A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)
Chapter 980 Has He Finally Returned?

The lights in Mount Yunding Villa remained lit throughout the night.

The steaming dishes on the table gradually turned cold.

The beautiful woman in the mansion sat in the living room the whole night and waited for the young man.

"Mu-Cheng, let's not wait up for him anymore. Have some rest while there's still time. You have to go to work in a while." Ye Xi-Mei tried to persuade Qiu Mu-Cheng again. Watching the young woman sit there quietly was breaking her heart.

Qiu Mu-Cheng didn't say a word. Her flawless face revealed nothing.

Yet her heart was drowning in disappointment and resentment.

She had played out what had been supposed to happen tonight in her head countless times.

Soft music would play in the dining room as they sat around the table as a family. Ye Fan would share the stories that he had come across while Qiu Mu-Cheng pointed out the ridiculous things happening at the office. The candles would be blown and the birthday cake cut. They would savor the 1982 Lafite red wine.

Qiu Mu-Cheng had tried to imagine the utter look of surprise on Ye Fan's face when he got home and was greeted with a table full of dishes.

She had imagined the look of approval and admiration on his face.

He was supposed to realize that Qiu Mu-Cheng was no longer a wife who couldn't even put together a proper meal.

In fact, Qiu Mu-Cheng had considered the possibility of giving up the precious chastity that she had preserved for more than twenty years to him if he had pleased her. She would place herself fully in his hands have his children and let him have her completely.

It was meant to be a night of romance and goodness, of familial warmth and bliss.

Qiu Mu-Cheng had not expected her perfect dinner-the dinner that she had been looking forward to-to end up in a graveyard of broken dreams.

She felt utterly disappointed by Ye Fan's failure to keep his promise.

She was mad that he had not called to explain why he wasn't going to turn up in time when he had known that he would be running late.

She could bear with his broken promises and his lies, but she couldn't bear his callousness and his complete disregard for her.

Was it that hard to pick up the phone and make a call?

Qiu Mu-Cheng had made up her mind. She wasn't going to speak to that bastard for the rest of her life if he didn't give her an explanation for what he had broken his word.

He was absolutely infuriating. What a horrible man!

She had spent so much time preparing the dinner, but Ye Fan had played her out.

The more Qiu Mu-Cheng thought about it, the angrier and more upset she got.

She was quite certain that she would give him a hard smack and send him flying into the wall if he turned up right now.

They wouldn't be able to pry him off the wall!

It was time to get to work.

Qiu Mu-Cheng cleaned herself up and got ready to leave the house.

Before she left, she decided to clear the dishes on the table.

Ye Xi-Mei stopped her hastily when she saw what the young woman was doing.

"Mu-Cheng, what are you doing? That's the result of your hard work. We didn't even manage to try anything. They look delicious. How could you throw perfectly decent food away?"

Qiu Mu-Cheng scoffed. "Doesn't matter how great the food taste if somebody doesn't appreciate it at all. We might as well throw it all away."

"Don't do it, Mu-Cheng. Leave them. Don't worry, I'll make sure you get a proper explanation. When that rascal comes back, I'll make him get on his knees and finish everything. That scoundrel doesn't know what a great wife he has. I'm going to give him a proper beating when he gets back!" Ye Xi-Mei said angrily as she cursed at Ye Fan.

Ye Fan might be her son, but that didn't excuse him from what he had done. He was in the wrong and she shouldn't side with him. She had to speak up for her daughter-in-law.

As Ye Xi-Mei continued to spew curses at Ye Fan, she suddenly heard the sound of a car approaching the mansion.

Qiu Mu-Cheng's eyes instantly lit up.

Had he finally come?

She nearly rushed out of the house to receive him like some disgruntled young wife who had been stuck guarding an empty house and had suddenly received news of her husband's return and couldn't wait to greet him at the door.

"That rascal's finally back. Mu-Cheng, don't go. You stayed up the whole night waiting for him. How dare he make you greet him at the door? We're going to sit right here and let him make his own way in and apologize to us."

Ye Xi-Mei yanked Qiu Mu-Cheng back. The two women landed up sitting in front of the table like a pair of judges in the courtroom waiting for the suspect to admit to his wrongdoing.

The sound of footsteps drew near.

Then, it stopped at the door.

Nothing stirred for a long time.

"Mum, I think I should go and take a look." Qiu Mu-Cheng appeared a little worried. This wasn't the Ye Fan she knew.

He wasn't the kind of man who lingered at the door, afraid to step into his own house.

"It's alright. The little punk's probably trying to come up with an excuse to get out of trouble. That's why he's lingering outside. We'll just wait. Let's see what excuse he manages to come up with. He missed his own mother's birthday and lied to his wife. What was he thinking? Is he trying to revolt?" cursed Ye Xi-Mei. A warm and fuzzy feeling filled Qiu Mu-Cheng's insides when she heard her mother-in-law's words. Ye Xi-Mei treated her better than her parents treated her.

Her parents had never spoken up for her this way.

After a long period of silence, they heard the sound of footsteps outside the door again.

Then, the sound of the door being pushed open could be heard.

Ye Xi-Mei raised her voice and started scolding her son instantly.

"You rascal, you've finally decided to come home, have you? What a fine man you've become! You've decided that you don't need a mother or a wife, haven't you? Do you know how much work Mu-Cheng put into cooking a sumptuous spread for us? Did you know that we stayed up all night waiting for you? You scoundrel, why didn't you call if you knew you weren't coming home? Why did you turn your phone off? Are you trying to drive me to an early grave? Get your ass in here right now and apologize to Mu-Cheng!"

Ye Xi-Mei stared at the open door and grew even more furious when the person outside continued to linger beyond her sight instead of stepping into the house.

Qiu Mu-Cheng didn't say a word. Staying up the whole night had left her exhausted and it was showing on her face.

She simply sat there, sipping quietly at her wine without sparing a single glance at the door.

Her composure betrayed none of the emotions that were bubbling beneath her veneer of calmness.

She was upset that Ye Fan had lied to her but also overjoyed that he had returned.

She should be raining fire and fury on Ye Fan for bailing on her last night.

But she didn't have to. Her mother-in-law was speaking up for her.

All she had to do was sit there quietly and wait for that scoundrel to apologize to her for not showing up.

It struck Qiu Mu-Cheng then. Mothers-in-law were such wonderful creatures.

Neither Qiu Mu-Cheng nor Ye Xi-Mei expected the sight that greeted them next.

The person who walked through the doorway wasn't the former's husband and the latter's son, Ye Fan. It was a young woman with tears streaming down her cheeks. "Nannan? Why are you here?" asked Ye Xi-Mei in bewilderment when she saw Chen

Nan.