Nico’s smile seemed to have made Li Beinian feel rather awkward.
She quickly turned to look at Grandaunt.
However, the elderly woman looked as though she had made a new discovery, and said, “Eh, I didn’t think so initially, but now that I look closer, I suddenly realize that you two look alike.”
When she said this, Granduncle looked at Li Beinian and then at Nico.
Feeling rather uncomfortable, Li Beinian said, “Don’t all human beings have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth? Actually, they all look similar.”
“No.” Although Grandaunt was an old woman with failing eyesight, she had a mind of her own, especially during times like this. She looked at Nico and pointed at the two of them. “Your eyes look too similar. Eh, they really look alike. Old man, don’t you think so?”
Granduncle, who had always doted on his wife, agreed immediately, “Yes, it’s true.”
When Mu Xichen heard this, he suddenly reached out to cover Li Beinian’s face and said, “Granduncle, Grandaunt, how could you be such a tease? Foreigners don’t like such jokes.”
Nico immediately waved his hand and said, “No, no, it’s alright. I also feel that Beinian and I are fated…”
Then, Nico paused and said, “Otherwise, of all the places in the world, why would we run into each other here? Don’t you agree?”
He was directing his question to Mu Xichen.
Mu Xichen smiled and said nothing.
Li Beinian did not continue the conversation. Granduncle and Grandaunt could sense too, that Mu Xichen was rather displeased, so they decided to change the topic and continued to tease Mu Xichen and Li Beinian about having children of their own.
They asked questions like when they intended to have a child, to who was going to look after it, and probed further about how many children they intended to have.
Li Beinian was able to manage these questions with ease initially. However, as more people joined in the teasing, she started to feel overwhelmed.
Eventually, she found herself trying to manage these cheeky questions from seven or eight elders at once. Even though she was not a shy person by nature, she couldn’t help but end up blushing.
After observing this for a while, Nico left with Old Master Mo. Li Beinian did not notice when they left, but realized it only later, when she was able to turn her attention back from all the questions.
It had been a busy day for her, she had been on the road all day and was exhausted after the long trip.
Noticing the fatigue on her face, Mu Xichen suggested leaving.
Back in their small house, Li Beinian finally caved.
She slumped onto the sofa and her eyes started narrowing.
Mu Xichen took off his coat and as he was hanging it up, he inadvertently saw the red corner sticking out of Li Beinian’s coat pocket.
A festive red color, it was the red packet that Nico had given her.
Mu Xichen had registered that object in his mind when Nico took it out.
Among the stack of red packets, only Li Beinian’s was prepared in a different way, making it stand out from the rest.
Mu Xichen’s curiosity was piqued. He reached out and pinched the garment pocket between his fingers.
Li Beinian opened her eyes and saw Mu Xichen holding the red packet and then opening it.
From within, the man drew out a check and a piece of paper.
When Li Beinian saw the check, she immediately got up and walked over.
She stared at the number on it and couldn’t help but take a deep breath. “One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, ten million, a billion. F*ck, he gave me five billion??”
The check bore the mark of a bank in the United Kingdom. At the bottom was Nico’s bold and cursive writing: Nico Rothschild.