"Father!" Yang Xiang exclaimed as if she'd found her biggest backer in the world whilst the others all called out except He Yuan, who was busy stuffing his face with food.
Yang Xiang pointed at He Yuan. "Just look! How could he be so disrespectful? First, he joined our table without permission and next he dared to grab the dish and cutleries that had been set out for you!"
Yang Zhi frowned as he walked over to sit at head of the table. Seeing as He Yuan did not acknowledge him even after all that had been said, he clenched his teeth and drummed his fingers against the table. "Yang Xue, what is the meaning of this?"
He Yuan chewed a few more mouthfuls before raising his head with a confused expression and slowly asking, "What is the meaning of what?"
The drumming became louder. "Even if you were not properly raised by your mother, you've been on Earth for over five years so you should understand how things are done by now. Why did you move the things that had been set out for me?"
Wei Xiaoqing stood to the side and looked on with worry as He Yuan furrowed his brows slightly.
It was difficult to mimic the speech patterns of mandrons so he settled for saying less. He waved at the table. "Not enough bowls and cutleries," Then he motioned towards the kitchen where the servants were. "Ask them." And then he continued eating.
Yang Zhi's nostrils flared slightly. "Yang. Xue!" When He Yuan stopped eating to look up once more, he continued, "Trying to put the blame on the servants? They are all aware that you don't eat your own meals with us!"
With that being the case, He Yuan offered the simplest solution. "When I came in, nobody was eating. You all don't seem hungry. Go back and wait for me to finish."
"Yang Xue!" Came the chorus all around the table as the Yangs all glared at him. How could Yang Xue even dare suggest such a thing? What face would they have left if they let a mere mandron do anything before them?
Yang Zhi grit his teeth for a while and seeing that He Yuan didn't budge, he beckoned to the servants to serve an extra pair to the shock of his human children. It was possible to forcefully dismiss Yang Xue from the table but held himself back.
Even if Yang Xue had been sent off from the Ding family because he had allegedly made a move on Ding Weimin, he believed that nothing was set in stone.
Recently, he'd been facing more roadblocks than ever at work so he planned of coming up with a method of repairing the relationship with the Dings and continue to obtain benefits. Before he received enough benefits, he couldn't be too obvious with his dislike of this mandron son of his.
Conversation resumed around the table after Yang Zhi's meal was laid out and Wei Xiaoqing walked out after making sure He Yuan was okay.
"I think he's coming around," Yang Xiang said after she'd been asked about her 'relationship' with Jin Yusheng.
"Good. Just keep warming up to him, he'd come around sooner or later. It would be good if the Yang family has such a capable in-law," Yang Zhi said with a satisfied nod before looking to Yang Liqin. "How's modeling coming along?"
"Ugh!" Yang Liqing began with a sneer. "Don't even get me started. Wang Ruo has gone up the ranking from 18 tier to 15. How is that possible? In which way is she better looking than me? If not for multiple surgeries how could she look that good?"
Yang Teng cleared his throat. "I thought the talk about her undergoing surgery was just a rumour? Pictures of her at a young age were even presented to prove that she did not have surgery."
"Pfft!" Yang Liu began. "Teng'er, you're a military man, how would you be able to distinguish this kind of thing? I think Yang Liqin is not wrong, something fishy had gone on somewhere, who knows if those childhood photos of hers were edited?"
"Or..." Yang Xiang cut in, "That Wang Ruo must have had surgery at a very young age!"
All of them, including Yang Zhi, shook their heads in disgust whilst He Yuan and 888 were dumbfounded. How much hate could someone contain in themselves to insinuate that a person had undergone cosmetic surgery as a child just because they looked better? That wasn't even legal!
He Yuan cleared his throat and looked at them mocking a curious expression. "Has Yang Liqin not also undergone surgery?"
They all froze and stared at He Yuan with bewildered expressions. Pictures of Yang Liqin from when she was young had all been destroyed because she herself had undergone surgery. With the current technology, it was basically impossible to tell who had indeed had surgery but analysts could do so using a person's younger pictures and and extremely close examination of facial structure.
Yang Liqin smacked the table in anger. "You idiot! How could it be the same?!"
Yang Liu stared at He Yuan disapprovingly. "Yang Xue, you can't just say whatever comes into your mind just because you feel like. Even if you mandrons are blunt and straightforward, you should've at least learnt tact all these years on Earth."
Yang Xiang nodded along. "Besides Yang Liqin had undergone surgery due to medical issues and not because she wanted to, she had no choice."
888 groaned. What kind of medical issue required you to perform a full blown cosmetic surgery? Why was he not aware of it? [I'll be at the system space if you need me. I'm tired of listening to this bullshit.]
He Yuan sighed inwardly. He also wished there was a place he could disappear to at this moment. If anyone wanted to perform cosmetic surgery then that was their problem, as long as they were legal and making the decision based on their own conscious will. His only problem here was that the Yangs were the kind of hypocrites that liked to judge others by their actions but wanted to be judged by their intentions.
"It's enough." Yang Zhi said finally as he sent Yang Liqin a placating smile. "Yang Xue is not very smart so he should not be taken seriously. As for you," He looked to He Yuan. "You shouldn't just advertise your ignorance by saying whatever pops into your mind. Sometimes it's good to shut up too."
He Yuan felt the strong urge to mess with them so he blinked his eyes innocently and said. "How am I ignorant? I know the difference between medical surgery and cosmetic surgery." He pointed at Yang Liqin. "She did cosmetic surgery three years ago."
"Yang Xue!" They were all very angry whilst Yang Liqin looked a little shocked. If Yang Xue went out and opened his mouth carelessly then she might face backlash in her modelling career. Why was the dumb mandron so talkative today?!
She sneered. "You're acting all smart now. If you'd used that brain of yours then maybe you wouldn't have lost your leg on a mission where general Ding Weimin singlehandedly took care of everything!"
He Yuan choked on the raw pain that came from Yang Xue's soul thread. His chest ached terribly so he lowered his head and patted his chest to placate Yang Xue's soul thread. His chest ached so much that he remained silent.
They all took in He Yuan's 'devastation' and looked the other way. The women were all smiling, Yang Teng focused on his food and acted like he didn't exist whilst Yang Zhi shook his head at He Yuan liked he'd bathed the entire Yang family in pure disappointment.
Conversation resumed like nothing had happened whilst He Yuan left his food and focused on placating the soul thread. He felt 888 return and knew that the system must have felt the abnormality with Yang Xue's lingering emotions and was alarmed.
Once the leaser's soul thread was no longer throbbing painfully, both host and system sighed in relief. Next, He Yuan raised his head and looked to Yang Zhi.
Yang Zhi frowned in annoyance when he noticed He Yuan. Why wouldn't this mandron boy behave? "What now?"
"I need a prosthetic limb," He Yuan began and they all snorted. Then he continued, "I want my money."
"What money?" Yang Liu asked too quickly. Of course she'd be quick to ask. They'd all dipped their greedy hands into Yang Xue's funds after all.
"My salaries over the years and reward money. Even the upkeep funds that had been given to me by the Dings over the years." He Yuan stated calmly.
Yang Zhi stared at He Yuan guardedly. "Why are you suddenly asking about the funds?"
'...' Was the man deaf? He Yuan cleared his throat and calmly enunciated his words like he was talking to a fool, "I need a prosthetic limb."
"Yang Xue don't be ungrateful. My Yang family took you away from Cladis and had been feeding you since you returned from the Ding mansion. What face do you have to still demand for your funds?!" Yang Zhi said sternly.
He Yuan cocked his head to the side with a neutral expression. Why did Yang Zhi make it sound like Cladis was a horrible place unfit for inhabitation? He took a deep breath and slowly said, "So it's okay to withhold all of my funds because the Yang family took me from Cladis, kept me in the Ding family for almost six years and has been feeding me whenever I came here from the army after I was sent out of the Ding mansion?"
The surroundings fell into silence as they all grit their teeth. Why did Yang Xue put it like that? Yang Zhi soon waved with an irritated expression and said "Simply put, yes." Whilst the other four nodded resolutely.
"Okay." He Yuan said then he looked to Yang Teng. "The Yang family has been feeding you all your life. You have never handed over your salaries and rewards from the army, why?" He looked to Yang Liu, Yang Xiang and Yang Liqin respectively, "The three of you have never handed over the earnings from your jobs, why?"
The silence continued.
He Yuan slowly looked at all four Yang siblings as he spoke with mock pity, "You've lived on the Yang family's mercy all your lives. How are you going to pay off your huge debts?"
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