Chapter 132: Give Sun some tricks

This time when he returned home, Chen Qi met many old friends.

Chunliu, who used to serve Yujing, has already married and had children. Upon learning that her former master had returned, she brought her child to pay her respects. Chen Qi rewarded her with twenty taels of silver as a gift for her child.

Another servant, Qiu Guang, had once stood up for Chen Qi in a fight and had also followed the couple to the provincial capital. During this return trip, a small merchant from the outskirts of town, aware of Qiu Guang's social status and favor with Mrs. Xie, expressed interest in marrying her. Qiu Guang's parents came to ask for mercy, and after Chen Qi inquired about their wishes, they agreed and also offered her twenty taels of silver as a dowry.

When the maids in the Xie family heard that Qiu Guang had gotten such a good ending because he had avenged the Second Mistress, they were extremely envious.

Yu Jin also returned to her parents' home.

After she got married, she gave birth to a daughter as her first child. She sighed all day long, resentful that she could not give birth to a son to be adopted by her brother's family.

Her husband got angry when he heard this.

"Let's not talk about the fact that our daughter is very good. Even if it's a son, he is still our child. How can we give him to others? It's not like we can't support him!"

Yu Jin has always been arrogant. After marriage, she saw that her husband's family was obviously poor. She had been trying to maintain the airs of a wealthy family and curry favor with him to get her a marriage. But now she became more and more aggressive.

"The little money you have is enough for my child to eat. But compared to my family, you're not even worthy of carrying my shoes!"

Her husband became even more furious, pointing at her nose and scolding her, saying that she was clearly taking advantage of her cousin from the eldest house and still acting like the boss! Yu Jin was also unyielding. Even if I am just a cousin, I am better than you, her cousin's husband!

The couple quarreled all day long, but they lived a lively life.

The Xie family's backyard had been managed by Concubine Yun since the couple left home the year before last, with the old lady in charge and Sun Xueyi helping out. With the departure of a young couple and two young girls, the house was actually quieter than when Chen Qi was the housekeeper.

When the family was having dinner, Chen Qi found that the big table in the dining room had been removed and divided into two rows of small tables. The old lady sat at the head, followed by the second uncle and aunt, Xie Yuming and his wife, Aunt Yun and her son, and father Xie Yan sat alone.

Everyone sat down, and the maids served the dishes and soup to each of them without disturbing each other. There was no need to even exchange casual greetings.

After Xie Yuduo returned home with his wife and daughter, the old lady ordered the servants to set up another table below Xie Yan and asked the family of three to sit together.

Chen Qi secretly praised in her heart.

I don't know who came up with this idea, but it not only reduces the embarrassment of having enemies eat across from each other at the same table, but also reduces the chances of daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law being harassed by their so-called elders using filial piety to force them to serve food.

After the meal, everyone ate in silence.

Only Xiao Ming refused to sit quietly in his parents' arms. He walked with his chubby little legs to his grandfather, stretched out his little hand, grabbed a piece of fruit, and then wandered to his great-grandmother's table to examine the dishes on the plate one by one.

After she had read it carefully, she walked back and forth in the open space in the middle of the dining room, swinging her legs and waving her little arms.

Accidentally, the fruit in her hand fell and rolled away. She stepped on it with her legs clattering as she tried to catch it. However, she was walking too fast and her steps were unsteady, so she was about to fall flat on her face.

Xie Yuduo had already seen it, so he stepped over, grabbed the little red ball by the red brocade jacket with his big hands, and brought it back to his seat.

The delicate daughter who was caught by her father was still thinking about the fallen fruit. When she saw that she couldn't pick it up again, she immediately felt aggrieved and wanted to cry.

Xie Yan had already asked the maid to bring the whole plate of fruit on his table to her, which stopped the huge grievance.

After receiving the gift from his grandfather, Xiao Ming'er finally sat peacefully in his father's arms. He reached out to grab a fruit, leaned forward, and went to feed his mother first.

Chen Qi took her little hand and pretended to take a bite.

"Mom has tasted it, you can eat it yourself tomorrow."

This lovely girl still had some filial piety left, so she held up the fruit and handed it to her father's mouth.

Xie Yuduo lowered his head, opened his mouth, and bit off most of it.

Xiao Ming'er saw that the fruit, which was big and round just now, was now only half left. His almond eyes opened wide, his pink lips trembled slightly, and it seemed that more pearls were about to fall.

Chen Qi hurriedly took a new fruit to replace the one she had bitten, then reached out and secretly pinched Xie Yuduo's waist, cursing him in a low voice.

"Try to provoke her again."

Xie Yuduo smiled as if he heard nothing and even lowered his head to pretend to bite again. Xiao Ming'er, who had just suffered a loss, no longer dared to be polite to his father. He protected the fruit in his arms and pulled his body to be held by his mother.

Chen Qi smiled and took her daughter in her arms, and helped her take a big bite. When she looked up, she met Sun Xueyi's lonely and dazed eyes.

After dinner, Xie Yuduo went to the front to deal with the affairs of Guangling City, and Chen Qi invited Sun Xueyi to come home and sit and talk.

Looking at Xiao Ming'er playing with a stuffed tiger in his left hand and a plush cat in his right hand, busy as he ran around in the middle of the bed, Sun Xueyi lay on her side opposite Shen Qi and sighed.

"You really are lucky. Not only do you have a husband like that, and enjoy such wealth, but even your daughter is so pitiful and lovely. You almost make the poor people in this world look like dirt and mud."

Chen Qi looked up at her.

Since we last met last year, she looked better, had gained some weight, and her complexion became fairer and smoother, making her look even more otherworldly and beautiful.

In recent years, her relationship with Xie Yuming has been pretty good. Although her parents-in-law are annoying, fortunately she doesn't bother with them easily. In addition, her sister-in-law Yu Jin married in Lin County and doesn't return to her parents' home once every ten days or half a month, so her life is pretty good.

Unfortunately, she was a few years older than Chen Qi and had no children. Seeing how beautiful Chen Qi's daughter was, she couldn't help but feel sad for herself.

In the past two years, because Chen Qi became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter in Guangling City, Second Aunt increasingly pressured her son to continue the family line, either by divorcing his wife or taking a concubine.

At first, Xie Yuming would argue with Sun Xueyi for her sake. But lately, he's been talking back less and less, and his words have been getting softer and softer.

At most, they would just get up and leave, ignoring everything.

Even Old Lady Wu, who couldn't get around the obsession of having too many children and grandchildren, had approached Sun Xueyi many times - saying that divorcing his wife was fine, but taking a concubine was a serious matter, and if she had a child born out of wedlock, the child could also call her mother.

Taking a step further, the couple would have to adopt a child from a side branch, to take care of the child in their old age, and have the child inherit a share of the family business in the future.

Although Sun Xueyi retorted to her mother-in-law, saying that her family was waiting to adopt Yu Shuo's younger brother's child, Yu Shuo was only a few years old this year. Who knew where he would settle down and get married in the future, and whether he would be willing to adopt a child to this older brother who was not very close to him?

After all these things happened, she realized more and more that her situation in the Xie family would only get worse.

Looking at Xiao Ming'er yawning sleepily, holding the plush cat in his two little hands and burrowing into Chen Qi's arms, Sun Xueyi still sighed.

"These past few days, seeing your daughter, I've become more open-minded. In the future, he can take a concubine or adopt a child. Even if he brings a child home from outside for me to raise, whether it's his or not, I'll accept it and treat it as if it were my own child."

She said this, but she felt very bitter in her heart.

What happened back then was consensual, and both of them were at fault, but she had to endure all that suffering, while Xie Yuming was able to extricate himself, free of worries, and reunite with his children.

This is not fair.

Chen Qi also thought so, but kept it in his heart and did not say it out loud.

There is no point in talking about this kind of thing, it will only add to her pain.

But Chen Qi gently patted her sleeping daughter in her arms, and couldn't help but speak and give her some bad advice.

"I see that although Concubine Yun is the head of the household, you are still in charge of some household affairs. When the old lady passes away, Concubine Yun will probably step down and let others take over. That thief will also be old, and you will be the real head of the household. If you pay attention to the money that comes and goes in this family, you won't be afraid of running out of money."

Her parents-in-law are difficult to deal with, her husband is unreliable, and she has no children. Even if she has a concubine's son in the future or adopts a branch of the family, a situation like hers requires her to have a large sum of money in her hands.