“You should have told me sooner,” Xing Zhaoming said, looking at Xing Zhaozhao.
“But you like her, and you were already married at the time. I didn’t want to break up your family,” Xing Zhaozhao said. And after they had a child, she was even less likely to bring it up.
Xing Zhaoming shook his head and said, "The one who's full of lies isn't the one I like."
"Then what about you and your sister-in-law in the future..." Xing Zhaozhao looked at Xing Zhaoming with concern and asked.
Xing Zhaoming pondered for a moment and said, "I think it's better to separate. You're my only sister, and I can't pretend you don't exist. If she can't even accept this, there's no need for her to continue to 'compromise' for me."
Xing Zhaozhao frowned and said, "What about the child?"
Xing Zhaoming fell silent. This was also his biggest headache.
If they really do separate, Chen Wei will definitely remarry; the child will probably just be a burden to her.
If you go with him, he's busy with work and might not be able to take care of you often. Even if you remarry, it's questionable whether you can find a good stepmother. Even if you do, his two children are at an age where everyone hates them, and they might not be able to accept it. If things get out of hand, it would be unfair to other people's daughters.
The only one in the family who could help was his younger sister, but Zhao Zhao herself had three children. As her older brother, he couldn't help her and would only add to her burden. He couldn't bring himself to do that.
Xing Zhaoming scratched his head in frustration, and finally gave up: "Forget it, I'll stop thinking about it for now and just take it one step at a time."
Xing Zhaoming and his two sons stayed at Xing Zhaozhao's house temporarily and went directly with Gao Mingcheng to the excavation site in the mountains to help.
With Hongfei and Hongyu as playmates, Xiao Jiashu and Xiao Jiaping only missed their mothers a little on the first day they arrived. After that, they completely forgot about them. Sometimes they would go with Xing Zhaoming and Gao Mingcheng to help at the excavation site in the mountains, sometimes Xing Zhaozhao would take them to the woods to pick wild game, and sometimes they would gather with other kids in the village and run wild. They quickly became so happy that they forgot about home.
"Beep beep," a military jeep suddenly appeared at the village entrance that day.
Hongfei and Hongyu were playing marbles with Xiaojiashu and Xiaojiaping on the ground when they heard the noise and turned around.
Chen Hao got out of the car, made eye contact with them, and waved to them with a smile: "Hello, do you remember me?"
Hongfei and Hongyu immediately jumped down from the ground, looking at him warily: "Remember, bad guy."
Chen Hao: "..."
Xiao Jiashu and Xiao Jiaping also saw Chen Hao, and they jumped up from the ground, cheering as they rushed over: "Uncle..."
Hongfei and Hongyu then realized that they had almost forgotten that the bad guy was their cousin's uncle.
Chen Hao hugged his two nephews, one in each arm, and looked them over carefully. They were darker and thinner, but looked more robust and energetic.
"Looks like you're doing quite well here," he said with a smile.
The two little ones nodded eagerly, chattering away as they told him what they had been doing here over the past few days.
"By the way, where's Mom? Didn't she come with you?" Xiao Jiaping finally remembered her mother and looked at Chen Hao expectantly as she asked.
No sooner had she finished speaking than someone else got out of the jeep from the other side—it was Chen Wei.
"Mom!" Jia Shu and Jia Ping's eyes lit up, and they ran over together again.
When Chen Wei saw her two sons, who had become so thin and dark-skinned, she burst into tears. She hugged them tightly and cried out, "How did you get so dark? So thin? And you're all filthy. How did Xing Zhaozhao take care of my sons? Doesn't she have a conscience? Even if she doesn't like me, she can't mistreat my sons! Waaah..."
Xiao Jiashu and Xiao Jiaping were both frightened by Chen Wei's appearance and stood there, not daring to move.
Chen Hao's face darkened immediately: "What nonsense are you spouting now? Kids often run around in the hot sun, don't they all look like this? My own two sons are right there, and they're the same. Have you forgotten why we're here?"
Chen Wei abruptly fell silent, no longer daring to stammer.
Looking at Chen Wei's appearance and thinking about the mess in front of him, Chen Hao couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Since meeting Xing Zhaozhao before and noticing her strange attitude towards Chen Wei, her sister-in-law, Chen Hao subtly inquired about it with Chen Wei after returning home.
Unexpectedly, after making inquiries, they discovered that his sister, who seemed to be just a little spoiled and had no other problems, had actually put on a big show for them. She was not only selfish but also hypocritical.
When they were looking at each other back then, Chen Wei took a liking to Xing Zhaoming at first sight. She liked him very much. Xing Zhaoming was good-looking, capable, had only one younger sister, had a good temper, was easy to get along with, and already had a boyfriend who was also a soldier. He would get married when he reached a certain age. His conditions were impeccable.
When Chen Wei and Xing Zhaoming first confirmed their relationship, Chen Wei often bought Xing Zhaoming this and that, and Xing Zhaoming would also give gifts in return. Everyone in the family thought that the two sisters-in-law had a very good relationship. Chen Hao's wife couldn't help but secretly say that Chen Wei had gotten very lucky. When she married into the family, she never met such an easy-going sister-in-law.
Unexpectedly, after so many years and two children, Chen Hao realized that it was all a lie. Chen Wei was practically belittling her sister-in-law to the ground. Even Xing Zhaoming's occasional jokes about his sister getting married and becoming estranged from him were all orchestrated by Chen Wei.
Chen Hao was dumbfounded and couldn't understand what she was thinking. She clearly liked Xing Zhaoming so much. Even if she couldn't pretend to love him because of him, she shouldn't have done anything underhanded. What would Xing Zhaoming think if he found out? She was his only sister. Did she not want to live her life anymore? Or did she think she was capable enough to keep it a secret forever?
Chen Hao tried to persuade her to find a way to mend her relationship with Xing Zhaozhao, at least to prevent Xing Zhaoming from discovering anything amiss later. As a result, she agreed verbally but then forgot about it immediately.
He couldn't help but remind Chen Wei again, and unfortunately, Xing Zhaoming happened to witness it, and the result was predictable.
Chen Hao's head throbbed with pain as he thought about the chaos that had befallen his family these past few days.
Chen Wei kept crying at home. Breaking up was absolutely out of the question; she didn't want to, especially since they already had two children.
His wife added fuel to the fire, criticizing him: "I've seen selfish people, but I've never seen anyone this selfish. They even envy and resent someone else's brother treating his sister a little better."
Even Chen Hao himself was affected, getting sarcastic remarks from his wife. After all, he also has a younger sister, his own sister, who caused trouble and then made a scene at home.
Having no other option, Chen Hao had to personally bring Chen Wei to Lanyuan to find Xing Zhaoming to resolve the issue. His elderly parents at home were suffering from nervous breakdowns due to the commotion.
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