Whether shoes fit or not, whether your heart aches or not, only you yourself can truly know. Qi Fenglian, seeing her sister-in-law who was also a woman, ultimately couldn’t hold back her compassion and started to cry.
"Oh, don’t cry. Stop crying. If our mother comes back and sees this, she’ll definitely blame me for making you cry." Seeing her cry, Cheng Su quickly tried to comfort her: "Mother already dislikes me enough as it is, and if she sees you crying, she might even say that I bullied you!"
Qi Fenglian was feeling utterly dejected, but at Cheng Su’s words, she let out a laugh through her tears, crying and laughing at the same time.
Cheng Su let out a sigh and ordered Qi Fengping, "Hey girl, go fetch some hot water and bring a towel for your elder sister to wipe her face."
Qi Fengping was busy cleaning her fingernails, and upon hearing this, she glared in protest: "Why should I have to do it!"
"If you don’t go, I’ll tell your mother-in-law. I’ll say that you took your elder sister outside, which made her upset!" Cheng Su feigned severity.
"You, you malicious woman!" Qi Fengping pointed at her and yelled loudly.
Qi Fenglian, not wanting Cheng Su to lose face, quickly said, "Fengping, please go, I appreciate your effort."
Qi Fengping snorted and took the peony flower-patterned hot water kettle, but before leaving, she voiced her resentment at Cheng Su: "I’m listening to my elder sister, definitely not to you!"
Cheng Su just smiled and said nothing.
Once the door closed, Qi Fenglian took a careful look at Cheng Su’s expression and cautiously said, "Don’t take it to heart; Fengping didn’t mean it, she’s just a child, she doesn’t understand."
"Would I really hold a grudge against such a young girl?" Cheng Su laughed off the matter and pulled the blanket over Qi Fenglian, covering her properly, "Rather it’s you who shouldn’t talk too much, you need to focus on recovering!"
Qi Fenglian sighed deeply and said, "Fengping told me about them, the Zhang family was originally biased toward sons."
As soon as she said this, her eyes reddened again.
Cheng Su inwardly cursed the girl for her loose lips.
"Now that you know, I won’t say much. What’s done is done. The child is already born, so don’t be all sad and melancholic. You should sit through your confinement period properly, that’s the main thing. As for the Zhang family, you’ve seen what they’re like, it’s not worth being upset over such people. Now that you have both a son and a daughter, just focus on recovering and raising the kids. With the Zhang family, well, if you’re willing to stay with them, stay, but if you don’t want to anymore, it’s not the end of the world to get a divorce. Able-bodied as you are, you’re not going to starve to death, are you?" Cheng Su consoled her.
Qi Fenglian was taken aback.
Seeing her shocked expression, Cheng Su guessed she might have frightened her, and knowing that Qi Fenglian probably shared Mother Qi’s mindset, she made light of it with a laugh, "Hehe, just pretend I’m talking nonsense, now get some rest, your complexion is awful!"
Qi Fenglian pursed her lips and said, "Actually, without you mentioning it, I’ve thought about leaving him countless times. I just can’t bear to part with Yunyun, and also, on regular days, he isn’t really bad to me. But now with how Old Zhang’s family treats me, my heart has turned cold. Like you said, if I can’t bear it anymore, I’ll just leave. I’ll take my children and live on."
"That’s the right way to think. Let me tell you, times have changed; it’s not like how it was in the old society anymore. Women can survive without men and can hold up half the sky. As long as you want a good life for yourself, you’ll definitely be able to have it. For now, you just need to focus on recovering your health - that’s where your strength for anything else comes from!"
Qi Fenglian nodded and looked deeply at this woman. Everyone said she was no good, and no one in the family liked her. Even she herself used to think Cheng Su wasn’t good enough for her brother, but now, she thought Cheng Su wasn’t so bad after all. If it weren’t for her, she probably wouldn’t have been able to make it through.
"Sister-in-law, I really owe you one this time," Qi Fenglian suddenly said as she took Cheng Su’s hand.