Chapter 175: Eyes Filled with Hatred for Each Other

Lin Qingyou said, “If you weren’t always so high and mighty, acting arrogant all the time, who would instinctively suspect you?”

“You can suspect me,” Xiao Yutian looked at Lin Qingyou. “But would you give up and stop proving your innocence just because you were suspected?”

“Of course not…” Lin Qingyou blurted out instinctively.

She was innocent—no one could falsely accuse her.

Even if she had to die, she would prove it.

“See? That’s exactly my point.” Xiao Yutian smirked sarcastically. “But your father wasn’t like that.”

“Back in school, he shouldn’t have been so stubborn over his pride, throwing away years of hard work… but he just had to fight for it, making things worse.”

“Later, when he was at the construction company, that was the time he should have fought to prove his capability and innocence. But that’s exactly when he gave up.”

“Even after suffering such a huge lesson in school, he still couldn’t recognize the reality of the situation or understand himself… With a man like that, how could I entrust your mother to him?”

“But your mother insisted on being with him, so I had no choice but to compromise…”

“And so, I gave him another chance.” Xiao Yutian looked at Lin Qingyou. “The ‘Hongmen Banquet’ you mentioned.”

“You want to know what I did to your father?” Xiao Yutian stepped closer to Lin Qingyou. “It’s exactly what I did to Yin Hanyu these past two days.”

“In fact, because Yin Hanyu is too proud, I was even a bit harsher on him. My attitude toward your father was actually better.”

“Your mother was well-versed in piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting from a young age. So, is it not normal for me to ask him if he could play the piano or paint?”

“Why is asking a simple question considered an insult?”

“If he couldn’t, he just had to say so. Do you think I would have forced him to learn?”

“If he can’t even admit what he doesn’t know, is he humiliating himself or am I humiliating him?”

“You—”

“What? I humiliated your father? How? By honestly pointing out what he didn’t know?”

Xiao Yutian questioned Lin Qingyou again. “Didn’t Yin Hanyu just give a simple two-word answer—‘I can’t’?”

“It’s such an easy response—‘I can’t.’”

“Then why couldn’t your father just say it?”

“The fact that he couldn’t do those things was true. Were those two words so hard to say?”

“Oh, right. I also invited him to play chess. In that, he was better than Yin Hanyu…”

Xiao Yutian pointed to the chessboard not far away. “But his sportsmanship was far worse.”

“Yesterday, Yin Hanyu lost three consecutive matches to me, yet he accepted it calmly, with a peaceful mindset.”

“Moreover, each time he lost, he learned from his mistakes. He never repeated the same misstep in the next round.”

“The only reason he lost three games in a row was because I’ve been playing for decades, while it was his first time.”

“If we had played a fourth match and he had figured out my strategies, I wouldn’t have been so sure I could beat him.”

“So, while it seemed like he was losing, in reality, he was in complete control…” Xiao Yutian picked up a chess piece and sighed. “It was actually me who felt uneasy.”

Yin Hanyu was too calm, too composed.

Each loss didn’t make him lose focus or panic… Instead, every failure became nourishment for him.

He absorbed lessons from every mistake and grew at an alarming rate.

“If we had continued, I would have been the one to lose my nerve…” Xiao Yutian chuckled at himself, but his deep eyes revealed admiration.

However, when talking about Lin Zhiwei, Xiao Yutian’s eyes were filled with disdain. “Your father initially thought he could win against me. To impress me, he even deliberately let me win at first. But after a few moves, when he realized I wasn’t as weak as he assumed, he immediately went all in.”

“But even when he gave his all, he still lost…”

“And then he panicked…”

“Before long, we started a second match. He lost again, and this time, he was clearly frustrated…”

“He then insisted on a third match. So we played a third round.”

“In the third game, I deliberately gave him a three-piece advantage, yet he flipped the board in rage.”

“Because he felt I was insulting him…”

“See?” Xiao Yutian put down the chess piece and sighed. “If I hold back, he feels insulted. If I don’t hold back, he still feels insulted. Dealing with a person like that is exhausting…”

“No matter what you do, he thinks you’re looking down on him. Every word you say, he has to overanalyze, wondering if it has a deeper meaning.”

“But I’m just someone who speaks the truth…” Xiao Yutian sighed deeply. “It’s too tiring, way too tiring…”

Lin Qingyou was left speechless.

She had to admit, interacting with her father was exhausting at times.

“But everyone has their own personality. Not everyone is like Yin Hanyu…” Lin Qingyou met Xiao Yutian’s gaze. “Can you honestly say you had no intention of humiliating Yin Hanyu when you asked him those questions?”

“And what if I did? If he wants to marry my granddaughter, but he can’t even handle a few words, does he deserve to marry you?”

Lin Qingyou was at a loss for words again.

“You love him, so of course you feel sorry for him.”

“But why should I feel sorry for him? I have my own stance and considerations…”

“Besides, did I continue to make things difficult for him afterward? Didn’t we have a peaceful dinner last night?”

Lin Qingyou retorted, “But you still wanted him to learn the piano.”

“He didn’t want to, and he didn’t. He rejected my suggestion immediately, didn’t he?”

He was only upset at the time because he felt humiliated, as if he’d lost face.

The Yin family had spent years trying to hire the best instructors but failed, yet someone was offering to teach him for free just because of his connections—and he acted as if it was beneath him.

Did he think he was doing them a favor?

“Your father had nothing back then—no status, no wealth, and even a bad reputation…”

“And I only had two daughters—your mother and your aunt. The entire Xiao family’s wealth and power were meant for them.”

“If I gave it to your mother, and she married your father, he would automatically gain half of it…”

“But why should he?”

“The Xiao family’s wealth and power were built over generations… Why should he, an outsider, get it so easily?”

“If he couldn’t withstand my test and didn’t earn my approval, then of course he had to be rejected.”

“You call it a ‘Hongmen Banquet,’ but if he had endured it, it would have been a celebration banquet.”

“If he had wanted to learn painting, piano, architecture—anything—I would have provided him with the best resources and teachers.”

“But he only saw it as an insult…”

“When Yin Hanyu lost to me in chess, he saw me as his best teacher. Even if I was trying to humiliate him, he turned it around and used it to his advantage.”

“But your father? Hypocritical, self-righteous, overly sensitive, and paranoid…” Xiao Yutian scoffed. “For the sake of his fragile pride, he kept making mistake after mistake…”

“Was I really humiliating him? Or did he just look down on himself?”

“How could your mother possibly be happy with a man like that?”

“Father, I brought Xue back!” Suddenly, Xiao Yan’s voice came from outside.

Xiao Yutian looked up and saw Lin Zhiwei standing behind Xiao Yan.

Their eyes met—filled with nothing but hatred for each other.