Chapter 45 - 45: Tender Affection
“My daughter, my daughter, what’s wrong with you!” Mr. and Mrs. Wang Decai had never been ones to take charge, simply cheering on their children and eldest son’s family as they caused a commotion in the Han Family. When things got out of control and even reached the Chief of Cunhe Village, they were just as anxious and clueless. Now, seeing their daughter fainting made them even more panicked.
“My in-laws, all faults lie with us, the parents, for not raising our children well.
We accept any blame you cast upon us, but right now, our child is like this. After all, our Qian Ru is still your daughter-in-law of the Han family. We hope to have a doctor take a look at her,” Mrs. Wang, her mother, said through her tears, desperately worried.
The Han family had just been facing off with the people from the Wang family, mainly with Wang Qianru and her siblings, as well as Wang Decai’s family.
Though they disapproved of Mr. and Mrs. Wang Desheng, they harbored less resentment towards them. Hearing Mr. and Mrs. Wang Desheng say this and seeing the Third Daughter-in-law lying on the ground, they realized that might very well be the case; regardless, the priority was to save the person first.
At that moment, Han Chenglin also worried about his younger sister, no longer showing the earlier stubborn defiance: “Everything that happened before was my doing, and it has nothing to do with my sister. Regardless, she is your daughter-in-law of the Han family. No matter how heartless you are, you can’t just leave her be. Even if you want our Wang family to take her back, at least find a doctor for her first. Let’s wait until she wakes up,” he argued.
Having stood by quietly and not taking sides, Han Lin was now genuinely anxious when his wife fainted and hurried over, holding Mrs. Wang in his arms and calling out repeatedly, “Wife, what’s wrong, why did you suddenly faint? Are you alright?”
Su Wenyue was speechless. The person had already passed out; shouting like that, she wouldn’t be able to hear you, unless… But indeed, Han Family’s Third Son was not much of a man. Earlier, when Mrs. Wang was pleading with Mrs. Yang, he just stood by without saying a word, but now he was anxious.
Seeing Han Lin like this, the Han family members probably thought he still had strong feelings for Mrs. Wang. Even though Mrs. Wang’s actions were cause enough for the Han family to divorce her, she was still the Third
Daughter-in-law, and they had to consider what the Third Child thought.
“Oh my, how did she just pass out like this? It can’t be because she did something so shameless, she was afraid that the Han family would no longer keep her as a daughter-in-law, so she pretended to faint, can it? The Third Daughter-in-law has always loved to put on airs; didn’t you see her performance at our Han family’s gate earlier? Everyone thought we were the villains and she was the little daughter-in-law suffering all the grievances.”
Su Wenyue actually had the same thought, but was surprised when Mrs. Liu voiced it out loud. She suddenly found herself liking this straightforward sister-in-law a bit, though it was only a fleeting thought, as Mrs. Liu’s opinion was shared by most of the Han family.
Wang Qianru was always affected and pretentious, loving to put on a show. When working in the fields, she often pretended to be on the verge of fainting from exhaustion, even though she was actually quite healthy and rarely even suffered minor ailments. So when she suddenly acted like this, combined with earlier drama, who wouldn’t be suspicious? However, the Second Brother of the Han family and his wife were honest folks who truly believed Mrs. Wang had passed out and thus expressed some worry, “Father, Mother, we should first help the Third Sister-in-law into the house to rest and call a doctor to have a look. Let’s not allow her to really fall ill.”
Mrs. Yang finally spoke up, “Alright, let’s first revive the person and talk later. Third Child, help your wife back to the room. Eldest brother, hurry and call the doctor to come over.”
After Mrs. Yang spoke, she looked around at the courtyard to the crowds still not willing to disperse, keen on continuing to watch the drama. Her expression grew even darker as she addressed them, “As for everyone else, you’ve all seen what there is to see, and in front of the Village Chief, we’ve cleared up what happened. There’s nothing left to watch. Go on home now, everyone has their own troubles, leave some dignity for yourselves.”
Hearing Mrs. Yang say this, even the busybodies couldn’t justify staying any longer and began to disperse and head home. With today’s spectacle, there was enough gossip to last a long while, and undoubtedly the talk of the village now would be this very topic.
With the crowd gone, Mrs. Wang was carried back into the room by Han Lin.
Originally, Wang Decai’s family had intended to come over with Mr. and Mrs. Wang Desheng to cause a scene, to vent their anger on Su Wenyue and hopefully gain some advantage. Now, with the situation turned sour and no benefits to gain, and since the Han family members exhibited looks of displeasure towards them, they left without wanting to stick around for more rebukes and returned to Wang Family Village after bidding farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Wang Desheng.
Su Wenyue was actually somewhat keen on returning to her room. Standing around watching the drama was getting tiresome, especially since she played a major part in it today and felt quite exhausted. However, since today’s events were not yet over, it wouldn’t be right to leave. Moreover, she was curious about how Mrs. Yang would handle the situation and what the outcome would be. Regardless of the result, Mrs. Wang would not come out of this looking good: even if she wasn’t sent back to her parents’ home, her days in the Han family were bound to be difficult from now on.
Although the Village Doctor lived not too far away, it would take some time to summon him. For minor injuries, people from ten villages around would be reluctant to call a doctor from the city and would typically approach the local doctor for some medicine. So if the Village Doctor was out, there would be an additional wait. Inside the room, those who could sit did sit, and those who could stand just stood; Han family members and Wang family members each kept silent, and the room lapsed into quietness.
Han Ping, the Han Family’s Second Son, was more considerate. Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Wang Desheng standing there wasn’t easy for them, so he moved a couple of stools for them to sit on. As for Wang Chenglin, even though Han Ping was a decent and honest man, he wasn’t foolish enough to bother with him and simply left him to stand alone.
In the Han family, it was only Old Man Han and Mrs. Yang who were seated. Han Yu stood behind Su Wenyue, noticing her signs of fatigue. His delicate wife had gone through quite an ordeal that morning, dealing with the Wang family was no easy feat, surely she was exhausted. So, he subtly shifted his position to allow Su Wenyue to lean back against him slightly. Though they were still standing, she would be much more comfortable.
Su Wenyue hadn’t expected Han Yu to show such a considerate side, especially in front of so many people. The subtle care he showed touched her, and when no one was looking, she shared a smile with him. Despite the tension in the room, the young couple exchanged a tender moment.
“Doctor, how is she, what’s wrong with my daughter? She has always been healthy, rarely even suffering from minor aliments. How could she suddenly faint? There’s nothing seriously wrong, is there?”
Parents are always the ones most concerned about their children. Having finished checking Mrs. Wang’s pulse, the Old Doctor was immediately questioned by the anxious Mr. and Mrs. Wang Desheng. Their son was already a source of worry; they dreaded to think that their daughter might now be in trouble too..