"I didn’t speak with your sister-in-law!" Shi Yumei raised her voice, saying coldly: "Master, be clear-headed, this is the Shi family, not the Ren family. Those fair-weather friends of yours—"
"How dare you!" Ren Zhixian interrupted her sharply with a cold shout, pointing at her and rebuked: "Are you lecturing me? Is this the upbringing of the Shi family? As a wife, you dare to talk back to your husband!"
"You asked me a question, and I answered. How is that talking back?" Shi Yumei was also angered.
"Just look at yourself now, if this isn’t talking back, then what is!" Ren Zhixian slapped the table angrily and snorted: "Stop spewing so much nonsense! After all is said and done, isn’t it just that you look down on me with your snobbish eyes, despising me for being poor? Humph, when I make it big in the future, I want to see what faces you’ll make! As if a few pieces of silver are so impressive! I don’t need to beg from you if you’re reluctant to part with your silver! Humph, I’ll buy it myself!"
"Master!" Shi Yumei said angrily: "Which one of those people considers you a friend? If they really did, wouldn’t they know you’re currently staying with my natal family? Our home has nothing left, if they were truly friends, would they still care about your annual gifts?"
Hearing her say the words "staying with" deeply wounded Ren Zhixian’s pride and made him feel inferior as if he was indeed "living at the mercy of others". He wished he could point at Shi Yumei’s nose and scold her with righteous indignation! Unfortunately, no amount of toughness or backbone changed the fact that he was indeed "staying with" someone else’s family!
For this reason, Ren Zhixian felt even more furious and embarrassed. He endured and ignored her words, snorting: "What do you know? When did I ever say my friends are after my annual gifts? It’s only right for friends to exchange courtesies, don’t you understand? We give them because it’s our sentiment, not because others have expectations! What does your family mean? You wish I was all alone without a single friend, don’t you?"
Only in front of those "friends", listening to their flattery and obsequious praise, did Ren Zhixian feel like a man and barely regained a bit of his male pride. How could he easily lose them? The more down-and-out he was—the truth of which he would never admit—the more he had to put on airs and make them remember his kindness!
If only he knew that their flattery stemmed from seeing him as a naive fool, from eyeing the Shi family’s wealth, who knows how outraged he would be!
"What do you mean!" Shi Yumei was also infuriated, scoffed coldly: "Don’t you always criticize our family. How has our family wronged you? Everything you eat, wear, use, including the sage book you’re reading and the concubine waiting on you, which isn’t provided by our family? Indulged with the finest, you’ve become more pretentious! I tell you, if you’re so capable, then attend to your friends yourself. Why should my brother take the lead? Do you think my brother is at your beck and call to run errands for you?"
Having said that, Shi Yumei glared at him fiercely, took a deep breath satisfyingly, and felt all the pent-up irritation swept away, how incredibly refreshing it was!
She knew her husband had strong pride and was arrogant. Since they returned to her natal home, she was afraid of hurting his self-esteem, always cautiously indulging and coaxing him. When he complained about her family in front of her, she bore it. When he made unreasonable demands, she also tried her best to fulfill them! But now she realized, it was useless! He truly couldn’t appreciate her intentions, on the contrary, he became more harsh and pretentious. He never considered how difficult it was for her being caught in the middle. Even if he didn’t consider her feelings, as his wife, she dared not bear grudges. But why should her innocent mother and younger brother bear his unwarranted criticisms!
"You, you! It’s all upside down!" Ren Zhixian was so shocked that his face turned from pale to flush, pointing at Shi Yumei with trembling fingers, unable to speak for a while.
"What’s so impressive about your family having a bit of stinking money? What rubbish!" Ren Zhixian scoffed coldly.
"There’s nothing impressive indeed!" Shi Yumei also scoffed coldly: "But you’re still using it, aren’t you?"
"You!" This sentence from Shi Yumei was like the sharpest needle viciously stabbing into Ren Zhixian’s heart, causing him such pain that his heart seemed to shrivel up! Over and over in his mind were just two words: "Rebellion! Rebellion!"