AADWFL Chapter 11

Fifteen minutes later, Xu Jianan finally arrived—fashionably late but perfectly in sync, her timing matching her son’s as if arranged.

The chilly air in the room instantly thawed.

“Son, it’s been so long!”
Her bright voice carried from the staircase before she even appeared, followed by her graceful figure.

She smiled warmly at her son first, then turned to greet Yu Linshan with equal ease.

“‘It’s been so long’” — when said between mother and son, the phrase sounded oddly misplaced. Yet somehow, from Xu Jianan’s lips, it fit perfectly. And thinking about it carefully, it was actually true.

For the first time in his life, An Ning truly felt the meaning behind the saying: “A wealthy family isn’t necessarily a happy one.”

They had everything money could buy—there was no doubt about that.
But this family—this mother and son, this father and son, this husband and wife—was not one anyone would envy.

“How have you been lately, Mom?”
Facing Xu Jianan, Yu Xiuming’s tone softened slightly, though still not what one would call affectionate—polite, yes, but distant.

“I’m doing well, everything’s fine,” she replied earnestly, then turned her radiant eyes toward An Ning, who was standing quietly behind Yu Xiuming.

“Xiao An! You’ve been working with Xiuming lately, haven’t you? It must be tiring, right? Xiuming’s lucky to have you. Otherwise, with how hard he works, I really don’t know who else could look after him so well.”

An Ning secretly wanted to label her a social genius.

She was beautiful, still youthful-looking, with not the slightest trace of motherhood about her. Her fashion was chic yet tasteful; her manner of speech was brisk, articulate, and perfectly pitched—sharp enough to leave him momentarily speechless, not sure which of her many questions to answer first.

“Not tiring at all—it’s what I should do. Thank you for your concern,” An Ning replied, standing and greeting her politely.
He was careful to avoid calling her “Auntie” or “Madam”—anything that might hint at her age or status.

And it was immediately clear that this elegant woman appreciated the choice.

From the moment Xu Jianan entered, the living room never went quiet again.

She alternated between asking her son a few questions and tossing out easy, inclusive remarks for everyone. Most of the time, she didn’t even seem to care whether anyone responded—she would simply glide seamlessly into the next topic, keeping the whole scene alive with practiced ease.

In this kind of atmosphere, An Ning wasn’t exactly at ease.
Most of Xu Jianan’s questions—about sixty to seventy percent—were directed not at her husband, but at Yu Xiuming. And since An Ning was Yu Xiuming’s personal assistant, coupled with the fact that his boss wasn’t in the mood to be talkative in such a setting, those questions inevitably landed on him.

So he had to stay sharp: answer truthfully when appropriate, flatter modestly when required, and when things got tricky—artfully dodge.

“Sir, Madam, lunch is ready. Shall we begin?” Tao Kang came upstairs just then, and An Ning felt as if someone had handed him an oxygen tank on a mountaintop—finally, a reprieve from Xu Jianan’s relentless barrage of small talk.

“Let’s go down and eat,” Xu Jianan said brightly, standing up first with a smile. “It’s been so long since our family had a meal together. Uncle Kang, thank you for your hard work.”

Yu Xiuming was the next to rise. “Let’s go.”

An Ning silently stood up and followed suit.

The last to move was Yu Linshan, the first to arrive that day. He rose slowly and murmured, “Time to eat. It’s rare for us to have a meal together.”

Following Yu Xiuming downstairs, An Ning was relieved to find that no new guests had arrived—the worst-case scenario he’d imagined hadn’t come true.

At least the fragile peace remained intact. At the very least, Yu Linshan hadn’t brought his illegitimate son.

Once downstairs, An Ning realized that his presence didn’t seem out of place after all.

Xu Jianan had also brought her own assistant—she just hadn’t accompanied her upstairs earlier. In the dining room, the long table was already set, and when Xu Jianan warmly insisted that both An Ning and her assistant Xiao Chen join them (despite their polite refusals), the final seating came to six: Yu Linshan, Xu Jianan, Yu Xiuming, An Ning, Xiao Chen, and Tao Kang.

The kitchen had been busy all morning preparing a feast. When everything was finally laid out, the table was dazzling—an array of dishes stretching from one end to the other. Drinks soon followed. Everyone was poured red wine except for An Ning and Xiao Chen, who had to drive; for them, freshly squeezed juice and custom non-alcoholic cocktails were provided.

After that, most of the conversation at the table had little to do with An Ning, allowing him to relax slightly.

The social butterfly, Xu Jianan, continued to steer the conversation effortlessly. She laughed, joked, and navigated the rhythm of dialogue with skill—leaving just enough space between her own words for others to chime in. As a result, despite everyone’s differing moods, the first half of the meal went by without a single awkward silence.

Still, An Ning didn’t actually eat much.

There were too many exquisite dishes to count—mostly Chinese, each one fragrant and delicious, not the kind that only looked good.

But bound by formal table etiquette, he kept to the cold appetizer platter before him, eating it slowly.

To be fair, it was the best cold dish platter he’d had in a long time. But still, it wasn’t exactly something he wanted to fill up on.

The long dining table didn’t have a revolving tray, and that—An Ning thought—was the first visible sign that this villa, though grand, hadn’t been truly lived in for years and was a little behind the times.

Unfortunately, it made eating rather inconvenient.

Although Yu Linshan was the supposed star of the meal, his mood was subdued and his appetite low. He only picked at the few dishes nearest to him, showing little interest in the rest. Xu Jianan, on the other hand, was the complete opposite—frequently standing up to reach for whatever caught her eye. She might not care much about celebrating Yu Linshan’s birthday, but she clearly intended to enjoy herself, savoring every bite of the lavish lunch.

Still, as a mother, she hadn’t completely forgotten her son.
Though Yu Xiuming himself seemed rather disinterested, Xu Jianan kept placing food into his bowl, and he, in turn, dutifully ate whatever she gave him.

But expecting Xu Jianan to pay attention to An Ning at this point would be asking too much.

A plate of glossy, tender sweet-and-sour spare ribs sat right in front of Yu Xiuming.

For once, An Ning’s mind wandered, his eyes drifting again and again toward that plate of ribs, and a faint sense of regret stirred in his heart.

Today, it seemed he wasn’t going to get to eat it after all.

That dish was common and affordable, something you could order in any modest restaurant. It wasn’t some high-class delicacy, but to An Ning, it was one of his favorite meals — a little taste of happiness from his past.

He remembered growing up in the orphanage — every festival or birthday, there would always be this dish. Over time, that glossy, sweet-and-sour flavor became etched into his memory as the taste of joy itself. Sweet and tender spare ribs — the comfort food of his childhood.

Now, lost in thought while no one paid him any attention, An Ning’s mind drifted far away. Since I probably won’t get to eat it today, he mused, maybe I’ll just order it tomorrow.

The others were still drinking, their red wine glasses almost empty. An Ning, who had no appetite and didn’t want to keep Tao Kang from eating in peace, tactfully stood up, picked up the wine bottle, and walked around the table to refill everyone’s glass. Then he calmly returned to his seat and smiled politely when Xu Jianan thanked him for the gesture.

After three rounds of wine, An Ning felt neither full nor rested. He suddenly realized — this job, even with good pay, was not something just anyone could handle.

Xu Jianan’s cheerful chatter, which at first had been mere social grace, was beginning to grate on his nerves.

He kept smiling, nibbling on the cold platter and a bit of roast chicken within reach, always ready to respond when the hostess threw him a perfunctory question. Every now and then, he’d glance at Yu Xiuming — quiet, composed, eating at ease — and a strange, sour feeling stirred in his chest.

It felt… almost like resentment.
A faint, wordless kind of hurt.

Before he could even process that emotion, a loud ringtone shattered the illusion of peace around the table.

It was Xu Jianan’s phone.

The silvery laughter that had been filling the air abruptly ceased. She stood up, stepped back, and took the call.

An Ning could immediately feel the atmosphere change.

Gone was the earlier false harmony — still polite but stable. Now, Yu Linshan’s calm façade seemed slightly cracked, and Yu Xiuming’s expression had turned cold.

Xu Jianan hung up swiftly. Before she could even return to the table, her assistant Xiao Chen was already on her feet, clearly prepared to leave.

“I’m really sorry, Xiuming,” Xu Jianan said to her son, wearing an expression that was just ambiguous enough to conceal whether the regret was real or not. She didn’t sit back down. “Something urgent’s come up. I have to go, and I probably won’t be back this afternoon or evening. You just stay here and have a good meal. If you need anything, talk to Uncle Kang.”

Then she turned her attention — or rather, her performance — toward An Ning. “Xiao An, look at that, I didn’t even get to have a proper drink with you today. You take good care of Xiuming for me, will you?”

Yu Xiuming said nothing, but An Ning didn’t dare follow suit. He nodded at once. “Of course.”

But what happened next completely blindsided him.

Yu Linshan, who had been quiet the whole time, put down his chopsticks and rose to his feet as well. “Xiuming, Xiao An — I’ll go with your mother. You two enjoy the meal.”

He forced a polite smile toward An Ning and Tao Kang, but his tone made it clear — he was done here.

An Ning was stunned. He glanced sideways at Tao Kang, but the man seemed utterly unfazed, as though he’d seen this a hundred times before. Calmly, he asked whether Madam Xu wanted the driver to bring the car around. Xiao Chen had already rushed off to do so, moving with such speed it was obvious they had never planned to stay long.

Everything unraveled so suddenly.

Five minutes later, only three people remained at the dining table: Yu Xiuming, An Ning, and Tao Kang.

The two men, Yu Xiuming and Tao Kang, appeared perfectly calm — as though this abrupt exit had been expected. An Ning could only suppress his curiosity and sit quietly.

He’d known the Yu family had problems, but not this bad — to the point they couldn’t even finish a single birthday meal together.

So this is what “family” looks like in a wealthy house, he thought bitterly. Endless grudges and broken ties.

“Stop staring. Eat,” Yu Xiuming said suddenly — his first words in a long time. Then he picked up the plate of sweet-and-sour ribs in front of him and set it down near An Ning.

There was a soft clink as the porcelain dish met the edge of the table. An Ning froze for a moment, the rich aroma of caramelized vinegar and sugar wafting up to his nose.

---

Author’s note:
An Ning: [sniffling] So sad… I just wanted to eat.
Yu Xiuming: (observes)(calculates)(decides) [slides plate over] Feed. (satisfied)