After seeing the Lv Family off, the Shen Family breathed a sigh of relief.
Even though they didn’t hear what Ah Chen and the Lv Family discussed, the fact that Ah Chen was staying at the Shen Family was good news to them.
Jiang Hongying and Shen Mingqiang exchanged a glance, seemingly saying that winning over Ah Chen ant winning over the Lv Family.
"Xiao Chen, it’s so late. Go take a hot bath and get so sleep. The hot water’s been waiting in the pot just for you." Jiang Hongying approached the door, her face adorned with a smile, like a good mother-in-law.
She thought Ah Chen would surely refuse, suggesting they go first. Ever since Ah Chen had interacted with them, she’d always been considerate, afraid of displeasing them and causing Shen Chi to dislike her.
In Shuifeng Village, water wasn’t scarce, but the family only had one pot for boiling water, enough for just two or three people to bathe, and only one bathing shed. Even if it could fit two people to bathe, with her and Shen Mingqiang, the second son and his wife, and her eldest daughter Shen Ping and her family of three all there, wouldn’t it take a long ti? It would be quite a while before she got a turn at the end.
The day was truly getting late.
Everyone was tired from the day, their bodies sticky with sweat, and they’d been bitten by many mosquitoes while outside. A hot shower would provide so relief.
"Okay, Mom." Ah Chen ca out of the room holding a basket with clean clothes and a towel, "I’m really tired and want to wash up and go to bed."
Originally, hearing Ah Chen call her Mom, Jiang Hongying ought to feel happy.
But the fact that the other party didn’t refuse at all, going to bathe first as if it were natural, made her expression darken.
But Ah Chen had already passed by her, and wouldn’t care even if she saw.
The commissioner said she once felt completely overwheld, even though Shen Chi ran away on their wedding night. She believed the Shen Family’s sweet talk, staying to labor tirelessly for them. Hearing such words often, she genuinely believed one day Shen Chi would return, appreciate her, and they would live happily ever after.
Originally a young girl cherished by the Lv Family, she dove headfirst into the Shen Family, doing everything she should and shouldn’t, wholeheartedly for the Shen Family.
Ten years later, Shen Chi returned.
He disrupted the peace in this ho and caused the commissioner so confusion.
He looked quite disheveled, appearing to have not fared well outside. His slightly weathered face didn’t diminish his handsoness. Perhaps after enduring much outside, seeing the hardworking and gentle commissioner, Shen Chi took her hand and confessed his past mistakes, now realizing her worth.
Despite not being as youthful at eighteen, the commissioner was only twenty-eight, still young. Apart from the coarse hands and skin tanned darker than before, her appearance was still above average.
In that mont of holding the commissioner’s hand, Shen Chi truly intended to live a peaceful life with her.
After being ho for a few days, Shen Chi selectively recounted his experiences. He just ntioned that it was hard to mix outside, with too many deceivers, otherwise he could have achieved sothing.
Upon hearing the news from outside, the commissioner was stirred with excitent, feeling as though she’d touched a new world.
Seeing Shen Chi, unfulfilled and longing for success, now reined in and exceedingly gentle toward her, an idea ford in her heart: she must help Shen Chi achieve his dreams.
With a clear goal, the commissioner took swift action, even borrowing money from her family.
She had so skills and foresight. Within less than five years, the clothing factory she started was thriving, eventually developing its own brand. Of course, the public saw Shen Chi as the face of this brand, as he was always perceived as its owner, while she was rely his support. Later, as online information flourished, she even got involved early on. However, the strain of constant labor and childbirth took a toll, causing her health to decline.
Under the Shen Family’s persuasion and her declining health, she returned to the ho. With Shen Chi now a good husband, she believed life would always be like this, allowing her peace in returning to family duty.
Who could have known i Li would return.
Though ti left its mark on i Li’s face, she appeared care-free, always elegantly dressed, with a soft and gentle deanor that pleased everyone. She could easily twist even bad news into sothing different, charming many n with her ways.
i Li reappeared in front of Shen Chi.
He held resentnt for her involvent with the boss.
But with a few words, i Li made Shen Chi feel sympathetic toward her difficulties back then. After all, she was just an ordinary worker without power, driven by circumstances.
Though Shen Chi and i Li left together, they were never together.
i Li flirted with many n, wisely never crossing any lines, treating them as friends or older brothers, doing the sa with Shen Chi. Shen Chi felt safe going out with her not because of devotion but because of ambition and discontent with wasting his life in a small village. Plus, i Li always told him he was destined for greatness beyond their place.
Many n truly couldn’t resist i Li’s sweet talk.
To be praised by the woman he admired so, Shen Chi, as a young man then, simply couldn’t withstand it. The flattery stirred him, as if he saw his own future success.
Even now at his age, encountering a woman like i Li, he still couldn’t resist.
Shen Chi quickly fell for her; after all, she was his favorite woman, and she had been powerless before. Later, it was said she even searched for him.
Everything was just a misunderstanding between them.
Besides, now that he was successful, what was wrong with having another woman?
He no longer cared if it was a misunderstanding; i Li’s attentiveness around him boosted his ego.
The commissioner soon learned about this; an ordinary woman in her position would naturally argue and couldn’t remain calm, especially since it was i Li, who’d crossed her twice.
The Shen Family advised her, saying n are naturally unfaithful, especially successful ones.
He only found one more, which was better than many others.
The commissioner was driven mad, losing her temper and confronting Shen Chi on various occasions. To outsiders, she appeared like a crazed clown, even making them think Shen Chi’s infidelity was understandable, given his wife’s behavior.
Even the commissioner’s son found her unreasonable, thinking no wonder his dad would seek soone else. He even wished i Li, with her grace and pleasant manner, were his mother.
The commissioner was utterly devastated.
She died from illness, brought on by overwork and anger.
On her deathbed, her mind wasn’t most occupied with her husband or son’s betrayal but with her family. She recalled their disappointed and helpless looks, and their sighs every ti they saw her, unsure of how to bla her.
She also regretted her nieces’ and nephews’ deaths, worsening as she passed.
The commissioner was a kind of person Ah Chen had no interest in praising or criticizing.
Her goal was the mission.
She took a hot bath, washing away the sweat.
Ah Chen went to the well and washed her clothes as well.
She wouldn’t do the Shen Family’s chores, but she had to wash her own clothes.
Watching her actions, Jiang Hongying’s eyes dimd again. She walked over with a smile, saying, "Why not leave them be and wash everything together with the rest of the family later."
"Sumr clothes have too much sweat, can’t leave them."
"Mom, even if the Shen Family owes a lot, I’ll still wash my own clothes." Ah Chen applied soap to her clothes, "These clothes are expensive, washing them together might cause snags. If they get ruined, the Shen Family will owe even more."
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