Chapter 7: Such a Father

  "Shameless, who invited you!" Yao Cunmei muttered coldly.

  "Mei'er!" Ma's eyebrows rose high, a low warning to Yao Cunmei. She nodded and smiled at Yao Cunhui: "It's okay, you haven't seen your father for a long time!" After that, she gestured towards the east room with her chin: "You sisters go play over there, get along well, mother will arrange dinner!"

  Yao Cunmei and Ma Qunfang's eyes lit up, Yao Cunmei lightly got up, her meaningful gaze swept towards Yao Cunhui, and with a loud laugh, she said: "Yes, it's been several days since I've seen Second Sister, I was just thinking of getting close to Second Sister! Second Sister, let's go!"

  "Third sister has a heart!" Yao Cunhui smiled slightly and turned to Ma Shi, saying: "These days have let Mother worry, Hui'er's heart really can't bear it. Hui'er wants to follow Mother's side to help Mother with her work, asking Mother to fulfill her wish, unless Mother despises Hui'er for being stupid and refuses to teach Hui'er!"

  She cast a sideways glance at Yao Cunmei, and Yao Cunhui's palms tightened slightly. This woman's ruthlessness was something she had personally experienced before, and sooner or later, she would have to take revenge!

  Yao Cunmei was taken aback and looked at Madam Ma with a stern expression.

  Ma was also unhappy in her heart, but she had always been kind and loving, so she wouldn't admit to disliking Yao Cunhui in front of everyone. After a few words of persuasion that couldn't move Yao Cunhui's determined gaze, she could only reluctantly agree.

  Yao Cunmei suddenly became annoyed and shouted: "Mother, I also want to follow you to help!" After being lightly pulled by Ma Qunfang's sleeve and whispering something in her ear, she finally calmed down and gave up the idea.

  Yao Cun's heart secretly breathed a sigh of relief, she wasn't afraid of Yao Cun Mei, but rather wanted to take her in, no matter what, she couldn't stay in the Ma family's house. Moreover, it wouldn't be long before Father arrived, and she didn't want to stir up more trouble at this time.

  The thought in Yao Cunhui's mind had not yet turned around, when Xiao Yatou hastily lifted the curtain and came in, smiling and reporting: "Madam, Miss, Master has arrived!"

  Ma and Yao Cunmei, along with everyone else, were overjoyed and beaming with delight. Yao Cunmei was especially ecstatic, shouting "Really? Father is back!" as she rushed out to greet him, loudly calling out "Father! Father!"

  Yao Cunhui followed Ma out, and as soon as they reached the corridor, she saw Yao Cunmei flinging herself at a middle-aged man, intimately embracing him, giggling and coquettishly saying something that made the man laugh loudly, patting her back with affection.

  "I have seen the master! Master, you've had a hard journey!" Madam Ma smiled and stepped forward to pay her respects, while Yao Cunhui also bowed along with the others.

  "In your own home, you're being too polite, get up, hurry up!" Old Master Yao casually raised his hand and smiled, with a tone that seemed somewhat dismissive.

  "Yes, sir." Ma's gentle response was accompanied by a graceful rise to her feet, with a hint of a smile in the corner of her eyes as she scolded Ya Cunmei: "Mei'er, quickly help Father inside to rest, he just got back and is tired, don't be so reckless and disturb Father!"

  Yao Cunmei pouted her small mouth in disagreement, but Yao Laoye stroked his daughter's head with a loving smile and said: "Meier is still young, let her be!"

  "Daddy still loves me!" Yao Cunmei said coquettishly.

  "It's all because of Master's indulgence!" Madam Ma said with a hint of a smile and a tone of reproach.

  The mother and daughter surrounded Old Master Yao, with their personal maidservants crowded around them, the group of people crowded into the house with Old Master Yao. Ma Qunfang also squeezed in and chimed in with laughter and conversation.

  Yao Cunhui fell two steps behind, lost in thought with a bitter smile, suddenly felt a weight on her arm, turned her head to see Hong Lian's worried and comforting face.

  Yao Cunhui nodded slightly and smiled reassuringly, following closely behind. With herself standing right in front of him, Old Master Yao had the ability to ignore her as if she was invisible, no wonder Madam Ma dared to manipulate them sisters without any scruples, no wonder the former Yao Cunhui refused to show up in front of him. Having such a father, what else could Yao Cunhui do but feel disheartened and disappointed?

  "Dad, this is the best Mingqian Longjing, your favorite!" Yao Cunhui walked in and saw Yao Cunmei presenting a cup of green tea to Old Master Yao. The refreshing and elegant aroma of the tea spread through the air, refreshing one's heart and spleen.

  "Good, good! Mei'er is indeed filial!" Old Master Yao couldn't help but smile with joy and satisfaction.

  "Old Master doesn't know, this little demon is determined to leave Longjing for Old Master, the other day I casually wanted to taste it and she didn't allow it!" Madam Ma pretended to drink vinegar on the side.

  Yao Cunmei smiled and said: "This top-grade Longjing is indeed rare, with only half a catty in total. Mother loves to drink Junshan Yinzhen, so why not just drink that? Why bother fighting for Father's favorite tea? Wait until Father comes back, it won't be too late to taste it then! Mother always says that Father works hard outside and needs more filial piety, and feels sorry for Father. I am following Mother's teachings, aren't I? I'll offer a cup to Mother as well, consider it an apology, how about that?"

  Yao Cunmei said as she personally poured a cup with both hands and presented it to Madam Ma, solemnly smiling: "Mother, please have some tea!"

  The whole family, including Old Man Yao, burst out laughing.

  "Glib tongue!" Mrs. Ma was delighted in her heart, smiled and scolded Yao Cunmei with a glance, and took over the teacup.

  "Mei is really becoming more sensible!" Old Master Yao looked at his little daughter, with a hint of deep thought in his eyes.

  Ma's heart was delighted, and he hurriedly smiled: "The old master's daughter can't be bad, right? I'm not bragging, but Mei'er's cleverness is among the best of her peers!"

  After giving birth to Yao Cunmei, no matter how much she supplemented, Ma Shi still did not become pregnant and of course did not have a biological son. The Yao family's business was getting bigger and more prosperous, and she had long since thought about letting Yao Lao Ye teach Yao Cunmei how to do business, and in the future pass on the family business to Yao Cunmei. Unfortunately, Yao Lao Ye had a son, although this son was not very healthy and always sick, but after all, he was a son, wasn't he? Although under the influence of the current empress dowager, women's status was rising like the sun in the sky, but for men, they still felt that sons were the true heirs! Unless there was no other choice, otherwise they would absolutely not pass on the family business to their daughter.

  Mr. Yao listened to what Mrs. Ma said, and just glanced at her with a faint smile, not saying anything, but smiled and said: "Prepare dinner early, let someone go call the second brother and others to come over quickly, and also Jia'er, after eating I still have some accounts to settle with Lao Er!"

  Yao Cun Jia is the eldest daughter, and also the future daughter-in-law of the Jiangning Weaving House, she will be married next spring. For this daughter, Old Master Yao still cares a lot.

  Mrs. Ma saw that Old Master Yao had just started speaking, but as usual, he didn't continue the conversation and instead changed the subject, which made her feel slightly displeased in her heart. However, she also didn't dare to directly challenge her husband's authority, so she could only temporarily put this matter aside and smiled softly before getting up.

  When Mr. Yao mentioned Yao Cun Jia, Mrs. Ma felt very displeased in her heart and secretly sneered. Seeing that he didn't mention Yao Shi Zan, she secretly sneered again. Yao Shi Zan was not in good health and was a weakling who stayed at home taking medicine all day, so naturally Mr. Yao wouldn't call him over for dinner to avoid tiring him out. She thought that as soon as he returned, he must have gone personally to the Ming Feng Pavilion to visit that little sickly thing.

  "Dad, big sister has been embroidering her dowry for the past two days and is feeling a bit tired. She said she won't be coming over tonight, so I'll ask you to forgive her on her behalf. Please forgive her, Dad and Mom!" Yao Cunhui took two small steps forward, her bright eyes looking up at Old Master Yao, her expression calm and elegant, her delicate features evoking a sense of tender affection.

  Tonight, Yao Cun Jia did not attend, but Yao Cun Hui asked her to. Tonight, something might happen, she didn't want Yao Cun Jia to be present, lest Ma Shi would vent his anger on her, avoiding and staying out of it was the best choice.

  "Ah, you..." Mr. Yao finally shifted his gaze to her, momentarily stunned, before smiling and nodding: "So that's how it is! You're Hui'er, aren't you? You've grown so big!"

  Yao Cunhui didn't know whether to feel relieved that he still remembered her or heartbroken that he had almost forgotten her, and the existence of his own daughter was so lowly regarded in their home! The biological father who lived with them actually said such a thing to her!

  "Yes, Father." Yao Cunhui smiled and nodded, then said with a smile: "Father is working hard! Hui'er sees that Father's complexion is very good, spirited and refreshing, I suppose this business trip must have been very successful!" She admired and praised: "Father is really amazing!"

  Old Yao's eyes lit up, and his face unconsciously added a couple of degrees of smile. He laughed loudly: "Not bad, what can those little tricks of the Jiang family do? Come and go, it's just those tricks, this time in Henan collecting grain -"

  Mr. Yao was very confident in his business abilities and couldn't wait to show off in front of his wife and daughter. Unfortunately, Mrs. Ma and Yaocunmei had never spoken like Yaocunhui before, and the mother-daughter duo only showed concern, repeatedly saying things like "Dad, don't overwork yourself, Dad needs more rest." This made it difficult for him to bring up the topic himself. This was also one of the main reasons why he understood Mrs. Ma's intentions but hesitated to express his own views - Yaocunmei's mind was not on business at all, so how could he entrust such a large family enterprise to her? Not to mention that he had sons too!

  It's not easy for the second daughter to bring up his proud thing, how can he let go of this opportunity to increase his sense of accomplishment? Suddenly, he felt that a lot of words rushed up, and even if he spoke for three days and three nights, he couldn't finish saying them.

  "Old Master!" Ma's wife glared at Old Master Yao with a strange expression, laughing: "Business matters are never-ending! Now that you've finally returned home, can't you relax? What are you still worried about?"

  "Dad, let me massage your shoulders!" Yao Cunmei also smiled and stood behind Old Man Yao, raised her hands to pinch his shoulders, and asked with a smile "Dad, is it comfortable?"

  Mr. Yao smiled and stopped the previous topic, chatting with his daughter, Mrs. Ma smiled, her sharp eyes quickly swept over Yao Cunhui before going out to instruct things.

  Yao Cunhui didn't think much of it and smiled lightly, still sitting calmly.

  Yao Cunmei chattered away, sticking close to her father and talking nonstop. Ma Qunfang occasionally chimed in with a few words, and Old Master Yao rarely got to enjoy such warm family moments, feeling carefree and happy as he smiled and talked with his daughter. However, he didn't neglect Yao Cunhui like before; instead, he would often glance over at her, asking her questions with a smile, and Yao Cunhui calmly and composedly answered each one, smiling faintly. Old Master Yao felt deeply comforted in his heart as he watched his daughter's elegant demeanor and poised behavior.

  "As soon as the big brother came back, this house was lively!" Along with a clear and smiling voice, Mao Shi and Yao Nian Guang walked in with smiles.

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