Chapter 126: Ren Tongli
Xuan Xia looked toward Yuan Zhongshu, and Yuan Zhongshu first introduced the three people beside him to her.
“Miss Xuan, come, let me introduce them to you.”
Yuan Zhongshu introduced them one by one, starting with the middle-aged man sitting beside him.
Upon closer inspection, the brows of the two young men beside him both somewhat resembled this middle-aged man.
This man was named Ren Yongzheng.
He was the second son of the current head of the Ren Family, and all the Ren Family’s affairs in Yanjing were handled by him.
Sitting beside Ren Yongzheng was his son, Ren Tongjin.
Xuan Xia knew this name; it was within the Top 100 on the performance chart.
Xuan Xia still remembered that this name was ranked 78.
It was also within the Top 100, the highest-ranked one with the surname Ren.
She hadn’t expected that the first person within the Top 100 she met would be this Ren Tongjin.
Xuan Xia couldn’t help but take another look at him.
This Ren Tongjin was just like his dad, keeping silent without a word.
It was unclear whether he should be considered taciturn or aloof.
Both his expression and gaze were far less lively than the other one.
As for the one sitting beside Ren Tongjin with the lively eyes, he was named Ren Tongli!
Xuan Xia: “……”
Although Ren Tongli and Ren Tongjin were quite similar in their brows, the two were not blood brothers from the same mother, but cousins.
Ren Tongli was one year older than Ren Tongjin and was the only son of the eldest son of the Ren Family head.
It was said that his father was the next head of the Ren Family. Thus, he was the precious eldest son and eldest grandson.
This also explained why Ren Tongli could use the Ren Family’s advanced Spirit Control Technique to drive his own shadow.
It was nothing more than the older generation at home showing favoritism, with his father being partial.
Unfortunately, the most outstanding among the Ren Family’s younger generation was Ren Tongjin.
So Ren Tongli had racked his brains to come from the old estate to Yanjing to curry favor with the Cui Family’s younger generation, following them to mooch off rankings.
All of this was what Xuan Xia had learned from Qu Xingxuan.
After Yuan Zhongshu finished introducing to Xuan Xia, he in turn introduced Xuan Xia to the three from the Ren Family.
When introducing Xuan Xia, it was simple; Yuan Zhongshu only gave her surname and said that Xuan Xia was his niece.
Anyone could tell that Yuan Zhongshu didn’t really want to introduce Xuan Xia to others in detail.
As a result, before this elder Ren Yongzheng could express dissatisfaction, Ren Tongli, sitting at the farthest edge, spoke up.
“Treating us like fools? Still a niece—what niece calls her ‘Miss’ so distantly?”
At this point, Ren Tongli suddenly paused, then burst out laughing. “Could it be some little niece from a certain club?”
When he said the last sentence, though he deliberately lowered his volume, everyone at the table heard it clearly, including Xuan Xia, the one being slandered.
As soon as he spoke, both Ren Yongzheng and Yuan Zhongshu’s faces changed.
Even Li Xinze, who had entered the table with Xuan Xia, instantly darkened his face, his wolf-like eyes fixing on Ren Tongli.
Ren Tongli showed no fear at all and returned a provocative look to Li Xinze.
“Tongli.” Ren Yongzheng warned in a deep voice, “That’s too outrageous of you.”
“Did I say anything wrong?” Ren Tongli shot back, then bumped Ren Tongjin with his shoulder. “Ren Tongjin, tell my uncle—did I say anything wrong?”
Ren Tongjin said not a word and ignored the person who bumped him.
His soft and yielding demeanor naturally dissatisfied Ren Tongli, who was about to speak again when Yuan Zhongshu heavily set down the tea cup he had just picked up.
The crisp sound of the tea set clashing instantly silenced Ren Tongli.
Yuan Zhongshu smiled insincerely. “Esteemed Nephew seems to have forgotten that this is Yanjing, not your Ren Family’s old estate. What’s more, even at your family estate, the head is still your grandfather.”
This time, it was Ren Tongli who changed his expression.
As the saying goes, even a strong dragon cannot repress a local bully, let alone Ren Tongli, who didn’t look like a dragon at all—more like a mere lizard at best.
Taking advantage of the momentum, Xuan Xia immediately followed up: “Uncle Yuan is right.”
Although she really wanted to throw her chopsticks right in Ren Tongli’s face on the spot, Xuan Xia knew the occasion; with the host present, she had to give the host some face. Unless they didn’t stand on her side.
But now it seemed the host’s stance was clear, so Xuan Xia was happy to change her form of address—not for anything else, just to sarcasm the people opposite.
Sure enough, annoyance surfaced on Ren Tongli’s face.
To make matters worse, Ren Yongzheng then also spoke toward Yuan Zhongshu. “Master Yuan, please calm down. Tongli grew up by my old man’s side and was spoiled by him, so he doesn’t understand worldly affairs.”
“Since he’s so favored, why bring him to Yanjing? Wouldn’t it be better for him to stay at the ancestral estate?” Yuan Zhongshu scoffed.
Ren Tongli also scoffed. “Uncle Yuan, saying it like that sounds like you’re dissatisfied with my grandfather? What’s this, calling me over today on purpose with some excuse to reprimand me openly while secretly criticizing my grandfather on the side?”
He turned his head to look at Ren Yongzheng. “Uncle, my dear uncle, this was your idea, right?”
Upon hearing this, Ren Yongzheng’s brow immediately furrowed tightly, harboring anger, but he didn’t erupt on the spot.
Perhaps still minding Xuan Xia’s presence.
If so, Xuan Xia very much wanted to tell him not to mind her; she would just quietly watch the show.
Seeing Ren Yongzheng not refute, Ren Tongli took it as his guess being correct.
“You really are my dear uncle.”
Ren Tongli spat and rose to leave the table.
Ren Yongzheng frowned and finally spoke: “Tongli, sit down. Don’t you know why I called you here today?”
Ren Tongli thought about it and indeed sat back down with a thud.
“Almost forgot about this.” He said, “You called me here, wasn’t it to apologize and make amends to me?”
His expression turned arrogant, his line of sight directly landing on Xuan Xia, as if confirming that the one who was to apologize to him was Xuan Xia.
Apologize and make amends?
Xuan Xia looked toward Yuan Zhongshu.
Yuan Zhongshu caught Xuan Xia’s gaze and returned a look.
It wasn’t convenient to explain now, so Yuan Zhongshu spoke up. “Yes. Today, I, Yuan, am hosting, and there are indeed two matters regarding Esteemed Nephew that I need to discuss.”
Ren Tongli looked back at Yuan Zhongshu. Hearing Yuan Zhongshu call him “Esteemed Nephew” again, his expression was both arrogant and mocking.
As if to say, weren’t you just trying to belittle me, and now you’re currying favor again.
Yuan Zhongshu automatically ignored his face and continued: “I hear that Esteemed Nephew has recently been pursuing a girl, but your methods have been too excessive.”
Ren Tongli: “……”
Ren Yongzheng was full of bewilderment. “Tongli is chasing a girl?”
How did he not know?
Yuan Zhongshu said: “Yeah. Brother Yongzheng didn’t know? I guessed as much. After all, given Brother Yongzheng’s character, I don’t think you’d agree to him using the Ren Family’s Spirit Control Technique to scare a girl just because she wouldn’t accept him.”
“What?!” Ren Yongzheng was shocked and quickly looked at Ren Tongli. “Tongli, you…”
Ren Tongli cursed out loud: “Fuck!”
After all his calculations, he hadn’t expected it to be about this matter.
Yuan Zhongshu continued: “It was also a coincidence. Only after the incident did I learn that Esteemed Nephew was inadvertently injured.”
Upon hearing this, Ren Tongli immediately glared at Yuan Zhongshu. “So it was you who injured me!?”
