Chapter 52: A Sunny Afternoon

On a bright and sunny afternoon, everyone has their own sorrows.

After receiving a call from Mrs. Guo, hearing her sobbing uncontrollably, and agreeing to meet her for afternoon tea, Zhang Ruolan initially thought the Guo family had produced yet another illegitimate child.

Since the two families had business dealings, the marital status of partners had a certain impact on one's own affairs; thus, Zhang Ruolan naturally went to see what was actually happening.

As it turned out, upon arrival, there was nothing new—just the same old complaints.

The usual refrain: her son was a failure, spending all day and night chasing internet celebrities.

He spent massive amounts of money and ruined the family reputation.

"Tell me, what was that child thinking? He had a perfectly good lady from a prestigious family, yet he insists on debasing himself like this!"

Mrs. Lu wanted to say that he wasn't debasing himself at all; in fact, he was living quite a carefree life.

Besides, his girlfriends were all pleasing to the eye and highly capable—how exactly was he being wronged?

But when words don't align, even a half-sentence is too much; saying such things would undoubtedly strike a nerve.

She could only resort to the old clichés to comfort her

"Ruirui is still young. Once he reaches a certain age, he will naturally become more steady. Boys, you know, are mostly attracted to novelty. Once he's dated enough, his curiosity will naturally fade."

Mrs. Guo picked up a handkerchief, delicately wiped her eyes, and pursed her lips pitifully

"I truly have a bitter fate. Back then, I passed up so many fine young masters, only to fall for this playboy of the Guo family. *Sob, sob...* What use is being handsome?"

Mrs. Lu calmly brewed tea, handed a cup to her friend first, then picked up another and drank it while it was still hot.

While a man being unfaithful is certainly wrong, if a mother does nothing but complain without taking measures to protect her own interests, and remains muddled, how much brilliance can one expect from the son?

A swarm of illegitimate children with equal inheritance rights were circling their biological father, acting sweet and working hard to please him, while the legitimate heir spent his time wandering through flower gardens and defying his parents, as if he couldn't find a sense of existence without doing so.

How old was he?

Still so immature.

Whether it was secretly sabotaging the illegitimate children or working hard to build an empire to show his father his excellence and secure his position as the next heir, wouldn't either be better than throwing tantrums?

With a scumbag father like that, can one really expect his paternal love to be pure?

To be honest, if not for the extensive business dealings between the two families, she really wouldn't want to listen to this nonsense.

And besides, who says being handsome is useless?

Every day when she wakes up and looks at the handsome old man beside her, thinking that this kind of life will last for decades, her mood is incredibly good.

Given the circumstances, if one doesn't find someone handsome, would they really settle for someone ugly?

An ugly man would still cheat just the same.

Unaware of her thoughts, Mrs. Guo cried for a long while before suddenly looking up

"Do you think... he will become just like his father?"

Becoming the very type of person she loathed most.

Many families in their circle had illegitimate children, but the Guo family had the most.

While Old Guo's philandering was certainly a fault, Mrs. Guo's soft temperament was the most significant reason.

Having washed her face in tears for years, a perfectly good person had developed a perpetually miserable expression; she was naturally a soft-hearted person, and now, after being soaked in tears, she lived like a mess of mush.

Zhang Ruolan pondered for a moment: "As long as he doesn't get married, it's actually not a big deal. In fact, under current marriage laws, he could actually use his resources to gain even more leverage."

Men and women are different.

No matter how hard a woman struggles, a child must stay in the womb for a set amount of time before being born.

But he is different. As long as his girlfriends don't object, he could theoretically have dozens of children at once without breaking the law.

It's not like the Guo family couldn't afford it.

If the eldest is a failure, isn't the basic move to quickly start working on "alt accounts"?

By then, even if he's just picking the best of a bad bunch, as long as the base number is large enough, one of them is bound to succeed.

If it were her, she would definitely do that.

She wouldn't even worry about her son not cooperating.

Once the living expenses are cut off, let alone spending money on those incredibly shrewd internet celebrities, with his wasteful habits, he might even have to go to his brothers for financial help.

Even if he tried to go the "pure love" route with girls at university, it might not even work.

After all, even she, an old lady, found him too "greasy."

If she did this, she would only need to lie low for about twenty years. By then, as his grandmother, she wouldn't even have reached retirement age!

For the sake of the family estate, those little ones would scramble to perform.

As long as she, the helmsman, didn't draw her last breath, they wouldn't be able to completely tear each other apart for the sake of the wealth.

If she were a bit more calculating, she could revise the will once a year to make their competition even more intense...

Tsk.

She would possess a large group of obedient grandsons while still young.

If arranged properly, these would all be her fierce generals for expanding her territory.

Compared to a career, a scumbag is nothing! Is he worth her crying for him all day?

If a man plays around outside, wouldn't you go look for young, fresh faces?

Anyway, it's a business marriage—can't it just be divorced?

Old Guo himself raised a bunch of illegitimate children; there was no reason for him to look down on a grandson not born of a legitimate daughter-in-law.

If operated correctly, she could even anger the old man to death early and inherit a massive fortune quite smoothly...

Mrs. Guo's tears burst forth again, and she expressed extreme disagreement with her words: "A man must establish a family and a career to be stable. How can he not get married?"

Zhang Ruolan knew her temperament and was momentarily speechless.

Before she could respond, Mrs. Guo looked at her expectantly: "Your daughters-in-law are all so wonderful. Do their families have sisters or something? And your third child—when will you bring her out to meet us? Does she have good friends? Which family is she from? Are there any unmarried sisters in her family? As long as the age difference isn't too large, it's fine—but they certainly can't be women from ordinary families who only think about climbing the social ladder."

Good heavens!

She cried for so long, only to reveal her true intentions?

After hearing this, Zhang Ruolan's face turned green.

What did she mean by "women from ordinary families who only think about climbing the social ladder"?

After finishing the afternoon tea, she felt like she wouldn't even need dinner.

She was quite literally full of rage!

Forget acting as a matchmaker for Guo Zerui—if she ever mentioned such a thing in front of her three daughters-in-law, she must have lost her mind!

Fuming internally, Zhang Ruolan endured it until she got home, then immediately called her youngest son.

"You must never learn from Guo Zerui! Otherwise, I'll break your legs!"

Lu Nanting had already been in an "emo" state for half the day. Upon receiving his mother's call and learning that Mrs. Guo had indeed gone to complain to her again, his head began to ache!

"I'm really not that kind of person! Our family doesn't have any of that messy stuff! Is there any reason for me to lose my mind and seek out that kind of excitement when I have a perfectly good life?"

Having said that, he felt incredibly aggrieved: "Mom, I'm incredibly annoyed right now. Can we not talk about this today, okay?"

Truly, his ears were becoming calloused from hearing it!

Mrs. Lu had always been an old lady at the forefront of the times; she probably spent more time online than her daughter-in-law, Gu Lanxi.

Especially since her son had entered the entertainment industry, she paid extra attention to industry trends.

Knowing he was frustrated about the morning's events, she advised him: "It's nothing. I've heard that song; it's quite catchy. I must say, Fan Tiantian has some talent. You might consider giving her a raise this year."

It was only after receiving a call today that Lu Nanting realized his mother had recently been sending various "warmth" (gifts/support) to his studio in his name. He thanked his mother, they chatted a bit more about Gu Lanxi, and then hung up.

Though they were in different places, they both sighed in unison.

What on earth was happening day after day!

(End of Chapter)