B5SB -Chapter 374 Subtle Provocation

Eldest Sister Lu wiped her tears as she questioned Mother Zheng, “Zheng Huan got injured. Why did you hide it from me?”

Mother Zheng rolled her eyes at her and snorted. “We can’t even see your shadow all day long. How were we supposed to tell you?”

Hearing this, Eldest Sister Lu clenched her teeth and glared angrily at Mother Zheng, who was blatantly lying.

She really wanted to tell her that even if they couldn’t find her, couldn’t they at least contact her parents?

Mother Zheng was doing this on purpose—she wanted to bring another woman in just to disgust her.

Mother Zheng didn’t care whether Eldest Sister Lu was angry or not. She turned around, pulled Er Ya back to the dining table, and continued eating.

Father Zheng, who had been silent all this time, saw Er Ya following behind Mother Zheng and sitting back down at the table, calmly eating.

A trace of doubt flashed in his eyes.

This behavior didn’t look like that of a timid, unsophisticated country girl.

Thinking of this, he glanced at Eldest Sister Lu and said coldly, “Pack up. Take the train today and go to Zheng Huan.”

“As for Er Ya, I’ll have your mother send her back.”

Since it was unclear whether she was trustworthy or not, it was better not to keep her by Zheng Huan’s side. After all, his son was in charge of an important project.

If anything went wrong—like information leaking or documents going missing—the whole family would be ruined.

Hearing this, Er Ya paused with her chopsticks in hand. She glanced at Father Zheng, and a dark glint flashed in her lowered eyes.

Eldest Sister Lu was about to nod in agreement when she suddenly remembered that she had already promised her eldest brother to switch turns taking care of their mother.

She was afraid that if she broke her word, her brother would get angry and stop backing her up when she was bullied by her in-laws.

Although Mother Zheng wasn’t upset yet about her not having children, as Zheng Huan got older, he would eventually feel regretful about having no heirs.

And she herself was already too old to have children. When that time came, the Zheng family would surely despise her.

Maintaining good relations with her natal family was her only protection.

Thinking this through…

She didn’t want to go back on her word and anger her brother, but she also didn’t want Er Ya to personally take care of Zheng Huan.

Seeing her hesitating, Father Zheng thought she was unwilling to go.

His face immediately darkened.

He said in a deep voice, “If you don’t want to go, then let Er Ya go.”

“No!”

Eldest Sister Lu interrupted sharply. “I’ll go pack my luggage.”

She couldn’t allow another woman to stay close to Zheng Huan.

Nor could she openly fall out with her brothers over taking care of her mother.

Meanwhile…

Lu Huailin returned home and saw his wife asleep on the sofa.

He immediately slowed his steps, went upstairs to get a blanket, and gently covered her.

Gu Yihan was a light sleeper. As soon as the blanket touched her, she woke up.

Seeing Lu Huailin, she said, “You’re back.”

He nodded, sat beside her, let her rest her head on his lap, and patted her lightly.

“Sleep a bit more, honey.”

Gu Yihan yawned and shook her head. “If I sleep too much, I won’t be able to sleep at night.”

Lu Huailin stroked her soft hair and said, “Eldest Sister probably won’t switch with Big Brother anymore.”

Gu Yihan jumped up in surprise.

She stared at him in disbelief. “What did you do to make her change her mind so fast?”

Lu Huailin tapped her nose lightly and chuckled, then told her about what happened in the Zheng family.

Gu Yihan was stunned as she listened.

She looked up at him and asked doubtfully, “How are you so sure she’ll go take care of her husband?”

While rubbing her hand, Lu Huailin explained, “She doesn’t dare to gamble.”

“If she divorces Zheng Huan, she’ll have nowhere to go.”

Gu Yihan pondered for a moment.

“So you mean… she knows deep down that Big Brother isn’t reliable as her support?”

Seeing him only smile without answering, she glared at him.

Then she thought about the times.

Houses weren’t privately owned—they were allocated by work units.

She had no children and no standing in her husband’s family.

If she really divorced, living alone as a woman, she’d surely be harassed by bachelors who couldn’t afford wives.

Not wanting her to overthink, Lu Huailin changed the subject.

“Who sent all those fish in the yard?”

There was so much—his wife definitely hadn’t bought it herself.

Gu Yihan smacked her forehead.

“If you hadn’t mentioned it, I would’ve forgotten!”

He took her hand and smiled. “Don’t tell me it’s from Li Yajing again?”

She nodded. “She’s amazing now. She’s close with all the nearby production teams.”

“She knows immediately if any team has rare goods.”

After speaking, she stood up, went to the kitchen, brought out a basin and a knife, and said,

“Hurry and clean the fish and marinate them. If we wait two days, they’ll stink.”

Lu Huailin stood up, took the knife from her, and said with a grin, “Yes, Madam. I guarantee to complete the mission.”

Seeing his playful expression, Gu Yihan smiled.

Watching his firm arms skillfully gut the fish in one smooth motion, she couldn’t help sighing—

Soldiers really did have great muscle lines.

Just then, Auntie Zhang walked in and saw Lu Huailin scraping scales.

A trace of envy flashed in her eyes.

She looked at Gu Yihan, who was sitting by the door cracking sunflower seeds, and teased her.

“Xiao Han, you really have sharp eyes.”

Gu Yihan handed her some seeds, puzzled.

“How do I have sharp eyes?”

Auntie Zhang gestured toward Lu Huailin and said with envy and resentment, “Comparing people really makes you angry. My Old Zhao spent a fortune on a washing machine just to avoid doing laundry.”

Gu Yihan burst out laughing.

Lu Huailin thought of how Commissar Zhao often bragged in the army about being henpecked. His eyes narrowed.

While killing fish, he said cheerfully, “Auntie, Commissar Zhao is just pampering himself! Otherwise, you’ve washed clothes for decades without trouble. He washed for a few days and immediately wanted to ‘liberate his hands’ by buying a washing machine?”

In other words, he knew how tiring housework was—he just pretended not to see it.

Lu Huailin was subtly sowing discord.

When he saw Auntie Zhang’s smile fade, the corners of his mouth lifted.

Imagining Commissar Zhao being “dealt with” by his wife, his inner self danced with joy.

Gu Yihan glanced at Lu Huailin thoughtfully.

Seeing Auntie Zhang’s expression darken, she worried she might go home and really start a fight.

So she quickly changed the topic.

“Auntie, take a few fish later and stew them for Huzi.”

Hearing this, Auntie Zhang’s gaze fell on the cleaned fish.

She smiled. “Then I won’t be polite with you, Xiao Han.”