242 — The Night of New Year's Eve (1)

As both stood silently under the moonlight, Han Leifeng's thoughts turned to his nominal stepmother. Obviously her tricks had improved by leaps and bounds since the last time they clashed.

Just her one chess move of bringing in his half-brother's widow had caused him so much inconvenience that he was seriously considering moving out.

Because no matter what move he made next, he would be in the wrong. Already, the contempt in the eyes of the house workers had deepened, not that he cared about that anyway.

The main issue was that his grandfather had called him recently to ask if he would like to move to one of their smaller properties. It was obvious what people in the Capital thought regarding both of them living under one roof.

It was as if he was already doing something scandalous with a woman he had barely said ten words to ever. It made him feel faintly frustrated.

Just from looking at his expressionless face, Bai Meixiang did not know his thoughts, but she felt she could hazard a pretty good guess. His constipated look, as she liked to call it was amusing.

She also hadn't decided on what to do with him, but for now, she was having fun with making him uncomfortable.

It took away from the deep sadness she was feeling.

This time last year, she was sitting in the room with her husband. Despite his ill health, he had insisted on staying awake to accompany her. She could still remember his small smile when she suggested telling him a story guaranteed to bore him to sleep.

One year had passed, but so much had changed.

Now she was left with a maternal family that did not care about her feelings as long as they could reap the benefits, and a husband's family that wanted to use her for revenge or otherwise found her unsightly.

Standing together with identical postures and surrounded by similar airs of melancholy, both of them presented a strangely harmonious picture.

Or at least that was what Han Zhiyi thought. On a whim, she whipped out her phone and took pictures of their silhouettes before approaching them and calling out.

"It's almost time for the countdown, and the elders were wondering about your whereabouts," she informed them.

Han Leifeng nodded and began moving, while Bai Meixiang held Han Zhiyi's hands as she struck up a conversation about the Spring festival Gala.

Both of them went back into the main house, laughing at something Han Zhiyi said.

The other people said nothing when they entered the house, but she caught Liu Zhizhen's disappointment at the fact that they entered separately.

Han Zhiyi also didn't say she found them at the same place, and Han Leifeng would definitely not say an extra word tonight.

Bai Meixiang smiled even more genuinely. This Han family was too amusing. Since they liked to play, it would be a shame if she didn't accompany them to the end.

*****

Elsewhere in the Capital, things were not going so smoothly.

Qiao Xiuming wasn't expecting to spend the New Year with his sister's family, so he was pleasantly surprised when she informed him that her family would be coming over to the Qiao family villa.

The Qiao family was a century-old aristocratic family in the Capital and as such, had deep roots and widespread influence. However, they were very low-key, especially after closing some of their companies in key industries.

The current head of the family was Qiao Xiuming, Qiao Mingran's elder brother. He was a buff man with looks that were seventy percent similar to his sister's.

Both of them were the only children of their parents, but the late patriarch — their father, had several brothers and sisters, so there were quite a number of cousins in the Qiao family.

But Qiao Xiuming was not an easy opponent, so even the restless uncles that were greedily eyeing the power in his hands had to sit patiently, not to mention the bunch of cousins with their half-baked plans.

Since it was the younger generation that was currently in power, the reunion dinner was done separately, and Qiao Xiuming was prepared to spend the day with just his family before his sister called.

By the time Qiao Mingran, Gao Tingxiu and Gao Tinghua arrived at the Qiao family villa in Gao Tinghua's car, Gao Zhipeng was already waiting for them.

He smiled obsequiously as he attentively opened the door for Qiao Mingran. She didn't even look at him, holding her head high as she walked with measured steps towards the house.

Frustrated, he looked at his children, but their reception wasn't any better. Gao Tinghua only spared him a glance before ignoring him, while Gao Tingxiu mumbled some greetings before walking away quickly.

Jiu Linfang was waiting to greet her younger sister-in-law at the door with a smile, so she was the first to notice that something wasn't quite right with Qiao Mingran's expression.

As a quiet person, she didn't intend to say anything and just greeted her normally. Qiao Mingran's expression softened. Her sister-in-law had always been very kind and magnanimous, so she responded in kind.

Anyway, her feud was with her blood brother this time, she would not take her anger out on an innocent person.

Their only child, Qiao Yunzhu was sitting down in the living room and got up when she saw her aunt. Her husband quickly supported her.

"Aunt, you're here."

Seeing her protruding belly, Qiao Mingran lost half of her anger, "It's Yunzhu. How are you and the baby?"

"We're fine, thank you. The baby has been very active lately." Qiao Yunzhu responded with a smile. Her husband also greeted Qiao Mingran and made sure his wife was sitting comfortably before going to greet Gao Tinghua.

Speaking of which, theirs was a true love story.

Because Jiu Linfang was unable to give birth to another child and his father's brothers were breathing down his neck, Qiao Xiuming made the decision to get a live-in son-in-law for his daughter.

For Qiao Yunzhu who had just fallen in love at the time, it was like a bolt out of the blue. She cried, begged and went on repeated hunger strikes, but her father didn't budge.

Her now-husband Huang Jingxing, who was her boyfriend at the time was willing after a slight hesitation, but his parents were very adamant.

Why should their son marry into another family and have his children bear his wife's surname? Even if it was the prestigious Qiao family, it was still unacceptable.

They were in a stalemate for more than three years, during which each family arranged marriages for their respective children, but they chose to stick together in spite of all the difficulties.

It was only after Qiao Yunzhu attempted to kill herself by overdosing on drugs that her father finally relented. She was in a coma for two weeks, but she woke up to the good news that her father had finally agreed.

Qiao Xiuming had also relented. Only their first male child had to take the Qiao surname.

They got married about four years ago and were currently expecting their second child.

The first— two year old Qiao Huangze—was asleep in the nursery and in the care of his nanny.

Anyone that spent some moments in their company knew that their love for each other was genuine, a rare sight in the Capital.