Chapter 50: The Young Uncle Got Angry

  The next day, before the sky was even bright, Shen Han had already gotten up. This time... through the window, he could see that Zhao Xi's house still hadn't lit up with a dim light. However, when Shen Han finished simply styling his hair and went out, he saw that the door to Zhao Xi's room was open. Shen Han felt a strange sense of guilt, and immediately gently closed the door that he had just opened a crack.

  Although the door was closed, Shen Huan still chose to lean against the wall and look out through the gap in the window.

  Zhao Xiuxiu gently closed the door, glanced at Shen Huan's house, and even though it was only slightly light outside, Shen Huan clearly saw the warmth between his eyebrows and the smile on his lips that made her heart skip a beat.

  It was a kind of smile similar to satisfaction, yet even more than happiness.

  It was just one glance, but Shen Huan had already understood something in his heart.

  Understand why he would come to the kitchen to help himself, understand that although they don't interact much on a daily basis, he is not as cold and distant as his younger uncle seems. Understand why he would be so concerned when he unintentionally says something.

  I used to think he was just a bit eccentric and arrogant, now it seems...

  Zhao Xiuzhen walked to the well, washed her face simply, and then looked at Shen Huan's house again. She seemed to feel a little strange, glanced at the position of her window, and didn't understand why she would light up early today. She also didn't know if she had gotten up or... was worried about going to the government office today and hadn't slept all night?

  Not thinking too much about it, and also worried that Shen Huan would suddenly leave, she quietly filled a bucket of water and put it back by the well...

  Watching Zhao Xiuzhen close the door and return to her room, until his window printed out that faint and blurry shadow, Shen Huan dared to walk out of the house, standing by the well and looking at the bucket of water with ripples, feeling deep pressure in her heart. It was no longer like before, when she could unscrupulously accept his secret help, because at that time Shen Huan thought it was Li's permission that he would do so.

  Taking a deep breath, she went through her usual routine of washing up and fetched water to Li's room. Everything seemed normal, except that in her heart, a line of defense had been drawn, one that belonged to her and Zhao Xiuzhuo alone.

  Hastily preparing some food, Shen Huan couldn't help but feel a bit anxious too. With an hour left before the people from the yamen arrived, she turned over the soil in the courtyard, watered the vegetable garden, and even pulled out the grass that had just sprouted a few days ago. Time was still not up, and this waiting was making her anxious. Even Shen Huan, who was normally calm, couldn't help but feel a bit irritated.

  "Han'er, stop swaying back and forth, you're making me dizzy..."

  Li still held her needle and thread, rapidly shuttling back and forth, the figure in front of her walking to and fro without stopping, indeed making her vision blur with a mix of light and darkness. In her heart, even though she knew she was worried, but things had already reached this point, worrying was also useless.

  "Yes, Second Sister, don't we still have Shadow Girl?"

  Hu Youxuan's words immediately got Zhao Xiuzhuo's dissatisfaction, but he didn't deliberately show it, and just said in his usual calm tone: "Don't let people with ulterior motives hear this, originally those who didn't take the crooked path, don't end up being affected by others' gossip."

  From the moment he saw Zhao Xiuzhen helping him fetch water in the morning, Shen Han's heart was a bit messy. In fact, he had been helping himself all along, and he wasn't unaware of it. But his help was not only different from what he had imagined, but also very far apart.

  Perhaps... at first he was just purely helping, but in the process of spending time together, it gradually changed flavor. So... did his younger brother himself understand this change?

  "Brother Evening Fragrance is right, I was just too quick with my words and said something wrong."

  Hu Youxuan's voice pulled Shen Han out of her thoughts, but she still felt a bit strange, not because of Zhao Xi'ao, but because of Hu Youxuan's tone and words, which seemed to be like those of someone who had done something wrong...

  "It's almost time, let's pack up and head over slowly so we shouldn't be too early."

  Li finally finished embroidering the handkerchief, tidied up the silk threads, and then looked up at the sky. She picked up the bamboo basket beside her and walked back to the house. At this time, Shen Huan and three younger generations were already waiting for her at the gate of the courtyard. Li couldn't help but feel a little comforted, no matter what, the family was still together and inseparable.

  When they arrived at the yamen, Shen Huan only then discovered that they were actually among the later ones to arrive. Many people were already standing at the entrance waiting for the court to open, and Liu Shi and Zuo Xing were already standing in the middle of the crowd, seemingly excitedly discussing something. Shen Huan couldn't help but curl her lip - it seemed that others had come early to prepare and gain sympathy.

  "Zhao's family, why are you just coming now? That shrewish woman over there has been talking for a long time."

  "Coming early is of no use, it's better to stay at home and embroider a handkerchief, which can be sold for money."

  Li's face didn't show much expression, but Wu Li's face looked a bit unpleasant. She thought to herself that maybe she was still holding onto the rumor she had mentioned last time and was taking it personally. At this point, she also fell silent, after all, it was someone else's family matter, and even if she was coming from a good place, she shouldn't have spoken up. No matter how you looked at it, this kind of thing was always very unpleasant to hear.

  It seemed that Wu Li felt Li's emotions, and Li smiled and touched her: "Hey, we've been friends for so many years, I know you're kind-hearted, Huan'er is the one involved, don't mind my straightforward words."

  No matter whether Wu Li was a rumor-monger or not, Li wanted to believe her this time. After all, the two had grown up together since childhood and lived close by, so they knew each other quite well in many aspects. She didn't believe from the bottom of her heart that this woman, who usually conducted herself honestly and taught her children well, would be a gossipmonger.

  "Really?"

  "Believe it or not."

  Letter

  Shaking her head, Mrs. Li and the others walked into the crowd, while the other side seemed to have a reaction, turning their eyes over, Shen Huan supported Mrs. Li's face with no special expression, but in her heart she was puzzled by what Mrs. Li had just said, did mother-in-law believe this Wu Li?

  But if the rumor wasn't spread by her, who would it be? The people of the Yuan family absolutely wouldn't think that in Shen Huan's mind, a smiling yet not smiling face suddenly appeared...

  "Hey, Zhao's family is so late, could it be that they're feeling guilty?"

  "That's right, I don't have another Mrs. Qin who would invite me to sit in the government office and put down her work to wait here."

  The Liu family wanted to suppress the Li family with one sentence, but unexpectedly, the Li family directly used Qin Furen's words to mock her. At this moment, some people around them suddenly realized that something was not right, and they had to say that the Li family was really hitting two birds with one stone.

  "To be honest, your wife is actually a beauty, have you ever thought of making her your real wife?"

  "Han'er is indeed my Zhao family's formally married daughter-in-law, why doesn't she count as a real daughter-in-law? Ah, right, the one who just gave birth to your family's posthumous child, Ruhua, isn't she the daughter of your family's kitchen maid? Was there a formal engagement and six gifts?"

  Mr. Li's words completely shut up Mrs. Liu, who was speechless. In the past, her own son had an affair with the daughter of a servant, and no matter what she did, she couldn't separate them. The unfilial son kept saying that he would only marry her, but she could only grit her teeth as she watched her enter the Yuan family's door through the back door. Who would have thought that after so many years, this unambitious son refused to take a formal wife?

  Now thoroughly became a handle in Li's mouth, Liu was so angry that smoke came out of his head and he couldn't say half a word.

  "No wonder his daughter-in-law died and didn't see the Yuan family doing anything good for her after death, after all, she also exchanged a child with her life."

  "It's said that this child is not in good health, don't know if it's a bad omen..."

  "So it's still not good to be too extreme when it comes to being human..."

  “……”

  People around have started speaking out against Liu's wrongdoing, and she sees that the scene is getting out of control. She then pulls Zuo Xing and rushes out of the crowd, standing aside.

  Shen Han looked at Li with some admiration, really didn't expect that she would normally be quiet and serious, but when it came to saying hurtful things, she was actually not bad at all. Although it was true, when Liu said those provocative words, Shen Han really wanted to jump out and slap her.

  Fortunately, there is still grandma, who vented her anger in her own way. But this rumor... will it eventually remain a rumor?

  As she thought of this, Shen Huan couldn't help but glance up at Zhao Xi Qiao, only to find that he was also turning his head in her direction. Some unspoken understanding had already begun to sprout between them. Shen Huan could only pretend to be calm and nod at him before quickly looking away, leading Li Shi to the side to wait. Unbeknownst to her, her heart had been blown into a mess by Zhao Xi Qiao's glance.

  "Second sister, Zuo Xing is looking at you."

  What happened at Yue Xue's house that day, Shen Han and Hu Youxuan tacitly didn't mention it to Zhao Xi'ao and Li Shi, not for anything else, just didn't want them to have unnecessary worries, but unexpectedly something still went wrong. Today, this battle was ultimately a defeat or a victory, Shen Han had no grasp at all.

  Hu Youxuan said this when he walked to the side with them, and whispered it in Shen Han's ear. Others might not have noticed, but Zhao Xi'ao, who had been focusing his attention on Shen Han, saw it clearly and felt a surge of jealousy in his heart, wondering why they were so close, even in public, without fear of being seen by others?

  Shen Han looked in the direction of Zhao Xiao, pursed her lips and didn't know what to say. She just thought of what Ying Yue Xue said, and couldn't help but take advantage of the situation to probe Zhao Ye Cao's thoughts. Previously, she had wanted to matchmake them, it seemed that her eyesight was really not good, and she needed to wash her eyes well.

  "Little uncle, it seems like your younger sister-in-law is looking at you."

  She simply threw out the trouble, now Zhao Xi's thoughts she naturally understood, only didn't know what kind of sympathy he reported to this 'weak' girl. It's better to ask directly than to probe secretly, anyway, her mother-in-law is also here, whatever you say directly won't give people a handle.

  "Her?"

  "Hmm... don't think you can't feel your sister-in-law's attention, but... brother-in-law, you're quite the talent, so be careful..."

  "You're just a silly girl who likes to joke around."

  "Who says I'm joking? Little uncle is also at the age of getting married, right? Now if there's a suitable girl, it's not bad to settle down. A good girl is one who is willing to suffer with you together. If little uncle really becomes successful, when people come to propose, you won't be able to tell whether they're sincere or not."

  Shen Huan's words were tinged with a few jokes, but they really hit Li's heartstrings. However, considering the family's situation, would any girl be willing to come? Looking at Shen Huan again, Li immediately overturned her own doubts: "It's just that our home is now..."

  "It's none of your business, I've never thought of getting married so early"

  Zhao Xiuli didn't wait for Li to express her opinion, and cut off her words with a stern tone. This was the first time Shen Han had seen him like this - he who usually pitied his mother and respected her, now showed a hint of anger in his expression as he spoke to her, and his tone was obviously one of suppressed rage, not just a little, but the kind that came before an explosion.

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