Chapter 9

These past few days since Zhan Tingxu came back, he had been circling around Meng Yingying and the children almost nonstop, barely talking to his older brothers.

All three older brothers were farmers who lived off the land, with limited understanding of the world. Outside of working, their usual pastimes were beating their wives and children.

They couldn’t understand why Tingxu pampered his wife so much, thinking it disgraced them as men. So, they picked a time to call him over for drinks.

The eldest brother, sipping wine, opened the conversation first:

“Fourth, we’ve all seen how you’ve been acting these days. If you’re just trying to please your wife, isn’t this going too far?”

The second brother chimed in, “Exactly! What kind of man spends all day in the kitchen? No real man cooks for his wife!”

“And hanging around the well washing vegetables and laundry? That’s women’s work!”

Indeed, the well was always crowded with women; few men ever went there to wash anything.

Zhan Tingxu replied evenly, “I like it that way. None of your business.”

Hearing this, the third brother spat in contempt, “You’re making us men lose face! With that cowardly attitude, how can you ever hold your head up in front of your wife?”

The eldest brother offered advice: “If you can’t handle her, let us do it for you! We’ll straighten her out in no time!”

“Starve her a few days, and when she’s too weak to fight back, lock her up and sleep with her. She’ll be obedient then!” the second brother said excitedly.

Seeing their ugly faces, Tingxu finally understood why Meng Yingying had wanted to split from the family in the first place.

When he didn’t react, the eldest brother clicked his tongue in displeasure.

“Fourth, your brothers are giving you advice—are you even listening?”

At that, Tingxu said coldly, “I’m not like you. I will never take your advice.”

“What, you scared? If you don’t dare, we’ll help you!”

“Yeah, if you don’t want to disgrace the Zhan family, don’t let Yingying eat dinner tonight. Then sleep with her—and if she refuses, beat her! Women always obey after that!”

The three brothers laughed proudly at their own words.

Tingxu just felt bored. He was about to leave when he saw Meng Yingying standing at the door. Startled, he quickly walked toward her.

“Yingying—”

But the moment she saw him coming, her face went pale. She dropped the water bucket and ran.

Tingxu hurried to pick up the bucket and carried it home.

Back at the house, he asked the kids playing with mud in the yard, “Where’s your mother?”

“In the room!”

Tingxu set down the bucket and went to find her, but Yingying had locked herself inside and refused to come out.

Helpless, Tingxu stood at the door to explain: “Yingying, don’t take what my brothers said to heart. I’m nothing like them. I’d never follow their advice.”

But Yingying stayed silent inside the room.

Tingxu felt bitter.

Had all his effort to win her acceptance been wasted? Was everything back to square one?

Yet those brothers had always treated him decently…

Hardening his heart, he said, “Come with me when I go back to the army. We’ll never have to see them again. If that’s not enough, I’ll cut ties with them completely!”

After a long pause, a muffled voice finally came from inside:

“Wouldn’t they just blame me for ruining your brotherly relationship?”

Tingxu quickly reassured her, “Ignore them. Once I cut ties, they’re strangers to me.”

But Yingying still didn’t believe he could be that ruthless.

After waiting again, and still no response, Tingxu had no choice but to cook dinner himself.

When he finished, he tried calling her to eat, but she didn’t answer.

He finally sent the kids to knock on the door.

The three children banged on it: “Mom, come eat! The food’s getting cold!”

Smelling the aroma, Yingying’s hungry stomach rumbled, and she finally opened the door.

Seeing her at last, Tingxu immediately filled a bowl of chicken soup for her, with a drumstick inside.

“Yingying, drink some chicken soup to nourish yourself.”

Yingying glanced at the soup. It had red dates and goji berries. She took a sip—the dates didn’t overwhelm the fragrance of the chicken.

Just then, A-Liang piped up sweetly, “Ever since Uncle moved in, our meals got way better!”

Tingxu asked with concern, “What did you eat before? Did you rarely have meat?”

A-Ming shook his head. “We had meat every day before… just not this much.”

And honestly, Tingxu’s cooking tasted far better than Yingying’s. She never cared about flavor—food just had to be edible.

But the children had never complained. After all, it was Mom’s cooking.

“In that case, eat more,” Tingxu said, giving each child a piece of chicken.

Yingying stayed silent, just eating whatever Tingxu served her, not even picking up food herself.

She was obedient enough—but then again, she always ate quietly anyway, so Tingxu didn’t bother her.

He noticed, though, that she left the bitter melon untouched no matter how much he served her. Yet she told the kids, “Don’t be picky. Eat your bitter melon.”

Tingxu chuckled, plucked the bitter melon from her bowl, and ate it himself.

Yingying was stunned watching him take the hated vegetable out of her bowl.

Sharp-eyed A-Liang noticed and shouted, “Mom doesn’t eat bitter melon! She’s the pickiest of all!”

Yingying had no comeback.

Tingxu stepped in to rescue her: “Mom’s not eating it because she’s in a bad mood. You kids don’t get to copy her.”

That only made Yingying more embarrassed.

Tingting asked curiously, “If I’m in a bad mood, can I skip bitter melon too?”

She was already planning to be in a bad mood every day.

“Of course not. That’s Mom’s privilege. You still have to eat,” Tingxu said without thinking.

He gave each child a piece of bitter melon and watched until they ate it.

The children all made sour faces, but obediently finished.

Before bed, Tingxu sat at the bedside, wiping the children’s hands, faces, and feet.

After doing everything, he still didn’t want to leave. He sat at the foot of the bed, gazing at Yingying.

Feeling uncomfortable under his stare, she asked, “Why aren’t you leaving?”

“I’ll wait until you’re asleep,” he insisted.

Her heart skipped—she recalled what his brothers had said.

Although Tingxu had always behaved normally, his brothers were terrifying. Yingying had seen them beat their wives savagely.

And the wives never resisted, even thought it normal—and they resented Yingying for not being beaten.

She had thought at the time: if Tingxu hadn’t gone to the front line the day after their wedding, she might have been beaten too.

Seeing he wouldn’t leave, Yingying simply lay down and pulled the blanket over her face.

Tingxu tucked her in gently before leaving.