Chapter 21 Lan Su's Skills (I)

The Huo family's old house is located in the north of Lanbin City. It takes nearly two hours to drive on the elevated road and then the mountain road.

　　The old house was a black brick and white wall Hui-style building, with a sloping eaves and carved wind-chasing beasts on the eaves. There was a door knocker hanging from the door, and there were steps up and down.

　　Huo Yan was in a wheelchair and could only use the side door with an accessible ramp, so Lan Su went with her.

　　The big families that got started in the last century have a common problem - too many rules.

　　This is true for the Lan family and the Huo family as well.

　　For example, when Lan Su followed Huo Yan in through the side door, he was stopped by the housekeeper.

　　"The bride must enter through the front door and step over the fire basin to get rid of bad luck. This is the rule."

　　Lan Su did as she was told, thinking that the Huo family was doing it for her own good and to get rid of the bad luck.

　　Huo Yan was waiting for her in front. To get to the hall, one had to pass through a courtyard with lush pine trees and three white walls. There were steps in the round arches of each wall.

It seems that Huo Yan is not very welcome in the Huo family, or rather, she seldom comes back.

　　Otherwise, the legendary old man should have taken her mobility issues into consideration and built an accessible ramp next to the stairs so that at least a wheelchair could pass through.

　　In the end, the two of them went through the garden path on the side.

　　Even though the servants passing by would greet him respectfully, Lan Su knew that these kindnesses were only superficial.

　　There were many people in the old house. Perhaps they had always lived together, or perhaps they had gathered together today to judge her, the new daughter-in-law.

There was no freedom and excitement of a family. When I stepped into the hall, the old man was sitting opposite the door, and there were three square tables and four chairs on each side. From inside to outside, from old to young.

　　There were nine seats, eight of which were occupied, and the first seat on the old man's left was empty.

　　The old man sat in a mahogany chair facing the main door, with a dark cloud over his head. He was wearing a black Mao suit with a golden dragon pattern, and a pair of black Beijing cloth shoes. His hair and beard were white, and his overly thin body did not look very healthy, but his eyes, surrounded by age spots, were as sharp as hooks.

　　"You still remember to come back?"

　　The old voice sounded like dead leaves being crushed in autumn, ancient but harsh.

　　Huo Yan looked up at the harsh sound and smiled like a shopping mall:

　　"An ugly daughter-in-law has to meet her parents-in-law. I brought Lan Su back today to meet the elders."

　　After saying that, he turned his head and whispered to Lan Su: "Lan Su, this is grandpa."

　　Lan Su took a small step forward, clasped his hands in front of his abdomen, and bowed politely:

　　"Hello, Grandpa."

The old eyelids left a triangular space for the eyeballs, making the eyes look sharper. He looked Lan Su up and down, and his voice was much more stern:

　　"The Lan family is also a well-known figure in the antique world. How come I, an old man, didn't hear anything about my daughter's marriage, such a big event?"

　　If it were a few months ago, when Lan Su was out fighting, she would have stabbed the old man through the body with a knife, and said with blood on her face:

　　"You are hard of hearing, don't blame me."

　　But now she couldn't. She was just a weak and fragile daughter of a wealthy family, so she explained politely:

　　"Compared to the Huo family's business, the Lan family's business is insignificant. My father wanted to visit Grandpa, but he thought that his words were insignificant and he might say something wrong and make Grandpa angry. And I just recovered from my illness, so I was afraid that I might infect Grandpa with the disease, so I planned to wait until I was better before visiting."

These words were well-founded and she had specially drafted them and asked Huo Yan to revise them.

　　Huo Yan was an illegitimate daughter who was raised abroad as a child. She returned home at a young age and took down the general manager of the Huo family's largest company in one fell swoop. She was the one who could best understand the old man's pulse.

　　This explanation was acceptable, and the dark cloud over Huo Shouping dissipated a little. He gave a wink to the servant beside him, and a row of tea cups were brought up.

　　Eight servants, sixteen cups of tea.

　　Lan Su was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to do. She felt as if she was naked and being scrutinized by everyone in the room. She turned around and looked to Huo Yan for help. This was her only hope.

　　Huo Yan slowly drove the wheelchair and stopped in front of old man Huo Shouping.

　　He picked up the teacup on the tray and handed it forward with both hands:

　　"Grandpa, have some tea."

　　Lan Su understood and followed suit, picking up another cup and saying, "Grandpa, have some tea."

　　This step is called serving tea, which is also a must-do etiquette for brides in the old society. Originally, tea was served to the father-in-law and mother-in-law, but since Huo Yan's parents had passed away, tea had to be served to the old man and the elders of the Huo family.

　　"Grandma, have some tea."

　　"Grandma, have some tea."

　　"Auntie Dan, have some tea."

　　"Auntie Dan, have some tea."

　　"Auntie, have some tea."

　　"Auntie, have some tea."

　　"Uncle San, have some tea."

　　"Uncle San, have some tea."

　　It feels good to have someone to lead you. You don't have to think about anything, just follow behind like a little pet. It's much better than when I was running errands for the Lan family before, when every time I arrived at a new place, I had to check which road I could escape from and which building I could climb down the water pipe.

　　When it came to Uncle San, the smooth tea service was interrupted - he stuffed a red envelope into Lan Su's hand.

　　"Miss Lan, this is a greeting gift. Welcome to join our Huo family. Live a good life with Xiaoyan in the future."

　　Lan Su looked up in astonishment, only to see that this man had kind eyes and a little gray on his temples. At first glance, he seemed to be a good person. But when he thought of Jiang Dan yesterday, a thorn grew in his heart again.

　　I twisted it with my fingers with a little force. It was very thin, so it must be a check.

Seeing her hesitation, Huo Yan said in a gentle voice, "Uncle San will give it to you, just take it."

　　Lan Su glanced at her sideways, and saw a little softening in her unchanging face. Well, this was the first time Huo Yan's expression softened since she stepped into the door.

　　It seems that this Third Uncle is a nice person.

　　"Thank you, Uncle San."

　　After serving tea to the elders, it was time for the peers. The peers were not entitled to be served tea, but the "aunt" sitting on the second chair winked at the servants, asking them to bring the trays and stop in front of her son, forcing Huo Yan to serve tea to her son.

　　Buzz...

　　The wheelchair made a dull sound as it rolled over the wooden carved floor, and Huo Yan stopped in front of the eldest brother of this generation, "Huo Jun".

　　Huo Jun was wearing a black suit, not very sturdy, empty, with dark circles under his eyelids, and looked like someone who had indulged himself too much. When he saw Huo Yan stop in front of him, he immediately straightened up, raised his chin, and looked very proud.

　　Huo Yan owns the largest company and is usually arrogant. She has never looked him in the eye, but today, he can make her kneel down and serve him tea.

　　Lan Su didn't know the rules of serving tea, and just thought she had to continue. She skillfully picked up a cup from the servant, but Huo Yan pushed it back onto the tray.

　　Huo Yan's hands were very cold, even her palms would make people doubt that she was not a warm-blooded animal.

　　Lan Su was wrapped in the ice jade, and he held her with his backhand, thinking that it would be very comfortable for Xia Tian to hold these hands.

　　"Brother."

Huo Yan spoke to pull Lan Su back to her senses. Lan Su thought she was going to serve tea, but she just looked at the man in front of her with contempt and said:

　　"I hope you are well."

　　Seeing that she remained motionless, Huo Jun's dark circles on his lower eyelids deepened, and he forced himself to smile:

　　"Sister, have you forgotten the etiquette of serving tea?"

　　He planted the first thorn in the face of a situation where all the elders of the Huo family were present, and all the peers were also there to serve tea to the bride.

　　Interestingly, Huo Yan never took this thorn seriously.

　　Her highly folded facial features gave her a natural sense of oppression. Her lenses flashed a fierce light, her pretty lips lifted, and a flash of sarcasm passed through her eyes. She said coldly:

　　"I haven't forgotten the rules of serving tea, and neither has my elder brother. If I were to serve you tea, I'm afraid it would shorten your life."

　　The person who wants to publicly embarrass Huo Yan has not been born yet.

　　Lan Su saw this and wrote down the rhetoric - the key word: shortening one's lifespan.

　　If you make things difficult for me, you will shorten your life.

　　Almost at the same second, she felt a chill coming from the side. Lan Su was very familiar with that breath; it was some kind of sharp and murderous aura.

　　Looking over there, it was Huo Jun's mother, Huo Yan's aunt, Huo Wenxia.

　　Huo Jun was no match for Huo Yan. With just one sentence, the flesh on his face twitched twice in anger, like the twitching of nerves damaged by a failed plastic surgery. Just as he was about to argue, the old man spoke:

　　"Serving tea is for elders. Jun, you are the eldest grandson, don't break the rules."

The old man values etiquette the most. He won't let Huo Yan get away with it, but he won't let others do anything wrong either.

　　The person who arranged for the servants to brew so many tea cups was none other than Huo Yan's aunt.

　　After a while, an important customer came to visit, and the old man had to receive him personally. So he arranged everyone to a courtyard at the back, leaving the hall for the distinguished guest.

　　"Xiaoyan, there is a project, come over here."

　　Aunt Huo Wenxia called people out alone, not to the old house, but to a villa one kilometer away.

　　Lan Su kept staring at the screen of her mobile phone. When Huo Yan was leaving, he whispered to her "20 minutes". Now 20 minutes have passed, and this person has not sent any message yet.

　　My mind buzzed, and countless words that people had said flashed through my mind.

　　"The Huo family has bad feng shui. Huo Yan has lost three wives in three years."

　　"The old house is gloomy, Miss Lan, please wear more clothes."

　　"Do you think I killed them?"

　　"Once, the last lady was resting on the balcony, and someone shot something at her, and she bled a lot."

　　...

　　No, Huo Yan has difficulty walking and it is not safe for him to go to an unfamiliar environment alone.

　　What's more, just now in the situation where all the people of the Huo family were present, she made the woman's son lose face.

　　"Blue sister, where are you going?"

　　Lan Su was about to go find someone but was stopped by Huo Jun.

　　She stopped gracefully, holding her handbag in both hands: "I'm going to look for Ah Yan."

　　Huo Jun blocked her with one hand: "Why are you looking for her? Don't I have you here?"

　　"you?"

　　"Yes. Sister Lan, I'm just curious, what do you like about Huo Yan? A woman, and a disabled one at that, what can she do?" As he spoke, he stepped forward with a lewd smile in his eyes, "Why don't you come with me to the guest room? I'll let you experience what the ultimate bliss on earth is."

　　In the past, Huo Yan had harassed all three wives he brought home. One of them went to bed with him, one of them was molested by him, and another one was frightened to tears.

　　He has a hundred ways to torture weak women.

　　Lan Su didn't cry. Strictly speaking, there was no fear on her face. She even licked her back teeth in disdain.

　　"Is there any surveillance here?" she asked.

　　Huo Jun was confident of victory, he spread his arms and raised his voice:

　　"Oh, how is that possible? I promise, no one will get involved in our matter--Ah!"

Snapped!

　　Before he could react, his face was slapped to the side, his vision was blurred, his left arm was twisted backwards by a strong force, the back of his neck was grabbed, and he flew out like a kite.

　　boom!

　　I felt dizzy and bumped into the pillar at the door, and blood gushed out of my nose like a faucet.

　　"Ouch! Aaaaaaah—"

　　He screamed in pain, and when he finally opened his eyes, the culprit was nowhere to be seen.

　　"Who! Who is it!"

　　It couldn't be Lan Su, she was so skinny that she couldn't even open a water bottle cap. There must be someone else, could it be Huo Yan? It was even more impossible, Huo Yan would definitely die if she was tricked into going there today, how could she ask someone to save Lan Su?