Chapter 82: Shen Lan is Demoted

It was afternoon when Jiang Cheng woke up.

Outside the guest room window was the garden; through the glass, he could see Si Rong playing with a young girl, who, judging by her age, must be her niece.

Seeing this scene, he suddenly remembered something important.

Before coming to the Si Family, his parents had specifically instructed him.

As a new son-in-law visiting for the first time, it was customary to give red envelopes to the younger generation of the bride's family.

He had prepared them in advance and placed them in the inner pocket of his overcoat, but he had forgotten them today due to nervousness.

The Si Family currently had three younger members; the eldest brother Si Yan had a son, Si Ming.

The second brother Si Han had one son, Si Zhe, and one daughter, Si Yue.

Jiang Cheng got up and saw his overcoat hanging on the coat rack.

He recalled what happened before he got drunk, though some things were a bit hazy.

Could it be that Si Rong helped him take off his coat?

A sense of sweetness welled up in Jiang Cheng's heart.

Once they were married, their behavior would be even more intimate.

Si Han, who had helped him take off his coat, sneezed at that moment.

Jiang Cheng walked all the way to the garden and saw Si Rong weaving a flower wreath; she and her niece were each wearing a rose wreath on their heads.

She was as beautiful as a fairy.

"You're awake?" Seeing him, Si Rong took the wreath off her head with some embarrassment, then smoothed her hair, "Does your head hurt?"

Jiang Cheng shook his head.

He took a red envelope out of his pocket and handed it to Si Yue, "Si Yue, right? This is a red envelope for you."

Si Yue took the red envelope and said politely, "Thank you."

She glanced at Si Rong, "Thank you, little aunt-in-law!"

Jiang Cheng was struck by this form of address; he hadn't thought much of it before, but at this moment, he felt the title "little aunt-in-law" sounded wonderful.

It sounded extremely pleasant.

He wanted to hear it again.

So Jiang Cheng asked Si Rong, "Where are the other two nephews?"

"They are in high school and are at school at noon."

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and handed the other two red envelopes to Si Yue as well, "Yueyue, could you help me pass these red envelopes to your two brothers later?"

"Okay, thank you, little aunt-in-law!"

Yueyue whispered in Si Rong's ear, "I like this little aunt-in-law!"

And this little aunt-in-law was much more handsome than the previous bad uncle-in-law.

"Little aunt-in-law, do you know how to play cards?"

Si Yue loved playing cards and would look for people to play with whenever she was free.

"I do," Jiang Cheng nodded.

Thus, the three of them began to play Fight the Landlord in the garden.

The atmosphere was warm and lively.

But at this moment, the Shen household was the exact opposite.

"What exactly are you busy with every day? The teacher even called the school! Saying the child has a stomachache."

Shen Lan started losing his temper at Li Xuan the moment he got home.

Clothes were piled up in a mess on the sofa.

Overnight dishes were stacked in the kitchen sink; all of this made him angry.

Li Xuan felt that his temper was getting worse and worse.

It was clear that she rarely saw him lose his temper at Si Rong before.

Last time he slapped her without even an explanation, and now he was actually questioning her like this.

She had just finished that surgery and felt some pain now; she guessed it was the rejection reaction the doctor had mentioned.

The doctor suspected some inflammation, so she had gone for an IV drip.

"I, I went out for something!"

Shen Yuan sat on the sofa with her head down.

Li Xuan walked over and sat beside her, "Xiao Yuan, why did your stomach suddenly hurt? Did you eat something wrong?"

"You're asking now?" Shen Yuan said sarcastically, "If the teacher hadn't called, I'm afraid you wouldn't even know if I had died."

Sometimes she really wondered, was she truly this woman's biological daughter?

"Everything is fine, why talk about dying," Li Xuan always felt a sense of debt toward her, "Let's go! Mom will take you to see a doctor!"

She reached out to Shen Lan, "Give me some money."

"Didn't you, that spendthrift woman, take the few hundred I had last time? And you want more!"

Shen Lan was completely fed up.

In the end, for the sake of the child, he gave the few dozen yuan he had left to Li Xuan.

Before the two of them could leave, the door was pushed open from the outside again.

Shen Yun ran in crying.

"Brother! You must stand up for me! Yang Junwei is really not a good thing; he's actually seeing another woman outside!"

They had only been married for a few months.

How could Jun Wei treat her like this?

Shen Lan felt even more annoyed upon hearing this; he had already been demoted.

He had received the demotion appointment from the city this morning.

To his surprise, he had been demoted directly to Bureau Chief of the Health Commission.

It was a deputy division-level position; although it was the same rank as a Deputy County Magistrate, it was a sinecure.

He was responsible for basic healthcare work.

What kind of future could there be in that?

It simply infuriated him.

Yang Junwei, who used to always fawn over him when they met, hadn't even called him "brother" these past two days.

It was obvious he looked down on him.

So he had already wronged his little sister.

But now, what could he do?

Rubbing his temples, he said perfunctorily, "Which man doesn't make mistakes? As long as he knows to come home, that's enough."

Shen Yun felt these words were somewhat familiar, and she quickly remembered that when her eldest brother was going through a divorce with Si Rong, she had persuaded Si Rong in exactly this way.

It was just that at the time, she never would have imagined the same thing would happen to her.

That was why she had persuaded Si Rong like that.

But now that her brother was persuading her this way, she found it extremely grating to hear.

What did he mean by "as long as he knows to come home"?

This was betrayal!

Just thinking about Jun Wei holding another woman and doing the things they had done together made her want to take a knife and stab them both to death!

"You are my brother!" Shen Yun grabbed Shen Lan, "You have to help me! Beat some sense into Yang Junwei! Brother, you are his direct superior; he wouldn't dare disobey you!"

Shen Lan frowned.

Beat him?

How could his current body be a match for the young and strong Yang Junwei?

Li Xuan immediately tugged at Shen Lan's sleeve, "No! Your brother holds an important government position, how can he go around hitting people? Besides, we still have to go see a doctor for Xiao Yuan!"

"You still have the nerve to speak?" Shen Yun found Li Xuan extremely unpleasant to look at right now, "If it weren't for the good work you did, would Si Rong have divorced my brother? Would Jun Wei have wronged me?"

Shen Yun had a feeling in her heart that if the Si Family were still their backing, Jun Wei definitely wouldn't treat her this way.

"Besides, what kind of serious illness does Xiao Yuan have that it must be seen right this instant!"

The sister-in-law and sister began to bicker.

Shen Yuan ran off without a word.

Shen Lan also went out to drown his sorrows, but he ran into an old friend who, after hearing about his frustrations at work, gave him an idea.

He said that a big shot would be coming to Jin Lai Fu tomorrow at noon, and if he could gain that person's favor, his future would surely be very bright.

Shen Lan immediately cast all the trivial matters at home to the back of his mind, and the next day, he put on his once-dashing suit and headed to Jin Lai Fu.

All the way to the top floor of Jin Lai Fu, he kept the characteristics of the big shot his friend had mentioned in his mind.

However, before Shen Lan could see that big shot, he first saw someone familiar.

Jiang Cheng?

Why would he be here?

He followed involuntarily, and at the entrance of the private room, he saw Si Rong, as well as the Si Family parents, the second brother, and Jiang Yu, with people who looked like the Jiang Family by their side.

What were these two families doing together?

Although he already had a conclusion in his heart, Shen Lan was still unwilling to believe it.

Shen Lan pressed his ear against the door, listening intently, wanting to confirm his guess.

It couldn't be; they wouldn't be getting married, they must just happen to be eating together.