Chapter Fifteen: Unbearable

  Shen Han stayed behind, also feeling a bit nervous. For now, she just wanted to get along with her family and make it easier for herself to gather information. At dinner time, she carefully helped her parents serve dishes and even put a piece of chicken buttocks into Shen Zian's bowl, which made him shout loudly and pick up the chicken buttocks to show everyone. In the end, he decided to bully his older brother instead and was about to put it in his bowl when he heard Shen Han's deliberately serious and solemn voice: "As it happens, I overheard some people talking about this fainting spell on the street with my mother-in-law recently... they said eating chicken buttocks can help alleviate it..."

  Although it was a joke, Shen Huan indeed left a mind for this younger brother, and his brain had already recalled some methods that could really treat the condition of fainting at the sight of blood. This situation is mostly due to psychological shadows, so it seems that we need to start from the root cause. I don't know if Shen Zi'an had any special experiences in his childhood that led to this fainting disease.

  Shen Huan's eyes narrowed as he stared at Shen Zi'an, noticing his expression. He saw that Shen Zi'an had widened his eyes and was looking at him with a disdainful gaze, before saying with a pout: "Hmph! I'm not stupid!"

  "Do you think I'm stupid? Your little sister is showing concern for you by giving you some dishes, and you're still complaining!"

  "Then I'll give you a sandwich..."

  After finishing, Shen Zian quickly put the chicken butt into Shen Yifeng's bowl and playfully raised an eyebrow at him, looking very pleased with himself. Although Shen Yifeng deliberately made a face, he still swallowed the thing in one bite and said somewhat foolishly: "Actually, it doesn't taste bad."

  Shen Huan looked at them, and without needing anyone else to intervene, they could return to their good brotherly state. She felt relieved in her heart, but didn't know that her actions made Hu Xiaoyan a bit dissatisfied again. Picking up a chopstick of green vegetables and putting it into Shen Yifeng's bowl, she said with a half-joking tone: "After all the talk, it's just jealousy that your little brother has someone to feed him, so I'll feed you."

  She didn't care about her sarcastic remarks, anyway the purpose of this trip back wasn't for her. Previously she didn't know that her sister-in-law was such a person, if she had known she might have considered helping her natal family's affairs, but since she had already promised her mother, she also wanted to save face.

  "Dad, Mom... I'm sorry for coming back so late to see you. I hope you won't blame me."

  Upon hearing this, Mrs. Fang immediately smiled and her face lit up with joy: "It's okay, it's okay, you're back now, that's all that matters. You must have had a lot to deal with at your husband's family home, just come back often and take a walk around."

  After finishing, he secretly used his elbow to nudge his partner, reminding him to say something too. However, Shen Shi-yi was originally not a talkative person and only managed to force out a stiff smile, when suddenly he heard a very sharp and low voice saying: "What else do men have to deal with? It's true that they don't want to come back because of the resentment in their hearts!"

  These words naturally came from Hu Xiaoyan's mouth, although she said it in a low mutter, but just happened to follow after Fang's words, making it sound very clear and piercing. Shen Shi Yu immediately fell face down and didn't speak, also angrily slapping the table, glaring at his daughter-in-law saying "What kind of thing are you talking about? Are you hoping that everyone in this house would leave and never come back just to make you happy?"

  Hu Xiaoyan bluntly accepted Fang's words, and it was a very small voice, but what she didn't expect was that after Fang finished speaking, Shen Shiye didn't open his mouth immediately, so he brought out this sentence that was particularly piercing and unpleasant.

  At first it was her mother-in-law who got angry, now it's her father-in-law, even slapping the table and shouting. Even if Hu Xiaoyan felt dissatisfied, or even felt a bit wronged, she didn't dare speak up, hanging her head and unable to say anything, just hoping to let it go. She didn't know that in the past, at home, they would often stir up trouble, which had already accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction towards this daughter-in-law in Shen Shi's heart, but he never conveniently said anything. Now that his anger was triggered, what he disliked about his daughter-in-law's restlessness was one thing, and what made him even more dissatisfied was his eldest son's attitude. He shouted at Shen Yifeng: "Properly discipline your wife! Don't always let her come out and lose face for me at the wrong times!"

  Shen Yifeng's heart wasn't feeling good at this moment either. His younger brother and sister were his flesh and blood, seeing anyone hurt them would make him feel unwell too. But his wife was his own, blaming himself for not being capable couldn't be blamed on her, which woman didn't hope their man had achievements? However, regarding the shop's matters, he really was powerless to do anything.

  "Shut up!"

  "If you could just make something of yourself..."

  "You're still not done yet, are you? If you have something to say, go back to your room and say it there!"

  Hu Xiaoyan hung her head, making it impossible for Shen Shi to see her expression even though he was already standing up. However, Shen Han happened to be sitting right across from her and caught the hint of resentment hidden in her eyes.

  "My second sister, I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional."

  "Big brother, sister-in-law is unintentional, don't blame her."

  Facing Shen Wing-feng, Shen Huan immediately shifted her gaze to Shen Shi-yi's body. She stood up and walked to her father's side, grasped his arm with her hand and said softly: "Dad, don't be angry anymore. Family members should say what they want to say, so as not to have any misunderstandings. Do we need to hide and conceal like outsiders? In the past, I was ignorant and had some unpleasantness with my sister-in-law. Now I know that only being together as a family is most important. Shall we eat first?"

  Shen Shi Yi's eyes revealed a look of surprise, how could he have expected that his former spoiled and willful daughter, who would quarrel with her daughter-in-law over trivial matters to the point of causing a huge commotion and even physical fights, would now be so considerate and comforting towards him. He couldn't help but feel a little moved, thinking that his daughter had grown up.

  "You go back to your seat and eat too!"

  Shen Han returned to his seat, unable to help but let out a sigh of relief. The atmosphere in the main hall had already been made so awkward, and just as it was starting to ease up a bit, would Hu Xiaoyan really come and ruin the mood for dinner too?

  Shen Huan could also see that Hu Xiaoyan was not a bad person, she just hoped her husband would make progress after marriage, especially in this kind of family. It's reasonable for the eldest daughter-in-law to have such thoughts, if only her husband had the same heart, it wouldn't be bad. But unfortunately, Lao Da was... As a woman, she had no choice but to take charge like this.

  "Han Er, how is your mother-in-law treating you? You said you've been back for several months now, and last time Zi An went to see you, he couldn't even get in the door..."

  "It's all right now that our daughter is back, let's just forget about those trivial things. As long as she comes back often in the future."

  Shen Shi Yu couldn't help but interrupt, he was a relatively conservative person and didn't approve of such casual conversations between women, especially when they were questioning someone behind their back just after the relatives had left. It wasn't something Shen Shi Yu could accept, but as soon as he spoke up, Fang Shi teased him: "You're the one who's clearly the happiest, earlier you were worried that Huan Er wouldn't come home because she was angry with you..."

  "Mother, you're worrying too much. How could I be angry with Father? Mother-in-law has also been very good to me. The last time Zi'an came was because I didn't understand things yet and thought Father didn't care about me, so I threw a tantrum. But later on, I realized that both Mother-in-law and Uncle are very kind, so there's nothing to resent anymore."

  Seeing the atmosphere getting a bit depressing, Shen Zian immediately jumped out to mediate, looking at Fang with some dissatisfaction: "Mother, don't worry about it, Aunt is actually not bad, last time was Second Sister... Aunt did invite me in to sit, but I saw that Second Sister hadn't come out, so I didn't want to disturb her, that's why I came back."

  Although Shen Huan was happy in her heart, she couldn't help but think that women always acted this way - whenever they encountered something joyful, they would lose some of their usual rationality and become more emotional. She stopped her mother from continuing to speak precisely because she didn't want her to say anything embarrassing.

  No matter who is in this position, facing such a thing, it is impossible not to complain or resent, otherwise there would not be the situation mentioned by the mother-in-law, that before crossing into Shen Han's body, there would be crying, making a fuss and hanging oneself.

  Mr Fang was moved by his children's growth and marriages as he saw them all return home.

  "If you really want to blame us, your parents have nothing to say, it's just that this marriage is truly unfair to you."

  "Mother... actually, the Zhao family isn't that bad either. There are fewer people at home and it's quiet. You also know I'm a person who gets anxious easily. If I were to marry into a family with an overbearing mother-in-law and a husband who is unfaithful, would I suffer less than I do now? So Huan'er has come to understand, Mother you have older and younger brothers, there are people in the family to carry on the lineage, so... I'm actually relieved."

  "It's easy to say, but which young woman would be willing to become a widow? Besides, is it that easy to carry on the family line? It's not like a hen laying eggs just because you want her to..."

  "When will you shut your mouth? If you don't want to eat, go back to your room!"

  Hu Xiaoyan hadn't finished speaking, but Shen Yifeng couldn't listen anymore. He had always been the most loving to his younger siblings since childhood. Even when he was scolded by his father, seeing his younger siblings would immediately lift his mood. How could he tolerate his wife repeatedly using words to provoke his little sister? Moreover, his little sister had already apologized and admitted her mistake, why was this sister-in-law so unreasonable!

  "How dare you yell at me? I..."

  "Xiao Yan, didn't you mention many times that you wanted Yu Xuan to study with Han Er's little uncle?"

  Mrs. Fang's face also fell at this moment, during the day because of her relatives' presence and her daughter's recent return, she was worried that she would have some resentment in her heart due to some unpleasantness at home, but Shen Han's words just now made her see her daughter's growth, and while feeling heartache, she couldn't help but be even more dissatisfied with this nitpicking daughter-in-law, so she simply interrupted her and brought up her natal family.

  And this matter also reminded Shen Huan, what about your sister-in-law? You're not much more precious than me. I tolerated you before because of my brother's face. Do you really think you're the most important person?

  Towards Hu Xiaoyan's attitude, Shen Han couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed. Even if she was indeed a married-out daughter and spilled water, she was still the second lady of the Shen family. Although she was no longer the original Shen Han, she also had her own set of principles for being a person. People say that things shouldn't be done more than three times, but Hu Xiaoyan has already challenged my bottom line multiple times, can Uncle tolerate it but Auntie can't?

  I've never seen anyone as self-important as you, Shen Huan's face sank, and she no longer bothered to hide her feelings. Continuing from where Fang Shi left off, she said: "Before Mother-in-law left, I did mention it to her, but Mother-in-law was worried about Xiao Xuan's character... After all, Young Master will have to make something of himself in the future, helping out is no big deal, but if it affects Young Master, how can I face Mother-in-law and him?" Chapter 15: Unable to Bear It