Chapter 858: Chapter 851: The Family Favorite

When it came to Lin Wanwan’s situation, it was mainly Aunt Lu asking curious questions; Father Lu really didn’t have anything he wanted to ask Lin Wanwan.

Everything he needed to know, he’d already had people investigate thoroughly.

This future daughter-in-law’s family background was a bit complicated, and her fate was tough: her parents died when she was young, and her father’s side refused to raise a little girl—bad character. Her maternal uncle wasn’t a good person either; all demerit points.

But fortunately, the elderly couple who raised her were upright people and had lived their whole lives aboveboard. And in her direct line within two generations, there was no history of any extremely serious illness, only an aunt who died young from diabetic complications.

Going by Lu Xingjian’s own standards, he would have looked down on a daughter-in-law from this kind of background, because he firmly believed genes are inherited.

But what could he do? His only son liked her!

Back when she hadn’t even agreed to be his girlfriend yet, that kid had already dragged her over to eat with them and made his intentions clear.

Lu Xingjian still remembered that after being rejected by the girl in front of him, his useless son had been so out of it he even got into a car accident!

If the car hadn’t been sturdy enough, he didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

Later his own wife even stepped in to play wingman for their son before he finally managed to win her over, and now the engagement and marriage were getting settled in one go.

Under these circumstances, what was there left for him to nitpick? It wasn’t his turn to speak anyway. He’d even brought up a prenuptial agreement, only to be blocked by his unfilial son’s retort: "Did you and Mom sign one?"

Truly unfilial. What kind of status does the Ye Family have, and what kind of family does Lin Wanwan come from, and he actually dares to compare the two!

Lu Xingjian had always thought his son had no interest in romance between men and women, and never in a million years did he expect that once he hit thirty, he’d suddenly grow a "love-brain."

He really didn’t know who the boy took after, but it definitely wasn’t him.

When he pursued his wife back then, the other party’s family background had been one of the reasons too.

Maybe the boy took after his wife. After all, with a background as strong as hers, when she fell in love with him, she had absolutely no idea what his family was like—and he was a full twelve years older than she was.

Sigh, that brat didn’t inherit a shred of his charm; chasing a girl was that hard for him!

Thinking of this, Lu Xingjian smugly glanced at his just-over-fifty yet still beautiful-as-a-flower wife.

Mm, he really had good taste.

That said, Lin Wanwan wasn’t bad either. Being taken in by a big shot in traditional Chinese medicine as a closed-door Disciple meant she was extremely outstanding on her own, and looks-wise she was a good match for his rebellious son.

Children and grandchildren have their own blessings; Lu Xingjian didn’t want to meddle too much.

Since Lu Shouyue didn’t want to sign a prenup, then he’d just sign a notarized agreement with his son himself, same difference.

As for Lu Shouyue’s own assets, if he wanted to share them, that was his business.

Lu Ying was overjoyed to see Lin Wanwan; the two of them were the only ones around the same age, and she was more than happy to share all the gossip she knew with Lin Wanwan.

Lu Ying had broken into the entertainment industry in the "throwing money but still not getting popular" category; even debuting in the C position hadn’t brought her any heat.

Getting super popular, honestly, probably depended on fate too.

There were a few years when the industry was obsessed with the "rich, pretty, cold-aloof heiress" persona. Her agent had asked if she wanted to go that route.

But her family vetoed it in the end.

Her mom was worried that if she was too high-profile, she’d piss off Grandma and her uncle.

By the time they realized she couldn’t be made popular no matter what, and were ready to market the "rich, pretty girl" persona, half the white-rich-beauties and second-gen rich kids in the industry had already had their "house collapsed," and the public no longer liked that image.

Even when she tried to market it a little, it didn’t stir up any waves.

It really was all timing and fate; she just wasn’t destined to blow up. Her name recognition in the industry might even be lower than Lin Wanwan’s.

After all, Lin Wanwan had hit the positive-energy trending list a few times, all of them exploded, and then exploded again when she and Lu Shouyue went public.

An internet celebrity marrying into a rich family would always secure a seat on the trending chart, just like how domineering-CEO-meets-Cinderella novels always had a market.

But flopping in her career didn’t affect Lu Ying’s mood when it came to snacking on gossip for fun.

Running into a cousin-in-law who could barely count as half an insider like Lin Wanwan, of course she had to use that as a conversation starter.

Lin Wanwan clearly wasn’t that interested in entertainment gossip, but she could still play the role of a good listener, and it was a good way to kill the awkward feeling of being scrutinized.

From Lu Ying, Lin Wanwan learned about the recent situation of Lin Mengyun and Chen Jinyu—both were fourth- or fifth-tier little starlets.

Leaning on the hype of being "Lin Wanwan’s cousin," Lin Mengyun had managed to bluff a portion of the public and even unexpectedly landed a variety show spot.

As for Chen Jinyu, rumor had it she’d found herself a pretty influential boyfriend as her backing and had already snagged a female lead role in an S+ web drama.

"Hey, Cousin-in-law, let me tell you—on the grapevine they’re all saying Chen is now some investor bigwig’s third mistress."

Lin Wanwan let out an "oh," a bit rueful.

Back in university they’d been comrades who worked part-time in all kinds of weather to make their own money, and now she’d actually given up her bottom line and gone down the shortcut route.

Good thing she’d already cut ties and severed the friendship long ago.

While Lu Ying chattered away with Lin Wanwan, Lu Shouyue just sat beside them reading. He didn’t have the slightest interest in this kind of gossip.

But he’d promised Lin Wanwan he’d accompany her today, so even if he wasn’t interested, he still stayed by her side.

The Lu Family watched Lin Wanwan go wherever, with Lu Shouyue following wherever, like some dazed idiot deeply in love, and their attitude toward her naturally warmed even more.

"Shouyue, add Wanwan to our ’One Big Loving Family’ group chat. You’re about to be one family anyway," Aunt Lu said over dinner.

"Mm, true." Lu Shouyue took out his phone. "Wanwan, I’ll add you in."

"Okay." Lin Wanwan showed a sweet, cute smile.

She’d only ever seen those "One Big Loving Family" group chats on trending posts before, never actually been in one.

The second she was added, the group chat was instantly flooded with red envelopes, all welcoming the new family member. Their tapping speed was pretty impressive!

Even though each red packet was capped at two hundred, it wasn’t about the money, it was about the sentiment.

Everyone was already using real actions to show they welcomed her; it was practically the treatment of a group favorite.

After grabbing all the red packets, Lin Wanwan sent out a "please take care of me" red envelope of her own in the group.

For a while, everyone at the dining table had their phones out, including the stylish old lady, Grandma Lu.

After claiming the red packet Lin Wanwan sent, Grandma Lu spoke up: "This kid Wanwan, I liked her the second I saw her. And she even opened an embroidery shop."

"Since everyone’s here today, I just happen to want to announce something. In the future, all the calligraphy, paintings, and embroidery in my collection room will go to my granddaughter-in-law. You all don’t have any objections, right?"

"No objections. Mom, your treasures are of course yours to decide."

"Exactly, what objections could we have?"

Aunt Lu and Uncle Lu were the first to speak up; in truth, this was mainly being said for their ears anyway.

Lu Xingjian only had the one son, Lu Shouyue. Giving things to the granddaughter-in-law was basically the same as giving them to their side of the family.

The old lady’s paintings and embroidery collection were really not a small sum of money.

Back then, the old man had given all of the Lu Family’s antique collection to Lu Shouyue, and now the old lady was giving her calligraphy-and-painting-plus-embroidery collection to the granddaughter-in-law—with the precondition "granddaughter-in-law" clearly attached. That basically meant most of the Lu Family’s collections had gone to Lu Shouyue’s branch.

It really was favoritism.

The aunt and uncle of the Lu side smiled brightly on the surface, but in their hearts they couldn’t help feeling a little sour.

"Good, as long as no one objects." Grandma Lu smiled at Lin Wanwan. "Granddaughter-in-law, two of the pieces in there even came from your shop!"

Getting smacked in the face by such a fat windfall, Lin Wanwan hurriedly tried to decline, but there was no way to decline it.

Lu Ying leaned in and blinked at Lin Wanwan. "Cousin-in-law, I’m so jealous. There are quite a few Qing Dynasty court embroideries in there!"

"Uh, I really feel undeserving of this."