Chapter 231: Chapter 214: Because I’m a Thief
Ren Yixuan watched the subtle changes in expression on Yin Shixiu’s face, feeling a bit of pleasure rising in his heart.
"Could it be that President Yin is getting jealous over this trivial matter?"
Beside him, Rong Qiao’s eyes were only on Ren Yixuan. As Ren Yixuan teased Yin Shixiu, she couldn’t help but internally criticize Ren Yixuan a little...
Criticizing others for getting jealous over such a thing, aren’t you the same?
"How could that be?"
Yin Shixiu finished speaking and motioned Rong Qiao to continue dealing the cards.
Four face-up cards were dealt...
Rong Qiao looked at the cards in front of the two men, involuntarily swallowing hard.
Ren Yixuan knew what his hole card was, then looked at the likely flush or full house in front of Yin Shixiu...
The straight in his hand couldn’t compare to a full house or a flush...
Yin Shixiu raised his eyes to look at Ren Yixuan, suddenly reached out and flipped over the cards in front of him, his eagle-like eyes sharp and intimidating.
Seeing Yin Shixiu do this, Ren Yixuan knew that the cards in his hand were neither a flush nor a straight.
A visible sense of satisfaction flashed in his eyes, and this emotion was captured by Yin Shixiu.
"I just haven’t seen Xiao Meng dance in a long time, and suddenly I feel like watching, there’s no need for President Yin to mind."
Ren Yixuan said, flipping over his hole card, throwing out his straight with a victorious posture.
"I don’t mind, Xiao Meng herself said she’s willing, what reason do I have to mind?"
Yin Shixiu said, and then spread out his flush along with a full house from his hand...
"It’s just that, she’s already my wife. If a husband loses his wife at the card table, how incompetent would that be? Even if it’s just for a dance."
Ren Yixuan stared somewhat dumbfounded at that slightly better hand, his expression somewhat ugly.
Yin Shixiu leaned down, organizing the scattered cards as he whispered, "Now I know why, in the end, I’m the one who’s with her, not you... Childhood friends for twenty years, and in the end, she’s just someone you’re willing to trouble out of spite."
Ren Yixuan’s spine stiffened slightly.
"Ren Yixuan, you want to humiliate her..."
Yin Shixiu’s eyes were cold, conveying words meant only for Ren Yixuan to hear.
Ren Yixuan merely glanced at Yin Shixiu, took the cards from his hand, and stood up, "President Yin really is skilled in everything, even luck is better than mine... I concede."
After speaking, Ren Yixuan turned to put away the cards, and Yin Shixiu glanced at Rong Qiao, still gazing admiringly at Ren Yixuan’s back...
He said nothing, instead, he walked directly into the small living room, sitting next to Su Xiaomeng.
Su Xiaomeng was feeding Shuangshuang, knowing Yin Shixiu had come over, but deliberately ignoring him.
"What? Are you angry?"
Yin Shixiu asked.
Su Xiaomeng pursed her lips, still not speaking.
Yin Shixiu wrapped an arm around Su Xiaomeng’s shoulder, "My fault, I shouldn’t have put you in a difficult position."
Su Xiaomeng took a deep breath, turning to look at Yin Shixiu, "Uncle, why do you care so much about him? Why more and more—"
"Because I’m a thief. Xiao Meng..."
Because I’m a thief...
When Yin Shixiu softly uttered this beside her ear, Su Xiaomeng’s heart felt as if it had been struck hard, hitting the deepest part.
She couldn’t articulate the emotions swirling inside her.
But the one thing she could understand was that his feelings for her might be even deeper than she’d imagined.
Not measured by years, not judged by time, not limited by age, not divided by gates...
He’d always thought this way... She used to think that in his eyes, a strong man’s eyes, as long as he got what he wanted, the process didn’t matter.
She used to think he wouldn’t feel any guilt at all.
Even if he had feelings for Ren Yixuan, they might just be something like jealousy...
"Are you a thief..."
Su Xiaomeng turned to look at him, repeating his words as she asked.
Yin Shixiu met her bright eyes, without any emotion in his own, calm like a still lake.
"I—"
He just began to speak, but Su Xiaomeng interrupted him firmly, her voice small but assured, "A thief? Mr. Yin, even when you confess you’re being dishonest! You’re clearly a... womanizer!"
Yin Shixiu was stunned, then Su Xiaomeng leaned in and kissed him hard, even biting him with her front teeth.
But she quickly let go of him, "But I just love the womanizer, only the womanizer."
Yin Shixiu for a moment... felt as if something were stuck in his throat.
Facing the woman who grinned at him with bared teeth, he truly, truly felt the urge to flip her onto the sofa and claim her hard, like a thief.
Swallowing hard, he curved his lips slightly.
Su Xiaomeng saw the gloom on his face finally dissipate, feeling relieved, she handed Shuangshuang over to him, "I don’t know if it’s my illusion, but this little girl looks more and more like you as she grows..."
"Isn’t it good if she looks like me? My looks, they captivate both men and women."
"Captivate both men and women to kill, huh?"
Su Xiaomeng rolled her eyes at him, resting her head against his shoulder, and played with Shuangshuang using her index finger.
She softly said, "What’s yours, you can snatch, can thieve. If it’s not yours... even beside you for twenty years, it’ll never be yours in the end."
Yin Shixiu listened, didn’t speak, just the curve of his lips brightened.
He probably had a hundred theories to refute what she said, but in the end, he didn’t.
Perhaps Su Xiaomeng herself knew there were too many theories that could refute this sentence...
This was his own one-sided emotional issue, no matter how he minded her two decades of childhood friend, it was a fixed fact.
Locking himself in a dead end won’t help; in the end, the one who gets hurt is still Xiao Meng.
She even mentioned being a flower thief, what else could he not let go of...
The one who can’t let go should be Ren Yixuan, right?
Similarly dealing with personal emotions, he impulsively put all his personal savings on the line to gamble.
Probably Su Xiaomeng can feel how much he loves her, but she should never fully understand... how deep Ren Yixuan’s feelings are for her.
"Xiao Meng, Shixiu, come and eat."
Su Chengji called over, and Su Xiaomeng looked up with a response, then put Shuangshuang back into her stroller.
The little one hadn’t had enough of her arms, still stretching out her little claws wanting to be held.
Yin Shixiu lowered his head to kiss the little one, then took a small duck from the bag hanging at the back of her crib and stuffed it in her hand.
Shuangshuang’s attention was easily diverted, unlike Prince Huang.
Seeing her engrossed in playing with her toy, Yin Shixiu and Su Xiaomeng went to the dining room.
"Brother Shixiu is really a good dad."
Rong Qiao sincerely said, "I always thought Brother Shixiu was very indifferent. But now seeing him with a wife and child... well, I finally know, Brother Shixiu actually has this side."
Su Xiaomeng joked, "That’s because I trained him well."
"Haha, is it you training Mr. Yin, or Mr. Yin training you?"
Mr. Ren laughed and said.
Su Xiaomeng glanced at Mr. Ren, "Uncle, you’re really not giving me any face."
Mrs. Ren couldn’t help but reflect, "Xiao Meng has become much more steady after getting married, taking on the role of a mother to two children in an orderly way."
"Really... hehe."
Su Xiaomeng was a bit embarrassed after being praised.
Yin Shixiu picked some food for her, "Yes, you’ve always done well."
"Tsk tsk, Yixuan, you see how happy they are after getting married..."
Mrs. Ren couldn’t help but turn the conversation to her son, urging him to focus on marriage.
"Whether happy or not is a long-term thing to say, I think marriage should be treated cautiously. What do you think, Brother Yin?"
At the dinner table, Ren Yixuan also changed his address.
"Of course."
"You’re the best; no matter what mom says, you can always go roundabout."
Mrs. Ren couldn’t help but feel slighted, Rong Qiao smiled, "Auntie, being cautious is a good thing, Yixuan and I are still young, let’s stabilize our careers first, then think about other things."
"How come when Xiao Qiao says the same thing, auntie feels it’s more pleasant to hear, truly raising sons is not as good as raising daughters!"
Eights people filling a table for a meal were also lively, young people had their young people’s topics, though Ren Yixuan was always somewhat out of state, it didn’t go cold.
And these parents and elders seemed to have endless topics to talk about.
After the meal, Mrs. Ren cut two big platters of fruit salad and brewed two pots of hot tea.
Probably since Xiao Meng was born, the two families came to a tacit understanding that the New Year must be celebrated together, living up to the neighborly bonds.
So the Su Family and Ren Family always had the habit of inviting each other alternately, you this year, me the next.
By rights, it was actually Su Family’s turn this year, but Su’s mother thought a lot, always worried that there might be a rift between Ren Yixuan and Xiao Meng, that dining together might be awkward...
So she didn’t bring it up.
But what touched and surprised Su’s mother was, the Ren Family couple always kept them in mind, even if Su’s mother didn’t say anything, Mr. Ren and Mrs. Ren took the initiative to open up.
"The children have their own ideas, but our many years of friendship between the two families, Xiao Bai, you can’t just cut it off, that really makes your sister feel bad."
This was said privately by Mrs. Ren to Su’s mother before, which made Su’s mother feel very guilty.
"Xiao Meng and Shixiu have to return to Beijing with his parents on the fifteenth, otherwise, we should have invited you to our house for a meal on the fifteenth."
"Next year it’s your turn for New Year’s."
Mrs. Ren smiled.
Su Chengji hastily said, "Next year is ours, that’s for sure, but this meal, Si Xian and I must invite back, um... let me check the date."
"Brother Su, you’re being too polite, why calculate it so clearly?"
"Didn’t we just move? Consider it a housewarming meal, will you grace us with your presence?"
Mr. Ren smiled, also at a loss.
"How about this, the tenth is just Xiao Meng’s birthday, right, Yixuan and Xiao Qiao going back to Beijing on the twelfth?"
Su Xiaomeng raised her eyebrows, feeling an ominous premonition.
Yin Shixiu couldn’t help but perk up... he did have plans for Xiao Meng’s birthday.
It’s both a birthday and a wedding anniversary...
"Just come over to celebrate Xiao Meng’s birthday."
"Wow, Xiao Bai, you really planned it well, Xiao Meng’s birthday, housewarming, plus returning the favor of this meal... all in one go?"