Upon hearing Chen Tiejun's words, the onlookers pointed and whispered among themselves at the elderly couple.

Clearly, the old man never dreamed that his son, who always cared about his reputation, would expose this matter in front of so many people. He had always bullied this son because he relied on the fact that this son was considerate of the bigger picture and would never reveal his secrets to outsiders.

I was just about to play the victim and shift the blame to Chen Tiejun, misleading everyone into thinking that Chen Tiejun was just making things up to prevent them from attending the granddaughter's parents' meeting, since it would be too embarrassing if such a thing got out.

But he forgot that there was a useless teammate who was always charging ahead. He only heard the old lady sitting on the ground shouting after hearing Chen Tiejun's words: "Did your father and I say something wrong? With your Shuning's personality, she's so weak that she won't say a word. If she marries into a family like that, she'll be divorced sooner or later."

"It would be better to let our Shuting marry into the family sooner rather than later. That way, you uncles and aunts might benefit as well."

The old lady's words caused everyone around to gasp. Some people had doubts about Chen Tiejun's words, but after hearing the old lady's words, everyone understood.

They all lived in the same courtyard, and everyone knew more or less that the old couple favored their youngest son and disliked their second son the most. But no one could have imagined that the old couple would be so confused.

Faced with the pointing fingers and whispers of the crowd, without Chen Tiejun saying anything more, the old man couldn't stand it any longer. He glared at Chen Tiejun fiercely like a venomous snake, then turned and left.

The old lady belatedly realized she had said the wrong thing. Now that the old man had left, she was too ashamed to stay. Without needing anyone's help, she got up from the ground and slunk away amidst the pointing and whispering of the crowd.

The elderly couple didn't care how much they beat Chen Shuning's family when they got home. After wiping away her tears and saying a few polite words, Qin Yalan received a lot of sympathy and comfort before seeing off the onlookers.

Although they were already used to their in-laws' favoritism, they could accept the injustices happening to themselves. But now that their daughter had encountered such a distressing situation, Qin Yalan and Chen Tiejun felt terrible.

Looking at Chen Shuning, who was washing the dishes as if nothing had happened, the couple didn't know what to say.

The couple had originally agreed to keep this a secret from Chen Shuning. Marriage is supposed to be the happiest event in life, and the couple didn't want Chen Shuning to have his mood ruined by these trivial matters.

I never expected that the old couple would be so shameless as to actually come to my door.

Looking at their daughter who seemed completely unaffected, the couple felt a pang of guilt, but didn't know what to say to comfort her.

Chen Shuning turned around and saw the couple with embarrassed expressions on their faces. After a moment's thought, she understood why her parents had such expressions.

She smiled and said, "Mom and Dad, what's wrong? Dad, go wash your hands. I bought a lot of grapes today. You love grapes, don't you?"

There are also peaches that Mom likes. Please wash your hands first, I'll go get them right away.

He carefully collected the last bowl he had washed, turned around, and left the kitchen to go to his own room.

Chen Shuning didn't actually bring out any fruit, but seeing the expressions on Chen Tiejun and Qin Yalan's faces just now made her feel really sorry for them, so she used this excuse to try and comfort the couple.

Back in his room, Chen Shuning closed the door, glanced around, and seeing no one outside, quickly hid behind the cabinet and used his mind to take out several bunches of grapes and a dozen peaches from his spatial storage. He put them in a basket and headed towards the hand pump in the yard.

Although Beijing had running water a long time ago, the Chen family's small courtyard did not, and they still relied on a hand pump well to solve their drinking water problem.

Fortunately, there was no pollution in this era, and the water quality was very good, so it was safe to drink.

Carrying a basket of washed fruit, I went to my parents' room again. The couple was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) discussing something, but as soon as Chen Shuning entered, they both stopped talking.

Seeing this, Chen Shuning didn't press the matter. He chuckled and placed the basket of fruit on the kang table, asking, "Mom, why isn't Jian Dang back yet? Should I go to the scrap metal yard and check?"

Qin Yalan glanced at the clock after hearing Chen Shuning's words. Seeing that it was only six o'clock, she said nonchalantly, "No need. Judging from the looks of it, he probably ate with his master again. He should be back soon."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuning realized that his younger brother's late returns home were probably a common occurrence, so he stopped mentioning going to look for him and changed the subject.

"Oh, Mom, try these peaches, they're so sweet!" Chen Shuning said, then called to Chen Tiejun sitting on the other side, "Dad, don't you love grapes the most? Hurry up and try these grapes, the old man selling them said they're really sweet. They look good in size and color, but I didn't try them because I thought they were dirty. You should try them and see if they're sweet. If they are, I'll buy more next time I see that old man."

The couple knew perfectly well that their daughter didn't want to upset them, so they didn't bring up the matter again.

After that, the three of them started talking about other things. Seeing that his parents were unhappy, Chen Shuning had to try to cheer them up by telling them some interesting stories from Heilongjiang Province.

As the three were talking, Chen Jiandang's voice came from the courtyard.

"Dad, Mom, I heard from the neighbors that Grandpa and Grandma came over again to cause trouble. What's wrong? I heard they even want that idiot Chen Shuting to steal my brother-in-law..."

As the sound grew closer, the three people inside saw a shadow dart into the house like a cannonball.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!