CHAPTER 141: CHAPTER 141; DADDY IS VERY SCARY

Even now, sitting across from him as an adult, she felt the same invisible leash around her neck.

The servants crept around the table, setting down steaming bowls of rice, fragrant meats, and delicate vegetable dishes. All the dishes were healthy food.

Not a single clatter of porcelain echoed, and every motion was careful, reverent, as though they too feared the weight of Jin Shuren’s gaze and disturbing him.

Fang Lin caught one of the younger maids glancing nervously at her before quickly lowering her head, pouring tea in silence before retreating.

Their restraint only deepened Fang Lin’s sense of suffocation, the atmosphere pressing in on her chest. Her Uncle hasn’t changed one bit and is just as cruel as always.

Yueqin, oblivious to the storm in her aunt’s mind, poked her rice with a chopstick and added with a giggle, "Daddy is very scary when he’s angry. But he listens to me. So you better behave, Fang Lin! He will do anything I tell him to do."

Yueyao was also nervous noticing how Fang Lin was tensed. It seemed like this man wasn’t a joke to play around with without getting burned.

"Qin Qin.... Have these vegetables, they are delicious and good for health." Yueyao nervously picked up vegetables and passed them to her Bowl.

"Thank you, Momma...." Yueqin giggled as she enjoyed her meal. Now Yueyao wondered why Yueqin wasn’t scared of Jin Shuren.

"Have your meal." Seeing her dazed and mind wandering off, he picked up a few pieces of meat and placed them in her bowl.

Yueyao’s chopsticks paused mid-air, her lashes fluttering as she glanced at the meat in her bowl.

The gesture was simple, ordinary even, yet coming from him it carried the weight of command rather than care. She forced a small smile, lowering her gaze as though gratitude would be enough to keep the silence from becoming unbearable.

Across the table, Fang Lin’s hands tightened around her chopsticks.

The sight stirred memories she wished she could bury, meals where a misplaced word had led to icy lectures or the sharp crack of discipline.

She swallowed hard, willing herself not to fidget under his watchful presence.

Yueqin, however, remained blissfully unaware of the undercurrents. She chewed happily, crumbs dotting the corner of her lips as she chattered happily, "Daddy, you always give Momma the best pieces of meat. See, Fang Lin? He’s not so scary after all!"

A faint curve touched Jin Shuren’s lips, not quite a smile, but a shadow of one, sharpened with authority. His gaze swept the table, pausing on Fang Lin for a moment before settling back on Yueyao, steady and inscrutable.

"Eat," he said simply ordering, his deep voice leaving no room for disobedience.

Fang Lin lowered her head immediately, the echo of her childhood obedience rising unbidden. Yueyao did the same, hiding her unease in the clink of her chopsticks against the bowl.

The servants, having retreated to the edges of the room, exchanged quick, uneasy glances but kept their eyes lowered, waiting for the next command.

The atmosphere thickened with unspoken rules, with the sense that every word, every motion, was being weighed on invisible scales.

And in the center of it all, Yueqin hummed happily as though the tension did not exist, the only one free of the chains that bound the others.

The meal passed in near silence, broken only by the soft clink of bowls and the occasional murmur of Yueqin’s chatter.

Fang Lin forced herself to chew and swallow, though every bite seemed to lodge in her throat.

Yueyao ate dutifully, her movements graceful but stiff, as though she were performing before an audience.

At last, Jin Shuren set down his chopsticks with a quiet finality that signaled the end of the meal.

Immediately, the servants stepped forward, bowing slightly before beginning to clear the dishes.

Their motions were swift, practiced, careful not to disturb the charged quiet that lingered in the air.

"Fang Lin, take Yueqin upstairs to her bedroom and tuck her in." Jin Shuren’s hoarse voice cut through the silence, leaving no room for hesitation.

"Yes, Uncle..." Fang Lin murmured. She dabbed her lips with the napkin before rising, her movements careful, and respectful.

"My dear Daddy... Daddy, you said you would accompany me tonight!" Yueqin protested immediately, her lips forming a deep pout as she clung to her chopsticks.

"I will tomorrow. I promise you." He leaned forward, pressing a brief kiss to her forehead, the gesture firm yet final. He couldn’t accompany her tonight as he had urgent matters to deal with and couldn’t be delayed.

"All right Daddy!" She pouted her lips.

"Then let me accompany her," Yueyao offered quickly, seeing her daughter pouting like that, aching her heart. Her voice carried a hopeful note, and nothing was going to make her happy like cultivating their relationship, but before she could rise, Jin Shuren’s hand lifted ever so slightly, halting her. His gaze alone was enough to silence further protest.

Fang Lin reached for the little girl, lifting her from her seat with a faint smile meant to soften the moment. Without another word, she carried Yueqin toward the stairs, her steps echoing softly as they disappeared into the winding corridors above.

Yueyao nervously gazed at them, as the faint sound of Fang Lin’s footsteps faded with the child’s soft chatter, leaving the dining hall cloaked once more in heavy silence. The servants had long since withdrawn to the edges of the room, heads bowed, waiting for dismissal.

Jin Shuren rose from his chair with unhurried grace, his tall frame casting a long shadow across the floor. His gaze slid to Yueyao, steady and impenetrable, making her fingers tighten against the edge of the table.

She wondered what the problem was! So long as he didn’t take her daughter away, everything else would be just okay.

"Come with me," he spoke up without any other instructions.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. For a moment, she considered resisting, offering some excuse, but the quiet authority in his tone made such thoughts wither instantly. She rose, smoothing her skirt with trembling hands, and followed a step behind him.