When Jiang Yu finished tidying up the living room and returned to the bedroom, the man was already asleep. Thinking that although he had been supervising the construction at home recently, the tedious tasks were no less than those at work, she found a basin of hot water, soaked a towel in it, wrung it out, and gently placed it on the man's face to wipe it.
Shen Ying, still half asleep, felt a tickling sensation on her face. In her dazed state, she reached out and grasped the woman's wrist. Jiang Yu's hand froze, and she stopped moving.
"I'm sorry, I've dragged you down."
His eyes were not open, and he was mumbling incoherently. Jiang Yu, puzzled, cupped his face in her hands and examined him closely.
His handsome features were displayed before her, and his sharply defined face suddenly furrowed.
"Jiang Yu, don't go, I think I've fallen for you."
With that, he pulled the woman into his arms. He held her shoulders tightly and kissed her forehead. At that moment, Jiang Yu's heart pounded; she didn't know if the man was fast asleep or half-asleep.
But one thing was certain: the abdominal muscles in front of Shen Ying's body had a particularly comfortable feel. After a busy morning, she was a little tired, so she rested her head on the man's arm and fell fast asleep.
In her daze, Jiang Yu felt her lips moist, two jelly-like textures pressed against her mouth. The woman hummed softly twice, and then lost consciousness.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, Jiang Yu woke up from her drowsy state, opened her eyes wide, and looked at the scene before her. She was lying in bed, covered with a blanket, so everything that had just happened in her sleep was not a dream.
If that's the case, where did the man go?
Amidst a moment of suspicion, the bedroom door was pushed open. Shen Ying placed a glass of plum juice, which she had brought from the kitchen, on the bedside table.
"Thanks."
Jiang Yu covered herself with the blanket, unsure of what to say. She knew nothing had happened between them, but the words spoken in her sleep kept replaying in her mind, making her wonder if they were true or false, and she wanted to find out.
"You just now..."
She picked up the cup on the table, lowered her eyes, and hesitated to speak.
"I've had too much to drink."
The man explained, noticing the other person visibly relieved, and couldn't help but speak:
"Jiang Yu, don't leave here, no matter what the reason."
He had just had a dream in which a woman disappeared with toiletries and a few changes of clothes. Before leaving, she said she didn't belong here and that there was no affection between them.
Moreover, they had planned to leave from the beginning, so no excuse could keep them. Now that life is back on track, the only potential source of disagreement is with my older brother's family.
He worried that if he spoke out, their marriage would be over, so he hesitated for a long time and kept his words to himself.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Sensing something was off about the man, Jiang Yu asked him curiously. She knew he must be hiding something, but whether he wanted to tell her or not, she would respect his wishes.
"nothing."
Shen Ying shook his head, ending the conversation. How could he possibly tell Jiang Yu the words of love, wanting to be with her forever? He couldn't say it, and he couldn't bring himself to say it.
The two remained silent for a while. Jiang Yu then left the room, using the excuse of looking for Shen Wan. Just as she reached the top of the stairs, she heard Zhao Meiyun and Shen Wan's voices coming from the living room.
She stopped involuntarily.
"The village chief said he spoke to your second brother at noon, and he's probably trying to figure something out by now. But your eldest brother has already married into the family, and we don't know what's going on with him all these years. Even if you go there rashly, you'll probably be turned away."
Zhao Meiyun sighed, not knowing what to do.
“I remember that my sister-in-law only has one daughter. A couple of years ago, I heard from the factory workers that the old couple had fallen ill. I don’t know how they are now. Even if it’s just my brother and sister-in-law taking care of my nephew, it’s not appropriate for us to step in.”
Otherwise, people will think we want both money and manpower, and they'll gossip about us behind our backs.
Shen Wan advised Zhao Meiyun to think twice, as buying out a son-in-law's marriage is different from marrying a wife, and they need to consider many factors if they want to get involved.
"I'm afraid that by the time we come up with a solution, your nephew's health won't be up to par. If anything happens to him, I'll never have been able to face your older brother again!"
As Zhao Meiyun spoke, tears welled up in her eyes. Worried about disturbing them, she lowered her voice. She already harbored resentment about sending Shen Ci away to become a live-in son-in-law, and now seeing their family in trouble, she felt conflicted—helping them was one thing, not helping them was another.
"What's wrong with my brother?"
Jiang Yu hurried forward, a sense of confusion washing over her. From the tone of their conversation, it seemed their family was facing some difficulties. Remembering the man's hesitant manner downstairs, she guessed pretty accurately. Shen Ying must have chosen not to speak up because he was considering her feelings.
But she believes that since they are all family, there is no distinction between "yours" and "mine". They should help each other out when there are difficulties, because they might need each other's help in the future.
"No, it's nothing."
Zhao Meiyun quickly wiped away the tears on her face, forcing an extremely unnatural smile to avoid being noticed. Seeing that Jiang Yu sounded unsure and didn't know anything, she decided not to cause any trouble.
Moreover, their daughter-in-law has helped them so much, even building a house for them, so how could they be a burden to her?
"Wanwan, you say it."
Seeing her mother-in-law's anxious expression, she knew it was no small matter. Since everyone was avoiding her, it meant that whether it involved money or connections, it was highly likely to cause the family a considerable expense.
"I..."
Normally, Shen Wan always listened to her sister-in-law. Seeing Zhao Meiyun's embarrassed expression, she gritted her teeth and explained the whole story. Then she continued:
“Mother, although you and brother meant well and didn’t want to cause trouble for sister-in-law, we are still family. If we don’t let her know, she’ll think we’re deliberately distancing ourselves from her.”
"Don't worry, sister-in-law. Since I started working at the clothing store, I've saved up a small amount of money. We'll give this to my brother's family to tide them over, and Mom and I will figure out the rest. I definitely won't be a burden on you."
Considering both parties' feelings, Shen Wan spoke hesitantly. She was worried that Jiang Yu would mind giving money earned from her shop to someone else, but since it was a matter of life and death, she figured she could properly thank her sister-in-law later.
"How much money do you have on your own? Even if you borrow from your mother, how much can you borrow? And with leukemia, you need a bone marrow transplant. Even if the bone marrow match is not successful, no amount of money will help."
Jiang Yu gave them a long explanation, leaving the two women stunned. They had thought money could solve everything, but they hadn't realized there were so many complexities involved.
"Xiaoyu, look at this... what should we do?"
Zhao Meiyun felt like the sky was falling. Her helplessness was even greater than when she was kicked out of her home a few years ago.
"If you trust me, let's go there tomorrow and see what the situation is before making a decision. If everything else is in place but we're short of money, I'll go back to Qingyun and get some of our wages back first; lives are at stake."
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