Chapter 1286: Chapter 744: Meeting the Parents: Not Enough Gifts? Use Your Looks Instead? (Part 2)
After all, You Hongxian was You Yunzhiâs biological younger brother.
This made him feel awkward all over again, because regarding the Si Family preparing a birthday banquet for his sister, he hadnât heard about it any earlier than these people.
The Si Family clearly didnât treat him as one of their own.
Facing these people who came to him to pull strings, he was both anxious and annoyed, yet he could only greet them with a smile, pushing it off by saying the invitations were decided by his brotherâinâlaw.
"President You, thatâs an awfully distant way to put it. Youâre all one family, itâs your sisterâs birthday, we just want to go and join in the fun. Could it be that if you bring someone in, the Si Family would actually stop them?"
"Exactly. If you donât want to give us this favor, just say so. Why drag Mr. Si into it."
"Itâs not like we must go, itâs just that this excuse of yours is really..."
...
You Hongxian was full of grievances he couldnât voice. His sonâs case was about to go to trial, heâd already gone to the Si Family several times only to be shut out. Just when he was running around like a headless fly, his very own older sister actually still had the mood to throw some birthday banquet?
In her heart, did her nephewâs lifelong future matter less than a birthday?
Once a person starts going to extremes, their thoughts become more and more twisted.
He had people tracking Si Qingxiao for a long time and hadnât made a move, because after all she was his biological niece, and he was still thinking of blood ties. He hadnât expected that they simply didnât care.
Now the entire Beijing circle was talking about the Si Familyâs birthday banquet; who still cared whether his son lived or died.
"Sir..." The assistant had just knocked and entered when You Hongxian glared at him. "What? Didnât I say I wasnât to be disturbed? I donât care who it is!"
He thought it was someone else trying to beg for a way into the birthday banquet.
"The young masterâs lawyer is here. He says he wants to discuss the upcoming trial with you."
You Hongxian pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let him in."
The case was nailed down tight. Once You Shenming was taken into the police station, heâd confessed. The facts and evidence were clear. What the lawyer could do was probably just play the emotional card, say he lost his mother young and became extreme as a result. But deep down, he knew it wouldnât help much.
Right now the only thing they could work on was the letter of understanding.
"Other than a letter of understanding from the victim, there really is no other way that might help reduce his sentence?" You Hongxian had already lost face at the Tang Family; thinking of it now he was still furious.
"Even with a letter of understanding, itâs hard to say whether the sentence can be reduced. And lately Iâve heard something else..."
"What is it?" You Hongxian frowned.
"When Young Master You was previously cooperating with the police for sampling and evidence collection, the officers were outside, and he harassed the lab technician who was handling his test. That technician was an external hire. Apparently that lab also wants the police to give them an explanation, so this will also be submitted to the court and will affect the judgeâs impression of Young Master You."
The lawyer also had a splitting headache. He hadnât known until now that You Shenming was actually bold enough to harass someone working with the police.
"The lab tech..." You Hongxian kneaded his brow. That had indeed happened, but right after that, the incident of Old Mr. Shen being pushed occurred, and heâd ignored it.
"My suggestion is still to increase compensation to the victims. If theyâre willing to forgive him, that would be best. Their attitude in court will be extremely important as well."
...
You Hongxian nodded in agreement. Heâd already tried the Shen Family and the Tang Family; was he supposed to go to the Huo Family next?
Of everyone related to the incident, the only one he hadnât met was Shen Shuci.
They said she was about to give birth, and the Huo Family was treating her like a treasure; he had no way to get close. Now he could only see if he could start with herâtreat a dead horse as if it were still alive and see if it could be cured.
He immediately called in his secretary: "Help me check roughly when Shen Shuciâs due date is, when sheâll go to the Hospital for checkups, which doctor is in charge, and which Hospital she goes to."
"Shen Shuci? Mr. Huoâs wife?" The secretaryâs face went pale on the spot.
"I told you to go, so just go!" You Hongxian had no patience.
**
Meanwhile, at the Huo Family
Huo Zheng and Liang Yun had both gone in to work. Shen Shuciâs belly was already very big, and she rarely went out. Everyone sitting around at home was bored to death; she really felt like she was barely getting through the days.
So when Tang Wan came over, she was actually quite happyâespecially since Jiang Xiaowai had come along too. The little one couldnât talk yet, but he was fair and soft and adorable, and just looking at him lifted her spirits.
Shen Shuci wanted to hold the child, but Tang Wan was afraid Xiaowaiâs little arms and legs would flail around, bump into or kick her belly, so she didnât dare let her hold him.
"No need to be that careful. Besides, Mutang is so good; how could he go around kicking people?" Shen Shuci rubbed his little face.
"Thatâs because you havenât seen him when heâs being a little devil. He can really make a scene."
"Thatâs still better than mine. From the moment I got pregnant, this one hasnât stopped for a single day." Shen Shuciâs tone was helpless.
Tang Wan could really empathize. Her morning sickness had been severe, and sheâd had problem after problem throughout the pregnancy. If sheâd been even a little more sensitive and her husband couldnât be by her side all the time, she would have sunk into depression long ago.
Sitting at home with nothing to do, Shen Shuci asked Tang Wan if anything fun had happened lately.
Tang Wan really wanted to share how Jiang Chengsi had been so scared by his fatherâinâlaw that he climbed walls to flee, but then she thought for a moment...
She should at least leave Fourth Brother a little dignity.
"Nothing much fun, really. Itâs just that lately, besides you, what everyoneâs paying attention to most is the Si Family in Guandong."
When Huo Qinqi got married, it had already caused quite a stir in the Beijing circle. Now everyoneâs eyes were glued to Shen Shuciâs belly.
"The Si Family? Mrs. Siâs birthday banquet?" Shen Shuci raised an eyebrow.
"You know about it too?" Tang Wan chuckled, her voice muffled. "I thought you were completely shutting out the world these days."
"The invitation was delivered to the house. At dinner last night, my parents were still discussing what gift would be appropriate."
"So your family is going?"
"I donât know if weâll attend, but weâll definitely send a gift." Shen Shuci saw the surprise on Tang Wanâs face and couldnât help smiling. "What? Your family didnât get an invitation?"
"We did. We got it yesterday too." Tang Wan pressed her lips together. "Looks like Mrs. Siâs birthday banquet is going to be extremely lively."
Shen Shuci had no interest in whatever was going on with the Si Family. All she wanted right now was to hurry up and get this thing in her belly out.
...
The Si Familyâs invitation had been delivered to the Jiang Family yesterday, when Fan Mingyu was accompanying the old lady to the Peach Garden to listen to opera, leaving only Tang Wan at home taking care of the child.
Even though there was only one invitation, the Si Familyâs people said directly:
They hoped everyone in the Jiang Family would give them the honor of attending.
"If weâre free, weâll definitely go." Tang Wan nodded in agreement.
"Sir and Madam are very fond of Fourth Master. Please pass along the message to Fourth Master: if he can attend, Madam will be even happier."
Tang Wan smiled and nodded.
With the Si Family acting like this, did they know about Fourth Brother and Miss Si or not? They even made a point of asking for Fourth Brother to be there?
But she still relayed the Si Familyâs words to Jiang Chengsi exactly as they were.
Jiang Chengsi was over the moon.
Even though the Si Family still didnât know about his relationship with Si Qingxiao, just from this you could tell how much Uncle and Auntie liked him.
From the looks of it, meeting the parents was going to go very smoothly.
He had already started thinking about what he should wear, what car he should drive that day.
Since it was their first meeting, and it was also his future motherâinâlawâs birthday, he definitely had to bring a gift. He had no experience and didnât know what to prepare, so he could only ask everyone in the group chat for advice.
Qiqi: [Wear a couple more layers. Iâm afraid you wonât be able to dodge a good beating.]
Jiang Chengsi was furious, but Qi Zeyan really had been acting cocky lately. The Qi Family had already started preparing for the wedding; when joy comes...
He was strutting around the club every day with that slickedâback hair of his, looking all showy and flirty!
Si Qingxiao, on the other hand, gave him a lot of suggestions beforehand, telling him what her parents liked and that he could just prepare gifts along those lines. It didnât need to be too formal anyway; they were just having a meal.
When Jiang Jinsang heard he was going to meet the parents, he naturally asked in private how his preparations were going.
Jiang Chengsi said straight out: "Anyway, her parents really like me. Uncle Si even encouraged me to go after Xiaoxiao. If the gifts arenât enough, Iâll make up for it with my face."
Jiang Jinsang gave a faint, mocking laugh:
Using his face? He really was the only one who could say something like that with a straight face.