Chapter Seventeen: Feigning Anger as an Excuse

When Hong Chen saw the Lin family arriving, he immediately knew it would be some kind of absurd, troublesome affair, but he hadn't expected Lin Shujie to attack him right off the bat, accusing him of harming her daughter. Whether Lin Meimei was twisting the facts or Lin Shujie was simply being unreasonable, he could not tell.

"Meimei said that a deal she finally secured, worth eight hundred thousand, and several other negotiations she was working on, have all fallen through. Not only that, but she’s now being asked to pay three hundred thousand in compensation. What exactly happened?" Lin Yuxin, knowing the temperament of Lin Shujie and her daughter, understood that their words were always exaggerated and that reversing black and white was nothing new. She hoped Hong Chen would clarify so she could make her own judgment.

Meeting Lin Shujie’s predatory glare, Hong Chen pointed at Lin Meimei and sneered, "Your daughter colluded with the deputy director of business development to frame the new director as a pervert. As a result, the new director was beaten up by a crowd. When the truth came out, the company canceled the contract and demanded three hundred thousand in compensation. Isn’t that justified?"

Faces around the room changed slightly, and they all turned to look at Lin Meimei. Lin Shujie, however, was unfazed. "Meimei is a victim too! That old man Wei threatened her—if she didn’t cooperate, he would cancel the contract. If she did, he promised to give her the Paradise Bar’s advertising, worth millions. What would you do? And anyway, Meimei didn’t know that fat man was the new director. That old weasel Wei told her he was just an interviewee with some personal grudge. Why blame her?"

She shot another vicious glare at Hong Chen, her voice rising sharply. "That fat man obviously knows you. Why didn’t you speak up for Meimei? If you had, he wouldn’t have pressed charges. Instead, you just stood by and watched her be humiliated, watched her get bullied, and when she twisted her ankle and fell, you didn’t even help her up. You ungrateful wretch! Our family supported you for two years for nothing. Heaven sees all. Are you even human, repaying kindness with betrayal like this?"

At her words, everyone except Lin Yuxin, who frowned, and Lin Yuan returned, who looked helpless, sent hostile glares at Hong Chen, clearly blaming him.

Hong Chen glanced around at their expressions and felt resigned. Did any of them have a sense of right and wrong? So Lin Meimei caused this mess, and he was supposed to clean it up?

"A few days ago, I went for an interview at Hongcheng Group. I bumped into Director Xu in the hallway while I was smoking, chatted a bit, and it turned out we play the same online game in the same server. Last night, I ran into him in the game again. He asked about my interview, I said I hadn’t heard back, and he told me to come by this afternoon—he’d see about a job for me. Before today, I’d only met him once. Aunt, you wanted me to plead for your daughter? Do you think he’d listen to someone he barely knows? In that situation, if he found out I was connected to your daughter, I might have lost my own chance at a job."

He knew reasoning with the Lin family was like playing music to a cow—especially with Lin Shujie, who was like a tigress: back down and she’d let up, but show any backbone and she’d attack. He didn’t care much—he could just treat it as watching a mad dog bark—but it was late and he didn’t want to disturb the neighbors. So he quickly worked out an explanation that expressed helplessness.

Lin Shujie was at a loss for words and finally spat, "Knew you were useless."

A flash of suspicion crossed Lin Yuxin’s eyes. "Hong Chen, you interviewed at Hongcheng Group?"

Hong Chen nodded. "I applied for a trainee manager in the business development department, didn’t get it. Today, I applied as a driver. Shouldn’t be an issue. Director Xu isn’t senior enough to have a dedicated driver, but he said whenever he needs a car, he’ll call me."

Lin Yuxin’s gaze flickered. "You resisted getting a job before—why the sudden change of heart?"

Hong Chen rubbed his nose. "Didn’t I say? I’ll help you."

Hearing this, a strange feeling stirred in Lin Yuxin’s heart. During their conversation that night, when Hong Chen said he’d help her, she hadn’t taken it seriously. Yet now, this man had actually gone and done it.

Lin Yufei curled her lip in disdain. "Just a lousy driver—makes next to nothing a month. You’d earn more picking up trash on the street. ‘Help my sister’—how can you say that with a straight face? Have you no shame?"

Lin Yuxin’s face turned cold. "Yufei, before you look down on others, take a look at yourself. When you graduate, won’t you start out making a few thousand a month? Everyone starts at the bottom."

Mocking Hong Chen had become a habit for Lin Yufei. In the past, Lin Yuxin would rebuke her but never in front of outsiders. Now, with Lin Yuxin breaking with tradition, Yufei was stunned, then humiliated and aggrieved, her emotions flaring. "Sis, you’re comparing me to him? He’s just a useless parasite our family supports!"

Suddenly furious, Lin Yuxin slammed the table. "He spends at most five thousand a month. And you? You’re still a student! Not counting your two thousand living allowance, last month you maxed out over forty thousand on your credit card!"

Her words exploded like a grenade. The room was stunned. Shen Huifang cried out, "Yufei, is this true?"

Lin Yufei didn’t dare meet Lin Yuxin’s eyes, her expression flickering, but she still insisted, "You’re making it up!"

Lin Yuxin’s anger only grew. "You left the bill in your blazer at the dry cleaner. The owner handed it to me. Shall I show you now?"

Lin Yufei was rocked, her face instantly pale. Tears welled up and spilled over as she covered her mouth and ran to her room. Shen Huifang, torn, looked from Lin Yuxin to Lin Yuan returned, then shot Hong Chen a glare. "It’s all your fault, you useless thing!" She hurried after her daughter.

"Uncle, Aunt, please make yourselves comfortable. Dad, I’m going out for some air," Lin Yuxin said, still seething, giving Hong Chen a look as she left.

Hong Chen followed quietly.

"Hong Chen, set up a dinner with Director Xu for me—the time and place are up to you. That’s not too much to ask, is it?" Lin Yuanshan, hesitating as the pair were about to leave, finally blurted out his request.

Lin Yuxin spun around, her voice icy. "Uncle, Hong Chen hasn’t even started his job yet. Do you want him unemployed at home again? Are you going to cover his expenses too?"

Lin Yuanshan was left speechless and, seeing Lin Yuxin’s temper, decided not to push further. He gave Lin Shujie a look to keep quiet, forced a smile, and said, "We’ll talk later, Yuxin, don’t be so angry. Yufei is still young..."

Lin Yuxin said nothing more and strode out the door.

...

Downstairs, Lin Yuxin took a deep breath of the cool night air, her frosty expression melting into resignation. "Yufei moved back home after sulking at school, and now that I scolded her like that, she’ll probably move back to campus tomorrow, given her temper."

Hong Chen knew how much Lin Yuxin spoiled her sister. He’d been surprised when she lost her temper with Yufei in front of everyone, but the facts were clear: with the Lin family’s annual income barely fifty thousand, for Yufei, a college student, to rack up over forty thousand in debt in a month was excessive.

Many girls begin their downfall the moment they start spending beyond their means.

"You were right to discipline her, but maybe it should have been done privately. In front of everyone, she’d lose face."

Lin Yuxin glanced at him. "I didn’t want to, but in that situation, if I hadn’t found an excuse to get angry, Uncle and Aunt would have pressed on endlessly, and in the end, everyone would have left unhappy."

"Before you came back, Aunt had already raised hell, blaming me for Lin Meimei’s mess, insisting I pay the thirty thousand in compensation and cover the contract losses. With her character, explanations are useless."

"Then there’s Uncle, who heard you know the new director and wants you to pull strings. His appetite is huge—two pharmacies are gone, and Lin Huihuang just registered a new renovation company and is angling for a ten million contract, promising us a five percent commission. My mom and Yufei are tempted; my dad knows better but won’t stand up to them. In the end, whether you agree and fail, or refuse outright, you’ll be the bad guy."

Hong Chen couldn’t help but smile bitterly. The Lin family truly was a parade of trouble.