I am chasing a rough man in the 80s
Chapter 681: Protecting the Calves Depends on the Father (450+ monthly tickets)

Chapter 681: Chapter 681: Protecting the Calves Depends on the Father (450+ monthly tickets)

Liu Xi looked at the gold lock in her box, then frowned at the silver lock in Suizi’s box. Grabbing Suizi’s box, she swapped it with hers.

Mother Fan: ???

She thought Suizi would be angry, feeling Mother Fan was biased, then go back and cry to Chen Lijun, mother and daughter getting worked up —— that would be a normal person’s reaction to this situation, right?

But Liu Xi surprisingly betrayed her!

"Liu Xi, what is the meaning of this? The lock was for you to ensure a safe pregnancy. Why are you swapping it with her?" Mother Fan said unhappily.

"How can a material possession ensure anything? According to seniority, Suizi is the eldest granddaughter in this family. Any good things should go to Suizi first. How could my unborn child possibly be prioritized over Big Sister?"

"..." Mother Fan’s face was full of embarrassment.

Suizi watched as the old lady’s attempt to sow discord failed spectacularly. In her mind, she could hear Mother Fan’s likely thoughts about Liu Xi: worst teammate ever.

"Aunt Xi, you wear it. Gold is so old-fashioned, my mom definitely won’t like it." Suizi declined.

"What could possibly please her high-and-mighty self? In my opinion, you should just not give it to her, wear it directly——come on, let me help you wear it."

Liu Xi picked up the gold lock, moved aside Suizi’s ponytail, and put it on her directly.

Mother Fan: ...???

"I don’t like it either." Suizi tried to take it off.

"It looks great on you, and you are fair-skinned, alright? I’ve made the decision, it’s yours now." Liu Xi was extremely satisfied. Being face-blind, she needed to hear Suizi speak before recognizing her. With the gold lock on, it would be much easier to recognize Suizi now, right?

"Then, this is for you, it scratches when I wash my hands with it."

Not wanting to have an unreturned favour, Suizi quickly removed the gold ring she was wearing on her index finger. This ring was also a recent gift she had received from the Fan family. It was slightly smaller than the gold lock, and fit Liu Xi perfectly.

Having divided the loot, both were highly satisfied.

Only Mother Fan had ended up in the disadvantageous position.

"Liu Xi, when did you become so close to Suizi?" Mother Fan asked in a sour tone.

"We’re all family, wouldn’t it be strange not to be close?" Liu Xi glanced at her mother-in-law, then turned to chat about motherhood with Suizi, ignoring the increasingly awful look on her mother-in-law’s face.

Mother Fan was now beginning to question her life choices. What happened to the phrase "Rather than having few, fear having uneven"?

Wasn’t it agreed that the mother-in-law would favor one, and the co-wives would be fighting like cats and dogs?

Liu Xi had always been a hard person to get along with in Mother Fan’s mind, and she had had a poor relationship with Chen Lijun for many years. So how could she get along so well with Chen Lijun’s daughter, appearing as though they were part of the same family?

If Mother Fan couldn’t understand it, the other members of the Fan family were even more baffled. Liu Xi had been married into the family for many years, and because her relationship with Fan Hui was poor, she treated everyone in the Fan family like enemies. She would retort to anyone who spoke to her.

But it turned out she could actually talk to Suizi. Looking at their intimate chit-chat, it seems like they’ve been good for more than just a day or two. It seems Fan Huang’s sudden emergence as a daughter must have some divine power at play.

It was near the end of the dinner party before Mother Fan realized something.

Not only had she failed to vex Chen Lijun, she had even lost a big gold lock.... Running dry and losing the soldiers too!

Suizi saw herself as behaving pretty obediently that day, not quibbling with the old lady like Yu Jingting, just cleverly eating, quietly accepting gifts, and chatting amiably with Liu Xi.

The next afternoon, Suizi led her family to her mom’s house for a meal. Sitting around the dinner table, Chen Lijun asked.

"Did anyone upset the old lady at yesterday’s dinner party?"

Yu Jingting immediately raised his hand, distancing himself.

"I was out with friends last night, paving the road. I wasn’t involved."

"That’s strange then, the nanny that’s taking care of the old lady said that after all the guests had left, the old lady was so angry she didn’t eat dinner, holed up in her room in a huff, even smashing quite a few things, and she felt uncomfortable today, so she went to the hospital."

Mother Fan was getting on in years, and already had a heart condition. She didn’t have to be hospitalized but she insisted, and the doctor seeing her as about to explode, Jingting had originally intended to take his wife and daughter to make an appearance, but he didn’t expect that something would happen during the visit.

"Uh....It wasn’t because of me, was it?" Suizi retold the incident of how the old lady had preferentially given out gold and silver locks to them. "Did she get angry because I swapped with Aunt Xi?"

Suizi felt somewhat guilty. Shouldn’t she have acted a bit more foolishly yesterday, to go along with the old lady’s antics?

Could it be possible that she and Yu Jingting gave the old lady too much pressure, causing her heart disease to flare up?

"Oh, that thing." Fan Huang set down his bowl, saying slowly, "I’ve already solved it."

"You?" Suizi didn’t know that her dad had a part to play in this. Didn’t he completely sit out of the main event?

"I told the old lady that I plan to give Suizi the half-box of gold bars left to me by my grandfather. Young people have different aesthetics from us. Whatever jewelry the child likes, she can make it herself. It saves the trouble of the elders giving something in a style that she doesn’t like. Go back and take it with you, it’s on the desk in the study."

"..."

That little bit of guilt Suizi felt just now was instantly gone.

So, it was her dad who upset the old lady, right?

Fan Huang might not have been willing to partake in the family affairs, but that did not mean he wasn’t aware of what was happening.

Suizi had barely left the Fan family’s place when someone told him about what had happened at the banquet.

Fan Huang knew the old lady wanted to disgust his wife and daughter with her favoritism.

He immediately called the old lady in retaliation, promising half of his fortune, the small box of gold bars, all to Suizi.

Giving the funds and the house to Chen Lijun, leaving the rest to Suizi, he had nothing for himself.

Mother Fan had never considered that Suizi was part of the Fan family, and had always treated Chen Lijun’s mother and daughter as outsiders.

The old lady had already been angered by Suizi and Liu Xi once. Fan Huang continued to do so, directly causing her to be hospitalized.

"Suizi’s not short of gold, why would you give it to her?" Yu Jingting didn’t expect that his father-in-law, who seemed so unassuming, could be so fierce when it came to protecting his daughter.

"Whether she’s short of it or not is your problem, whether I give it to her or not is my problem. I’ve discussed it with your mom, we don’t have anywhere we need to spend the money either. Even keeping it at home is a nuisance."

"We also think it’s a nuisance. I already have a lot of wealth now, and I always have to rack my brains to think of ways to hide it, which is a hassle."

Suizi protested, with Yu Jingting seconding. Yes, they also felt it was a hassle having too much money with no place to put it.

The country does not have any bank deposit services at the moment. Having so many valuables at home, having to guard against theft, moisture, rats and bugs was a great annoyance.

"You figure out your own solutions. You can’t even solve such a little problem? What was the point of going to college?" Chen Lijun said dismissively.

"..." No college teaches how to hide a wealth of valuables at home!

Gratitude does come with a price. Having been forcibly given a box of gold, Suizi and her husband had to, at once unwillingly, accompany Fan Huang and Chen Lijun to the hospital to visit Mother Fan.

Mother Fan’s heart disease was an old ailment, there was no need for her to be hospitalized but she insisted. The doctor advised her to calm down, Fan Huang had originally planned to bring his wife and daughter for just to make an appearance, but surprisingly, trouble arose.