Free Web NovelChapter 96: Chapter 96: Brother-in-law, Hurry Up and Eat
"Sigh, brother-in-law, I’m so sorry. Your first time visiting and we’re making you eat in this chaotic environment. If we were a bit more capable and had some extra money, we’d have rented our own place by now. Then you two wouldn’t have to suffer along with us."
"The cost of living these days... it’s just impossible for regular people. Everything is expensive, and labor costs are absurd. We’ve only just begun and we’ve already spent tens of thousands. There’s still so much to do, plus we need to buy furniture. By the time the house is finally renovated, it’ll probably be the New Year. On top of that, your brother’s health isn’t great, and we have to buy insurance for him and Rocky at the end of the year... sigh..."
"Everyone has a car these days. When they take their kids out, or go visit the wife’s family, other people drive their own cars, a happy family of three, all bustling about. We’re still stuck taking crowded buses and subways. It’s fine when the weather is nice, but when it’s windy and rainy, or when there’s a cold snap, Rocky has it the worst. I just don’t know when things will get better for us, or when we’ll finally be able to afford a car..."
She rambled on and on, but the main point was simple: she was broke. Very broke. And she wanted a car.
She had likely seen Damien’s impeccable clothes and his generous spending, and was hoping to get something out of him.
Cecelia pretended not to understand and didn’t take the bait. Under the table, her brother kicked her foot.
"Just eat. Can’t even food shut you up? Everyone’s life improves bit by bit. You can’t get rich overnight. Why are you telling them all this?"
His sister-in-law’s eyebrow shot up. "We’re all family. This is my own sister and brother-in-law, what’s wrong with a little family chat? Other people could beg me and I wouldn’t tell them this stuff. Brother-in-law, tell me if I’m wrong. What man your brother’s age doesn’t own a car? Just him. Ten years at his job with zero advancement. I swear, he’s peaked. Our kid is growing up, expenses are getting higher and higher, my own parents are getting older... oh, the stress..."
’It’s one thing for her to grumble at home when no one’s around, but how could she say something like this in front of my brother-in-law?’
Her brother looked mortified, but he didn’t dare argue with her.
If he dared to talk back, she would raise hell the second Cecelia and Damien walked out the door.
Bitterly, her brother could only resort to drinking.
Damien understood the sister-in-law’s intentions perfectly, and he saw his brother-in-law’s silent suffering just as clearly. He just smiled.
"You never know," Damien said. "Plenty of people are late bloomers. As long as he’s a steady, hard worker, I’m sure things will keep getting better."
His sister-in-law replied, "From your lips to God’s ears. If your brother was even a tenth as smooth a talker as you, he wouldn’t be in such a pathetic state. Have some food, have some food."
She used her own chopsticks—the ones she’d just been eating with—to put some food on Damien’s plate. Damien, having watched her talk animatedly and spray saliva for some time, saw the food coming his way...
’I’ll just stick to the tea.’
Seeing that he hadn’t taken a single bite, his sister-in-law asked, "What’s wrong? Is the food no good? Not to your liking? Or are you too good for it? Why aren’t you eating?"
Damien said, "It’s not that. I got up late this morning, so I’m not hungry."
"You have to eat even if you’re not hungry. This was all made for you. What’s the point if you don’t eat it?"
As she spoke, his sister-in-law piled another large helping onto his plate.
Cecelia knew there was no way Damien would eat food that had come from her sister-in-law’s chopsticks, so she quickly swept the vegetables into her own bowl.
"His stomach has been a little upset the last couple of days," Cecelia said. "The doctor told him he shouldn’t eat too much. This is delicious, Sister-in-law. I’ll eat more, you don’t need to worry about him." freewёbnoνel.com
Hearing Damien had an upset stomach, the sister-in-law was suddenly full of concern.
"An upset stomach? You should have said so! I would’ve made you some porridge. But it’s not too late now. Hold on, I’ll go make you some egg drop soup."
She was about to get up, but Cecelia stopped her again.
"It’s okay, Sister-in-law, he’s really not hungry. Please, don’t worry about him."
Seeing that Damien really didn’t want to eat and that Cecelia was preventing her from making anything else, the sister-in-law got the message. He was disgusted by their shabby surroundings and looked down on her cooking. She sat back down, sulking.
"How about a drink, then? We don’t have any good liquor here, but thankfully you brought some. Your brother’s never had anything that good before. You two should have a little together."
Cecelia intercepted again on Damien’s behalf. "He can’t drink. He has to drive later."
"Don’t you have a license? He can drink, and you can drive."
At the mention of cars, his sister-in-law’s eyes suddenly lit up.
"Cecelia, what kind of car does your husband drive? Oh, no reason, just curious. I just want to set a goal for your brother, you know? We’ll try our best to keep up with you two. I’ll tell him to work harder so we can buy a car like yours soon."
Cecelia: "..." free𝑤ebnovel.com
Her brother shot his wife an irritated glance. "That’s enough. Just eat. He drives a Maybach. You could dismantle me piece by piece and squeeze me dry, and we’d still never be on their level in this lifetime."
The look on his sister-in-law’s face was priceless.
’A Maybach?’
’My God, her sister really hit the jackpot! Marrying a man that rich!’
’Don’t Maybachs cost several million?’
After that, his sister-in-law became even more solicitous toward Cecelia.
She poured her tea, served her food, and passed her napkins, practically treating Cecelia like an elder she had to serve.
The meal finally ended. With the sister-in-law present, it was impossible to have a heart-to-heart talk. Seeing that Damien was also uncomfortable, Cecelia suggested they head home.
"He has some work to take care of later, so we should get going. Brother, Sister-in-law, we’ll come visit again soon."
His sister-in-law said, "Alright, if you have work to do, we won’t keep you. But you have to come back soon! Oh, right, brother-in-law, I don’t have your number yet. We’re family now, there will be plenty of times we need to get in touch. It’s so inconvenient without it. Here, here."
His sister-in-law handed her phone to Damien.
It was true. They were family now, so it would have been awkward not to share contact information. Damien gave his sister-in-law his personal cell phone number.
Her brother and sister-in-law, with Rocky in tow, walked them all the way to their car, finally letting them leave after a great deal of fussing.
Once the car had driven some distance away, Cecelia finally turned to Damien, her face flushed with embarrassment.
"My sister-in-law’s just like that. Please don’t stoop to her level. You didn’t even get to eat lunch, you must be starving, right? Let’s find a restaurant later, I’ll treat you to a proper meal."
"You don’t have to."
Damien hadn’t taken his sister-in-law’s behavior to heart at all. On the contrary, he was quite happy to finally be integrated into Cecelia’s family.
"I really wasn’t hungry. It wasn’t for any other reason. Your brother and sister-in-law seem like good people. I like them. Don’t worry about it."
Cecelia tried not to overthink it.
But there was simply no comparison between her family and a family like the Vaughns. An uncontrollable sense of inferiority crept in...
Damien was preparing to drive back to the family estate when he got a call from Ryan, who said there was a document that needed his signature. He decided to make a detour to the office.
"You two wait in the car. I’m just going up to sign a document, I’ll be right down."
He got out of the car, phone in hand. Before he even reached the entrance to the building, his phone buzzed.
He picked it up and saw a WeChat friend request. The note read: Cecelia’s Sister-in-law.
