Chapter 24 The Piglet in a Suit

Nanjiang Villa was usually very quiet.

Today, no one knew who had let the wind out, but somehow word got around that Li Zishen had donated twenty million to Jin City University and didn't even hold a donation ceremony in the end.

At this moment, the wives of the second and third eldest in the family were in the living room, voicing their complaints about the matter.

Madam Lai wished she could boot them out.

But there was no way to do that; everyone was family, after all.

"For a girl with no background at all, is it worth it? Plus, I heard that in order to please that girl, Zishen even turned his swimming pool into a pond. Isn't that ridiculous?"

"Second sister, actually, this can't all be blamed on..."

Madam Lai was just about to defend her eldest son, when Third Aunt Lai sat down beside her: "Sister-in-law, has that girl come to visit you at all?"

"Not yet."

"Not yet, huh? That's not very good; after all, you're an elder, and she should have come to see you."

Upon hearing this, Second Aunt Lai suddenly perked up, quickly scooting next to Madam Lai to stir the pot, afraid of missing a good opportunity.

"People from small places just don't have manners. If she actually marries into our Lai family, wouldn't that turn the world upside down? It's best to send her away as soon as possible."

The words were a direct stab at the heart, especially the part about sending someone away.

Madam Lai immediately sat up straight, fixing her gaze on Second Aunt Lai: "You needn't worry about that. Zishen is a decisive child. His judgement is not wrong."

"Sister-in-law..."

"Alright, that's enough. It's getting late, and you are both busy. I won't keep you for dinner. Nanny Wu, please see the two ladies out."

Is she even refusing to call them sisters-in-law now?

Directly addressing them as the two ladies!

With things having reached this point, to stay any longer would be shameless, what else could they do when her son was so capable.

Second Aunt Lai pursed her lips and left the living room.

Third Aunt Lai hurriedly got up and followed suit.

When everyone had gone far enough away, Madam Lai's lashes lowered, and she pushed the fruit tray on the table to the ground.

"Madam, please calm yourself; it's not worth getting upset over them."

"If it happens again, just say I'm sick."

"Yes, Madam. Do you want me to invite Lady Tang over...?"

"There's no need. Let Zishen handle it himself."

As fate would have it, no sooner had the two ladies left than Li Wanshan, the second son, arrived.

"Where is my sister-in-law?"

Nanny Wu, hastily trying to save Madam Lai from any blame, quickly explained, "Madam just heard about the donation and her old condition flared up. She's just taken her medicine and laid down."

Li Wanshan clenched his fists, suddenly feeling a rush of anger: "Since my sister-in-law is unwell, I'll visit another day."

Nanny Wu nodded and saw him out.

The two walked one ahead of the other.

At that moment, Li Wanshan suddenly felt a chill down his spine: "Has Zishen come to visit?"

"Madam didn't want to disturb the young master."

"How can that be acceptable? No matter how busy, he should come and see her. This is becoming unbearable."

He felt guilty even as he scolded.

Truth be told, he knew better than anyone that Li Zishen couldn't get away at this hour to visit Bie Yuan; he was being besieged by a bunch of old shareholders.

Each one of them was taking advantage of their age and trying to manipulate Li Zishen by playing the emotional card.

...

In the study,

Madam Lai was practicing calligraphy, and when Nanny Wu came in, she had already finished two pages of characters.

"Madam's handwriting is getting better and better!"

"Did the second one say anything?"

"Nothing much, just some superficial talk."

"That old fox is too hateful, always bullying us two women alone."

"Now that Young Master Zishen can stand on his own, Madam needn't worry over such trifles, taking care of yourself is what's most important."

Her comforting words were just what Madam needed.

The donation was originally out of Li Zishen's own pocket and had nothing to do with the group, right?

They were just trying to create trouble and alienate people!

Madam Lai put down her pen, eyes half-closed: "The wife of the third eldest is usually quite a homebody, but today she actually went out."

Nanny Wu chuckled, massaging Madam Lai's temples as she teased, "Must be egged on by the wife of the second eldest. She's as timid as a mouse; she wouldn't dare come here without being egged on!"

"Uh-huh, that's true."

After hearing this, Madam Lai felt a lot more at ease.

Li Garden.

Tang Xiaowan didn't go fishing after waking up in the afternoon; instead, she and Li Zihan headed to the pedestrian street.

Bai Long was still acting as the driver.

In fact, it didn't really matter where they went to have fun, Li Zihan's task was to accompany for meals and playtime; only by doing so could he receive his allowance on time and doubled.

At this moment, Tang Xiaowan lay on the mahogany bed, recalling the places she had visited that day, when suddenly she frowned.

It was now eight o'clock at night.

It was a bit early to sleep, and she didn't feel like watching TV.

"Ah, so annoying, really boring."

"Really boring, so annoying, ah!"

Tang Xiaowan repeated the same line several times.

Out of boredom, she eventually took a second bath and changed into her second set of pajamas.

When her hair was almost dry, there was a knock at the door.

Tang Xiaowan immediately put down the comb and hurried to sit properly on the mahogany bed.

"Come in."

Nanny Chen walked in with a smile, carrying a large food box in her hand.

Tang Xiaowan felt a bit downhearted, biting her lower lip.

The food box was opened layer by layer by Nanny Chen, revealing her favorite mung bean pastries and green dumplings, as well as a large ceramic bowl filled with soup.

"Xiao Wan, have some snow pear soup."

Tang Xiaowan looked at the bowl Nanny Chen was holding.

It really was a huge bowl, it could be used as a soup basin, no, perhaps it was originally a soup basin.

No wonder the food box was so big!

"Nanny Chen, I mean... that is..."

Tang Xiaowan hesitated, touched her nose, "Oh, this soup looks quite nice, it must be delicious, thank you, Nanny Chen."

Nanny Chen's eyes twinkled, and she spoke gently, "Young Master Zishen hasn't come back yet."

"Oh, actually it's quite late already, I feel that... that..."

"With Chen Xin around, it's fine."

Even though Tang Xiaowan didn't say much, their conversation wasn't at all hindered.

They understood each other at once.

Tang Xiaowan laughed awkwardly, touching her high nose again, and when she realized Nanny Chen was still watching her, she quickly drank all of the snow pear soup in one go.

The soup had a faint sweetness and tasted extremely good.

Nanny Chen looked at her as one would at a child.

Li Zishen had been the same since he was a child, drinking whatever Nanny Chen brought him, especially obedient.

It was past eleven at night.

Li Zishen dragged his tired body back home.

The villa was very quiet.

As he passed the first floor, he encountered Nanny Chen, and after a brief exchange, they went their separate ways.

Li Zishen's room was on the third floor, directly above Tang Xiaowan's bedroom and had the same layout, but the overall color scheme was gray and white, not colorful like flowers.

The furnishings were particularly simple, without even a trace of clutter.

Li Zishen, unfastening his tie, was thinking about the company's affairs when he suddenly noticed a new small object on the sofa—a little pig figurine wearing a black suit.

He didn't need to guess to know who it was from.

Li Zishen smiled.

When he held the figurine in his hand, he discovered a tiny note tucked inside the little suit pocket.

"I won't thank you for the great kindness, I will repay the money, please wait patiently."

The handwriting was ugly, like a worm crawling.

But that wasn't the point.

Li Zishen's eyes crinkled with a smile as he kissed the figurine, "Silly, no need to repay."

That night, he slept very well, without any insomnia.