Chapter 388: Chapter 389: Evil Mother-in-Law Abuses Daughter-in-Law

“The midwife said I was gone, and you didn’t even look? Or do you wish I were dead too?” Huo Chen finished speaking and quietly looked at Zhang Yanlin, his dark eyes gleaming sharply as if he could see right through someone.

He appeared calm, as if unbothered, but only Xu Ying noticed his trembling fingers.

Everyone has a heart; how could they not care about their parents? Huo Chen tried his best to restrain himself from violently attacking this man.

Thinking of what his uncles had said, he was infuriated by the suffering he had endured over the years and his mother’s grievances.

Zhang Yanlin was sweating profusely with anxiety, his mouth moving but unable to find a retort.

Zhang Yuhua stood by, silent as if enjoying the drama, hoping it would escalate to make her husband hate Huo Chen, so she wouldn’t need to worry about the inheritance being divided by this boy.

Xu Ying pulled at the man beside her and winked at him before quickly speaking up, “Huo Chen, what are you doing? Your return is a joyful occasion, Dad is surely happy. Why say things that hurt Dad? Perhaps he was influenced by others.”

The more selfish a person is, the more desperate they become when everything falls apart. If the death of the mother-in-law and the offenses suffered by the man were caused by Zhang Yanlin and Zhang Yuhua, then it would be most interesting to watch these two turn against each other and meet their demise in mutual destruction.

Her words indeed caused a drastic change in Zhang Yuhua’s expression.

Just as she was about to explode, Zhang Yanlin with a face full of remorse said, “Yes, son, I was wrapped up in work at the time; when I returned, both your mother and you were gone. I was immersed in the sorrow of losing your mom, inevitably neglecting you. I’m sorry.”

He tried hard to resemble a man deeply in love.

“Don’t act rashly; we still need to thoroughly investigate your mother’s death and your situation,” Xu Ying said, holding Huo Chen’s hand and trying to gently envelop his large hand to soothe him.

Huo Chen calmed himself, his eyes tinged with red. Zhang Yanlin thought he was touched by his words, and felt a surge of joy, then turned to his wife and instructed, “What are you standing around for? My son has finally come back. Hurry up and make some food. I want to have a good meal with my son.”

Zhang Yuhua felt stifled with anger, make food, what a joke.

She looked at Xu Ying with a forced smile, “That must be Xu Ying, right? I’ve heard that you’re an exceptional cook, and I’m not really good at cooking. How about you cook today? Let everyone taste your culinary skills.”

“Auntie, even though I’m not your biological son’s wife, I am still a daughter-in-law of this family. And now, I’m heavily pregnant, about to give birth, yet you still ask me to cook. It seems people are right, a mother-in-law who is not biological really does mistreat her daughter-in-law,” Xu Ying said, her voice filled with grievance as she deliberately raised her voice.

The residents near the Zhang Family compound–they were all families of different factories–heard that the daughter-in-law of the Zhang Family had returned, and not being a biological one, they all widened their eyes and pricked up their ears to listen intently.

This was big news; back in the day, Zhang Yanlin, a poor scholar, had been helped by a wealthy family, and leapt from dragon’s gate to become a phoenix; it was indeed a fine story.

Later, the Zhou Family faced disaster, and Zhou Yuelian died shortly after due to a difficult childbirth, unable to hold onto her child.

Zhang Yanlin returned to his hometown, and one and a half years later, he brought back a child, claiming it was his newly wed wife’s, but sharp-eyed people noticed the child was already too old.

They guessed that the woman must have been pregnant during Zhou Yuelian’s time, and though rumors spread, Zhang Yanlin did not acknowledge it, so everyone just took it as idle gossip.

“Is that Zhou Yuelian’s son?” an old lady curiously asked, craning her neck.

“Who knows? At that time the child died during childbirth but now has come back to life.”

“Looking at his features, he resembles Yue Lian greatly; probably is his real mother’s child, or else the Zhang Family wouldn’t have taken him back.

“But the midwife had said that the child was already gone, hadn’t she? Didn’t Yanlin even go to see the child?”

“Who knows, perhaps he was too heartbroken to notice.”

“However, what Zhang Yuhua did was really unscrupulous, letting the new wife cook during her first visit to meet the family while she was pregnant.”

“Exactly, no mother-in-law should make a newly arrived daughter-in-law cook.

It really seems she treats her non-biologically like an absolute servant, I never realized Yuhua could be so heartless before.”

Zhang Yuhua listened to the outside chatter, her face turning red with anger, flushed and neck thickening.

Zhang Yanlin glared at his wife and scolded fiercely, “How could you be so lazy? Eldest son’s wife is pregnant; look at how big her belly is, how could she cook?”

Zhang Yuhua, already furious, was further frustrated by her husband’s shouting and coldly said to Xu Ying, “I really underestimated you.”

Xu Ying, looking aggrieved with tears welling in her eyes, pleaded pitifully, “Auntie, I’m already five months pregnant, carrying twins no less, I really can’t cook.

If I could, I definitely wouldn’t bother you, especially since you’re older and might not find it as easy to move around as we do.”

Zhang Yuhua’s eyes widened, before she could speak,

The neighboring old ladies couldn’t stand watching, “Yuhua, you’re so able-bodied, when others aren’t here, aren’t you the one who cooks?

Why can’t you cook when they arrive, and insist on making them work?”

“Just so, if Yue Lian were here, and her daughter-in-law was pregnant, she definitely wouldn’t let her work according to her nature.”

Sighing upon thinking about Yue Lian, a few old ladies sighed, “Yue Lian was such a good, gentle, and virtuous woman, how unfortunate that she passed away too early.

Such a kind person, why doesn’t heaven open its eyes?”

Zhang Yuhua furrowed her brows tightly upon hearing these praises of Zhou Yuelian, wondering why, even in death, they had to oppose her.

Zhang Yanlin could no longer bear the shame and spoke angrily to Zhang Yuhua, “Go and cook.

Yingying, follow Zhang Chen and me inside to have a chat.”

He stood up and went into the yard, followed closely by Huo Chen and Xu Ying.

Zhang Zhiguo glanced at his mother, commenting awkwardly, “Mom, Eldest Brother’s wife is pregnant, it indeed makes it hard for her to do anything, you shouldn’t make things difficult for her.”

Zhang Yuhua was so angry she nearly vomited blood, truly her dear eldest son.

“Zhiguo, do you also think what mom did was wrong? Your elder brother and his wife clearly came back for the inheritance.

Do you want to just watch as your elder brother takes all of our family’s wealth?

Didn’t you see the hostility between your elder brother and his wife earlier? If you don’t understand mom, then what is the point of me even being alive?”

Zhang Yuhua started to cry.

Zhang Zhiguo immediately grew anxious, “Mom, that’s not what I meant. Did the house really come from Elder Brother’s mother’s money?

If that’s the case, it would be fine to give the house to Elder Brother and his wife, and later I’ll work hard to earn money and buy you and dad a bigger house.”

Anyway, taking something from others made him feel uncomfortable and his pride wouldn’t allow it.

Upon hearing her son’s words, Zhang Yuhua showed a look of fierce disappointment, exasperated, “How could the house belong to his mom? His mom and your dad got married and worked together to earn money, that money is marital property.”