When he saw Su Qingzhi, his gaze lingered on her face for two seconds, looking her up and down.
She didn't say anything, then turned to Zhu Xiuqin and said in a flat tone.
"You're back? Put your things upstairs. Your dad went out to play chess with someone."
As soon as she finished speaking, she took a small sip of tea.
Zhu Xiuqin still had a smile on her face and called out in a clear voice.
"mom."
After speaking, he pulled Su Qingzhi beside him, his tone gentle and sharp.
"This is Xiao Shuo's wife, Su Qingzhi."
Su Qingzhi immediately stepped forward, bowed respectfully, and called out clearly.
"grandmother."
Madam Shen nodded gently, letting out a short "hmm" in response.
Then he stopped looking at her and turned his gaze back to the enamel cup in his hand.
Zhu Xiuqin seemed completely oblivious to the coldness on her mother-in-law's face.
He remained calm and, holding Su Qingzhi's hand, led her upstairs.
"Let's go upstairs and put our things down first."
"There are four rooms upstairs. The leftmost one is for Shen Zhiyu. You can stay there."
As Zhu Xiuqin spoke, she lifted her foot and continued upstairs.
Su Qingzhi nodded silently, carrying her luggage, and followed behind with light steps.
Just as the two stepped onto the third step, a shout came from behind them.
"Wait a moment."
Zhu Xiuqin stopped and turned around to ask.
"What's wrong?"
Sister-in-law Shen stood at the living room door, a hint of unease on her face.
Madam Shen's expression also stiffened slightly, and her fingers tightened around the enamel cup.
Before they could even speak, hurried footsteps echoed upstairs.
Su Qingzhi and Zhu Xiuqin looked up at the same time and saw two people standing at the top of the stairs.
A middle-aged woman, wearing a bright red floral coat, with her hair perfectly permed.
Next to him was a young girl, in her early twenties, who looked slightly impatient.
Upon seeing each other, Su Qingzhi couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth.
There's really no escaping it.
Those two people, aren't they the woman who insisted on changing seats on the train, and her daughter who came to pick her up?
The middle-aged woman's smug expression froze instantly.
She shouted downstairs, raising her voice several decibels.
"Cousin, which family's relatives are these two, here to freeload?"
Sister-in-law Shen coughed twice and quickly explained.
"This is my second brother's wife, and this is my nephew's wife."
After she finished speaking, she secretly glanced at Madam Shen, afraid that her words might not have been appropriate and would cause more embarrassment.
Madam Shen sat on the sofa and spoke slowly.
"She is my second son's wife and my granddaughter-in-law."
After he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a moment.
The middle-aged woman's face immediately flushed, as if she had been slapped in public.
Her lips moved, but she ultimately didn't say anything more harsh. She could only force a smile and give a dry reply.
"Oh, so it's from my second cousin's family in the Northwest."
She deliberately dragged out the word "Northwest," her tone revealing her regional prejudice.
Zhu Xiuqin had long disliked her, and with a sneer, she asked.
"Sister-in-law, who are these two...?"
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Sister-in-law Shen's face, and she lowered her voice.
“This is my mother’s distant niece, Shen Chunhua. She’s about seven or eight generations removed from our family, and we don’t usually have any contact. But she came suddenly this time, so I couldn’t refuse her. The one next to her is her daughter, Shen Haitang.”
Zhu Xiuqin raised a half-smile on her lips and said in a flippant tone.
"Oh, so these are relatives who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I thought today was some big day, but a bunch of unfamiliar faces suddenly showed up at my door without any official status."
Su Qingzhi glanced at Shen Haitang and noticed that her expression had changed instantly.
Shen Chunhua immediately put on a stern face.
Her lips trembled slightly as she feigned a wronged expression.
He then raised the back of his hand to wipe the corner of his eye, and said in a choked voice, "?"
“Aunt, aren’t you being too harsh? Is my second cousin’s wife looking down on us because we’re poor and refusing to acknowledge us? I… I know in my heart that I’m not capable, and I’ve spent my whole life farming in the countryside, not as glamorous as you city people. But I know proper etiquette, and I shouldn’t have brought the child back to disturb your peace… I was wrong, I shouldn’t have had any expectations.”
Shen Haitang lowered her head, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, her knuckles turning white.
Her eyes gradually welled up with tears, clearly she was desperately trying to hold them back.
With a loud bang, Madam Shen slammed the enamel cup she was holding onto the coffee table.
Her face was ashen, and she stared straight at Zhu Xiuqin, her tone stern.
"You come back and you have to cause trouble for the whole family? Don't you even care about this family? Don't you care about your elders?"
Zhu Xiuqin smirked and chuckled softly.
"What you're saying doesn't make sense. What did I do to deserve this? I was just returning what she said to me. She brought up the issue of poverty first, and I was just going along with her. How did that make me the one who was wrong? Am I not even allowed to tell the truth? Or is it that in this family, only she is allowed to cry, and no one else is allowed to talk back?"
Madam Shen was so shocked by her words that her chest tightened, her lips trembled, and it took her a long time to squeeze out a few words.
"You...you're absolutely...you're driving me crazy!"
Seeing this, Sister-in-law Wu quickly stepped forward with a smile to smooth things over.
"Oh, Yongmei was just joking, please don't be angry. Besides, Cousin Chunhua said it first, saying she was afraid of bothering everyone and making herself seem inferior, so others naturally followed suit."
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