NOVEL NEXT Chapter 37
Chapter 37: Afternoon Tea
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The parents had an afternoon tea appointment.
Qiao You’an temporarily added Lin Xiaowan to the parents’ group chat. After receiving the address, Lin Xiaowan quickly searched it up. She saw that the place had a high rating of 4.9 stars.
Lin Xiaowan looked at the menu and saw many exquisite drinks and desserts. The desserts were beautiful with unsurprisingly high prices. A slice of Black Forest cake that usually sold for 50 or 60 yuan was sold for 128 yuan in the shop.
Lin Xiaowan thought to herself, ‘It’s really easy to earn money from rich people…’
…
It was a little cloudy on the day of the meeting. It was snowing lightly, and it was windy outside. It seemed like it would snow heavily later.
Huo Zheng called Lin Xiaowan from the company and said, “Remember to wear more layers. Tell the driver to wait for you there. Don’t come back too late.”
Lin Xiaowan was dressed warmly. She sat on the low stool by the door to change her shoes. It was a little strenuous for her to bend over to change her shoes due to how thick her clothes were. She said, “I know.”
“Will you be coming back for dinner?”
“I think so? They said they were meeting for afternoon tea and didn’t say anything about having dinner.”
Huo Zheng nodded. “Don’t eat too many snacks. Otherwise, if you don’t have an appetite for dinner, I’ll punish you.”
Lin Xiaowan agreed and ended the call.
On the night of the annual banquet, Lin Xiaowan ate a little too much so she had slight indigestion and flatulence. At that time, Huo Zheng did not say much, but his expression was a little bad. Later, when they were going to bed, he used this matter as an excuse to ‘punish’ her.
…
The meeting with the parents was surprisingly smooth. The people who came were all mothers. Perhaps, due to Lin Xiaowan’s young age, everyone was very tolerant and kind. They spoke very gently, making her feel quite comfortable when interacting with them. One of the mothers even brought her daughter along.
While they planned the gathering, Lin Xiaowan listened while she ate the desserts.
One woman, who was clearly the leader, said, “Then, why don’t we organize for the children to watch a musical? We can make some snacks and glutinous rice balls ourselves.”
The woman looked very much like the image of a successful person. She was dressed in a well-fitted suit, and her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail.
Seeing how the other party took charge, Lin Xiaowan speculated that the other party worked in upper management for a company.
After everyone agreed, Lin Xiaowan nodded along. She sent Qiao You’an a message, detailing the result of the meeting. Then, she bit her fork and asked curiously, “Are you going to the theater to watch the children’s musical?”
“We’ll book a venue and invite the cast over. They’ll deal with everything after that,” a woman replied.
Lin Xiaowan nodded. ‘As expected, they’re really rich…’
Nearing the end of the meeting, there was a small incident.
The mother who brought her daughter along was flustered when her daughter suddenly woke up from her nap and began to cry loudly. No matter how hard she tried to coax her daughter, her daughter did not stop crying.
The mother, who looked like a successful career woman, said, looking slightly unhappy, “I really don’t understand you. If it’s inconvenient for you to come today because of your child, you could’ve just stayed home. Why did you have to force yourself to come?”
The mother, who brought her daughter along, continued to coax her child and apologize profusely at the same time. She was clearly flustered and at a loss as she coaxed her child in a soft but stiff voice.
At this moment, a mother, who was a young and beautiful model, looked at the other woman busy coaxing her child with little effect before she chimed in, “Fortunately, Aubrey’s mother booked a private room today. Otherwise, if we were outside, the other patrons would definitely complain about the noise.”
‘Aubrey’s mother?’
Lin Xiaowan had been sitting here the entire afternoon, but she still did not know much about these mothers and their children.
At this moment, the mother brought out a milk bottle from her bag and tested the temperature. A long time had passed since she arrived so the milk had already gone cold. Needless to say, she could not give the cold milk to her daughter.
Seeing that the others were frowning and looking at her unhappily, the mother was at a loss. In the end, she quickly rose to her feet with her daughter in her arms and tried to coax her daughter to sleep again. She lowered her head and said humbly, “I’m really sorry. I’ll carry her to the side and coax her. All of you can continue.”
However, some of the mothers were still unhappy.
“Why don’t you carry her outside to coax her instead? She’s too noisy. We won’t be to hear ourselves. How are we going to continue?”
“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”
The mother touched her daughter’s diaper. It was a little heavy so she guessed that her daughter must have pooped or peed. She had new diapers in her bag, and there was a couch in the private room. However, it was obvious that she could not change her daughter’s diaper in the room.
The other mothers were clearly unhappy with her. They looked at her coldly and did not offer to help her.
The mother became even more anxious and embarrassed when she felt the cold gazes. She also began to regret attending the meeting and wondered why she was so insistent about attending it.
Lin Xiaowan had never seen anyone coaxing a baby before and did not understand much. However, when she saw the mother keep glancing at the milk bottle on her seat, she asked, “Is she hungry?”
The mother walked back and forth with the baby in her arms. She did not want to go outside since it would attract even more attention. She looked a little like she was going to cry as she replied, “Maybe, but the milk has gone cold.”
Lin Xiaowan had never given birth before and had never taken care of babies before. As such, she was not sure of the correct way to heat up milk for babies. She glanced at the mothers and found all of them wore unhappy expressions on their faces and had no intention of helping at all. She suddenly felt that the mother holding her daughter was a little pitiful. She finally mustered up her courage and said, “Then I’ll ask a waiter to help you heat it up.”
If Lin Xiaowan were in that mother’s shoes, she felt that she would definitely be sad as well if no one was willing to help her. She would probably be too traumatized to attend such meetings in the future.
The mother, who was holding her daughter, looked visibly relieved. She said earnestly, “Thank you, thank you!”
Lin Xiaowan brought the milk bottle out and looked for a waiter. She explained the situation and also asked if there was a spare room. The waiter spoke to his supervisor before he led the mother and daughter to the staff lounge.
Lin Xiaowan followed them, helping the mother carry her bag of baby’s supplies.
After they left, the other mothers began to talk about Lin Xiaowan.
The beautiful mother who was a model asked, “Is she also from the Huo family?”
When Qiao You’an spoke to them, she only referred to Lin Xiaowan as her younger sister. However, they knew that Qiao You’an was the youngest in her family.
The mother, who looked like a career woman, asked Qiao You’an a few more questions compared to the others so she knew more than the others did. She said, “She has quite a high status. Hubert’s mother said that she’s the Second Young Madam of the Huo family. Apparently, Second Master Huo cares for her even more meticulously than the two little heirs of the Huo family.”
Hubert was Huo Dabao’s English name, and Hu Erbao’s English name was Herman. They went to an international school so they were given English names. However, Huo Cheng and Qiao You’an did not address their children by their English names, thinking that their children’s nicknames, Dabao and Erbao, sounded more intimate. Their English names were only to make things convenient for their foreign teachers.
“Is that true? Why didn’t I hear anything about the Second Young Master of the Huo family getting married?”