"Look, you’ve made your wife’s face all red." The wealthy woman seemed to enjoy seeing Mi Jing embarrassed and teased her.
"My wife has always been thin-skinned." Shen Lingxing stretched out his hand to hug Mi Jing by his side and introduced, "This is the mother of the third child, Mrs. Song."
"Happy New Year, Mrs. Song." Mi Jing said with a red face, looking at Song Jialing.
"Happy New Year." As soon as she finished speaking, Song Jialing took out two big red envelopes from her bag and handed them to Mi Jing, saying, "I hope everything will go smoothly for you in the new year, and I wish you early parenthood."
"Thank you."
According to tradition, no matter how old you are, as long as it’s the first year of marriage, the elders will give red envelopes. So Mi Jing generously accepted the red envelopes. Then, the old lady also received red envelopes from Mrs. Zhou and distributed them to the younger generation.
A large group of people sat together, chatting about family matters. Ma Huilian and Shen Jiajia seemed like outsiders, hardly speaking, while Song Jialing appeared to deliberately ignore the mother and daughter, never looking at them.
"Mrs. Song, would you like some jujube cake?" In front of everyone, Shen Jiajia was always polite and even more sweet and considerate in front of elders, so she timely chimed in when everyone paused the conversation.
"No need." Song Jialing suddenly turned cold, as if Shen Jiajia had offended her, jealousy and indifference marked her attitude.
"Oh." Shen Jiajia lowered her eyes and smiled faintly, placing the box of jujube cake back in its original spot.
"Jiajia, come help me in the kitchen." Seeing her daughter being aggrieved, Ma Huilian of course felt bad, but with so many people present, she naturally couldn’t say anything to Song Jialing. After all, she was a guest and Shen Xing’er’s mother-in-law. Whether out of politeness or due to her position, Ma Huilian could only suppress her anger. After all, she had long gotten used to Song Jialing’s cold and sarcastic remarks over the years.
"So many years, and all you’ve learned is how to cook? Every time I come, you hide in the kitchen. Is it because you have a guilty conscience, too ashamed to face people?" Song Jialing fired directly at Ma Huilian, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Yet, except for Mi Jing, everyone appeared unperturbed, busily eating, drinking tea, or coldly watching from the sidelines. Only Mi Jing looked at Song Jialing with shock.
Wasn’t this Mrs. Song too aggressive? Blasting Ma Huilian, the stepmother, in front of everyone at New Year’s?
"Song Jialing, can’t you show some respect for others?" Ma Huilian was not someone who would willingly suffer injustice. Faced with Song Jialing’s sarcasm, she couldn’t bear it and retaliated.
"Respect? Hmph, are you even qualified to talk to me about respect?" Every time she came here and saw Ma Huilian alive and well, Song Jialing’s heart burned with anger. As someone who clearly distinguished between love and hate, any manners and etiquette vanished in Ma Huilian’s presence.
"..."
Ma Huilian bit her lip and before Song Jialing could say anything worse, she promptly turned and walked towards the kitchen. Shen Jiajia caught up with her by running.
"Mom, don’t take that old woman seriously." In a quiet corner, Shen Jiajia comforted Ma Huilian.
"Ha." Ma Huilian laughed sarcastically. Even Shen Zixian didn’t stand up to defend her; how could she fight Song Jialing?
In the end, Shen Zixian still had Ling Wei in his heart; otherwise, would he let Song Jialing bully her?
After Ma Huilian and Shen Jiajia left, Song Jialing gave Shen Zixian a fierce glare from across the room before standing up, pulling Shen Xing’er out, saying she wanted some fresh air.
Seeing this, Mi Jing looked somewhat puzzled at Shen Lingxing, not fully understanding the grudges between Song Jialing and Ma Huilian.
"Jingjing, why don’t you come out with me for a walk?" The old lady seemed unfazed, wearing a calm expression, her mood seemingly unaffected by the recent incident.
Upon hearing this, Mi Jing obediently walked to the old lady’s side, holding her arm, following Song Jialing and Shen Xing’er outside.
With a few women leaving, only a few men remained in the hall. Shen Lingxing and Shen Zixian had always exchanged few words, treating him almost like a transparent figure. Ignoring Shen Zixian completely, Shen Lingxing started a relaxed conversation with Mu Bai and Mr. Mu, who hadn’t spoken much.
The Shen Family and Mu Family were regarded as old acquaintances, well aware of each other’s situations. Hence, Mr. Mu didn’t attempt to reconcile Shen Lingxing and Shen Zixian, knowing that a human life stood between them, beyond his ability to alleviate with a few words.
After half an hour, Shen Lingxing’s other brothers arrived one after another. As soon as Gu Can got out of the car, she yelled for Mi Jing, and upon learning she was in the garden, she rushed out like the wind.
"Auntie, auntie, Cancan brought chocolate for you!" The women were chatting in the garden pavilion when suddenly a childish voice rang out, drawing everyone’s attention to Gu Can running towards them.
"Cancan, did you bring chocolate for Xing’er Auntie?" Shen Xing’er asked with a smiling face.
"Huh?" Gu Can abruptly stopped, looking at Shen Xing’er with slight annoyance, pouting, "Cancan forgot."
"Boohoo, Cancan forgot about me. I’m going to cry!" Shen Xing’er pretended to cry with a sad face.
"It’s New Year’s, watch your words!" As soon as Shen Xing’er spoke, the old lady sternly scolded.
Can’t we even joke a bit?
Shen Xing’er pouted, secretly grumbling.
Gu Can, seeing Shen Xing’er scolded, felt a bit guilty, walked up to the old lady, saying innocently, "Great-grandma, don’t be angry. Cancan was just joking with Xing’er Auntie. Actually, Cancan brought chocolate for everyone."
Because it was New Year’s, the house was filled with snacks, so Gu Can showed rare generosity, taking out several chocolates from the little bag hanging on her and placing them in the old lady’s hands, saying, "Great-grandma, Happy New Year! Cancan wishes you long life, growing younger, and happier."
"Hehe."
Everyone was amused by the sweet-talking and thoughtful Gu Can. The old lady held the chocolates, happily gave her a red envelope.
"Thank you, Great-grandma."
Receiving the red envelope, Gu Can was also very happy, grinning and distributing chocolates to everyone while eagerly receiving her red envelopes. Her cute appearance brought joy to everyone.
"Cancan, you’re biased! You gave Auntie Xing’er three chocolates but six to your Jingjing auntie, twice as many." Shen Xing’er pretended to be unhappy and jealous.
"Isn’t Auntie Xing’er not allowed too many chocolates?" Gu Can blinked her big eyes, saying innocently, "Mom said eating too much chocolate is bad for the body. Auntie Xing’er has a baby in her tummy, so she can’t eat too much chocolate to harm the baby."