After four years of living alone after marrying far away, he went back to his parents' home and

After the ride-hailing car left, Lan Yujuan took a shortcut home.

Liu Zhiyuan, who was knocked down by the pig-driving stick, collapsed at the entrance of the convenience store and took a long time to recover.

After watching the excitement, the villagers gradually dispersed.

Only the shopkeeper handed Liu Zhiyuan a towel, saying, "Wipe your face, rest for a bit, and then hurry home!"

Liu Zhiyuan looked up, his eyes filled with gratitude, and said, "Thank you, big sister!"

"Of all the people in our village, eldest sister is the most kind and righteous!"

"No wonder your convenience store business is booming!"

The proprietress chuckled awkwardly, "Heh heh, instead of wasting your time trying to appease me, you'd be better off going home and trying to win over your wife!"

"We're from the same village, so your older sister was just trying to give you some advice: Your wife is a good woman, in every way; you couldn't find one like her even with a lantern!"

"You're a smart person, but don't get carried away just because you've made some money out there, and end up forgetting your way home!"

What bothers Liu Zhiyuan the most is that others interfere in his life.

But considering the towel in his hand, he couldn't refuse the other person's kindness, so he vaguely replied, "Yeah, I know."

Then he limped to his feet and prepared to walk home.

"Hey, wait a minute!" The proprietress saw that he was really leaving and quickly chased after him.

Liu Zhiyuan turned around, somewhat puzzled. "Is there anything else?"

The proprietress pointed to his hand and smiled:

"Look, the best and softest towels in the store are clearly priced at 49 yuan each."

Liu Zhiyuan was dumbfounded, and the corners of his mouth began to twitch:

"In our Xiahe Village, you sell a towel for 49 yuan?"

"Hey lady, you're robbing me!"

The proprietress immediately became displeased. "Tsk! What are you talking about? What do you mean by 'robbery'?"

"My eldest sister always conducts business with transparent pricing and integrity! She never forces anyone to buy or sell!"

"You're a big boss working in Beijing, earning millions a year, and you're being so fussy about buying a towel. You should be careful what word gets out and people start gossiping about you!"

Liu Zhiyuan rolled his eyes inwardly, feeling both angry and helpless.

Only the two people involved knew about the towel purchase.

In the entire Xiahe Village, besides the shopkeeper, who is the veritable "director of the village information center," who else would spread gossip about him?

However, Liu Zhiyuan was extremely proud, and he always handled such trivial matters perfectly!

He immediately took out his phone, paid the bill, and then left.

*

Lan Yujuan took a shortcut and quietly returned home through the back door.

When no one was looking, she first hid her backpack in the haystack in the cowshed.

Then, she walked along the wall, circled back from the back door to the front door, and finally entered the house.

As soon as she entered the living room, she heard her daughter's hoarse crying coming from her room.

The door was closed and locked from the outside.

Hearing the crying, Lan Yujuan's heart broke. She rushed back to her room, picked up her daughter, and comforted her.

"Don't be afraid, baby, Mommy's back!"

The little one huddled tightly in his mother's arms, sobbing uncontrollably, "Mommy, Mommy!" He looked so pitiful.

Lan Yujuan saw this and cried along with her daughter.

"Crying, crying, crying! Your grandfather isn't even dead yet, and you're already wailing here!"

"You worthless brat, if you dare cry another word, I'll throw you into the pond by the door to feed the fish..."

The mother-in-law, Tian Xiuhua, continued her cursing from the end of the hall all the way to the bedroom door, only stopping when she saw Lan Yujuan return.

"Hmph, what a waste of a perfectly good life! They don't even know how to enjoy their blessings!"

"It's just a woman, isn't it? What man in the world doesn't cheat? Once the lights are off, it doesn't matter who he sleeps with!"

"Mind your own business outside the home! Taking good care of your kids at home is more important than anything else!"

"Every day is a nightmare! The old ones are a worry, and the young ones are good-for-nothings! He even got a daughter-in-law who just makes things worse!"

"Every single thing in the household requires me, this old woman, to worry about! God, what terrible things did I do in my past life..."

Lan Yujuan remained silent and slammed the door shut.

It's not that I committed sins in my past life; it's more likely that I've done too many bad things in this life!

Lan Yujuan stopped caring about anything outside and focused solely on staying in her room with her daughter, comforting and soothing her.

Before long, the little one, exhausted from crying, started snoring under his own blanket.

Outside, sounds could be heard one after another. Not only had Liu Zhiyuan returned, but his sister-in-law had somehow managed to persuade Li Jiaojiao to come back!

The Liu family seemed to have predicted that as long as they kept an eye on Liu Xiaoman, Lan Yujuan would not be able to escape.

So, Lan Yujuan went in and out, but no one paid any attention to her.

However, they arranged for the sister-in-law to stay at the entrance of the hall all day, keeping a close eye on Liu Xiaoman's movements until it was completely dark.

To entertain Li Jiaojiao, Tian Xiuhua killed chickens and fish. In the evening, she specially invited Liu Meiling's mother-in-law from next door to help, and they cooked a large table full of dishes.

Even Lan Yujuan, after eating it, wanted to sincerely praise it: "The cooking is really good!"

However, the atmosphere was awkward and strange as everyone sat together.

Father-in-law Liu Defu lay in a deep sleep in the room, and dinner did not arrive.

Mother-in-law Tian Xiuhua bustled between the kitchen and the living room, her eyes crinkling with a smile as she watched Li Jiaojiao, utterly attentive!

"Jiaojiao, eat your vegetables!"

"The aunt next door is a great cook, so eat as much as you like!"

After Tian Xiuhua finished speaking, she winked at her eldest son, "Zhiyuan, don't just eat by yourself, put some food on Jiaojiao's plate!"

Liu Zhiyuan responded with a "Mm." Then, he took the initiative to serve food to Li Jiaojiao.

He picked up a chicken leg, and Li Jiaojiao picked it out and threw it on the table.

He picked up a piece of fish belly meat, carefully removing the bones, and Li Jiaojiao, along with the rice that had been dipped in it, shoved it all onto the table.

The attitude of refusal was very clear.

But it didn't seem like a complete breakup; it was more like she was being coquettish and waiting to be coaxed.

"Sister Jiaojiao, don't forgive my brother so easily! Don't eat his food. Here, eat what I'm serving you!" the sister-in-law coaxed with a mix of reproach and laughter.

Li Jiaojiao pursed her lips, and this time she finally didn't refuse.

Lan Yujuan was too lazy to look, so she fed her daughter while eating her own meal.

The little guy, on the other hand, tucked his little hands in his pockets, enjoying his meal while blinking his big eyes and watching the commotion.

As arranged by Tian Xiuhua, Li Jiaojiao will stay in her sister-in-law's room tonight.

After her husband, Liu Zhiyuan, returned home, he hasn't stepped into the room once more. It's likely he won't be coming back tonight either.

Judging from the Liu family's attitude, Li Jiaojiao was the husband's fiancée. They, on the other hand, and their daughter seemed like complete outsiders.

What Lan Yujuan couldn't understand was, since they had chosen Li Jiaojiao over her, why were they still holding onto her?

On her way back from the convenience store, she kept thinking that the Liu family wouldn't let her leave in order to get back her 800,000 yuan in savings and 200,000 yuan in gold jewelry.

But when she returned, her intuition told her that things were definitely not that simple!

Just as Lan Yujuan was engrossed in her meal and lost in thought, she suddenly noticed a strange gaze that kept glancing at her.

This feeling made her very uncomfortable!

Lan Yujuan frowned slightly, raised her eyes, and looked in the direction of the strange sight.

Unexpectedly, she happened to run into her brother-in-law Liu Zhigang, and before she could withdraw her burning gaze, she was met with his intense stare.

Lan Yujuan was startled. Was he sick?

She was his sister-in-law, yet he dared to look her up and down with such a blatant gaze right in front of his older brother!

Lan Yujuan was both ashamed and angry, and glared at the other person fiercely.

Is this a case of someone who lost during the day using himself as a raft at night to sow discord between his brother and his enemy?

"Smash!" Before the younger brother-in-law could react, the husband, Liu Zhiyuan, slammed his chopsticks down, barely containing his anger, and said, "Liu Zhigang! Can't you just calm down and eat your meal properly!"