Chapter 69 Part 1

Sitting in the car, Yue Bai opened her phone’s built-in camera and checked her makeup and hair in selfie mode to make sure everything was perfect. Sang Wan, who kept glancing over at a high frequency, shot her sidelong looks now and then.

Before getting out, Yue Bai touched up her lipstick and scrutinized herself left and right in the camera. After a long moment, she finally put her phone down, still not entirely reassured.

“You look great,” Sang Wan said gently. “Don’t be nervous.”

Yue Bai pulled a bitter face. Her excessive fussiness made Sang Wan’s heart flutter, and she reached out on impulse to ruffle Yue Bai’s hair. But Yue Bai dodged to the side, solemnly guarding her carefully styled locks. “No, don’t mess it up.”

“…Fine.” Sang Wan gave in.

The car pulled up in front of the restaurant. Standing at the entrance, Yue Bai uncertainly clasped Sang Wan’s hand and whispered, “Senior Sister, do we really have to go in empty-handed? There’s a supermarket nearby. Should we grab something?”

Sang Wan chuckled. “No need. Don’t overthink it—my grandpa isn’t scary.”

Yue Bai nodded, only half convinced. “Is it just your grandpa?”

Sang Wan replied flatly, her voice devoid of emotion. “My dad and his spouse will be there too.”

“But my little brother will be there as well, and he’ll like you.” A faint smile curved Sang Wan’s lips, softening her striking features. “As long as Grandpa and Little Lin like you, that’s all that matters. No one else’s opinion counts—especially not my dad’s.”

Yue Bai paused in surprise. Between Sang Wan’s words now and what she’d shared before, the clear impatience toward Sang Dad stood out.

Why the bad blood?

Yue Bai shook her head, pushing the thought aside. She’d find out soon enough once they met.

“Got it, Senior Sister,” she replied brightly.

Sang Wan hummed in acknowledgment, about to say more, when a young man emerged from the restaurant.

“Sis.”

He was tall and lean, with chiseled features accentuated by a dark brown overcoat that highlighted his perfect proportions. In a few quick strides, he reached them. His gaze lingered on Sang Wan for a beat before shifting to Yue Bai. Without waiting for an introduction, he said politely, “This must be Sister Yue Bai, right?”

Yue Bai took an awkward half-step back.

“This is my little brother, Sang Lin,” Sang Wan said, subtly steadying Yue Bai’s retreating back with a hand.

“Just call me Little Lin,” Sang Lin said, scratching his head with easygoing cheer. “Sis mentioned you last time. I’ve been dying to meet you. Yue Sister, you’re really pretty.”

His words were simple and direct.

Yue Bai’s ears flushed pink as she eyed the boy, who looked about seventy percent like Sang Wan. “Hi, I’m Yue Bai. I’m your sister’s… girlfriend.”

She hesitated for several seconds, fumbling for the right way to introduce herself. Girlfriend was the first—and only—term that came to mind.

Her ears burned even hotter afterward.

“Why’d you come out?” Sang Wan asked, steering the conversation elsewhere.

Sang Lin grinned. “Grandpa sent me to wait outside for you. You should’ve seen it—Dad and that Qin woman flipped when they heard you’re dating. Their eyes were practically bulging as they grilled Grandpa on who it was. He wouldn’t spill, and when they wouldn’t drop it, he straight-up chewed them out. Their faces? Priceless. I nearly died laughing.”

Yue Bai tugged curiously at Sang Wan’s sleeve. “Senior Sister?”

Sang Wan glanced back. “It’s nothing.”

They stepped inside and followed Sang Lin up to the third-floor private room. Three people sat around the round table.

In the center seat sat Sang Wan’s grandpa.

Grandpa Sang rested his hands, folded, on his cane. His gaze was sharp and piercing. Flanking him were two middle-aged adults, their expressions a study in contrasts.

The door to the private room stood half-open. Sang Lin pushed it wider and entered first.

Grandpa Sang looked up eagerly, only to scowl in displeasure when he saw who it was. “Didn’t I tell you to wait outside for your sister?”

“Grandpa, we’re here,” Sang Wan said calmly from behind him. “Traffic was a nightmare. Sorry we’re late.”

Yue Bai clung to Sang Wan’s hand, her head bowed toward the floor.

The door clicked shut. Yue Bai mustered her courage. “Hello, Grandpa. Hello, Uncle, Auntie.”

Sang Wan led her to the round table, where Yue Bai’s heart pounded wildly. The whole scene felt exactly like meeting the parents, leaving her short of breath.

“Good, good, good,” Grandpa Sang replied warmly.

Ming Qisang and Qin Yan exchanged a glance, confusion mirrored in each other’s eyes.

Ming Qisang turned to Sang Wan. “Didn’t you say you were bringing your boyfriend to meet the family? Where is he?”

Yue Bai ducked her head even lower, though she kept her spine straight.

Had Senior Sister not told her dad the partner was a girl?

Grandpa Sang tapped his cane, his tone laced with authority. “When did Little Wan ever say it was a boy?”

Ming Qisang frowned. “A girl?”

Grandpa Sang breezed past the question. “Come here, Little Bai. Sit by Grandpa.”

Ming Qisang, seated at Grandpa Sang’s side, furrowed his brow more deeply.

Yue Bai hovered uncertainly behind Sang Wan, at a loss for words.

Sang Wan patted the back of Yue Bai’s hand reassuringly. With her long, graceful frame guiding the way, she settled them into the seats beside Sang Lin. “Grandpa, we’re good right here.”

Grandpa Sang didn’t press, beaming as he repeated “good” several times.

Dishes began arriving shortly after they sat.

Ming Qisang cleared his throat to command attention.

“Little Wan, why didn’t you tell your dad about the relationship?” he asked.

He’d gotten Grandpa Sang’s call out of the blue, summoning him to meet Sang Wan’s partner.

Questions swirling, his gaze settled on Yue Bai. A blush colored the young woman’s cheeks; her downcast eyes marked her as reserved.

Ming Qisang had no issue with Sang Wan dating in principle. But a girl? That changed things.

“Forgot,” Sang Wan said coolly.

Her detached tone, right in front of everyone, soured Ming Qisang’s face.

“Your dad doesn’t mind you dating. It’s just… two girls…” Mindful of Yue Bai, he chose his words carefully.

Yue Bai pressed her lips together.

Sang Wan tightened her grip on Yue Bai’s hand, just out of sight. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“What’s wrong with girls? Better than some deadbeat,” Grandpa Sang cut in forcefully, with a snort. “Good thing Little Wan didn’t take after her mother’s taste.”

The remark landed like a slap across Ming Qisang’s face. Criticizing Sang Wan’s mother’s judgment was a direct dig at him.

But from Grandpa Sang, there was no arguing back.

Under the table, Ming Qisang’s hands clenched into fists, veins standing out on the backs.

Yue Bai followed none of it, shooting Sang Wan a bewildered look. Grandpa Sang’s disdain for Ming Qisang was plain as day—even she, a total newcomer, could sense the turbulent undercurrents.

Sang Wan offered only a faint smile.

With all the dishes served, the door closed once more.

“Sister Yue Bai, soda?” Sang Lin asked, cradling a large bottle.

“Yes, thanks,” Yue Bai said, rising and holding out her glass.

Qin Yan cut in. “Little Lin, pour Auntie one too.”

Sang Lin capped the bottle and set it on the lazy Susan. “Too far, Auntie. Help yourself.”

He sat back down.

Yue Bai sipped her drink in tiny swallows.

The vibe was all wrong.

“Yue Bai, what does your family do?” Ming Qisang asked.

Yue Bai let out a startled “Ah,” unsure what to say.

“Dad, her family’s business isn’t really your concern,” Sang Wan said. She spun the lazy Susan, positioning Yue Bai’s favorite dish in front of her.

“Little Wan, your dad’s just looking out for you,” Qin Yan said placatingly.

Sang Wan ignored her.

Awkward silence fell.

“Little Bai, try this—your favorite,” Sang Wan said, dropping a shrimp into Yue Bai’s bowl.

Qin Yan tugged awkwardly at Ming Qisang’s sleeve.

“Little Bai, I bumped into your sister the other day. I promised her: marry into the Sang Family, and you’ll get a stake in the business. If Little Wan ever mistreats you, just tell Grandpa. He’ll set her straight,” Grandpa Sang said. He’d scarcely touched his chopsticks before draining his wineglass.

“The Sang Family won’t do you wrong. Once you’re in, I’ll draw up a will. Estate split two ways—one share for Little Wan, one for Little Lin. If Little Wan wrongs you, her share reverts to me.”

Yue Bai’s face twitched visibly. She hadn’t expected Grandpa Sang to go that far—though it hinged on marrying into the family.

She glanced pleadingly at Sang Wan.

Sang Wan hooked her little finger with Yue Bai’s in reassurance. “Grandpa, you know how it is here in China. Little Bai and I can’t get legally married, so there’s no real ‘marrying in’ talk.”

“Forms still matter,” Grandpa Sang insisted fondly. Yue Bai’s delicate build made him worry his granddaughter might overwhelm her.

He’d raised Sang Wan and knew her ways. This was just to put Yue Bai at ease, encourage her to cherish Sang Wan and overlook her faults.

His words sat fine with Sang Wan and Sang Lin. But Ming Qisang and Qin Yan looked alarmed.

“Dad, what about Xiao Ye? He’s my son too—you can’t play favorites,” Ming Qisang blurted.

Grandpa Sang had named shares for Sang Wan and Sang Lin alone, leaving Ming Ye out entirely.

Qin Yan nodded vigorously. “Xiao Ye’s your grandson too.”

Sang Lin snorted with laughter, as if at some grand joke. Sang Wan calmly peeled another shrimp for Yue Bai.

Grandpa Sang’s smile vanished. “Ming Ye? Does the Ming Family think they can inherit the Sang Family fortune?”

In Grandpa Sang’s heart, he had already come to regard Yue Bai as one of the family, so he didn’t mince words. “Ming Ye doesn’t have a single drop of Sang Family blood in him.”

“Dad, he is still my son, after all,” Ming Qisang said.

“So what if he’s your son? Ming Qisang, do you really think that just because his name has ‘Sang’ in it, he’s one of us?” Grandpa Sang spoke bluntly, his disdain plain for all to see.

He truly couldn’t understand how his daughter had fallen for Ming Qisang back then, insisting on marrying no one else. Out of love for his daughter, he had reluctantly agreed to let Ming Qisang join the Sang Family as a live-in son-in-law.

Yet in just twenty years, the man had started acting like he was the head of the household.

Ming Qisang paused for a moment, opening his mouth but finding no words.

Qin Yan kept nudging him, urging him to fight for something on Ming Ye’s behalf.

But Ming Qisang didn’t budge.

Yue Bai tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, quietly peeling and eating her shrimp.

From Grandpa Sang’s words, she pieced together the rough picture.

Ming Qisang wasn’t truly part of the Sang Family—which meant Sang Wan had taken her mother’s surname. He had married into the family, and after Sang Wan’s mother passed away, he had wed Qin Yan and had another child. Now, he was trying to claim family assets for a son with no real tie to the Sangs.

Putting all the information together, Yue Bai finally understood why Senior Sister always sounded so dismissive whenever she mentioned Ming Qisang, even saying outright that he wasn’t Sang Family.

So that was it.

Yue Bai enjoyed the meal immensely. Grandpa Sang noticed her shyness and didn’t press her with too many questions. Sang Wan fielded most of them, leaving Yue Bai free to savor the dishes Senior Sister kept piling onto her plate.

After lunch, Yue Bai exchanged phone numbers with Grandpa Sang and Sang Lin.

Grandpa Sang told her to give him a call whenever she had time.

Yue Bai smiled and promised she would.

Qin Yan seized the chance to save Yue Bai’s number as well.