Chapter 9: The Eccentric Aunt

Meng Yuqi’s aunt, Meng Meihua, never liked Tong Yue. In her eyes, the Tong family was only fit to serve the Meng family. No matter how beautiful Tong Yue was, she was still the daughter of a servant. In the old days, a girl like her would at best become a concubine or a maid to the master.

Meng Meihua couldn’t stand Tong Yue. One reason for her dislike was that her own daughter was also in the entertainment industry, and Meng Meihua felt that the Meng family wasn’t giving her daughter enough support. Meanwhile, they were providing countless resources to Tong Yue, who wasn’t even a blood relative.

This enraged Meng Meihua. Even though the Meng family had given her daughter some resources, it was never enough in her eyes. Her daughter wasn’t even cast as the female lead.

She didn’t care that Tong Yue had risen from the bottom. Meng Meihua simply believed her daughter deserved the best and that the Meng family should be lifting her up.

“Could it be that actress Tong has gone out again?” Meng Meihua started mocking the moment she stepped through the door, wasting no time criticizing Tong Yue.

“No, she’s upstairs resting,” Mrs. Meng replied with a smile. “She won’t be coming down to chat with you.”

“As a youngster, she should—”

“Well, given how you, as an elder, always mock her, I couldn’t possibly let her come down to face your scolding,” Mrs. Meng interrupted. “After all, you’ve always said that your daughter can never compare to my daughter-in-law.”

“What?” Meng Meihua frowned.

“You’ve said it often enough,” Mrs. Meng often heard Meng Meihua say they treated her niece worse than their daughter-in-law, but she herself had a different attitude towards her nephew and their daughter-in-law.

Meng Meihua had assumed Mrs. Meng wouldn’t say much, as she hadn’t before. But this time was different.

In the past, Mrs. Meng hadn’t argued because she saw no point. She figured Meng Meihua would eventually hit a wall on her own. However, Tong Yue had barely been back for a few days when Meng Meihua had already rushed over.

It likely had something to do with the fact that Mrs. Meng had warned her not to bring any young girls over, or she’d block them at the door.

When Meng Yuqi and Tong Yue were away, Meng Meihua had brought young, beautiful heiresses from prestigious families, hoping they would impress Mrs. Meng and gain favor as potential future daughters-in-law.

But Mrs. Meng wasn’t easily swayed. What were these so-called heiresses compared to the Meng family? If they were truly from well-matched families, they wouldn’t be so eager to play the role of a mistress.

There were plenty of men in the world; no need to cling to one tree. The forest was vast, and there were always greener trees to be found.

“I didn’t say anything this time,” Meng Meihua gritted her teeth. “Your daughter-in-law just got back, didn’t she? What’s the matter, are you afraid she’ll be upset?”

“Of course I’m afraid,” Mrs. Meng replied. “Why wouldn’t I be? Young people nowadays—if they’re unhappy, they can just grab their marriage certificate and head for a divorce.”

Meng Meihua fumed internally, wishing Meng Yuqi and Tong Yue would just divorce already.

Upstairs, Meng Yuqi had just changed his clothes, and Tong Yue had washed the frosting off her face.

There was more than one bathroom in the house, so Tong Yue didn’t have to wait for Meng Yuqi. When Meng Yuqi saw her clean face, he felt a tinge of regret. He had wanted to wipe her face himself, but she had gone to the next room instead.

“Shall we go downstairs?” Tong Yue had already sensed the commotion below but hadn’t gone down yet.

She didn’t like Meng Meihua. The aunt always made snide remarks in her presence, often bringing up how even if they divorced, Tong Yue wouldn’t be entitled to much under the current marriage laws.

While most people would offer congratulations on a marriage, this aunt constantly talked about divorce.

Tong Yue found it tiresome. She didn’t argue with Meng Meihua because it wasn’t worth it. After all, it was just a contract marriage—who cared that much?

Tong Yue thought to herself: Yep, Auntie is still hoping I’ll divorce the boss soon.

“Let’s wait a bit,” Meng Yuqi said, not wanting to face his aunt just yet. He knew she wasn’t genuinely concerned for him—she only looked out for her own interests. “We’ll go down when she starts getting impatient.”

Tong Yue thought: The boss is as ruthless as ever today. I like it.

Meng Yuqi, hearing her inner thoughts, smiled inwardly. Of course, he had to be ruthless—how else would he win his beloved’s heart?

“Aren’t you afraid she’ll come up here?” Tong Yue asked, blinking at him.

“She’s afraid of me,” Meng Yuqi replied. He was well aware that his aunt used to not fear him much, but ever since he had taken control of the Meng family business, she had grown increasingly wary of what she said in front of him.

Not that she didn’t say anything at all—she’d still make a few remarks. But if she saw he wasn’t pleased, she’d become visibly nervous.

In the past, she would have shouted without hesitation.

“Makes sense,” Tong Yue nodded, thinking to herself: How did a powerful family like the Mengs end up with someone like her?

“Life isn’t perfect. There are always some eccentric relatives,” Meng Yuqi responded to her inner thoughts. He figured Tong Yue wouldn’t realize how easily he could follow the flow of conversation. People would just assume he was good at reading others, not knowing he could literally read minds. “Not everyone is bright, either.”

In the eyes of the Meng family, Meng Meihua wasn’t particularly clever. The family had long split its assets, and Meng Meihua was married into another family. If she had been smarter, she wouldn’t meddle so much and should just take what benefits she could get, instead of making a fuss.

Downstairs, Meng Meihua’s patience was running thin as she waited for Meng Yuqi and Tong Yue to come down. How dare these youngster keep her waiting? Was she supposed to go upstairs and call them herself?

Just as Meng Meihua’s temper was about to boil over, Meng Yuqi finally appeared at the top of the stairs.

“Are you heading back now?” Meng Yuqi asked coldly. “I heard Uncle hasn’t been home for days. He flew abroad. Is he planning to give my cousin a little brother or sister?”

Meng Meihua’s marriage had been riddled with issues. Her husband was someone she had taken from another woman.

Back then, her husband had been another woman’s boyfriend, and that woman had even been pregnant. But Meng Meihua, being the wealthy heiress of the Meng family, easily overpowered the other woman, whose background was much more modest. As a result, Meng Meihua secured her position, while the other woman lost her baby and quietly withdrew from the scene.

This event remained a thorn in her husband’s heart—he had once been in love with that woman, and they had lost their child. After marrying Meng Meihua, he behaved for a while, but after they had their own child, he started seeing other women.

Not only did he have other women, but he frequently got caught in scandals, changing partners every now and then. He even told Meng Meihua that it was all just for fun, merely a performance.

At first, he was careful not to let the other women get pregnant. But once their child had grown up, he stopped holding back, deliberately getting other women pregnant as a way to take revenge on Meng Meihua.

Meng Meihua’s face turned pale after hearing Meng Yuqi’s words.

“Illegitimate children,” she said, clenching her fists. “They’ll never have a place in society!” But she couldn’t stop her husband.

They had started fighting years ago, and even their son didn’t side with her anymore, which brought her immense pain.

When she was in pain, she couldn’t stand seeing others happy.

Among relatives, there was always that hope that others weren’t doing as well as oneself, that their misfortune could make your own happiness seem greater. Now, with her own unhappiness, seeing others doing well made her heart ache.

“Oh, really? So, auntie, are you hoping others will cheat too?” Meng Yuqi recalled how young women, claiming to represent his aunt, had come to his company to approach him—even intercepting his car, saying they didn’t mind keeping things discreet.

When he had people investigate, it led right back to Meng Meihua. Indeed, many wealthy men had mistresses, but Meng Yuqi prided himself on not being one of them, and he had no intention of becoming like that.

“Aunt, you should head home. And don’t drop by casually in the future.” Meng Yuqi’s expression was icy. If this continued, he would act as if he had no aunt.

Seeing his cold demeanor, Meng Meihua felt alarmed. She couldn’t bring herself to try and win Meng Yuqi’s favor, so she just said, “One day, you’ll regret it. Actresses are heartless.”

“My cousin doesn’t even qualify as an actress, just a celebrity,” Meng Yuqi replied. The gap between a celebrity and an actress was vast.

Hearing this, Meng Meihua nearly stumbled.

“Let’s go,” said Mrs. Meng. “Would you like me to see you off?”

“No need.” Meng Meihua grabbed her bag and left, not wanting to stay any longer.

Upstairs, Tong Yue used her spiritual sense to observe what had happened downstairs. She had seen news recently about a young model who was with Meng Meihua’s husband, flying abroad for the birth of their child. The model was even flaunting their relationship openly.

As a mistress, she had posted photos of herself with Meng Meihua’s husband on Weibo, showing off her wealth and their supposedly great relationship, directly challenging the wife. However, Meng Meihua had not responded with photos of her own—being born into a powerful family, she didn’t need to lower herself that way.

“Tsk, she left so quickly,” Tong Yue thought, expecting that Meng Meihua might storm upstairs. It seemed her courage had shrunk.

Tong Yue made a hand sign and decided to send Meng Meihua a small dark cloud. At the right moment, it would give her a personal rainstorm, a downpour just for her.

When Meng Meihua arrived home, that dark cloud finally let loose. At that moment, she was complaining, “It’s so hot.”

And then, the little cloud poured rain, drenching her completely.

At that same time, a passing spirit creature saw the scene, eyes wide with curiosity. What was this? Was that cloud sentient? Or had that dragon come out to make rain again?