"Why are you all here? Come on, come home and sit down!"
Shen Honggang stopped his bicycle and looked at the large group of people with a puzzled expression.
"I'm just about to go home!"
Chen Feng gave Shen Yuqin a wink, and Shen Yuqin grabbed Chu Chaoyang's arm and dragged him in the opposite direction from Shen Jingyan.
Chen Feng linked arms with Tong Huijuan, acting as intimately as if they were sisters.
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Chu Jincai, Shen Hong turned to Shen Jingyan and said, "Jingya, we have guests at home today, why don't you go home and eat too?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Yuqin stomped her feet in anger.
"Dad, why are you calling Jingya?"
“That’s right. Jingya isn’t very close to us either. Look, she only brought this little bit of stuff when she visited her uncle during the New Year.”
Chen Feng spared no effort to belittle Shen Jingyan, fearing that Tong Huijuan might have too good an impression of her.
Tong Huijuan glanced at the gift in Shen Jingyan's hand and disagreed with Chen Feng's words.
"Sister-in-law, the things Jingya brought are not cheap. That wine, it's from an old brand, costs twenty or thirty yuan a bottle. It's always sold out during the Chinese New Year, you can't buy it even if you have money."
Chen Feng's face alternated between red and ashen, looking extremely unpleasant.
Seeing that Shen Jingyan was reluctant to go home, Shen Honggang said in a gentle tone, "Jingya, go back. It's the New Year, and the family should have a reunion dinner."
Shen Jingyan's heart softened, and she nodded in agreement.
Chu Chaoyang's smile returned to his face. He stretched out his arm and said to Shen Jing, "Jingya, let me help you carry these things, they're quite heavy."
Before Shen Jingyan could agree, he took the things from her hands.
He simply nodded politely.
Tong Huijuan felt even more fondness for Shen Jingyan for her graceful and composed demeanor.
Chu Jincai drove the car into the village and parked it in front of the Shen family's house.
The family of three unloaded large and small bags of gifts from the trunk; they were all high-end goods that could only be bought in the county town.
Chen Feng and Shen Yuqin's eyes lit up as they looked at it.
Especially when Tong Huijuan took out a magenta woolen coat that was fashionable in the city, Shen Yuqin couldn't hold back. Before Tong Huijuan could put the coat on the kang, she reached out and snatched it away.
"Auntie, is this coat for me?"
Shen Yuqin's rude behavior caused Tong Huijuan to frown frequently.
But since she was a guest, she didn't say much.
This dress was indeed bought as a gift for Shen Yuqin, but she now wants to change her mind.
Before coming, she asked Chu Jincai about Shen Yuqin's appearance and figure. Chu Jincai had never seen Shen Yuqin because he had already made his fortune and moved to the county town before Shen Yuqin was even born.
However, Chu Jincai had met Shen Honggang's eldest daughter, Shen Yulan. The girl, like her aunt, had a pair of bright, watery eyes and a small, fair, and delicate face. Chu Jincai said that since they were both Shen Honggang's daughters, they couldn't be too different.
That's why Tong Huijuan mistook Shen Jingyan for Shen Yuqin when she first saw her.
Who knew that the real Shen Yuqin would look just like her mother, with a stout and clumsy build and a mean-spirited expression on her face.
Shen Honggang was at least a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a decent appearance, but Shen Yuqin didn't resemble him at all.
Shen Yuqin happily tried on the clothes, but before she could even put one arm into the sleeve, Chen Feng loudly praised her:
"Looks great! My daughter has fair skin, and red looks so stylish on her!"
But before she could finish speaking, an awkward thing happened.
This wool coat is a fitted style, but Shen Yuqin, who is broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, couldn't fit her other arm into it no matter what she did, so she was so anxious that she spun around in circles.
"Mom, I can't get my arm in there, please help me!"
Chen Feng hurriedly helped her pull the clothes apart, using so much force that she almost wanted to tear the clothes in half so that her daughter could wear them.
Looking at her new coat, which was all crumpled and wrinkled, Tong Huijuan felt extremely distressed.
"Oh dear, it's all my fault. I didn't check the size. It's a bit small. I didn't know Yuqin was so...voluptuous..."
She was too embarrassed to say "fat".
Chen Feng thought Tong Huijuan was praising Shen Yuqin, and her smile deepened the wrinkles on her face.
"My daughter has a lucky face! Being a little chubby is good for childbirth!"
While praising her own daughter, she didn't forget to put down Shen Jingyan, saying, "Unlike Jingya, who's as skinny as a matchstick and would fall over in the wind!"
Shen Yuqin and Chen Feng struggled with all their might, but still couldn't get the coats on, and instead ended up sweating profusely.
Shen Yuqin clutched her coat reluctantly and said to Tong Huijuan, "Auntie, could you go back and get me a bigger size?"
She said this without the slightest embarrassment, as if it were only natural for Tong Huijuan to buy her clothes.
However, Tong Huijuan remained silent and instead turned her gaze to Shen Jingyan.
The young girl has a slender figure with narrow shoulders and a slim waist, like a red plum blossom in winter. This coat would definitely suit her perfectly.
"Jingya, why don't you give it a try?"
Chen Fengsheng, fearing that Shen Jingyan would steal Shen Yuqin's clothes, glared at Shen Jingyan with her small eyes and said resentfully:
"Jingya, we have guests at home, and you don't even offer them tea or water? How can you be so inconsiderate?"
She needed to find a reason to send Shen Jingyan away quickly, otherwise, if she kept hanging around Tong Huijuan, Tong Huijuan wouldn't even give Shen Yuqin a second glance!
But she miscalculated. Shen Jingyan was no longer the little girl who would obey her every whim and work hard without complaint.
She sneered, "Aunt, I've already moved out and I'm no longer part of your family. I'm here as a guest today. Is it appropriate for you to have a guest serve tea and water?"
One sentence left Chen Feng speechless.
Tong Huijuan was a perceptive person; she had long seen through it that Chen Feng had often made Jingya do chores.
He raised his own daughter to be greedy and selfish, with no manners whatsoever, and she's ugly but doesn't even know it herself.
She sighed inwardly, wondering how there could be such a big difference between two girls who were both seventeen or eighteen.
She was determined to bring her son and Jingya together, no matter what!
Helpless, Chen Feng had no choice but to make tea and set out the fruit platter herself.
Shen Jingyan sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed) with the same ease and confidence as a guest.
As soon as she sat down, Chu Chaoyang came in from outside.
His gaze remained fixed on Shen Jingyan, a faint smile playing on his lips.
Shen Yuqin's gaze never left Chu Chaoyang, and she thought Chu Chaoyang was smiling at her.
Chu Chaoyang was tall and sturdy, much stronger than the weakling Zhou Zhengqing.
Shen Yuqin had completely forgotten about Zhou Zhengqing by now.
She was about to get up and invite Chu Chaoyang to sit down when Chu Chaoyang sat down next to Shen Jingyan.
The spot where he sat had a wall behind him, so even if Shen Yuqin wanted to get closer to him, there was no room for her.
She was so angry she almost blew smoke from her nostrils!
"Hello, Jingya, my name is Chu Chaoyang, I am twenty-one years old, and I work in a machinery factory in the county town."
Seeing that she was quiet and reserved, Chu Chaoyang assumed she was a shy and reserved girl, so he took the initiative to introduce himself.
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