Wang Chunyan could see that her future sister-in-law didn’t know how to chop vegetables, start a fire… she didn’t seem to know how to do anything at all. She couldn’t help but secretly mock the old man’s poor judgment. Was Yunzheng really marrying a wife? He was clearly bringing home an ancestor to worship.
“Huixin, you never cooked at home, did you?” Wang Chunyan let out a light laugh. “That’s fine, you can learn slowly.”
Song Huixin raised her hand and sniffed the smell of scallions and garlic on her fingertips, curling her lips in disgust. “Not learning. Cooking every day and breathing in oil fumes will turn me into a sallow-faced housewife sooner or later.” This face of hers was meant for the camera.
“If you don’t learn, who’s going to cook at home? Yunzheng is pretty busy at the military district—it can’t be that a grown man does the cooking, right? Won’t outsiders laugh when they hear about it?”
“He’s managed to live just fine all these years, hasn’t he? Wherever he ate before, he can keep eating there. Who says cooking is a woman’s job?” Even if Song Huixin weren’t busy with her career, she still wouldn’t stay home waiting on a man and lose herself in the process.
The smile on Wang Chunyan’s lips froze. Yunzheng had either eaten at the old family compound or at the mess hall before. Was he going to bring his wife to eat at the old compound after starting his own family? So she’d have to cook for one more person now.
The thing Song Huixin and Lin Wanqing had most in common was: they didn’t stand on ceremony.
She was quite handy to order around.
She’d thought having two more people in the family would make things easier—now instead, she’d become the family’s sole labor force!
Wang Chunyan rolled her eyes in dissatisfaction and couldn’t help but speak with sarcasm. “If you don’t cook, and I don’t cook, I guess we’ll all just drink the northwest wind.”
Song Huixin crossed her arms and studied Wang Chunyan with interest. She could tell this woman had deliberately been making things difficult for Wanqing earlier, and had been putting on airs like a mother-in-law the whole time.
“What are you looking at me for?”
Wang Chunyan found Song Huixin’s stare somewhat baffling.
“Why do women have to make things hard for other women?” Song Huixin let out a cold scoff, cutting straight to the point. “You’d better drop those little schemes of yours from now on, or you’ll find we’re not so easy to bully.”
Wang Chunyan opened her mouth to say something, but the corner of her eye caught sight of her father-in-law in the courtyard outside. She immediately swallowed her anger and dared not say another word.
After more than twenty years as a daughter-in-law, she certainly couldn’t compete with Song Huixin, the newly arrived favorite.
Besides, Song Huixin was just her sister-in-law—whether she was good or bad had nothing to do with her. What Wang Chunyan truly cared about was her son’s marriage.
She wondered if her nephew had succeeded!
Lin Wanqing and Song Huixin basically stayed home and rarely went out, so Xiangdong never found the right opportunity to make his move.
Just now… Wang Chunyan had done it on purpose.
…
Lin Wanqing took the bus from the military compound gate straight to the hospital. She had just gotten off and hadn’t even made it through the hospital entrance when Wang Xiangdong, who had been waiting at the door, blocked her way.
“What a coincidence. We meet again.”
Wang Xiangdong still had his slovenly, cocky demeanor—one hand in his pocket, the other holding a cigarette between his fingers as he blew smoke rings.
A genuinely handsome man could look attractive even while smoking, with a certain charm to it.
But a man who only thought he was handsome looked even uglier smoking—like Wang Xiangdong.
Lin Wanqing could tell this wasn’t a “coincidence.” He had clearly been waiting here for her on purpose.
Wang Xiangdong and Wang Chunyan, aunt and nephew, had planned this together.
“Get lost.” Whether or not there was anything going on, Lin Wanqing didn’t want to waste words on him.
She lifted her foot and walked straight past him, but Wang Xiangdong stepped forward again to block her way. “No need to rush. I haven’t finished what I wanted to say.”
Lin Wanqing kept a safe distance from the man. Wang Xiangdong ignored her reaction and continued, “Who would’ve thought the two of us would have such a connection? Let me be honest with you—my aunt doesn’t think much of you, but I’ve taken a liking to you. If you break off your engagement with Chongli, I might consider dating you.”
“Heh.” Lin Wanqing found his words utterly ridiculous. Where on earth did Wang Xiangdong get such confidence?
“My eyes aren’t blind yet,” Lin Wanqing said, retracting the smile at the corners of her mouth and raising an eyebrow. “You and Shen Chongli—there’s simply no comparison between you. Whether your aunt approves of me or not doesn’t matter. She has no say in the Shen family. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have sent you to cause me trouble, right?”
She’d figured it out!
A flicker of surprise passed through Wang Xiangdong’s eyes.
He hadn’t misjudged her—Lin Wanqing was very clever.
But what she’d just said touched on a man’s dignity, and Wang Xiangdong’s face darkened instantly.
“I admit I can’t measure up to Chongli, but I’m not bad either. Your Lin family is finished—what’s the point of you still putting on airs like some high-and-mighty young lady? My aunt isn’t satisfied with you as her daughter-in-law, and sooner or later she’ll make you two divorce. When that happens, you’ll really be unwanted!”
Wang Xiangdong moved closer to Lin Wanqing as he spoke, catching a whiff of her fragrance up close. He narrowed his eyes in fascination. So fragrant~
“What’s so bad about being with me?”
Lin Wanqing’s expression turned cold. Wang Xiangdong was clearly nothing but a thug and a hooligan. Reasoning with someone like him was useless—he had no sense of decency or shame.
A hard fist was the only language he’d understand!
The original owner of this body had lived the pampered life of a capitalist’s daughter—too weak to carry anything on her shoulders or lift anything with her hands.
Her physical condition was, frankly, mediocre.
There was no way she could win in a direct physical confrontation with Wang Xiangdong.
But the man didn’t seem to have much sense—he chose to do something bad in broad daylight.
People were coming and going all around, so Wang Xiangdong didn’t dare do anything to her.
Lin Wanqing stared at the scumbag for a moment, then suddenly shouted, “Pervert!—”
Wang Xiangdong was startled by her sudden outburst, his face turning panicked as he tried to cover her mouth but failed.
“You—shut up! I didn’t—”
“Smack—”
Lin Wanqing swung her hand and slapped him right across the face.
Her entire palm was bright red from the impact.
“Filthy pervert!” Lin Wanqing cursed indignantly.
“Someone’s being a pervert!” Someone in the crowd shouted, and people swarmed around Wang Xiangdong, beating him up.
Wang Xiangdong couldn’t fend them off.
“Ow, damn it! I’m not—”
A very beautiful young woman versus a thug dressed like a hoodlum—anyone with eyes knew who to believe.
Seeing injustice, they stepped in to help.
Lin Wanqing didn’t stick around to watch the commotion. She went into the hospital to pick up her medicine, and when she came out, Wang Xiangdong was still getting beaten.
“…”
When Lin Wanqing returned “safe and sound,” Wang Chunyan was completely dumbfounded.
“You… how are you back?”
“I came back after picking up the medicine. Where else would I go?” Lin Wanqing let out a light laugh. “Auntie, or did you leave some kind of surprise for me out there?”
Wang Chunyan suddenly found herself under the gaze of several pairs of eyes. She stammered in denial, “No, nothing. I just didn’t expect you to be back so soon. Let’s get ready to eat.”
“Mm, okay.” Lin Wanqing nodded, then casually brought up Wang Xiangdong as if it were nothing. “On my way back just now, I ran into a pervert at the hospital entrance—he was getting beaten up by a crowd! Tsk tsk, what a tragedy!”
“In this day and age, there are still perverts out in broad daylight?” Shen Yunfeng looked shocked, genuinely surprised.
“What’s so surprising about that? Didn’t Wanqing and Huixin run into one last time!” Elder Shen said pointedly, shooting Wang Chunyan an annoyed glare.
Wang Chunyan’s forehead instantly broke out in sweat. “…”