“You! How can you speak to your elders like that!” Sun Yujiao’s expression changed instantly in anger.
Su Jianmin immediately stepped in like a protective father and barked,
“Su Wan! Watch how you talk to your aunt! No manners at all!”
“And how exactly should I speak?”
The one who had been silent all along Lu Zhaoye suddenly spoke.
He calmly placed the things in his hands onto the coffee table, the sound landing heavily in the room.
Then he slowly looked at Sun Yujiao, his gaze cold as ice, carrying a pressure that made people instinctively uneasy.
“Me and Xiaowan came for a proper return visit. This is a family gathering. May I ask what authority this aunt here has to sit here and point fingers?”
Sun Yujiao was shaken by his presence. The sunflower seeds in her hand were forgotten as she shrank her neck, instinctively looking toward Su Jianmin for help.
Lu Zhaoye ignored her reaction and took out a thick red envelope from his chest pocket. With a smack, he placed it on the table.
“Dad, the previous groom, Lu Ming, gave 500 yuan as bride price. I felt that was unfair to Xiaowan. So for this return visit, I’m here to make it up. Here’s 1,000 yuan consider it my sincerity to Xiaowan, and also a gesture of respect to you.”
After saying that, he pulled Su Wan down and sat on the sofa openly and confidently, his posture calm and dominant, as if he were the real host of the house.
One thousand yuan?!
Su Jianmin’s eyes lit up instantly, and Su Wan was also startled.
Before coming, she hadn’t known Lu Zhaoye planned to give a red envelope. Now hearing it contained 1,000 yuan, her heart ached a little at how extravagant it was.
Su Jianmin stared at the red envelope, his breathing quickening. The anger and gloom from earlier vanished in an instant.
He looked at the envelope, then at the embarrassed Sun Yujiao, and immediately changed his attitude.
Waving his hand, he said “warmly”,
“Alright, Yujiao, you must be tired. Go rest in the next room for a while. We family members need to talk.”
Sun Yujiao looked at Su Jianmin in disbelief, then at the red envelope. In the end, she could only grit her teeth in resentment, shooting him a fierce glare.
She slammed the sunflower seeds into the plate, stood up angrily, and swayed her hips as she walked into the next room with the exaggerated confidence of a woman in her forties.
Meanwhile, Su Jianmin’s eyes followed her all the way until she disappeared into the room.
This exchange did not escape Su Wan’s eyes at all.
She clenched her fists tightly, disgust surging in her chest.
In her previous life, she had been naive. She thought her aunt was truly close to her mother, which was why she always stayed in their house.
Only later did she find out the truth that Sun Yujiao had long been involved with Su Jianmin. And because her mother never gave birth to a son, she felt guilty and endured everything in silence, tacitly accepting the situation.
Su Wan’s hands trembled in anger, but she knew now was not the time.
Lu Zhaoye noticed her mood and gently covered her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Su Wan looked up and met his steady gaze, and her emotions slowly settled.
With the thick red envelope as a deterrent, Su Jianmin’s attitude softened slightly, though he still kept a stern face.
His sharp eyes scanned Lu Zhaoye before he assumed the posture of an “experienced elder” and began probing,
“Xiao Lu, I’ve heard from people outside you were discharged from the army for making mistakes? And now you don’t even have a proper job?”
He sipped his tea and blew on it lightly, his tone carrying contempt and scrutiny.
“What are your plans for the future? You can’t just wander around doing nothing and let my daughter suffer with you, can you?”
Facing the pointed questioning, Lu Zhaoye’s expression remained unchanged. His posture was lazy, yet carried an invisible pressure.
“That’s not something you need to worry about,” he said calmly, not even lifting his eyes.
“I have my own ways. Xiaowan will not go hungry.”
He gave no details at all no explanation of work, no mention of income.
That vague but confident attitude was like a damp cotton ball stuck in Su Jianmin’s chest.
He had intended to use this opportunity to assert his authority as a father-in-law and humiliate this “unemployed man,” but the other party simply didn’t take the bait.
Instead, that calm “you can’t control me” demeanor made him, a small factory leader, look unusually agitated.
Su Jianmin swallowed his frustration, unable to explode, and instead slammed his teacup down heavily.
Turning around, he vented his anger at Sun Guilan, who had been standing timidly aside,
“What are you standing there for? Can’t you see your son-in-law has been sitting here for so long? Go pour tea! And hurry up and cook! Make a few good dishes!”
His tone wasn’t that of a husband it was more like he was ordering a maid.
Su Wan frowned and immediately stood up.
“No need to bother. Zhaoye and I will take you all out to the state-run restaurant.”
“Go out? Do you think money grows on trees?”
Su Jianmin glared and immediately rejected it.
“There’s rice and flour at home. Your mother isn’t busy let her cook!”
At that moment, Sun Yujiao, who had been holding in her anger, heard they were eating at home and walked back out swaying her hips.
Leaning against the kitchen doorway, she cracked sunflower seeds and said sarcastically to Sun Guilan, who was wiping her hands on her apron,
“Oh sister, really now. You knew your daughter was coming back today, and you didn’t even prepare proper dishes in advance? It’s already this late and you’re only now thinking about the menu. Brother Jianmin is so busy all day, and you’re still making him worry…”
Her tone was full of superiority, as if she were the mistress of the house, reducing Sun Guilan to nothing.
Sun Guilan, being timid by nature, flushed red at being scolded in front of her son-in-law, lowering her head and murmuring,
“I… I did buy meat early in the morning, it’s just ”
“Just what? So clumsy.” Sun Yujiao rolled her eyes and was about to continue.
“Shut up!”
Su Wan could no longer hold back and suddenly stood up, her gaze sharp as she locked onto Sun Yujiao.
“This is my home. My mother is the lady of this house. Since when is it your place to point fingers here?”
Sun Yujiao was stunned that her usually quiet niece dared speak to her like that. Then she immediately began to throw a tantrum.
“Oh! Su Wan, you little disrespectful thing! How dare you talk to your aunt like that? I’m doing this for the good of the family look how spoiled your mother has become…”
She even reached out, intending to shove Su Wan.
Sun Guilan, who usually endured everything, could tolerate anything but not anyone hurting her daughter.
Seeing Sun Yujiao reach for Su Wan, she suddenly found unexpected courage and stepped forward, spreading her arms to shield her daughter, trembling as she said,
“Yujiao! Don’t touch Xiaowan! If you want to hit someone, hit me!”
Slap! Slap!
Two crisp slaps rang out.
The entire living room fell into dead silence.
Sun Yujiao clutched her face, completely stunned.