Chapter 60: Quarrel at the Family Dinner
Mother Lu warmly held Lin Yanxin's hand, while Father Lu followed behind with a cold expression.
"Xinxin, don't feel embarrassed. You are also a member of our Lu family. There is nothing wrong with attending the family dinner." Mother Lu said lovingly.
Lin Yanxin bit her lip and said, "I'm just worried that my cousin is unhappy."
Mother Lu patted her hands distressedly: "Manman only has you as her cousin, how could she not be happy to see you?"
"Mom and Dad, let's eat." Lu Yannan glanced at Lin Yanxin who was protected by Lu's mother, feeling a little uncomfortable.
The atmosphere in the restaurant was a bit tense. The Lu brothers were not close to their parents, not to mention they had a cousin that no one liked very much.
Lu Shiman came here just to eat, and she didn't care at all about what Lin Yanxin did there.
In the original owner's memory, the impression of his parents was not as deep as the impression of the gardener who came to mow the lawn every week.
Lu's mother kept picking up food for Lin Yanxin and showed concern for her recent situation and health.
Instead, he ignored these biological children.
The Lu brothers found the meal boring. Father Lu wanted to say something several times, but seeing his wife's expression, he had to remain silent.
"Why didn't the second son come?" Lu's mother asked.
"Second brother..." Lu Shiman hadn't finished speaking.
Lin Yanxin burst into tears and stood up suddenly: "Aunt, I'm sorry, my second brother probably doesn't want to see me, I shouldn't have come today."
"Aunt, I have something else to do, so I'll leave first." After saying this, Lin Yanxin turned around and ran away.
Lu Shiman turned to look at Lu Jianheng, and the two looked at each other.
"She must be sick." Lu Jianheng was very angry, especially since Lu's mother came in and never asked how Lu Shiman was doing, which made him feel even more upset.
"Third brother, how can you talk like that?" Mother Lu frowned.
"Mom, we see each other once a month, so eat well." Lu Yannan said.
Mother Lu put down her chopsticks and glanced at her children. "Xinxin lost her parents when she was six. She's pitiful enough. As her brothers, can't you give her a little more patience and care?"
"She is also your relative. She lost her parents at such a young age and now she doesn't even have a home. You..."
Lu Shiman silently ate the rice in the bowl. It turned out that the food tonight was quite to her liking.
Lu Jianheng tilted his head to look at Lu Shiman, who lowered her head and said nothing, and felt distressed: "Enough!"
"Mom, you feel sorry for Lin Yanxin, why don't you feel sorry for us?"
"You only care about giving birth but not raising children. Look at what the fourth child has become like without his parents."
Lu Qiyun raised his eyes. What did he look like?
"From childhood to adulthood, have you ever taken care of us and fulfilled your responsibilities as a mother for even one day?"
"You only see that Lin Yanxin lost her parents when she was six. Why can't you see that those of us who have parents are the same as those who don't have parents." Lu Jianheng's words were filled with unprecedented excitement and dissatisfaction.
"Lu Jianheng!" Lu's mother's face turned pale in an instant. She seemed to be hurt by Lu Jianheng's words. Her lips trembled slightly. She wanted to refute but was speechless for a moment.
"We finally waited for you to be at home with us, but in the end, you put all your heart and soul on Lin Yanxin."
"Lu Shiman was three years old and slept alone. She was so scared that she kept crying at night. Did you ever take care of her?"
"Lu Jianheng, how do you talk to your mother?" Father Lu said.
Lu's mother's eyes were red: "Xinxin had just lost..."
The quarrel continued.
There was deep disappointment in the eyes of Lu Yannan and Lu Qiyun. Sometimes, only by comparison can you know the gap.
Before Lin Yanxin, they never felt that their mother did anything wrong, because each of them had been neglected in the same way.
But after Lin Yanxin came, they realized that their mother would also accompany them, but it was not for them.
Lu Shiman's hands were trembling slightly, and the chopsticks touched the edge of the bowl lightly, making a slight sound.
She bit her lip hard, but the scene before her eyes was still the same as before, when her parents and grandparents were blaming and arguing with each other at the dinner table.
Every harsh and accusatory word implies that she is a burden, a nuisance, a person who is kicked around and unloved...trash.
She lowered her head and ate mechanically, one bite after another.
Lu Yannan noticed Lu Shiman's strange behavior and slammed his chopsticks on the table: "Enough! Let's cancel the monthly family dinners from now on."
"We didn't have it before, and we don't need it now."
As soon as Lu Yannan finished speaking, the restaurant fell into silence.
Mother Lu's face became even paler. She seemed to want to say something, but after opening her mouth, no sound came out.
Lu Shiman still kept his head down, mechanically picking at the rice in the bowl, but his movements had obviously slowed down.
She could feel the atmosphere around her becoming extremely oppressive, as if even breathing had become difficult.
She put down her chopsticks and said, "I'm full. I'm going back to my room first."
After saying that, he fled from the dining table and went straight upstairs.
Returning to the bedroom, she closed the door, did not turn on the light, and squatted on the ground by the door. Her nose felt sore, but she could not cry.
"People are born alone. It doesn't matter if no one loves me. I can love myself."
"I don't care. I can love myself."
"It's okay. I don't need other people's love. I give it to myself. I will give myself the most love."
Lu Shiman sat on the ground, hugging her knees, as she did before, comforting herself with words one by one, like chanting a spell or hypnotizing herself.
After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door.
She stood up, dusted herself off, turned on the light first, then opened the door.
When Lu Yannan saw her open the door, he didn't say anything, but stepped forward, hugged her, and patted her back gently.
"Brother?" Lu Shiman's chest trembled.
Being hugged by Lu Yannan like this, the bitterness in her heart seemed to have found an outlet. Her nose felt sore and her eyes instantly became moist, but she forced herself not to cry.
She won't cry, because crying will only annoy others. For people who have never been loved, even crying is a mistake.
Lu Yannan knew she was upset, so he didn't mention the quarrel at the dinner table: "Are you really full? You won't get up in the middle of the night to look for food again, will you?"
"Maybe." Lu Shiman said in a muffled voice: "Brother, do you want to have a midnight snack too?"
Lu Yannan chuckled and gently rubbed her hair: "Big brother doesn't want to eat, you ask third brother to accompany you, he can't sleep without eating something at night."
"Does Big Brother often spy on Third Brother foraging for food in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, it's like having pigs at home."
After a few more jokes, Lu Shiman felt much better.
After closing the door, she curled the corners of her mouth, took out her cell phone and called Ji Linshen.
The phone rang once and was picked up. Ji Linshen's voice came from the receiver: "Want to come back? I'll ask the driver to pick you up."
"I'm staying at home. I just want to ask if you have eaten. Remember to go to bed early at night." Lu Shiman just wanted to hear his voice.
"Okay, got it. I'll pick you up tomorrow morning." Ji Linshen closed the file and listened to her voice, feeling a sense of longing.
"Ji Linshen."
"Um?"
"Just calling you."
"Yeah, I'm here."
Lu Shiman pursed her lips and said, "It seems that the sponsor dad misses you as his lover."
Ji Lin took a deep breath, pondered for a moment, and chuckled.
"Hang up, hang up. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed." Lu Shiman blushed a little: "Don't come tonight. I'm sleeping at home."
Ji Lin hummed deeply and waited until she hung up before putting down the phone.
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