The Useless Stepmom Brings Her Kids to Reality TV Shows to Photograph Them

174 As If She Had Mastered Some Demonic Art

On the ice-skating rink, Li Zexin’s devilish laughter echoed.

At the Royal Water Bay, Li Yanchen reluctantly opened a box of red goji berries that Xiao Tianlin had given him. He drank a cup and went to Chenxin.

Lin Wan slept until she woke up a few hours later. When she opened her eyes, she saw hundreds of messages in the Circle of Madams group chat. Many tagged her in their messages.

[@Mrs. Li, are you free today? I want to ask you what to do with that Liu Xin.]

!!

[@Wanwan, are you up yet? My family’s clubhouse is opening today and it’s just in the neighborhood. I’ll give you a free full body spa session.]

[@Xiaowan, your relationship with Mr. Li is so good. How did you do it? That dumb man in my family just separated from me.]

[@Mrs. Li, do you want to play mahjong? If you win, it’s on you. If you lose, it’s on me.]

[@Wanwan, you’re still not up?]

[@Mrs. Li, we recommend you to be the leader of the ladies. Do you have time for a gathering?]

[@Mrs. Li, if you don’t reply, we will come to your house directly.]

…

“What’s even happening?” Lin Wan muttered to herself.

She washed up and went downstairs in her pajamas. Before she left the living room, she heard people talking.

Auntie Huang, who was cleaning the place, put down the mop. “Good morning, Madam. Sir went to the office and told me not to wake you up.”

“Good morning, Auntie.” Lin Wan nodded. “Is there some event today? Why is it so noisy outside?”

“It’s the ladies next door. They came to look for you early in the morning. I was afraid of disturbing your rest. I told them you were still sleeping. They said they would wait in the courtyard.” Auntie Huang looked confused by all the commotion.

In the past, the ladies had invited Lin Wan to play mahjong with them but she wasn’t interested. So, after a while, they had stopped insisting in the group.

Today, a few of them had gathered outside the house. Auntie Huang had told them that she would pass on their message. She had not expected them to wait in the courtyard outside.

“Oh, let me see.” Lin Wan pushed the door open and walked out.

When they saw Lin Wan, all the ladies swarmed to her.

“Mrs. Li, why are you still in your pajamas? Aiyo, quickly change your clothes and come with me.” Mrs. Liu was the first to hold Lin Wan’s hand.

“Mrs. Liu, how did you know that I’d be leaving tonight? Wanwan, my family’s clubhouse is opening today, and I just cut the ribbon. I’ll treat you to a full body Spa. It will be free for you in the future too.” Mrs. Zhou immediately pulled Mrs. Liu’s hand away.

“There is also a full massage service, ” she whispered into Lin Wan’s ear. “Women need to take good care of themselves.”

“Mrs. Zhou, Mrs. Liu, it’s not appropriate for the two of you to fight over a person in this manner. Xiao Wan, I’m Mrs. Han from Block 1. I’m a little older than you. I came to ask you about the steps for making the Starry Sky Flowing Heart Tiramisu.”

“Shouldn’t it be first-come first-serve? I mentioned Wanwan in the group chat first. Why are you all rushing forward at the same time?” Mrs. Feng and Mrs. Qiu, who were at the door diagonally opposite the Li family’s house, stood in front of Lin Wan.

…

Lin Wan’s face darkened. She was being pushed left and right.

She shook off the hands of all the ladies and took two steps back. “What’s happening?”

The madams all rushed forward, talking to her all at once.

After a while, Lin Wan finally understood what was going on. She wondered which shameless marketing account had made a big deal out of her and Li Yanchen for the sake of viewership. They had even come of with an eye-catching title:

[Husband Controlling Technique]

She swiped on her phone and searched for the article. It was about four to five thousand words long. The entire article was made out to be some kind of secret knowledge that was finally unlocked. If she wasn’t the center of the article, she would have been drawn into it too.

However, as the person involved, Lin Wan felt as if there were thorns in her back after reading the article. The author almost demonized her and compared her to Su Daji, as if she had mastered some Demonic Art that had made Li Yanchen fall head over heels for her. This was what had led to the ladies coming in droves to her house. But she really hadn’t done anything.

“Auntie Huang, pour everyone a cup of tea.” Lin Wan asked the ladies to sit down.

“This article is just spouting nonsense.” She stood among the ladies and explained.

“Mrs. Li, don’t be embarrassed. We really want to just know the basics.”

“Let’s stop with the pleasantries. My family’s business isn’t as big as Mr. Li’s, but he’s never home. I don’t know what he’s busy with.”

“I just want to have a child to strengthen my position in the family. He’s always gone, so I can’t have a child. Mr. Li, on the contrary, is always hanging around you.” Mrs. Liu decided to go all out.

All these seemingly glamorous ladies were unbearable.

“Me too! After marrying a Big Businessman, I lived pretty glamorously. But who knew that I’d be staying in an empty house all day long? Your Yanchen is different! Before he got married, I rarely saw his car in the parking lot. After he married you, he rarely wants to leave home. When I bumped into him as he was leaving this morning, he looked as radiant as a sun,” said Mrs. Qiu.

“Why don’t we all go to my clubhouse and chat while having a spa?” Mrs. Zhou suggested.

“I think that would be great.” The five ladies nodded and looked at Lin Wan with anticipation.

Lin Wan narrowed her eyes. ‘Were the ladies in this world so open-minded? They even want to talk about such personal matters.’

Lin Wan clasped her hands. “I really don’t know what to tell you.”

“Wanwan, then let’s just have a casual chat. You see, you’ve been at the Royal Water Bay for two months and you haven’t even hung out with us. When the men go out to work, we can meet-up to pass the time.” Mrs. Liu tried persuading her.

“That’s right, Mrs. Li. We can become good sisters. Although your family doesn’t lack money, it’s not bad to have more friends, right?”

“Mrs. Zhou’s clubhouse is a chain store. The place is quite good. Mrs. Zhou has already offered free service. We can have a full body Spa to relax. It’s boring to stay at home all day, so why not enjoy our time?”

…

Lin Wan finally gave in. She didn’t want to take advantage of Mrs. Zhou’s free spa offer but she was getting annoyed by the ladies. No matter how many times she said no, they kept trying to persuade her.

At the Lili Club, Mrs. Zhou had arranged for all the ladies to be led into the largest private room and appointed the most experienced technician to serve them.

Although Lin Wan had just woken up, she started feeling sleepy with the massage.

The other ladies were in high spirits. They chatted for a while and then finally fell asleep.

In the afternoon, Li Yanchen rushed home for lunch but did not see Lin Wan anywhere.

“Auntie, where’s Wanwan?” Li Yanchen found Auntie Huang in the backyard.

...

Auntie Huang told him about the other ladies who had gathered in the morning. Li Yanchen called Lin Wan.

Lin Wan accepted the phone and put it on speaker. “Hello?”

“Honey, where are you?” said Li Yanchen. “I just reached home for lunch. I miss you. Should I come pick you up?”

The ladies in the room opened their eyes and began to whisper in low voices.

“So clingy!”

“He left in the morning and came home for lunch and already misses her?”

“Mr. Zhou is a few years younger than Mr. Li, but still, he isn’t as bold.”