"But you’d better not call her that name in front of Sister Nan, or she’ll lose her temper—ah, why am I telling you this? I should let Sister Nan kick you flying...."
Huang Mao didn’t seem very bright.
The Yu Zhaodi they had been looking for was actually Jinnan, the close sister Suizi had just made.
"Jinnan... ’strong man’, Zhaodi, ah, I should have thought of it earlier."
Suizi murmured Jinnan’s name several times and had an epiphany.
Such an unpleasant name as Zhaodi must have been given by the sexist Yu Youchan.
With Jinnan’s personality, how could she possibly use such a name?
Since the northern region entered the heavy industrial era, in opposition to the preference for boys over girls, many families with only daughters started naming their daughters ’Sheng Nan,’ ’Sai Nan,’ or ’Ruo Nan.’
’Nan,’ homophonic with ’male.’
People unfamiliar with the history of the north might think these names were chosen to compensate for not having a son, but in essence, it was the exact opposite—these names embodied the parents’ hopes that their daughters would surpass boys. Girls given such names were usually well nurtured.
Jinnan must have looked into local customs and chosen such a name to counter her disagreeable father.
"Why does the outside world believe that the old man only has a son?" Yu Jingting asked.
"The Tianlong Society leader’s original wife died early, and Sister Nan’s mother manages the red-light district in the North district; she’s the leader’s favoured companion, so—"
Yu Jinnan is an illegitimate daughter.
After straightening out this relationship, everything else fell into place.
Yu Jingting, with nothing better to do, brandished a knife to scare Huang Mao.
Suizi, meanwhile, was lost in thought.
In her mind, she repeatedly went over the words Jinnan had said that she didn’t understand:
Coming to the capital this time was for official business, as well as personal.
It was related to the Tianlong Society, yet it wasn’t.
Originally, I wanted to introduce Zhaodi, but it’s no longer necessary.
The last thing that stayed in Suizi’s mind was Jinnan’s comment, made lightly as a cloud: I’ve already reaped something important and desire nothing else.
Suizi believed that Jinnan must have had a long-term plan in mind before her arrival, but upon seeing her and Yu Jingting, she abandoned her original intentions.
The important thing Jinnan mentioned, the harvest, was the friendship of Suizi and her husband.
Huang Mao, terrified by Yu Jingting, started ranting wildly.
"The two of you colluding, clearly a perfect match, why do you have to meddle in Sister Nan’s affairs? Oh—I get it now! Both of you have fallen for Sister Nan!"
Yu Jingting’s deboning knife pressed against Huang Mao’s scalp and stuck into the wooden pillar, causing Huang Mao, his eyes rolling back, to faint completely.
"Like hell we’re looking! I should castrate you right now and, dressed as a woman, send you to that immortal Yu Youchan!"
Yu Jingting kicked the pillar, cursing. His wife was his and his alone!
"What do we do now? How do we deal with this guy?" Suizi said with disdain, gesturing toward Huang Mao.
If he really was Jinnan’s subordinate, then handing him over wasn’t an option.
"Let’s keep him hanging for now, and wait until we get in touch with Jinnan to have her take him back."
The underworld has its own rules for dealing with Huang Mao; it’s not worth offending Jinnan over him.
"However, this guy has a foul mouth, nothing nice to say. So, until we contact Jinnan, let’s use our son’s baby urine for him to gargle, clear the irritability out of him."
"..." Suizi silently gave two big thumbs up, as if to say her man was never afraid of anything.
The couple hung the person in the side room, and with laughs and conversations, they entered their own room. Wang Cuihua took the two children out for a walk, leaving only Fourth Master in the house.
Fourth Master was on the phone, speaking a language Suizi couldn’t understand. His expression was very serious, as though something serious had happened.
Suizi had never seen Fourth Master with such an expression at home. She couldn’t help but stop and take a closer look.
Suddenly, Fourth Master raised his voice, and with a clenched fist, he forcefully hammered on the table, startling Suizi. It seemed as if he had started to curse.
After cursing, he looked as if he was about to smash the phone, but Yu Jingting quickly snatched it away.
At this moment, Fourth Master was filled with anger, no longer the smiley old man of everyday, but radiating an aura of deadly intent.
"Frustrated? There are empty beer bottles in the Courtyard. Smashing them would make a loud noise and could be quite satisfying."
"Get out, I’m not in the mood for your nonsense," Fourth Master looked extremely vexed.
Yu Jingting shrugged his shoulders.
"It’s fine if you don’t want to talk to me, but if you smash something valuable at home, mom will definitely scratch you when she gets back."
Hearing the name Huahua, Fourth Master’s killing intent diminished by half.
Angered, he kicked the cabinet, and he chose the sturdiest one to kick. He was genuinely afraid of making Huahua angry.
"Dad, has something happened to the Hu Family?" Suizi asked.
She saw her father-in-law was speaking the language of that place, and his rage was mixed with concern. She knew that the only thing that could cause the normally calm and composed Fourth Master to lose control was something to do with the Hu Family.
Fourth Master nodded gravely.
"I must go back there tomorrow."
"No way!" Wang Cuihua’s voice came from the doorway.
"You no longer have anything to do with the Hu Family. Since you left, you shouldn’t get involved in their mess!"
"The old man has been kidnapped, and the Hu Family is in complete chaos now. The other side is just too arrogant—"
"What does that have to do with you? You’re no longer a Hu, you’re Yu Shuisheng, Tiegen and Jiaojiao’s father! Yu Shuisheng! Not some Hu Fourth Master!"
Wang Cuihua, driven by rage, hurled the stew in her hand at Fourth Master. Broth and bits splashed everywhere, and a piece of intestine even hung on Fourth Master’s buzzed hair.
"You woman! Have you lost all reason?" Fourth Master, frustrated, wiped his face and pointed at Wang Cuihua, scolding, "What do you know!"
Wang Cuihua took off her slipper and threw it at him. Not yet appeased, she went on to grab a broom nearby and swung it at Yu Shuisheng.
"Right! I know nothing! I’m just an unlucky Northeastern woman saddled with children! You bastard, you were gone for ten years. Our kids grew up without a father, and now that you’re finally back, you want to jump back into that mess?"
Yu Shuisheng dodged and fled outside, shouting angrily, "A mother-in-law shouldn’t be tearing off the roof! Wait till I get back, then I’ll deal with you!"
"Spineless thing! If you’re so capable, don’t run!" Wang Cuihua chased him to the doorway and saw him running desperately towards Chen Lijun’s house. She knew he was off to vent his sorrows over drinks with Fan Huang.
It was inappropriate for her to chase down to the in-laws’ place, so she scolded as she returned.
"Yu Shuisheng is a spineless thing! Spineless!"
Suizi watched her mother-in-law cursing angrily while her eyes reddened. She realized this was a serious matter and signaled to Yu Jingting.
"Alright, I’ll go and get revenge for mom, find that spineless thing, and drink with him... and give him a piece of my mind!"
Suizi gestured for him to also take the two children with him, to her mother’s place, asking her mother to watch them for a while so she could console her mother-in-law.
As Yu Jingting left with the kids, cries that could shake the heavens and earth came from inside the house.
"Suizi, your dad—he’s gone mad! He’s bent on throwing his life away, what do we do now? Our home is falling apart!"