It turned out that her husband had this idea. Lin Wan looked happier and complained gently, "Since you had this idea, why did you hide it from me? You put me in a bad position today."

"What happened?" Li Mu asked curiously.

Mrs. Hong explained it clearly in a few words, and then said, "The Shen Family really has a good plan. As soon as they recognized Li Mu, they tried to use his identity to make a fuss. It's indeed a good plan!"

"I asked them to do so!" Li Mu admitted bluntly.

Lin Wan and Mrs. Hong were stunned. Li Mu patted his wife on the forehead.

"Rack your head and think about why I did this?"

Lin Wan suddenly said, "To repay their kindness!"

Li Mu tapped her nose and said with a smile, "Yes, to repay their kindness. From now on, we will be free from any debt. No matter who we meet, we can face them confidently."

Madam Lin was no longer angry. If her husband thought so, she would naturally support him.

The result was not bad now. He had repaid the Shen Family with a half share of the profit. Since now, she and her husband would no longer owe any debt to the Shen Family.

"This is a good idea!" Mrs. Hong said with a smile, "It had made us even with the Shen Family, and we won't feel that we owe them anymore."

"Yeah, I don't like to be in debt. Xinyue wouldn't morally kidnap me, but I still want to repay them. Otherwise, I would certainly have trouble sleeping and eating."

"Li Mu, you are doing it mainly for the Shen Family!"

"Mrs. Hong, you’re so smart. You’ve read my mind. Xingyue wouldn't care about it, but it doesn't mean that the Shen Family wouldn't. I can't be selfish enough to put Xingyue on the spot. I did it to shut them up."

Lin Wan complained, "It’s a good idea, but you should have discussed it with me in advance. You should not make decisions on your own. If you had told me, I would definitely have agreed."

"Silly girl, of course, I know you would have agreed, but do you think Third Uncle and others would have agreed?"

"What could they do if they didn't agree? I'm the householder of the Lin Family, and they wouldn't dare to go against my decision."

"They wouldn't dare to go against it, but you would have a conflict because of it. They might even hate you, thinking that you have betrayed your family and chosen an outsider over them. I didn't dare to take this risk, so I could only hide it from you."

"Well, I could have kept it from them so that they wouldn’t have a chance to blame me!"

Mrs. Hong suddenly said, "Lin Wan, I understand Li Mu’s intention. If we had known it in advance, we wouldn’t have looked as surprised as Third Uncle and the others when the Shen Family attacked us. Li Mu just wanted to protect us by taking all of us out of this thing."

Li Mu said nothing and gave her a thumbs up.

Lin Wan also understood her husband's intentions, so she couldn't help kissing him and saying softly, "Well, you’re always so smart."

"I had no choice. The Lin Family is such a big family, and its clansmen are greedy as a pack of hungry wolves. If I weren’t smart enough, the two of us would be eaten alive by them sooner or later. We have to be careful!"

Lin Wan sighed helplessly.

After a moment of silence, she suggested, "Honey, I want to hold a formal recognition ceremony for you and Third Grandaunt. The scale should be large, and I’ll invite all the heads of other families over to witness it."

"Why? I've already recognized her respectfully!" Li Mu asked in surprise.

"That doesn't count. It was too casual. Since you want to recognize her as your adopted mother, you should formally bow to her in public. I will also bow to her and formally recognize her as my husband’s adopted mother."

Mrs. Hong applauded it, "It's a good idea to beat them at their own game. They would have to agree. Lin Wan, this idea is really brilliant. It’s great!"

She looked very happy and felt much relieved. Her sister-in-law had been growing up and finally began to shine.

Li Mu also realized something and said cheerfully, "Okay, I will listen to my wife. I will do whatever you say!"

Shen Zixing asked worriedly, "Mrs. Hong, will we sisters be affected?"

Mrs. Hong smiled softly, "You are Third Grandaunt's disciple, not her daughter. It has nothing to do with you, so don't worry."

The two sisters were relieved. They only had eyes for Brother Mu and their Master. They didn’t bother to care about anyone else.

As the reincarnations of the Earth Demon, they were cold by nature. Besides, they were not familiar with Shen Xingyue. The latter was their Master's biological daughter, but they didn’t feel sorry for her at all.

For them, as long as they could follow Brother Mu, anyone could be their eldest sister. They couldn’t care less about it!

...

After the news that the Lin Family was going to hold a recognition ceremony broke, as expected, the mother and daughter of the Shen Family felt so troubled.

Lin Wan played it so brilliantly that they immediately felt that they had brought it on themselves, but they couldn’t refuse. They had to bite the bullet and agree.

They had no choice but to agree because they had no reason to reject the Lin Family's proposal. A flat rejection would be equivalent to refusing to recognize Li Mu. Then why should they take a half share of the Cheng Family's profits?

Third Grandaunt had used her adopted son's being bullied as an excuse to take a half share of the Cheng Family's profits. If Li Mu was no longer her adopted son, would she have to give it back to the Lin Family?

The reason was very simple. Li Mu was the son-in-law of the Lin Family. If he was no longer the adopted son of the Shen Family, the compensation from the Cheng Family would certainly be taken by the Lin Family.

The two felt bitter, but they had to swallow it now. What was even more depressing was that their family members all agreed with the Lin Family's proposal, and they thought it was a win-win situation. Only Crew Cut Taoist knew what his daughter was thinking. The three of them frowned.

When no outsider was around, Third Grandaunt discussed countermeasures with her husband and daughter. Crew Cut Taoist complained to his wife, "Well, you’re so reckless. You're causing our daughter trouble again!"

"I didn't expect such a thing to happen. That girl is good. We’ve underestimated her."

"She grew up in an environment of intrigue. What do you think she doesn't understand? She looks simple when she doesn't care. But when she is willing to pay attention, she will naturally be difficult to deal with."

Shen Xingyue looked at her parents calmly with no annoyance on her face.

Third Grandaunt felt a little embarrassed and whispered, "Yueni, it's my fault. I've caused you trouble again. I’m so sorry!"

"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about?" Shen Xingyue rolled her eyes at her, "You are doing it for my good. Even if you did something wrong with good intentions, I wouldn't blame you. Don’t have a bee in your head."

Crew Cut Taoist said with emotion, "Honey, our daughter is so sweet. We’re lucky to have her!"

"Yeah, she is a gift from God. But we’re not good parents, and we can’t always protect her."

"Mom, you’re talking nonsense again. I’m lucky to have you as my parents. You don't have to feel guilty. I will find a way to deal with it."

Hearing that she had a solution, the couple felt much more relieved. Third Grandaunt asked, "Yueni, tell me if you have any good ideas."

"She’s just trying to morally kidnap me so that I can't hit on Brother Mu."

"Yeah, this trick is quite clever and not easy to deal with.”

"I don’t think so, Mother. After all, you are just Brother Mu's adopted mother and you’re not related to him by blood. I definitely won't recognize him as my eldest brother. Dad, don't recognize him. You and I need to stay out of this."

That being said, was it really that simple? The couple looked at each other and knew that given the current situation, it would be useless to think much about it. They had to play it by ear.

...

At the manor of the Cheng Family, Cheng Feng was kneeling on the floor in the hall of the villa with red and swollen cheeks. He had been slapped by his father many times.

Cheng Kunan pointed at his nose and scolded, "B*st*rd, our Cheng Family is really unfortunate to have you. You’re so disappointing and embarrassing. You disgraced our ancestors. B*st*rd, why don't you go to hell?"

As he spoke, his anger rose again. He slapped his son heavily again.

Blood began to drip from the corners of Cheng Feng's mouth, but he still held his head high stubbornly.

Madam Cheng felt sorry for her son and pleaded with her husband, "Forget it, Kunan. Don't beat or scold him anymore. Feng made a stupid mistake because he was used by Eighth Brother and others. You can't blame him entirely for this!"

"Well, you are still trying to protect him. Take a good look at him. He has been spoiled by you. You’re responsible for how he is now!"

It was the first time Cheng Kunan had yelled at his wife. But instead of getting angry, she just sighed and wept in silence.

"Dad, don't blame Mom. It's all my fault. It has nothing to do with Mom. If you’re angry, just blame it on me!" Cheng Feng shouted.

Seeing that his son showed no remorse, Cheng Kunan became even more furious. He picked up the stone ornament on the coffee table and threw it at Cheng Feng's head.

Madam Cheng was scared half to death. The stone rock was not big, but it still weighed twenty or thirty pounds. If it hit her son's head, he would probably be killed.

In a hurry, she couldn't care about anything else. She threw herself on her son like a protective hen to protect him.

"Why don’t you beat us two to death?"

The housekeeper and entourages on the side were all terrified. Without anyone's orders, they all rushed up and took the weapon from their master's hand.

Then they all fell to their knees, begging for mercy for their young master one after another.

Cheng Kunan calmed down, and he was also a little scared. He had been so impulsive just now. If he had killed his son by accident, the family would fall apart.

He waved his hand and said to them, "Get up!"

Then he personally helped his wife to her feet. After sitting her on the sofa, he said softly, "Well, you always protect him every time I teach him a lesson. Look what he has become now."

Madam Cheng rolled her eyes at her husband and protested, "What's wrong with my son? Ask yourself what's wrong with my son?"

"What? Do you think he did the right thing?"