Chapter 210: Chapter 210

"When will he ever be done with this? The Lian Family is caught up in this mess purely because of him. What face does he have to make a scene? If he hadn’t fancied taking Li Qing back in such an outlandish manner, the Lian Family wouldn’t have gotten involved in this trouble."

Li Rui frowned deeply. "Now that Qin Sheng is in, the Qin Family might think that it was my brother-in-law who was pulling the strings behind Lian Yingya and Li Qing, and that’s a score we can’t settle."

Li Shen wiped the sweat from his forehead with a tissue. "You’ve just finished working. Rest properly and don’t think about these things. I’ve decided to let go and not meddle anymore. With Yingting’s ability, he can handle it. I just need to not add fuel to the fire. As for the rest, I’ll wait for him to deal with it."

"Once I’ve rested, I’ll talk to my brother-in-law."

"You should think about your own matters first; you’ll be 28 after the New Year. Find a girlfriend you like, and after dating for a couple of years, you’ll be at a suitable age to get married."

These were words that only his sister could say to him without him getting irritated. If anyone else said this to him, he could blow up at any minute. Because, aside from being patient with her brother-in-law and the Lians, she was like a ticking bomb with anyone else. If you didn’t want to get hit, you had to listen obediently.

"I need to have time for that, and right now is the prime time for accumulating experience. If I let up, I’ll fall behind."

"If your life consists only of work, that indicates that you’re not managing your time well," Li Shen said. "Work and dating are not conflicting commitments. If you think they are, then you must be mismanaging your time."

Li Rui was left speechless by the remark and unable to refute. After all, what his sister said made a lot of sense. He was busy but not to the extent that he was running around like a headless chicken every day.

"Do you have any suitable girls to introduce to me?"

"Don’t you have anyone you’re interested in? Even for something as simple as finding a partner, you need someone else’s help?" Li Shen glared at him.

"No, I haven’t thought about this before," Li Rui spread his hands in surrender, starting to cop out.

"That’s why I told you to go out more. There are 24 hours in a day. If you work for 14 hours, you still have ten left. You should arrange them well."

Li Rui didn’t feel like continuing the conversation with his sister. Sometimes he even wondered if the fundamental reason their parents’ relationship was always good was because his father was too busy to be distracted. That was what maximized the stability of their love.

Li Shen didn’t continue to joke around. "Go to sleep."

Li Rui hugged her. "Don’t overthink it; my brother-in-law will handle the Lian Family’s issues."

When Lian Yingting came back alone, Lian Xiao and Tian Yun didn’t say anything.

During the New Year’s Eve dinner, Lian Yingya came downstairs looking haggard, his hair having grown long and unkempt.

When Lian Yingting saw him come down, he said, "Go wash your face; we’re having dinner."

Lian Yingya ignored him and walked straight to the dining table, pulling out a chair to sit down.

Lian Xiao and Tian Yun’s expressions changed, and Lian Xiao said angrily, "What kind of attitude is that? The Lian Family has lost so much face because of you, and yet what more do you want?"

Without a word, Lian Yingya flipped the table. "Don’t think that I don’t know what’s on your minds. You want to use someone else’s hands to finish me off, to save yourselves from shame! Let me tell you, I won’t go anywhere except stay home. If you have the guts, then kill me right here! If I die, don’t think you’ll have it any better."

Lian Yingting quickly pulled his parents away, but they still inevitably got splashed with the soup.

Lian Yingting said, "Mrs. Wu, call the doctor over."

After speaking, he looked at Lian Xiao seriously. "Dad, I’ll handle this. You two go upstairs and rest."

Angered, Lian Xiao and Tian Yun went upstairs.

The chaotic first floor was instantly left with only Lian Yingting and Lian Yingya.

Lian Yingting said, "There’s a lot that doesn’t need to be said by me. You understand it all in your heart. During the previous farce, you felt that your dignity was tarnished, and you didn’t dare face your mistakes, but rather chose to cover them up with anger.

"In my view, aside from you caring about these things, others will just take it as a momentary topic of conversation. Right now, it’s you, but after some time, it’ll be someone else. If you want to be held in high esteem by others, you need to work hard and achieve results, to wash away the old impressions others have of you.

"Sitting at home all day getting angry and making unreasonable demands isn’t going to get you the results you want. It will only make things worse."

Lian Yingya looked at him provocatively. "You’re very pleased now, aren’t you, with no one to fight with you for it?"

"Even before this incident happened, you couldn’t compete," Lian Yingting said coldly. "You chose to pursue painting, and from then on, you were no longer related to the family business."

Lian Yingya was left speechless. "So from the beginning, you’ve looked down on me?"

"Whether I look down on you doesn’t matter. Or is it that you’ve always felt I look down on you? You are my brother. Why would I look down on you?" Lian Yingting dragged him in front of a mirror in the first-floor washroom. "Have you ever thought that in this lifetime, I only have you as my blood brother? That we share the same father and mother, and only the two of us have been part of each other’s growth? Why would I look down on you who used to be my little tail? Who put such an idea in your head?

"I used to think that no matter what career you chose, I’d support you. I’d take good care of the family business so you could charge in the direction you wanted with no worries, without concerns about the family or our parents’ health. But what did you do? Again and again, you disappointed us, and after resigning yourself to failure, you still felt we looked down on you.

"Why don’t you show the kind of attitude that makes us respect you!"

Lian Yingting turned on the cold water tap and aimed the faucet at Lian Yingya’s face. The icy water was piercingly cold. Lian Yingting’s hand grew numb from the freezing water. He didn’t withdraw his hand, looking at Lian Yingya with a heavy heart.

Lian Yingya was drenched, shaking all over. Yet his eyes were fixed on Lian Yingting.

His voice trembling, he asked, "Is everything you said true?" His brother didn’t look down on him? His brother had always been paving the way for his future?

"Do you have any worth that would make me lie to you?" Lian Yingting was even more enraged.

Tears mingled with the icy water and slid down Lian Yingya’s face. His body too collapsed to the ground.

Only then did Lian Yingting turn off the tap. He looked down at him from above. "This is your last chance. Live well and find the meaning in your life. While I can still protect you, you can live under my wing. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. You only need to find the path in your own heart.

"You’ve been at this for over twenty years. Now faced with a huge change, can you manage it?"

Lian Yingya covered his face, too afraid to answer.

Lian Yingting’s lips trembled, unable to utter even harsher words.

He thought of Han Hu crawling out from death, taking a new face to seek revenge. Han Yue was sentenced to fifteen years; her life was practically ruined. Every day, Han Cheng and Jian Meixue fought, tearing the Han Family apart. Han Hu’s revenge had been successful. She accomplished everything she set out to do. But Lian Yingya was weak, too soft to stand firm.

Lian Yingting gathered his thoughts. "Others suffer much more than you. Don’t always feel like you’re the unluckiest in the world. If you were in my shoes, you would understand my pain.

"I won’t preach any more big principles to you. Just pull yourself together. As for the other pressures, Mom, Dad, and I will help you shoulder them."