CHAPTER 705: CHAPTER 698: XU QIANWEN THE OUTSIDER

In stark contrast to the festive atmosphere of the Tian Family was Xu Qianwen. She wasn’t mingling with her sisters-in-law bragging and showing off like before; instead, she sat quietly in the living room watching TV, her face void of a smile, and exuding a gloomy aura that made no one want to talk to her.

In the kitchen, Zhu Aiqing whispered to Granny Zhao, "Mama, what’s going on with third sister-in-law? She seems a bit off to me?"

Jin Wan Hua nodded in agreement, "I feel something’s not right too, as if she’s got something weighing heavily on her mind."

Granny Zhao had long noticed Xu Qianwen’s odd behavior, and it unsettled her. Showing such a sour face during the New Year, to whom was she trying to give a show?

"Just ignore her. I’ll have to speak to Ai Guo, and if she keeps behaving like this, they shouldn’t come back for the New Year. It’s really a bad omen!"

Granny Zhao said hatefully. Originally, she had a bit of guilt towards Xu Qianwen because of the Tian Lili incident, but over the years, Xu Qianwen always wore an expression as if the Tian Family owed her, wiping away even the slightest bit of guilt Granny Zhao had.

Raising a vicious daughter like Tian Lili and still daring to show such an attitude?

If it weren’t for the fact that divorcing would negatively affect Ai Guo, she would have already had Ai Guo divorce such a wife. Bringing home a wife like this was nothing but trouble!

In the living room, Xu Qianwen stared blankly at the TV screen, but if one looked closely, they would see her eyes were unfocused, not really watching TV at all.

"What a pity Miss Tian is, such a beautiful and lovely girl driven mad like this. There’s a saying that even a tiger won’t eat its cubs, but the Tian Family was too ruthless. For the sake of an outsider, they drove their own granddaughter insane. As an outsider, even I can’t bear to watch!"

"Actually, He Sisi wasn’t poisoned at all that day; she was pretending all along, intending to frame your daughter to eliminate her so that she would be the only granddaughter left in the Tian Family. Look at how favored He Sisi is now, while your daughter is forgotten. In a few more years, they might forget what Tian Lili even looks like!"

"I was moved by your motherly heart, which is why I took the risk to tell you the truth. Please don’t tell anyone that it was I who told you."

Xu Qianwen’s mind couldn’t stop replaying the words of that woman. That woman was someone she had inadvertently met, only knowing she was called Mrs. Wang, a local from the Capital City who seemed very well-connected and knew lots of insider information.

The inside story of Lili being harmed was told to her by this Mrs. Wang. Xu Qianwen didn’t doubt Mrs. Wang’s words because back then, Mrs. Wang didn’t even know who she was and only mentioned it casually during a chat.

This is why Xu Qianwen felt the information was very credible, increasing her hatred for He Sisi and the Tian Family even more. Her poor Lili was harmed by these cold-hearted people!

Lili alone in a cold, cheerless hospital, while you cold-hearted ones are here celebrating joyfully; how is that fair?

And also He Sisi, she’s the main culprit. If it weren’t for that little wench, how could Lili suffer such a terrible fate?

And the Tian Family who abetted wrongdoings, all of them are sinners!

Xu Qianwen’s mood suddenly became agitated, her facial expression contorted, her eyes shooting out beams of hatred.

But there was no one around her at that moment, hence no one noticed her expression, unaware that the Tian Family had yet another fool being used by outsiders.

Yun Mansion

Everyone sat around a table, enjoying delicious dishes and drinking peach blossom wine buried for decades under the peach blossom tree in the Space, creating an immensely strong festive atmosphere.

Mr. Yun was also happy because today Sisi gave him the go-ahead to enjoy the delicacies to his heart’s content, to eat whatever and as much as he wanted. What a wonderful life!

After dinner, the adults began handing out red envelopes. The children knelt in a row on the ground, uttering auspicious sayings in their sweet, childlike voices, paired with their dazzling red new clothes, they looked like Wealth-Invoking Children, making everyone laugh cheerfully.

These little ones were raking it in this year, with each adult’s red envelope being thick. In no time, the little ones’ pockets were filled with red envelopes.

"Mom, can you keep these for us?" Ya Ya and En En obediently turned around and handed their red envelopes to Sisi for safekeeping.

After Du Du turned eight, Sisi no longer managed his red envelopes and even gave him all the red envelopes saved from before, letting him handle them himself. It was the same with Mao Dou. It was said that the brothers had given all the money to Uncle Bao Guo in U Country to help earn money through stock trading, and they had already made quite a bit.

After collecting the red envelopes, Sisi and Tian Xinhua took the three little ones to the Tian Family, as there were more red envelopes to collect over there!

Of course, Sisi had already prepared red envelopes to distribute, each one uniformly containing one hundred yuan.

The Tian Family gathered in the living room watching the Spring Festival Gala, the room filled with laughter so loud that Granny Zhao laughed to tears. When Sisi walked in, she saw it was Teacher Zhao Lirong’s "The Odd Jobs Adventure," a classic skit. Unfortunately, it became Teacher Zhao’s final work in her artistic career, as she soon passed away afterward.

When Tian Manmu saw his grandchildren, he grinned from ear to ear, pulling out the red envelopes he had prepared long ago and giving them to Du Du and the others. The others followed suit, and soon, the three little ones had piled up quite a fortune in red envelopes. Of course, Sisi also handed out quite a few. This giving and receiving was the Z Country way of social interaction—though cumbersome, it was full of warmth.

Ya Ya and En En were quickly carried away by Tian Manmu, each in one of his arms. Never had twins been born in the Tian Family, and particularly a boy-girl twin. If it weren’t for business back in the home village, Tian Manmu would’ve loved to stay attached to his grandchildren around the clock, being a model twenty-four-filial grandpa.

Everyone adored this charming brother-sister pair, toying with them with candies. Ya Ya and En En were especially good-natured, sitting quietly in grandpa’s lap, allowing people to pinch their chubby cheeks, not at all like pampered little masters and misses at home.

Today, Ya Ya and En En wore the red cotton-padded jackets Sisi made, with a red cinnabar dot on their foreheads, setting off their white, tender faces and bright black eyes, making them even more irresistibly adorable.

Xu Qianwen stood with a wooden expression on the outskirts of the crowd, watching everyone treating He Sisi’s children like treasures, speaking praises like they’re free, magnifying that vile mother and son duo as peerless in the world.

This included her husband, son, and daughter-in-law.

Humph!

All heartless things!

Xu Qianwen directly walked over to Tian Manmu. Everyone was busy playing with the little ones, and no one noticed Xu Qianwen’s actions.

She suddenly reached out and pinched Ya Ya’s face hard, saying, "Such tender skin this little girl has!"

With children’s delicate skin, and Xu Qianwen using quite a bit of force, Ya Ya’s face instantly bore two bright red finger marks.

"Grandpa, Grandma pinched me hard, it hurts." Most obediently, Ya Ya turned around and complained to Tian Manmu, her eyes welling up with tears, looking very pitiful.

Tian Manmu watched his granddaughter’s marked face sympathetically, quietly blowing to soothe her, coaxing, "Ya Ya dear, it doesn’t hurt anymore, Grandpa’s blowing it better for you!"

After calming his granddaughter, Tian Manmu looked discontentedly at Xu Qianwen and grumbled, "Sister-in-law, why’d you use so much force on a little child? Look at the marks on Ya Ya."

"Made of tofu, huh!" After saying this, Xu Qianwen turned and walked away, showing everyone her back.

Tian Manmu was furious. If it weren’t for the sake of Tian Ai Guo, he’d have cursed Xu Qianwen out to vent for his granddaughter.