But Shen Wei knew that Li Na was saying all this for her own good.
“Actually, I was just speaking casually.”
Only then did Li Na feel relieved. “That’s good. We’re still young we’ll definitely meet good men.”
“What kind of good man? Someone like Wang Qingsong?” Shen Wei asked.
Li Na got back on her bicycle. “He told me he wants to settle our engagement before the New Year. He said his grandmother is very old, and if she doesn’t get to see her eldest grandson get married, she won’t be able to rest in peace when she passes.”
“Then let her leave with her eyes open,” Shen Wei said bluntly, showing no sympathy. “But you need to think carefully whether Wang Qingsong is worth trusting for your whole life.”
“A woman has two chances at rebirth in life. The first is birth, which we can’t choose. So for the second chance, you must keep your eyes wide open.”
Those words struck Li Na deeply.
“That’s exactly why I’m still hesitating,” she said. “Wang Qingsong is fine in many ways, but he seems a bit too obedient to his mother.”
“That time I went to his house for dinner, I already said I didn’t like dumplings, but his mother still made them. He could clearly see I wasn’t happy, but he kept insisting on saying his mother said dumplings are good for the body.”
“But my mom says this little flaw doesn’t really affect daily life. Other times he treats me pretty well.”
Li Na showed Shen Wei her wrist. “This bracelet cost over ten yuan. He gave it to me for my birthday last year.”
“A man who’s too obedient to his mother is called a ‘mama’s boy.’ It’s not a big problem, but it’s not a small one either it depends on the situation,” Shen Wei said thoughtfully, trying to give Li Na a reminder first.
“The Wang family only has one house. After you get married, you’ll definitely live together. For small things like daily meals, if everything follows his mother’s opinion, that might still be tolerable.”
“You can endure it, since whatever his mother says is always ‘right.’ But if it comes to something like childbirth deciding whether to save the mother or the baby and he still listens to his mother, then tell me… do you think his mother would choose to save the mother or the baby?”
This wasn’t something Shen Wei made up to scare Li Na.
Because in her previous life, this really happened to Li Na.
During her second pregnancy, Li Na had a difficult childbirth. That old woman insisted she shouldn’t go to the hospital, saying women of their generation always gave birth at home.
It was Shen Wei who went to check on her and found Li Na already so weak she could barely speak. Shen Wei had to threaten the old woman with a kitchen knife before forcing neighbors to help send Li Na to the hospital, saving her life by a narrow margin.
Wang Qingsong had stood there the whole time, listening to his mother, telling Li Na not to be so dramatic and to just push harder.
After that, Wang Qingsong even came to resent Shen Wei, believing she had driven a wedge between him and his mother-in-law relationship with Li Na.
“I… I don’t think so?” Li Na said after hearing this, genuinely a bit scared. But deep down she also understood if the choice of saving mother or child was in the mother-in-law’s hands, the chance of choosing the mother was very small.
It seemed she really needed to carefully observe Wang Qingsong for a while and not rush into deciding.
Over the next two days, Shen Wei continued selling buns at the market. She got up at 4 a.m. every day and sold about 500 buns daily, earning a stable income of around 30 yuan.
She also found time to apply for a health permit and a business license.
One day while she was selling buns, she saw her grandparents.
They stood across the street, looking at her with complicated expressions disapproval mixed with disgust.
But Shen Wei was already used to that kind of look. She didn’t care at all and continued with her work, with no intention of going over to greet them.
The severance agreement had already been written. From now on, they had no real connection.
But the old couple of the Shen family clearly didn’t think so. They insisted on standing across from Shen Wei’s bun stall, waiting for her to greet them first.
After all, they were her elders.
The buns this damn girl made were still as fragrant as ever. Ever since they moved back to the old house with their younger son’s family, they hadn’t eaten a proper meal.
Yu Li was not the kind of woman who knew how to take care of people. She just threw everything into a pot and boiled it into a mess.
Smelling the aroma of the buns, the old couple couldn’t help swallowing their saliva.
No matter how much they wanted to eat, they still refused to lower their elder’s dignity unless Shen Wei took the initiative to offer it to them.
And so, they waited for over an hour.
By then, Shen Wei had already sold her last vegetable bun.
Seeing that she was about to pack up and leave, the old couple could no longer hold on to their pride and walked over to her stall.
“How long are you going to keep making trouble?” Old Master Shen lectured her. “In just these two days, you’ve become quite the celebrity in Yuncheng! First you sold the house and rented another one, then you cut ties with the family, and even caused a scene at the Lu family. Do you still see us as your grandparents at all?”
“Forget it,” Old Madam Shen said, knowing Shen Wei was no longer as easy to control as before, so her tone softened a bit. “Your grandfather and I can say a few good words for you in front of your uncle and aunt. Go apologize to them and come back home.”
Without this granddaughter at home, their lives really felt uncomfortable.
“Go back?” Shen Wei knew exactly how selfish these two were. When news of her parents’ death had first arrived, they hadn’t felt grief at all their first concern had been their own old-age security. “Go back and continue serving you two?”
“Watch your mouth!” Old Madam Shen snapped angrily. “Who ever said you were there to serve us? You were born a girl, of course we had to teach you how to wash, cook, and take care of the household otherwise, what family would ever marry you?”
“You don’t appreciate our good intentions and now you’ve become so unruly you really lack discipline!”
“Yes, I am lacking discipline,” Shen Wei gave a bitter smile. “Because my parents died early and no one taught me right from wrong. But two days ago, I already went to the newspaper and publicly severed ties with you. So you no longer have any right to control me.”
“You… You.. You!” Old Master Shen’s beard trembled with rage when he heard she had really cut ties with the family. “Don’t think we can’t do anything to you! I’m telling you, you were raised on Shen family food and you carry Shen family blood. Your parents are dead so you have a duty to support us in our old age!”
“Since you’re selling buns now, from today on you must hand over half your earnings to us every day. Otherwise, we’ll report you for being unfilial!”
They were acting just as unreasonably as in her previous life.
In her past life, after Shen Wei married into the Lu family, these two often used the excuse of “missing her” to visit. Sometimes they would just come to freeload meals, and when they felt unwell, they would even move into the Lu household and wait for her to serve them.
Back then, Shen Wei thought they truly cared about her, so she took care of them wholeheartedly. Until one day, she overheard them secretly giving money to her uncle’s son Xiao Dong.
“Grandpa, keep this money for medicine,” Xiao Xi tried to refuse.
“No need,” the old man said. “We have your Sister Weiwei to take care of our medicine. Only when this money is spent on our eldest grandson will I feel at ease.”
In her second life, Shen Wei finally understood where a person’s money goes is where their affection lies.
She would no longer fall for their hypocrisy again.