CHAPTER 16: CHAPTER 16: GIFT?

As they walked into the building, Yue Ning felt her pocket, and she nodded when she felt the antique.

After what seemed like an eternity, they finally arrived at the living room. They passed by several maids who greeted them while bowing.

"It seems that’s Young Master’s wife."

"She looks pretty."

"She might be pretty, but we all know that Young Master likes Yue Chen, she is likely to be a figurehead."

The maids whispered among themselves.

"It seems the maids don’t know their place, and keep on gossiping about their masters. You need to be trained," Huo Feng coldly uttered.

On hearing his words, the maids scattered. They thought they had been subtle, but sadly, Huo Feng had a sharp hearing.

"Let’s go," Huo Feng directly took her hands, and walked away.

Yue Ning looked at Huo Feng, and her lips curled ever so slightly.

"This house seems like a palace, it took seven minutes to arrive at the living room. Truly big," Yue Ning muttered under her breath.

"Grandmother," Huo Feng called out, gaining the attention of the older woman who had a bright smile on her face despite the wrinkles evident on her face.

"My favourite grandson has arrived. Come on son," Old Madam Huo smiled, rose to her feet, and gestured for him to give her a hug.

Huo Feng smiled, and gave her a hug. After they disentangled from the hug, Old Madam Huo turned to look at Yue Ning who was standing at the side.

"Is this your wife?" Old Madam Huo asked and slowly walked to Yue Ning.

"Yes, Grandma," Huo Feng admitted.

"Good day, Old Madam Huo," she greeted politely when the older woman stepped in front of her.

"Good, she’s beautiful. I like her very much, here, take." Old Madam Huo removed one of the bracelets on her wrist, thrusting it into Yue Ning’s hands immediately.

"Old Madam Huo, I can’t accept this. It is too expensive for me," Yue Ning pushed back the bracelet into Old Madam Huo’s hands.

"But you are our granddaughter-in-law, and this is your first visit, you need a gift," Old Madam Huo insisted, thrusting the bracelet back into Yue Ning’s hands.

Huo Feng looked at the back and forth between both ladies, and he felt a headache coming up.

"Okay, that’s enough, Grandma, she doesn’t want it, so don’t force her. You should be worried about your health instead," Huo Feng held her while directing her to sit.

"It’d have been better for you to collect it, Grandmother doesn’t like it when people refuse her gifts," Huo Feng suddenly whispered in her ears, startling Yue Ning whose hands directly went to her chest.

"Why did you have to sneak up on me? And besides, I don’t think it would be right for me to collect it, after all, I am just your wife in name. We don’t have a good relationship," Yue Ning answered with a bitter smile.

Huo Feng’s face dropped at her words as the feeling of guilt began to eat into him. Yue Ning looked at his face, and a smile appeared on her face, albeit, subtly.

"Yue Ning, I..."

"Yue Ning, isn’t it? Come sit beside me, don’t know what you youngsters keep on whispering about," Old Madam Huo interrupted Huo Feng’s speech.

Yue Ning smiled and approached the older lady, taking a seat beside her.

"Girl, I don’t know if you are worried about what my son would say if you accepted my gift, but he doesn’t have to know, does he?" OLd Madam Huo smiled, and placed the bracelet in her hands.

"But Old Madam, I..."

"Don’t worry, I want to give this to you. This bracelet has a symbolic meaning, Feng’s mother wore it, I wore it, my mother-in-law wore it as well," Old Madam Huo smiled, a nostalgic look in her eyes.

Yue Ning looked at the bracelet in her eyes, and she finally understood why the Old Lady was adamant on giving her the bracelet. It was a bracelet worn by all daughter-in-laws of the family.

But there was something she didn’t understand, the Old Madam clearly didn’t like her. She knew this because of the system, so she couldn’t understand why she was giving her the bracelet.

’It is a tradition, and Old Madam Huo values traditions more than anything. Although she doesn’t like you, she has no choice than to give you the bracelet,’ the system explained to her, and Yue Ning let out a nod in return.

"I now understood why you gave me this mission at first, but still, you are out to kill me," Yue Ning replied to the system.

’Host, you can appease her by giving her the gift,’ the system reminded, and that was when Yue NIng recalled that she had a one-of-a-kind antique in her pocket.

"Old Madam Huo, I also have a gift for you," Yue Ning informed her with a beautiful smile.

Huo Feng whose attention was on her was dazzled by the smile before he understood her statement.

"Gift? How was she able to get a gift? I informed her about the visit on short notice, and she was with me throughout, how could she find time to get a gift?" Huo Feng muttered to himself. His voice was filled with suspicion while he had his eyes on her.

"I was not sure of your preferences, but this was what I got for you," Yue Ning handed her the antique wrapped in a gift box.

’Why does it feel a bit heavy? Wouldn’t she be mad at me for placing such a gift in my pocket?’ Yue Ning thought to herself.

She remembered that Old Madam Huo valued perfection more than anything in the original novel, so there was no way she wouldn’t be mad at her actions.

’I knew the system was digging a grave for me,’ she mumbled to herself while taking her lower lips into her mouth. She stared at the older lady fearfully while she prayed fervently that she would not throw a fit.

Meanwhile, Huo Feng’s gaze was on Yue Ning who had a nervous look on her face, and his lips curled slowly.

’The host shouldn’t blame me. At least, I helped prepare a gift, I am quite better than your husband who didn’t think of this. Hmph.’ The system scoffed, and Yue Ning exhaled.

"This is beautiful, I never would have thought that I’d see this after so many years."

Old Madam Huo’s excited voice alerted Yue Ning who turned to look at her with wide eyes.