“Li Yan, if the kids want to stay, let them stay.” Wan Jiayin spoke up: “Xiaoxin and Xiaohui haven’t stayed with us in a long time.”
“Mom, it’s not that I don’t want them to stay. They still have homework to finish.”
“Yue Youxin, if you want to slack off, fine—but don’t drag Xiaohui into it! Stay by yourself if you want.”
Li Yan shot Yue Youxin a glare and reached out to Yue Youhui: “Xiaohui, be good. Come home with Mom.”
Since Yue Youhui had better grades than Yue Youxin, Li Yan favored him more—but also pushed him harder. Even after finishing homework, she made him do extra Olympiad math problems.
“Mom, I don’t want to go back.” Yue Youhui tightened his grip on Yue Youxin’s hand. “I want to stay at Grandma’s with Xiaoxin.”
“Xiaohui!”
Li Yan’s face darkened as she stepped forward to pull him. “No, you’re coming home with me!”
“They’re just staying one day. How much harm could it do?” Yue Mingde held Li Yan back. “Tomorrow, they’re going to their uncle’s place to play anyway. Why is it fine there but not here?”
“You always complain that my family doesn’t treat Xiaoxin and Xiaohui well. But how can they, if they never even see them?”
“What nonsense are you spouting? When did I ever say that?”
Li Yan smacked Yue Mingde’s arm, then flusteredly glanced at Yue Guohuai and Wan Jiayin. “Dad, Mom, don’t listen to him. I’ve never said such things!”
“Mom, you did. Xiaohui and I both heard you.” Yue Youxin exposed her. “You always say Grandpa and Grandma favor Second Uncle and Third Uncle, that they don’t treat Dad well or give him a good job. You even said Dad isn’t their real son.”
“That day after we left the hospital, you called Third Aunt a vixen and Yaya a little monster. You told us not to play with Yaya, only with Tingting.”
Yue Youxin scrunched his nose. “I hate playing with Tingting. She cries all the time and lies. She drives me crazy.”
“Yue Youxin, shut your mouth!” Li Yan trembled with rage.
This child was her punishment in life!
“No!”
Defiance flared in Yue Youxin. He pointed at Yue Minghui and Meng Fang. “You also badmouthed Aunt Minghui and Second Aunt. You called Aunt Minghui a troublemaker and Second Aunt a barren hen.”
Yue Minghui took it calmly—she’d guessed Li Yan talked behind her back. But Meng Fang couldn’t bear it. Li Yan had struck a nerve.
She and Yue Mingli had been married for five years but still had no children. They’d both been checked—nothing was wrong. Though Yue Mingli and her in-laws never pressured her, she blamed herself.
“Dad, Mom, I’m going upstairs.” Meng Fang stood, eyes red, and shot Li Yan a glare before hurrying away.
“Eldest Sister-in-law, you’ve really outdone yourself!” Yue Mingli scowled at Li Yan, then rushed after Meng Fang.
“Yue Youxin, look what you’ve done!”
Spotting a sword hanging on the wall, Li Yan grabbed it and raised it at Yue Youxin. “I’ll beat the nonsense out of you today!”
“Enough!” Yue Mingde intercepted her, wrenching the sword away. “If you hadn’t said those things, how would the kids know them?”
In the struggle, Li Yan fell. She glared at Yue Mingde. “You pushed me! How dare you lay hands on me!”
Yue Mingde ignored her, rehanging the sword. Ashamed, he turned to Yue Guohuai and Wan Jiayin. “Dad, Mom, I’m heading home.”
To the others, he added, “Xiaohui, Xiaoyuan, Zhiqiu—sorry about this. Please apologize to Mingli and Meng Fang for me.”
Then, to the boys: “Xiaoxin, Xiaohui, behave at Grandma’s. No mischief.”
Without another glance at Li Yan, he left.
He’d tolerated much to avoid fights and scaring the kids. But Li Yan had grown worse—not just in how she raised them, but in keeping them from his parents while dragging them to her family’s home.
And her family treated the boys poorly, bossing them around or playing favorites.
What Yue Youxin revealed was just the tip of the iceberg.
Li Yan accused his parents of bias, yet never questioned how her family treated their sons. Worse, she doted on her nephew over her own kids.
Today forced Yue Mingde to face the cracks in his marriage.
