this, a shrewd-looking young woman on the living room sofa, her eyes darting about, decided to speak up.

Lin Wanyu glanced up at her sister-in-law. She knew full well that the woman was only speaking up for her because she couldn’t wait for Wanyu to get remarried and be gone.

And Wanyu knew this whole situation was her sister-in-law’s fault to begin with.

Early this morning, Lin Wanyu’s parents, younger brother, and sister-in-law had shown up right at her home.

But after knocking for a long time, there was no response from inside.

Lin Wanyu’s brother immediately called her, only to find out she was staying at No.1 Courtyard.

Hearing the grogginess in Wanyu’s voice, he guessed she had spent the night at No.1 Courtyard.

Beside him, Wanyu’s mother, Li Xiumei, who had been listening in, felt her explosive temper flare.

She demanded that Wanyu be home within twenty minutes.

By the time Lin Wanyu rushed home, she found her entire family was there.

Her father, Lin Hongnian, secretly shot her a look, warning her that a storm was about to break.

After enduring a half-hour lecture from her mother in her room, she finally understood. It was all because of that short video from last night.

Her sister-in-law, Qi Zilin, had come across the video while scrolling on her phone the previous night. At first, she hadn’t paid much attention to the two women who flashed on screen at the beginning, focusing instead on Gao Yuan as he cooked.

But as she continued watching, she realized one of the women, who was very close with the video’s creator, was none other than Lin Wanyu.

Moreover, the scenery in the video was clearly Hang City’s No.1 Courtyard.

Late at night.

A woman in a man’s home.

For Qi Zilin, who already didn’t particularly like Lin Wanyu, this was like discovering a new continent. She hastily downloaded the video and sent it to her husband and parents-in-law.

She had even added a smug comment about Lin Wanyu having a new boyfriend.

Lin Wanyu’s father, on the other hand, didn’t have a strong opinion. He had always doted on his daughter, and ever since her divorce, he had simply hoped she would go out and make more friends.

If she could find a suitable partner and remarry, he would support it wholeheartedly.

Besides, her best friend, Qingqing, was also in the video. A gathering among friends was perfectly normal.

His only reservation was the aura he sensed from Gao Yuan in the video. It felt familiar, like that of a peer, making him wonder just how old the man behind the mask really was.

The reason for her mother’s fury, however, was that she had seen Lin Wanyu take the initiative to kiss Gao Yuan in the video.

Li Xiumei came from a scholarly family with a very strict upbringing.

She had never approved of her daughter’s divorce. For Wanyu to be so intimate with another man so soon after—if word got out, how could she ever show her face in public again?

And now, to top it all off, it was broadcast in a short video for all to see. It was a blatant challenge to her authority.

If it weren’t her own daughter, she wouldn’t have cared in the slightest.

But precisely because it was her daughter, she could not let her continue down this unrestrained path.

Of course, Lin Wanyu’s tears weren’t because her mother’s scolding had actually made her cry. This was a skill she had perfected since childhood.

Whenever her mother scolded her, the rule was simple: don’t explain, don’t resist. Just cry.

The moment she cried, half of her mother’s anger would melt away, and her father’s heart would go out to her, prompting him to come to her defense.

She had this routine down to a science.

Li Xiumei’s anger hadn’t fully subsided when Lin Wanyu’s phone began buzzing incessantly with WeChat notifications.

Instantly, her fury was stoked once more.

"Is that the man from the video?"

"Get him over here. I want to have a word with him and Ask if he plans on taking responsibility for this relationship!"

Hearing her mother’s demand, a conflicted look crossed Lin Wanyu’s face. She knew Gao Yuan didn’t want to get married.

’If I call him over now and they say something that corners him, how are we supposed to face each other in the future!’

She shot a pleading look at her father, Lin Hongnian.

Before Lin Hongnian could even react, Li Xiumei’s sharp, arrow-like gaze pinned him in place.

In truth, Lin Hongnian was also curious about Gao Yuan. He himself had fought his way up for years, accumulating assets worth over a billion, to cultivate the presence he had today.

’What does this man from the video do for a living?’

’In a place like Hang City, he had met nearly everyone who possessed such a powerful aura, yet he had no memory of this man.’

Seeing his wife’s piercing glare, he could only give his daughter a helpless shrug.

The message was clear. ’It’s not that Dad won’t help you, but your mother is just too ferocious!’

"Exactly," Qi Zilin chimed in. "There’s no point in us talking about it all day. Sister Wanyu should just call him over."

"Our parents are excellent judges of character. They can help you vet him."

Hearing Qi Zilin’s words, Lin Wanyu looked up and shot a fierce glare at the gloating woman.

"What are you glaring for? Make the call," Li Xiumei snapped.

Lin Wanyu looked at her parents, steeled herself, and grabbed her phone. She typed out a message: "Gao Yuan, my parents know about us. They want to meet you."

With no further explanation, she sent the text.

’She wanted to see how this man—whom she’d known for only a few days, yet who had already brought her so much joy—would respond.’

「At that moment.」

Gao Yuan stood at Lin Wanyu’s door, staring at the message on his phone. His hand, which had been raised to knock, froze in mid-air.

After checking the short video’s stats that morning, he had been at home searching for recipes online.

’He was planning to cook another sumptuous dinner tonight. If he could get Li Mengqing to bring the famous influencer Tongtong for a collaboration, getting a measly thousand followers would be a piece of cake, right?’

But after waiting for most of the day with no word from Lin Wanyu, he started to get worried.

He called and texted, but when she didn’t respond, he grabbed a taxi and came straight to Jianglan Bay.

Now, standing at her door and staring at the text, Gao Yuan felt a little panicked, to be honest.

He’d never had to meet a girlfriend’s parents before.

His only experience came from television dramas, and in those, it was extremely rare for the mother-in-law to grow fonder of the son-in-law the more she saw him.

Besides, those rare exceptions always involved a rich young master falling for a common girl and facing a snobbish mother-in-law.

’None of that applies to my current situation!’

’I’m still just a poor loser; I haven’t become a legendary tycoon yet.’

’Lin Wanyu is no common girl, either. She’s a wealthy woman. And while I haven’t asked about her family, I’m sure they’re far from ordinary.’

’As for a snobbish mother-in-law...’

When Gao Yuan saw Lin Wanyu’s second text, he thought to himself that a snobbish mother-in-law might actually be preferable.

"My mom is very particular about family background. And she has a bad temper."

’Lin Wanyu, oh, Lin Wanyu!’

’Would it kill you to give me a little more useful information?!’

As Gao Yuan was complaining internally, a system prompt, silent for several days, unexpectedly sounded in his mind.

[Ding! Charming Uncle - Doting Mission 1.0 initiated.]

[Mission]: Help Lin Wanyu get through this ordeal with her parents and win her family’s approval.

[Mission Reward 1]: Rejuvenated Appearance.

[Mission Reward 2]: 2 EXP.

[Note: Your appearance will gradually revert to its state from five years ago. The process will take one month.]

After reviewing the new mission from the system, Gao Yuan immediately understood what he had to do.

He and Lin Wanyu had only known each other for a few days, but being with her felt incredibly comfortable. Helping her deal with a small matter like her parents was something he felt duty-bound to do.

Besides, there were two EXP points up for grabs!

He had no idea, however, that back in the room, Lin Wanyu was once again on the receiving end of a lecture.

"What are you texting for? Call him directly and put it on speakerphone!"

"What were you just discussing with him? Are you two conspiring to trick me?"

"Wanyu, let me tell you, I was against your marriage to Li Zifan from the start, and look how that turned out! Don’t even think about trying to fool me this time!"

Under her mother’s relentless pressure, Lin Wanyu completely surrendered and initiated a video call to Gao Yuan.

The next moment, just as Gao Yuan was typing a message at the door to let her know he had arrived, a video call request popped up on his screen.

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