Upon hearing her words, Mother-in-law was initially stunned, then quickly understood.
Her youngest daughter-in-law appeared gentle and soft-spoken, but in reality, from their very first meeting, it was clear that she was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
However, Wang Shufen was also very angry. She could overlook the things Li Cuihua had done in the household before, but now that Li Cuihua had targeted her own daughter, she couldn’t take it anymore.
Thinking of this, Wang Shufen took He Min and left the room.
When only He Yuan and Ji Shuyu remained in the room, He Yuan said guiltily, “I’m sorry, wife. You just arrived and already had to suffer this bullying.”
“I’ll go talk to Dad right now. Let’s split from the family and not live with them anymore.”
With that, He Yuan turned to leave, decisive and swift.
Ji Shuyu quickly called out to stop him.
“Wait.”
He Yuan stopped and turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
“If we split from the family as soon as I arrive, what will Mom and Dad think? Do you want me to live restlessly here from now on?”
Ji Shuyu placed a hand on her lower abdomen, a soft light shimmering in her eyes.
“Besides, the baby hasn’t even been born yet. How can we stir up trouble right after I’ve entered the household? Let’s hold off on the family separation for now.”
Still, she was glad that He Yuan had the intention.
At the very least, it showed that He Yuan truly cared about her.
He Yuan looked at her abdomen, his brow furrowed tightly. “But I can’t stand seeing you wronged.”
He reached out, pulled Ji Shuyu into his arms, and held her hand.
“If I hadn’t come back at the right time today, who knows how she might have bullied you.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not that fragile.”
“But if you cause a family split right after returning, it will make us seem unreasonable and unfilial, giving her more ammunition to gossip and stir up trouble.”
Ji Shuyu comforted He Yuan instead. After speaking, she pondered for a moment and asked,
“I haven’t asked you yet—why is she targeting me?”
Before this, she and Li Cuihua had never even met. Logically, there shouldn’t be any deep-seated grudge between them.
Yet, from the very first day she arrived at the He family, from the first moment they met, Li Cuihua had been nothing but critical and disdainful.
Hearing Ji Shuyu’s question, He Yuan explained, “Before you came, I always lived at the army barracks.”
“This south-facing room was originally given to He Qiang. But when you were coming to join me, Mom and Dad had He Qiang and He Ming move in together.”
Listening to He Yuan’s explanation, Ji Shuyu finally understood the reason.
So it was all because of a room.
Before she came here, He Yuan was fine living alone.
Moreover, living in the army barracks was more convenient for him.
But now that she had come to join him, of course He Yuan would also return home.
So He Yuan’s parents had He Qiang and He Ming share a room.
That room wasn’t small to begin with—even divided, it was enough for both brothers.
But Li Cuihua was very dissatisfied. Originally, her son could have a large room all to himself. Now that Ji Shuyu had arrived, her son had to squeeze in with someone else.
If the room hadn’t been given to Ji Shuyu, their own family could have gotten an extra room when the family eventually split.
Li Cuihua’s selfish calculations had been clattering away loudly.
But because of Ji Shuyu’s sudden arrival to join He Yuan, her beautiful dream was shattered.
“This room was always mine. I just let He Qiang stay here before because I wasn’t coming back.”
He Yuan continued to explain. Some people are like that—when they hold onto something that doesn’t belong to them for too long, they start to think of it as their own.
“Wife, splitting from the family is inevitable sooner or later. I’ve already applied for housing in our army’s family compound.”
Once the housing in the family compound is assigned, they can move there.
It’ll be much more comfortable than living here.
This island is a mixed community of military personnel and civilians. Because it’s located near the border defense, their unit is stationed here.
However, there were already indigenous residents on the island—they couldn’t just drive them away.
The entire He family stayed here because they participated in the island’s development.
Li Cuihua had arrived much earlier than Ji Shuyu, yet because Ji Shuyu was coming, her son had to give up his room.
No wonder she was so resentful.
“Alright, I’m not taking her antics to heart. Do you think I’m a pushover?”
Seeing the guilt in He Yuan’s eyes, Ji Shuyu reassured him.
“If she dares to cause trouble again, I have my own ways to make her understand that this room now belongs to the Ji family.”
Seeing her confident expression, most of the frustration in He Yuan’s heart dissipated.
His wife might look gentle and refined, but there was a resilient strength deep within her.
Just like when Ji Shuyu first arrived on the island, He Yuan felt she was completely different from before.
The old Ji Shuyu was like a soft dough—anyone could bully her.
But now, she was truly not someone to be messed with.
“Alright, I’ll listen to you, wife.”
He Yuan had promised Ji Shuyu—if she pointed east, he would never go west.
…
Meanwhile, in Li Cuihua’s room, He Jiang had just returned from work and was lying on the bed resting.
Seeing Li Cuihua, he asked, “You’re back? Is dinner ready? I’m starving.”
That single question instantly ignited Li Cuihua’s fury.
“Eat, eat, eat! Is that all you ever think about?! Your wife is being bullied to death, and all you care about is food?!”
He Jiang was sprayed with words, his face full of confusion. “Wh-what? Who… who bullied you?”
Looking at his wife’s face, his heart sank—he knew something bad must have happened.
When he first met her, Li Cuihua’s fiery temper had seemed fresh and amusing.
But after marriage, her personality became hard for He Jiang to handle.
Now, He Jiang avoided confronting Li Cuihua whenever possible.
When she was furious, she would curse anyone.
“Who else could it be? It’s your good third brother, He Yuan, and his vixen wife from the city, Ji Shuyu!”
“He Yuan’s glare earlier was like a man-eating tiger—fierce and terrifying—all to protect his pretentious wife.”
“He even said that if I ever dare to bully Ji Shuyu again, he won’t let me off. Does he even see me as his elder sister-in-law?!”
When He Jiang heard it involved his third brother, He Yuan, his frown deepened.
He wanted to avoid conflict—after all, harmony in the family leads to prosperity.
“Cuihua, she just arrived here. You’ve been nothing but critical and disdainful toward her—it’s normal for her to feel unhappy.”
“Besides, how would Yuanzi disrespect you?”
In his memory, although his third brother had a cold and stern personality, he was reasonable and still showed basic respect to his elder sister-in-law.
“How could he not?!”
Seeing his cowardly attitude, Li Cuihua’s anger flared even higher.
“You cowardly good-for-nothing! Your wife is being trampled on, and you won’t even stand up for me?”
“That Ji Shuyu acts like some noble young lady—she gave everyone else good things, but only gave me rubbish! She did it on purpose to disgust me!”
He Jiang felt a headache coming on—wasn’t this still about what happened on the first day?
“Whatever she gives is her gesture of goodwill. Why fuss over it? Third sister-in-law just arrived and might not be familiar with things yet. As the elder sister-in-law, what’s wrong with giving her some leeway?”
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