Chapter 1: The Office's Unspoken Rules...

  "Oh, so you're that crazy wild kid?"

  As soon as Yang Fenghua entered the house, she saw a stranger sitting at her grandmother's table. Judging from Bao Guo's attitude towards him, she guessed that he must be the child who had returned. However, contrary to her expectations, he didn't resemble Yang Tianming in any way. Yang Tianming was imposing and would never be overlooked wherever he went, while this child looked too ordinary, with a delicate appearance that would go unnoticed in a crowd.

  Yang Zongbao ignored Yang Fenghua's provocation and packed up the gifts on the table.

  "I said, don't ignore people?" Yang Fenghua plopped herself down in the seat where Bao Guo had just been sitting. As soon as she sat down, she suddenly glared at Bao Guo: "It's still warm, you can't sit on the bench from now on."

  "Yes." Guo's humiliating response, his resentful eyes gazing at Yang Zongbao.

  But Yang Zongbao is still unclear about the situation and does not know how to deal with this legendary top girl.

  Yang Fenghuang actually now in her heart is very isolated, is this man? This is also too cowardly. Now no matter how you look at it, he's a softie.

  "Sister, you're here?"

  Yang Zongbao is really lively, and Yang Shuo has also come over with a sniff, but looking at the way he looks at Yang Fenghuang's eyes, it seems to reveal a hint of lust and evil.

  "Don't come in, it's hot inside and I don't like crowds." Yang Fenghua spoke up to stop Yang Shuo just as he was about to step inside.

  "Yes, yes, yes, I'll just stand outside."

  It's so cold outside and you say it's hot in the house, what a load of nonsense. Yang Zongbao couldn't help but admire his nominal sister's ability to talk rubbish.

  "Sister, mom is calling us for dinner." Yang Shuo said with a good temper.

  "Whose mom? My mom died early."

  Yang Zongbao only then realized that Yang Fenghuang's tone earlier was not just directed at him, and he also gained insight into what it means to be unscrupulous and have no qualms about speaking one's mind.

  "Sister, don't say it like that." Yang Shuo didn't dare to have a temper, but his tone was no longer as gentle as before.

  "Don't call me sister, Grandma hasn't acknowledged you yet. Go back and tell your mother that our family is having a reunion dinner, what are you going to do?" Yang Fenghua's words were harsh.

  A family that obviously doesn't consider Shen Rou and her two children as their own people.

  "What about him?" It turned out that Yang Zongbao was sitting on one side, and Yang Shuo felt unbalanced in his heart.

  "He? He's Grandma's acknowledged grandson, with a status far higher than yours." Yang Fenghua casually picked up the golden qilin on the table and played with it.

  Yang Shuo's anger had not yet dissipated, and as he left, he shot a furious glance at Yang Zongbao.

  "What's it to me?" Yang Zongbao sat here without saying a word, and suddenly became the target of public criticism for no reason.

  "Of course, it's none of your business. Haven't you seen the old lady give you a generous red envelope? I haven't even received such treatment." Yang Fenghua casually played with the objects on the table: "Just wait and see, don't underestimate what the old lady can give you, that's something others can't think of. Be careful not to invite jealousy."

  "Aren't you jealous?" Yang Zongbao asked.

  "Me? No, not at all, you'll understand later."

  "Come over and have some food." The old lady shouted from the back room.

  Baoguo was lucky enough to follow along, and the old lady didn't drive him away either.

  The dishes are very ordinary farmhouse dishes, only a bit fresher than those bought outside, probably because they were grown and picked at home. However, it's not that delicious, just average, fresh and palatable.

  "Is it delicious?" The old lady asked eagerly.

  "It's okay, it's quite mild." Yang Zongbao said frankly.

  "Uh, what kind of food do you like?" asked the old lady.

  "Braised pork belly."

  "Grandma, he's not giving you any face." Yang Fenghua actually couldn't eat it either. The old lady was advanced in age and couldn't take salty food, this dish was truly cooked without much flavor, but shifting the blame outward was always a safe bet.

  "That doesn't suit your taste, next time I'll let Tianming invite a few chefs, you can eat whatever you want." The old lady's response made Yang Fenghua stunned, was this what they called overindulgence? The old lady wasn't usually so easy to talk to. She was absolutely a person who had the final say in everything, when had she ever been so gentle and courteous? Yang Fenghua thought to herself, there must be some ulterior motive behind this.

  "Look, the hospital is busy, and I still have to study..."

  "Still reading? What are you reading?" The old lady ignored what Yang Zongbao said and selectively listened to what she wanted to hear.

  "I'm studying for a graduate degree at a medical university." Yang Zongbao replied honestly.

  "Isn't that the champion?" The old lady exclaimed in exaggerated surprise: "The Yang family is indeed blessed by their ancestors."

  "Come on, old man, you're exaggerating. Didn't Yang Shuo already graduate from grad school long ago?" Yang Fenghua suddenly said.

  "Oh?" The old lady looked at Yang Fenghuang with a thoughtful expression and said, "Fenghuang, I've told you before, only Zong Bao is my grandson."

  Yang Fenghua's heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt flustered. She stole a glance at the expressionless old lady of the Yang family, only to find that their dull eyes met, and for a moment, it seemed as if her soul had been seen through and taken away. Yang Fenghua temporarily lost her ability to speak.

  Yang Zongbao is not a fool, on the contrary, he has high emotional intelligence. How could someone with high IQ and EQ not see the undercurrents between two women, one old and one young? He just didn't realize that he was the focal point of the rivalry between the two women.

  The meal was eaten in an awkward silence, with the rest of the time spent on Old Lady Yang constantly serving dishes to Yang Zongbao, while Yang Fenghua and Bao Guo ate quietly without making a sound.

  "Brother Bao, how are you?" After dinner, Yang Zongbao was directly assigned a room to rest. Unexpectedly, the seemingly shabby house had a completely new look starting from the second floor, but it didn't feel like home at all, more like a hotel.

  "What's going on?" Yang Zongbao pretended not to know.

  "What's going on? It seems like the old lady is now completely on your side, do you understand what an advantage this is?" Baoguo didn't know why he was getting excited for no reason.

  "What's the advantage? It's just an old family." Yang Zongbao said this on purpose, but he already had a plan in his heart.

  "You don't know the status of the old lady in this family. Do you know why Shen Rou couldn't get into Yang's household registration? Because the old lady didn't nod her head." Baoguo whispered mysteriously to Yang Zongbao: "However, you also need to be careful, after all, you've been in for 10 years and have some foundation."

  His ears were warmed by the breath blown out by Baoguo, and he was pushed away abruptly. He drew his head back: "Get out of here, disgusting."

  "Heh heh." Bao Guo just scratched his head and smiled foolishly.

  Yang Zongbao didn't know that Baoguo's words were reasonable, but now he himself had no ability to resist, and could only wait and see which way the wind blew before doing anything.

  "Fenghuang, what's wrong with you today?" The old lady was ready to knock on Yang Fenghuang's abnormality after Yang Zongbao and the others left.

  "Grandma, no." Yang Fenghua was tough on the outside, but in front of her elderly mother, she couldn't put up a strong front.

  "Feng Huang, what status do you have in this family that outsiders don't know? You should be aware that when your mother first entered the house with a six-month pregnancy, if it weren't for Master Yang calculating your eight characters - 'prosperous husband', do you think you could have survived until now?" Madam Yang suddenly opened her narrowed eyes, shining brightly, without any of the gentle elderly demeanor from earlier?

  "My life, I am in charge." Yang Fenghua's face turned red, what's wrong with the old lady? Never had she exposed this wound to her face. All these years, which day wasn't she being pampered and catered to, where did she ever suffer such great grievance?

  "How old are you now, still advocating for freedom of marriage? Who's in charge? That little brat Yang Shuo?" The old lady was completely unlike her usual doting self towards Yang Fenghua.

  "Yang Shuo? How is that possible?" Yang Fenghuang exclaimed in shock.

  "I'm old, but my eyes can still see. After all, I've had 10 years of feelings with Yang Shuo that kid. But the premise of everything you have now is our family's Zong Bao's wife. Don't make me say more, you weigh it yourself. To put it bluntly, one less of you wouldn't be a loss, and one more of you wouldn't be a gain. Get out, I don't want to see you during the New Year." The old man issued an order to expel him.

  "Grandma..." Yang Fenghua couldn't believe that the old lady would say such heavy words to her. In the past 30 years, she had never seen an old lady like this before.

  "Never mind, you go back now, think it over and come again when you're clear about it, I won't force you."

  The old lady repeatedly ordered her to leave, Yang Fenghua felt extremely wronged, with red eyes and straight back, she walked away stubbornly.

  "Mom, you're being too serious." Yang Tianming walked out of the house, no one knew when he had gone inside.

  "This girl got the wrong person." The old lady knew it was her own son without turning around.

  "So you usually let her hold a whip and threaten Shen Rou?" Yang Tianming's words were devoid of emotion, as if he was just stating facts.

  "Because Shen Rou did what she should have done, would I, an old woman, take a whip and hit her? Feng Huang indeed values herself too much." The old lady sighed: "It's also my fault, thinking that girls should be strong and bold so they can make good wives in the future, but instead it encouraged her disobedient personality."

  "Wouldn't it be good to give it to Yang Shuo?"

  The old lady looked at Yang Tianming: "You won't be thinking of something you shouldn't, will you? I'll tell you clearly, everything in the house belongs to Zongbao. Outsiders don't even think about it. If you dare do anything, I'll die in front of the old man's grave and accuse you."

  "But Yang Zongbao..."

  "Stop it." The old lady interrupted her son and said, "He is my grandson."

  "Mom..." Yang Tianming was somewhat helpless, Yang Zong had investigated himself and didn't have the ability to inherit his business. Moreover, since childhood he hadn't grown up by his side, that child now definitely had more hatred than affection for him.

  "That thing back then, I didn't intervene because I thought a tiger wouldn't eat its own son. But you're something else, and now that it's in my hands, let your family's Shen Rou and her two children not make any more trouble. Otherwise, when I take action, you'll be the one who suffers." The old lady was resolute.

  "But you're tolerating Feng Huang holding a whip, aren't you?"

  "Are you settling scores with me after autumn? That year, that despicable thing, did you expect me to take it out on Shen Rou and the others personally?" The old lady was visibly indignant.

  "Who dares to, but Yang Shuo studied economics, and Yang Zongbao probably doesn't have that ability." Yang Tianming's words were without any worried tone, completely just stating the facts, still sharp as ever.

  "You're not an economics student either, to be honest, you've only learned a few words in the past few years. You can pretend to be confident in front of others, but don't try to show off in front of my wife, it's annoying. Unlike my grandson, he looks like a scholar at first glance." Now the old lady can tolerate Yang Zongbao, all because of the troubles caused by the generation gap.

  "Mom, you don't love me anymore?" It's hard to imagine that the iron-blooded man in the business world still has a spoiled side in front of his mother.

  "Get out, I told you not to mess with Zongbao's affairs. If I hear or see anything that I shouldn't, you know the consequences of provoking me." The old lady threatened.

  "Alright, but what about Feng Huang's child then?"