Stress response

"It's Mr. Fan."

When Mr. Fan walked over to them, Lin Lihai and Lin Wu politely shook his hand and then casually asked, "Mr. Fan, are you discussing business with Mr. Yu?"

"Yes, Mr. Yu's company has a few projects I'm quite interested in, so I came to talk with him."

Seeing that Yu Moxun and Yongci hadn't moved from their spot, Lin Lihai paused but didn't dwell on it.

Mr. Fan, unaware of the tension, found Yu Moxun's behavior a little odd. After all, as a businessman, even if Yu Moxun didn't know the Lin family, it wouldn't hurt to go over and greet people, make a few more connections.

While Lin Wu and Lin Lihai were chatting with Mr. Fan, after greeting him, Grandma Lin and Sun Yueqing walked over to Yongci and Yu Moxun.

Yu Moxun looked at Yongci.

Yongci looked at them but didn't move.

Grandma Lin, with a kind expression, spoke first, "Xiao Ci, it's been a while."

Yongci didn't speak.

Seeing Yongci's stubborn look, Grandma Lin sighed, "Xiao Ci, you…"

At this moment, Sun Yueqing coldly spoke up, "Xiao Ci, no matter how much resentment or misunderstanding you have toward me, it's between me, you, and your mother. It has nothing to do with Lihai or your grandmother. I hope you don't push away those who care about you just because of your personal grievances."

Sun Yueqing… Sun Yueqing… Yongci remembered that before Lin Lihai and her mother divorced, he used to speak so affectionately about Sun Yueqing, calling her a woman who was proud and cold, yet someone he longed for, his 'white moonlight.'

He said it was only after meeting Sun Yueqing that he understood what true love was.

They loved each other.

Lin Lihai said that although Sun Yueqing appeared cold, she was actually a good person, and he hoped she would stop being so hostile toward her mother and learn to appreciate others' strengths.

Unlike other mistresses who interfered in someone else's marriage, Sun Yueqing had always been kind to her, though her expressions were always cold and distant.

She had an air of being untouchable.

Years had passed, but Sun Yueqing still looked as stunning and aloof as she did in her memories.

Therefore, when she spoke those words of advice, they didn't seem like the usual words of flattery from a stepmother. They seemed quite sincere and convincing.

After all, someone as cold and proud as her would never bother to make life difficult for a stepdaughter. If there were any conflicts, it was probably because the stepdaughter didn't understand.

Sun Yueqing was saying that the issues between her mother and her, and Lin Lihai, didn't affect the feelings Lin Lihai and Grandma Lin had for her.

Children long for fatherly love, for family ties.

This feeling intensifies after a divorce.

At that time, she was only about eight or nine years old, and she loved both of her parents. She couldn't bear to part with either of them.

But her heart leaned toward her mother. She pitied her.

That was why, when Lin Lihai and Rong Yingsheng fought for custody after their divorce, even though Rong Yingsheng had already become mentally unstable, she insisted on staying with her mother, ignoring the pleas of Lin Lihai and Grandma Lin.

Even after she stayed with her mother, she still felt some attachment to Lin Lihai and Grandma Lin.

But she didn't show it, as she didn't want to upset her mother.

More than a year after the divorce, Grandma Lin came to the capital and secretly had someone contact her, wanting to meet her.

At that time, she hadn't seen Grandma Lin for over a year. She missed her too and decided to go meet her secretly, without telling her uncles.

But what she didn't know was that Grandma Lin had brought Lin Wu along.

Grandma Lin said that since they were sisters, they should get along well.

She didn't want to.

But when she saw Grandma Lin's reproachful eyes, accusing her of being too much like her mother, too sharp, she began to feel sad and wondered if she was just a narrow-minded child.

More than ten years had passed, but she still remembered it clearly.

She remembered that day, after feeling upset, she went to the bathroom. When she came back, she saw Grandma Lin holding two ice creams, one for her and one for Lin Wu.

One of them had been scraped and got some oil stains when a waiter passed by with a dirty tray.

Lin Wu immediately chose the one without any defects.

Grandma Lin simply smiled and rubbed her head. She didn't replace the dirty one for a new one.

When she came back, Grandma Lin handed her the ice cream without saying a word about the missing piece.

At that time, given the Lin family's financial situation, they could afford to buy a thousand or even ten thousand ice creams if they wanted.

But she didn't replace it.

It was then that she clearly realized how much Grandma Lin's heart had changed toward her.

She would never forget the malicious look in Lin Wu's eyes as she looked at the dirty ice cream.

There were even more similar things with Lin Lihai.

Thinking about it now, even though she no longer cared about Feng Ting Shen, when she looked at Grandma Lin's kind face and Sun Yueqing's righteous expression, she smiled faintly and responded to them regarding the matters between her, Feng Ting Shen, and Lin Wu: "You all say you're sincerely concerned about me. I really want to believe that. But is your 'concern' just helping Lin Wu interfere in my marriage?"

When she said this, there was no sign of embarrassment on Grandma Lin or Sun Yueqing's faces.

They probably anticipated she would say something like this.

Grandma Lin sighed, "Xiao Ci, you and Ting Shen both know the situation between you two. Why force someone who doesn't love you to be with you? Only after divorce can you start anew. Grandma is—"

"You want to say that you're doing this for my good, right?" Yongci interrupted her. She looked at both Grandma Lin and Sun Yueqing and said, "You've said the same words of concern over and over. Don't you get tired of it? You don't even try to be creative with your excuses. How can I believe you? Maybe next time, you should try something new?"

Before they could respond, Yongci continued, "But it probably wouldn't matter. After all, no matter how much you say, it's all empty words. What really matters is what you've done, right?"

Grandma Lin and Sun Yueqing were both momentarily taken aback by Yongci's sharp words.

But Grandma Lin remained unfazed. She was about to speak when Yongci interrupted her.

Turning to Mr. Fan, who was walking back, she asked, "Mr. Fan, are you done talking? Shall we leave now?"

Mr. Fan, noticing the atmosphere on their side seemed a little off, gave a forced smile and nodded, "Alright."

He then turned to Grandma Lin and Sun Yueqing, saying, "Old Madam, Mrs. Lin, we'll take our leave now."

Grandma Lin smiled and nodded, but when she looked at Yongci, she sighed again.

Ever since Lin Lihai decided to divorce her mother, whenever she did something they didn't approve of, the mother and son would always sigh when talking to her.

It felt as though she was always in the wrong, always causing trouble, as if everything bad was her fault.

This led to her developing an anxiety response after her divorce from Rong Yingsheng and moving back to the Rong family. She was afraid of being blamed, afraid of hearing people sigh at her, so until she was twelve or thirteen, even though everyone in the Rong family treated her well, she still acted extremely obediently, afraid of making mistakes, afraid of showing any personality.