Are You Allergic To Romance? - Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Tonight, I Really Want to See You
Night fell.
The Xie Family’s Grand Manor.
A large, secluded convalescence villa located in a suburb of Linxi City was currently hosting a brightly lit family gathering.
It was euphemistically called the weekly Saturday family dinner.
Min Shu, sitting in the front, checked her wristwatch. Rong Cheng had already gone ahead into the villa to prepare for the boss.
She turned to Xie Mianzhi, dressed in a black suit and skirt, and reported, “Boss, fifteen minutes have passed.” Her boss had been sitting in the sedan for a quarter of an hour, persistently refusing to enter the manor.
“Oh, got it.” Xie Mianzhi rolled down the car window, looking at the luxury sedans pulling into the parking lot: her second uncle and aunt, her third uncle, and other elders, as well as many people she didn’t know well.
Why are so many people here tonight? Is this a family charity gala?
To be honest, she really had a headache about these gatherings.
Especially some distant relatives who came to eat, practically wanting to throw money around during the meal to show others up, or stirring up trouble with veiled insults.
Of course, rather than letting others provoke her, she usually strikes first.
After tidying her attire, the assistant courteously bent over and opened the car door for her.
“Look who’s here, Mianzhi. You’re always so fashionably late. Everyone is waiting for you,” her aunt spoke loudly as soon as Xie Mianzhi took her seat.
This caused everyone to look at her, the Xie family’s always late and inconsiderate second young miss.
Xie Mianzhi looked at the crowd. Her disdainful face forced out a perfect fake smile, greeting all her uncles and aunts, then turning to her aunt: “Auntie, you’re the most diligent one to come to Grandma’s Grand Manor.”
Her aunt didn’t refute. She looked at Xie Mianzhi’s black attire today, which seemed so heavy, as if she were attending a funeral. She scoffed internally, secretly comparing her to her own daughter, Tongqi.
“Hello, Second Sister. I heard from my parents that you took a vacation in Misu Town recently. I thought you went to Morocco,” Xie Tongqi proactively greeted Xie Mianzhi.
Xie Mianzhi looked up at her cousin, Xie Tongqi, who wanted to compete with her for company shares. She was wearing an elegant, gentle white formal dress today, clearly dressed as an angel.
Xie Mianzhi nodded, giving a light chuckle: “Yes, I regret taking a vacation in Misu Town. If I had gone to Morocco, I probably wouldn’t have been able to return during this time. Then, the Misu Town project would have been yours, Tongqi—”
“Cough, cough…” Her father, sitting nearby, deliberately coughed, interrupting her speech.
Xie Mianzhi glanced at her father, who always liked to be the supposed big brother and peacemaker in the family, and then at her gentle artist sister, whom she hadn’t seen in half a month. They really had the same good temper, just focusing on eating during the dinner.
Someone has to speak the truth, right? Her father was concerned about the family’s thin thread of affection and didn’t want to speak up, so she had to be the troublemaker.
She didn’t want to eat this dinner in the first place.
Xie Yan pushed the caviar in front of Xie Mianzhi, making his intention clear: He hoped his daughter wouldn’t cause trouble, for his sake.
Xie Mianzhi received her father’s signal and could only diplomatically accept the caviar, saying no more.
Her older sister personally handed her a glass of fine red wine. After all, Xie Jinci knew Mianzhi’s preference for wine.
Xie Mianzhi looked at her sister, who had just held a solo art exhibition in Verona. Her career had taken off since her divorce from her brother-in-law. Sure enough, that cheating ex-husband was just dead weight.
“This red wine…” Xie Mianzhi looked at the wine with a critical eye.
“They say it’s Grandma’s treasured collection,” Xie Jinci explained. She had already heard the uncles praising the fine wine before Xie Mianzhi arrived.
After hearing it was a good one, Xie Mianzhi took a shallow sip. It was indeed acceptable. “Grandma actually agreed to open this bottle. It must have been a gift from one of them.”
Xie Mianzhi murmured quietly, glancing at the people sitting around the long table, which only made her sister smile lightly. Little Zhi is still like this—she says what she thinks.
Xie Mianzhi saw that Xie Jinci still had a glass of pure, plain water in front of her and couldn’t help but ask, “You still can’t drink red wine?”
“Indeed, I still can’t drink much…” Xie Jinci was helpless. She was incredibly glad her sister wasn’t like her. Mianzhi was naturally courageous, intelligent, and highly capable of leadership.
While she couldn’t do anything right, with a weak personality and a failed marriage. Although she had moved on from her previous relationship, she was still scarred and had embarrassed the entire family. Her only talent was probably painting, and she only managed to hold the exhibition with her sister’s financial help. Fortunately, the exhibition was a success.
When Mianzhi was absent just now, her second aunt was clearly targeting her with her words, and she couldn’t even refute…
Xie Mianzhi could tell her sister seemed to be thinking about unpleasant things. Did these people bully her sister again while she was gone?
“Jinci stayed abroad for so long, and her tolerance for alcohol hasn’t improved?” The uncle sitting across the table asked Xie Jinci with a smile.
Xie Jinci softly explained, “Because I didn’t have many occasions to drink, and I don’t attend many social events, so I haven’t practiced.”
“But since you’re back home, you’ll inevitably represent the family at some banquets. You can skip the large ones, but you certainly have to attend the small ones. You can’t always carry around a cup of ‘kid’s juice,’ can you?” The second aunt admonished Xie Jinci in a caring tone, then looked at the attendant beside her, signaling him to present a good red wine to the Xie family’s eldest granddaughter.
Xie Jinci could only reluctantly nod in agreement, but everyone else knew Jinci rarely attended any banquets.
“It’s still better to develop some alcohol tolerance,” the second uncle chimed in, ostensibly for the family’s good.
“Oh, right. I went to Misu Town with no money, but thankfully I got some later. Afterward, I even brought back some local specialties, plum wine. I tasted it, and it’s quite delicious. Why don’t everyone try the specialty I brought back today?”
Xie Mianzhi signaled for Rong Cheng behind her to bring the two bottles of plum wine from the car. She originally planned to give one bottle to her sister because the taste was very sweet and light, with an extremely low alcohol content that wouldn’t make anyone drunk.
Rong Cheng immediately understood the intention and followed the instruction.
Then, Xie Mianzhi got up and personally poured the plum wine for everyone at the table.
Her aunt picked up the opaque, unknown liquid and couldn’t help but ask, “This bottle doesn’t even have a place of origin label. Is it safe to drink?”
“Always drinking rare red wine has spoiled your palate, Auntie. Honestly, I was reluctant to let you drink it. This wine is hard to come by, and I only offered it because you’re my aunt,” Xie Mianzhi smiled and retorted.
The woman knew Xie Mianzhi intentionally offered the plum wine to prevent Xie Jinci from being embarrassed. Just as she was about to say something more, the second uncle, who was quietly eating, pulled her, signaling her not to quarrel with her older brother’s family anymore. Although Xie Yan was talking to the Old Madam, the second uncle could already see that his older brother’s face wasn’t looking good.
The aunt didn’t want to give up, but just as she was about to speak, the Old Madam sitting at the front suddenly spoke.
“Hmm, it’s sweet on the palate. Everyone here can drink it.”
Seeing that the Old Madam had also spoken up and helped her brother’s family, the second aunt could only swallow her words and went to the restroom.
“Grandma says it’s delicious. Give it a try.” Xie Mianzhi sat back down and motioned for her sister to taste the specialty she brought back from Misu Town, taking away the high-proof red wine glass in return.
Xie Jinci looked at her gratefully, then took a sip. It was light, sweet, and refreshing with a hint of plum tartness. “It really is delicious. The alcohol content shouldn’t be high, right?”
“Almost none. You’ll be perfectly fine,” Xie Mianzhi was happy to hear her approval, feeling even more pleased than if someone had praised her. This was a gift given to her by that person.
Xie Jinci was also curious. Mianzhi was so picky about everything. Why would she bring this simply packaged, handmade plum wine?
Seeing that her second aunt and cousin had left the table, she whispered, “Little Zhi, did you buy this?”
Upon hearing this, the image of that person suddenly popped into Xie Mianzhi’s mind, making her momentarily distracted, a hint of sweetness rising in her heart. She used the wine glass to subtly cover her beautiful mouth and quietly informed her sister, “Actually, someone gave it to me.”
Xie Jinci looked at her in surprise. This was the first time she had seen her sister mention someone with such a gentle, tender expression. This expression was like… being in love…
Just as she was about to give in to her curiosity and ask more questions.
The television in the small side lounge suddenly turned on. Xie Jinci’s daughter, Little Yu’an, had accidentally turned it on.
The volume button was accidentally pressed by the little one, and the sound suddenly became very loud, reaching the dining room. This immediately caused the great-grandmother, who was talking to others, to frown unhappily.
“Grandma, I’ll go check on Yu’an. She was just here. I really didn’t notice—” Xie Jinci immediately stood up, but her skirt was caught. She had been so happy talking to Mianzhi, whom she hadn’t seen in a long time, that she forgot about Little Yu’an nearby. The little one probably didn’t want to eat and went to the side room by herself.
She had to hurry and turn off the TV so as not to disturb everyone’s dinner.
“Sister, I’ll go help you bring Yu’an back. You just sit down,” Xie Mianzhi saw her sister’s tendency to panic and become anxious when stressed, and not wanting her to worry, she proactively went to the side room to get Yu’an.
“Thank you, Mianzhi,” Xie Jinci thanked her gratefully.
(According to the latest news from this station, at 6:04 PM tonight, the Lientan City Supreme Police Department received an emergency report. At the junction of Pingnan Road and Shilin Road in Misu Town, a robbery gang composed of multiple foreign men carried out a transnational crime. This group uses brutal and vicious methods and has committed multiple robberies, abductions, and abuses in various countries. It is understood that after receiving the report, the police rushed to the scene with full force to implement a joint arrest. Here is a live report from our reporter, Ling Tianjie…)
The TV screen immediately switched to the live broadcast: red warning lights, police sirens echoing through the night sky, and the unbelievably familiar crime scene.
The large convenience store on the mountain road in Misu Town…?
The place where Jing Yuan works… How could this be!??
Impossible. It shouldn’t be. Absolutely impossible…
“Mianzhi, what’s wrong?”
Xie Jinci saw her sister hadn’t turned off the TV and walked in to check. She found Xie Mianzhi staring wide-eyed and terrified at the evening news playing on the TV. Due to the loud TV volume, many people in the dining room heard that a serious robbery and assault had occurred somewhere tonight.
This also made the others at the dinner table very unhappy, spoiling their dining mood.
“…Mianzhi?” Xie Jinci could only turn down the TV volume first, worriedly patting her sister, who was standing motionless. What was wrong with her? Why was her expression so solemn after seeing this news?
“What should I do, she’s there…” Xie Mianzhi muttered to herself, her heart beginning to tremble violently.
“What?” Xie Jinci didn’t hear clearly.
Xie Mianzhi suddenly felt a dull pain spreading from her heart, making it difficult to breathe.
A flash of thunder and lightning outside was immediately followed by a downpour.
Her face turned pale. She stared blankly at Xie Jinci, then the next second, she quickly pushed her sister aside and strode out of the room. She couldn’t hide her turmoil. The sound of her heels clicking on the floor already reflected the panic in her heart.
“I have something to take care of. I’ll be leaving now.”
Xie Mianzhi quickly dropped those words. Before anyone could react, she rushed out of the villa without looking back, disappearing alone into the heavy rain.