Feng Yaojun arrived with his entire family, accompanied by Cheng Tao and Feng Xue.
One adopted daughter, one niece, both treated with more affection than their own children.
The old lady found it rather laughable.
"I have guests today, so it's inconvenient to have you stay for dinner. Please say what you need to say and then leave."
Zhu Yan, displeased, made herself at home.
"Mom, Cheng Tao is here. How can outsiders be more important than your own granddaughter?"
The old lady sneered, "In her heart, we old folks are still not as important as an outsider."
"Tsk, we're all family. Why hold grudges?" Zhu Yan waved to Cheng Tao, "Aren't you going to hurry over and apologize to your maternal grandparents?"
Cheng Tao had prepared a speech, determined to show her sincerity to the elders.
Before she could speak, she heard the old lady's cold voice, "No need to say anything. It's always the same few words, it's meaningless! If you truly regret your mistakes, then take your daughter with you. As a mother, you haven't fulfilled your basic responsibilities. How can I expect you to be sensible?"
She was truly disappointed. The more disappointed she was, the more she regretted abandoning the child in the first place.
If she had kept her daughter with her, no matter how difficult, tiring, or dangerous, perhaps things wouldn't be like this now.
Zhu Yan gave Feng Yaojun a look, urging him to intervene.
The old man immediately shut him up, "I haven't even settled the score with you for helping Xu Nanxi forge that suicide note. How dare you show your face here! Get out!"
One by one, none of them were reliable.
Feng Yaojun sheepishly fell silent, not daring to say more.
Zhu Yan glared at him with a mix of disappointment and anger, but when she turned back to the old lady, she instinctively put on a smile.
"Mom..."
"If you're only here for Cheng Tao's matter, then you can leave now. I see Cheng Tao is living well at your place. You don't need to come back anymore."
This was something the old lady had already decided. Her eldest son's family was in cahoots, and that was just perfect.
Zhu Yan almost lost her smile. She had gone to great lengths to bring Cheng Tao here, with the sole purpose of tricking the elders out of their possessions.
If only Cheng Tao were more capable, she wouldn't have to humble herself here.
Unable to vent her frustration, Zhu Yan turned her attention to Cheng You and Song Qinglan.
She noticed a young girl she hadn't seen before.
Naturally, she recalled something she had heard a few days ago – that Cheng You had snatched someone else's granddaughter.
The pent-up resentment in her heart seemed to find an outlet.
"Qinglan, is this the child your daughter-in-law adopted? I must say, the young ones might be ignorant, but are the elders also ignorant? Children are of course better when they are your own. Why fight with others for one? How immoral!"
Song Qinglan's expression soured, and she retorted, "That's none of your business."
She and Zhu Yan had never been close, and they had had a falling out in their youth.
Now that they were older, there was no need to show her much respect.
Zhu Yan's face stiffened, feeling she had lost face in front of the younger generation. She gritted her teeth.
"Why are you speaking like that? I'm just kindly reminding you. Cheng You and Ah Yan have been married for two years, aren't you planning to have children yet?"
She deliberately glanced at Cheng You's stomach, "Could it be that there's some problem with her health?"
Song Qinglan chuckled, "When my daughter-in-law wants to have children is none of your business. You have two children of your own, one unmarried and one unattached, and you're meddling in my affairs. You'd be better off worrying about your own family's mess."
Zhu Yan only had one son, but he was not close to the family and hadn't returned home for many years, let alone gotten married.
As for Feng Xue, she was even further behind, still unmarried.
She had been introduced to several potential suitors, but none of them appealed to her.
She had been delaying it until now.
Song Qinglan's words struck a nerve.
"My Feng Xue already has a boyfriend!"
"Oh, I know. It's Xu Nanxi, isn't it? Wasn't he in jail? And he got involved with Cheng Tao." Song Qinglan found it effortless to retort.
Cheng You and Zhen Zhen had no room to intervene.
Zhu Yan's face turned ashen, and she emphasized, "It's not Xu Nanxi!"
Cheng You scoffed, "Then it must be Ruan Tianyang?"
Zhu Yan was taken aback. She thought for a long while but couldn't recall who Ruan Tianyang was.
She had indeed seen someone send Feng Xue home a few days ago, but she hadn't seen his face clearly.
She looked at Feng Xue, her expression questioning.
Feng Xue turned her face away with an unpleasant expression, "No, he's married. How could I be dating him?"
Zhu Yan suddenly realized. She remembered that Ruan Tianyang was the man who had liked Feng Xue for many years.
Thinking that he even had children, she immediately denied it, "How could Feng Xue's boyfriend be him!"
"Isn't it? I saw the news Ruan Tianyang posted in the newspaper before, and I thought Feng Xue made him do it!" Cheng You blinked innocently.
Feng Xue forced a smile, "Of course, it wasn't me."
Zhu Yan echoed, "Feng Xue wasn't involved in your affairs. Cheng You, don't talk nonsense."
Cheng You simply smiled and looked at Feng Xue with a knowing gaze.
Song Qinglan chuckled, her tone carrying a hint of coldness, "It's best if it's not. Otherwise, getting entangled with a married man is not a good thing."
The more they spoke, the more uncomfortable Zhu Yan felt.
She wondered if Feng Xue truly had some connection with Ruan Tianyang.
The old lady couldn't be bothered with these sordid affairs. She was on the verge of asking the nanny to chase them out with a broom, repeatedly urging them to leave, and even telling them to take Cheng Tao's daughter with them.
"Grandma..." Cheng Tao's eyes welled up with tears as she pleaded, "I really know I was wrong. Please don't send me away."
The old lady turned her face away, "Aren't you living quite well at your uncle's place? You don't need to come over anymore unless it's important."
Cheng Tao quickly said, "I was afraid you and Grandpa would be angry! Grandma, please forgive me. I'll never make mistakes again."
Zhu Yan, determined to keep Cheng Tao, chimed in, "Mom, Cheng Tao has no income, and living at my place is too expensive. We can't afford her."
The old lady couldn't help but chuckle at her words.
She gently stroked the jade bracelet on her wrist, her prominent bone clearly visible.
"Zhu Yan, at our age, we should have been receiving child support from you. But since you married into our family, we haven't asked Feng Yaojun for a single penny. We haven't even seen a cent from you during festivals. Since you've brought it up, then use the child support that you owe us to raise Cheng Tao."
Feng Yaojun lowered his head in shame. He had originally intended to provide support, but Zhu Yan had said his parents had pensions and didn't need his money.
Not giving child support had become a habit over the years.
Now that the old lady had brought it up, he realized how shameful it was.
Song Qinglan exclaimed, "They never gave child support? That's not right. When my mother was alive, she wasn't even fifty. My father's brothers gave her money monthly, without fail."