Upon hearing this, Shi Yu's face darkened.

His father's sudden passing was a significant blow to him.

Just as he was about to say something, his stepmother jumped out and interrupted him: "Guangyao, this is the wife your grandfather arranged for you, isn't she? Your father and I haven't had our wedding tea yet, so why don't we make up for it today?"

"Then let's make up for it. And while we're at it, let's invite everyone in the family over to get to know each other."

Even if I can't take a break for now, I can't skip the proper etiquette.

“Master is so thoughtful. Nanny, why don’t you go and tell the maids to go and call Ningning and Jie’er here yourself?”

The old woman respectfully responded and then withdrew.

Shi Yu shifted his gaze and then looked at his eldest son's wife, who in his eyes was not worthy of being presented in public.

Her jet-black hair was casually tied back, with only a shabby wooden hairpin in her bun, and her clothes were in the style of a country woman.

As for manners and etiquette, there was none at all.

When I first met my in-laws, I didn't even know how to behave properly, and just sat down without a care in the world.

Throughout the entire conversation, it was only his eldest son who did all the talking, while the new bride acted as if it were none of her business, as if she were just watching a spectacle.

Apart from a few colors, there was nothing about him that pleased him.

If he weren't still in mourning, he would have immediately divorced his son and married a more educated and reasonable daughter-in-law.

Lin Momo: Your father-son battle is a contest between men. What am I, a new bride who hasn't even officially made her debut yet, supposed to do by meddling in?

She was still completely clueless about the Shi family's situation, so she naturally had to adhere to the principle of saying as little as possible to avoid making mistakes.

Sometimes she'd be at the forefront, and she'd be happy to pretend to be mute.

However, she couldn't avoid the ritual of the new daughter-in-law serving tea to her parents-in-law.

This time, there's no way to avoid standing out.

Time itself has nothing to say.

His relationship with the Shi family was merely distant, not severed. Drinking the tea for the new bride meant that the Shi family had accepted this eldest daughter-in-law, which is why she was recorded in the family genealogy.

It's not necessarily a bad thing.

He had no idea that his good father actually wanted to divorce his wife and remarry, but he had temporarily suppressed the idea due to the circumstances.

Before anyone could bring in the tea, a large number of people poured in from outside.

"Mom, I heard that my older brother is back!" A boy of about ten years old stepped excitedly across the threshold and first peeked into the house.

His gaze swept over Shi Guang, and he said with a grin, "Big brother, you're really back!"

A girl of about fourteen or fifteen years old followed him in.

First, she glanced at Shi Guang following the little boy's gaze, then scrutinized Lin Momo from head to toe with a critical look.

When Lin Momo saw her, she couldn't help but mutter to herself that these two must be the Jie-ge'er and Ning-ning that the stepmother had mentioned.

Such casualness and arrogance are only seen in legitimate children, and it is undoubtedly the daughter of that stepmother-in-law.

Then several more concubines and their children came in one after another.

The once spacious hall suddenly became crowded.

Lin Momo, who had become the focus of everyone's attention, felt like she was on a hot seat.

Serving tea was fine, but she was somewhat resistant to kneeling, especially since it was her in-laws who didn't even look at her properly, which made her feel even more uncomfortable.

The old woman had placed a prayer mat in front of her.

The meaning couldn't be clearer: one must kneel to offer tea.

Seeing that Lin Momo was standing in front of the prayer mat and refused to kneel down, the old woman impatiently urged, "Young mistress, quickly kneel down and serve tea to your parents-in-law!"

"Oh," Lin Momo replied innocently, then braced herself and prepared to kneel down.

Behind him, Shi Guang stood up and walked over: "Just stand and serve the tea!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present changed their expressions.

Lin smiled silently at Shi Guang.

Then, he picked up a cup of tea from the tea tray carried by the maid, curtsied, and said with a beaming smile, "Father-in-law, please have some tea!"

You can't hit someone who's smiling.

Shi Yu hesitated for a moment, but still reached out and took it, took a small sip and put it on the table, then handed her the greeting gift that the maid had just brought in.

He also admonished her, saying, "Now that you have become the daughter-in-law of the Shi family, you must learn the rules and etiquette of an official's family. I will instruct your mother-in-law to teach you well in the future."

"Yes," Lin replied with a smile, taking the brocade box.

It didn't sink when I picked it up, but the brocade box my grandfather had given me was much heavier. I wondered what was inside.

Even if it's just for the sake of the gift, I should still try to make this father-in-law happy.

But in her heart, she was thinking that after paying respects to the old man during the Qingming Festival, she and Shiguang should slip away as soon as possible.

She doesn't want to learn any of those rules and etiquette.

She has already separated herself from time and lived her own life; what's the point of learning that stuff?

Besides, natural disasters are coming soon, and the world will be in chaos. It would be better to plant more land and store more grain in the meantime.

In front of Shi Yu, the head of the family, even though Madam Shi had a lot of dissatisfaction in her heart, she did not dare to show any displeasure to her new daughter-in-law. She drank the tea and gave her a hastily prepared gift.

It was still a brocade box, slightly larger and heavier than my father-in-law's.

They've really put a lot of effort into this facade project.

Logically, as a new bride, she should present her father-in-law and mother-in-law with a handmade needlework during the tea ceremony.

But today's tea ceremony and family reunion were a last-minute decision.

Both sides were caught off guard. Her in-laws could put together a gift for the first meeting, but she, the new daughter-in-law, couldn't put together two sets of needlework.

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