Chapter 96

Wherever there was excitement, there was Wang Yan.  

As soon as Wang Yan saw Shen Yiyi and Mother Shen come out, her eyes lit up. She moved closer, glanced at Mother Shen, and fawningly asked Shen Yiyi: “Li Chen’s wife, is this your mother?”  

“That’s right, she came to see me.” Shen Yiyi nodded and replied.  

“Oh my, so she really is your mother-in-law! She looks so young. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was your sister.” Wang Yan spoke without reservation, immediately showering Mother Shen with compliments, making her laugh.  

Seizing the opportunity, Wang Yan probed further: “Mother-in-law, your family must be quite wealthy, huh? You can even afford a car and brought so many gifts along.”  

She was trying to trap Mother Shen with her words.  

But Mother Shen was not someone to be easily fooled. She immediately caught on and, with a playful smile, replied,  

“Wealthy? Not at all. These are my daughter’s dowry. We lived far away before, so we couldn’t send them over. Now that we finally had the chance, we brought them. Besides, this money didn’t come from me or her father—it was from her grandparents! Her grandparents once fought alongside the leaders in war. Later, after they retired, they lived on a small pension, saved every penny, and just wanted to prepare a proper dowry for their granddaughter so she could marry with honor.”  

“And as for the car, it isn’t ours. It belongs to a leader who, after learning that my daughter had voluntarily signed up to work in rural development, was deeply moved by her spirit of dedication. Out of appreciation, he let us use the car to transport these things.”  

Wang Yan: “……” Your daughter did volunteer to go to the countryside, sure, but as for calling it dedication, I certainly haven’t seen it!  

Mother Shen, however, couldn’t care less whether Wang Yan saw it or not—she simply continued with her narrative.  

As a former Community Director, Mother Shen was skilled in speech.  

Without directly admitting whether her family was wealthy, she effortlessly recounted the honorable past of Shen Yiyi’s grandparents and emphasized that all these items were bought through their frugality.  

Even the car was lent out of admiration for Shen Yiyi’s dedication.  

One statement after another, she not only left no room for anyone to find fault but also subtly revealed that their family was not ordinary.  

Shen Yiyi covered her mouth and smiled, just as she was thinking about going back to fetch something to share.

Mother Shen efficiently directed Li Chen and Shen Yuxuan to unload everything from the car. Then, she took out a few packs of White Rabbit Creamy Candy and announced,  

“Dear villagers, I wasn’t able to attend my daughter and son-in-law’s wedding, but proper etiquette must still be observed. There won’t be a banquet, but please have some milk candy instead. From now on, I hope you will all look after this young couple! Li Chen, Yiyi, quickly, hand these out to everyone!”  

Like a newlywed couple distributing wedding favors, Li Chen and Shen Yiyi began passing out the candies to the gathered villagers.  

At present, White Rabbit Creamy Candy was considered a rare treat—many people had never even tasted it before.  

Receiving two pieces for free instantly turned those who had harbored some jealousy into cheerful well-wishers, and they began offering compliments one after another.  

Wang Yan, in particular, was overjoyed when Shen Yiyi secretly slipped her two extra pieces. Feeling valued, her grin stretched all the way to the back of her ears.  

Those extra two candies proved to be quite useful—as Shen Yiyi had hoped.  

In the following days, when gossip spread through the village about Mother Shen arriving in a car to visit her daughter, Wang Yan helped deflect a good number of both open and hidden criticisms on Shen Yiyi’s behalf.  

Once the candy was distributed, the crowd gradually dispersed.  

Driver Xu was preparing to leave as well. Before he departed, Shen Yiyi handed him a bag of nuts and a pack of White Rabbit Creamy Candy as a token of appreciation.  

Mother Shen was a step behind but felt deeply gratified by her daughter’s thoughtfulness.  

Lunch that day was prepared by Li Chen, with Mother Li and He Zhaodi assisting him.  

The last time Li Chen cooked, Shen Yiyi had been polite enough to eat without complaint.  

However, Li Chen had noticed that she hadn’t actually enjoyed the food. Since then, whenever Shen Yiyi cooked, he had made an effort to observe and learn.  

Now, his cooking skills had improved significantly. With better ingredients available, the food turned out to be quite tasty.

Previously, thinking they would be heading to Beijing, Shen Yiyi had stocked up on a large amount of meat for the Three Baos. Now, it came in handy, allowing them to prepare an exceptionally lavish meal.  

Mother Shen was secretly shocked at the sight. After all, during this time, even in Beijing, it was uncommon to have so much meat at once.  

It seemed that the Li family’s financial situation was more stable than she had initially thought.  

Already feeling guilty about the truth behind her daughter’s marriage, Mother Shen’s attitude toward Li Chen had completely changed. Compared to when she first arrived, she was now much more cordial and friendly toward him, as well as toward Father Li and Mother Li.  

In fact, her attitude toward Li Chen was even warmer than toward Shen Yiyi—she kept picking food for him throughout the meal.  

On the other side, Mother Li also felt uneasy. Not only did she believe her son had schemed to marry Shen Yiyi, but she also thought that the meat on the table had been bought with Mother Shen’s money.

As a result, her attitude toward Shen Yiyi improved dramatically—she practically praised her as if she were a celestial being who had descended to earth.  

Overall, this meeting between the in-laws ended on a joyful note, with both hosts and guests enjoying themselves.  

Jiang Ailing also came.  

Even though the families had officially separated, Li Sanhong was still Father Li and Mother Li’s son, so he was naturally invited. Jiang Ailing, however, shamelessly invited herself along.  

Of course, she was well aware that she was not welcome, so she simply focused on eating. However, when she overheard that Shen Yiyi’s eldest brother was already 27 and still unmarried, her eyes flickered with interest.  

That afternoon, their home remained lively.  

Many villagers, curious about what the car looked like, wanted to come and take a look. When they found out it had already left, they couldn’t help but feel disappointed.  

Some of the older women, seeing that Mother Shen was not as aloof as they had imagined but was instead quite warm and friendly, decided to stay and chat.

Mother Shen was a natural conversationalist. Her speech and knowledge were impressive, yet she never gave off an air of superiority or looked down on the villagers. Because of this, the older women in the village quickly grew fond of her.  

Before long, Mother Shen had blended seamlessly into their group, chatting and laughing as if she had always been one of them.  

Watching from the side, Mother Li couldn’t help but feel admiration. At the same time, a sense of pride swelled in her heart—it was an honor to have such a capable in-law.  

That evening, dinner was also held at their place, though it wasn’t as grand as the midday meal. The eldest and third branches of the family didn’t come over again, but Father Li and Mother Li, at Shen Yiyi’s insistence, stayed for dinner.  

After the meal, Mother Li lingered until nightfall before finally returning to the old house. Before leaving, she held onto Mother Shen’s hand and said,  

“My dear in-law, stay a few more days. Don’t be in such a hurry to leave, alright?”  

“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Mother Shen reassured her repeatedly. “I’d love to chat with you more. I won’t be rushing off so soon.”  

Hearing this, Mother Li beamed with joy as she headed home.  

Li Chen and Shen Yiyi: “……”  

Shen Yiyi shot Li Chen a look, and he immediately went to the kitchen.  

Meanwhile, Shen Yiyi wrapped her arm around her mother’s and teased: “Mother dearest, you’re fitting in quite well in the countryside!”  

“Of course! Do you even know what I did before?” Mother Shen gave her daughter a proud sideways glance.  

But Shen Yiyi understood—if it weren’t for her, her mother wouldn’t have put so much effort into building relationships here.

“Yes, yes, yes.” Shen Yiyi praised without hesitation. “My mom is the best!”  

Mother Shen was delighted by her daughter’s flattery and was just about to say something when she saw Li Chen approaching with a basin of water. She froze for a moment and asked: “Is this for me?”  

“Of course it is! See how filial your son-in-law is?” Shen Yiyi wasted no opportunity to boost her husband’s reputation in front of her mother. But she forgot—her husband no longer needed her to do that!  

No sooner had she finished speaking than her mother playfully smacked her. “I have eyes. I can see how filial my son-in-law is. I don’t need you to tell me. Are you just looking for an excuse to take credit?”  

“Hiss—!”  

Although Mother Shen had only given her a light tap, Shen Yiyi exaggeratedly sucked in a breath and quickly ran to hide behind Li Chen. She peeked out and complained: “Brother Chen, Mom hit me!”  

Li Chen, ever the devoted protector, immediately stepped in front of his wife. His tall figure shielded her as he smiled and said: “Mom, don’t be too hard on Yiyi. She’s the one who asked me to fetch the water for you.”  

“You just spoil her.” Mother Shen said in what seemed like a complaint.

However, the slight upward curve of her lips betrayed her true feelings—she was more than satisfied with how well Li Chen treated her daughter.  

She took the washbasin from Li Chen and went off to freshen up.

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