Wang Chunyan’s smile gradually stiffened, her eyes flickering. “Is that so? But even if the two of them have taken a liking to each other, shouldn’t they at least bring her over for us to meet first? Isn’t it a bit improper for the elders not to have seen her yet?”
Upon hearing this, Elder Shen slowly raised his eyes, his tone carrying a hint of warning. “Chunyan, since you married into the Shen family, have we old folks ever treated you poorly as a daughter-in-law?”
Wang Chunyan, not understanding where this was going, quickly shook her head. “No, of course not. Father and Mother have treated me as well as their own daughter.”
“Mm.” Elder Shen gave a slight nod. “Good that you know. Our family has no tradition of wicked mothers-in-law bullying their daughters-in-law. You should treat Wanqing as well as you treat Huixin, and don’t go looking for trouble. Now then, Wanqing and Chongli must be tired since they haven’t come back yet. Let’s not disturb their rest.”
Her little scheme seen through, Wang Chunyan awkwardly tugged at the corner of her mouth and withdrew from the room, only to run straight into Shen Yunfeng, who had just returned from a business deal outside. Her face immediately fell.
“Chongli and Yunzheng haven’t brought their wives back yet? I told them to drive there, but they insisted on taking the train—tiring and inconvenient.”
Shen Yunfeng, with a leather briefcase tucked under his arm, couldn’t help muttering a complaint, not noticing Wang Chunyan’s foul mood.
It wasn’t until he heard no reply that he turned his head in puzzlement. “What’s wrong? You look so unhappy. Who’s gotten on your nerves now?”
“You tell me? Who do you think would get on my nerves in this household?”
Wang Chunyan shot back.
“I haven’t been home since early morning. How would I know?”
Shen Yunfeng found her quite baffling and followed her into the house. “Don’t speak in riddles with me. Just say it.”
“…” Wang Chunyan recounted everything that had just happened, finishing with a snort. “I never approved of the marriage Father arranged for Chongli in the first place. The families don’t match in status—the Lins are capitalists, and look, the whole family’s been sent down to the countryside now? Doesn’t he worry that this will affect Chongli’s future?”
“Shh!”
Shen Yunfeng, afraid her voice might carry to the old man, lowered his own. “Keep your voice down. Haven’t I told you already? Everything in this family, big or small, is decided by Father! He must have his own reasons. You’re a junior—just stay out of it!”
“Can’t Father just manage Yunzheng’s marriage? Why does he have to meddle in our son’s marriage too?”
Wang Chunyan complained. The old man had a close relationship with both the Lin and Song families, having arranged both marriages back then.
As a daughter-in-law, she carried little weight in the household. Even Shen Yunfeng’s word didn’t count for much, let alone hers.
Wang Chunyan was nice to Song Huixin simply because they would be sisters-in-law in the future. In essence, they’d at most be part of the extended family, not her own small household.
Since time immemorial, no mother-in-law has ever truly liked her daughter-in-law. Wang Chunyan did want to play the mother-in-law card, indeed.
“Enough. Saying more won’t do any good,” Shen Yunfeng warned her not to bring it up again. “If you have that much free time, you’d better think about the upcoming celebration. Yunzheng and Chongli are getting married together—it’s been a long time since this family was this lively! It’s a double blessing.”
Wang Chunyan rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Double blessing? I haven’t even laid eyes on my daughter-in-law yet!”
“You didn’t see her today, but you’ll see her tomorrow, won’t you?”
“…” She meant she wanted to see her right away! Wang Chunyan couldn’t be bothered to argue with him—they were talking past each other, unable to even have a proper fight.
Still, Wang Chunyan’s opinion of this never-met daughter-in-law had certainly dropped a few notches in her mind.
She’d just have to “teach” her some proper manners when they finally met.
Military District, Mechanical Research Department.
After finishing his work, Shen Chongli was the first to notice his uncle’s guard approaching. He unhurriedly walked over. “Has Uncle returned?”
“Yes!” The guard saluted, then continued, “Regiment Commander Shen has ordered you to leave the military district for a period of time.”
“Leave?” Shen Chongli’s eyes widened in confusion. “What does that mean? And why?”
The guard: “No reason given.”
No reason given? His uncle had gone to the capital to bring back their two fiancées for the wedding. Now he was secretly sending word for him to leave? Could it be that Lin Wanqing had issues? Was he using this method to dodge Grandfather’s pressure to marry?
If that were the case, his uncle was doing him a huge favor!
Shen Chongli had been resistant from the very start to having a fiancée he’d never even laid eyes on.
He believed in free love. Though he’d been single his whole life, that only meant his fate hadn’t arrived yet.
“Alright, I understand.” Shen Chongli, thinking of the fiancée waiting at home, looked thoughtful.
This place was no longer safe to stay!
…
The next day,
Lin Wanqing slept all the way until broad daylight. The exhaustion from two days of continuous travel had mostly faded. The man’s figure was nowhere beside her.
She got up, changed into clean clothes, and had just opened the door when she saw the guard she’d met yesterday—
“Reporting to Sister-in-law! Our regiment commander received an urgent assignment early this morning. He asked me to tell you that he’ll take you to get the certificates done when he returns!”
The military district was busy, and Lin Wanqing could understand that completely. Since she had already come here, it didn’t matter when they got married.
“Mm, okay, thank you.”
A slight smile tugged at the corner of Lin Wanqing’s lips. “I’ll head to the old residence in a bit.”
“No need to thank me! These are all things I should do.”
Lin Wanqing noticed he was quite young—it really wasn’t easy for someone so young to join the army.
After a quick wash-up, Lin Wanqing still remembered the route she had taken yesterday. She didn’t even have time to eat breakfast.
When Song Huixin saw Lin Wanqing arrive early in the morning, she was so delighted that she jumped up from the dining table and rushed over to hug her!
They hadn’t seen each other for just one night, and she already missed her so much~
“Mmm~ How did you sleep last night? I couldn’t fall asleep after suddenly changing places. How about you keep me company tonight, okay?”
Song Huixin looked at Lin Wanqing with a coquettish pout and blinked her eyes. Lin Wanqing knew full well that she wasn’t actually unable to sleep—she had simply slept too long on the train and couldn’t sleep now. Still, she nodded indulgently and agreed. “Okay~”
“Ahem.”
Wang Chunyan had been sizing up Lin Wanqing the whole time.
Seeing that she showed no intention of greeting the elders, she couldn’t help but clear her throat as a reminder.
“Chongli already told us—something came up and he couldn’t come back. Wanqing, you really are something, you know. Why didn’t you think to greet us elders first? Isn’t that a bit rude!”
Wang Chunyan lifted her eyelids slightly and deliberately dragged out her words, trying to make things difficult for Lin Wanqing.
“Wanqing clearly just hadn’t gotten the chance to greet everyone yet. There aren’t that many idle rules in this household.” Elder Shen spoke up to explain on Lin Wanqing’s behalf, then gestured for her to sit down and eat. “Aiyo, why are you two girls so skinny? Do you not eat properly at home normally!”
“Grandfather, hello. Uncle, Auntie, hello.”
Lin Wanqing greeted each of them in turn.
“Have a seat, quickly.” Elder Shen waved his hand, his heart swelling with joy as he looked at his youngest daughter-in-law and his eldest grandson’s wife—there was simply no words for how pleased he was!