The two ran downstairs, not bothering to tidy their clothes. As they reached Li Xue, they began to complain, “Mom, our cousin has gone crazy! Just now, we were talking to our cousin’s wife when he suddenly charged in and tried to hit us! It scared us to death.”
“He’s even talking about firing us from the Zhou family business!” Peng Yue added from behind.
Li Xue looked at Zhou’s mother and asked, “Xiao Ting, what do you think about this?”
Zhou’s mother frowned but remained silent. In her eyes, it was they who were crazy.
At that moment, Shuai Chang came down from upstairs. Zhou’s mother waved him over and asked, “Zhen Ting, Peng Yue says you’re mad. What’s going on?”
Shuai Chang replied without missing a beat, “As soon as I stepped outside, I heard them saying Cheng Xing is ugly and comparing Cheng Xing’s eye bags to yours, Mom. I went in to confront them, but they didn’t even acknowledge me as their cousin. Since that’s the case, there’s no need to keep these two parasites at Zhou’s. They do nothing all day and take high salaries, only to come here and criticize my son.”
Zhou’s mother was angrier than Shuai Chang. It was outrageous that Peng Tian and Peng Yue had the audacity to say her beloved grandson was ugly; they clearly had no upbringing. Coldly, Zhou’s mother addressed Li Xue, saying, “Oldest sister, you should go home. I don’t want you to return to our family anymore.”
Among the three Li sisters, Zhou’s mother was the second and the least favored. Whenever new clothes were bought during the New Year, she was never included. Li Xue and Li Hua had always read the room and seldom spoke to her. If she hadn’t married Zhou Chen and become the most successful daughter in the family, her sisters probably wouldn’t have bothered to acknowledge her.
Previously, Zhou’s mother had a good temper and, remembering the sisterly bond, when Li Xue and Li Hua borrowed money or needed jobs for their children, she would agree without hesitation. However, they not only failed to show gratitude but felt superior, coming to her house to show off. Zhou’s mother decided she would no longer tolerate this; letting go of such parasitic relatives was for the best.
“Xiao Ting, calm down. You can’t just listen to Zhen Ting’s side of the story,” Li Xue still had no idea how serious the situation was and continued to push the blame outward.
Peng Yue quickly interjected, “Second Aunt, we didn’t even say Cheng Xing! We were talking about Wei Yanze!”
Zhou’s mother coldly snorted, “Oh, so you were talking about my daughter-in-law Yanze, who gave birth to my grandson?” She smacked the table with her hand. “Do you think this is just any place? This is the Zhou family! Yanze is the daughter-in-law of the Zhou family and a great contributor, having given birth to two children. How dare you young ones speak so rudely? Who taught you such a lack of upbringing? Don’t you have any respect for me, your Second Aunt?”
“You!” Li Xue’s face turned red with anger as she stood up. “Xiao Tian, Xiao Yue, let’s go! We don’t need to acknowledge such snobby relatives!”
Li Xue was genuinely furious. She had been doted on by her parents as a child and was quite proud. Little did she know that her second sister, who seemed inferior, had actually fared much better in marriage. Li Xue was very jealous of Li Ting, often coming to the Zhou family to mooch off them. Meanwhile, Li Ting had never turned her away. Gradually, Li Xue began to see Li Ting as a wealthy fool, taking advantage of her while secretly cursing her. The two children felt a superiority toward the Zhou family members.
The three of them stormed out and encountered Li Hua’s family, who had just arrived. Li Hua asked, “Eldest sister, what’s going on?”
Li Xue had no feelings for this sister and coldly replied, “I advise you not to go in. You’d just be humiliated!”
Before Li Hua could inquire further, Li Xue had already disappeared.
Li Hua’s son, Zhao Zheng said, “Mom, don’t think about it. Let’s go in quickly. I’m starving.”
Li Hua had purposely not made breakfast so they could have a good meal at the Zhou family. Zhao Zheng’s stomach had been growling for a while.
“Be careful when you speak later. I suspect your Second Aunt is angry right now,” Li Hua reminded her son.
Zhao Zheng replied, “I know, Auntie is just foolish. With how rich Second Aunt’s family is, we can’t afford to offend them.”
The mother and son pressed the doorbell, and Lin Sao came to open the door, “Third Cousin.”
Li Hua quickly changed her shoes and quietly asked, “Cousin, what happened to my second sister? Just now, Eldest Sister was also furious and told me to stay away from the Zhou family.”
While showing concern, she was also trying to put Li Xue in a bad light.
Lin Sao said, “I can’t tell you the specifics, but you should just be careful with your words. Your cousin really likes her newborn grandson and appreciates our Yanze for giving him two kids. Don’t be like Peng Tian and Peng Yue, who come in with their mouths running.”
Hearing this, Li Hua began to understand what had happened.
After Li Xue left, Zhou’s mother shot Shuai Chang a glare, “Why aren’t you going to see your wife and child? What are you standing here for?”
Shuai Chang laughed and said, “Mom, you were amazing just now! Your son admires you.” After saying this, he went upstairs.
Entering the bedroom, he found Deng Jie and asked, “What were you doing just now?” If he hadn’t worried and come upstairs, wouldn’t Wei Yanze have been left alone with the baby, unable to retaliate?
Deng Jie hesitated and said nervously, “Mr. Zhou, I just went to the balcony to dry the diapers. Was there something going on?”
The balcony was in the next room, and their house had good soundproofing, so it was normal that she didn’t hear the commotion.
Shuai Chang shook his head, “Nothing.”
He walked over to look at the baby in Wei Yanze’s arms. The little one was curled up and sleeping soundly. The sternness on Shuai Chang’s face disappeared, replaced by the adoration of a doting father as he stared at Zhou Cheng Xing’s little face, grinning.
Wei Yanze worriedly asked, “Mom didn’t say anything about you, did she?”
Shuai Chang replied, “How could Mom possibly say anything about me? As soon as I mentioned how Peng Tian and Peng Yue bullied you, she exploded with anger and directly kicked them out, saying she wouldn’t associate with them anymore. You see how important you are in her heart? If it weren’t for you, I’d be in big trouble.”
Wei Yanze laughed at him, “It’s not that serious.”
Wei Yanze said, “It seems Mom really likes Cheng Xing; she’s treating me better too.”
Shuai Chang said, “You don’t know, ever since Dad passed away, Mom has been especially hoping for a boy to inherit the family business. In fact, she prefers twins, but since Dad liked boys, she turned into someone who prefers boys too.”
“Although Mom doesn’t seem to like Cheng Yun, in her heart, Cheng Yun is actually better than Cheng Xing. That’s just the kind of person Mom is.”