CHAPTER 1380: CHAPTER 1380 FINALLY RESCUED

Luo Qiao was amused by her tone and expression. She pulled a bottle of pre-prepared wellness pills out from her bag and handed it over: "I genuinely can’t deal with you. I got this ready for you."

"It might not work instantly, but it can help regulate your body, increase your metabolism. As long as you eat properly, you should slim down pretty quickly."

Ji Lin took the bottle, opened it, examined it thoroughly, then capped it and threw her arms around Luo Qiao in a big hug: "Qiaoqiao is still the best. Thank you so much, sis!"

Then, treating the pills as a treasure, she tucked them carefully into her own bag: "By the way, how many do I take a day, and when should I take them?"

Luo Qiao smiled at her: "Take one in the morning and one in the evening. It’s a month’s supply. When you’re almost done, remember to remind me."

Ji Lin rubbed at the flesh on her stomach. "Finally! There’s hope!"

Miao Shuang seemed to have noticed that Shen Juan had something on her mind. She exchanged a glance with Luo Qiao and then spoke: "Shen Juan, are you dealing with some kind of trouble?"

Shen Juan shook her head. "It’s nothing major. Seeing you all living so well makes me happy for you."

Only then did Ji Lin notice Shen Juan’s off expression and dropped the smile from her face: "Shen Juan, the four of us are friends. What can’t you share with us?"

Miao Shuang chimed in: "If you really have something bothering you, just say it. At the very least, we can help analyze it and give you some suggestions."

Although Luo Qiao didn’t say anything, her concern was obvious in her gaze.

Shen Juan couldn’t hold it back anymore and her eyes welled up with tears. Luo Qiao patted her shoulder: "If something’s wrong, speak up. Two heads are better than one. Bottling it up is just making it harder for you."

Only then did Shen Juan slowly open up: "After graduation, I followed my family’s arrangements and got married through matchmaking. Truthfully, I wasn’t very willing at the time. I always felt he didn’t have much backbone—whenever something came up, he’d always defer to his mother’s opinion.

But my family was adamant that he had a good job, looked good, and came from a great family. They told me opportunities like this don’t come twice, so I started to hesitate.

His family really did have strong conditions in our area. A lot of people wanted their daughters to marry into the Fang family. At the time, Fang Ziqiang fell head over heels for me, picking me up and dropping me off at work every day. Maybe I was moved by it, and eventually said yes.

But not long after we got married, I started arguing with my mother-in-law."

At this point, Shen Juan let out a sigh: "I’m embarrassed to even tell you this. Every night when we’re about to shut the door to sleep, there’s always something—either this or that. She’d always find some excuse to call Fang Ziqiang out.

At first, I didn’t pay much attention and thought it was legitimate matters. But after a week of the same, you know how even the slowest person would realize something’s off."

Miao Shuang asked, "How many sons does your in-law family have?"

Shen Juan gave a bitter smile: "They’ve got two elder daughters and one younger daughter. Fang Ziqiang is their only son."

Thinking of it, she got a little angry: "Do you know? It took more than half a month after our wedding before we consummated the marriage. Isn’t that ridiculous?"

Maybe she had been holding all this in for too long, unable to talk to her own family about it, so today, in front of her friends, she couldn’t stop spilling her heart.

"I feel like an outsider in that home. I can’t really integrate into the family. When something happens, they don’t involve me—it’s just relayed to me after the fact, like it’s already settled.

I tried communicating with Fang Ziqiang, but he kept saying his parents have it rough and these are just trivial matters not worth fussing over. He even said it’s much easier for me since I don’t have to worry about such things.

After multiple failed attempts at communication, I stopped wanting to get involved or fit in. I began working late shifts whenever possible, covering shifts for others just to avoid going home. After a while, the Fang family started blaming me for neglecting the home, accusing me of not being a good wife or mother.

At first, Fang Ziqiang defended me, saying it was just the nature of my job and couldn’t be entirely my fault. But his two older sisters would come home sometimes and stir things up with a few words here and there. He heard it enough times and started to think I didn’t know how to conduct myself and wasn’t viewing it as a home. Only the youngest sister would occasionally stick up for me.

Later, when I still hadn’t gotten pregnant, my in-laws’ dissatisfaction with me grew worse. But think about it—getting called out every night, or having disruptions at critical moments, how could we possibly have children?

Fang Ziqiang did mention it to his mother, but she always found ways to argue back."

Miao Shuang frowned: "Does your father-in-law do anything about it?"

Shen Juan gave a bitter laugh: "At first, he probably didn’t realize what was happening. Later, when I still hadn’t gotten pregnant, it might have been Fang Ziqiang who told him something, and he started to notice his wife’s odd behavior.

Two years later, I finally got pregnant with my son.

But do you know? Having a child made things even worse. From the moment my son was born, apart from breastfeeding, I could hardly even touch him."