"Yes, old man, you donât just have two sons now, you have three. Donât worry about the small matter of the house being robbed, my two elder brothers and I will handle it for you. You can just focus on recovering from your illness. Oh... by the way, I forgot to tell you, your wife, the old lady, got scared into illness by you, a serious lung issue, so severe that she canât get out of bed this time."
"Shuqing, whatâs wrong with your mom?" As expected, Chen Haichangâs words made Mr. Mei tense.
Mei Shuqing helplessly glanced at Chen Haichang, signaling him not to speak recklessly.
"Dad, momâs fine, sheâs doing well, you donât have to worry."
The more Mei Shuqing said this, the more Mr. Mei felt something was wrong. He wanted to go and see his wife, but unfortunately, he couldnât get out of bed because of his leg.
"Dad, I assure you, momâs fine, just rest well and try to recover in the next couple of days." Mei Shuqing finished speaking and helplessly glanced at Chen Haichang, who seemed to find opportunities to disrupt the peace of the Mei Family.
After leaving the ward, Mei Shuqing took Chen Haichang to a corner in the hallway and said, "Haichang, can you stop stirring things up recently? No matter their faults, they are blood relatives, after all. You shouldnât push things to mutual destruction."
"Youâre wrong, second brother. In my game against the old man, Iâve always had the upper hand. Whereâs the mutual destruction?" Chen Haichang said indifferently.
"As far as I know, youâre alone now, apart from us, the Chen Family doesnât have many people left, right? If you really want to go against the Mei Family, you could end up being completely isolated. Haichang, youâre still young. Even though Iâm your elder brother, thereâs a generational gap between us. If not for our relation, you and Junzi, Xiao Yi, should be considered in the same generation. I see you get along well with them. You still donât understand the importance of family to a person. Itâs true, during his youth, he was a bastard, made many mistakes, but heâs still my father. How could we just watch him being stooged around by you? If you accept me as your brother, have a peaceful reunion in the Capital City this year. This year is the most complete for our family; everyone is here. In fact, you and Xiao Yi are similar, holding your grievances inside. Compared to Xiao Yi, perhaps you even hold a bit more hatred. But sometimes, life is like this; some things are undeniable no matter how much you wish to escape them, blood ties exist." Mei Shuqing said, patting Chen Haichangâs shoulder, meaningfully advising, "Take your brotherâs advice; if you really anger him to death now, what would others think of you?"
Chen Haichang could feel that this second brother was genuinely considering his well-being, but there were certain things he simply didnât care about. He felt they lived in different worlds and what mattered to him might not matter to others. Therefore, some things could never compromise.
For the sake of the usual kindness shown by the Mei Family, Chen Haichang didnât argue, keeping a cold face as he turned and left.
Leaving Mei Shuqing alone, helplessly shaking his head.
The old man said this was Chen Haichangâs doing, but Mei Shuqing didnât quite agree. If Chen Haichang wanted these things, he would ask the old man outright; he wouldnât use such a clumsy method.
Moreover, last night, Chen Haichang was in the hospital all along during that timeframe.
...
Han Yi and Lin Wan, along with their little family of three, slept till late morning. Han Yi, rarely, got up to make a sumptuous brunch for the two little princesses at home.
Little Starâs throat was uncomfortable, so Han Yi didnât let her eat anything too dry and specially made her some congee.
After eating, the family of three went out to buy groceries, stocking up on tens of kilograms of Chinese cabbage and radishes. At this time in winter, there really arenât many vegetables, but in a few years, when logistics improve, some vegetables from the south will come, and there will be more varieties.
Moreover, itâs not far from New Year, they need to start preparing some New Year goods.
Seeing that Han Yi was rarely here today, they made a phone call to home, and specially called Grandma too.
Grandma was already discharged, her leg had regained sensation but lacked strength, making it hard to sustain even a few steps, so now she stayed in bed most of the time, rarely walking around.
These days, sheâs been living in the old house, mostly looked after by Shen Rong, with her eldest and second aunt, as well as her mother-in-law, taking turns caring for her. This winter passed quite well.
Han Yi specially bought two fish, simmered them into tofu fish soup all afternoon, by three or four in the afternoon, he along with Little Star and Lin Wan went to the hospital.