Chapter 703 Appetite
Later in the evening, Lu Jingyuan arrived at Mountview Inn in her Jeep SUV. She didn’t anticipate that renting out the inn would provide a source of income for her and even allow her to become acquainted with a good friend. She thought she was blessed with how things had worked out for her.
After getting out of the car, she retrieved a box from the trunk before walking toward the inn. The box contained desserts from one of the local dessert shops. Lu Jingyuan had deliberately bought the sweet dish for the kids.
Usually, she wouldn’t allow her children to consume too much sweet food and rarely bought them. However, she made an exception at that time because Erbao liked eating desserts.
Unfortunately, right after she stepped into the courtyard, a man running out from inside bumped into her. The impact of the collision caused her to stagger and nearly fall, and the box of desserts she was holding dropped to the floor.
“Xing!” Lu Yunxue was chasing after that man while calling out his name. The man who had run into Lu Jingyuan was none other than Nan Xing.
She almost recognized him as Nan Chen again because of their similar appearance.
On the other hand, Nan Xing correctly identified her at once. He reached out to support Lu Jingyuan, who stumbled after he knocked into her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were coming in. Still, you should’ve announced your arrival when you entered.”
It was then Lu Jingyuan recalled Ning Ran had told her Erbao’s uncle looked identical to Nan Chen.
The man who had taken advantage of her was this person before her eyes.
Lu Yunxue knew things had gone south when she saw Nan Xing crashing into her mother and the latter’s furious expression.
“It’s you again! You’re so annoying!” Lu Jingyuan bellowed.
Nan Xing could still vividly remember Lu Jingyuan splashing water on him previously.
He didn’t think he had done anything wrong at that time, but she had spattered him with water just because he had tried to chat her up.
Nan Xing felt even more aggrieved that day. He was chided again because he accidentally bumped into Lu Jingyuan while playing with Lu Yunxue.
“Hey, I didn’t knock you on purpose. It was an accident. Why are you scolding me? What happened the other day—”
“You’re shameless! How dare you mention what happened the other day? Why do I see you wherever I go?”
Lu Jingyuan went to pick up the dessert on the floor, but they were no longer edible.
She had purposely driven to the dessert shop and spent a long time waiting in a queue to buy the sweet dish.
“Why are you so unreasonable? I didn’t do anything, so why are you—”
“Shut up! I don’t want to talk to you!” Lu Jingyuan roared.
Nan Xing grew indignant. What’s with her attitude? Did she say she doesn’t want to talk to me? I am the young master of the Nan family. Many women tried to offer themselves up to me, but I gave them the cold shoulder. I can’t believe this woman just said she doesn’t want to talk to me. Does she think I fancy chatting with her? Is she acting so arrogantly because she thinks she’s pretty? I’ve met my share of attractive people, but I’ve never seen someone like her!
“Can’t we have a civilized conversation?” Nan Xing was livid as well.
“Civilized conversation? Do you think you deserve that, you frivolous man?” she rebuked him again.
“In what way am I frivolous? You’re impossible to reason with! I may be a well-mannered person, but you’re crossing the line now. If you continue to behave like this, I will retaliate.”
Nan Xing knew Lu Jingyuan was Lu Yunxue’s mother. At that moment, the little girl was staring at them with her large, round eyes.
He couldn’t bring himself to be rude to Lu Jingyuan because he didn’t want to hurt the child’s feelings.
After all, the person any child loathed the most would be those who disrespected their mothers.
Nan Xing reckoned Lu Yunxue must already be anxious to witness their argument.
“I’m not elaborating. I don’t want to quarrel with others in front of my daughter. By the way, did you ask my daughter to call you Xing? Can you be any more shameless?”
Nan Xing was stunned.
It was indeed a little inappropriate for a little girl to address him, a full-grown man, only by his first name.
However, that wasn’t his intention at all. It was Yunxue who insisted on calling me Xing. What can I do about that? This is just great. I’ve been caught red-handed by her mother. Worst of all, her mother is not fond of me. No. That’s an understatement. She actually despises me. This situation is too hard to swallow.
Nan Xing’s face was slightly flushed. He opened his mouth hesitantly, but no words came to him.
“Lu Yunxue, how many times have I told you not to get yourself too closely involved with every person you meet? I’m grounding you from now on!” Lu Jingyuan admonished her daughter coldly.
Lu Yunxue widened her eyes innocently and shifted her gaze from her mother to Nan Xing.
She could not fathom the conflict between adults. Everything seems fine. No one took the other person’s toys or stole their food, so why are they snapping at each other? Can’t they get along and play together like me and Erbao? Why are these adults so immature?
“Mommy, please don’t be mad. We were just playing,” Lu Yunxue uttered weakly.
“How can I not be mad? You’re interacting and mingling with every person you meet. Can you tell if they are good or bad people?” Lu Jingyuan scolded.
Nan Xing sighed. “Stop chastising the child. We were just playing. If you’re furious, you can direct your anger at me instead of making things difficult for Yunxue.”
“Are you qualified to interfere with how I educate my child?”
“I’m not.” Nan Xing chickened out at once.
“Since you’re aware of that, what do you think you’re doing now?”
“I’m stopping a fight.”
Right after he finished speaking, he felt something was wrong. I was arguing with her, so why have I become the peacemaker now?
Lu Jingyuan was speechless. This man is indeed a rascal.
Not wanting to entertain him further, she glared at Lu Yunxue before striding into the inn.
Lu Yunxue immediately followed her mother inside. Then, seizing an opportunity when Lu Jingyuan wasn’t paying attention to her, the little girl turned her head around and made a face at Nan Xing.
Nan Xing was initially enraged after Lu Jingyuan berated him. However, his heart softened when he saw Lu Yunxue’s facial expression. He winked at the little girl and pulled a face at her.
Unexpectedly, Lu Jingyuan glanced behind her at that instant and coincidentally saw his funny face.
Nan Xing wanted to wipe the exaggerated expression off his face, but it was too late.
Utter embarrassment washed over him, prompting him to wish for the ground to swallow him up, but his wish was not fulfilled because there wasn’t even a crack on the floor.
He stood rooted to his spot, gaping in awkwardness.
Lu Jingyuan thought, This man is shameless, frivolous, and childish. I can’t believe he’s making a face even after the way I rebuked him. Brazen people like him are indeed capable of doing as they please.
Nan Xing wanted to explain himself but didn’t know where to start. He could only watch silently as she spun on her heels and walked away.
Erbao, the bootlicker, dashed forward when she saw Lu Jingyuan. “Ms. Lu.”
Lu Jingyuan lifted Erbao and said, “I bought you some desserts, but a despicable man caused the food to fall to the ground, so the desserts are gone now.”
A disappointed look spread across Erbao’s face. “Who’s that despicable man? How dare he ruin my delicious food? He needs to compensate me for my loss!”
“Forget it. He’s just a boring person. Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Lu Jingyuan said.
“Okay. You can buy the dessert for me again on another day, Ms. Lu.”
Lu Jingyuan was amused. She thought informing Erbao of that matter would be the end of the story until the latter told her to repurchase the dessert on another day. Erbao is definitely behaving like an absolute glutton.
“Sure. I’ll buy the dessert for you again next time, and I’ll make sure to buy a lot more for you.”
“Thank you, Ms. Lu.”
Ning Ran walked out when she heard their voices. “You’re here. Dinner will be ready soon. Take a seat and have a drink first.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m just here to pick up the kids,” Lu Jingyuan said.
“You can return after dinner. I’ve purposely prepared the children’s favorite dishes. It’ll be such a waste if you fetch them back now.”
“That’s right.” Lu Yunxue was upset as well after listening to her mother’s words.
“I’m really not staying. I don’t want to eat.” Naturally, Lu Jingyuan was referring to her unwillingness to eat at the same table as Nan Xing. There’s no way I’ll have any appetite if I’m going to have my meal with such a hateful person.
