Mrs Hale, I Surrender
Chapter 287 - 286 the two elders are acting masters, with exquisite acting skills

Chapter 287: 286 the two elders are acting masters, with exquisite acting skills

Outside, the cold wind whistled mournfully.

Inside, the elder was caressing his pipe, his eyes glancing towards the teapot not far away. Tim Payne hurriedly got up, poured a cup of dark plum with dried tangerine peel, and handed it over with both hands, but he didn’t reach for it.

The tea was scalding hot, and his fingertips were ironed to a bright red.

"Don’t you have anything to say to me?" the elder frowned.

"I really didn’t expect that you and Grandma would have such a siheyuan in Capital City—the proverb is right, ’A cunning rabbit has three burrows.’"

The old man only felt a headache coming on, "Don’t try to be slick with me!"

Tim Payne pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

"Well, how did you find it?"

"She was at Payne Corps customizing a ring and ran into some trouble. I happened to be at the company, so I stepped in and gave her a hand," Tim Payne recounted, still feeling it was all like a dream.

"It must have been destiny, the heavens sent her back."

As Tim Payne reflected, he couldn’t help but feel a warmth in his eyes.

The old man frowned: "You’re crying."

"No, I’m not."

"Your eyes are red."

"Grandpa, you’re really affecting the relationship between us," Tim Payne said.

"Do we have a relationship?" the old man arched his brow.

Tim Payne gritted his teeth and said nothing. In front of his grandfather, he would always be the grandson; therefore, he dared not talk back, merely holding the tea that was numbing his fingers from the heat.

"Do you know where you went wrong?" the old man reached out for the tea.

"Yes."

"Let’s hear it."

"There were too many leaks."

"..."

"After confirming her identity, I was indeed excited and couldn’t control my feelings. I didn’t realize I’d left so many clues."

The old man’s brow was tightly furrowed, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.

Tim Payne bit his cheek, "Grandpa, don’t worry, I will try to restrain myself in the future, not to let anyone see through me."

"Is that what I mean?"

"Isn’t it?"

"Such a big deal, and you hide it from me and your grandma, you little rascal..." The elder couldn’t restrain his emotions, his voice rising involuntarily, even his wrist holding the hot tea shaking unconsciously, causing tea to spill and scalding the back of his hand without him noticing.

"Keep your voice down," Tim Payne reminded!

"You’re such an idiot, hiding and keeping it secret, mysterious and unannounced. Who are you guarding against? Do you think that what happened back then was no accident?"

"And you can really put on a show. You called me recently pretending nothing had happened."

"So your wings are stiff now!"

The old man looked stern, and Tim Payne hung his head in silence, clearly admitting it.

"You think there’s a mole in the family and don’t tell me, are you worried I’ll cover up for them out of bias?"

"No, it’s just because..."

Tim Payne didn’t finish his sentence when Zoe Bell and the Old Lady walked out from another room, and the grandfather and grandson immediately changed their expressions to courteous and harmonious affection.

The Old Lady wanted to keep Zoe for dinner, which of course, she politely declined.

Zoe noticed the elder’s scalded hand and spoke up: "Grandpa, your hand..."

"Oh, I accidentally burnt it with the hot tea, I’ll take care of it."

After the old man left, Zoe continued to teach the Old Lady how to fold incense sticks. About five or six minutes later, he returned, his eyes tinged red, as if he had been crying.

After grandma cried, grandpa cried.

Zoe pursed her lips and gave her brother a look:

What’s going on?

Tim Payne didn’t respond, ready to take his sister and leave. The news of their grandparents’ return to Capital City wouldn’t stay hidden for long. The aunt’s family would definitely find out soon. If they were caught red-handed, the secret they had hidden for so long would be exposed.

Suddenly, their grandma sniffled, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, and pretended to wipe away nonexistent tears, "Ah, our family hasn’t been this lively in a long time."

"My spouse and I, although we have a son and a daughter, they’re both too busy, and the grandson, all he knows is work."

"Asking him to join us for a meal is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

"Seeing you today, I felt a good connection, and wanted to keep you for a simple meal. Your refusal is understandable, after all, you’re a stranger. To make a girl as lovely as a flower like you stay with two old people who are half in the grave, of course, you wouldn’t want to."

...

Tim Payne only felt his head buzzing.

My dear grandma,

You’re putting on a show here!

"Forget it, while it’s still dark, you better go," the Old Lady wiped her tears and heaved a sigh.

"Grandma, it’s not that I don’t want to stay with you, but cooking is really too troublesome, and I don’t want to cause trouble."

"We won’t cook, we’ll eat out."

"..." Zoe was stunned, "That, that’s not appropriate."

"Don’t worry, we both have our pensions, we have money."

The old patriarch suddenly spoke up, "Forget it, let them go. Our own grandson doesn’t want to spend time with us, why are you holding onto that young lady?"

Tim Payne was silently grinding his teeth in annoyance.

Right in front of me, you say this—really? Is that appropriate?

And that back and forth between you two, such a waste not going into acting.

Zoe Bell, unaware of the situation, thought about the two elderly living alone without their children’s company, and having seen them just cry, she felt compassion. She glanced at her brother, seeking his opinion.

If looks could kill, Tim would have been covertly assassinated by his own grandfather eight hundred times over!

"Why are you looking at him? He’s your employee; can he overrule the boss’s decision?" The Old Lady chuckled softly.

Zoe only said, "I’ll step out to give my husband a call."

The Old Lady nodded with a smile.

But the old patriarch frowned:

What is this nonsense?

Husband!

How come this fine cabbage was rooted out by a pig so early?

That young man from the Hale Family moves too quickly!

On the other hand, after buying coffee, Kyle Lowe found himself a bit lost. Eventually finding his way to the courtyard house, he was informed that his wife would be accompanying the two elders for dinner at a small restaurant nearby.

Kyle Lowe joined Tim Payne at the table.

This was a private family-owned restaurant, desolate to the extreme. Aside from their table, there were no other customers. Zoe initially thought the food must be poorly made, which was why business was slow, but to her surprise, the taste was exceptional.

"The food is so good, and yet there are no guests," Zoe murmured.

The old patriarch replied, "Because it’s cold."

The corners of Tim’s mouth twitched:

Keep making things up!

You must have told the owner in advance to book the entire restaurant.

You say I am good at pretending—as if you and grandma aren’t also experts?

"Grandma, is it just you and Grandpa living here usually?" Zoe asked casually.

"Yes, the children are all too busy, and even during the holidays, it’s rare for us to have a meal together," the Old Lady mentioned, her eyes beginning to redden.

Ever since their little granddaughter "passed away," the Payne family had not had a reunion!

Lonely and without festivities, a person was missing, and they could never really feel complete.

But this time, with their son and daughter-in-law’s return to Capital City, staging a grand banquet, how could the elders not be suspicious?

Others said it was about fighting for power, but they knew very well if it was really about craving for power and status, they wouldn’t have left Summerland for more than a decade.

There were things they had some suspicions about, but over the years, they had not found any trace whatsoever.

"Grandma, try this, it’s quite tasty," Zoe changed the subject, "You and Grandpa must have been married for many years now, seeing how close you are. I’m envious, being able to grow old together like you two."

"Don’t worry, you’ll be happy too."

The Old Lady beamed at her kindly.

Everyone except for Tim seemed to enjoy the meal thoroughly.

Zoe paid the bill in advance, which resulted in the Old Lady grasping her hand, apologizing profusely, and in the end, she even gave Zoe a string of amber that she was wearing.

"Grandma, this isn’t right, I can’t accept this."

"It’s just a trinket from the antique market, not worth much."

The Old Lady gave her two choices: either return the money for the meal or accept the amber. Not knowing much about amber and assuming it wasn’t worth much, Zoe felt obliged to accept it.

After dropping the elderly couple off, Zoe headed back to the Old House of the Hale Family.

She noticed that her brother had been very quiet all along the way, "Brother, is something on your mind?"

"No."

Zoe looked at the amber bracelet, "You believe now, right? Grandma’s a nice person, definitely not a scammer."

"..."

Tim forced a stiff smile—it really wasn’t a scam.

But it was the first time he realized how exquisite his grandparents’ acting skills were.

---

After dropping Zoe off at the Old House of the Hale Family, Tim planned to return and have a thorough talk with his grandparents. Just as he prepared to park the car, he spotted a familiar vehicle at the parking spot.

Soon, his phone vibrated—the call was from his mother.

"Tim, come back for a bit, your grandparents are back in the city."

"They arrived early?"

"Yeah, your aunt went to pick them up."

"I understand."

At that moment, Celine Payne was joyfully bustling around under the care of her maternal grandparents, helping the elders pack. She paused when she saw a burning Incense Stick and an incense container.

Her grandmother had poor eyesight and disliked incense smoke irritating her eyes, so why suddenly this incense matter?

What was key, however, was a packaging bag not far away, bearing the label "Triple & Double."

That shop name...

How familiar!