Su Qingyu saw Lu Bocheng’s eyes dim and quickly changed the topic.

Lu Bocheng came back to his senses and glanced at her.

He nodded and said: “Before my wàizǔfù ^[1]maternal grandfather left, he left all the land at home to me, including the house in the village. For the shop at home, when my wàizǔfù passed away, he asked my father to transfer the land deed to me, but my yénǎi ^[2]paternal grandparents did not agree. In the end, a compromised agreement was signed. I own half and my father owns half. When the house we live in now is divided, it will be counted as my half.”

“That was it. Wu Shi still didn’t agree, insisting that she still had two sons, and couldn’t let everything go to waste.” Lu Bocheng’s eyes showed disdain, revealing his strong dissatisfaction with Wu Shi.

Wu Shi was picking up something already done, so it was no wonder Lu Bocheng occasionally wanted to jump up.

She asked him again: “Does your yénǎi disagree?”

Su Qingyu didn’t know much about Lu’s family.

Speaking of them, Lu Bocheng’s eyes were dull: “When I was a child, my mother was busy with things in the shop and had no time to take care of me, so she left me with my wàizǔfùmǔ ^[3]maternal grandparents. At that time, my jiùjiù ^[4]maternal uncle, brother of his mother was dead and had no children left. My wàizǔfùmǔ discussed with my father that they wanted me to change my surname to Liu to leave a legacy for the Liu family. My mother’s future children would be named Lu, but my yénǎi disagreed.”

“My mother is a generous person. Although she did not live in the village, every time she went back, she brought big and small bags home. She was also quick and hard-working. My yénǎi liked my mother very much at first. But later, when Wu Shi came, she knew how to be a good person and had a sweet mouth. She would be a good person with my father’s money and gradually coaxed yénǎi and the others to stand on her side. In addition, I had not lived with my yénǎi since I was a child, and they also had other grandchildren, and they are not as affectionate towards me as other tángxiōngdì ^[5]paternal cousins, i.e. daughters and sons of father’s brothers…”

“This is why at that time, my yénǎi didn’t agree to transfer the shop to me. Maybe they were afraid that without the shop, Wu Shi would no longer give them pension money. Or maybe they were worried that my father would have objections to me and not treat me well.”

Su Qingyu sighed after hearing this. Take a breath.

She was afraid this stepmother-in-law would be difficult to deal with. She sounded like she was very scheming and resourceful.

She asked him again: “You didn’t ask me to prepare breakfast for your yénǎi and the others just now. They didn’t come yesterday?”

“They came. But they don’t live here. There’s no room for them at home. My dad rented a big house on North Street. The house is for them to live in. They may come back today or tomorrow.”

“How many people are there in your yénǎi’s family?”

Lu Bocheng glanced at her and nodded: “My yénǎi family has three sons and two daughters. My dad is the middle one, the other two sons are one older and one younger, dàbó’s ^[6]father’s elder brother family has two sons and two daughters, and xiǎo shū’s ^[7]father’s younger brother family has three sons and one daughter.”

“Your family is prosperous. Why don’t your yénǎi live with you in the town?”

Su Qingyi clicked her tongue in admiration. She sighed, touching her forehead.

When there were many people, relationships became complicated. As soon as the relationship got complicated, she got a headache. She just wanted to live a peaceful life.

“My nǎi ^[8]paternal grandmother can’t stand Wu Shi’s way of doing things now, mostly because she thinks she’s too flirtatious and not like someone who can manage a household. My nǎi thinks she’s stingy and petty. They live in the village, my dad provides for them, and the money is in my nǎi’s hands. She spends it however she wants, supports whichever child or sūnzi ^[9]sons of sons she wants, and everyone has to obey her. But if she were to live here, she would have to ask Wu Shi for money and watch her expressions.”

Tsk, tsk, this nǎi was a smart person.

She looked at him again: “Wu Shi, is she very powerful?”

Lu Bocheng said disdainfully: “You will know it when you see her. No matter how much I say, you should see for yourself.”

“You tell me first, it won’t affect me. I will judge later.”

Lu Bocheng was about to speak, but paused again: “Here they come.”

Su Qingyu stood up and looked outside the hall.

Lu Bocheng sat still.

Su Qingyu glanced at him sideways and let him go. On the first day here, it was hard to break his way of doing things.

Everyone who lived in the house was there.

The one at the head, Mr. Lu, was very energetic, tall and tall, slightly fat, with a little belly, a serious face, and a long stride. He glanced at Su Qingyu, nodded, and entered the main room.

Following him was Wu Shi who was beyond Su Qingyu’s impression. She looked much younger than she expected. Unlike someone who has given birth to three children, she did not look old at all, her body was light and graceful, and her movements were like a weak willow caressing the wind.

Tsk tsk, no wonder she squeezed his first wife out.

Following Wu Shi were her three children.

The eldest was Lu Bozu, only two months younger than Lu Bocheng. He was not as tall as Lu Bocheng, nor as strong as Lu Bocheng. He looked thinner and looked most like Lu’s father. There was no smile on his face, and he had a somewhat cold feeling.

Then came Lu Yuzhu, the only daughter of the Lu family, who was three years younger than her brother. Born very much like the Wu Shi, she also looked like a weak willow caressing the wind. Both brother and sister ignored their xiōng and sǎo ^[10]older brother and his wife, passing by without even looking at them.

Only the youngest son, Lu Bozong, who was thirteen years old this year, greeted his xiōng and sǎo.

Su Qingyu smiled at him and responded. The young boy seemed to know a few things.

As soon as Wu Shi entered the main room, she called Su Qingyu over, held her hand, and looked at her.

Glancing at the flower-decorated table, she praised, “You’ve worked hard, preparing such a big spread with a variety of dishes, both dry and wet, with snacks and noodle soup. Dear, take a look, isn’t she skillful? She does better than me, doesn’t she?”

Father Lu glanced at the table and nodded. He turned around and looked at Su Qingyu again. Feeling satisfied, he turned around and picked up the teacup to drink tea.

Lu Bocheng had already rushed to the flower table and sat down when Wu Shi came in.

At this time, seeing that Wu Shi said a lot, but did not ask Qingyu to sit down together, he pulled Su Qingyu over with a straight face and let her sit next to him. He glared at Wu Shi sternly again.

Usually at this hour, she would have already gotten up and gone to the shop to keep an eye on the assistants, afraid they might steal money. But today, sleeping until now? And still does better than you? Since entering the Lu family, has she even touched the water with her hands a few times?

With disdain in his heart, he put a small bun into Su Qingyu’s bowl and said to her: “Eat.”

He raised his chopsticks to pick up all the dishes and kept adding to his and Su Qingyu’s bowls. After a while, it piled up like a small mountain.

Su Qingyu glanced at Father Lu with some embarrassment. As expected, Father Lu frowned and shouted: “What does it look like! The elders haven’t even touched the chopsticks yet.”

Lu Bocheng looked at Father Lu who had already grasped the chopsticks in his hand, and said, “Didn’t you move the chopsticks?” His eyes didn’t glance at Wu Shi’s side at all.

Father Lu looked at the chopsticks in his hand, then glanced at Wu Shi’s hand. He was about to scold Lu Bocheng, but Wu Shi smiled and clapped her hands.

She tried to smooth things over and said: “It’s okay, it’s okay. You’re not hungry, but the kids are. Eat, eat. My diēniáng ^[11]parents, in this case, FIL and MIL and shūbó ^[12]paternal uncles and aunts will all come, and there will be introductions to be made. It’s too early in the morning to be upset with the children.”

Lu Bocheng muttered while stuffing buns into his mouth, “Where would my dad get hungry! He drank too much yesterday, and he’s only just waking up now because he’s so full.”

Seeing that Father Lu was about to slam the table, Wu Shi hurriedly put a small spoon into his bowl. Baozi: “Eat and eat, don’t let the new wife see the joke. This table looks delicious just by looking at it. I’m not sure when I can eat it next time.”

After saying that, she smiled and asked Su Qingyu to eat.

Su Qingyu pretended to be shy, lowered her head to eat, and didn’t answer.

During the meal, she could only hear the sound of chopsticks touching dishes, and no one spoke.

Being accustomed to the noisy eating habits of the Su family, when she suddenly encountered the cold and solemn scene of the Lu family, Su Qingyu softened her voice and almost suffered from indigestion.

After finally finishing eating, not long after Su Qingyu packed up her things in the kitchen, the Lu family’s grandparents came with their family.

(End of chapter)