A Star Reborn: The Queen’s Return - Chapter 713
Chapter 713: Let Me Off
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Goduncle.” Little Shaohui called out obediently.
Du Yunfeng was unhappy. What was this? Were they stealing from him? That wooden bracelet was worth a lot of money… how could he have lost it from coming over here to have a chat with an old friend?! That wasn’t right!
He glared at Shaohui and said, “Who’s your Goduncle?!”
Little Shaohui’s face fell into a pout.
Li Lei responded unabashedly. “You’re Xiao Ling’s Godbrother, so you are Shaohui’s Goduncle, aren’t you?” During the “wife selection” ceremony several years back, Xiao Ling had entered the ceremony under the ruse of being Du Yunfeng’s Godsister.
Du Yunfeng’s face turned ashen as he recalled that incident. He said, “That was under forced circumstances. It’s different from right now. It was in the past, and we can forget about this whole Godbrother business. I don’t have a sister like her.”
Xia Ling glanced up at him from the little table filled with fruits.
Du Yunfeng returned her steely gaze.
Li Lei tried to resolve the matter. “We’ll just take it that you’re Shaohui’s Goduncle now.”
Du Yunfeng frowned in irritation. “Second Young Master Li, why aren’t you as involved when it comes to Li Rui? Why didn’t you get your biological son to call me Goduncle, but rather get this child that you’ve no relation to be all chummy with me? Are you in your right mind?”
Li Lei couldn’t tell him that Li Rui had no blood relation with him, and the fact that Shaohui was his biological son was an even bigger secret. He smiled as he helped Shaohui put on the wooden bead bracelet, saying, “That’s not for you to bother about. Just remember to treat Shaohui well. If anyone dares to mistreat him, you need to be his backer.”
Du Yunfeng rolled his eyes. “Do you think I am so free?”
As they were bickering, Xia Ling finally finished eating a small pile of fruits and was elegantly wiping her hands clean before walking over. Under the watchful eyes of the two men, she removed the wooden bead bracelet from Shaohui’s wrist and handed it back to Du Yunfeng.
“Since it’s such a chore for Young Master Du, so be it.” Her voice was light and clear, and she lowered her head to speak to Shaohui. “Be good, we won’t call Uncle Du here Goduncle. When your real uncle comes along, I’ll get him to give you something better.”
Little Shaohui looked at the beaded bracelet and then up at his mum, before nodding obediently.
Li Lei was caught in the middle. He was still bickering with his bro here and his lady had decided to be all haughty now. “Xiao Ling, don’t be like this.” He snatched the beaded bracelet from Du Yunfeng’s hands again and stuffed it back into Shaohui’s. “The child is still young. It’s always good to have another Goduncle taking care of him in case we are otherwise occupied.”
Xia Ling raised an eyebrow at him.
Li Lei was afraid that she would say anything to decline and hurriedly told Shaohui. “Quick, put on the bracelet.”
Shaohui’s big, round eyes looked from one adult to the next, before he slowly put the bracelet back onto his wrist. Lifting his head, he adorably said to Du Yunfeng, “I owe Brother Du Zheng two favors. Now that I’ve worn the bracelet that you’ve given to me, I only owe him one now.”
“Hurhur, little rascal, there’s something wrong with your counting here, don’t you think?” Du Yunfeng laughed in exasperation. “So you’re doing me a favor by allowing me to give you a welcome gift and be your Goduncle?”
Little Shaohui blinked several times and didn’t say anything.
Du Yunfeng could barely look at Shaohui in the eye as he turned to Li Lei. “Are you sure you want to be this little idiot’s Godfather? At the rate he’s offending people right now, in a few years his enemies will be tearing you apart.”
Li Lei’s expression stiffened, but he tried to appear sincere as he said to Du Yunfeng, “Believe me, being his Goduncle is definitely a good deal.” If Du Yunfeng knew who the real uncle of this child was, he would be crying and groveling at his feet right now!
How many people wanted to get close to the Xia family? Some people just didn’t know how fortunate they were.
Xia Ling gave a wry smile as she heard the undertones of what Li Lei was saying.
Protect Shaohui? That was all a ruse. He was worried that his bro, Du Yunfeng, would be a target for the Xia family after offending her and wanted to mediate for them.
Xia Ling walked back to the bamboo chair in the yard and drank her tea.
Du Yunfeng complained for a while but didn’t want to put his bro in a tight position. Even though he didn’t like Xia Ling, and didn’t particularly like Shaohui either, there was no way he was getting out of accepting this Godnephew.
He followed Xia Ling and sat down for some tea as well.
“Where’s Du Zheng?” Li Lei asked. “I didn’t have time to speak to him properly at the riding field earlier. He’s already grown so big… why didn’t you bring him to come to see me earlier?”
Du Yunfeng said, “That rascal was just behind me earlier. Hasn’t he arrived yet?”
He looked around.
At that moment, he heard some commotion from outside the yard. Before long, a group of boys walked over. Other than Du Zheng, there was General Manager Zhou and that child called Ah Qiang.
Du Yunfeng frowned. “Ah Zheng, why did you bring so many people here?”
“They came to find Uncle Li Lei.” Du Zheng said nonchalantly. “They said that they offended Uncle Li Lei unknowingly and are here to apologize.”
As he spoke, the overweight General Manager Zhou had already walked in front of Li Lei, saying, “Young Master Li, please forgive me. I was blind and didn’t know better. Can you let the Zhou family off just this once?”
Hearing this, Xia Ling’s curiosity was piqued and she asked, “What’s going on?”
Du Yunfeng glanced over at her in disdain. “In the afternoon, Li Lei had given them a hard time for your son. Why? Didn’t you know?”
Xia Ling was taken aback. Afternoon? Wasn’t that guy stealing kisses from her in the afternoon? “What in the world happened?” She looked at Li Lei. “Are you hiding something from me?”
Li Lei glared at Du Yunfeng for speaking out of turn. However, at this point, he had no choice but to come clean. “General Manager Zhou here scolded Shaohui, so I made him bow and grovel to Shaohui. He refused, so I instructed Tan Ying to press down the Zhou family shares. In a few days, they’ll probably be bankrupted.”
Xia Ling was speechless.
If she had remembered correctly, the Zhou family was quite a wealthy family in this city. Big Boss Li, was it really okay for you to bankrupt them just over a spat?
General Manager Zhou was almost in tears. “Young Master Li, I beg you to let us off. You can make me do anything, anything at all. Please.” He didn’t expect that Li Lei would go to such extents for the child. Two hours ago, there was news from his company that the stocks were crashing. He thought that it might have been just a coincidence, but after a series of negative rumors came to his attention, and several large transactions in the closing stages suddenly took a turn, he was forced to sit up and take notice.
The Head of the Zhou Family was hopping mad and asking everyone who had offended the Li family. It was only then that General Manager Zhou realized the implications.
Now, all he could do was to beg Li Lei to let them off.