Chapter 1
Edward Quan ·
At four in the morning, an elder ordered me out of bed to make breakfast.
She said she was teaching me the rules.
I burst into tears and threw myself into my mother-in-law’s arms.
My mother-in-law immediately woke the whole family.
“If she can’t sleep, neither can any of you!”
1
With Lunar New Year approaching, my mother-in-law invited me to go shopping for the holiday.
I’d barely stepped inside the house, let alone warmed my seat, before she whisked me off to the mall.
She waved a bank card in front of me.
“We’re going all out today. Let’s make your father’s wallet bleed.”
We shopped until nightfall before returning home.
When we opened the door, my husband’s aunt and her family were sitting in the living room, chatting and eating sunflower seeds.
Auntie took one look at the shopping bags piled at our feet and pursed her lips.
“Why did you buy so much? At this rate, can Shi earn enough to keep up? Don’t you rein your daughter-in-law in at all? You just let her do whatever she likes?”
“These are New Year’s gifts for everyone. If you don’t like them, I’ll return them right away.”
I picked up the bags at my feet and turned to leave.
Her expression changed instantly. She hurriedly caught my arm.
“Oh, why take everything so seriously? Here, let me help you.”
Beaming, she took the bags from me, then promptly forgot I existed.
2
After walking around all day, I was so tired I could barely straighten my back.
I hastily ate a few mouthfuls at dinner and went to bed.
I was sleeping fitfully when a barrage of pounding on my door jolted me awake.
“Meng Yan! Open up!”
Thinking there must be an emergency, I threw on a jacket and opened the door.
“Auntie? What’s wrong?”
“Get up and make breakfast! What daughter-in-law is as lazy as you? Look at the time, and you’re still in bed!”
I checked my phone.
Four in the morning.
“Auntie, it’s not even light yet. Besides, we have household staff. There’s no need for me to make breakfast. Please go back to bed.”
“Bed? You married into the Shen family. Getting up early to cook and serve your parents-in-law and elders is the rule. Understand?”
“So you’re insisting that I make breakfast?”
She looked at me smugly and kept right on talking.
“It has to be you.”
3
“All right, I’ll cook. Mom! Wake up!”
I slipped past her and hurried to my parents-in-law’s bedroom, knocking on the door.
Auntie tried to stop me, but her short legs couldn’t catch up.
My mother-in-law opened the door quickly, looking concerned.
“Yanyan, what happened?”
“Mom, what would you like for breakfast? I’ll make it.”
“Don’t we have help? Since when do you have to make breakfast? Go back to sleep.”
Remembering Auntie’s bullying just now, I felt terribly wronged.
I burst into tears and threw myself into my mother-in-law’s arms.
“Mom, Auntie says I have no manners because I won’t cook for my elders.”
My crying stunned Auntie. She stood frozen for several seconds before recovering.
“I’m teaching you the rules! How can a daughter-in-law of the Shen family have no sense of proper conduct?”
“Teaching rules, are we?”
My mother-in-law turned to me.
“I’ll show you the Shen family’s rules.”
4
With those pointed words, my mother-in-law began banging on everyone’s doors and shouting.
“Get up! Nobody’s sleeping anymore. All of you, get up and sit in the living room!”
She made such a racket that everyone was soon awake.
One by one, they sat on the sofas, rubbing their eyes.
Even her dog lay dazed beside the couch.
My father-in-law was annoyed.
“What are you doing? Why all this fuss in the middle of the night?”
“It was me, Brother. I asked Meng Yan to make everyone breakfast. Who knew your wife would wake the whole family instead of appreciating it?”
“Your sister’s teaching Yanyan her place. Am I supposed to put up with that?”
My father-in-law’s face darkened as he turned to his sister.
“Since when do you get to make rules in our house?”
“Brother, can’t you tell who means well? Everything I do is for our Shen family!”
“Let me tell you the rule in this family.”
“It’s this…”
“If Meng Yan can’t sleep, neither can anyone else.”
5
Auntie hadn’t expected him to embarrass her so thoroughly. She was about to throw a tantrum when a cold voice interrupted.
“What’s all the excitement?”
Shen Shi had just returned from a business trip.
His cool gaze swept the room. Then he came over and gently stroked my head.
“Why are you crying? Who bullied you?”
My mouth crumpled, and tears pattered down.
“Nobody bullied me. Auntie’s teaching me the rules. I’m just too stupid. I can’t seem to learn them.”
Heart aching, Shen Shi wiped away my tears and shot his aunt an icy look.
“Since when does anyone else get to teach our Yanyan the rules?”
That look frightened every bit of bluster out of her.
“Shi, you’ve misunderstood. Auntie only meant well. Yan misunderstood her.”
Yao Shutong, standing beside her, hurriedly tried to smooth things over.
She was a distant niece of Auntie’s. Apparently, she was a professional caregiver.
As Auntie was getting on in years, Shutong looked after her and followed her everywhere.
6
“You know perfectly well whether this is a misunderstanding. Yanyan, let’s get some rest.”
“Okay.”
I let Shen Shi take my hand, but Auntie wasn’t pleased.
She promptly wedged herself between us and forcibly separated us.
“Shi, you’ve just come back from a business trip. You must be exhausted. It’s almost dawn. Don’t let Meng Yan disturb your rest. Shutong, go prepare a guest room for him so he can sleep properly.”
Shen Shi’s lips curled. His voice was bone-chilling.
“Auntie, Yanyan and I are newlyweds. You already want us sleeping in separate rooms? Whose rule is that?”
“Well… I only want what’s best for you.”
“You’d be better off looking after yourself.”
Looking displeased, Shen Shi pulled me into our room and slammed the door.
Once we were alone, he immediately sought credit.
“Honey, how did I do?”
7
My expression changed at once. Angrily, I flung his hand away.
“You have the nerve to ask? Yao Shutong’s eyes were practically glued to you!”
“I’ve been wronged! I didn’t even glance at her.”
“Go on, look. Otherwise, Auntie will teach me more rules. I couldn’t possibly bear it.”
“Honey, you don’t need to test me. I know the code of conduct for married men by heart.”
I glared at him. Still not satisfied, I gave him a kick.
“All right. You haven’t slept all night. Get some rest.”
“I want a cuddle from my wife.”
With one large hand, Shen Shi pulled me under the covers.
I hadn’t rested properly either. Sleep swept over me, and I slept straight through until afternoon.
Only my rumbling stomach woke me.
Shen Shi took me down to the kitchen to find something to eat. We happened to find Yao Shutong busily working in an apron.
The moment she saw him, she ladled out a bowl of soup and carried it over as though presenting a treasure.
“Shi, you stay up late so often. I made this nourishing soup especially for you. It simmered for four whole hours. Have a taste.”
8
Shen Shi accepted the bowl, then held it out to me.
“Yanyan, you were up late last night. You must feel awful. Here, have some soup.”
I leaned in to sniff it. An overpowering medicinal smell went straight to my head.
I couldn’t help it. Covering my mouth, I retched.
“It smells terrible.”
Hearing that, Shen Shi immediately shoved the bowl back into Yao Shutong’s hands.
Somehow, it accidentally fell. Broken porcelain and soup scattered across the floor.
“What is that awful stuff? Yanyan, have some water. You’ll feel better.”
He tenderly helped me drink, gently patting my back.
Yao Shutong stood there at a loss. Aggrieved but afraid to speak, she could only tug angrily at her apron.
Hearing the commotion, Auntie hurried into the kitchen to investigate.
Between the mess on the floor and Shutong’s red-rimmed eyes, she quickly pieced most of it together.
“Such good, nourishing soup! Why did you throw it on the floor? Shutong worked for four hours making that.”
As though she’d finally found an ally, Yao Shutong immediately flung herself into Auntie’s arms and sobbed loudly.
“Auntie, Yan said my soup was disgusting. I only made it because I was worried about Shi’s health.”
Then, when she thought nobody was watching, she shot me a triumphant glance.
My lips curved slightly.
Well, well.
Yao Shutong knew the fake innocent’s ultimate technique: boo-hoo-hoo.
A worthy opponent, then.
9
Auntie comforted her tenderly, growing even more displeased with me.
“Meng Yan, this is your fault. It’s bad enough that you don’t care about Shi’s health. Shutong worked hard making that soup. You don’t have to appreciate it, but throwing it on the floor? What was that supposed to mean?”
“Auntie, I spilled it. The medicinal smell was too strong. Yanyan isn’t used to it.”
“Shi, you’re far too protective of Meng Yan. You’ll only make her more disrespectful toward her elders.”
He raised an eyebrow, his voice scornful.
“Elders? My parents, her own parents-in-law, haven’t called her disrespectful. Are you planning to interfere in my family’s affairs?”
“Shi, if your birth mother were still alive, would she want such an overbearing woman as her daughter-in-law?”
His face darkened immediately.
I quickly took his hand and gave it a squeeze.
Shen Shi’s birth mother had died when he was very young.
My mother-in-law was his father’s second wife. To care for him, she’d given up having a child of her own and treated him as her own son.
They weren’t related by blood, but their bond ran deep.
Even so, his birth mother remained a place in his heart that nobody could touch.
“If I love someone, my mother would love her too.”
“You, on the other hand, manage to make yourself unwelcome everywhere you go.”