Elder Yu certainly knew that Zhou Yanyu must have orchestrated this affair. At such a young age, how could Ruixuan have such schemes?
Over the years, he had turned a blind eye to the minor underhanded actions of his daughter-in-law that weren’t fit for public viewing, but he couldn’t tolerate her leading his grandson astray.
However, as a father-in-law, it wasn’t appropriate for him to scold her in front of the younger generation. He planned to give her a stern talking-to in private later.
He looked at his young grandson standing before him, head bowed, and said earnestly, "Ruixuan, you must understand that the most fundamental aspect of being a person is honesty. If a person lacks integrity, propriety, righteousness, and humility, then no matter how extensive his knowledge or deep his learning, he is useless to the country. Do you understand? You are still young and must not develop the habit of deceit."
"Grandfather, I... I understand," Yu Ruixuan said, choking up.
"Good, there, no need to cry. A man does not shed tears lightly. Crying and wailing, what does it look like? Now that you know what you did wrong, just don’t make the same mistake again," Elder Yu gently patted his grandson’s shoulder, his tone much softer.
Yu Huaxun sat aside with an ugly expression, feeling utterly humiliated today. His wife and younger son’s deception had embarrassed him in front of his father and had been witnessed by Jiang Mianmian and Yu Rou, who were outsiders.
He glared angrily at Zhou Yanyu, planning to settle accounts with her once everyone had left.
Jiang Mianmian saw that not only had Yu Ruixuan been scolded, but he had also been frightened into tears. She covertly nudged Yu Cheng and raised her eyebrows at him.
It was as if she was saying, "Look, Brother Yu, I’ve avenged you."
Yu Cheng couldn’t help but smile slightly at her boastful little gesture; he knew that Jiang Mianmian was upset at Zhou Yanyu and her son for sidelining him and had deliberately exposed Yu Ruixuan’s deceit.
Being wholeheartedly defended by a younger girl made Yu Cheng feel warmly content.
After lecturing his young grandson, Elder Yu thought about how effortlessly Jiang Mianmian had pinpointed Ruixuan’s mistake.
He asked cheerfully, "Mianmian, how did you come to learn English so well? You even know the technical terms from the military newspapers? Are teachers nowadays teaching such a variety of subjects?"
Jiang Mianmian blinked her large eyes and earnestly responded, "Because we don’t have many English books where I’m from, our teacher orders military newspapers daily and uses them as teaching materials to teach us."
She mentally gave herself kudos for her shrewd response.
The old man suddenly realized, "I see, Mianmian, that’s impressive. At such a young age, your English is excellent. Keep it up, and aim to become an interpreter or a diplomat in the future."
"Mianmian’s vocabulary is almost on par with a college student’s," Yu Rou also praised.
Zhou Yanyu, though internally seething with hatred for this little troublemaker, was not foolish enough to show her feelings in front of so many people and had to smile and agree, "I was mistaken just now; this child is truly smart."
After such a disruption, Elder Yu lost his previous good mood and took the children straight home.
After seeing people out, Zhou Yanyu still feigned kindness to Jiang Mianmian, "Mianmian, come and visit whenever you get a chance."
Yet in her heart, she hoped Mianmian would never come back!
But Jiang Mianmian deliberately pretended not to notice her insincerity: "Of course, Auntie, I definitely will come again."
Zhou Yanyu: ... Get lost!
Once home, as it was getting late, Elder Yu went straight to his study to tend to his official duties.
Yu Rou, who hadn’t been in Capital City for a long time, also went out to meet friends. Only Jiang Mianmian sat on the sofa, pondering over the design sketches she was holding.