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

Chapter 76 Wanting Both, Being Both

When Du's mother saw Du Anrao's reaction, she knew that the matter had been settled.

With a half-smile, she teased, "Why are you so easily startled, just like your aunt? Ask your dad to get you a new pair."

Mr. Du quickly got up and ran to the kitchen, afraid that he would miss important information if he was delayed for even a second, and would regret it.

Fortunately, the kitchen wasn't far from them. Just as Mr. Du finished getting his things and started walking back, he heard his little daughter's inner scream like a groundhog.

[Jueyan? My aunt's husband is named Jueyan? Could it be that he happens to have the surname Cui?!]

This statement piqued everyone's curiosity. Wasn't this person surnamed Cui? So what exactly happened? Tell us!

If it really is him, then this man is no ordinary hypocrite!

A hypocrite?!
All eyes suddenly turned to Cui Jueyan. Startled, Cui Jueyan instinctively touched his face: "Is there something on my face? Why is everyone staring at me?"

"Cough cough, it's nothing. Don't just eat vegetables, drink some soup too. This soup is made by simmering the best old ginseng for several hours. It's good for replenishing qi and nourishing the body. Drink more of it."

Upon hearing her husband's words, Du's mother quickly prepared a bowl of soup for Du Lianshuang, hoping she would have a good nourishing meal so she could withstand the blow later.

Du Lianshuang, who understood her sister-in-law's meaning, was speechless. "..." Thank you so much!
However, Du Anrao's evaluation of Cui Jueyan really piqued everyone's interest, since in the previous ten years or so, no one had ever associated these words with Cui Jueyan.

Especially judging from Du Anrao's tone just now, the term "beast in human clothing" was clearly used literally, without any intention of being a friendly jest.

So, what heinous thing did this person do to deserve such a reputation?

Cui Jueyan's story is actually quite cliché: a poor man from a humble background meets a rich and beautiful woman from the city, falls in love with her at first sight, pursues her relentlessly, and eventually achieves upward social mobility by marrying into a wealthy family.

However, after achieving success, he regarded his experience of climbing the ladder by any means as a source of inner shame, and even his beautiful and wealthy wife, whom he had gone to great lengths to win over, was twisted into a witness to his shame and a perpetrator.

When they love money, they think others are unique and good-looking, and even if they have a bit of a spoiled princess attitude, they're happy to accept it, after all, these are genuine princesses. But once they get the money, they become condescending, using money to humiliate themselves, and don't treat themselves like human beings at all.

【You've really hit both the bullseye and the jackpot! To put it bluntly, it's just taking advantage of someone's family's wealth without wanting to pay any price. You expect them to fawn over you, otherwise you hold a grudge. If you're so capable, don't rely on the woman's family's money and connections; build your own success and refuse what he calls handouts. This 'wanting both ways,' this is just hypocrisy, ugh~】

The expressions of the Du family members were subtle, and Du Lianshuang even caught her breath.

She never imagined that her husband, who had taken such good care of her and been so obedient to her all these years, actually thought this way about her and her father!

[Cui Jueyan is a scumbag not only towards his aunt and two younger siblings, but also towards his other wife. It's a case of mutual consent, and strictly speaking, she's his accomplice. All I can say is respect and best wishes to you two; you two should stick together and not harm my family.]

When Du Anrao addressed them as family, Du Lianshuang and her two children were all taken aback, their feelings becoming somewhat complicated.

However, they were more concerned about the identity of the other wife mentioned by Du Anrao. Du Lianshuang had spent more than ten years with Cui Jueyan and had a general impression of the women who came and went around him.

Even now, she still can't guess who this suspect is—the one who seduced Cui Jueyan right under her nose and even had a child with him. [It's not that her aunt is blind to what's happening under her nose; this man's other wife is his nominal older sister, Cui Dongmei.]

"What?" Du Lianshuang was so startled that she accidentally knocked over the ginseng soup beside her. The others stared in surprise, but Du Lianshuang's action made it seem less abrupt.

Cui Jueyan was also startled by his wife's sudden and excessive reaction. After recovering, he immediately helped her clean the table and asked with concern, "What's wrong?"

Looking at the man beside her, whose eyes were only for her, Du Lianshuang almost blurted out her question.

Fortunately, her remaining rationality stopped her. She hadn't figured out what was going on between Cui Jueyan and his sister yet, so she couldn't afford to break ties with him now, and she couldn't let Du Anrao become suspicious!

Du Lianshuang hardened her heart and bit her tongue, using the pain to force herself to calm down: "I ate too fast and bit my tongue."

"You bit your tongue?" Cui Jueyan asked anxiously. "Open your mouth so I can see? How could you be so careless..."

While nagging Du Lianshuang about her carelessness, Cui Jueyan had someone bring over the medicine.

His flawless professionalism impressed Du Anrao, who couldn't help but sincerely admire his superb acting skills.

[That's why they say true masters are often found among ordinary people! A handsome guy with eyes only for you—who wouldn't be bewildered? It's no surprise that someone who can win over a rich and beautiful woman and gain her trust is no ordinary person. If I hadn't gotten the script beforehand and had some divine intervention, I might have ended up like my aunt and the others, completely fooled by him.]

The matter between Cui Jueyan and Cui Dongmei is actually not that complicated.

The two were born in a very remote mountain village in D province, a place that was backward in many ways and where the locals were quite sexist.

Cui Jueyan's father had his fertility impaired due to some events in his early years, and he and his wife had been married for many years without having children.

As the couple grew older, they eventually gave up and followed the advice of relatives to adopt a child from nearby, hoping to provide for their old age and funeral.

In such a place with extreme patriarchal values, adopting a boy is almost impossible.

Unable to find a solution, the two eventually had to adopt a girl that no one else wanted, namely Cui Dongmei.

But a dramatic thing happened after that: three years after the two adopted Cui Dongmei, Cui's mother suddenly became pregnant.

The couple was overjoyed and even went so far as to consult a fortune teller in the village after their son was born.

The fortune teller probably meant well, fearing that the two would abandon Cui Dongmei after having their own child, so he said that she was lucky and had a brotherly bond, bringing them a son.

In addition, Cui's sister-in-law also advised her that since she had raised the child for so many years, she would be able to help with household chores when she was older. Furthermore, there was a local custom of raising child brides in the past, so keeping the child to be a wife for her son in the future or to marry her off and collect a dowry for her son to marry a wife was a good deal.

The Cui couple were persuaded and decided not to send Cui Dongmei away, but to keep her in the Cui family as a child bride.

(End of this chapter)