Tokyo: They say it's just dating, but they're serious about it.

He guessed that Katsuhiko's father must have been angered by Mrs. Kudo while they were in the car. He took his anger out on him while also subtly mentioning it to Mrs. Kudo in the back.

It would be good for her to hear it, but it can't be too obvious, lest she mistakenly think that I instigated him to say those things...

“Managing a household is easy,” Sheng Yan’s father sneered twice, then continued, “As long as you educate your wife to obey, there will be no problem with this household. If she disobeys, just beat her.”

Mr. Kudo nodded blankly and said, "I see... Aren't you afraid of being sued for domestic violence?"

Sheng Yan's father sneered again: "She dares to do it. We'll beat her every time she sues us. After a few more times, she'll submit."

The two didn't lower their voices, and Mrs. Kudo, who was following behind, glanced at Katsuhiko's mother.

Katsuhiko's mother blushed slightly, tightened her grip on Chika, and whispered, "It wasn't a real fight..."

Mrs. Kudo, considering that Chinatsu was nearby, shrugged and remained silent.

Mr. Kudo, who was in front of him, was at a loss for words.

Shengyan's father glanced at him again and said, "You should also act like the head of the family. If your wife doesn't listen to you, you should beat her."

Mr. Kudo glanced back subconsciously and gave an awkward laugh.

He dared not hit him. He had too many weaknesses he could use against him, many old grievances he had almost forgotten, which his wife would bring up from time to time, leaving him feeling frustrated...

Mrs. Kudo, standing behind, sneered without saying a word.

Sheng Yan's mother quickly whispered an explanation: "He's just bragging, don't take it seriously."

"I don't think so..." Mrs. Kudo thought to herself, pursing her lips. "Brainless brute, just wait and see how I make fun of you later."

It's the same large private room for ten people as last time. Since it's a meeting between two families, we naturally need to arrange two seats of equal importance.

There was no polite refusal or deference involved in the seating arrangement.

Katsuhiko's father sat down in the seat of honor with an air of nonchalance, then beckoned to Mr. Kudo to sit in the seat of honor next to him.

At this point, Katsuhiko's father no longer cared about saving face for both sides because it was their first meeting.

This trip to Tokyo was to discipline my son, stand up for my daughter-in-law, and incidentally get rid of Kotoha.

Putting aside the "suddenly inserted, already pregnant, vain mistress," Qin Ye's problem is also terrible.

As Sheng Yan's father had anticipated, both sets of parents would have driven Qin Ye away together. He couldn't believe that his future mother-in-law would actually recognize Qin Ye as her daughter.

Bringing up that "mistress who even has a child and is obsessed with vanity" again, the mother-in-law obviously knows about it, but she's pretending not to see it. Isn't that condoning her son-in-law's infidelity?

That little bastard was in the car with his wife on his lap, yet he dared to sit next to his mistress and even made advances towards the "improper" secretary in the front seat.

Morally corrupt, shameful.

Where did the problem lie? It was Mrs. Kudo's indulgence.

If the woman can't manage the household, her son will be spoiled rotten.

Before correcting his son's ways, we must first cut off his reliance on his wife, which means putting Mr. Kudo, who is afraid of his wife, into the position of head of the household to assert his authority as a husband.

Let's start with the seating arrangement...

Mr. Kudo was about to push Mrs. Kudo to the seat of honor. He had also sat in the seat of honor at the last gathering, essentially a puppet who didn't need to speak. But today's situation was different; if he tried to pretend to adjust his shirt, Katsuhiko's father would probably stop him…

At this moment, Mr. Kudo's expression became somewhat stiff.

Mrs. Kudo smiled and raised her eyebrows playfully, then made way for him, saying softly, "Can't you see? Hurry up and sit down."

Mr. Kudo chuckled awkwardly and slowly knelt down.

Katsuhiko's father was quite pleased with Mrs. Kudo's sensible manner and nodded to Mr. Kudo in encouragement.

After the two male elders sat down side by side, Mrs. Kudo and Katsuhiko's mother, who was holding Chinatsu, also sat down next to their respective husbands.

Next, Sayuri should sit next to Mrs. Kudo, and Katsuhiko should sit next to his mother.

Katsuhiko first made Sayuri sit down, then turned around and grabbed Kotoha, wanting her to sit next to Sayuri.

"What are you doing!" Katsuhiko's father slammed his fist on the table and yelled at Katsuhiko, "Tell me loudly what you're doing!"

The sound of the table being slammed startled Mr. Kudo, who quickly bent down to straighten his white shirt.

Mrs. Kudo smiled and glanced sideways at Katsuhiko.

Shengyan's mother gave him a stern look and winked at him, telling him to sit down next to her.

Katsuhiko pretended not to hear, after all, seating arrangements had already been made and the food was about to be served, and he didn't want to make him so angry that he overturned the table.

Then he pressed Kotoha down to sit next to Sayuri, pulled Eiyo to sit next to his mother, and then picked up Chinatsu, teasing her and whispering, "Let your mother come and sit down."

Katsuhiko's series of actions, neither long nor short, were enough for Katsuhiko's father to react and lose his temper, but Katsuhiko's mother held him back.

While pressing him down, Katsuhiko's mother gestured to Mrs. Kudo on the other side with her eyes.

Mrs. Kudo had a smile on her lips as she glanced sideways at Katsuhiko's father, looking like she was watching a good show.

Sheng Yan's father's eyes twitched, but he suppressed his anger and didn't explode.

The reason her son was so brazen was probably because of his mother-in-law's indulgence.

The main purpose today is to completely suppress the mother-in-law's arrogance and make the father-in-law the official wife.

However, he couldn't hold back his anger. He glanced at Kotoyo, Eiyo, and Mikoto, who was dawdling over, and snorted, "Those who are not involved should leave here quickly to avoid embarrassment later."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Mrs. Kudo suddenly said, "Hurry up and serve the food! I think Chinatsu-chan is hungry."

Katsuhiko then pulled Chika into Mikoto's arms and gestured for her to sit next to him, just like last time, in a spot near the door where he could serve tea and water.

Everyone was seated.

Katsuhiko's father's eye twitched, and he turned to look at Mr. Kudo, asking, "Kudo-kun, can we serve the food now?"

Mr. Kudo was still adjusting his white shirt when his hand trembled, and he chuckled awkwardly, saying, "You decide."

Katsuhiko's mother quickly chimed in, "Then let's serve the food!"

Sheng Yan's father glared and said, "When a man is speaking, what right do you women have to interrupt? Don't you know what occasion this is? Pointing fingers and making comments is unbecoming of a woman!"

Sheng Yan's mother shrank her neck, turned her head away, and stopped talking.

Mrs. Kudo pouted, nudged Mr. Kudo with her elbow, and raised her eyebrows, signaling him to have the waiter order the food.

Mr. Kudo immediately dismissed the waiter. Katsuhiko's father, with his sharp eyes, noticed this and immediately said, "Kudo-kun, you need to show some manly spirit! Don't always let women lead you by the nose."

Mr. Kudo nodded with an awkward smile.

Although the dishes haven't been served yet, the wine glasses have already been set out and need to be poured in advance.

Mrs. Kudo glanced at Kotoha and said, "Kotoha-chan, today is your sister Sayuri's engagement party, so I'll trouble you to pour the wine!"

Kotoha's eyes lit up with surprise. Just as she stood up, touching the wine bottle, Katsuhiko's father gave a heavy "humph" and turned to Katsuhiko's mother, saying, "Hurry up and pour the wine! As a wife, sitting next to your husband, how can you watch his wine glass be empty? Are you trying to rebel?!"

Sheng Yan's mother was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously picked up the bottle of shochu she was holding.

Mrs. Kudo chuckled through her nose, picked up the sake bottle beside her, filled Mr. Kudo's glass, and then shoved the bottle into Sayuri's hand, saying, "Go pour your husband some sake. If you don't, he'll suspect you're going to rebel! He'll beat you to death. He's very strict."

Sheng Yan's father's face darkened, and he seemed to be stuck, remaining silent for a long time.

Mrs. Kudo then gestured to Kotoha, who was standing there dumbfounded, and asked her to pour wine for Katsuhiko's mother first.

At this moment, Eiyo was being secretly played with by Katsuhiko, her body was tense and her mind was blank.

Mikoto, guessing that because of Chinatsu, she would probably be deliberately ignored by Katsuhiko's parents, was secretly pleased and willingly became a nobody.

Qinye, clutching the wine bottle, knelt down beside Shengyan's mother, trembling with fear.

Katsuhiko's father glanced at her, and Katsuhiko's mother instinctively reached for her wine glass to prevent Kotoha from falling over.

However, Katsuhiko tugged at his mother's sleeve and whispered to Kotoha, "Quickly call her 'Mom'."

Qin Ye blurted out, "Mom."

"Huh?" Sheng Yan's mother's face stiffened.

Suddenly, Sheng Yan's father turned around and sneered at Sheng Yan's mother, "What are you doing, blindly acknowledging a daughter? How can you face your own daughter? Morally corrupt, lacking manners, shameless, ill-mannered, and unable to manage a household!"

Katsuhiko's mother whispered, "I didn't..."

"You're talking back, I'm talking to you."

The sound wasn't very loud, but everyone in the room could hear it.

Kotoha quickly poured wine for Katsuhiko's mother and then immediately ran to Mrs. Kudo's side to pour her wine.

Mrs. Kudo's expression also darkened. She glanced at Katsuhiko's father and said to Katsuhiko, "Katsuhiko-kun, you must listen to your father. You will be the head of the family from now on. You must know how to manage the household. If Sayuri disobeys, beat her until she dares not speak."

Katsuhiko's father's face flushed red, and the wine glass he was holding trembled.

Katsuhiko suppressed a laugh and didn't respond, instead saying, "Chika-chan is hungry."

Mrs. Kudo continued, "If one daughter isn't enough for you to beat, I have another daughter, you can beat her too, right, Kotoha-chan?"

Qin Ye blushed, and after pouring the wine, she didn't dare to say a word, silently kneeling back down.

Seeing that things were not going well, Katsuhiko's mother quickly said to Mr. Kudo, who was still adjusting his white shirt, "Father-in-law, do you want to say something?"

Mr. Kudo's hand froze, his eyes looking rather blank, and he said, "You decide what to do..."

"What do you mean 'she can handle it'? What can a woman like her know?" Katsuhiko's father glared fiercely at Mrs. Kudo, shoved the wine glass into Mr. Kudo's hand, and continued, "You handle it!"

"Well, all the dishes are served..." Mr. Kudo swallowed, glanced at Mrs. Kudo, and then asked Katsuhiko's father in a questioning tone, "Everyone, please stop talking and enjoy your meal, okay?"

Mr. Kudo felt that if things continued like this, the table would definitely be overturned... and in the end, Sayuri would definitely be the one who got hurt.

Katsuhiko's father, with a dark expression, raised his glass and said, "In that case, cheers."

Next, only two voices remained at the banquet: Chika muttered softly, "I want to eat that," "I want to eat this," and then Katsuhiko's father, with a dark face, ordered Katsuhiko's mother, "Pour the wine!"

With each command he gave, he would glance at Mrs. Kudo, because he was drinking with Mr. Kudo, whose glass was empty.

Mrs. Kudo appeared quite calm, a smile always playing on her lips. She didn't put down the wine bottle, and secretly replaced it with water, continuously pouring it into Mr. Kudo's wine glass.

Sheng Yan's mother dared not change the water. Sometimes she poured too little, and Sheng Yan's father would glare at her, saying that she was "two-faced," "unfaithful," and "very wicked."

Katsuhiko's mother knew he was making a veiled attack, and gave Mrs. Kudo an apologetic look. Mrs. Kudo just smiled faintly, indicating that she didn't care.

Seeing his adoptive father drinking like this, Sheng Yan worried that he might die suddenly, so he added some [restoration potion] to the bottle. Sheng Yan's father then broke out in a cold sweat.

The toasting ritual was saved.

Katsuhiko's father felt he had a high alcohol tolerance, so he deliberately got Mr. Kudo drunk. Nine out of ten of his sentences were about "asserting the husband's authority," "a man should be tough," "look at how I manage my wife, you should learn from me," and "alcohol emboldens cowards, drink more."

Mr. Kudo nodded in agreement as he drank his water.