novelraw Chapter 197
Chapter 197
Shen Nanchu simply didn't believe that Pei Zhengnian would run back from the hospital for no reason just to buy her candied chestnuts.
It was absolutely about Pei Zhengwei.
She just didn't know whether Pei Zhengnian intended to tell her about this matter, or tell Pei's Mother.
Sun Xuelin, being very perceptive, had already found an excuse and slipped outside.
Now, only Shen Nanchu and Pei Zhengnian remained in the courtyard.
Pei Zhengnian opened his mouth, then closed it again, his eyes a tangle of complex thoughts.
When Pei's Mother came out carrying a bowl of chicken soup, Pei Zhengnian directly gulped down the soup in his bowl in two or three mouthfuls, finishing it clean.
Then he went into the kitchen with Pei's Mother.
Shen Nanchu raised an eyebrow. So, he wasn't planning to tell her after all!
"Host, the male lead is afraid you'll abandon him and turn to his older brother's embrace instead."
The system couldn't resist chiming in.
Recently, it had binge-watched a lot of TV dramas and considered itself quite knowledgeable now.
(•̀ω•́)✧
Shen Nanchu's mouth twitched. "Are you sure it's not because Pei Zhengwei is a bad person, and he wants to uphold justice by turning against his own family, that he's too embarrassed to tell me?"
The system hurriedly denied it. "Host, you just don't understand a man's heart, especially the heart of a man who loves you to the bone."
"The male lead clearly doesn't want you to know the news that Pei Zhengwei is still alive."
"After all, he stole his nominal sister-in-law, and even had a child with her."
"Although, she wasn't exactly a proper sister-in-law, but you were someone who almost became Pei Zhengwei's woman. The male lead is definitely jealous, afraid you still have lingering feelings for Pei Zhengwei."
Shen Nanchu, "..."
"System, have you been watching too many TV dramas lately?"
"Host, believe me. If the male lead didn't love you deeply, to the marrow of his bones, how could he possibly have picked up candied chestnuts for you on his way back?"
The system's words caused Shen Nanchu's brain to short-circuit.
Several minutes later,
Shen Nanchu finally managed to utter weakly,
"So this is the reason he doesn't give me any dislike points?"
"He likes it when I confront him? When I'm mean to him?"
"If that's really the case, can't I just change?"
System: "Too late for that now!"
...
Sure enough,
Half an hour later, Pei Zhengnian came out of the kitchen.
Dinner was served.
Tonight's dinner, apart from that bowl of delicious chicken soup, the other dishes were clearly off their game.
The greens were sweet, the steamed egg custard was sickeningly salty, and the only braised pork lacked salt.
Pei's Mother was absent-minded, barely eating two bites, and completely didn't notice.
Pei Zhengnian swallowed it all down without changing his expression.
Xiong Lei and Sun Xuelin just ate plain rice.
As for Shen Nanchu, she ate quite happily with one sip of soup, one piece of chicken, and one mouthful of rice.
After dinner, Shen Nanchu stopped Pei Zhengnian and pulled him into the room.
"You came back today for a reason, right?"
"Mm."
Pei Zhengnian nodded,
"Came back to see you and the baby."
"You think I believe that?"
Shen Nanchu just looked at Pei Zhengnian.
Pei Zhengnian looked at Shen Nanchu.
Their eyes met.
Pei Zhengnian's gaze dodged to the side,
"I really just came back to see you all."
"I have to go back to the hospital. If I don't go back soon, the doctors will come looking for me."
Shen Nanchu didn't stop Pei Zhengnian.
If someone doesn't want to talk, you can't pry their mouth open!
Perhaps it was because of the pregnancy, but Shen Nanchu felt a fire burning in her heart.
She was a bit angry!
It felt like her heart and liver were being scratched.
But, Pei Zhengnian ostrich-like, left with Xiong Lei and Sun Xuelin.
That night,
Pei's Mother unusually came to Shen Nanchu's room before bed.
She didn't say anything, just sat there.
She was a completely different person from during the day, looking utterly haggard.
Shen Nanchu, who had still been somewhat angry with Pei Zhengnian, felt a pang of discomfort seeing Pei's Mother like this.
"Mom, what's wrong?"
Pei's Mother looked at Shen Nanchu, a struggle flashing in her eyes.
Both are her flesh and blood.
What should she do?
"Mom, why are you and Zhengnian acting so strange today?"
Shen Nanchu pretended to be puzzled.
Pei's Mother's throat felt dry,
"Nanchu, if... if Zhengwei hadn't sacrificed back then, you and him..."
"Would have divorced eight hundred years ago."
Shen Nanchu directly and bluntly cut off Pei's Mother's words.
Pei's Mother was stunned.
"Why?"
"I was young and immature before, afraid of hardship, that's why I got together with him. But after spending time together, I increasingly realized he was different from the other Pei family members."
Shen Nanchu subtly dropped a hint.
Pei's Mother had already forgotten her original purpose for coming to see Shen Nanchu,
"How was he different?"
"If I tell you, Mom, you mustn't get angry."
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Shen Nanchu's face.
"It's fine, just say it. Let's consider it a chat between us mother and daughter."
As soon as Pei's Mother finished speaking, Shen Nanchu started chattering away,
"Compared to you and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Zhengnian, Third Brother and Fourth Brother, Pei Zhengwei really wasn't a decent fellow."
"Originally, when we first got together, I thought he was okay too. But I never expected that after we became familiar, he turned out to be two-faced."
"It was him who egged me on, using my name, to ask you all for the master bedroom."
"And the betrothal money for the marriage, it was also him who said the family had money and should give me the best."
"The money wasn't even warm in my hands before he sweet-talked me into giving most of it to him."
"Even the marriage, it was him who, afraid I'd run away, deliberately held the banquet without getting the marriage certificate."
Anyway, Pei Zhengwei wasn't here, so Shen Nanchu could say whatever she wanted.
Pei's Mother was somewhat skeptical of what Shen Nanchu said.
But, thinking about what Pei Zhengnian had told her that afternoon, she believed most of it.
"Mom, although I can be a bit willful, I'm not someone who can't tell good from bad."
"My parents passed away early, and you've all been very good to me, treating me like your own daughter."
Shen Nanchu's words moved Pei's Mother.
Yes!
After the Pei family fell on hard times, it was Shen Nanchu who, single-handedly, helped them live better.
A mother knows her son best.
Pei's Mother had raised Pei Zhengwei since he was little. How could she not know his character was a bit twisted?
She originally thought it could be straightened out, but never expected...
Pei's Mother felt somewhat disheartened.
"Mom, speaking of which, who does Big Brother actually take after?"
"He doesn't look like anyone in the family!"
Shen Nanchu's words made Pei's Mother forget her sorrow for a moment, not knowing how to answer.
Pei Zhengwei never looked like anyone in the family.
"It really is strange. Zhengnian, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother all resemble you and Dad to some degree, or at the very least, Grandpa and Grandma."
"How come Big Brother doesn't resemble anyone?"
"If someone who didn't know saw him, they'd definitely think Big Brother wasn't a child of our family."
The speaker had intent, and the listener took heed.
Pei's Mother fell into deep thought.
Could it be that there was a reason why the eldest had never been close to them since childhood?
...