Chapter 41

Shen Yiyi, who was at home, naturally heard the commotion coming from Old Li’s family, but she did not pay any attention to it. She finished serving the rice and sat in the house with Da Bao, waiting for them to return.  

As soon as Mother Li entered the house and saw Shen Yiyi, she felt somewhat uneasy and a little embarrassed.  

After what had happened yesterday, the entire village now knew about Shen Yiyi’s family background, and Mother Li was no exception.  

In this era, eating commercially supplied grain was a symbol of high status. In Mother Li’s mind, Shen Yiyi’s image and standing had instantly risen significantly.  

Even though she had misunderstood Shen Yiyi earlier, she did not dare to come over and question her.  

Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, she felt a little nervous.  

Shen Yiyi pretended not to notice Mother Li’s expression. Seeing that they had arrived, she stood up and greeted them: “Dad, Mom, you’re here? Come, have a seat.”  

Father Li chuckled and nodded before sitting down.  

Mother Li silently sat beside him. She thought she was discreet as she scanned the table, but when her eyes landed on the steaming hot sauerkraut fish and the glistening white rice, she swallowed her saliva and was secretly shocked.  

The second son’s family was really well-off. They were so generous with their food! And this cooking—this fish smelled incredible!  

Then, she noticed something else. The entire table was filled with large bowls of white rice, including the ones given to the old couple. However, in front of Shen Yiyi was only half a bowl of rice.  

Could it be that she was reluctant to eat more?  

Mother Li felt both touched and guilty. She thought that this second daughter-in-law was truly kind to them. Without hesitation, she picked up her bowl and made a motion to scoop half of her rice into Shen Yiyi’s bowl.  

Shen Yiyi was in the middle of picking out boneless fish meat for Xiao Bao when she caught a glimpse of Mother Li’s actions. Reacting quickly, she swiftly took her bowl away. “Mom, you don’t need to give me any. I can’t eat that much.”  

Mother Li thought Shen Yiyi was just being stubborn. In times like these, white rice was a luxury that many couldn’t even eat to their fill. How could she not eat much?  

Determined, she insisted: “Yiyi, just having you invite us over for a meal already makes us very happy. But we can’t let you go hungry just because we’re here. Come, Mom will eat only half…”

“Mom.” Shen Yiyi said helplessly, half amused: “I usually don’t eat much at night. Since I don’t have much to do, eating too much makes it easy for me to get indigestion. Besides, if I don’t have enough, there’s still food in the kitchen. Mom, just eat. There’s plenty left in the pot. I specifically made extra because you and Dad were coming, so eat as much as you want.”  

Mother Li only half understood her reasoning and looked blankly at Li Chen.  

Li Chen, however, was well aware of Shen Yiyi’s habits. She had a small appetite—she ate more at lunch but consciously controlled her portions at dinner.  

At first, he hadn’t understood either, thinking she was just trying to save food and had wanted her to eat more.  

But then, he had heard her lecturing the Three Baos about portion control, explaining all sorts of health-related reasons. It had actually sounded quite logical, so he hadn’t interfered anymore.  

The only issue was that while she controlled her own portions and the Three Baos’, she never controlled his.  

If Shen Yiyi knew what Li Chen was thinking, she would definitely be at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

The reason she never restricted his portions was that he had a lot of work to do after meals. By the time he went to bed, he had already digested most of it—why would he need to control his intake?  

Seeing that even her son accepted it, Mother Li decided not to insist further. She mainly didn’t want to seem foolish.  

And so, Father Li and Mother Li ended up having the most delicious meal of their lives. They finished an entire large aluminum tray of sauerkraut fish.  

Stuffed and rubbing their round bellies, they almost couldn’t walk.  

After dinner, Shen Yiyi, aware of Father Li and Mother Li’s presence, didn’t know what to talk to them about. She figured she would just clean up the dishes and let Li Chen handle the conversation.  

Without hesitation, Li Chen naturally took the dishes from her hands and said: “Go digest with the Three Baos.”  

Shen Yiyi instinctively glanced at Father Li and Mother Li.

In this era, most people believed that household chores were women’s duties, and men were not supposed to do them.  

Although Shen Yiyi had little interaction with this pair of in-laws in her past life, she knew from the book that Mother Li had all the typical traits of a Mother-in-law from this time period.  

Even though she didn’t need to care about their opinions, their reactions would determine how she interacted with them moving forward.  

To Shen Yiyi’s surprise, Father Li didn’t comment at all on Li Chen washing the dishes. Instead, he was fully engaged, watching the Three Baos excitedly show him their new clothes.  

As for Mother Li, not only did she not object, but her smile even carried a hint of flattery as she followed Li Chen’s lead and said: “Yes, yes, let him wash. Yiyi, you just stay with the Three Baos.”  

Shen Yiyi: “…”

Her emotions were a little complicated.  

After staying for a while, Father Li and Mother Li eventually left.  

Once Shen Yiyi finished digesting her meal, she took the Three Baos back to their room.  

Under the dim glow of the kerosene lamp, the Three Baos played and tumbled on the heated brick bed, their laughter filling the room.  

Shen Yiyi occasionally joined in, but she didn’t quite grasp their sense of humor, and after a while, she started feeling a little bored.  

Meanwhile, after finishing the dishes, Li Chen noticed that the water jar was nearly empty. Since the sky hadn’t completely darkened yet, he took the opportunity to carry a few more buckets of water back before finally grabbing some to wash himself.  

After his bath, he returned to the house—without hesitation, he walked straight into Shen Yiyi’s room.  

Although she hadn’t explicitly invited him to sleep there again tonight, she also hadn’t said that he couldn’t.  

So, Li Chen decided to play innocent. If she didn’t tell him to go back and sleep in his own room, he planned to shamelessly stay.  

However, he never expected that the three little ones he had painstakingly raised—through countless diaper changes and sleepless nights—would have absolutely no understanding of their Dad’s unspoken intentions!  

The moment they saw him enter, they assumed he was there to take them back to his room. Without hesitation, they clung tightly to their Mom and declared: “Dad, we want to sleep with Mom tonight too. You go back and sleep by yourself!”

Li Chen: “……”  

If these three weren’t his biological sons, he would have grabbed them one by one and thrown them out.  

Last night, when Li Chen came over, the Three Baos were already asleep. In the morning, when he got up, they were still fast asleep. So, they had no idea that he had slept here the night before.  

Afraid that Li Chen might actually leave, Shen Yiyi quickly said: “Dad will be sleeping with us from now on.”  

From now on…  

Li Chen instantly caught the key phrase. His long, narrow eyes gleamed with excitement. To him, just hearing those words was enough!  

He reached out to grab his second unfilial son, his tone carrying a hint of danger. “Oh? Are you looking down on your Dad? Hmm?”  

“Ahhh! No! Dad! I’m not!” Er Bao laughed as he dodged, trying to escape. “Big brother, run!”  

Da Bao immediately bolted, while only the little fool, Xiao Bao, remained standing there, oblivious to the situation. Instead of running, he happily threw himself into his Dad’s arms.  

The entire room was filled with laughter and joy.  

Shen Yiyi watched the four of them with a soft smile, her heart full at this moment.  

She was truly happy about the five of them sleeping together as a family.  

Li Chen had also been happy last night.  

But tonight…  

He was just a little, just a little unhappy.  

Because!  

The Three Baos were all fighting to sleep next to his wife! They had stolen his spot!  

Er Bao, with a serious expression, even took it upon himself to arrange the sleeping positions.  

Based on their usual spots, Xiao Bao and Da Bao always slept on their Mom’s right, while he slept on her left. But since their Dad was here tonight, well… he could sleep next to him.  

Oh, and they were going to use the soft woolen blanket with their Mom. Dad could use his own quilt.  

Li Chen: “……”  

He was so mad he had to laugh.  

Shen Yiyi: “……”  

She held back her laughter, silently saying nothing.  

As the night deepened, the house gradually quieted.  

Li Chen tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. His mind kept drifting back to how she had looked at him while he was gutting the fish earlier.  

A strange heat crept up inside him.  

He glanced up—there she was, nestled between the Three Baos, sound asleep, holding them close on either side.  

Li Chen let out a silent sigh.  

This heartless woman!