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Chapter 678: Chapter 668 You Dare Say, I Dare Not Listen
Inside the room, Li Hongjun, Old Man Li, and Liu Jianjun—all three grown men—just sat in silence on the kang bed.
Since the moment the second brother entered the room and greeted his father, he had been sitting motionless, without even glancing at Li Xianghe, making her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.
"How can Big Sister be so slow? Second Brother has been back for so long, and the meal isn’t ready yet," Li Xianghe couldn’t hold back and said, trying to make small talk.
Liu Jianjun, considering all the money and effort his family had already contributed, took an annoyed glance at this chatty niece by marriage, though as the host, he bit his tongue and didn’t say anything.
Old Man Li leisurely suggested, "Xianghe, why don’t you go and see if your sister needs any help?"
Of course, Li Xianghe didn’t want to go. Why should she have to work at her in-laws’ house and still have to work when she comes back to her parents’ house?
She wouldn’t go.
"Dad, there’s no need for me, my sister-in-law is in that room, isn’t she? You can’t just hide in the room and not come out when you’ve just arrived; she’ll definitely head to the kitchen in a bit. I’ll stay here and chat with you all," Li Xianghe said with a chuckle, scooting closer to her father.
Hearing her say this, Li Hongjun lost his temper.
"Whether or not you do your share of work is none of my business, but don’t bring up your sister-in-law for no reason. Her business is none of your concern," Li Hongjun said coldly.
Shen Yunfang was the Li Family’s daughter-in-law; how could she not be involved? And even if she couldn’t get involved, at least her father could, right?
Li Xianghe opened her mouth to retort, but seeing her brother’s stern face, she was too scared to speak up. Unable to bear it quietly, she tugged at her father’s sleeve and whined,"Dad, look at Second Brother. I haven’t even said anything, and he’s already defending his wife. I’m his biological sister, how can he side with an outsider over his own sister? Besides, which daughter-in-law doesn’t do the housework? Why should the second sister-in-law be any different?"
Old Man Li frowned too, somewhat conflicted, "Hongjun, your sister is still young..."
"Li Xianghe, when are you going back to your own home?" Li Hongjun cut the old man off without showing any respect, directly addressing Li Xianghe.
"Why should I go back? This is my home, too. I’m at my own parents’ house, and our parents haven’t complained. It’s not your place to chase me away," contested Li Xianghe, who, although afraid of her second brother, was also displeased with him trying to send her away as soon as he returned.
"You must be mistaken, this isn’t your parents’ home, this is Old Liu’s house, it doesn’t bear the Li surname," asserted Liu Jianjun, who had long been disdainful of his niece by marriage. As a brother-in-law, it seemed out of line to drive away his niece; so he had endured her free-loading all these days, but he certainly wouldn’t miss this golden opportunity.
Truth be told, he hadn’t even been pleased when his father-in-law came to live with them alone. It’s not that he was stingy, but he had no fondness for any member of the Li family. And now, with an addition of a lazy, trouble-making niece, he was even less pleased.
"Dad, look at Second Brother and my eldest brother-in-law," Li Xianghe exclaimed, not expecting her usually meek brother-in-law to actually tell her to leave. She wanted to snap back, but she wasn’t foolish, so she controlled her temper and turned to pout and be coy with Old Man Li. 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝘣.𝘤𝘰𝑚
Old Man Li didn’t expect his son-in-law to speak like that either; this wasn’t just sending his daughter away, this was like sending himself, the old man, away.
"Let’s not talk about this anymore, let’s go back to our own home," Old Man Li said, getting off the kang bed and putting on his shoes to head outside.
Liu Jianjun in the house closed his eyelids, pretending not to hear, while Li Hongjun simply chose not to look this way, making the atmosphere awkward.
Old Man Li had thought that with this act, one of his sons or his son-in-law wouldn’t let him walk out so late; they would come and pull him back, and after a few words of instruction, the step-back would be there, and he could smoothly stay. That would be the end of it, and no one would dare to bring up driving Xianghe away again, how nice. But unexpectedly, even as he was about to step out the door, neither of them had stood up to stop him.
Now he was in a dilemma, not knowing whether to leave or stay.
Li Xianghe looked firstly at her eldest brother-in-law and then at her second brother, and finally at her father, belatedly calling out, "Dad, don’t go, it’s so late, where would you go? Second brother, hurry and stop Dad."
Old Man Li felt a wave of relief in his heart, but he still said, "No need to stop me, I know my age is high, and wherever I go I bother people. I raised you all and married you off one by one, my responsibilities are fulfilled. I have my own home; I’ll return to it."
Then, the room once again sank into awkward silence.
After Old Man Li spoke those words, he had expected them to come and stop him, but there was no movement behind him, leaving him unsure whether to step forward and leave or turn back.
The few people sitting on the kang bed all watched Li Hongjun, the son, wondering what he would do.
However, Li Hongjun just sat there on the kang as if he hadn’t heard anything.
"Second brother, say something, how can you be so heartless," Li Xianghe urgently shouted.
At that moment, the door to the room was pushed open from the outside, and Li Xianglian, along with Shen Yunfang, entered carrying dishes and bowls of rice.
"Dad, what are you doing going out when we’re about to eat?" Li Xianglian said, baffled as she looked at her father standing by the doorway.
"Eldest sis, Dad was about to be driven away by eldest brother-in-law and second brother," Li Xianghe immediately snitched, knowing her eldest sister had a soft heart and was filial; with her around, their dad definitely couldn’t be sent away.
"What?" Li Xianglian was startled and quickly glanced at her husband and younger brother.
Neither of the two men were inclined to explain, but Liu Jianjun was quite unhappy hearing his sister-in-law openly slander him right to his face.
"When did I ever say to drive Dad out? I just told you not to treat this place as your maternal home," Liu Jianjun said bluntly.
Li Xianglian looked from her husband back to her father, perplexed by whatever had transpired in the brief period she was gone.
"Still denying driving Dad away? I am Dad’s daughter, wherever Dad is, that’s my maternal home. If you want to drive me out, it’s tantamount to driving out Dad," Li Xianghe shamelessly retorted.
Shen Yunfang couldn’t help laughing at her peculiar logic, "Eldest sister, don’t just stand there; hurry inside, I can hardly hold these anymore." As she spoke, she headed inside. Of course, she couldn’t resist adding, "Dad, from now on, you should just stay on this bit of land we have. If you wander off somewhere far, like going to the Capital or Tiananmen, then Xianghe will become the number one princess. Ah, you guys dare to say it, but I dare not even listen to it. It’s unbelievable how thick-skinned one can be, going around claiming fathers everywhere."
Pfft...
The several children following behind couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Li Xianghe, of course, detected the sarcasm in Shen Yunfang’s words. She might not get so angry when others said things, but for some reason, she just couldn’t stand this second sister-in-law from the day she married into the family. Now hearing her mock like this, she simply couldn’t control her own mouth and lashed out recklessly, "What are you, a cheap woman, babbling about? When the Li family speaks, you have no place to butt in... Ah..."
