Chapter 390: Chapter 391 Xu Ying Being Disrespectful to Her Mother-in-law

Zhang Yuhua’s displeasure surged upon observing Qu Huimin’s attitude.

She hadn’t yet scorned Qu Huimin for her lack of manners and disrespect for elders, yet the girl had the audacity to act so haughty.

Moreover, their family’s circumstances had changed, and with Zhou Yuelian’s son’s return, it signified that the Zhou Family and the Zhang Family would maintain their connections.

Though the Zhou Family wasn’t as wealthy as before, over the years they had helped many people; any one connection they held was beyond what the Qu Family could match.

“Please, sit inside,” Zhang Yuhua said, her tone noticeably cooler.

Sun Yan was somewhat displeased, but now that Zhang Wu’s family no longer recognized that marriage, and Zhang Yanlin’s family was on the rise, she felt compelled to ingratiate herself regardless of her reluctance.

Entering the room and seeing two new faces, she feigned ignorance, “Why does this young man look so familiar to me?”

“Xu Ying, Huo Chen, what are you doing here?” Qu Huimin was completely surprised upon seeing them.

“You know each other?” Zhang Yanlin asked doubtfully, then stood up to introduce them, “This is my eldest son and wife, the child that Yue Lian gave birth to.

Who knew that the midwife made a mistake, telling me he was dead, which led to my son suffering so much.”

Sun Yan’s smile was unfathomable, but she had no interest in watching his performance; she knew full well what had happened back then.

However, the fact that her own daughter knew these two was perplexing.

Qu Huimin was utterly shocked; Huo Chen was the son of the Zhang Family, the grandson of the Zhou Family?

She felt as though her world had been turned upside down, struggling to accept it all at once.

The country bumpkin she looked down upon had transformed into someone from a family her mother wanted to connect with. Looking at Xu Ying’s beautiful face across the table, she wished she could scratch it to pieces.

If it weren’t for her, she wouldn’t have been forced to transfer schools.

“Mm, classmates,” Qu Huimin’s voice was as tiny as a mosquito’s.

Once she spoke, Sun Yan’s expression changed over and over again.

Zhang Yuhua was full of surprise, “Yingying is also attending university at Qinghua?”

Xu Ying nodded and made an affirmative sound.

Zhang Yanlin looked at his daughter-in-law with approval, “I heard that in your county you are quite famous.

The performance of both factories improved thanks to you, and Director Yang even wanted you to work directly at the Foreign Affairs Office. Why didn’t you go?”

Everyone in the room turned to look at Xu Ying.

To be able to work at the Foreign Affairs Office was a position countless people couldn’t get even if they tried, and yet this girl was unwilling to take it.

“I prefer freedom, and I miss my hometown, so that job isn’t right for me.” Xu Ying wore a faint smile, turning her head to look at Qu Huimin, her bright eyes twinkling with amusement, “Qu Huimin, I didn’t expect us to be so fated.”

Being stared at like this by Xu Ying made Qu Huimin feel a bit panicky; she tugged on her mother’s sleeve, “This woman is the one who seduced Zhang Wu.

I suspect that my being reported was also because of her.”

Looking at Xu Ying, she was filled with anger.

Upon hearing her daughter’s words, Sun Yan’s face immediately took on a displeased look, and her attitude towards Xu Ying turned sour.

“You really do whatever you please. That job at the Foreign Affairs Office is something countless others can’t beg for, and you don’t even want it.

It’s truly a case of ‘the sated man doesn’t understand the starving man’s hunger,’ it makes one envious.

But girl, now that you have returned, you cannot act as willfully as you did back in the countryside.”

“Yuhua is still your mother-in-law, isn’t it your duty as a daughter-in-law to be respectful and show filial piety to your mother-in-law? Just now, I saw Yuhua bustling about in the kitchen all by herself while you, as the daughter-in-law, are here enjoying yourself, which really isn’t right.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuhua could finally puff out her chest in triumph. She glared fiercely at Xu Ying and then quickly put on an air of magnanimity, “Yanzi, don’t keep on about it, Yingying is pregnant after all!”

Sun Yan was unconvinced and curled her lips, “So what if she’s pregnant? Back in our hometown, women were still working in the fields when they were about to give birth. Your daughter-in-law is from the countryside, too. What’s wrong with cooking? She’s been in the city for just a few days and already thinks she’s a city dweller.”

Xu Ying sat in her chair, watching the exchange between the two with great interest.

When they had finished speaking, she slightly parted her lips and said with a smile, “Auntie, is there something wrong with your brain? My mother-in-law is lying under the ground, and she’s never complained about me. Where do you get off criticizing me?”

Sun Yan was so angry her face turned beet red, this wench had the nerve to insult her, “How can you speak like that, isn’t your mother-in-law right here in front of you?”

“Not at all, she didn’t give birth to my husband; how can she count as a mother-in-law?” Xu Ying’s eyes were filled with disdain.

Zhang Yuhua’s face went from pale to flushed as she tried to laugh it off, “Yingying is right, I didn’t give birth to Huo Chen, so I can’t really be considered her mother-in-law.”

She said this, looking aggrievedly at Zhang Yanlin, her face full of accusation.

Zhang Yanlin was deeply pained and coughed before looking dissatisfiedly at Xu Ying, “Yingying, what you’ve said is not right. Although Yuhua didn’t give birth to the eldest son, she married into our family as my wife. By that relationship, she naturally should be counted as your mother-in-law.”

“My mother is beneath the earth, and the only mother-in-law for my wife is that one. Who decided that a daughter-in-law should cook for her mother-in-law? Is it the family tradition of the Zhangs that daughters-in-law should serve their mothers-in-law?” Huo Chen was furious.

Xu Ying was even more aggrieved, her voice quavering as she pulled her husband up and huffily left the room, stepping outside with tears streaming down her face.

The aunties outside were chatting when they saw a young wife from the Zhang Family rush out, crying pitifully, making them quite curious, “Girl, what’s the matter?”

The aunt finished speaking and upon seeing Huo Chen’s face, she was even more surprised, “You must be Yue Lian’s son, the resemblance is striking. This is your wife, what’s happened? Tell auntie, and I will stand up for you.” The speaking aunt’s face was stern; she had been good friends with Zhou Yuelian when she was younger. She felt such a tender and gentle girl had passed away too soon and had always regretted it.

Later on, when Zhang Yanlin remarried quickly, she scorned him even more.

“That’s right, girl, just speak up; we’ll support you,” several others echoed, many not holding a good opinion of Zhang Yanlin’s Chen Shimei-like behavior.

Xu Ying dabbed at her tears, “I’m pregnant and it’s my first day visiting, and my mother-in-law and her friend accuse me of disrespecting my elders and being unfilial because I didn’t cook in the kitchen. But my real mother-in-law is beneath the ground. Even if I wanted to show filial piety, it should be to my husband’s birth mother. This woman hasn’t done anything, she’s not my own mother, so why should I respect her as one? Before I came here, didn’t the Zhang Family cook for themselves, or were they just waiting to have a daughter-in-law to do it? Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t; I’m too pregnant. I’ve never seen such mistreatment of a daughter-in-law before in my life.”

Zhang Yanlin came out just in time to hear Xu Ying airing her grievances, and his old face turned extremely dark.

The aunties, seeing Zhang Yanlin’s disdain, said, “Zhang Yanlin, you’re really something, expecting Yue Lian’s daughter-in-law to wait on Zhang Yuhua, that shameless mistress. Aren’t you afraid Yue Lian will be so angry she’ll climb out of her grave to settle the score with you?”

“I’ve heard of daughters-in-law showing filial piety to their mothers-in-law, but never to their stepmothers.”

“Exactly, with no blood or birth bond, how can she be so shameless as to demand respect? If Yue Lian were here, seeing her daughter-in-law pregnant and struggling, she wouldn’t ask her to cook. She’d probably be spoiling her daughter-in-law, eager to cook her something delicious.”