Family dinner

"What's with all this commotion!" Elder Xia's profound voice rung in the dinning hall.

Xia Lihua looked up and saw her grandfather descending down the stairs accompanied by butler He.

Xia Tianlin immediately let go of Xia Lihua's wrist and bowed down politely. "Father, you are here."

Xia Lihua smirked seeing the change in her father's expression in front of elder Xia.

"Grandfather, you asked me to come here today." She slightly bowed down to show her respect to her grandfather.

"I'm truly pleased by your arrival!" exclaimed Grandfather Xia as he took his seat at the head of the table. He added, "Please sit down, and I'll request the maids to bring the food."

Xia Lihua and Xia Tianlin sat down side by side, maintaining a facade of normalcy as if nothing was wrong between them.

"Your uncle and aunt will come soon. Let's wait for them." Grandfather Xia said as the maids set down the cutleries on the table.

Xia Lihua suppressed her emotions by biting her lips. She had almost forgotten that she would have to deal with her relatives too. Her ordeal with her father and step-sister had already left her completely exhausted.

Grandfather Xia assumed that Xia Lihua was feeling bitter. He looked at her deeply and said, "Are you alright Xiao Lili? Did your father treat you badly? You can tell me."

Xia Lihua's hair looked a bit disheveled and her delicate wrist was red. It gave one the impression that she was bullied.

Xia Tianlin's face was instantly twisted into an ugly expression. "Father! It was her who stirred up trouble in my study room."

"I don't believe you." Old Master Xia sided with Xia Lihua, giving a gentle pull to the maroon shawl draped around him.

"Father..." His father always took this wretched girl's side! What was so good about her?

Xia Lihua lowered her eyes looking timid and pitiful, "I went to greet my father, but he refused to meet me. He also insisted that I should be kicked out of the house."

"What?! Xia Tianlin! How can you say such things to your own daughter? You didn't see her for two years. You should be happy that she came back!"

"Father, I said nothing like that." Xia Tianlin shot a glance at Li Hua before blatantly lying. "I was just shocked to see her after such a long time and was overwhelmed with inexplicable emotions. Li Yan was also there."

Originally he wanted to let his father know how viciously this wench had beaten his precious daughter, putting all the blame on her, but Li Hua was the first one to play her cards. He could only clench his jaw and lie.

"Where is Liyan? Why she hasn't come down yet?"

"Grandfather I met with Liyan. She said that she would be a bit late for dinner but she would definitely come!"

Her father was telling a lie and she had seen through his act, so why shouldn't she instigate things?

"Father...Liyan is a bit sick. She won't be coming down for dinner." Xia Tianlin couldn't expose that fox! She talked as if Xia Liyan and her get along really well. If he said that she had hit Xia Liyan his father wouldn't believe him. He couldn't bring Liyan along with him because her face was very swollen and looked ugly.

"Will that woman Jing Xinyi come down for dinner? It's better if she takes care of her daughter instead. I don't want to see her."

Xia Tianlin could only swallow the bitterness in his throat. His father considered his wife as a mistress and never acknowledged her position in the family. Xia Lihua only made things worse for him and he could only berate her inwardly.

Not wanting to agitate his father further he said, "Yes father she also won't come down for dinner tonight. She is taking care of Liyan."

"That's good then!"

"Father why are you scolding brother?" Xia Tianyu walked into the dinning hall with his wife, Xia Si Rong and son Xia Wenjin.

"Oh! Xia Tianyu, come quickly and sit down." Grandfather Xia lightly patted his eldest son as he walked passed him and took a chair near him.

At that moment second aunt and her son also entered the dinning room.

"Your brother took in a mistress and brought shame on Xia family, he deserves to be scolded!" Elder Xia continued.

"Jing Xinyi is not bad. As long as younger brother his happy, Father you shouldn't be angry." Xia Tianyu coaxed him.

"Hmph! What do you have to say Xia Yaoying?" Elder Xia asked his only daughter.

Xia Lihua's second aunt disliked Jing Xinyi as she pretended to be a goody-two-shoes and acted so high and mighty when she was only just a mistress. Naturally she spoke against her. "Brother Tianlin, you didn't divorce Jiang Shen Qi and took in a mistress. It's wasn't right of you."

"What divorce! So you wanted me to divorce and then declare war with the Jiangs? Do you think we can afford to provoke the Jiangs?" Tianlin's anger escalated as his sister regarded his wife as a mistress, causing him to raise his voice involuntarily.

Xia Lihua dragged her chair, making a screeching noise. She felt uncomfortable at the mention of her mother and the Jiangs.

Xia Tianyu's eyes fell on Xia Lihua who was eating quietly at the table.

"Li Hua...?" Xia Tianyu was petrified. He didn't know that she would be here today.

"Hello, uncle."

Xia Lihua's cold greeting made him instantly shudder. With shaking hands he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and asked his father, "You didn't tell me that you invited my niece over for tonight's dinner."

Grandfather Xia chuckled.

"Are you surprised because you haven't seen her for such a long time?" He hadn't said to anyone that he had invited Xia Lihua except Xia Tianlin and Butler He.

"No, I have seen her performance on T.V! Her singing was so good. It feels like I'm sitting with a celebrity. It's great that she could clear her busy schedule and make out some time for tonight's dinner," Xia Tianyu praised, but in his heart he was cursing her.

Xia Lihua could read his mind. With her lips curled upwards she said, "Thank you, uncle. It's so sad that cousin Mengrui won't be able to continue singing classical music because of her illness. I heard she dropped out of Soprano Academy?"

She had a sad smile on her face. Lowering her eyelashes she made an aggrieved and pitiful expression to hide her disdain and hatred.

Everyone at the table except grandfather Xia knew what was the reason behind Xia Mengrui's 'illness'.

"Lihua you don't worry." Xia Sirong nervously shuffled her feet under the table. "As you know because of her chronic laryngitis she hasn't been able to sing well. Her voice has recovered, but she can't sing classical songs anymore."

"How can I not worry, aunt! Mengrui is like my good sister. I truly hope she won't have to drop out of Soprano Academy." On the surface she was full of concern, but in her heart she was sneering looking at her uncle and aunt's anxious expression.

What laryngitis? Just say that there was no one who would sing her songs anymore. They knew how risky it was to hire a shadow singer cause if it somehow gets exposed it would ruin Xia family's reputation.