Chapter 288: Mother-in-law, Mother-in-law, Please Have Mercy!
Lin Yibai was really getting angry now.
She was only in her early twenties, and her uncle wanted to set her up with a man who was thirty? How could anyone think that was okay?
Second Uncle still didn’t get it. Feeling embarrassed, he said, “Yibai, what are you doing? I’m doing this for your own good. Xiao Xu at my office is not really bad-looking and has a bright future. He’ll only be thirty-one after the New Year. What more could you want?”
“Bullsh*t!” Lin Yibai got angrier the more she thought about it.
At first, she still felt a bit unsure about herself after becoming a girl. But now she had no hesitation in yelling, “You say this is for my own good, and you want to introduce me to some old guy who’s thirty one? If you’re so capable, why don’t you introduce me to a divorced man with kids?”
Second Uncle replied, “Well… divorced with kids, that’s not impossible either.”
“You're an absolute lunatic,” Lin Yibai snapped.
At this point, her father, Lin Shangwen, also looked really upset.
He thought to himself, 'If others look down on your daughter like that, can you tolerate? Of course not!'
Well, then just go to hell!
In the past, because Second Uncle had a stable government job and was seen as successful in the family, everyone tried to respect him. Even in earlier years, they always went to his house to celebrate the New Year.
But still, this was going too far!
Lin Shangwen had tried to stay calm, but the more he thought about it, the angrier he got. He slammed his teacup on the table and said,
“Shangwu, we’re brothers. I may just be a regular worker doing a simple job, but I didn’t think you’d look down on my whole family like this!”
Second Uncle Lin Shangwu still looked confused. He asked, “Big Brother, what’s gotten into you? I already said I’m doing this for Yibai’s own good. She’s young and doesn’t understand, but you’re nearly fifty, don’t you understand either?”
Lin Shangwen shouted, “Understand what? You’re trying to set my daughter up with a man thirty one years old, maybe even divorced with kids, and you still think you’re right?”
Lin Shangwu shrugged. “What’s wrong with that?”
Lin Shangwen gave a cold laugh, flipped his teacup upside down on the table, and said, “Fine, fine, you’re not wrong… we’re the ones who are wrong, okay? From now on, don’t bother keeping in touch.”
With that, he called for Lin Yibai and his wife, and they all left the house together.
He was already worried enough about his son turning into a daughter. Now his own relatives were causing trouble like this?
Anyone watching might think they were being passive-aggressive on purpose!
Honestly, it was just too much.
Think about it, if you were a girl, still in college, and during the New Year your relatives tried to introduce you to a man over thirty, what would you think?
Forget whether you like him or not. Just the fact they thought it was okay to set that up is already offensive.
The whole house at Second Uncle’s place suddenly turned noisy.
Some people said Lin Yibai was too immature and tried to side with Second Uncle. Others blamed her father for overreacting. In the end, it didn’t seem like many people supported their side.
Well, who cares about those bootlickers!
But no matter what anyone said, Lin Yibai had already left Second Uncle’s house.
She felt a bit down. It seemed like it was her fault that things got so awkward with the family.
She lowered her head and said quietly, “Dad, Mom… I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
Lin Shangwen was still angry, but he tried to speak gently, “No, it’s not your fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s me, for not being good enough. That’s why your Second Uncle thinks he can look down on us.”
Her mother, Lin Shuyan, added, “Second Uncle’s family has been looking down on others for a long time. We used to be polite just because he works in a government office and we might need help from him someday. But like Xiao Bai said. After all these years, has anyone ever actually gotten any real help from him?”
As the head of the family, Lin Shangwen waved his hand and said, “Come on, let’s go home and make dumplings. No need to stay and take this kind of insult from them. What nonsense, my daughter hasn’t even finished college yet, and they want to introduce her to a man who's over thirty? Isn’t that just disrespectful?”
It wasn’t just Lin Yibai who was angry. Probably any parent in the world would be upset about this, right?
After all, if someone tried to introduce her to someone close to her age, maybe just a year or two older, her parents wouldn’t have reacted so strongly. But she’s not even done with college, and they want her to date a man in his thirties?
Lin Shangwen suddenly regretted what he did earlier. Instead of flipping the teacup on the table to show that their families should stop talking, he now felt he should’ve flipped it right onto his brother Lin Shangwu’s head.
As they walked and chatted, her parents still had some concerns. Lin Shuyan said, “Even though what your second uncle said was really insulting, still… I mean, just asking, Xiao Bai, do you have any thoughts about dating?”
Her father, Lin Shangwen, perked up his ears.
He suddenly felt a mix of emotions. On one hand, he hoped his daughter would find someone nice. But on the other hand, it kind of felt like his precious daughter was being taken away.
Lin Yibai blushed a little, nervously playing with her hair, her voice soft and shy. "Actually… back in Fucheng… I… I already have a boyfriend."
Lin Shuyan: “Huh?”
Lin Shangwen: “What?”
Ah, no wonder she was so angry at her uncle’s house! She already had a boyfriend!
Wait, no… That’s not the main point.
If their daughter had a boyfriend, then what mattered more to Lin Shuyan was, “What’s your boyfriend like? I mean… is he a nice person? Does he have a good personality?”
Lin Shangwen added, “Where’s he from?”
Lin Yibai smiled a little, feeling a mix of pride and nervousness, “He’s… really great! He looks very handsome and treats me really well.”
Now her parents started asking tons of questions about the guy. They wanted to know everything about him. If they could, they probably wanted to look up his family history going back 18 generations, just to make sure he was from a good background.
This kind of thing was hard to explain clearly just by talking.
Lin Yibai was being asked so many questions that she just decided to start a video call with Xia Changyu.
Beep—
Ring ring ring ring ring—
Far away in Fucheng, Xia Changyu was feeling lonely, helpless, and kind of pitiful. It was New Year’s, and his wife had left him behind all alone. He was just packing up and getting ready to go home the next morning.
Suddenly, the video call came in, and it woke him right up.
“Waaah, Xiao Bai, you finally called me! You don’t even know how miserable I am here in Fucheng all alone. It’s like I’m dying over here, you know… uh, wait a minute…”
Then he noticed the video screen. There were two unfamiliar middle-aged people staring at him.
Wait, what was going on?
Who were they?
Why were they holding Baiyi’s phone and video calling him?
Then, bit by bit, he started to realize what was happening. Because on the other side of the screen, Lin Yibai's voice could be heard saying, “Here, this is my silly boyfriend… Oh, tsk tsk tsk, look at your hair! I’m not around for one second and you totally let yourself go?”
Xia Changyu immediately sat up straight and acted serious.
Ah…
Father-in-law?
Mother-in-law?