Chapter 41 Chapter 41 Lover Becomes Daughter-in-law

Shen Miao thought she had heard it wrong, so she gently pressed her head against the door of Hou Wentao's house and listened carefully to the movement inside.

"You're annoying me now, aren't you?"

"You feel sick just by looking at me, don't you?"

"Hou Wentao, how long has it been? Have you forgotten what you told me at the beginning?"

Chen Xiulan's questioning was sonorous and powerful, and her increasingly high pitch and increasingly strong aura made Hou Wentao unable to utter a word.

Seeing Hou Wentao sitting on the sofa and lighting a cigarette in annoyance, Chen Xiulan felt that the hope she once had, now became those tobacco shreds, burned into a wisp of green smoke by his ruthless orange light, and disappeared completely when he blew it away in one breath.

Hou Wentao hasn't smoked for many years.

Recalling eighteen years ago, the month after Hou Wentao turned fifteen, it was Chen Xiulan who caught him hiding in the alley with a few village hooligans to learn how to smoke, and it was also Chen Xiulan who searched out several pages of disgusting "poisonous weeds" from his pocket.

On the way home with him, Chen Xiulan used a match to burn half a pack of cigarettes and the pages of paper, and promised him that she would not tell Wang Fenfang. Only then did Hou Wentao feel at ease.

"You are still young, you should use your energy in the right place and avoid these messy things."

Chen Xiulan and Wang Fenfang are sisters, so they naturally treat him as their own son. Even though she is only ten years older than him, she will work hard to learn to be an elder.

It was after that day that Hou Wentao began to have different feelings for Chen Xiulan.

This elder sister whom she called "Auntie Chen" did not seem to be as aggressive as she had imagined. She was very kind and caring to her, and the way she treated her was different from the way her mother treated her.

Is it like? Is it love?

Hou Wentao was still young at the time and couldn't describe what this feeling was. He only knew that his heart would beat faster when he saw Aunt Chen. In those countless nights, Aunt Chen's back would always appear in his dreams, and his pants would be wet every time he woke up.

Until that year, his mother Wang Fenfang passed away...

Hou Wentao didn't have many relatives in his family, so Chen Xiulan was the one who helped with the entire process, from funeral procession to burial.

Watching her send her mother off with tears and snot, Hou Wentao finally plucked up the courage and held her in his arms for the first time.

"Aunt Chen, I like you."

"Are you crazy? What are you talking about?!"

"I'm serious. I like you and I want to take care of you forever."

"You have a fever and are confused, right? I'm your aunt, it's wrong for you to do this!"

"I don't have a fever. I don't want to call you aunt. I want to call you..."

"Shut up, shut up! Don't say anything! Wentao, be good, you, your mind is not clear right now, wait a few months, after a few months you will calm down and everything will be fine."

Hou Wentao did not give up. He launched a fierce offensive against Chen Xiulan under the pretext of helping to take care of Yao Heng every day.

He wanted to let her know that he was not just talking, he really wanted to take care of her.

It was during this period that Chen Xiulan gradually discovered that Hou Wentao had become a little different.

Hou Wentao grew up very fast. He was no longer the little kid who knew nothing when he was young. He had grown very tall and was no longer skinny and small. His broad shoulders could carry the burden of life, and he also... exuded a masculine hormonal scent.

Compared to her husband who had been fighting with her all year round, Hou Wentao was simply a ray of light in her dark life, rekindling her hope until the day she fought with her husband again.

"Aunt Chen, let's stay together. Let me take care of you and Xiaoheng."

For the first time, Chen Xiulan chose to lean on Hou Wentao's shoulder.

Feeling his body temperature, Chen Xiulan's hard heart finally began to relax.

"But I'm older than you, we..."

"Age is not a problem. Besides, he is only ten years old."

"But, but he and I..."

"I'll wait for you. When you divorce him, we'll be together."

"That Xiao Heng..."

"Don't worry, I will take care of Xiao Heng as if he were my own son, and we will live a good life."

The firewood that was ground into pieces by the boring life felt the heat of the flames that night.

This was the first time she felt the feeling of loving and being loved. Even though she knew that the firewood would eventually be burned into a ball of charcoal and the bright flame would eventually move elsewhere, she still chose to indulge herself and seriously experience this passionate love.

In the blink of an eye, eighteen years have passed since the day Hou Wentao said "I love you".

Oh, no, it’s eighteen years, one month and fifteen days.

Chen Xiulan remembered it very clearly, because it was his promise that gave her the courage to continue living and continue fighting with Yao Heng's father.

Now, Yao Heng and Shen Miao have been getting along well. Seeing their harmonious relationship, she believes that they will definitely get the happiness she has always hoped for. At that time, she will be able to happily leave the Yao family and be with Hou Wentao.

But……

When Chen Xiulan heard Shen Miao say today that they fell into the water at school, she was terrified. On the one hand, she was worried that something might happen to her son, and on the other hand, she was afraid that something might happen to Hou Wentao.

So after making arrangements for her son and Shen Miao, she hurried to Hou Wentao's house.

She bought chicken soup to nourish his body, cold medicine to ward off the cold, and several new sets of clothes in his size.

She thought that her arrival could be a ray of light that warmed him, but when the door opened and their eyes met, Chen Xiulan only saw disappointment in his eyes.

"Why are you here?"

"I heard that you and Xiao Heng fell into the water, so I came to see you."

Chen Xiulan hasn't been to Hou Wentao's house for half a month.

The New Year is almost here, and she is busy preparing things for the New Year, helping her husband with his company's accounts, and taking care of her son and Shen Miao. She is also thinking about whether to sign them up for a tour group during the New Year to take the opportunity to improve their relationship.

So after entering the room, Chen Xiulan quickly helped him make the bed, furniture, and the clothes that were hanging on the balcony and had not yet been put away.

"Wentao..."

After unbuttoning the first button of Hou Wentao's collar, Chen Xiulan gently bit his ear.

She missed him, she missed him very much. Even though they had been secretly together for more than ten years, her feelings for him were still as passionate as they were back then.

Especially every time he saw his son flirting with Shen Miao, it would always bring back certain memories of Hou Wentao over the years.

It’s a pity that the person next to her is no longer the boy who didn’t understand love.

Hou Wentao pushed her hand away coldly: "No, I'm a little tired today."

"It's okay," Chen Xiulan leaned on his shoulder, "I can give you a massage. Miaomiao taught me a few tricks. Come, lie down, and I'll give you a massage."

"No."

Hou Wentao's attitude remained cold. In order to avoid her obsession, he simply stood up.

As he straightened the wrinkles on his clothes, he brushed away all her longing and sincerity over the past few months.

"What's wrong with you?" Chen Xiulan asked.

"It's okay, I'm just a little tired and want to sleep." Rubbing the corners of his eyes, Hou Wentao turned off the TV in the living room. "Xiao Heng is still waiting for you at home, why don't you go back early?"

Tired, tired again, tired every time.

Why didn’t you complain about being tired when you did it four or five times a day? Why didn’t you complain about being tired when you did it even without meals?

Everything was fine the last time we met, why do you say you’re tired this time?

Chen Xiulan didn't want to listen, so she walked up to him and pulled his clothes, just like last time. What's the point of being tired? As long as you can stand up, you won't be tired!

Men are always two-faced. They say no, but when it comes to really sitting down, they are still honest and hardworking.

But when Chen Xiulan really reached out to pull the belt, this time, Hou Wentao pushed her away.

“Don’t do that!”

Sitting on the ground, Chen Xiulan was also annoyed by his attitude, "What? Huh? What's wrong with me!"

A woman's sixth sense is the most accurate.

In fact, Chen Xiulan had sensed a few years ago that Hou Wentao's eyes had changed when he looked at her. They were no longer as passionate as they had been more than a decade ago, but more of a tired and coping look.

However, Chen Xiulan did not care too much because there was no other woman around him. He had kept his promise and not married for so many years. Even when neighbors arranged blind dates for him, he responded negatively.

So, she kept trying to tell herself that he was indeed "tired".

As long as he is willing to give the public grain to me, it doesn’t matter whether it is voluntary or not.

But today, she didn't want to lie to herself anymore.

"Since we have come to this today, why not just get it straight," Chen Xiulan stood up from the ground, looked at him coldly and said, "Hou Wentao, do you have another woman?"

"No." Hou Wentao answered simply.

"Then why did you do this to me?"

Exhaling heavily, Chen Xiulan continued, "What happened to you in the past two years? Every time we met, you said you were tired, and even when you came to my house to find me, you left without saying a few words. Tell me the truth, are you tired of me? Do you want to break up with me?"

Chen Xiulan's words made him upset. He had promised someone not to smoke, and Chen Xiulan also hated the smell of cigarettes, but at this moment, he could only rely on the nicotine he took to dispel the boredom in his heart.

Seeing that Hou Wentao didn't say anything, Chen Xiulan raised her voice again and said, "Speak?! Do you want to break up with me?"

"yes!"

Hou Wentao threw away the cigarette butt in his hand and finally spoke out his true thoughts.

"Aunt Chen, let's break up. From now on..."

"Why?" Chen Xiulan sneered, her fingers tightening involuntarily, "You promised me that you would take care of me and marry me in the future. Why are you breaking up now?!"

In order to hear the conversation inside clearly, Shen Miao wanted to bury her head in it.

But at this moment, a grandmother who had just returned from buying groceries came up step by step, holding the railing.

Grandma's hearing was not very good, so the sounds she heard were very vague. She was too lazy to listen to other people's gossip. It was enough for her to know that there was a family quarreling. But when she looked up, she was standing at the door of the house where the quarrel was happening.

He had half of his body pressed against the door, neither knocking nor leaving. He didn't look like a good person.

The four eyes met, Shen Miao was extremely embarrassed, that grandma did not leave, she just stood quietly at the corner of the corridor with a bag of vegetables in her hand, looking at her, waiting for her next move.

Go? Or not? Anyway, we have to wait for the result.

There was no other way. Although grandma was old, her eyes were still burning. After being stared at by her for a long time, Shen Miao had no choice but to lower her head and leave.

She couldn't go in at this time. Going in would only make the situation more awkward, especially since she had just eaten such a big melon and it would be easy for her to lose control of her expression.

If they found out that I knew their secret...

But on the way back, when Shen Miao had sorted out her thoughts again, there was a new problem that bothered her: What about Yao Heng?

Listening to the tone Hou Wentao used when talking to Chen Xiulan just now, although he didn't know what happened between them in the past, he wanted to cut off all contact with her.

But if he got together with Yao Heng after leaving Chen Xiulan, Chen Xiulan would still know.

Her lover became her daughter-in-law? Chen Xiulan would definitely be devastated.

Similarly, if Yao Heng knew about Hou Wentao and his biological mother... considering his psychological endurance, he would probably collapse.

On the way back, Shen Miao’s pace became slower and slower.

She seemed to understand how Yao Heng felt about being unable to help his father or speak for his mother.

Yao Heng was very good to her and really treated her as his own sister, so she naturally didn't want to make him feel bad; but on the other hand, Chen Xiulan also held her in her hands and loved her, and telling her would also hurt her.

The palms and backs of your hands are all made of flesh, what can you do?

Just keep wasting time, yes, just keep wasting time!

Just like Yao Heng, he pretended to be stupid and ignorant, and no matter how their relationship developed, it had nothing to do with him.

But here comes another problem: She is really upset that she knows such a shocking piece of news but cannot share it with others!!!

When I returned to Yao Heng's house, I happened to see two workers coming out of the house. They were carrying disassembled wardrobes on their shoulders, while several other workers were assembling new wardrobes in the house.

"How about changing all your cabinets today?"

"No, my cabinet is fine, no need to change it."

"You should change them. You will buy more and more clothes in the future, and this closet will be too small to hold them all."

"Then let's change."

"Take a look at what you want. Come and take a look. I'll call someone to deliver it to you later."

"Anything is fine."

Inside the room, Yao Heng was sitting on the sofa casually changing channels, while his father Yao Yuan lit a cigarette and chatted with him while supervising the workers at work.

Yao Yuan doesn't go home often, and even when he is about to go home, there is no sign.

Today he asked the workers to replace the wardrobe in their bedroom. A hole was made in the door when he had a fight with Chen Xiulan last time, so he asked someone to replace it with a new one.

Of course, he was not so kind. He only changed his half. The other half of the cabinet containing Chen Xiulan's clothes was still covered with scratches and indelible stains.

At this moment, Yao Heng's mind was not on the TV, but on the door.

Although Yao Yuan did not object to Hou Wentao coming to see him, Yao Heng was very afraid of Shen Miao's naughty expression when she brought Hou Wentao with her. He was also afraid that Shen Miao would make a fuss and accidentally reveal something.

It was not until he saw Shen Miao coming back alone that he finally put his heart at ease.

“Hello uncle, my name is Shen Miao, and I’m a friend of Brother Yao Heng.” Shen Miao politely introduced herself to Yao Yuan when she entered the door.

Holding the cigarette in the corner of his mouth, Yao Yuan also politely shook her hand: "Hello, hello, I heard about you from his mother before, wow, you are so handsome!"

"Thank you uncle~"

Shen Miao’s first impression of Yao Yuan was quite good.

Unlike what I imagined, he was not the kind of person who looked fierce and would get angry and fight with you if you disagreed with him. As a businessman, he spoke in a very "style", but it could be seen that he was a person with a good temper, just like Yao Heng.

Chen Xiulan has a good temper, and Yao Yuan also has a good temper. I really don’t know how these two people can be so incompatible.

Seeing that Yao Yuan was quite polite to Shen Miao and Hou Wentao did not come along, Yao Heng finally put his heart at ease.

However, after pulling Shen Miao to sit down, Yao Heng couldn’t help but ask in a low voice: “Why didn’t Brother Hou come?”

“He’s not at home,” Shen Miao lied.

Yao Heng had no doubts. "Then he probably went out to eat. Fortunately, fortunately..."

Yao Yuan and Chen Xiulan have different attitudes towards Hou Wentao. When Yao Heng was young, Yao Yuan hoped that Hou Wentao could come home to take care of him, but now that Yao Heng has grown up, Yao Yuan doesn't want him to be like a follower, following him around and calling him "Brother Hou" every day.

Yao Heng is in his twenties and it’s time for him to grow up.

So even though Yao Yuan would not express his opposition openly, he would still hint to him from time to time. He did not tell Yao Yuan about his falling into the water today, firstly because he did not want him to worry, and secondly because of this.

Beep, beep! Beep, beep!

At this moment, the mobile phone on the coffee table started to ring.

Yao Yuan, who was sorting out his clothes, had no choice but to walk out, pick up his mobile phone and go outside to answer it, while he said to Yao Heng: "Xiao Heng, help me sort out my clothes."

"middle."

After saying that, Yao Heng stuffed the remote control into Shen Miao’s hand and got up to go to the bedroom.

Yao Yuan didn't often stay at home, so in order to out of sight and out of mind, Chen Xiulan stuffed all his things into the closet, not just his clothes, but also his towels, pillows and so on. The closet, which was two meters and a half high and two meters long, was filled to the brim.

Although the wardrobe was involved in every fight before, fortunately the wardrobe was sturdy and durable and had held up through the fights. If there hadn’t been a big hole in the wardrobe door this time, and it couldn’t hold the things inside, Yao Yuan wouldn’t have wanted to change it.

This time he specially replaced it with a big wardrobe that could hold a lot of things. No matter how much Chen Xiulan stuffed in, it could accommodate it.

About ten minutes later, Yao Heng suddenly walked out of the room with a pale face, and looked at Shen Miao who was sitting on the sofa watching TV with wide eyes.

Turning her head and taking a glance at him, Shen Miao realized that there was something fishy going on.

"What's wrong?"

"Miao Miao, let me ask you something," Yao Heng sat closer and whispered in Shen Miao's ear, "Have you ever seen animals like foxes or martens in the village?"

Shen Miao shook her head, "No, our village is not that remote, where would foxes and martens come from?"

Although Qinghe Village is not as wealthy as urban villages like Beiguan Village, it is not as wealthy as those deep in the mountains.

In addition, Henan Province is originally located in a plain, without so many deep mountains and old forests, and there are villages and farmland near Henan City, so things like foxes and minks are basically not seen. At most, there will be a few weasels appearing in the fields occasionally.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Miao asked again.

Yao Heng did not give a direct answer, but continued to ask: "Then you said, if you kill a fox or a mink, it shouldn't be against the law..."

“Not necessarily,” Shen Miao curled her lips, not sure, “It should be illegal here, right? I remember that our village had posted a leaflet before, which said that there were several kinds of animals that could not be caught or beaten. If you were reported, you would have to stay in the police station for several days.”

Seeing his pale face, Shen Miao patted his shoulder lightly and asked again: “What’s going on? Can you explain it clearly?”

Turning his head to look at Yao Yuan who was still outside on the phone, Yao Heng lowered his voice a bit, "I suspect my dad is smuggling fox and mink fur!"

Shen Miao: ???

When Yao Heng was packing things for his father just now, he saw an unlocked box. He was curious about what was inside so he opened it and took a look. However, he was instantly frightened when he saw those furry tails.

Yao Yuan often followed the company's people to do transportation, so it was not impossible for him to smuggle some animal furs under the pretext of transportation.

What Yao Heng didn't expect was that his own father would be so bold as to do such an illegal thing!

"Are you sure? Did you see it clearly?" Shen Miao confirmed with him, "This is not a joke. If smuggling is discovered, you will definitely go to jail."

Seeing that Shen Miao didn’t believe it, Yao Heng directly pulled her up.

Yao Yuan was on the phone and hadn't paid attention to what was happening here, so he simply took her to the bedroom and closed the door.

"If you don't believe me, check it out for yourself."

As he said that, Yao Heng opened the suitcase.

There are not only foxes in there, but also minks and even dogs!

The moment she saw it, Shen Miao was so frightened that she quickly closed her eyes.

It’s too...what!

Opening her eyes again, Shen Miao bravely took another look at the animal fur in the box, but when she saw it clearly, she found that the things in the box did not seem to be that scary.

There were foxes, minks and dogs in the box, but the strange thing was that these animals were not whole skins with complete beards and tails, but only a piece of the tail.

If it is animal skin that is smuggled, at least the whole skin must be smuggled to be sold for money. If there is only the tail...how to sell it?

I reached out and touched these tails, and they didn't feel like real animal hair. They looked more like they were artificially made later.

“You are mistaken, this is not a fox’s tail,” Shen Miao said as he picked up the fox’s tail, “Feel it, it’s fake.”

Just as she picked it up, she found that there was something hanging at the connection at the base of the tail.

It was a teardrop-shaped metal ball with the entire tail stuck on it. Under the tail, there were many leather collars with iron spikes and a black whip...

The two curiously took turns looking at everything inside, and the more they looked, the more confused they became.

"What are these used for?"

"I don't know, it looks weird."

"You haven't seen your father at home?"

"No, it's my first time seeing you too."