Chapter 151: The Fake Son-in-Law Comes Calling (Second Update)

Speechless, Chu Dong’s pent-up desire turned into grief and indignation. What a miserable fate he had. After finally getting one chance, this was the result. Biting down on the corner of the quilt, he shut his eyes and cursed the heavens thoroughly.

No amount of cursing could change the outcome. Tan Xue only made matters worse, deliberately pressing close to him and stoking his desire until Chu Dong nearly got a nosebleed. He had no idea when he finally fell asleep.

His dreams that night were filled with either fighting or rage, and he barely rested at all. Early the next morning, Tan Xue woke him by “teasing” him. Her petite body squirmed free of his arms, and with her warm breath she began tormenting him—pinching his nose one moment and tickling him the next.

“Please leave. I’m begging you.” Chu Dong did not even open his eyes. He mumbled indistinctly as he tried to negotiate with Tan Xue.

“You won’t regret it?”

She twirled a few strands of hair around her finger and brushed them against his ear.

“Absolutely not. If I regret it, I’m a lapdog.”

Chu Dong pulled the quilt over his head. He felt miserable. He had no idea how he had survived the night. The important thing was to make up for lost sleep while he still could.

“All right, then.”

Tan Xue climbed out of bed reluctantly, lifted the quilt to find her slippers, put them on, and opened the door. She looked back at Chu Dong.

“I only wanted to tell you that yesterday was my last day. Honestly, you really don’t appreciate kindness…”

“What?” Chu Dong suddenly sat up. “Then… you weren’t feeling well?”

“That’s right. I wasn’t feeling well last night, and I’m not feeling well this morning either!”

Like a cat, Tan Xue finished speaking and ran off.

“Damn it. Relying on past experience will be the death of me.”

Chu Dong viciously pinched his own thigh and immediately jumped up. It really hurt.

Cursing the little bit of health education he had learned as a child, Chu Dong endured his dizziness and pounding head, got up, and washed himself. He waited for breakfast, only to discover that there was nothing on the dining table.

“Xue’er, whose turn is it today? Why hasn’t anyone prepared breakfast?”

Chu Dong shouted toward the second floor, but no one answered. He stood up and went upstairs. When he pushed open the door to Tan Xue and Li Youlan’s room, he found the two girls had climbed into bed together and gone back to sleep.

“What are you doing? What time is it, and you’re still not up?”

Chu Dong resisted the urge to throw off the quilt and shouted loudly.

“It’s only half past seven. Why are you making such a racket?”

Tan Xue rolled over and hugged Li Youlan.

“Only half past seven? Don’t you know Yu’er has to go to school?”

Seeing her lazy expression, Chu Dong almost went over and kissed her face until it was covered in saliva. But with Li Youlan beside her, he refrained from turning the impulse into action.

“I gave her money earlier. Don’t worry about it. If you’re hungry, make something for yourself.”

Tan Xue answered drowsily, then fell silent again.

“Just keep being lazy. We’ll see how I deal with you later.”

Chu Dong smacked the round shape sticking up beneath the quilt and left helplessly.

“Close the door, you rude brute.”

Li Youlan, who had been silent for some time, opened her eyes and shouted.

Bang.

Chu Dong turned around and shut the door.

“Sleep yourselves to death, then. How can anyone be this lazy?”

He got dressed and left the house. After buying some soy milk and fried dough sticks, he returned. He did not call for Tan Xue or Li Youlan, but ate his fill alone in the dining room.

With New Year’s Day approaching, Chu Dong called his mother.

“Darling boy, any progress?”

His mother sounded delighted. It was already so late, yet she still had not gone to sleep. Chu Dong had no idea where the old lady got so much energy.

“What progress could there be?”

Thinking of what had happened the night before, Chu Dong was filled with regret.

“Are you and Dad planning to come back for New Year’s?”

“I’d like to, but your father absolutely refuses. Why don’t you come here instead?”

His mother clearly had the answer prepared long ago.

“All right.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Chu Dong regretted them. He remembered that he had promised Li Youlan he would accompany her around New Year’s as well. If his mother kept an eye on him, he would inevitably reveal something. He had never once succeeded in lying to her since childhood.

“Wonderful. I’ll book your ticket right away. In two days, our whole family can be reunited. Oh, and bring Xue’er and Yu’er too. You know, that girl Xue’er has loved the egg cakes I make ever since she was little. Ha ha! My son and daughter-in-law—it’s wonderful!”

Chu Dong’s mother had already begun fantasizing.

“Mom, Mom, hold on. Don’t get excited yet. I need to ask Xue’er first. Besides, it’s almost the end of the year, and I still have to help Uncle Tan see whether there’s anything he needs me to take care of. How about this? Once I’ve confirmed that I have time, I’ll call you immediately. Get some rest, and say hello to Dad for me. I’m hanging up. Bye!”

Chu Dong spoke in one breath and ended the call before his mother had a chance to question him.

“What is that boy up to?”

Mrs. Chu muttered at the dead line before hanging up. Seeing that Chu Huazhou was sleeping soundly, she became displeased. She climbed onto the bed and shoved him awake.

“Get up. Get up!”

Chu Huazhou had only just fallen asleep when he was disturbed. Turning over reluctantly, he opened his eyes and saw the mask on his wife’s face. He nearly jumped out of his skin.

“My God! Why are you putting that thing on in the middle of the night? You’re not young anymore, yet you still have the time for this sort of nonsense. You scared me half to death!”

“How old am I? I’m still young, you know. Do you think I’m like you, with wrinkles all over your face?”

Chu Dong’s mother really did look young. Though she was already in her fifties or sixties, she appeared to be barely over forty. She peeled off the mask and tossed it into the small bin beside the bed.

“We don’t know what’s going on with our son. He suddenly called today and said something about coming here, then rambled on about a bunch of things. I think something is wrong.”

“What could possibly be wrong? You spend all day imagining things. Go to sleep.”

Chu Huazhou reached out and switched off the bedside lamp.

The old lady climbed into bed as well. Seeing the old man pretending to be dead, she kicked him.

“Our son is much more popular than you, old man. Don’t let some other family’s daughter run off with him.”

Chu Dong had not been abducted, but the result was the same: he had run off with Li Youlan. And he was not the only one. Tan Xue had been carried off by Li Youlan as well.

Originally, Tan Xue could not have gone. After Chu Dong resigned, Tan Songhai had been forced to take up the burden again, leaving Tan Xue so busy that she could hardly catch her breath. She had no free time at all. Whenever she returned to the villa, she vented her frustrations on Chu Dong.

Eventually, Chu Dong could take it no longer and had to assume the duties of Tan Xue’s secretary. Every morning after Tan Xue arrived at the office, the first thing she did was send Chu Dong an email. He handled nearly all of her work, leaving her with nothing but signatures.

As a result, she once again had nothing to do during the day.

That was how Li Youlan saw it. She planned to borrow Chu Dong from her friend and take him home. If he lost control, having Tan Xue there would make him easier to handle. On her own, Li Youlan had no confidence that she could control Chu Dong. So she pleaded with Tan Xue to come home with her.

“It’s not impossible. But at first, I was going by myself. Now you’re taking two people from our household, and the appearance fee is naturally different. Even if our little Xue is only making a friendly guest appearance, you should show some appreciation, shouldn’t you?”

As Chu Dong loaded his suitcase into the car, he continued haggling with Li Youlan.

“What do you want?”

Seeing that Tan Xue was not nearby, Li Youlan picked up a baseball bat and walked toward him.

“What are you planning to do? Don’t think I’m some helpless lamb you can bully and slaughter at will. Those few tricks of yours? I can break them easily on any ordinary day.”

Chu Dong circled the car twice before shaking Li Youlan off. He opened the door and went inside, intending to seek Tan Xue’s protection, only to have Tan Xue grab him. Li Youlan struck him twice before the struggle finally ended.

“I’m not going. Find someone else if you want.”

Chu Dong sprawled across the living-room sofa and began acting shamelessly. At this point, it was too late to replace him. And now they still dared to offend him? He felt they were treating him far too lightly.

“Are you going or not?”

Tan Xue folded her arms and glared at him.

“No. I’m not going. Do whatever you want.”

Chu Dong was utterly unmoved and refused to budge.

Tan Xue and Li Youlan exchanged a glance. Then both nodded. Li Youlan picked up the baseball bat again, while Tan Xue somehow produced a golf club.

“Don’t you dare run!”

Only an idiot would stay. Chu Dong rolled over and dashed out of the house, sprinting into the car at top speed.

Like guards escorting a prisoner, Tan Xue and Li Youlan drove Chu Dong all the way to the airport. After he parked, the sounds of planes taking off and landing made him feel as though he were about to descend into hell. His face turned pale.

“Can’t we discuss this? If nothing else, I could drive there, couldn’t I?”

Even as they were about to board the plane, Chu Dong continued trying to negotiate with the two women.

“Not a chance. Move.”

Tan Xue shoved him forward while pulling along a small suitcase of her own, forcing Chu Dong onto the plane.

The ten o’clock flight had begun security checks early. Chu Dong’s fear of heights was nothing new. Before he had even boarded, his chest felt tight, his entire body was weak, and his stomach was churning. Still, he steeled himself and followed the two young tyrants onto the plane.

When they got off, Tan Xue and Li Youlan had to support Chu Dong between them. His legs were cramping so badly that, if Tan Xue had not been sitting on one side of him and Li Youlan on the other, he might have turned the plane into a little fountain.

Once they left the plane, he could not hold it in any longer. He ran to the restroom and did not come back out for a long time.

The Li family had received word long ago that their young lady would arrive in Beijing around noon with a friend and the boyfriend she had chosen. Someone had been waiting at the airport since early morning.

After Li Youlan and Tan Xue had waited for quite some time, Chu Dong finally came staggering over. His face was deathly pale, as though he had just recovered from a serious illness.

“The future son-in-law doesn’t look very well, does he?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps he’s nervous about meeting his future father-in-law for the first time.”

“Can nervousness really make someone look like that? I was nervous the first time too, but my legs didn’t go weak.”

“Why are you wasting your breath? Even if your legs hadn’t gone weak, the young lady wouldn’t have chosen you.”

“That’s true. Everyone has the fate they’re born with. Heh…”

The group, together with Chu Dong, divided themselves among three cars and proceeded in grand procession toward the Li residence.

The Li family was clearly far wealthier than the Tan family. Their home was a three-story villa. It was not as extravagant as an estate, but in a place like Beijing, anyone who could afford to live in a villa was certainly no ordinary wealthy household.

Li Tianming had been waiting at home since early morning. This was the first time his new son-in-law was visiting, so the occasion had to be given the highest level of importance. There could be no carelessness. The entire Li household had been preparing for it for half a month, treating it as more important than the New Year itself.

And so Chu Dong, the genuine counterfeit son-in-law, finally stepped through the grand entrance of the Li residence.

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