CHAPTER 145: CHAPTER 140 I’M NOT A LITTLE SWINDLER

"Yi Luowa, you’re something else! Even at such a young age, you can come up with such a lousy idea!" Tong Airui was furious, and he smacked her rear.

Yi Luowa’s face turned bright red from the hit. Pouting, she said, "I wasn’t trying to be mischievous. I just wanted to be the boss of Huo Li and didn’t think about anything else. You have no idea how dumb Huo Li is. She thought of all sorts of tricks but still couldn’t make five hundred bucks. Then I came along and snagged a sucker like you with just one stroke."

Tong Airui reached out to hit her again, but this time Yi Luowa reacted extremely quickly, immediately covering her rear with her hands.

"We absolutely can’t let you take care of our kids in the future!" Not succeeding in landing the hit, Tong Airui bit her nose in frustration. "How did you even spend that five hundred bucks?"

"Gave it to a beggar. I don’t lack money anyway." Yi Luowa pouted and rubbed her nose, muttering that Tong Airui was like a dog since being with him always left her hurt. "You knew you’d been tricked, so why didn’t you ask us to return the five hundred bucks? If you had, we would’ve met then."

"Couldn’t be bothered to ask! Though it’s probably a good thing I didn’t—otherwise, with you being such a little swindler, would I even have fallen in love with you?"

Yi Luowa looked dissatisfied. "I am not a swindler. That day, Huo Li and I were out playing and saw a beggar on the street whose baby was sick. She said all she needed was five hundred bucks to treat her child. But neither Huo Li nor I had money, so we had to figure out a way to raise it. You looked like you were rich, so I came up with that idea."

"Why didn’t you just say I looked like I was easy to con?" Tong Airui asked irritably.

"I wanted to, but you either hit me or bit me," Yi Luowa replied, aggrieved, sniffing her nose.

Tong Airui had just started to feel a twinge of guilt when the little troublemaker piped up again. "Don’t think I’m easy to bully! Right now I’m letting it slide because you’re injured, but once you’re better, if I can’t beat you into submission, I won’t be Yi Luowa!"

Tong Airui looked at her with amusement. "I’ll wait for the day you manage to deal with me."

"Looking at your punchable face right now already makes me want to hit you." Yi Luowa raised her head, grabbed his chin with her teeth, and fiercely asked, "Submitting or not?"

"Haha... I submit, I submit." Tong Airui laughed and lightly bumped his forehead against hers. "Let’s drop it and rest for a bit; neither of us has had proper sleep these past few days."

Yi Luowa softly hummed a response and lay back down.

Tong Airui chuckled and pulled her into his arms.

The two of them slept until four o’clock. If it hadn’t been for Yi Luowa’s phone ringing, they might’ve kept sleeping. In recent days, they hadn’t properly tended to their injuries and had been mentally drained—truthfully, they were exhausted.

Yi Luowa squinted her eyes, reached for her phone, and pressed the answer button without even looking. "Hello~"

"Fourth sister-in-law, sorry for waking you." On the other end of the line was Ai Ni, her voice slightly apologetic.

Yi Luowa snapped awake immediately. "Ai Ni, are you looking for Tong Airui?"

"Yes. I tried calling my brother, but his phone is with Yuan Hang. Yuan Hang doesn’t dare wake my fourth brother, so I could only call you."

Yi Luowa quickly glanced at the sleepy-eyed Tong Airui. "Tong Airui, it’s Ai Ni on the phone."

Tong Airui furrowed his brows slightly. "Have you completely forgotten everything after sleeping? Repeat what you just said properly, or I won’t take the call."

Yi Luowa rubbed her eyes, spent a moment figuring out where she’d gone wrong, and immediately switched to a cheerful expression. "Fourth brother, it’s Ai Ni looking for you."

Tong Airui shot her a sidelong glance before taking the phone. "What’s the situation?"

In a hushed voice, Ai Ni said, "Brother, Grandpa won’t let me or my fifth brother say a word. He dragged You Jia into the study alone, and I overheard him yelling at You Jia."

Tong Airui’s brows furrowed slightly. "How long has he been yelling?"

"Over forty minutes."

"Go find Grandma and tell her to fake feeling unwell. First, get You Jia out of there. Then, you cry—don’t say a single word."

"Will that work?"

Tong Airui nodded. "Grandpa usually vents his anger at Dad for a maximum of thirty minutes, and then he calms down. This has already exceeded that record, so his temper is likely softening. He loves you and can’t bear to see you cry—so just cry in front of him. And no matter what conditions he proposes, you and You Jia agree to them. Whether or not you follow through afterward, that’s up to you two."

"Brother, Grandpa said he wants to yell at you too."

Tong Airui smirked. "I’m not as dumb as you guys. Hurry up and go."

After putting down the phone, Tong Airui got out of bed and called Yuan Hang into the room. "Besides Ai Ni’s call, who else called?"

Yuan Hang handed him the phone. "Prince called once—it sounded like he had nothing serious to say, so I told him you were in a meeting, and he hung up. John Prince also called; he said he’d arrive in five days. A few others called too, but I handled everything I could."

Tong Airui shot him a sidelong glance. "Being around me for so long has made you smarter. Now get out."

Yuan Hang’s lips twitched slightly before responding and heading out the door.

Tong Airui turned his gaze to Yi Luowa, who was sitting on the bed staring blankly. "To avoid getting scolded by Grandpa, I’m going to need your cooperation."

"How am I supposed to cooperate?" Yi Luowa rubbed her head. For some reason, Grandpa felt even harder to deal with than Tong Airui’s father!

"Record a short video and send it to Grandpa to cool him down."