Chapter 76

Chapter 76: Wanting It All, Playing Both Sides

When Mother Du saw Du An Rao’s reaction, she knew things had been confirmed.

She teased her, half smiling: “Why are you jumping like your aunt? Let your dad get you another pair.”

Father Du jumped up and ran to the kitchen. He was afraid that if he was even a second late, he would miss something important and regret it forever.

Luckily, the kitchen was not far. Just as Father Du picked up the chopsticks and turned back, he heard his younger daughter screaming like a prairie dog in her heart.

[Jue Yan? Aunt’s husband is called Jue Yan? Don’t tell me he also just happens to have the last name Cui!]

That line hooked everyone’s curiosity. Didn’t this man’s surname happen to be Cui? So what exactly was going on? Hurry and say it!

[If it really is him, then this man is not just some normal scum in a suit.]

Scum in a suit?!

Everyone’s eyes snapped to Cui Jue Yan. He jumped in fright and reflexively touched his own face.

He asked: “Do I have something on my face? Why are you all staring at me like that?”

“Ahem, it’s nothing. Don’t just eat the dishes. Drink some soup too. This soup was made with top-quality wild ginseng and simmered for hours. It helps your energy and your health. You should all drink more.” Father Du said quickly.

Hearing her husband say that, Mother Du hurriedly poured a bowl for Du Lian Shuang too. If she drank more now, maybe she could handle the shock better later.

Seeing what her sister-in-law meant, Du Lian Shuang thought: … Thank you so much, I guess.

But Du An Rao calling Cui Jue Yan “scum in a suit” really did hook everyone’s interest. In the past ten-plus years, no one had ever linked those words to him.

Judging from Du An Rao’s tone just now, that “scum in a suit” clearly meant exactly what it said. It was not a joke at all.

So, what kind of cruel and crazy thing had this man done to earn such a title?

The story of Cui Jue Yan was actually very clichéd. A “phoenix man” from a poor place met a rich, pretty city girl. He fell for her at first sight, chased her with all his strength, and finally married into a tycoon family, using it to jump into a higher class.

But after he became successful, he treated that whole “climbing up by any means” part of his life as a shame in his heart. The rich beauty he had begged so hard to marry also slowly turned, in his mind, into a witness to that shame and even a kind of enemy.

[When he wanted money, he thought she had personality and was pretty. Even if she had a big young-miss temper, he accepted it gladly, because she really was a rich young lady. Once he got the money, she suddenly became someone with “dog eyes who looks down on people”, who used money to shame him and did not see him as a real person at all.]

[So he can say it both ways and always make himself sound right. To put it bluntly, he wants to take all her money but doesn’t want to pay the price. He wants other people’s things to be handed to him while they kneel in front of him. If they don’t, he holds a grudge in his heart. If he really had ability, he wouldn’t use a single bit of his wife’s family money or connections. He would make his own career and turn down what he calls “food thrown from high above”. Wanting this and that, wanting to take the benefits but still look clean and noble… isn’t that just playing both sides? Ugh.]

Everyone in the Du family wore strange expressions. Du Lian Shuang even forgot to breathe for a moment.

She had never imagined that the husband who had cared for her and spoiled her for so many years actually thought about her and her father like this in his heart.

[Cui Jue Yan is not only trash to my aunt and her two brothers and sister. He’s not that good to his other wife either. But in that case, it’s one willing to hit and one willing to be hit. Strictly speaking, that woman is his helper. I can only say I respect and bless them. The two of you should just lock yourselves together and stop coming to harm my family.]

Hearing Du An Rao call them “my family”, the mother and children of the Lian Shuang family all paused. Their feelings were a bit complicated.

But right now, they cared more about the identity of that “other wife” in An Rao’s mouth. Du Lian Shuang thought about how she had lived with Cui Jue Yan day and night for so many years and knew almost every woman that came and went around him.

Even so, she still could not guess who this suspect was, this woman who had hooked up with Cui Jue Yan early on right under her nose and even had a child with him.

[Thinking about it, you can’t really blame Aunt for missing it. That man’s other wife is his so-called “sister” on paper, Cui Dong Mei.]

“What?” Du Lian Shuang was so shocked that she knocked over the ginseng soup beside her. The others also stared with wide eyes, but thanks to her big reaction, their shock did not stand out.

Cui Jue Yan was also startled by his wife’s sudden overreaction. When he snapped out of it, he quickly helped her clean the table and asked with concern: “What’s wrong?”

Looking at the man beside her whose eyes seemed to hold only her, the words she wanted to shout almost burst out of her throat.

Thankfully, the last bit of reason in her stopped her. She still did not know what exactly had happened between Cui Jue Yan and his “sister”. She could not tear her face off with him right now, and she definitely could not let Du An Rao get suspicious.

Du Lian Shuang hardened her heart and bit down on her own tongue, using the pain to force herself to calm down. She said: “I was eating too fast and bit my tongue.”

“You bit your tongue?” Cui Jue Yan’s face was full of worry. “Open your mouth and let me see. How can you be so careless…”

While scolding her carelessness in a nagging tone, he also asked someone to bring medicine over.

His flawless performance made even Du An Rao sincerely sigh over how excellent his acting was.

[People really say it right. Experts hide among the common people. If a handsome man acts like you are the only one in his eyes, who wouldn’t be fooled? Of course someone who can trick a rich beauty into marrying him is not simple at all. If I hadn’t gotten the script in advance and didn’t have Heaven helping me cheat, I might have been tricked by him too, just like Aunt and the others.]

The matter between Cui Jue Yan and Cui Dong Mei was actually not that complicated.

The two of them were born in a very remote small mountain village in Province D. The place was poor and behind in every way, and the people there strongly preferred sons over daughters.

Cui Jue Yan’s father had hurt his ability to have children years ago. He and his wife had been married for many years without a child.

As they grew older, the two of them finally gave up and listened to a relative’s suggestion to adopt a child from nearby to raise, so the child could take care of them in their old age and send them off when they died.

But in a place that valued boys so much, it was almost impossible to adopt a boy.

Helpless, the couple could only adopt an unwanted baby girl, who became Cui Dong Mei.

Then something dramatic happened. In the third year after they adopted Cui Dong Mei, Mother Cui suddenly got pregnant.

The couple was overjoyed. After their son was born, they even went to a village physiognomist to have his fortune told.

That physiognomist might have meant well. Afraid that once they had their own child, they would throw Cui Dong Mei away, he said that she was very lucky and had a fated bond with brothers. She had brought a son to them.

On top of that, Mother Cui’s sister-in-law from her own family also advised her. She said they had already raised the girl for so many years, and soon she would be old enough to help around the house. Besides, in that area there had once been a custom of raising child brides. Keeping the girl could mean giving her to their son as a wife in the future, or marrying her off to get a bride price so their son could marry. Either way, it was a good deal.

The Cui couple was moved by these words. They did not send Cui Dong Mei away. Instead, they kept her in the Cui family as a child bride and continued to raise her.