Chapter 537: Chapter 536: Childhood Friends
Lin Wanwan took out two prepared red envelopes from her bag, one for each child, and handed them over: "Here, your New Year money. May you have a safe and sound new year!"
"No, no, no, donât give it to them, no need to be so courteous, quickly put it away." Su Xiaoling and Gu Yihui hurriedly declined.
"This is for the kids, not for you sisters, why be polite?" Lin Wanwan had already put the red envelopes into the large pockets of the childrenâs clothes.
The two kids pulled the envelopes out from their pockets to play with them. Cash is quite rare nowadays, so the kidsâ curiosity was piqued.
"Quickly say thank you to your auntie!"
The two little ones, urged by their mothers, thanked her in unison in their cute, childish voices.
"Good kids! Auntie likes good children like you!" Lin Wanwan said with a smile.
"Wanwan, letâs take some photos together. Youâre a celebrity now, youâll have to sign for us later!" The courteous back and forth ended, and Su Xiaoling pulled Lin Wanwan for some pictures.
The beauty filter on Su Xiaolingâs phone was set to slim down the face aggressively. Lin Wanwanâs face was already proportionally perfect, so the slimming effect made it look distorted, obviously over-filtered.
"Oh my, they say beauties donât need beauty filters, and itâs true; with the filter on, people look distorted!"
Su Xiaoling looked speechlessly at the photos in her phone album and had to turn off the slimming function to retake them.
After she was done, Gu Yihui also wanted to take some pictures, and then others joined in. Everyone wanted a photo with Lin Wanwan.
After all, Lin Wanwan was a somewhat famous internet celebrity, so naturally everyone wanted a photo to post on social media and show off.
After satisfying everyoneâs photo requests, Lin Wanwan sat down and chatted with Su Xiaoling and Gu Yihui, finding out that one is now a homemaker and the other a high school math teacher.
Despite the big difference in their professions, they both exuded a similar sense of happiness. Everyone has their own pursuits and joys.
As they were chatting, a sudden burst of laughter was heard.
"Ahahaha, you must be that Lin Wanwan, the granddaughter of the Lin Family! Oh my, you are so pretty! No wonder you have so many boyfriends!"
Lin Wanwan frowned and looked up. It was a middle-aged woman, in her fifties, very thin, with slanted triangle eyes, high cheekbones covered in brown spots, and had a somewhat harsh look.
Su Xiaoling laughed and responded, "Oh my, grandma, canât talk like that."
The woman appraised Lin Wanwan up and down, then said with a smile, "Recently, the news has been full of you, I almost went cross-eyed watching! Wanwan, is that blue diamond of yours really that valuable? Did someone give it to you? Did you bring your boyfriend?"
Lin Wanwan sneered, feeling this person was ridiculous, and turned her head to play with the two four or five-year-old kids, ignoring her, not bothering to respond.
Among those close to the Su Family, Lin Wanwan had seen them all when she was young except for this woman, clearly an outsider, speaking so rudely. Lin Wanwan wouldnât indulge her.
After all, Lin Wanwan had a business with twenty or thirty employees, was someone in charge, and her indifference made the older woman quite embarrassed.
Both Su Xiaoling and Gu Yihui noticed this and exchanged a glance, turning their heads back to continue talking with Lin Wanwan, completely ignoring the woman.
The woman failed a few times to join the conversation, then walked away in a huff.
Only then did Su Xiaoling quietly say to Lin Wanwan, "Sheâs Yanweiâs stepmotherâs sister-in-law, quite a gossip."
So that was the connection, completely unrelated to Lin Wanwan, so it was totally fine to ignore her.
"By the way, Wanwan, do you have a boyfriend now?"
Lin Wanwan hesitated a bit and said, "No, itâs still early. Iâm focusing on starting a business first."
Sitting nearby, Su Yanweiâs aunt, who was cracking sunflower seeds and watching TV, interjected, "Wanwan doesnât have a boyfriend yet? I know some nice young men, want me to introduce you?"
Gu Yihui quickly interrupted, "Wanwan is so pretty, surely there are plenty of people after her, no need for introductions! Auntie, donât meddle."
"Haha, thatâs true, but itâs fine for young people to get to know each other."
Lin Wanwan gave a faint smile to Su Yanweiâs aunt: "Thanks, auntie, but I havenât thought about it yet."
Gu Yihui quickly changed the subject, subtly nodding towards Wang Fangâs direction: "Look over there, thatâs the second uncleâs wifeâs daughter, just came down from upstairs. Sheâs spending the New Year at their place this year."
Following her gaze, Lin Wanwan saw a dark-skinned young girl, looking unhappy, being pulled outside by Wang Fang.
Su Xiaoling whispered, "Her father remarried and finally had a son. He doesnât want to support her anymore, wants her to stop studying after middle school and work in a clothing factory. Grandma brought her over, seems like sheâll be living with the second uncleâs family now."
"But if the daughter is coming over, do Uncle and Yanwei agree?"
"Second uncle is a good man, surely he doesnât mind. He listens to his wife the most, you see heâs busy cooking in the kitchen now."
Lin Wanwan believed that too, her uncle indeed was such a person.
"Is she doing well in school?" Lin Wanwan casually asked.
"Yanwei said sheâs not doing well, if she continues studying, only a vocational school would take her."
"Not everyone is willing to support vocational school." In the village, many kids who donât get into high school are made to go directly to work.
"Not much difference whether she studies or not, just worried about conflicts living under the same roof. Luckily sheâs a girl, Yanwei doesnât need to worry about family wealth leaving the family." Gu Yihui sighed.
Although Yongcheng is quite fair in child-rearing, when it comes to inheritance, houses and money usually go to the sons.
Moreover, she is a stepdaughter, even if Su Yanweiâs dad listens to his wife, he wouldnât be foolish enough to give the house to an outsider.
Just then, Su Yanwei came in with his girlfriend Chen Yan.
Today was the day his girlfriend officially visited, meeting the family, making things official.
The last important guest had arrived, Wang Fang quickly came over to invite everyone: "Come on, come sit, we can start eating now."
The first floor of Su Yanweiâs house only has a storage room and a bathroom, even the kitchen is a Western-style open one.
The entire living room, dining room, and kitchen are connected, making the space large enough to easily accommodate two big round tables.
Women, children, and boys who donât smoke or drink sat at one table, while men who like to smoke and drink, along with middle-aged women who donât mind them, sat at another.
Su Yanwei sat with his girlfriend at the womenâs and childrenâs table, everyone basically knew each other, no need for formal introductions.
Lin Wanwan had Gu Yihui on her left and Chen Yan on her right.