Free Web NovelChapter 191: BEING CONTRADICTED BY A CHILD IS EMBARRASSING
An uncle shook his head before turning toward Deyong, and the look he gave him carried an almost sympathetic amusement that was somehow more insulting than outright mockery.
"Honestly, Deyong, I almost feel bad for you."
The comment immediately drew attention from the people seated nearby, and several heads turned in his direction with interest.
Deyong looked up.
"Oh?"
The uncle smiled as he lifted his teacup.
"You spend decades raising a child, only for him to keep the patriarch waiting on a night like this. That cannot feel particularly rewarding."
A few people laughed.
The sound was not loud, but it spread easily around the table because the remark had struck exactly where it was intended to.
Deyong’s expression remained controlled, though the atmosphere around him seemed to grow noticeably colder.
"If one of my children behaved this way," another man said, setting down his glass, "they would not be arriving late. They would already be here because I would have personally dragged them through the gate."
That earned a stronger reaction.
Several relatives laughed openly, while others lowered their heads to hide their smiles.
"That only works if your children actually listen to you."
The reply came from further down the table.
More laughter followed.
Even some of the younger generation could not hide their amusement.
The smile on the speaker’s face widened slightly as he looked toward Deyong.
"Not every parent is fortunate enough to have that kind of authority."
The implication settled heavily over the table.
Nobody missed it.
Nobody challenged it.
Beside Deyong, Zhou Meilin lowered her gaze toward her untouched tea. Her fingers tightened slightly around the porcelain cup, though her expression never changed.
Another aunt gave a small sigh.
"Children become difficult when they are indulged too much."
The man across from her nodded in agreement.
"That is certainly one explanation."
"And the other?"
His smile deepened.
"The other explanation is that they were never disciplined properly to begin with."
This time the laughter was quieter.
Not because the remark was less amusing.
Because it had become much more direct.
The criticism was no longer aimed solely at Guiying.
It was aimed at Deyong.
The atmosphere around the table shifted subtly as everyone became aware of it.
An older relative took a slow sip of tea before speaking again.
"Either way, if a son cannot even show basic respect to his own father, there is very little reason to expect him to respect anyone else."
Nobody disagreed.
Across the table, Shen Zihao remained silent.
His expression revealed nothing, but his presence alone seemed to encourage the conversation forward.
After all, if even he was not objecting, why should anyone else?
A short silence followed.
Then the man seated nearest the end of the table chuckled softly to himself as though a thought had just occurred to him.
"Although perhaps we are looking at the situation the wrong way."
Several people glanced toward him.
"What do you mean?"
He rotated the glass in his hand before answering.
"You can bring a stray dog into your home."
A few smiles appeared immediately.
"You can feed it, give it shelter, and let it sit beside you every day."
The amusement around the table grew.
His smile widened.
"But that does not make it family."
The laughter died before it could fully form.
Not because anyone had suddenly found the comment inappropriate.
But because every eye in the courtyard had shifted toward the same place.
Toward the entrance.
And for the first time that evening, absolute silence descended upon the table.
The laughter died before it could fully form, not because anyone had suddenly discovered a sense of shame, but because every person seated around the table had turned toward the entrance at almost the exact same moment, their expressions changing so quickly that the amusement from earlier never had the opportunity to settle back into place.
The man who had compared Guiying to a stray dog followed everyone else’s gaze, and the moment his eyes landed on the figures standing at the entrance, the confidence that had fueled his mockery vanished so completely that it was as though it had never existed in the first place.
Guiying stood there calmly, dressed in a charcoal pinstripe suit that fit him perfectly, while Liu Liuxian remained beside him with their hands still intertwined, and the sight of them together was so unexpected that the entire courtyard fell silent, the atmosphere becoming so still that even the servants seemed reluctant to move.
Nobody spoke because nobody seemed capable of deciding which part of the scene deserved their attention first, whether it was Guiying’s arrival after keeping the entire family waiting, the presence of Liu Liuxian standing beside him, or the unmistakable sight of their joined hands displayed openly in front of everyone.
The silence lingered long enough to become uncomfortable, and long enough for everyone present to realize that nobody else appeared willing to be the first person to break it.
Deyong was ultimately the one who stood.
His chair scraped against the ground loudly enough to draw attention away from the entrance, and for a brief moment several relatives looked visibly relieved to have something else to focus on, because the pressure that had settled over the courtyard was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
"You’re late."
His voice carried clearly across the table, and the remark was sharp enough to remind everyone that regardless of what surprises had arrived with Guiying, he had still kept the patriarch and the entire family waiting.
Guiying heard him.
Everyone could tell he heard him.
Yet he neither stopped nor acknowledged the remark, and instead continued walking forward with the same calm expression he had entered with, treating Deyong’s words as though they had never been spoken at all.
The atmosphere around the table immediately changed.
Moments ago they had been mocking Deyong for his inability to control his son, yet there was still a difference between saying something and watching it unfold with their own eyes, and the sight of Guiying ignoring him so completely in front of the entire family transformed what had once been gossip into something undeniably real.
Deyong’s expression stiffened.
Being contradicted by a child was embarrassing.
