Chapter 86: Mrs. Jiang appears

Tang Rui frowned almost imperceptibly before casting a cool glance at his reckless cousin.

He had hesitated before inviting this annoying cousin in the first place. However, not wanting to make his intentions too obvious, he had arranged this dinner under the pretext of catching up with his Zhuang cousins after a long time apart.

Now, he was beginning to regret it. Perhaps he should have simply met with Zhuang Meng alone.

With a quiet sigh, Tang Rui gave up on answering Zhuang Cheng’s reckless questions and turned his attention to Zhuang Meng instead.

From what he had observed, the Zhuang family was considering making Zhuang Meng their heir in place of Zhuang Cheng. Even the Zhuang elders, despite their deeply ingrained belief in patriarchal primogeniture, had begun to hesitate.

After all, Zhuang Cheng’s unreliable behavior had dragged the Zhuang family into trouble with other wealthy families on several occasions. Zhuang Meng, in contrast, had cultivated numerous useful connections and befriended influential figures. Now, she was even engaged to a son of the Rong family.

In the capital, the wealthy and powerful inhabited a world where dragons and snakes mingled, their interests intertwined in a complicated web. Yet even within high society, distinct circles existed, each with its own unspoken rules and boundaries.

Military families generally avoided associating with outsiders, keeping their social circles tightly knit and exclusive.

Political circles, on the other hand, maintained connections with economic circles, making them highly sought-after allies. However, their relationships with the economic circles were far from equal. Politicians often treated wealthy families as pawns in their power struggles, leaving the latter wary of becoming entangled in political affairs.

In recent years, as the country’s economic standing on the global stage had risen, the influence of the economic circles had grown considerably. Their power was now far greater than it had been in previous decades, to the point that even established political families had to think twice before offending them.

Yet with so many powerful interests intertwined, the waters had only grown murkier.

Within the economic circles, four families stood above the rest in terms of influence and power: the Chu family, the Rong family, the Wei family, and the Gu family.

These four families were regarded as old bloodlines within the economic elite, their vast fortunes and influence spanning numerous industries across the country.

It was an open secret that one of the Chu family’s sons was homosexual. Given the Chu family’s status, even someone as reckless as Zhuang Cheng knew better than to speak carelessly about the matter.

It was precisely because Zhuang Meng had become engaged to Rong Junpei that the Zhuang family elders had begun to seriously consider her as a potential heir. Rong Junpei, despite not being an heir himself, was highly favored by his family because of his cheerful and genuine personality.

Thinking that his cousin Zhuang Meng was still the more reliable one, Tang Rui asked her, "If someone from the Tang family were to make things difficult for that troublemaker, would the Bai family and the Lin family protect him?"

Zhuang Meng stared at Tang Rui cautiously. She did not know what he thought of that boy from the Lin family—no, Lin Feng was now more like a member of the Bai family. But judging from what her friend Lin Xiaoxiao had cried out to her during their sleepover that same night...

Zhuang Meng slowly nodded. "They will."

In fact, Zhuang Meng had also been among the group gathered around the restroom entrance. She had been thankful that the matter had passed quickly and that no one else had happened to enter the restroom. After all, when she heard Lin Xiaoxiao’s words back then, Zhuang Meng realized that her friend did not hate the boy as much as she had assumed.

If the matter had blown up again, Zhuang Meng would have regretted it until her intestines turned green.

Thinking about it further, Zhuang Meng furrowed her brows slightly before taking a deep breath. "There’s something I haven’t mentioned to you yet. Back then, during the confrontation..."

Zhuang Meng slowly recounted the words she had heard from that boy.

Those words of apology had been spoken with such sincerity and guilt that anyone who heard them could only sigh at the complexity of the situation back then.

After she finished, the table fell silent. Even Zhuang Cheng was quiet.

After several seconds, Zhuang Cheng tutted in dissatisfaction. "...Tsk. Really, no backbone at all."

It was unclear whether he was referring to Lin Feng or the Lin family.

Hearing his voice, Tang Rui came back to his senses. His eyelashes drooped as he sighed. "...Thank you for telling me this. I’ll tell my family about it."

As if infected by the heavy mood, the rest of the dinner passed in silence.

At the Bai family’s table, Wei Ranmiao, Lin Feng, and Bai Jianning were about to finish their main course, chatting lightheartedly, when a sudden voice interrupted them.

"Oh my, look who’s here!" An exaggerated note of surprise rang out. "Mrs. Bai and her daughter, and look at this, isn’t this...?"

The smile on Wei Ranmiao’s face faded slightly before returning to normal.

She turned around, feigning surprise. "Oh my, look who’s here. Isn’t this Mrs. Jiang?"

Lin Feng and Bai Jianning exchanged glances before turning toward the voice.

A beautiful, sexy woman who appeared to be in her twenties stood nearby, one hand covering her mouth. She held a small handbag in the other, while two bodyguards behind her carried several shopping bags.

She wore oversized sunglasses, a large fur coat, a black mini dress, and stilettos. Her long black hair was swept into a high ponytail. When she pushed her sunglasses up onto her head, her glamorous makeup came into view, along with her sharply arched brows, raised arrogantly.

Lin Feng blinked. A relevant memory surfaced in his mind. This was indeed Mrs. Jiang, who was actually in her early thirties and married to Mr. Jiang, a man over sixty years old.

When the boy’s clear amber eyes met the woman’s amorous gaze, she paused. Then her painted red lips parted.

"How amusing. It seems that the lofty flower on the mountain cliff has finally turned into a pure white lotus after coming out of the closet."

Wei Ranmiao’s expression hardened. She straightened up, lifting her chin elegantly as she looked down at the flamboyant woman.

"You are of the same generation as my father-in-law. Xiao Feng is like your grandson. How can you say such harsh things about him?"

The woman’s brows did not even twitch. She lazily waved a hand, the silver bangles on her wrists clinking as they moved. "The truth is the truth. What are you going to do about it?"

"The truth is indeed the truth, Mrs. Jiang. People with good upbringing know that well. Why are you making such a big deal out of it?"

The two women stared at each other with smiles, lightning and thunder flashing in their gazes.

Bai Jianning looked worriedly at her cousin. No one in the family ever mentioned Third Brother’s sexuality, yet now, on only his second outing with them, someone had actually brought it up!

In their circle, this was something people tacitly agreed to ignore.

Mrs. Jiang was truly too unbridled!

During the standoff, Lin Feng stood up alongside Bai Jianning.

When the elders were standing, the juniors naturally could not remain seated.

His movement caught Mrs. Jiang’s attention. The woman’s eyes openly scrutinized the boy’s face before traveling up and down his figure.

Unexpectedly, the boy showed neither timidity nor humiliation.

Noticing that the other party was looking at him, Lin Feng glanced at his aunt inquiringly.

Wei Ranmiao blinked, finally regaining her composure. Realizing that people at the nearby tables were watching them, she smiled again.

"Xiao Feng, Jianning, this is Mrs. Jiang from the Jiang family. Come and greet your elder."

The two teenagers obediently greeted Mrs. Jiang.

"Good evening, Mrs. Jiang. I am Bai Jianning. Please call me Jianning."

"Good evening, Mrs. Jiang. I am Lin Feng. Please call me Xiao Feng. I hope you are doing well."