Chapter 453: Chapter 452: Infinite Stream Cannon Fodder: Lying Comes at a Price 7

"Do you like the food?" He Qiaomin was asking Wei Wenlan, who was sitting diagonally across from her, smiling warmly.

It almost made Wei Wenlan let her guard down and blurt out that it was quite suitable to her taste.

But she became alert all of a sudden. Actually, not all of these dishes were to her liking. She liked spicy food, and overly bland dishes weren’t quite to her taste. Moreover, she wasn’t very fond of sweet-flavored meat either.

Her mind was racing, and she finally focused on a dish she particularly enjoyed and asked, "Sister He, how is this dish made? It’s really delicious."

Guests complimenting the food naturally made He Qiaomin happy, as she happened to know how to make that dish herself, so she started explaining to Wei Wenlan how to make it. After she finished, she casually added, "Can you remember it this way?"

Wei Wenlan was sweating cold bullets; indeed, speaking less is wiser. Now, one question followed another, all very ordinary ones, yet those that are most likely to make someone lie.

But there was no choice. Just now, when He Qiaomin asked the question, she was looking directly at her. If she didn’t answer, it would be very impolite as a guest. This wasn’t the ordinary world outside; other situations could arise, and you absolutely couldn’t risk displeasing the host.

Fortunately, she really had been paying attention just now.

So, Wei Wenlan said, "I remembered it just now, but I’m not sure if I’ll forget it later, since I haven’t done it myself yet."

"I’ll have the butler write down the recipe for you later, that way you don’t have to worry about forgetting," He Qiaomin said with continued enthusiasm.

Wei Wenlan quickly thanked her, and afterward, He Qiaomin didn’t ask her anything further, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief.

It was truly frightening.

The others, however, grew tense, fearing the host might direct questions their way.

The only one seemingly at ease was Ah Chen, after all, she wasn’t afraid.

However, Tan Ruifeng and He Qiaomin didn’t say much afterward, and everyone quietly finished the dinner, then rested on the sofa.

"Tan Rui, have you finished your homework today?" Tan Ruifeng suddenly remembered, calling out to Tan Rui, who was about to sneak upstairs, "Bring your homework down for me to check."

Tan Rui, who thought he’d dodged a bullet, suddenly slumped his shoulders.

He thought having guests over would mean his parents would overlook him, and he could go upstairs to play games for a while. But, it turned out his dad remembered and wanted to check. Sighing, Tan Rui said, "Dad, I was just about to go up and work on it."

"Bring it down to work on," Tan Ruifeng obviously didn’t quite believe Tan Rui would sit down to work seriously on his homework, "These elder brothers and sisters today are all quite learned; you can ask them if you encounter difficulties."

Reluctant but resigned, Tan Rui slouched upstairs to fetch his homework.

Tan Ruifeng’s gaze glanced over Huo Jingchen and Wei Yao, his face amiable, "I heard both of you graduated from prestigious universities? Especially Jingchen, winning scholarships every year."

Huo Jingchen and Wei Yao both nodded; indeed, their schools were excellent.

"When Tan Rui encounters something he can’t handle later, I’ll have to trouble both of you to help out."

Before the two could respond, He Qiaomin interjected, "Ruifeng, since when do guests do such things? It’s too much trouble for them."

Here it comes, the NPC starting to target Huo Jingchen and Wei Yao. It’s typical at this time for people to say, "Oh no, it’s no trouble at all, just solving a difficult problem." Regardless of their real thoughts now, answering such questions always carries a risk.

At times like this, Huo Jingchen and Wei Yao really weren’t interested in helping an NPC kid solve problems, they naturally couldn’t respond with those polite pleasantries.

But with the hosts staring at them, the two had to react somehow.

Just as Wei Yao was racking his brains, Huo Jingchen had already gathered himself. In such moments, the best route was to turn passive into active, rather than taking what the host said, he should initiate, ask something from their side, so the host has to answer, which would basically be safe.

So, he asked, "How does Tan Rui usually perform academically?"

Mentioning this, Tan Ruifeng’s face was filled with pride, "His grades are pretty good, consistently among the top three in his class, which is the best class in the grade; he usually ranks within the top five in the grade. Even when he doesn’t perform well, he won’t drop out of the top ten."

That was indeed impressive.

If it could make Tan Ruifeng display such pride, the school certainly wouldn’t be subpar.

"His grades are good, but this kid is careless with his studies. If he were more diligent, he could probably reach first in the grade," He Qiaomin shook her head, "If we don’t keep an eye on him, he probably wouldn’t even do his homework. Kids really need to be managed; if left alone, who knows what they might become, just like my eldest daughter..."

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the doorway.

A figure walked in from there, interrupting He Qiaomin’s words.

Not until the figure stepped from darkness into light did Ah Chen and the others clearly see who it was. Apart from Ah Chen, everyone else was a bit stunned. It was because this girl’s attire was quite unconventional; normally, no one would dress like that. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Her hair was permed and dyed, her makeup was extremely heavy, and her clothes were quite edgy, completely unlike a high school student.

This was Tan Sui, fifteen years old, just starting her sophomore year.

She didn’t do well in the high school entrance exam, just barely managing to get into the worst school. But Tan Ruifeng and He Qiaomin felt it was too embarrassing for them, so they paid to send her to a private high school. At least it sounds better when mentioned. This private high school had a very clear method of class division; someone like Tan Sui, with insufficient grades but sufficient money, would be placed in a specific class. It’s easy to imagine that within such an environment, it would be almost impossible to study well.

"Tan Sui, look at what you’re wearing!" Tan Ruifeng shouted from where he was at Tan Sui, feeling that she embarrassed the Tan Family in front of so many guests today, "Look at yourself, do you match with anything here? You’ve brought shame to our family. No good grades, no obedience, no decent image. How did our Tan Family produce such a worthless child like you?"

In his agitation, Tan Ruifeng couldn’t help it and grabbed an ashtray from the coffee table, hurling it in the direction of Tan Sui.

Of course, Tan Sui didn’t stand there and take the hit; she moved aside a step, and the ashtray brushed past her hair, eventually crashing on the floor tiles with a sharp sound.

He Qiaomin let out a startled cry, rushing to hold back Tan Ruifeng, but it was already too late. Seeing Tan Sui dodge out of the way, she finally released a sigh of relief.

"Ruifeng, the guests are still here."

"Tan Sui, aren’t you going to apologize to your father?" He Qiaomin evidently wanted to drop the matter; it really wasn’t appropriate to discipline children with guests present.

Tan Ruifeng also snapped back to reality; he was just extremely angered by how Tan Sui looked.

He, Tan Ruifeng, led a proper life and earned money through hard work, and after the household finally brightened up, they ended up with such a disgrace like Tan Sui.