“No need.”
Zhou Yushen replied calmly.
His icy voice carried a faint trace of anger, though it was impossible to pinpoint exactly where it came from.
“Since the victim herself doesn’t care, there’s no point in me forcing myself into something unwelcome.”
With that, he hung up the phone before Xu Ping could say another word.
Xu Ping, whose call had been abruptly disconnected: “???”
He stared blankly at the darkened phone screen for a long while before muttering to himself,
“Why does that sound like he’s sulking?”
…
When Old Master Shen learned that Shen Nanyue had been injured, his face filled with worry, though his mouth remained as unforgiving as ever.
“Look at you. You’re already this old, yet you can still twist your ankle just walking around. So careless—just like your father! And with your reputation being this bad now, you’d better be more careful. If people who dislike you see this, who knows how much they’ll laugh at you…”
“Alright, alright, Grandpa, you’re so naggy.”
Ever since Shen Nanyue returned home, Old Master Shen hadn’t stopped lecturing her once.
In just two hours, her ears practically had calluses from listening!
Old Master Shen sighed heavily.
“With you acting like this, how can I not worry?”
Shen Nanyue paused while rubbing her ankle, then spoke stubbornly.
“What’s there to worry about? Who goes through life without falling a few times? With how sturdy I am, I’ll recover completely in a few days. Just put your mind at ease.”
Old Master Shen shook his head.
Suddenly thinking of something, he leaned forward slightly and squinted at Shen Nanyue with a smile.
“It was that Xiao Zhou boy who brought you back, wasn’t it? The more I look at that young man, the more I like him. Your mother seems to approve of this marriage too. It’s rare for both you and your mother to like the same person. Why don’t you think about it and get married this month?”
“Grandpa!”
Shen Nanyue protested coquettishly, drawing her legs up as she flopped into the sofa in annoyance.
Old Master Shen waved his hand.
“Alright, alright, Grandpa won’t force you. I just think that child Xiao Zhou is really good. He suits you.”
Shen Nanyue looked at the wrinkles lining Old Master Shen’s face.
He covered his mouth and coughed twice.
The housekeeper handed him a glass of water, and only after taking a sip did he recover slightly.
Her hands resting on her knees slowly clenched into fists.
After thinking for a moment, she finally asked, “Grandpa, did Meng Yan come looking for you?”
Old Master Shen paused, then nodded slowly.
“He came by a couple days ago. I don’t know why, but he insisted on getting engaged to you. I refused, and he left looking upset.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Would telling you have helped? Back then, when you got engaged to that Chen Mu, Grandpa didn’t stop it because I thought you liked him after growing up together. But who would’ve thought he’d shamelessly fool around with Lin Siwan behind your back? Grandpa regrets it too!”
Old Master Shen’s sharp eyes looked at Shen Nanyue, unwavering and resolute.
“When you publicly rejected Meng Yan at your mother’s birthday banquet, I knew you had no feelings for him. Last time he came, he even wanted to use the Meng family fortune to buy your marriage. I got so angry that I scolded him right out the door.”
At the mention of that day, Old Master Shen seemed to recall the incident vividly.
He became so angry his beard practically trembled.
“My Shen family isn’t poor either! Even if I donated all the family assets, I’d still leave a portion for my granddaughter! Besides, our Yueyue is building a fashion business from scratch without relying on the family. Since when is it the Meng family’s turn to throw money at us? Shameless!”
Only then did Shen Nanyue finally understand why Meng Zhishuo had said Meng Yan walked out of the study with such a dark face.
At first, she thought it was because Grandpa had rejected the marriage proposal.
She hadn’t expected Grandpa to have outright cursed him out instead.
Her lips curved upward, and she couldn’t help laughing softly.
Seeing her smile, Old Master Shen’s eyes shifted slightly.
The wrinkles on his face, previously scrunched with anger, instantly relaxed.
He smiled at Shen Nanyue and asked softly,
“Yueyue, tell Grandpa honestly—do you like Xiao Zhou?”
“I don’t.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Shen Nanyue answered immediately.
But the moment the words left her mouth, she froze.
An indescribable emotion surged into her heart—something like blaming herself for answering too quickly, something like a premonition that she would one day be proven wrong.
She couldn’t even register Grandpa’s reaction.
All she could clearly feel was the slow beating of her own heart.
She frowned, an unexplainable irritation rising within her.
Old Master Shen sighed regretfully, about to say something, when Zhou Yu’s voice suddenly came from the doorway.
“If you don’t like him, then stop seeing him. Are you that shameless? Stringing him along without giving him a clear answer, meeting him every day—what, are you really treating him as a bed partner? You’ve completely disgraced the Shen family!”
As Zhou Yu spoke, she walked over to Shen Nanyue’s side.
“Zhou Yu! If you don’t know how to speak properly, then don’t speak at all!”
Calling her shameless over and over again!
No wonder Yueyue had caused such a scene at her birthday banquet with a mother like this!
Zhou Yu said nothing and sat directly onto a single sofa nearby, obvious anger written all over her face.
Expressionless, Shen Nanyue turned to look at her.
“You’ve been spying on me?”
“Do I even need to spy on you? That kid surnamed Zhou picks you up at the door every single day. And you even lied to me, saying he’s the Zhou family heir. I already investigated it—the real Zhou family heir is still studying abroad!”
By this point, Zhou Yu was practically losing control.
“A shameless poor brat like him dares to seduce my daughter? Shen Nanyue, break things off with him immediately!”
“If you didn’t come here today to visit Grandpa, then go back to the Lin family.”
Shen Nanyue looked away from Zhou Yu, not wanting to waste another word on such pointless matters.
It wasn’t that she was unwilling to cut ties with Zhou Yushen.
The problem was that he simply refused to hear any words of rejection.
Every time she tried to bring it up, he would interrupt her.
From that perspective, he truly was a qualified simp.
“You—!”
Zhou Yu was furious, glaring at Shen Nanyue with widened eyes.
Seeing that Shen Nanyue remained completely calm and indifferent, Zhou Yu forcefully suppressed her anger and tried her best to steady her voice.
“Shen Nanyue, the fact that I haven’t settled the score with you for deceiving me is already me giving you face. You must cut ties with that man surnamed Zhou. I’ll go back to the Meng family and discuss your marriage with Meng Yan again.”
“If you’re so desperate to marry into the Meng family, then you go marry him yourself.”
Shen Nanyue casually threw out the outrageously rebellious remark.
When she turned to look at Zhou Yu, her dark eyes were as lifeless as stagnant water.
“I already said I won’t marry Meng Yan. If you still refuse to give up, then I’ll sever our mother-daughter relationship.”
“Shen Nanyue!”
Zhou Yu’s eyes widened in disbelief at those words.
Pointing at Shen Nanyue, she was just about to explode into curses.
Old Master Shen suddenly threw the cane in his hand to the side.
The solid wooden cane slammed against the wooden floor, producing a dull yet thunderous sound.
Zhou Yu immediately withdrew her hand, swallowing back all the words she had been about to say.
Old Master Shen’s complexion looked terrible.
Clutching his chest as he gasped for breath, he startled Shen Nanyue badly.
“Zhou Yu! For the sake of my son, I’ve tolerated you all this time. But if you continue forcing Yueyue like this, then don’t ever step foot into the Shen family again! Cough, cough…”
After finishing those words, Old Master Shen bent over and began coughing violently.
Ignoring her injured foot, Shen Nanyue hurried over to support him.
“Uncle Liu, please bring Grandpa’s medicine over!”
— The end of the Chapter–
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