Chapter 260 Treating Each Other with Sincerity
Those words slithered into my ears like venomous snakes—"Marrying her is a misfortune for our family," "Sooner or later we'll have to kick her out."
She did try to resist, but every time she spoke up, Fu Xianxiu shut her down with "Mom is doing this for your own good."
Her throat tightened, and her eyes quietly reddened.
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she didn't fall.
She didn't want to appear weak in front of her friends, but some emotions were simply impossible to hide.
My nose felt slightly sore, and my breathing became heavy.
She raised her hand and gently wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve, the movement very light, as if afraid of disturbing her memories.
Qiu Zishu clenched her fists: "Sister Wanyin, it's perfectly normal for you to feel this way. Anyone would be traumatized by it."
Her hands clenched so tightly they cracked, and she didn't feel any pain even as her nails dug into her palms.
Thinking about everything Qiao Wanyin had endured alone over the years, she felt a burning hatred.
Why should an outsider have to pay for someone else's prejudice?
Moreover, Qiao Wanyin had never done anything to wrong this family.
Qiao Wanyin gave a wry smile and continued, "She is indeed different now. Knowing that I like braised pork, she makes it every day; when I'm busy at work, she even prepares the child's schoolbag and water bottle in advance. But trust... once it's broken, it's broken."
As she spoke, her gaze drifted to the window, where sunlight slanted across the kitchen stove, and the braised pork in the pot was simmering slowly, filling the air with its aroma.
Everything was so orderly, even considerate.
But the more she believed it, the less she dared to believe it.
Because the past hurts were too real, so real that every scar reminded her that gentleness might just be the beginning of a new round of testing.
"Like a mirror that has been smashed on the ground, you can piece it back together and it will look whole on the surface, but every crack reminds you that it was once shattered."
She looked up, her eyes clear yet revealing an undeniable weariness. "Now when I see her being nice to me, my first reaction isn't gratitude, but rather—is she just putting on an act again? Is it that if I upset her again someday, these things will become weapons to hurt me?"
Qiu Zishu nodded: "I understand. People's hearts aren't made of iron; once they're broken, how can they be healed so easily?"
She reached out and grasped Qiao Wanyin's hand, feeling a warmth in her palm.
She understood that feeling of trepidation, like walking on a frozen lake, afraid to hear the sound of it cracking with every step.
Repairing a relationship takes far longer than destroying it.
At this moment, Song Yazhi stood at the door, holding an order slip in her hand.
She was wearing a light gray loungewear set, her hair was casually tied up in a bun, and she was wearing slippers.
I intended to knock gently on the door and come in to ask my daughter-in-law what she wanted to eat tonight, and if she could add a steamed fish, but I didn't expect that I could hear every word of the conversation inside.
She had intended to ask her daughter-in-law what she wanted to eat that night, but each sentence felt like a needle pricking her ears.
At first, she smiled and prepared to push the door open, but when she heard words like "guard," "suspicion," and "bad person," her smile froze on her face, and her heart sank.
She stood there, unable to move, the order slip in her hand already soaked with sweat.
She stood there stunned, the paper in her hand slowly crumpling in her hand.
The knuckles turned white from the force, and the paper made a soft creaking sound.
She swallowed hard, trying to calm herself down, but found that her chest felt tight and she couldn't breathe.
She thought her efforts these past few days had finally paid off; at least Qiao Wanyin had started accepting the bowls and chopsticks she offered. How could this be...?
Still don't believe it?
The glimmer of hope that had just begun to ignite in my heart was suddenly extinguished.
Like a fire that's finally lit on a winter night, it's extinguished by a gust of wind.
She looked down at her rough hands, calluses from chopping vegetables, making soup, and washing diapers every day.
She worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk, worrying herself sick over her family, and even turned down three invitations from her old friends to go square dancing.
But in the daughter-in-law's eyes, it was all just a performance.
She felt that she had given her all, getting up early every day to cook porridge and getting up in the middle of the night to heat up soup, but all she got in return was defensiveness and suspicion.
Sometimes when her child had a fever in the middle of the night, she was even more anxious than Qiao Wanyin, rushing to the hospital with her grandson in her arms, without even putting on the right shoes.
After returning home, my legs ached for several days, but I didn't dare to utter a sound.
She thought that as long as she treated her sincerely, one day she would be able to earn a "Mom, you've worked hard" in return.
But now it all sounds like a joke.
Tears welled up in my eyes, and I dared not let them fall.
She turned around, her legs went weak, and she almost knocked over the mop by the corridor.
She quickly grabbed the wall for support, one hand bracing against the tiled surface, the other tightly clutching the crumpled order slip.
My throat feels blocked, and I'm having trouble breathing.
She can't cry here, absolutely not.
If others saw this, they would only say that she was up to her old tricks and trying to gain sympathy.
Back home, she locked herself in her room, buried her face in the pillow, and cried silently.
The door slammed shut, and she slid down to the floor, her tears finally overflowing.
The pillow was quickly soaked with sweat. She bit her lip to keep the sound from getting out, her shoulders trembling violently.
Over the years, she has considered herself a reasonable person, but in this family, no matter what she does, it always seems to be wrong.
Hearing the noise, Fu Xianxiu gently knocked on the door: "What's wrong today? You were fine when you left this morning."
He put down his briefcase and frowned as he listened to the suppressed sobs coming from inside.
His mother was always strong and rarely shed tears in front of him.
He remembered that when her father passed away when she was a child, she didn't cry once.
Now he is so heartbroken over these trivial matters that he can hardly contain himself, which makes him both distressed and confused.
She opened the door, her face streaked with tears: "I've humbled myself so much, but she still doesn't believe me! I cook for her, take care of the children, and do everything for her, but she still thinks I'm a bad person!"
She choked out those words, her fingers still trembling slightly.
She wasn't afraid of being tired or suffering; she was only afraid that her sincerity would be trampled underfoot as a mask of hypocrisy.
Fu Xianxiu pulled her down to sit and sighed, "Don't rush things. You can't rush matters of the heart."
He gently patted his mother's back, his voice gentle yet tinged with a hint of helplessness.
He knew that his mother had indeed changed over the years and was trying to make up for what she had done wrong in the past.
But he also knew that the hurt Qiao Wanyin had experienced could not be healed by a few apologies or a few meals.
What truly needs repair is the distance between two wounded hearts.
“Wanyin was hurt too deeply in the past. She has a wall in her heart that can’t be torn down overnight. If you treat her sincerely, she will see it in time.”
These words, spoken softly, were like a dull knife, slowly cutting into Song Yazhi's heart.
She wasn't unaware of the wall, nor did she fail to try to knock on it.
But every time I tried to get close, I was met with silence and distance.
She knew that Wan Yin wasn't being cold on purpose, but rather that the wounds she had suffered in the past were so deep that even trust had become a luxury.
The misunderstandings, cold looks, and accusations she herself caused have now turned into defensiveness in Wan Yin's eyes.
That's precisely why she wanted to make amends, even if it meant bending down and lowering her posture, just to get a "Mom" in return.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
