"You’re here to have dinner at your grandpa’s tonight, are you here as a scout?" When Yang Qingye walked up to him, Luo Ziling relaxed his eyebrows and asked with a smile, "Or is there something else you wanted to tell me?"
"I want to ask you, if my dad is rude to you tonight, what are you going to do?" Yang Qingye asked Luo Ziling angrily.
"I think, as members of a prominent family like yours, there should be some basic manners, right?" Luo Ziling looked at Yang Qingye in surprise, "Your dad can’t possibly kick out the guests invited by your grandpa, can he? If that’s really the case, it’s not us who’ll be embarrassed, but your grandpa, and of course your dad too."
Yang Qingye’s face turned red all of a sudden, and he looked at Luo Ziling defiantly, "My grandpa invited you, and you all couldn’t refuse?"
"Why refuse? If we can eat for free, why not?" Luo Ziling looked at Yang Qingye as if he were an idiot, "You actually have this kind of idea, which shows you’re really immature. No wonder your grandpa says you’re too young and need some good training."
"You..." Yang Qingye was suddenly very angry, but he couldn’t find suitable words to retaliate against Luo Ziling.
"Don’t act petty; you’re not a girl. You’re a well-known guy, the eldest of the Yang family, someone a lot of people look up to. You need to get your position right and then think about what your grandpa’s intention was in inviting us over for dinner as the eldest of the Yang family. What message are we conveying to others when we have a happy meal together? Since you want to mature and be able to handle things on your own, you need to learn to think from different angles." Luo Ziling spoke to Yang Qingye as if lecturing a child, "If you can’t figure it out, ask your grandpa; I’m sure he’ll tell you. If you, like your dad, can’t think around this point, then it can only be said that the Yang family will begin to decline from you two. How can someone with no broad vision take on a big role?"
Yang Qingye was at a loss for words, stunned by Luo Ziling’s reasoning.
Luo Ziling didn’t stop there and continued, "If you’re free, read ’Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, you can learn a lot about power plays from it. Although I like that you’re always this immature because it means you’re no threat to me, I still hope that Yang Qingyin’s brother won’t embarrass her."
Yang Qingye wanted to fight Luo Ziling desperately; being belittled like this, especially to his face, was intolerable even for someone with a good temperament.
Moreover, his temperament wasn’t good at all.
But Luo Ziling didn’t give him a chance to react; after patting him heavily on the shoulder, he went on, "Yang Qingye, you’re still young, and you have plenty of opportunities to learn. Your dad, however, is older, and his learning opportunities are dwindling. If he doesn’t change his perspective on the issues between our two families and persists with his old prejudices, whether he can take over from your grandpa is questionable. Even if he managed to take over, he’d likely be pushed out. Maybe he doesn’t yet realize the gap between himself and people like Fang Zhonghua, but we bystanders can see it. There’s a huge gap between you and Fang Dongxun, Chen Jiahu, and the others. Can the Yang family really prosper? Your grandpa certainly wouldn’t leave the responsibility of continuing the Yang family’s legacy to me, his grandson-in-law, right? I’m not interested in that responsibility; I’m a Luo family member, and I want to revive the Luo family."
After saying these words, Luo Ziling stepped back two steps, waved to Yang Qingye, "Alright, go get busy; I have to go teach a class to my students. A lot of people are coming to listen to me, and I can’t let them down. If you’re interested, you can come and listen too. The herbal medicine class is pretty good; it helps people understand what ’good medicine is bitter in taste’ means, and that’s the same logic as ’honest advice is hard to listen to.’ Think about it!"
Luo Ziling finished his words and left without waiting for Yang Qingye to respond.
In the afternoon, Luo Ziling taught two classes to students and attended a ’Surgery’ class himself.
Around four in the afternoon, Yang Qingyin sent a message asking Luo Ziling when he would be ready to leave.
"Are you here on behalf of your grandpa to pick us up?" Luo Ziling replied in a message.
"Yes, I’m here on behalf of my grandpa to pick you, your grandpa, and your parents. Although I’m just a granddaughter and not that influential, we’re familiar, so don’t mind this, okay?" Yang Qingyin added two pitiful emojis after her message.
"Okay, how could I hold a grudge against you, Little Yang?" Luo Ziling replied with two similar emojis.
Ten minutes later, Luo Ziling and Yang Qingyin were sitting in the same car.
Yang Qingyin came to pick them up, which Luo Liansheng didn’t mind, and he happily sat into their car.
Ling Ruonan informed Luo Ziling that she and Luo Xusheng would come together later, so they could go first.
After Luo Ziling conveyed Ling Ruonan’s message, Yang Qingyin didn’t insist and took Luo Ziling and Luo Liansheng ahead first.
When the car arrived at the Yang Family Old House, Yang Yuanshan came to the courtyard to greet them.
"Sir Luo, it’s been a while." As Luo Liansheng opened the car door and got out, Yang Yuanshan greeted him with a smile and extended his hand, "Welcome to the Yang Family Old House as guests."
Luo Liansheng shook hands with Yang Yuanshan and also smiled widely, "Old Sir Yang, you should have invited us over long ago. We’ve helped you so much, and you have shown nothing, not very gracious of you."
Luo Liansheng’s blunt complaint made Yang Yuanshan slightly embarrassed, and Yang Qingyin, who got off the car with them, felt a bit of the same.
Of course, Yang Yuanshan wouldn’t show his embarrassment; after a firm handshake with Luo Liansheng, he laughed, "It’s good that our two families can sit together for a meal, nothing to criticize too much about."
Just then, Chen Qiaoyu also came out from the inside, and upon seeing Luo Ziling and Luo Liansheng, she hurriedly stepped forward to greet them.
She was helping in the kitchen, and she was responsible for preparing tonight’s dishes.
After greeting them, Chen Qiaoyu said somewhat bashfully, "Yunlin hasn’t come yet; he said something came up at the last minute, and he’ll be a bit late."
"Prompt him later!" Yang Yuanshan instructed Chen Qiaoyu with some displeasure, "As the host, he should at least show some courtesy; it’s totally unreasonable."
Hearing this, Yang Qingye, who had just come out of the house and was about to greet them, paused for a moment, and his face changed a bit.
Luo Ziling smiled and said, "No worries, with Sir Yang hosting us, we’re quite content."
These words earned him an eye roll from Yang Qingyin.
A short while later, Luo Xusheng and Ling Ruonan arrived too.
Ling Ruonan was still wearing her work outfit, looking professional and sharp, making her appear younger and more attractive than Chen Qiaoyu.
When stepping forward to greet Luo Xusheng and Ling Ruonan, Chen Qiaoyu noticeably lost some of her spirit.
While Luo Xusheng and Ling Ruonan were arriving, Yang Yunlin still hadn’t shown up.
It was already past five o’clock.