After the divorce, he took care of his child and sold fried rice; his ex-wife was filled with regret

She held her chin up proudly, waiting to see the young man opposite her show an embarrassed, inferior, or angry expression.

In her view, people from the lower classes usually become furious when their thoughts are exposed.

however.

Standing opposite him, Lin Fan's expression remained completely unchanged after hearing these words.

"Mrs. Shen, you're overthinking it."

Lin Fan spoke calmly:

"I'm in business, and everyone who comes is a customer. Miss Shen, you're welcome to come to my restaurant; even if you don't come back, I'll still do business."

"As for what you said about climbing the social ladder..."

Lin Fan smiled faintly:

"I think you've misunderstood. Right now, all I want to do is cook well and raise my daughter."

After saying that, Lin Fan lifted the two plastic bags full of vegetables he was carrying slightly upwards and nodded slightly to Shen Man:

"I need to go back and make breakfast for my daughter, so I won't bother you any longer. Goodbye, Miss Shen."

Lin Fan turned around, carrying the groceries, and disappeared into the bustling crowd at the market without a second thought.

Watching Lin Fan's departing figure, the whole barrage of words that Shen's mother had prepared suddenly felt like a punch landing on cotton, leaving her feeling suffocated.

She thought the poor young man would stubbornly argue back, but his nonchalant attitude, which showed he didn't even care about the Shen family, made her, a high-society lady who was deliberately putting on airs, look like a petty, petty person from the streets!

"Hmph, at least he has some self-awareness!" Mother Shen gritted her teeth, forcing herself to save face.

She turned her head and looked at Shen Man, who was still staring blankly at Lin Fan's back. She was furious and reached out to grab her daughter's arm.

"What are you looking at! Everyone's gone! Have you all been bewitched? Hurry up and come with me to the seafood section to pick out some shrimp. Zhiyuan's already gone at noon..."

"Mom! Haven't you made enough of a scene?!"

Shen Man suddenly flung her hand away and forcefully broke free from her mother's grasp.

The anger, grievances, and the slight guilt that had been suppressed for so long, as well as the feeling of guilt when watching Lin Fan's back just now, finally erupted completely at this moment.

Her eyes were bloodshot, her chest heaving violently, as she stared intently at her mother:

"Do you even realize how embarrassing and ridiculous you were just now?!"

"Lin Fan runs his business honestly, earning a living with his skills. He has never had any improper thoughts about me! What gives you the right to insult him with that condescending tone?!"

"I insulted him? I'm protecting you!"

Shen's mother was also enraged by her daughter's act of shaking off her hand in the street.

She lowered her voice, but her tone was undeniably stern:

"Manman, have you lost your mind? You're ignoring Liu Zhiyuan, who's a perfect match for you, and instead you're protecting a lowly cook covered in grease and grime? What can he offer you? A bowl of fried rice every day, or the chance to haggle with him at the market?!"

"Liu Zhiyuan! Liu Zhiyuan! You keep mentioning that Liu Zhiyuan!"

Upon hearing this name, Shen Man felt as if she had heard the biggest joke in the world. She sneered, her eyes filled with deep mockery and disgust.

"Mom, in your eyes, just because Liu Zhiyuan's family has some money, doesn't mean they're a perfect match, right?"

"But do you even know what kind of person he is?!"

Shen Man became more and more emotional as she spoke, tears welling up in her eyes:

"Being with him makes me feel like I'm suffocating!"

"That's called self-discipline! That's called planning for the future!"

Shen's mother refused to back down, maintaining the airs of a wealthy lady, attempting to crush her daughter's "naivety" with reality:

"Manman, wake up! Marriage is about the powerful alliance of resources! Zhiyuan can bring connections to the Shen family and provide you with an absolutely respectable life as a wealthy wife! This is the path you should take!"

She pointed in the direction Lin Fan had left, her eyes filled with contempt:

"And what about the cook you're protecting? No matter how good his cooking is, he's just a servant!"

"He can't give you any social standing! You might think he's got personality now, but once you've experienced a few years of hardship, you'll turn into a shrew and a resentful couple over everyday necessities!"

You're wrong! Utterly wrong!

Shen Man interrupted her mother, her voice angry:

"Mom, in your eyes, you only see price tags and social class, but you can't see a person's true value and integrity!"

"You think Lin Fan is poor, you think he has a low social status, but he earns his money honestly with his own two hands!"

"He doesn't curry favor with the powerful, he doesn't grovel! He lives with a thousand times more dignity than those 'high society' people in your circle who only know how to flatter and are full of lewd thoughts!"

Shen Man met her mother's shocked gaze without fear and called out, word by word:

"You think Liu Zhiyuan is noble? Let me tell you, in my eyes, that hypocritical, calculating Liu Zhiyuan, who even pretends to eat a meal, isn't even worth a single hair on Lin Fan's head!"

"Lin Fan is ten times stronger than him! A hundred times stronger!!"

"You...you've completely gone mad!"

Shen's mother was so angry at her daughter's outrageous words that her face turned ashen, and her delicate features became somewhat distorted.

She never imagined that her socialite daughter, whom she had carefully nurtured for over twenty years, would belittle their so-called wealthy husband to nothing for a restaurant vendor!

"Shen Man, I'm telling you! You'd better give up on these unrealistic ideas! Our Shen family can't afford to lose face like this! You have to come back with me right now! You're going to cook lunch, whether you like it or not!"

Mother Shen issued her final ultimatum, her eyes sharp:

"If you dare to act recklessly again, I'll cancel all your credit cards right now! And take your car back! Let's see how you'll feed that poor boss after you leave the Shen family!"

"Stop! Stop everything!"

Faced with her mother's threats, Shen Man did not back down in the slightest.

She suddenly felt a deep weariness, but within this weariness was an unprecedented sense of ease.

She ripped off the hair tie from her wrist, letting her carefully styled long hair fall loose.

She looked at her mother, her tone resolute, leaving no room for negotiation:

"If you think Liu Zhiyuan is so great, then go and serve him yourself!"

"Even if I die today, I will never peel a single shrimp for him! Make your own lunch today, I'm not joining you!"

After saying that, Shen Man turned around without looking back and walked towards the exit of the market, leaving behind only a resolute and unrestrained back view.

"Shen Man! You come back here! You've gone too far!"

Mother Shen was so angry that she trembled all over, her chest heaving violently.

She instinctively wanted to shout, but the strange looks from the vegetable vendors and middle-aged women buying vegetables around her made her deeply ingrained "ladylike" image hold her back.

As the dignified Mrs. Shen, she absolutely could not act like a shrew in the market.

She could only watch helplessly as her daughter disappeared into the crowd, her mind buzzing, her delicate face contorted slightly with extreme anger and disbelief.

"She's gone mad...she's really gone mad..."