Chen Hui defended Lin Wanyi:
"Mom, why are you dragging my older sister into this? Her divorce wasn't her fault. It was her in-laws' fault, that jerk's fault.
"Was she wrong for not asking for a bride price?"
"Yes, wrong!"
Tang Guixiang's voice grew louder:
"Completely wrong! The less money you ask for, the cheaper they think you are.
"The more money you demand and hold in your hands, the less your in-laws will dare to look down on you.
"That is why I must demand money for your wedding, and a lot of it."
Chen Hui couldn't understand:
"Isn't it enough if I give you half of my bride price? Out of the 388,000 yuan bride price, I'll give you 200,000 yuan. That should be enough, right?
"You can give me a dowry if you want, or not if you don't. I won't force you. Is that okay?
"Around here, a 388,000 yuan bride price is quite a lot, plus there's 150,000 yuan worth of gold.
"Mom, do you really have to ruin such a good marriage for me?"
"No!"
Tang Guixiang still disagreed, repeating the same sentence:
"Tell Li Suhua to come talk to me. This is none of your business."
Chen Hui left in anger. To her surprise, she saw Lin Jiajun downstairs. She was puzzled:
"Why are you here? Didn't I say I would come back by myself?"
Lin Jiajun took her bag with a pained expression. "I was worried.
"Look at your clothes. You got hit, didn't you?"
Chen Hui's tears instantly fell.
Lin Jiajun led her to the car. "Tell me, what exactly happened?"
Chen Hui told him everything in detail, but she left out the remarks about Lin Wanyi.
Lin Jiajun gently cradled the back of her head:
"Don't cry. My mom said that according to custom, she should be the one to visit.
"I'll go back and let her know."
Chen Hui's tears still wouldn't stop.
Unable to coax her, Lin Jiajun simply leaned in and kissed her.
With her lips sealed, Chen Hui had no more time to cry.
At the hospital, after listening to Lin Jiajun, Li Suhua spoke up:
"It's only right. We are the groom's side, so we should make a visit.
"Once Wanyi is discharged from the hospital, I'll go pay them a visit."
Lin Jiajun hesitated a bit. "Mom, they won't be satisfied so easily.
"What if they demand an exorbitant amount?"
Li Suhua poured a cup of water for Lin Wanyi:
"We have to talk to them anyway. We'll just take it slow and negotiate.
"Huizi is a good girl. She didn't leave you when things were so tough last year.
"So, as long as her family isn't completely unreasonable, I will agree to their terms."
When Liu Siyue heard that Lin Wanyi was injured, she rushed to the hospital immediately.
She leaned over Lin Wanyi's bed:
"Sister, how did you end up like this?
"Was it that Wang Hao? He's such a scumbag."
Lin Wanyi smiled and patted her head:
"It's fine, it's fine. See, I'm perfectly alright.
"I won't ever go back to that hellhole again. They can't hurt me anymore.
"Actually, I should be thanking you. You helped take care of Keke while I was away these past few days.
"You even took my place at the parent-child sports meet. She was so happy."
At this, Liu Siyue laughed:
"Haha, I had a great time playing that day too.
"Sister, you don't know this, but I loved participating in those kinds of sports meets when I was little.
"I always wanted my mom and dad to join me. Later, when my oldest brother came to our house, I wanted him to join too.
"I wanted all of them to keep me company."
"Later, when your oldest brother came to your house? Siyue, what do you mean?"
Liu Siyue suddenly realized something. "Oh, you don't know. I don't think I ever told you.
"My oldest brother isn't my biological brother."
Lin Wanyi genuinely didn't know about this. She asked instinctively:
"So was he adopted by Aunt Su?"
Liu Siyue thought for a moment. "Not exactly adopted... well, I guess it counts.
"Ah, the thing is, even though he's not my biological brother, he is my cousin."
"Cousin? Then where are his own parents?"
Liu Siyue thought again:
"It was many years ago, I don't remember it very clearly.
"I only know that my uncle passed away in a car accident back then. My aunt wanted to remarry, and she thought my brother was a burden, so she didn't want him.
"Later, my mom brought him back to live with us.
"Oh, my mom even brought over the servant who took care of him, Nanny Wu, and her daughter.
"You know her, actually. It's my brother's secretary, Zhou Chenyu."
Lin Wanyi hadn't expected Liu Renzhi to have such a background.
Liu Siyue continued speaking:
"Speaking of which, Zhou Chenyu was demoted by my brother a while ago. I don't know why.
"Sister, you have no idea. For a while, my mom set up countless blind dates for my brother, but he didn't like a single one of them.
"My mom even thought he had fallen for Zhou Chenyu and that's why he looked down on other girls.
"She even tried to matchmake the two of them."
Lin Wanyi nodded as she listened, and Liu Siyue went on:
"Hehe, guess what? My brother purely sees Zhou Chenyu as a younger sister.
"Sister, do you think my brother likes men?
"Otherwise, why is he in his thirties, unmarried, and doesn't even have a girlfriend?
"It's so weird."
Lin Wanyi recalled that night again, when Liu Renzhi said:
"I... I can be your antidote too."
She also remembered Liu Renzhi's kiss.
How could he possibly like men?
Crazy.
Crazy!
She immediately shook those dirty thoughts out of her head.
But Liu Siyue stared at her face:
"Sister, why is your face so red?"
Lin Wanyi awkwardly grabbed the air conditioner remote:
"The temperature is too high. It's a bit hot, just a bit hot."
The two chatted for a long time until Wang Keke got out of school.
She threw herself onto Lin Wanyi. "Mommy, I missed you so much."
Lin Wanyi stroked her little face:
"Mommy missed you too, baby.
"You have to be a good girl at home, okay? Don't make Grandma angry, alright?"
Wang Keke had just nodded when her smartwatch rang.
She held it up for Lin Wanyi to see. "Daddy is calling."
Lin Wanyi didn't want to listen, but the call connected automatically.
Wang Hao's voice came through from the other end: "Keke, is Mommy there?"
Wang Keke nodded. "Mhm."
Wang Hao asked again, "Is there anyone else with Mommy? Are there any uncles you don't know?"
Furious, Lin Wanyi said loudly:
"Wang Hao, what kind of nonsense are you spouting in front of the child?
"Also, we are divorced. Stop prying into my business.
"If you continue to cross the line like this, then don't contact Keke anymore."
Wang Hao wanted to say something else, but Lin Wanyi hung up on him directly.
Li Suhua said, "Let's change Keke's number, so Wang Hao doesn't harass her all day long."
Lin Wanyi thought about it.
It was time to change it.
Originally, she had thought that Wang Hao would always be Keke's father, and she shouldn't stop them from contacting each other.
But looking at it now.
She couldn't do that.
Because Wang Hao didn't care about Wang Keke at all; he just wanted to use her to spy on Lin Wanyi's every move.
When Liu Siyue went home, she saw Zhou Chenyu at the door.
She was pacing back and forth but had no intention of going inside.
She asked Zhou Chenyu:
"Sister Chenyu, why aren't you going in?"
Zhou Chenyu hesitated for a moment but finally spoke:
"Siyue, I know. I know everything now."
"You... what do you know?"
Liu Siyue didn't understand, but Zhou Chenyu said:
"Siyue, I know why you weren't home for the New Year.
"I also know you were kidnapped and sold into the mountains.
"So during those days when my oldest brother was away, he went to save you, didn't he?"
"So that's where you guys met Lin Wanyi, right?
"Siyue, tell me, is it true?"
