Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 148 Big Brother, Don't Laugh at Second Brother
The family of Fifth Uncle had finally managed to relax, but their worries immediately returned.

The second cousin instinctively tightened his grip on his wife's hand, and the second cousin's wife was also a little nervous, but she still quietly squeezed her husband's hand back to comfort him.

[My second cousin's wife was holding the child and blocking the view earlier, but now that she's put the child down and I'm looking closely, there seems to be a shadow on her chest.]

A shadow?! The adults' eyelids twitched, and they almost thought that their daughter-in-law (wife) had some terminal illness.

[And, her chest... cough cough, so could this shadow be due to unresolved emotions, a knot of resentment in her chest?]

The women from Fourth Aunt's family were also listening intently to what Du Anrao had been struggling to say, and their faces flushed slightly when they heard the two women's conversation.

The eldest cousin was stiff all over, not daring to move, with a blank expression that said, "I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything, it's none of my business."

This is not good. Although it looks like just a nodule and not too serious, the frustration and resentment you feel over time could actually block the breast ducts, causing the nodule to become malignant and worsen. If it develops into breast cancer, that would be a real problem.

"Has my second sister-in-law encountered some insurmountable trouble lately?"

"Is that so? Have you been feeling uncomfortable staying at home lately, or have you been wronged? Or did Azhi do something to upset you? Tell Mom, and Mom will definitely stand up for you!"

Fifth Aunt's words were not just empty talk. Her son and daughter-in-law were childhood sweethearts, and the two families lived close by, so they basically watched each other's children grow up.

Fifth Aunt has no daughters and has always treated her daughters-in-law like her own daughters. Her sons are even secondary to her. If Second Sister-in-law were to admit that Second Brother had done something wrong to her, Fifth Aunt would grab a shoe and beat him up on the spot.

"No, no, it has nothing to do with him, and it has nothing to do with the family."

"It has nothing to do with family, that's..."

"It's a work-related matter."

"Work-related matters?" Fifth Uncle and Fifth Aunt exchanged glances, their faces showing surprise.

Second cousin's wife is a senior jewelry designer from a prestigious university. She works for a well-known jewelry company. The technical department she works in has a simple staff and a high annual salary. There is usually no messy internal strife, so Fifth Uncle and others rarely ask about her work. Unexpectedly, this is where the problem really arose.

"What exactly happened? Is someone at the company bullying you?"

The second sister-in-law glanced at her husband and in-laws. Lately, the family had been in a state of great distress because of her husband's promotion, and she didn't want to cause trouble for everyone else by bringing up these issues.

But now that her husband's situation was almost certain, and Du Anrao had just brought it up, she decided not to hide it anymore.

"A new manager recently joined the company; he's my college classmate."

"College classmates? Well..." The group exchanged glances, then tentatively asked, "Have you had a conflict before?"

My second sister-in-law pursed her lips and let out a long sigh: "We were in the same major in school. Her mother was a member of the school's board of directors and had some influence. So she was quite arrogant and looked down on everyone else in school."

It was all in the past, and it was a hidden pain in her heart for many years. Her second sister-in-law hesitated for a long time, still unsure of where to begin.

Du Anrao, on the other hand, was getting anxious for her. [Well, to put it simply, this new manager in her department, an old classmate, was jealous of her second cousin's wife's talent back in college. He orchestrated a scheme to frame her, stealing her design drafts to enter in a competition, and then, after winning an award, falsely accusing her of stealing her design.]

"What?" Fifth Aunt's expression changed slightly. "Why didn't you tell us about this?"

"Cough cough cough..." Seeing that she was about to be exposed, Fourth Aunt coughed several times as a warning.

Aunt Wu suddenly realized what was happening and quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "I meant that you've been taken advantage of by her at school before, haven't you? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't think that much about it before."

[Of course, it was because my second cousin's wife's company was in trouble at the time, and she didn't dare tell her parents about it and distract them. Besides, she was used to being independent, and the department manager who was crying wolf had quite a bit of influence. She was worried that her situation would affect her family and her cousin's family, so she chose to take the blame herself and settle the matter privately.]

The family of Aunt Wu was heartbroken to hear this. Their daughter-in-law was usually very cheerful and straightforward, and they never expected that she had suffered such a great injustice in private.

Most importantly, they didn't notice a single person, which is a huge dereliction of duty!
Du Anrao clearly thought so too.

[Others are one thing, but second cousin, you're so unreliable! You and your eldest cousin are the epitome of "don't laugh at the second brother, eldest!" They didn't even notice their own wives were being bullied, and twice in a row, by the same person!]

[While it's true that both of these occasions coincided with crucial periods in your career, such as joining a new company or getting a promotion, and you were indeed a little busy, that's no excuse for neglecting your wife. Don't tell me your sister-in-law is good at keeping secrets; nothing stays hidden forever! No matter how well something is concealed, there will always be some clues. Frankly, it just means you haven't been caring enough.]

My second cousin clenched his fists, lowered his eyes slightly, and concealed the guilt in them.

Although Du Anrao's words were a bit blunt, they were very reasonable, and he couldn't refute them at all.

Thinking about it carefully, his wife had taken care of everything at home after marrying him, so that he had no worries at all. Yet he didn't even know when his wife had been wronged or harmed. He was not only a derelict husband, but a terrible one!

[Go ahead and cause trouble. If you really make a scene like my older cousin, his wife will just take the kids and leave home. Then where will you go crying?]

My older cousin, who was then indirectly insulted again, was speechless.

He had indeed come here to undergo a tribulation today, but he couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal. He could only turn to his wife for comfort, looking pitiful.

Du Zixuan was amused by his pitiful appearance and patted his head comfortingly.

Compared to the old Du Hongyun, she still prefers the current older brother who always shows weakness and acts coquettishly towards her, occasionally competes for attention with the children, and is childishly like her son.

This feeling is like a cloud that was once flying high in the sky and unreachable, one day it took the initiative to fall into her palm, giving her all its joys and sorrows as well as the initiative, and at the same time giving her enough security, so that she is no longer confused, lost, inferior and helpless.

And all of this is because of... that person.

Thinking this, Du Zixuan smiled faintly and turned to look at Du Anrao.

Also looking at Du Anrao was his second sister-in-law. Although she knew that her husband was not to blame, she still couldn't help feeling a little wronged when she was sad.

(End of this chapter)