Chapter 3

18

My mother-in-law gave Shen Shi a vivid account of what had happened that night.

I watched his expression go from displeasure to fury in less than a second.

Before she’d even finished, he swung his fist at Zhou Heng, landing one hard punch after another.

Auntie tried to stop him, but how could she hold back a tall, strong man in a rage?

Zhou Heng could only cover his head and scramble away. Overweight and out of shape from years without exercise, he couldn’t dodge fast enough and took who knew how many blows.

Only Auntie and Yao Shutong’s desperate intervention finally shielded him.

“Shi, stop! He’s your own cousin. Keep hitting him and you’ll kill him!”

Battered all over, Zhou Heng sat on the floor, clutching his head and begging through tears.

“Cousin, I was wrong. I won’t do it again. Please forgive me this once.”

“Try it again and I’ll cripple you!”

Shen Shi ground his teeth, then strode over to me and tenderly smoothed my disheveled hair.

“Yanyan, are you all right? Did he frighten you?”

I’d begun to calm down, but his arrival stirred everything up again. Tears of hurt immediately spilled out.

“I’m fine. Now that you’re back, I feel safe.”

“As long as you’re all right.”

He gently took my hand and led me back to our room.

Once the door closed, I questioned him, still unhappy.

“Why didn’t you throw Zhou Heng out? I don’t want to live under the same roof as him. Not for one more second.”

Unhurried, Shen Shi leaned close and whispered in my ear.

“Yanyan, be patient a little longer. The real show’s about to start. Trust me. I won’t let you suffer for nothing.”

19

For a while after that, Shen Shi was incredibly busy, hardly ever at home.

Before leaving each day, he told me to see friends or go out by myself. Anywhere, as long as I didn’t stay home.

I didn’t understand what he was planning, but I did as he said.

I was happy to escape and spare myself the aggravation of seeing Auntie’s family.

Today was Little New Year. At last, Shen Shi finished the work on his hands and could stay home with me in peace.

Our extended family, along with my parents, gathered to celebrate.

The elders sat drinking tea and chatting. Shen Shi and I brewed tea beside them, while Zhou Heng sat off to one side, gaming.

Auntie smugly brought out the tea he’d bought, seizing the opportunity to boast.

“Heng bought this especially for everyone to try. It cost him more than half a month’s salary.”

Smiling, my mother-in-law asked me to brew it.

Auntie made as though to take it back, but I quickly accepted the box and unwrapped it. The moment I opened the lid, a musty smell hit my nose. The leaves inside were crumbled beyond recognition.

The elders were smiling at me, waiting for their tea.

I was so nervous that my hand happened to shake. The entire box of tea dust spilled across the table.

“Meng Yan, can’t you even manage something this simple?”

“I’m sorry, Auntie. The tea smells so bad it stung my eyes. My hand slipped.”

“How could such expensive tea smell bad? You really haven’t seen anything of the world… Wait. Where’s that musty smell coming from?”

She was about to scold me, but when she realized the overpowering smell came from the tea, her smile froze.

My mother-in-law took the box, examined it, and spotted the problem.

“Zhou Heng must have been cheated. This tea’s counterfeit.”

“Of course he was cheated! He bought it at a proper tea shop. How dare they swindle him? I’ll settle this with them. My son’s just too honest. Too easy to fool.”

“But it’s such an obvious fake. Anyone with eyes could tell at a glance.”

My mother-in-law delivered the next blow gently. Humiliated, Auntie smacked Zhou Heng.

“You silly boy! They’re calling you stupid. Can’t you even tell?”

Deep in his game, Zhou Heng was naturally annoyed at the interruption.

“Mom, didn’t you say you bought that tea at the shop near our house? Why suddenly pretend it’s premium?”

20

His words landed like a bomb, leaving us all stunned.

Auntie frantically winked at him, but how could that idiot understand?

My mother-in-law and I secretly exchanged a glance. She raised her fingers to her lips and said with exaggerated sweetness:

“So it came from the corner shop. No wonder it’s all broken up! Shen, your nephew is just so devoted.”

“The Zhous aren’t as rich as you people. Cheap tea is all we can afford. If you want good tea, fine. Get Heng a promotion and a raise after New Year.”

“All right, everyone. Let’s stop talking about tea and watch some television.”

To keep things from getting messier, Shen Shi stepped in to make peace. Smiling, he switched on the TV.

Melodious music played, but on the screen a greasy, obese figure was writhing to the beat.

Everyone frowned deeply.

Then a nauseatingly saccharine voice came from the television. Zhou Heng’s sleazy face filled the screen.

“Baby, do I dance well? Baby, I’ll help you rank up again tonight. Mwah!”

“Baby, I miss you so much. When can we meet?”

“Baby, you looked so gorgeous in those black stockings. Can you send me another picture?”

…

The living room fell silent for a few seconds.

Then everyone’s laughter nearly lifted the roof.

Auntie stared at the television, eyes wide, the corners of her mouth twitching.

“Sorry, wrong video. I’ll change it… Huh? Is the remote broken?”

Shen Shi pressed buttons at random, but the image didn’t change.

Zhou Heng’s bulky figure and sugary voice continued to fill the room.

What an assault on the eyes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my aunt and a relative’s wife taking out their phones to record.

Shen Shi, you were ruthless.

If you wanted to get someone, humiliate them within an inch of their life. Make a spectacle of it, preferably one they’d never forget.

21

“Those are my chats with my online girlfriend! How did you get them?”

Shouting, Zhou Heng rushed over and pulled the TV plug. The room fell silent.

Shen Shi smiled, took out his phone, and recorded a sentence.

“Do you mean this?”

When he played it back, his voice had become a sweet woman’s voice.

Realizing he’d been fooled, Zhou Heng went scarlet and lunged at him. Shen Shi gave him a light shove, and he sprawled on the floor.

He really was weak.

“Shen Shi, you pretended to be a woman to talk to me? You played with my feelings! That’s too much!”

“You sent all those dancing videos and cheesy messages yourself. Blame yourself for being a creep. If you hadn’t wanted to flirt around, could I have forced you?”

“You were messing with me?”

“You think I enjoyed it? Your voice made me want to throw up. Fat as a pig, and still dreaming of some romantic encounter. You’re ugly, but your dreams are certainly beautiful.”

How could Zhou Heng’s sluggish brain compete with Shen Shi’s? His mouth hung open, but he couldn’t think of a single retort.

Just as we were locked in that standoff, someone knocked.

Shen Shi opened the door. It was Li from property management, holding an envelope.

“Sorry to bother you. We were cleaning the office today and found a letter for your household. We thought it might be urgent, so we brought it straight over.”

Shen Shi accepted it. Seeing Auntie’s full name on the front, he casually handed it to her.

Puzzled, she tore it open. As she read, her expression went from pleased to dark.

With a scream, she lunged at Zhou Heng, clawing at him.

“You good-for-nothing! I’ll beat you to death!”

22

Shen Shi picked the letter up from the floor. One glance left him looking astonished.

It turned out Zhou Heng had racked up an enormous debt. Unable to repay it, he’d been sued. Even the family’s old house was about to be auctioned off.

That house had belonged to Shen Shi’s grandparents.

Auntie had made a tearful scene, arguing that Shen Shi’s parents already owned a place in the city while Zhou Heng had nothing, until she forced the grandparents to transfer it into his name.

My mother-in-law had objected at first. But my father-in-law said they didn’t intend to move back after his parents passed away. His sister could do as she pleased.

Devastated, Auntie collapsed on the floor and sobbed miserably.

Nobody comforted her.

“What kind of son have I raised? If your father were alive, he’d beat you to death! Why is my life so bitter?”

“Mom, what are you crying for? It’s just a house. I’ll earn it back in no time.”

Zhou Heng didn’t care. He didn’t even seem to know what he was about to face.

“Earn it with what? Your pathetic salary? Are you trying to kill me?”

“Mom, think bigger. Trust me. I could win all that back in one night!”

“One night? Have you been gambling? I’ll kill you! Who took you gambling? Tell me! I’ll knock every tooth out of his head!”

She screamed herself almost hoarse, but the outcome was already beyond changing. No amount of cursing or abuse could undo it.

23

Exhausted from crying, Auntie’s eyes darted about. Then she shamelessly began begging my father-in-law.

“Brother, help Heng. You don’t want to watch the old house get auctioned off, do you?”

“You were the one who said we had no right to claim that house. Now you want Shen to pay? We don’t have that kind of money lying around.”

My mother-in-law despised her bottomless greed and rejected the shameless demand outright.

“You can borrow it! Please, I’m begging you both. We’re family. We’re blood!”

“What blood? I’m not Shen Shi’s birth mother. Where’s this blood relation? You want Shen and me to shoulder your debt? Dream on.”

Seeing that my father-in-law remained unmoved, Auntie grew so frantic her voice cracked.

“Brother, you can’t stand by and let us die! Heng’s your nearest and dearest!”

“My nearest and dearest? My wife, my son, my daughter-in-law, my grandchildren. Those are my nearest and dearest. I’ve helped you enough over the years. I’ve more than done my duty.”

“Fine! You won’t help? Then I’ll expose all your dirty secrets. Let’s see if your family stays so united!”

Furious, she opened a photo album on her phone and showed it to our uncle and aunt, shooting me a triumphant pout.

“Look at their precious daughter-in-law! Sneaking around with another man. Shameless!”

The photographs did indeed show me being affectionate with an unfamiliar man in a café.

But he was my best friend’s boyfriend.

A few days earlier, Auntie had deliberately remarked to my mother-in-law that I dressed up and went out every day. It was disgraceful, she’d said.

My mother-in-law ignored her.

So she secretly followed me, hoping to get something on me.

I’d turned her own scheme against her, borrowing my best friend’s boyfriend to stage a little scene.

I hadn’t expected her to save it for this moment.

24

“Now, this is what you call a scandal. Why don’t we all look at these?”

I took a stack of photographs from my bag and pressed them into the elders’ hands, accidentally letting quite a few flutter to the floor.

In them, Zhou Heng fawned sleazily over Yao Shutong, his whole body shaking with laughter.

There were all sorts of other eye-searing photographs of him too.

Sorry, elders. Over this New Year holiday, I would definitely treat everyone to a beauty salon visit to wash their eyes out.

Auntie was furious when she saw the photographs.

Furious beyond belief.

She sprang up and swung a slap at Yao Shutong.

“You dare seduce my son? I’ll beat you to death!”

Shutong nimbly stepped back. Auntie missed, couldn’t stop her momentum, and fell flat on the floor.

Sprawled there, she tried to get up and keep attacking Shutong, but she had no strength left. Her mouth, however, never stopped cursing.

Yao Shutong walked over, crouched, and looked coldly at her.

“Old woman, have you looked properly at those photographs? Your son’s the one shamelessly fawning over me. Haven’t you always looked down on me? Let me tell you, the sight of your pig of a son makes me sick.”

“You… You bitch! Without me, would you be living so well?”

“Living well? Being ordered around by you every day? Or being sent to the Shens’ house to stir up trouble?”

“You bitch! Believe me, I’ll dock your entire salary this month!”

“Keep your pennies. Use them to pay your precious son’s gambling debts. I’m done waiting on you. Goodbye!”

With that, Yao Shutong stood, returned to her room, and wheeled out a suitcase she’d prepared in advance.

“Sorry to put everyone through this just before New Year. I wish you all a happy holiday!”

Without looking back, she left.

Even her departing figure looked free and unburdened.

25

Auntie hadn’t expected the normally obedient Yao Shutong to defy her so completely.

Everything today had happened so suddenly, one blow after another. Even I hadn’t processed it all, let alone her.

Then my father-in-law received another call, this time from his old friend.

Apparently, Zhou Heng had been borrowing money from colleagues all over the company. His relationships there were already poor. This had only made everyone more resentful.

His old friend could finally stand no more. He called specifically to tell my father-in-law that Zhou Heng had been fired. There was no need for him to return after New Year.

Unable to take so much at once, Auntie fainted from rage.

We hurriedly took her to the hospital.

Emergency treatment brought her around. But the shock had been so great that she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

Her mouth and eyes were crooked, and her speech was unclear. She would need careful nursing and absolutely no further agitation.

After all that, the two families had fallen out completely.

Zhou Heng left the hospital with Auntie in disgrace.

We never saw them again.

26

On Lunar New Year’s Eve, both sets of parents gathered with us for a happy, harmonious reunion dinner.

At the table, Shen Shi’s face glowed with happiness as he announced some good news.

“I have something to tell everyone. I’m going to be a father.”

My mother-in-law smiled and warned him:

“You’d better be twice as good to Yanyan from now on.”

My father-in-law couldn’t suppress his grin.

“My old friend brags about his grandson to me every day. At last, it’s my turn to show off.”

27

In a drawer, I found a brand-new property deed.

The address was the old family house.

“Shi, did you buy the house back?”

“My mother lived there when she was alive. I couldn’t bear to let it fall into someone else’s hands.”

28

A message suddenly appeared on Shen Shi’s phone.

It was from Yao Shutong.

“Shi, thank you. The money came through. After paying off the debts my father left me, there’s still quite a lot left. After all these years, I’ve finally cleared his gambling debts. From now on, I want to live for myself. I’ve found a new job with excellent benefits. I heard Yan is pregnant. Congratulations to you both. Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!”

29

Shen Shi came out of the shower and found me holding his phone, the screen open to his chat with Yao Shutong.

“Yanyan, let me explain. There’s absolutely nothing between us.”

I said nothing, just stared at him.

“She told me Auntie had always mistreated her, so she wanted revenge. I turned the situation to my advantage and worked with her.”

I remained silent. He went on.

“Yao Shutong’s father used to be a gambler. She knows some gambling people. It was easy for her to lure Zhou Heng in. Add a little sweet talk, and that idiot swallowed the bait. I agreed to pay her once it was done.”

“What else?”

“Nothing else. Really. Yanyan, apart from this, we never talked about anything. Believe me.”

“Do you know why I’m angry? Because even Yao Shutong knew your plan, while I knew nothing.”

Shen Shi wrapped his arms around me and buried his face against my neck, soothing me gently.

“It was complicated. I didn’t want you involved and worrying about it. All I want is for you to be happy and carefree every day.”

I rather enjoyed those sweet words, but there was still something I wanted to ask.

“Do you regret it? Doing that to your aunt?”

Shen Shi lifted his head and gazed into the distance, lost in memory.

“If she hadn’t made life so hard for my mother, tormenting her right after she gave birth to me, how would Mom have fallen ill and died so young?”

30

“No. I’m still very angry.”

“What will it take for my darling wife to forgive me?”

“I want to see the pictures of you in black stockings, pretending to be a woman to lure Zhou Heng.”

“I deleted them ages ago.”

I took a pair of long stockings from the wardrobe and tossed them to him, a crafty smile spreading across my face.

“You can always put them on again.”

— THE END —

Orange Lemon Tea

**Enjoyed this story?**
Discover more completed short romance stories at **NovelPotato.asia**.