Chapter 76

As soon as this question was posed, the gazes of Chen Zijin and Chen Zitong turned in unison toward Chen Xiaomi.

At this moment, Chen Xiaomi was in a difficult spot, not knowing how to answer this question.

It had been half a month since she returned from Shaodong County, and during this period, she had been struggling with this issue, constantly fighting an internal battle over it.

Originally, her views were basically the same as her sister-in-law's and her two older sisters: they had looked down on Li Heng and the Li family in every possible way, holding them in utter contempt.

They had even once believed that Li Heng was devious and had used sweet talk to trick Zijin into bed, and that aside from coveting Zijin's beauty, his underlying motive was likely to latch onto the Chen family's powerful influence.

It was no surprise they held such thoughts. Ever since the Chen family's resurgence and the rehabilitation of the Master and the eldest brother, they had been swarmed by people trying to curry favor, show loyalty, or pull strings through backdoors. They saw it every single day, and they were sick to death of it.

This led them to habitually suspect the motives of anyone who took the initiative to get close to them.

Of course, their dislike for Li Heng mainly stemmed from three points:

First, Zijin hadn't even graduated from high school yet.

In this era where thinking leaned toward the conservative, Li Heng's actions directly crossed their red line.

Furthermore, the third generation of the Chen family's direct line only had two daughters, and now that one had been "ruined" like this, it had touched the Chen family's reverse scale and incited their collective wrath.

Therefore, the entire Chen family, from top to bottom, felt a deep aversion toward Li Heng.

The second reason was the influence of traditional concepts. Now that the Chen family was prosperous—or as the villagers put it, had "soared to the heavens"—when looking for partners for their children, they naturally hoped for someone of equal social standing.

But looking at the poverty-stricken state of the Li family, how were they any different from an ordinary rural family? They simply couldn't catch the Chen family's eye.

The third point went without saying: the rumors and gossip throughout the region were so ugly that they forced the Chen family to temporarily abandon their hometown and move to Jingcheng together.

With all these factors accumulated, the Chen family could be said to have hated Li Heng to the core.

However, things were now somewhat different following Li Heng's sudden rise to fame, forcing them to make corresponding changes.

At the very least, Chen Xiaomi had been agonizing over this for half a month, with a war raging in her mind for half a month.

She had thought about telling her family, but, but—she herself had been just like her sister-in-law, the one who looked down on Li Heng the most.

How could she open her mouth to say it?

How could she possibly open her mouth?

Imagine the scene: if she were to stand before the whole family and eloquently tell them herself: "Li Heng is so amazing now, the *Living* he wrote is so favored by literary giants, he's so incredible! His potential is limitless, and his future is promising."

Wouldn't that be a slap in her own face?

It would imply that she had been blind before; the more she looked down on Li Heng in the past, the more formidable he was now. Wouldn't that make her look like a clown?

For Chen Xiaomi, who had always been self-important and prided herself on being above others, this was especially painful and unacceptable.

She would rather Li Heng beat her up and rub her face in the dirt than go out and proclaim Li Heng's heaven-defying talent.

The contrast between then and now was simply too great!

It was truly too painful!

Thus, she kept dragging it out, deceiving herself and others.

But now, ha! As soon as her sister-in-law spoke up, she knew she couldn't drag it out any longer.

Because as public opinion fermented outside, paper could never wrap up fire; sooner or later, it would reach the ears of the Chen family, and reach Zijin's ears.

What's more, there was still Li Heng in Shaodong County; he was a ticking time bomb that was extremely difficult to deal with. If things went wrong, he might appear on the news media one day and drop a bombshell on her!

She had already fully experienced the sharp tongue of that bastard Li Heng back in Shaodong County, and she felt inferior to him.

Just as Chen Xiaomi was making her final struggle, Chen Zitong, who had grown impatient, asked: "Little Aunt, what does that writer look like? Is he an old man, or a gentle, elegant middle-aged uncle? If only he were a tall, handsome young man, maybe I could get to know him later."

Ignoring her little niece's words, Chen Xiaomi took a deep breath, stood up, and said to her sister-in-law, who was looking at her: "Sister-in-law, come with me for a moment. I have something to tell you."

She had to say it!

If she didn't, that bastard Li Heng would come to the house with thunderous momentum to snatch the person away, and it would be even harder to clean up the mess then.

Sooner or later, she couldn't avoid it, so it was better to have some psychological preparation early.

Of course, she couldn't open her mouth in front of Zijin; she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Zhong Lan followed her into the bedroom, confused, and as soon as the door closed, she asked:

"Xiaomi, what's wrong? What do you need to tell me?"

Chen Xiaomi turned around, staring fixedly at her sister-in-law, who was only a meter away, and it was a long while before she spoke:

"Don't you want to know who the writer who wrote *Living* is?"

Zhong Lan was stunned and asked subconsciously: "Is there some secret about that writer? Why do we have to talk about it here?"

Chen Xiaomi nodded and asked: "Sister-in-law, are you still angry?"

Zhong Lan didn't know what medicine this sister-in-law was selling in her gourd today. "Angry at whom? Zijin?"

Chen Xiaomi said: "Li Heng."

Unable to stand hearing that name, Zhong Lan exploded the moment she heard it, her face instantly darkening. "Why bring up that little thing? I wish I could skin him alive."

Chen Xiaomi gave a bitter smile. "But he is the writer who wrote *Living*."

"What? What did you say?"

"Li Heng is the writer."

Zhong Lan's heart shook violently. Thinking she had misheard, her voice became sharp as she asked: "Who did you say?"

Chen Xiaomi said: "Li Heng."

Zhong Lan couldn't believe it, her eyes widening until they almost reached her forehead. "Li Heng is the writer? The writer who wrote *Living*?"

Chen Xiaomi nodded heavily. "It's him. I saw it with my own eyes."

*Buzz, buzz, buzz. *

Zhong Lan's mind was now a blank, with only a buzzing sound playing tricks on her.

Seeing the rich and varied expressions on her sister-in-law's face, which were truly comparable to watching a Sichuan opera face-changing performance, Chen Xiaomi discovered for the first time that she was actually a bad seed, and she felt a perverse sense of satisfaction.

She had been suffering for half a month, and now that her sister-in-law was suffering with her, she felt much better, and her mood became a bit more pleasant.

Anyway, I'm not the only one who was blind, and I'm not the only one who was bossy and went from bad to worse toward Li Heng. If we're going to be uncomfortable, we'll all be uncomfortable together.

Suddenly, she felt a bit of regret. If she had known it would be like this, she would have told her sister-in-law sooner.

Her complexion went from red to white, from white to iron-blue, and then back to pale; Zhong Lan felt as if she had been on a roller coaster.

After a long, long time, she asked in a deep voice: "Is it really Li Heng?"

Chen Xiaomi said earnestly: "Although I don't want to admit it, there's no mistake."

Zhong Lan fell silent again, plopping down on the edge of her sister-in-law's bed, her eyes losing focus, and she was stunned, unable to say a word.

Chen Xiaomi sat down beside her, and after waiting for her sister-in-law to digest it for a while, she said: "The phone was smashed for nothing. Should I call someone to reinstall one?"

Although she was talking about the phone, she was actually using the phone to refer to the person, to Zijin, with the goal of testing her sister-in-law's change in attitude toward Li Heng.

Zhong Lan answered irrelevantly, sighing deeply: "Xiaomi, I can't accept this."

Chen Xiaomi empathized: "I still can't accept it even now."

Zhong Lan was completely baffled: "He's only just over 17."

Chen Xiaomi said: "He's still a month away from 18."

Zhong Lan muttered to herself: "How can he be so capable... I still can't accept it."

Chen Xiaomi said: "It doesn't matter if you can't accept it; let's install the phone first."

Zhong Lan slowly turned her head, staring at her sister-in-law.

Chen Xiaomi said helplessly: "You've only just heard it and can't stand it; I've been suffering for half a month. You have to install this phone whether you want to or not. What if there's an emergency outside and they need to find the Master or the eldest brother?"

Zhong Lan was so angry she frowned: "Don't talk to me about the phone. I just want to know, that guy Li Heng..."

Chen Xiaomi corrected her: "That little thing."

Zhong Lan opened her mouth, took a deep breath: "Have you read *Living*? Is it really that good? Is it worth the Master putting in so much effort?"

Chen Xiaomi pondered for a moment, feeling very regretful: "I, including everyone in our editorial department and Uncle Zhou, the editor-in-chief, had the first reaction of being stunned when we finished reading *Living*."

"The second reaction was soul resonance."

I knew at the time that this was a rare, once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece, a work that could help my career reach a new level.

Unfortunately, even though I gambled my dignity, I still couldn't obtain it."

This "gambling my dignity" naturally refers to her swallowing her pride in Shaoshi.

At this point, Chen Xiaomi paused and continued, "It's truly excellent; no matter how much I praise it, it wouldn't be an exaggeration. Sister-in-law, you should go see it for yourself, and then you'll understand. Once you've seen it, we can decide how to discuss the next step."

Zhong Lan hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is it on sale outside?"

Chen Xiaomi said, "Yes, it hit the market in the capital this morning."

Zhong Lan hesitated for a long time again, and finally asked, "What are your thoughts?"

Chen Xiaomi repeated the same thing: "Install the phone first."

Zhong Lan's gaze drifted outside the window, "Then wouldn't I be admitting defeat to her?"

Chen Xiaomi said, "Sister-in-law, why haven't you figured it out yet? Whether you admit defeat or not, Zijin will still run off with that bastard.

There's a huge difference between installing the phone now and installing it later. Zijin is so smart; she's not easy to fool."

Zhong Lan weighed the situation for a while, stood up, and said, "I'm going to buy dinner ingredients; the phone matter has nothing to do with me."

Chen Xiaomi reminded her from behind, "Sister-in-law, 'Living' is on sale at the newsstand."

This "sister-in-law" wasn't loud, but it was particularly grating. Zhong Lan stumbled upon hearing it and almost fell, but fortunately, she was quick-witted enough to grab the door frame and slowly walked out.

The two sisters-in-law conspired for a while, then left the courtyard one after the other with expressionless faces, leaving the two Chen sisters completely bewildered.

Chen Laoyezi Chen glanced at the backs of his daughter-in-law and youngest daughter, said nothing, and continued to immerse himself in the story in the book.

Chen Zitong was young and lively, the least patient of them all, so she reached out and shook Chen Laoyezi Chen:

"Grandpa, what are Mom and Aunt up to?"

Chen Laoyezi Chen was enjoying his book and didn't want to be bothered at first, but he couldn't resist his little granddaughter's constant pestering, so he finally said meaningfully:

"Your mom and your aunt are dividing the pot."

Chen Zitong asked, "Dividing what pot?"

Chen Laoyezi Chen glanced at her, "Clean up the broken phone, and then pour your grandpa another cup of tea."

Then he added: "Also, heat up a cup of milk for your sister and peel an apple."

"Huh?"

Chen Zitong was dumbfounded: "Grandpa, aren't you being too biased? My sister is only a year and a half older than me; am I supposed to serve her like a maid?"

Chen Laoyezi Chen pried her hands away, "Go on, listen to Grandpa, you won't go wrong."

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(End of chapter)