Chapter 88: Eavesdropping

With tears in her eyes, the waitress could not help checking her phone for related posts.

When she saw the few comments claiming that Lin Feng was an attention-seeker and a disgusting homosexual, she got angry and furiously began typing to defend her male god.

Lin Feng and his aunt were both angels. Her high-paying job had been saved because of them!

So what if her male god was a homosexual? Same-sex marriages existed! Her male god deserved the best, gentlest, most caring, most handsome, and wealthiest gong in the whole wide world!

The waitress did not even realize that she had already labeled Lin Feng as the bottom in the relationship. It was simply instinctive.

Meanwhile, the oblivious Lin Feng watched his aunt deal with the matter with a thoughtful gaze. He was like a dry sponge absorbing water, seeing things in a new light.

He did not realize that this was the way of the green tea. Lin Feng just thought that it was worth learning.

After watching the farce, Zhuang Meng finally released her grip on Zhuang Cheng’s arm, and the latter rubbed his arm with a pained expression. "Damn, do you have to pinch so hard?"

Zhuang Meng ignored him and nodded at Wei Ranmiao’s group with a smile, intending to bid them goodbye.

She had been feeling very unlucky lately!

Tonight, at yet another restaurant, Zhuang Meng had actually run into Lin Feng again and witnessed another argument.

Lin Feng nodded back politely. He knew that this girl was Lin Xiaoxiao’s best friend and had been present at the restaurant. He also knew that Lin Xiaoxiao had likely appeared back then because of this girl.

Then he noticed a hostile gaze from the boy beside Zhuang Meng. They bore a striking resemblance to each other and were clearly blood relatives.

Their gazes met.

’This person... Who is he?’

The boy made no attempt to hide his disgust as he looked at Lin Feng.

Lin Feng calmly turned his gaze away and instead looked at the silent boy, who had already turned around to leave.

"Tang Rui."

Tang Rui paused in his steps and turned around to look back at him, his clear black eyes distant.

"Can I speak to you in private?" Lin Feng asked seriously.

"There’s nothing to talk about."

"There is," Lin Feng replied calmly. "You know exactly what it is."

Tang Rui fell silent, his eyes growing complicated.

"..."

Wei Ranmiao, Bai Jianning, Zhuang Meng, and even Zhuang Cheng could not help holding their breath as they watched quietly from the sidelines.

Wei Ranmiao knew that Lin Feng had been wanting to make amends to the Lin and Tang families. Now that the Lin family had accepted the olive branch, all that remained was the Tang family.

So she did not interfere.

After a few seconds, just as the people around them began to look their way again, Tang Rui finally nodded. "...Um."

....

The restaurant had a quiet, European-style maze garden in the backyard. It was a picturesque garden with neatly trimmed hedges, flowering bushes, and ornamental trees. It was now mid-spring, and delicate blossoms dotted the greenery.

Elegant stone paths wound between the hedges, leading past small flower beds and secluded areas. A few stone benches and sculptures were scattered around.

The lighting was bright along the corridor, but because the garden maze had been specially designed to ensure privacy during a sudden rendezvous, only a few lamps were lit at regular intervals, leaving plenty of dimly lit areas for private meetings.

Tang Rui and Lin Feng did not bother to venture deeper into the garden. After entering the garden through the opening near the fountain, they stopped.

The moon shone brightly overhead. There were few clouds in the sky, but because Beijing’s skies were still filled with smoke and fog, the stars were not clearly visible.

Lin Feng lifted his chin to gaze up at the moon. He remembered how bright the stars had been in Beigou Village. He remembered the pink sunsets as the sun sank behind the mountain peaks on the horizon. He remembered how freely the birds and small animals flew and ran past him, often landing nearby without any fear of strangers.

Lin Feng thought, ’Once everything is done here, I want to go back.’

Tang Rui was also silent.

For a long time, neither of them spoke. They simply watched the moonlight.

Both of them were the kind of people who preferred silence, so the silence between them was unexpectedly not awkward.

At least, it looked very harmonious to the people watching from behind the bushes.

"Damn it, why can’t I hear anything?" A flamboyant woman wearing a thick fur coat and a minidress with stilettos was precariously tiptoeing along a low ledge lined with flowerpots. Her head barely rose above the neatly trimmed hedge.

She could see the two boys standing in front of the fountain, but she could not hear anything at all!

It was Mrs. Jiang. She had just left the restroom area when she saw the group heading toward the corridor leading to the garden. Tang Rui and Lin Feng were walking ahead, while Wei Ranmiao and Bai Jianning followed several meters behind, secretly watching with worried expressions. The two Zhuang siblings came after them some time later, with the Zhuang brother dragging his sister along.

Everyone looked very, very suspicious.

Thinking that something must be going on and that she could watch a free show, Mrs. Jiang immediately followed them, hiding behind pillars and bushes until she saw the others stop and hide behind a few bushes around the maze garden.

’Tsk. That Wei Ranmiao green-tea bitch usually looks so dignified, but who would have thought she’d blatantly eavesdrop like this? How disgraceful. So unbecoming. Tsk, tsk, tsk.’ Mrs. Jiang thought with schadenfreude before ducking behind a nearby tall bush to peek as well.

Finally, she seemed to hear a few words, but they were faint. Mrs. Jiang was the farthest away, right next to the corridor, and people passing by on the other side could see two tall men carrying shopping bags trying to crouch behind a woman who was tiptoeing beside a bush.

"Quick, give me that paper bag!" Mrs. Jiang hurriedly grabbed a large, stiff-looking paper bag, poured its contents into another shopping bag, flattened it, rolled it into a funnel, and put one end to her ear.

The voices finally became clear.

"...I want to apologize to my uncle." This was Lin Feng’s voice.

"He wouldn’t want to see you."

Lin Feng fell silent. "Then at least allow me to compensate the Tang family for what I’ve caused. Even if Uncle doesn’t want to see me, I still owe him an apology."

Tang Rui frowned. Right now, his grandfather and the other elders were discussing whether they should demand an explanation from Lin Feng or simply sever ties with him, putting the person on their complete blacklist. It meant that they would treat the person like an enemy from then on.

For families in their circles, severing ties would bring no benefits, especially since the Bai and Tang families businesses were still shareholders in each other’s company, so not everyone agreed. Although the scandal had indeed caused harm and some financial losses initially, the losses had been minimal. And within the Tang family, the one who had truly suffered harm was the Fourth Uncle.

After thinking about it, Tang Rui decided to be honest. "I’m just a junior. I cannot make decisions on this matter."

"Then I’ll trouble you to inform your elders. I never intended to harm the Tang family, but it’s true that I was in the wrong. I hope your elders, including Fourth Uncle Tang, will understand that I’m sincere in wanting to make up for my previous thoughtlessness."

As he spoke, Lin Feng placed a hand on his chest, right above his heart.

The previous emotional turmoil did not return. Perhaps it was because Tang Rui was not one of the people the original Lin Feng had wanted to apologize to. But his heart had remained stable in front of Lin Wei and Rong Shuang as well.

In the end, Lin Feng had deduced that the dormant emotions arose because Lin Xiaoxiao had been clearly distraught and had said words that resonated with the original Lin Feng’s guilt and self-blame.

Lin Feng did not know if apologizing to Uncle Tang would help, but he still wanted to try.

Whether it was to pull Uncle Tang out of the quagmire or to free the original Lin Feng, he still wanted to try.

Because he did not know what else he could do.

Tang Rui hesitated but eventually nodded. "I’ll tell them."

"Tsk!"

Zhuang Meng expressionlessly covered her brother’s mouth while hiding nearby.

To think that she, Zhuang Meng, would actually end up in this kind of situation! If anyone found out, her carefully crafted image as a poised and well-bred young lady would instantly crumble to ashes.

’Oh God, please don’t let anyone see us right now. How humiliating would that be!’

"Mengmeng, I’ve been looking for you. So you’re really here, mmph-!"

Rong Junpei was smiling as he waved at his fiancée, not realizing how strange her posture was as she hid with her brother. Zhuang Meng suddenly ran to him, pulled him down, and covered his mouth.

Rong Junpei: ???

The man who happened to pass by and see this: ???

The man was very tall and had a languid air about him, appearing casual and relaxed. He had already recognized Rong Junpei, who was walking on the other side of the corridor, and was about to call out to him when he saw Rong Junpei suddenly dragged to one side.

The man’s eyes narrowed. He pulled out his phone as he walked through the corridor, typing in the emergency number.

Then he paused just as he was about to make the call.

Looking at the several groups of people hiding behind bushes, Wei Tianyu was stunned.

What were all these people doing here?

Zhuang Meng regretted it the moment she did it. She should have taken this chance to escape, but instead, she had pulled her fiancé into hiding to eavesdrop alongside her!

Her image!

Would Rong Junpei feel disillusioned?

Zhuang Meng stiffly avoided looking at him.

Rong Junpei was wondering why Zhuang Meng was acting so strangely when he suddenly heard a vague conversation nearby.