"A married daughter might not be in the family registry, but a father always hopes that the daughter isn't mistreated in their marital home."

  What a crock of lies.

  "I am pretty sure Mr. Yun wants me to suffer so that he can scoff and tell me how I have always made the wrong decision." The smile she gave Yun Sui Bo as she spoke raised his blood pressure to the roof.

  "How would you know what a parent feels?" he started.

  Her heart hardened. "Father, it is because of this parental feeling that I sometimes don't want children," she commented. "If parents show their worry and love for kids the way you did to me all my life, I would rather not have children. No human deserves to be treated that way from a parent they were conditioned to love from birth."

  Her words were said slowly, but the effect was sharp. Yun Sui Bo sucked in a sharp breath.

  "I don't want to waste my time on the two of you. Please call Qing Yuan down, I have something to give to him," she said deftly.

  "Did Qing Yuan badger you into giving him something?" Jiang Xin said sweetly. "He has been asking his dad to buy him a new and expensive laptop. Such a spoiled kid." She giggled.

  Yun Sui Bo's frustration diminished, but Qian Meng grew irritated. This father of hers sure knew how to look doting. But he was a snake who was using his son behind the scenes.

  "I see." She didn't say anymore.

  "If it's not that… what is it? Pocket money?"

  Qian Meng didn't respond. She pulled out her cellphone, unwilling to listen to the woman ramble, and called Qing Yuan instead.

  He picked up in no time.

  "Sis, what's up?" he said gleefully.

  "Come downstairs," she responded.

  "You came home!" he exclaimed. Qian Meng could hear the loud sounds of a video game in the background. This was his original state of resting.

  She hummed and hung up the phone.

  "How can you be so disrespectful to your mother?" Yun Sui Bo grunted.

  Qian Meng looked up. "She is not my mother." It seemed that everyone needed to be reminded of this fact.

  "You—" Yun Sui Bo couldn't finish. They heard the sound of Qing Yuan's footsteps and turned to look at him. The boy was sprinting down the stairs with sheer delight on his face. He looked younger in his carrot-themed pajamas set.

  He barrelled into Qian Meng without reserve and hugged her tightly. "I haven't seen you in so long," he said as he pulled away, a pout plastered on his lips.

  "Didn't I tell you to visit whenever you want?" she responded as she ruffled his hair. "Mo Qingchen wanted to hang out with you but you said you were busy, I hear," she said with a gentle smile.

  "Brother-in-law did call on the weekend. But I was working," Qing Yuan said proudly.

  Qian Meng's eyes widened. "What work are you doing?" she asked.

  Qing Yuan blinked. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I started writing!" He looked so excited that Qian Meng was immensely happy. Her brother had found something he liked doing.

  Yun Sui Bo scoffed.

  "You didn't tell me, you brat. What are you writing?" she asked excitedly. She could see that Qing Yuan's parents didn't share the same enthusiasm that she did.

  "Webnovel. Sis… I have loads of readers!" he exclaimed as he pulled out his phone.

  Another scoff came from their father. "So, it was with your encouragement that he went crazy. He got into business school but after a week of classes changed his major into literature." The complaint was evident. "What boy studies Literature instead of business when he has a business to take over?"

  "Honey, don't say that… he is just following his passion. When he understands the world, he will come back to business anyway," Jiang Xin defended her son quietly.

  Qian Meng could see the dissatisfied expression on her face as well. She must have grilled the poor boy for his decision as well.

  "Sis, tell them!" Qing Yuan whined. And Qian Meng didn't mind taking the bullet in place of her poor brother who seemed to be under a great deal of stress, living in the snake pit… among snakes.

  "Business school will not teach him business," she said in a low voice. "Those professors of business have little chance of succeeding in the field." She looked at him in confidence. "Instead, if he hung out with drug dealers, he might learn a great deal more about business, don't you think?" she said snidely.

  Qing Yuan snickered, knowing that Qian Meng was referring to the scum Bai Ye Qing when she spoke about drug dealers. But he hid his smile and looked at his sister pitifully.

  "What drug dealers?" Yun Sui Bo yelled.

  Qian Meng waved him off. "I don't have a lot of time on my hands." She pulled out the invitation card and handed it to Qing Yuan. "You are invited," she said sweetly.

  Qing Yuan looked at the paper in bewilderment.

  The black envelope was sealed with golden wax and a green leaf. He carefully opened it and gasped. A thin packing tissue with beautiful green leaves printed on it caught his eye. He wriggled the paper out and saw that a handmade paper laid with strings of gold was inside. It was an invitation to Qian Meng and Mo Qingchen's wedding. The information about where it was happening was all written.

  "Really?" he squeaked. "You're having an actual wedding?" he asked.

  Qian Meng nodded. "We decided that she shouldn't miss out. It's a small ceremony," she informed him.

  "What wedding?" Jiang Xin commented excitedly as she stepped forward.

  "It's a small ceremony for people I want to see on my big day. Qing Yuan is invited." The implicit meaning was, the other two in the room were not invited.

  "What is the dress code?" Qing Yuan asked.