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Yu Mingyi’s home was in Qiang City. He originally wanted his wife and their son, not yet two years old, Panpan, to live with him in the apartment provided by his employer. But his wife, Wang Xiaohong, disagreed.

Yu Mingyi had the means to have his wife and son live with him, but Wang Xiaohong didn’t like the apartments offered by the employer. In Qiang City, just like his elder brother Yu Minglang, he had bought a two-story building from his eldest brother. Wang Xiaohong had her mother live with her. Moreover, in Qiang City, her job at her brother-in-law’s company had excellent benefits and conditions. She wasn’t willing to move.

So every time Yu Mingyi had time off, he would make the drive of over two hours to go home to see his wife and son.

A home, for many people, should be a warm and welcoming place to return to.

But each time he drove into the boundaries of Qiang City, Yu Mingyi’s heart would feel heavy. Each return felt more miserable than the previous one.

The Soup House with a private courtyard was a place where only the very rich resided.

The combined villas looked quite similar in appearance. Yu Mingyi could find his home even with his eyes closed. Not because he was too homesick, but as long as he could hear the chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, and cats all calling together, he knew where his home was.

His mother-in-law moved in from the countryside, and a large family lived in his house, raising a lot of poultry in the yard. His birth mother would sometimes come over to visit, but it became less frequent after she was chased and nipped by a large goose in the yard.

Yu Mingyi stood at the doorway, adjusting his mood, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door.

His brother-in-law, who also happened to be the clerk Wang Xiaobo, followed him in. Just as Yu Mingyi just stepped into the house, a feather duster whizzed toward him. He swerved to dodge it.

His wife sat on the sofa, crying hoarsely. His mother-in-law was calmly advising her from the side.

“Xiaohong, stop crying. If you cry yourself sick, who else apart from your mother would care?”

“Yu Mingyi, you are not a human!” Wang Xiaohong was sobbing, wiping her runny nose and tears.

Yi Mingyu had long grown accustomed to these noisy scenes. His eyes scanned the room and landed on his son, who sat in a baby stroller in the living room, crying at the top of his lungs. He walked straight over, picked his son up, and patted him gently.

“What’s the matter this time?” If Wang Xiaohong didn’t make a fuss on his return, that would be the real surprise. He was used to it.

“You cold-hearted man, while I’m at home taking care of our child, you’re out there messing around with other women!” Wang Xiaohong aggressively took the tissues her mother handed her and blew her nose.

She spoke so loud that the baby in Yi Mingyu’s arms began to wrinkle his little brows. He hardly spoke any words at close to two years old. Yuri Mingyi had always been worried about his son and did not want to argue with Wang Xiaohong in front of him.

Based on years of marriage and experience, for every one word he spoke, Wang Xiaohong had at least ten words in retaliation. Over the years, he had learned to remain silent in the face of quarrels. When she was done crying and fussing, she would calm down.

Seeing Yu Mingyi not saying a word, heading upstairs with their son in his arms only made Wang Xiaohong wail louder. She continued to vent her grievances to her mother.

Yu Mingyi carried his son upstairs, into the bedroom and then gently shut the door behind them. This isolated the crying and nagging from downstairs. With his bony son in his arms, a gentle expression finally softened his austere face. Despite being almost two, his son was small and skinny compared to his peers, and responded sensitively to the smallest of things. He didn’t say many words yet, but he knew a few very simple ones.

“Daddy…” It was one of the few words his son knew. The boy was very attached to Yu Mingyi. Even though they didn’t interact as often, the boy was always very happy to see him.

Yu Mingyi held him, gently patting his back, walking a few rounds in the room. The child nestled his tear-streaked face into his father’s chest and fell asleep.

Yu Mingyi placed his son back onto the bed and had just tucked him in when the door was abruptly kicked open, and Wang Xiaohong rushed in, tears streaming down her face.

“Yu Mingyi, you’d better explain things to me today, or else we’re getting a divorce!”

Here we go again… Yu Mingyi glanced at his sleeping son, gently patting him twice before he turned to Wang Xiaohong saying, “Let’s talk outside.”

“Why should I go outside?! This is my house!” Wang Xiaohong was still fuming.

“Let’s go.” Yu Mingyi rarely used a stern tone at home. Wang Xiaohong, knowing he was tolerant, continued to act out, but when she heard his displeasure she quietened, left the room, and Yu Mingyi looked at his son’s thin face before finally getting up to leave.

After entering another room, Wang Xiaohong looked at Yu Mingyi’s expression considering his mood before continuing to speak.

“Why are you so late? Didn’t you say you’d be home by the morning?”

“Something came up.”

“What could be so important? Going to see your collegiate mistress! Even giving her your phone number! Yu Mingyi, how have I wronged you? Why are you doing this? You’re barely ever home, and haven’t I kept my complaints to a minimum?”

“Have you really?”

Wang Xiaohong paused, she indeed hadn’t stopped complaining, but that wasn’t the point.

“How long has it been going on with that woman? When did you meet her and how far have things progressed? If you don’t tell me clearly today, I’ll go to your family. I’ll carry Panpan and let your father judge between us. Let him see that none of the men of the Yu family are good people!”

Wang Xiaohong went straight to the point; she tended to speak her mind when she got heated.

“Don’t drag my family into this.” Yu Mingyi had grown immune to her fiery outbreaks. He usually turned a blind eye, as long as she didn’t involve his family.

“What’s wrong with talking about your family? Yu Mingyi, your family members look down on me. You let them bully me, you also look down on me, so you go out looking for college girls.”

Wang Xiaohong felt wronged. Everyone envied her, thinking she had married into a wealthy family, but she felt she was always treading on eggshells. Her husband barely came home, and his family was of no help at all.

“My mother spoke to me about it; your sister’s education does not qualify her to work in the hospital. It’s not about disrespecting you or anything, and could you stop imagining things about any college girl?”

Pointless conversations and arguments like these seemed to happen every so often.

“How is her education not enough? She’s been in medical school for years, isn’t your mother the vice president? It’s just a word for her, so how come it’s not possible? She simply disrespects my family!”

“That’s a hospital. It just underwent a reform this year, requiring that nurses must have a college degree. Your sister could continue her studies and test for a college level degree later on.”

Yu Mingyi wasn’t a man skilled in explanations. For Wang Xiaohong, he always had a bit more patience. Not only because this woman was the one he insisted on marrying, despite objections, he felt a responsibility towards her.

Mostly because caring for Wang Xiaohong was a promise to his brother. The path he chose for himself, no matter how difficult, he decided to stick it out till the end..