Page 67 of He Is My Bride
“Don’t let the dogs out!” exclaimed a deep female voice Li Ying didn’t recognize. He looked past the struggling maid and saw a robust madam, who had appeared in the hallway. The madam reached down to pick up one of the dogs.
“Excuse the loud welcome!” the madam said, the dog wriggling in her hold.
“It’s alright!” Li Ying brushed it off.Except for the minor wardrobe malfunction. Now I have to meet the super posh aunties in raggedy-ass stockings.Li Ying hoped his frustration was not obvious on his face.
“Come on in, come on in!” the madam beckoned Li Ying.
Li Ying entered the hall while the madam pushed the dog to the maid and told her to put them in some room to calm down. She then turned her attention to Li Ying:
“So, you are Miss Li?” The madam had a strong, loud voice befitting her grand stature. “My name is Mo Qiongju, but you may call me Madam Wang.”
Madam Wang: the mother of Wang Guosheng, Li Ying figured. The widow of Hanjun’s grandmother’s brother, the great-uncle Wang who had invested his family’s wealth in Wu Pharma during the tumultuous times of the previous century.
“Nice to meet you, Madam Wang!”I didn’t expect the great-aunt to be here already.Li Ying had to get his head in the game. While thismadam seemed good-humored, Li Ying didn’t know whose side she was really on in the company politics, and how that would affect her position regarding Li Ying’s and Hanjun’s marriage.
Madam Wang’s eyes locked on the large diamond on Li Ying’s ring finger. “So the rumors were true.”
Li Ying blinked.What rumors?He and Hanjun hadn’t told anyone of their engagement yet, except Anne and the interns. Had Xinyu gossiped to his family? Then it dawned on Li Ying: a group of girls had been acting strange at the café yesterday, when Li Ying had been showing off his ring. They must have recognized him as Wu Hanjun’s ‘mystery woman’ and gone to the press.
This meeting is looking to start more and more awkwardly.
It was bad form if the family should find out about something like an engagement from the tabloids, rather than the couple themselves.
Li Ying, you have been too careless!
“We actually haven’t told anyone yet,” Li Ying said, trying to salvage the situation. “This is a rather new development.”
“Is that so?” Madam Wang smiled smugly. “Then we must go and tell Big Sister Linming at once! Come, come.”
Madam Wang led Li Ying from the entrance hall to the living room, although the term ‘parlor’ seemed more apt: the ceiling was high, and the paneled windows arched, set with elegant, heavy curtains. There was a grand chandelier and a modern art piece over the mantle of the marbled fireplace, flanked by a pair of large Ming porcelain vases.
In the center of this opulence, seated on a tufted couch, were two other elderly dames: thin and elegant Grandmother Linming, and a small old lady, who Li Ying could tell had been a real jade beauty in her youth, but who seemed rather frail now.
“Those dogs of yours, they shouldn’t be barking at guests,” Grandmother Linming said, disapproving.
“They’re good puppies!” Madam Wang insisted. “They just get excited when they see pretty girls.” She winked at Li Ying. MadamWang returned to her place on the left side of Grandmother Linming, the hostess.
Now, sitting side by side, the three family matriarchs regarded Li Ying like a talent show jury, each sipping their tea. Li Ying hadn’t been told to sit yet, so he just stood there, hyper-aware of his torn hosiery, his wide shoulders, and his idle hands, and he brought them behind his back just to put them somewhere to not start fidgeting.
Grandmother Linming’s eyes had happened on Li Ying’s legs, but before another delicate frown could settle on her brows, they shot right back up to her hairline as she noticed the ring—before it disappeared behind Li Ying’s back. Grandmother Linming then looked back up at Li Ying’s face.
“You poor thing, did the dogs ruin your stockings?”
“It’s alright, it wasn’t their fault,” Li Ying assured, though he was frustrated that Anne had gone through so much trouble to make his appearance flawless, only to be ruined at the last minute by some pedigree rats.
Grandmother Linming mercifully dropped the subject and proceeded to introduce the other two ladies by her side. They were indeed Hanjun’s great-aunts from either side of the family.
“Yes, we already met,” Madam Wang said, chuckling—she was quite the boisterous woman. “So, this is Wu Hanjun’sfiancée?”
“Ah, my old eyes did not deceive me,” said Grandmother Linming, smiling at Li Ying. “May we see the ring?”
To Li Ying’s relief, it didn’t seem like Grandmother Linming had had to hear it from the press first—or Madam Wang—or at least she had enough grace to pretend she hadn’t heard any rumors.
Li Ying stepped forth and held out his hand, and the three aunties leaned in to see his diamond.
“It’s quite discreet,” said Madam Wang, almost disappointed.
You call this discreet?!
