Chapter 233: Chapter 232: Deference to Elders

It was nearly eleven at night when Yan Feifan and Yu Suye returned to their home at Zuimo Court, the latter with a radiant smile, humming a little tune.

As soon as they walked in, they saw Yan Ziruo and Su Ru sitting on the living room sofa. They looked quite close, chatting as they watched TV.

“Su Ye, how did the surgery go?”

“It went great. A complete success.”

Yu Suye gave her mother a brief reply before asking, “Mom, how was your visit with your friend today?”

Su Ru chuckled lightly. “It was quite good.”

“Even though it’s convenient to travel between Jingcheng and Binhai, and we go back and forth often, Mrs. Zhang and I hadn’t seen each other in two or three years. We had a good, long chat this time.”

Her gaze shifted to Yan Feifan. “Xiaoyan, are you also incredibly skilled at plastic surgery?”

Yan Feifan answered vaguely, “I’m all right, I guess. I’m working on a charity project recently, performing plastic surgery for disabled children at an orphanage.”

“I have one tomorrow, actually. It’s expected to take five or six hours.”

Su Ru said with great interest, “I mentioned you while chatting with my friend, and surprisingly, she knew who you were.”

“She said your plastic surgery skills are amazing, but you rarely take on cosmetic cases. Is that true?”

Yu Suye answered for Yan Feifan, “Mom, Feifan only performs plastic surgery now for a specific purpose. He’s accumulating experience and practicing his techniques to treat one particular person.”

“Besides, Feifan’s schedule is incredibly tight. Even though many people come to the plastic surgery center specifically seeking him out, he doesn’t take their cases.”

As she spoke, Yu Suye poured two glasses of warm water and handed one to Yan Feifan.

She sat down next to her mother on the sofa and continued, “Mom, let’s get straight to the point. I love Feifan. That’s an unchangeable fact, and I’m not giving up.”

“You already know how outstanding Feifan is.”

“Mom, can you help me? Can you try to persuade Dad and Grandpa?”

Su Ru looked at Yan Feifan, then at her daughter who was gazing at her with such expectation and trust, and couldn’t help but sigh.

“Oh, Su Ye, you know this already. In our family, I don’t really have a say in things.”

“Your dad and your grandpa aren’t so easily persuaded.”

Yan Feifan was surprised and pleased to have gained Su Ru’s sympathy and support so easily.

However, he could also easily deduce that what Su Ru said was true—she held little sway in the family.

’Still, one ally is better than none,’ he thought. ’At the very least, she can be our woman on the inside, feeding us intel.’

’My moment to prove my worth has arrived,’ Yan Feifan thought.

He began, “Auntie, it’s undeniable that Lu Yao’s family background is far superior to mine.”

“But history has shown time and again that trying to achieve set goals through marriage alliances is unrealistic.”

Yan Feifan analyzed methodically, “The Lu Family has grown to its current state; its leader is certainly no fool. As long as a situation is mutually beneficial, they won’t mind sharing some of the profits.”

“But when it comes to major interests, they will definitely want to negotiate with the key decision-makers of the Yu Family.”

Yan Feifan then pointed to himself and said, “I can’t claim to be anything special, but the last time I was at Baining Hospital, Mr. Yu himself extended an invitation to me…”

He paused intentionally before continuing, “The offer included the salary and benefits of an attending physician, a car, a house, and an assistant.”

“As well as unlimited support for research and development funding.”

After saying all this, Yan Feifan finally noticed that the expressions on both Yu Suye’s and Su Ru’s faces had turned sour.

’Did I get too carried away with showing off?’

Su Ru’s face was cold as she said, “Yan Feifan, our families forming a bond through marriage is not the same as selling our daughter for profit.”

“We seriously vetted that boy, Lu Yao.”

“He may have been a bit of a troublemaker before, but he’s not a bad person at heart, and he was smitten with our Su Ye from the moment he saw her.”

“It was only under these circumstances that our two families verbally agreed to their engagement.”

Yan Feifan cut to the heart of the matter. “The problem is, that boy Lu Yao may have taken a liking to Su Ye, but Su Ye certainly hasn’t taken a liking to him.”

“You’re all well aware of Su Ye’s feelings on this, aren’t you?”

“The only reason you’re still clinging to this marriage is because you’ve set your sights on Lu Yao’s family—or to be more precise, on Shengyuan Biotechnology, isn’t it?”

Face frozen in anger, Su Ru stood up.

She shot Yan Feifan a furious glare before heading to the stairs and going up to the loft.

Yu Suye, speechless, poked Yan Feifan with her finger before chasing after her mother up to the loft.

Once the sound of the mother and daughter’s footsteps faded from the loft, Yan Feifan turned to his sister, who was covering her face. “Sis, did I say something wrong again?”

Yan Ziruo sighed, moved in front of her brother, and draped an arm over his shoulder with a look of resignation.

“Oh, little brother, some things can be done but not said. You just backed an elder into a corner with no way out, didn’t you?”

“Especially since you’re the junior in this situation. It’s part of our tradition to show respect by not pointing out an elder’s faults.”

Yan Feifan didn’t quite understand. “If they’ve already done it, why are they afraid of people talking about it? Isn’t that just burying your head in the sand?”

Yan Ziruo didn’t know how to explain this to her brother. Besides, she knew that even if she did explain it clearly, it would be useless.

’This stubborn kid will still say whatever’s on his mind,’ she thought.

So she cut to the chase and gave him a simple warning: “Feifan, from now on, when you’re with Su Ye’s family, try to talk as little as possible.”

“Unless they ask you a question, or Su Ye tells you to speak.”

Yan Feifan just gave a soft “oh.”

In the loft, Yu Suye saw her mother sitting on the bed, still fuming. She put on a smile and sat down beside her.

“Mom, don’t be angry anymore.”

“That’s just how Feifan is. He doesn’t really understand social niceties.”

Su Ru sighed softly. “What right do I have to be angry at that boy? He was just stating a fact.”

“If this whole thing blows up, first there was your aunt, and now you… I’m afraid our family’s reputation will be completely ruined.”

“Your grandpa and your dad are worried about that too. That’s why they agreed to let me come first, to see if I could persuade you to come back.”

Yu Suye’s eyes lit up. “If they’re worried about that, doesn’t that mean we can…”

Su Ru quickly cut her off. “Su Ye, don’t you dare do anything rash. Your grandpa and your dad are both as stubborn as mules. They won’t be intimidated by your threats.”

Yu Suye said resentfully, “Grandpa is unbelievable. He’s always going on about how Baining Pharmaceutical was supposed to belong to our branch of the family.”

“We lost the competition. He needs to accept it.”

“Besides, that was so many years ago.”

Su Ru scoffed lightly. “The more successful that other branch is, the more bitter your grandfather becomes.”

“And the older he gets, the more he stews over it.”

“Then there’s your father. He never managed to make a name for himself, so he’s naturally frustrated and full of pent-up resentment.”

“Your brother is so accomplished, and you’re also very talented…”

Yu Suye retorted indignantly, “So, I have to be sacrificed for my brother’s sake?”

Su Ru said sheepishly, “It’s just that the family doesn’t have many resources. We can only focus all our efforts on supporting one person.”

“Even so, despite graduating from Harvard Business School, your brother is still just a mid-level manager with no real authority.”

“If things work out between you and Lu Yao, then that vaccine research and development company—the joint venture between the Yu and Lu Families?”

Yu Suye snorted coldly. “Feifan was right about one thing: when it comes to major interests, a marriage alliance doesn’t do much.”

“This is a massive project with an investment of one or two billion. Surely Grandpa and Dad aren’t that naive, are they?”

Su Ru looked helpless. “If there’s even a sliver of hope, they will throw everything they have into fighting for it…”

The mother and daughter looked at each other and fell into a heavy silence.

After a moment, Su Ru suddenly spoke up. “Oh, I forgot something. Your Aunt Zhang asked me to tell that brat… to tell Yan something.”

“She wants to ask Xiaoyan to perform plastic surgery on her niece.”

“Su Ye, about this matter, what do you think…?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep