“You, you, you, you…” Father Shen was so angry that his face turned blue, and his finger pointed at Shen Chengzhi and trembled constantly, obviously he was furious.
"He is such an ungrateful person! He has never grown up with you and has no respect for you at all. I guess he is not close to you, so he ignores your words."
The stepmother fanned the flames and added fuel to the fire.
Shen Chengzhi straightened his back, his eyes filled with resentment and resentment. He clenched his fists tightly, trying to control his anger.
"The saying that an elder brother is like a father is used when the father passed away early and the elder brother took over the father's role in raising the younger siblings. But you are still alive and well, how dare he say such a thing? What qualifications does he have?"
The stepmother continued to exaggerate the situation, trying to stir up greater conflicts between the father and son.
Facing his stepmother's provocation, Shen Chengzhi could no longer bear it and finally retorted: "The eldest brother is like a father, which usually applies to families where the father is less involved in the education of his children and the elder brother takes on the responsibility of raising them. Jinjin has been taken care of by me since she was young, so what's wrong with me being the eldest brother now?"
Shen Chengzhi did not deliberately contradict his father, but argued with reason and clearly stated his point of view.
Father Shen didn't want to listen to his sophistry. What he thought was right was right.
"I let you go out to study, hoping that you would achieve something and bring honor to the family. But I didn't expect you to be gone for several years without any news." Father Shen became more and more excited as he spoke, his eyes as sharp as a knife, staring at Shen Chengzhi all the time, as if he wanted to see through him.
"I pay for your education, not to let you become a poor scholar after you finish your studies! Instead, I hope that you can rise to prominence and be promoted to a higher position one day! How can you be like those mediocre scholars, who study hard all day but do nothing?"
In Mr. Shen's eyes, nothing in the world is as important as the coveted official position.
Therefore, even though Shen Chengzhi had become a university teacher, in his mind he was just that, no different from an ordinary poor Confucian scholar.
Faced with his father's stubborn and biased ideas, Shen Chengzhi really had no intention of arguing with him.
After all, he knew that his father was always stubborn. Since there was no point in saying more, he might as well just go along with his wishes.
Seeing that Shen Chengzhi remained silent, Shen's father mistakenly thought that he had agreed with his opinion, and he couldn't help but show joy on his face.
Then, Father Shen turned his attention to his daughter Shen Jinjin, and asked sternly, "Jinjin, let me ask you, have you improved your relationship with the boy from the Xu family during the years you went to Ganzhou City to study?"
After that, his sharp eyes like a hawk stared at Shen Jinjin, as if he wanted to see through her body to see through all the truth.
Shen Jinjin quickly shook her head vigorously to deny it.
"Dad, you misunderstood. My daughter visited Madam Xu once when she first arrived in Ganzhou City. It has been several years since then, and I have never set foot there again." Shen Jinjin is an honest child.
"Then your brother wrote to me every two or three months, saying that you got along very well with the boy from the Xu family. He not only taught you how to read and write, but also paid for your schooling. Is this true or false?"
Father Shen asked with an angry look on his face, his voice was deafening, and it was obvious that he was furious.
Shen Jinjin lowered her head, not daring to look at her father, her hands clenched into fists, her palms slightly sweating. She knew she was in big trouble this time, but she didn't know how to explain it.
At this time, Shen Chengzhi stepped forward, quickly stood in front of his sister, and said loudly: "Father, I told this lie. It has nothing to do with my sister. She knows nothing about it." His eyes were firm and decisive, as if he was going to take all the blame for his sister.
However, in his rage, Father Shen didn't listen to his son's explanation at all. He picked up the feather duster beside him and slapped Shen Chengzhi fiercely.
Seeing that the duster was about to fall on Shen Chengzhi, Shen Jinjin was anxious and jumped up without hesitation, blocking her brother with her body.
"Brother!" With a cry of surprise, Shen Jinjin frowned in pain, because those few blows fell heavily on her thin body.
"You silly girl, my brother is a real man, strong and healthy, he can withstand this beating. But you are so weak, how can you bear it?"
Shen Chengzhi was filled with anxiety and love, and he quickly held his sister tightly in his arms, fearing that she would be hurt again.
After Father Shen beat them hard a few times, his anger subsided a little, but he didn't care about the scars on their bodies at all, and then asked: "Why did the Xu family cancel the engagement? Did Shen Jinjin do something shameful and dishonorable to the family?"
Father Shen was furious at this time. He no longer regarded Shen Jinjin as his daughter and directly scolded her by name.
In Shen's father's opinion, only if the woman behaves improperly and betrays her chastity will the man propose to break off the engagement.
He never thought that it might be the man's problem and took the initiative to ask for a breakup.
"It was the Xu family who changed their minds. They even wanted my sister to be a concubine! I was so angry that I took the initiative to cancel the engagement." Shen Chengzhi tried hard to put all the blame on himself.
However, after hearing these words, Father Shen frowned even more tightly.
"Humph, that only shows that your sister is incapable of keeping a man's heart. Who can you blame? She deserves this. Being able to become a concubine is already good enough. How dare you refuse such a good marriage?"
For Shen Chengzhi, this second best choice was a great shame; but in the eyes of Shen's father, this turned out to be a perfect marriage.
Shen Chengzhi really couldn't understand, isn't Jinjin his biological daughter? Why would her father treat Jinjin like this?
"I'll take care of this matter. Don't interfere in your sister's affairs in the future. I will handle it properly." Father Shen said seriously.
“Then how do you want to deal with it, father?” When Shen Chengzhi heard what Shen’s father said, his heart tightened, and he couldn’t help but feel a little worried, so he quickly asked.
Father Shen looked at his son in front of him, and after a moment of silence, he slowly said: "I will find a good husband's family for her and marry her off as soon as possible. If I really can't find a suitable family, I will write back to the Xu family and ask Madam Xu to let her son marry Jinjin as a concubine for Jun'er's sake. In this way, Jinjin's marriage can be solved, and the friendship between the two families can be maintained."
Father Shen's tone was firm, as if he had already made up his mind. However, his words made Shen Chengzhi and Shen Jinjin's faces instantly become very ugly.
Shen Jinjin was worried, knowing that her future was now entirely in her father's hands, and she was filled with uneasiness;
Shen Chengzhi was more worried about his sister's future happiness, fearing that she would be bullied by the wrong person.
But Father Shen didn't care about their reactions, made arrangements on his own, and ruthlessly drove them back to their respective rooms, as if everything was settled.
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