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Chapter 259: Chapter 259: Are You Not Clear About It In Your Heart?
Si Xiaohui rolled her eyes, "I’m not used to sleeping in other people’s houses."
Who cares about pleasing Chen Jinlan anyway!
When Chen Jinlan was young, she was always high and mighty. Every time Si Xiaohui visited her, she was given the cold shoulder. As a child, Si Xiaohui didn’t know better and visited her often. But now that she’s grown up, she doesn’t want to go anymore.
"If you don’t want to go, that’s fine. I’m going home." Without even saying goodbye to Si Boyi, Zhang Lijuan turned around and left, obviously upset. Lin Fengying called out to her several times, but she didn’t respond and only walked faster.
"Lijuan suddenly became upset. Can you check on her?" Lin Fengying took the clothes from Si Boyi and prompted him to go calm her down.
Seeing that the kids were about to get married, it wouldn’t be good if they started having conflicts now. After all, they were all neighbors. She didn’t want them to fall out over something trivial.
Si Boyi hesitated for a moment before following her out.
"What could be wrong?" Si Xiaohui, who had grown up with Zhang Lijuan, guessed the reason from her expression, "She must be upset because my sister-in-law bought new clothes for all of us and not for her. She should think about why my sister-in-law should buy her new clothes!"
My sister-in-law buying clothes for my mom is a sign of filial piety. She bought clothes for me and my brother because we work in the shop. Why should she buy clothes for Zhang Lijuan?
Although Zhang Lijuan was going to be her sister-in-law, let’s not forget, she hasn’t officially married into the family yet.
Which in-law sister would buy clothes for an unmarried sister-in-law?
"This..." Lin Fengying looked at Tong Yao with a troubled expression, "Yaoyao, you didn’t buy clothes for Lijuan?"
She also understood her daughter’s logic, but wasn’t Zhang Lijuan about to officially become part of their family?
Since they were all family, why insist on such a clear divide? Tong Yao owned two milk tea shops and must be making a decent income.
Guessing her mother’s thoughts, Tong Yao became somewhat displeased, "Mom, even if Lijuan has officially married into our family, I’m still not obligated to buy her clothes, am I?"
Without waiting for a reply, she picked up her bag and went into her room. Feeling slighted by her daughter-in-law, Lin Fengying changed out of the clothes that Tong Yao had bought her and put her original ones back on.
The dining table had already been cleared by Si Chen. Lin Fengying walked into the kitchen and noticed her elder son washing the dishes. She rolled up her sleeves and said, "Let me do it. You must be tired from driving. Go comfort Yaoyao. She seemed a bit unhappy."
"I’m almost finished." replied Si Chen
Seeing his reaction, Lin Fengying didn’t say anything more and began to wipe down the stove. After a while, she finally couldn’t help but say, "Xiaochen, Yaoyao is still young and may not have considered everything fully. As the oldest in our family, you should carry a bit more responsibility. Sometimes it’s okay to make some sacrifices. Don’t nitpick so much. You have a stable job and Yaoyao owns a shop. Your lives are much better than Boyi’s. I hope you can support Boyi more."
Si Chen paused in his dishwashing, furrowed his brow and said, "Mom, are you dissatisfied that Yaoyao didn’t buy Lijuan any clothes?"
"I’m not necessarily dissatisfied." Faced with this topic, Lin Fengying was forced to reveal her thoughts. "Lijuan is going to be part of our family soon. We can’t keep treating her like an outsider, especially since you two are doing well with the shop."
Her daughter told her that the milk tea shop in Li City made an average of a thousand yuan a month, and the one in Kyoto definitely made more. Together they would bring in at least two thousand yuan a month. When Lin Fengying first heard this amount, she was taken aback.
But she slowly got used to it.
She felt that since Tong Yao could afford it, it wouldn’t hurt to buy Zhang Lijuan a piece of clothing. It might feel like a loss, but in the grand scheme of things, it would help to maintain harmony in the family.
Si Chen’s brow furrowed even deeper, and he pursed his lips and said, "Mom, I hope you won’t have this mindset. Although the milk tea shops in Li City and Kyoto are profitable, Yaoyao hasn’t used a single penny from our family. The fact that she brought gifts back for us shows that she cares. You should feel happy about her filial piety, instead of demanding more from her. Yaoyao works hard every day to ensure a better life for our family and to create a good environment for our future children, not to make Zhang Lijuan’s life better."
"Xiaochen..."
Lin Fengying opened her mouth to speak, her face flushed red with shame. Her usually quiet son lectured her. She didn’t expect their first real conversation to be him teaching his mother a lesson.
Even though her son spoke respectfully, each sentence hit her like a slap in the face, leaving her, the mother, feeling disgraced.
"It’s my fault for being incompetent. I haven’t been able to help you much. Now you can’t hold your head high in front of the Tong family. You’re right. I shouldn’t expect you to look after Boyi more. After marriage, you have your own household. It’s natural for you to prioritize your own family over anything else. I’ve been a fool."
As she spoke, Lin Fengying’s eyes started to well up with tears.
Si Chen furrowed his eyebrows, but didn’t stop washing the dishes, "I’m not embarrassed by the Tongs. They treat me well. You’re overthinking."
As a mother, these words didn’t sit well with Lin Fengying. She had lost her husband at a young age and dutifully raised her son. Now he was so attached to someone else’s family and preferred them over his biological mother. Could anyone really accept this?
Years of suppressed emotions exploded. With a stern face, Lin Fengying said, "The Tongs treat you well because they owe our family. If your father hadn’t gotten injured and died, they wouldn’t have had to pay for your schooling, and you wouldn’t have been forced to marry Tong Yao."
Si Chen’s normally indifferent face froze at the mention of his father. Especially when Lin Fengying blamed his father’s death on Tong Yaohui, he became a completely different person.
He suddenly looked up at Lin Fengying, "Don’t you know how my father died?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Fengying’s heart seemed to drop. Her entire body felt like it was encased in ice. Even her blood seemed to freeze. She opened her mouth and stuttered, "Xi-, Xiaochen..."
She wanted to ask if her son knew something, but didn’t have the courage to finish the question.
Her son was very young at the time. He probably didn’t know.
But considering what her son had just said, Lin Fengying’s face fell and she started trembling uncontrollably.
Hearing no sound from the kitchen, Tong Yao returned to her room quietly. Surprisingly, going to the restroom gave her an opportunity to overhear some of the Si family’s secrets, specifically about her father-in-law’s suspicious death. Si Chen obviously knew something, which explained his cold attitude towards Lin Fengying.
Tong Yao began to imagine various murder scenarios, such as Lin Fengying getting tired of taking care of her paraplegic husband and poisoning him, or accidentally killing him in a fit of anger while Si Chen accidentally witnessed it.
Despite her guesses, she didn’t try to find out the truth from Si Chen.
No matter what the truth was, Si Chen probably didn’t want anyone else to know about it.
