On the way back, he ran into his second brother Sun Jinghui’s car, parked at the entrance of a trendy restaurant. He turned in to say hello. Sun Jinghui jerked his chin toward the restaurant, “Came here with your sister-in-law to try the food, see how much better it is than ours.”

Sun Jingcheng told him, “The day after tomorrow on New Year’s Eve, I’ve arranged for someone to take family photos in the morning, don’t you guys forget.”

“I already saw it in the group chat, I’ll be back early the day after tomorrow morning.” Sun Jinghui smoothly removed the sports watch from his wrist and tossed it to him, “Bought it on impulse, can’t get used to wearing it.”

Sun Jingcheng caught it and put it on. The two brothers chatted briefly before each going about their business.

Sun Jinghui was not the Sun family’s biological son. He was the son of Sun Jingcheng’s aunt. When his aunt died from complications during childbirth, he was temporarily brought to the Sun household. At that time, Mother Sun had just given birth to the eldest son two months prior, and her milk supply was abundant, so they said they’d nurse him until weaning and then send him back. Who would have thought that before weaning was complete, his father had already remarried a stepmother who was pregnant.

The Sun family was furious but could only swallow this bitter pill, after all, their sister had already passed away. Mother Sun raised the child until he was a year and a half old without his father coming to take him, until his stepmother gave birth to a daughter. Only then did his father and grandmother come to the door.

The Sun family naturally didn’t give them a warm reception and even had an argument. The child cried until his voice went hoarse, refusing to leave with them no matter what. Mother Sun also cried her eyes out—after all, she had nursed him for a year or two and had developed feelings.

In the end, he didn’t leave. He was entered into Sun Youping’s household register, following the Jing generation name, and was named Sun Jinghui.

It wasn’t until Sun Jinghui was in elementary school that he learned he and Sun Jingyue didn’t have the same mother. Previously, Mother Sun had told him they were also a pair of twins.

Zhou Yu practiced badminton for two hours in the morning, then napped for two hours, finally going to the clinic to help out around three or four in the afternoon. As in previous years, Mother Sun would prepare all the New Year’s food on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. The three daughters-in-law would come over to take some, and they basically wouldn’t cook anything else themselves.

Following the usual pattern, eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law would both arrive right on time, waiting until Mother Sun had finished all the miscellaneous chores before coming over in the evening to pack up and leave. Because both of them had jobs, no one could really say anything. Zhou Yu was different—she had these few days off at year’s end, so it wouldn’t look good to also arrive at the last minute; it would seem too slippery.

But she also wasn’t willing to go help early in the morning, so she compromised by going around three or four in the afternoon. Mother Sun appreciated her gesture just the same.

When Sun Jingcheng returned home in the evening, buns were still steaming on the stove. One pot of leek, egg, and vermicelli buns had already been steamed, along with a pot of lamb and scallion buns, and a pot of yam and red date buns. Mother Sun stood there crimping the edges of the buns—different fillings got different crimps. Zhou Yu bent over rolling out the bun wrappers. Sun Jingfei shamelessly leaned against the kitchen doorway, munching an apple while making idle chitchat.

Several gift boxes sat on the table. Mother Sun said they were from her cousin’s son who had brought his wife for a prenatal checkup and stopped by to visit. She then chatted with Sun Jingfei, saying that in life, luck is very important. She’d never seen anyone as unlucky as her cousin’s son.

“He just opened a bathroom cabinet factory last year, but it shut down after two months because of the pandemic.” Mother Sun said while crimping a bun, “I heard it didn’t reopen until May this year. Your cousin is a good person with upright character, always speaking gently and politely. Anyway, his temperament is far better than you two siblings’, it’s just that his luck is too poor…”

“Isn’t his wife’s family business quite large?” Sun Jingfei replied to messages on her phone, asking absentmindedly.

“Having money is still her family’s business.” Mother Sun answered her, “They’re not going to give it to you, are they?”

“I wouldn’t want it even if they gave it to me.” Sun Jingfei put away her phone and continued munching her apple. “I don’t think his luck is bad at all. Their brothers’ business in Xinjiang is doing so well, it’s just that the factory didn’t work out because of the pandemic. You said it yourself—his wife’s family has helped him a lot, which is in itself a huge stroke of luck. People nowadays are so materialistic, the fact that he could marry his wife is, to put it bluntly… pure dumb luck.” She finished by pulling Sun Jingcheng into the conversation, “Right, little brother?”

“Sister, you don’t understand. Mom’s horizons have really broadened now.” Sun Jingcheng held a meat bun, leaning against the other side of the kitchen doorway. “In Mom’s eyes, all middle-class families are impoverished. Other people’s dogs all have better personalities than the two of us.”

“That’s really true.” Sun Jingfei pondered, “Hey little brother, tell me, decades ago our family were also poor farmers, so how did Mom’s horizons suddenly expand like this?”

“From TV, of course.” Sun Jingcheng replied, “Mom learned a new professional term—she thinks ‘impoverished population’ isn’t civilized, so she calls them ‘low-income families.’ Yesterday Mom said eldest brother and sister-in-law are low-income…”

“Both of you go away, stop blocking the doorway with your back-and-forth banter annoying me!” Mother Sun shooed them away. “Even a real estate agent makes more than your eldest brother.”

“Then tomorrow I’ll convince eldest brother to quit and become a sales… big brother at our development.” Sun Jingfei said leisurely, “At his age, he can only be a senior real estate brother…” Before she could finish, Mother Sun snatched the small rolling pin from Zhou Yu’s hands and chased her out. She’d never seen such children—not lifting a finger to help, just standing there flapping their gums.

Sun Jingcheng showed off to Zhou Yu, “Wife, you’ve worked hard.”

“Get lost.” Zhou Yu replied to him in a low voice. She was feeling miserable—these past few days playing badminton had made her arms so sore she could barely lift them.

Sun Jingcheng laughed heartily.

Over there, Mother Sun cornered Sun Jingfei in the bedroom and lectured her, “I’m just not going to bother with you. See how you’re spending New Year’s not going back to your in-laws’ house, loafing around here for what? You siblings just keep causing trouble. I’ve crossed more bridges than you’ve walked roads. There are some things I don’t spell out only because I’m too lazy to interfere…” Finishing, she didn’t wait for a response and turned back to the kitchen. Seeing that annoying pest still there, she shooed him out and shut the door.

With New Year’s approaching, Mother Sun’s heart was restless. These past two or three months, she hadn’t been sleeping well at night. The fourth son and his wife seemed fine on the surface, but two months ago she’d stumbled upon the two of them having a huge argument in their car. At the time, she hadn’t dared show herself. Some things were just between the young couple—they’d fight at the head of the bed and make up at the foot. Once elders got involved, the situation would be different.

As for the third daughter, she was even more worrying. Her son-in-law hadn’t come around for over half a month. Usually he’d come once a week to see Ke Yu. This year, the third daughter had no plans whatsoever to return to her in-laws’ house, and her son-in-law hadn’t shown up for her birthday a few days ago either. Mother Sun had a pretty good idea—she estimated the third daughter’s marriage was worse than she’d imagined. She kept it buried in her heart, not daring to ask, afraid that once she asked, the third daughter would just spill everything.

Aside from the eldest and second sons, these siblings and Sun Youping had never listened to her. She’d say east, the siblings would go west; she’d point west, the siblings would head north. Sitting under the Chinese parasol tree by the front gate on summer evenings enjoying the cool air, watching middle school students in uniforms pass by on the road, her mind would drift to these siblings’ various moments—sometimes feeling inexplicably proud, sometimes feeling annoyed.

Sun Jingcheng was shooed from the kitchen to the balcony, where Sun Jingfei was smoking a cigarette. It wasn’t that she couldn’t cook or that she was lazy—she just had too many trivial matters recently, too busy. In previous years when she went back to her in-laws’, either she’d be in charge of cooking or she’d be helping her mother-in-law. It wasn’t like Mother Sun said, just sitting there being served.

This period had been busy with various property transfer procedures, and she still had to find time to go back to the company for handover. Her resignation had been sudden. Originally her position had been taken by a colleague she’d tolerated for five or six years, using extremely underhanded methods. She was disgusted beyond measure and directly spat in his face across the conference table.

So satisfying!

Of course, for venting this momentary anger, she’d paid the corresponding price. But what’s done is done, nothing to regret. She’d always been someone who acted on her feelings, just that these years for work, she’d been suppressing her sharp edges.

Sun Jingcheng said she was hurting herself a thousand to kill the enemy eight hundred. Sun Jingfei didn’t care. She never planned to return to the workplace anyway. She was very clear about her workplace situation. Her education had always been criticized. No matter how senior she was, she could never rise to middle or upper management.

The siblings stood there whispering. Sun Jingfei said she’d found out who gave her the photos and hotel room number. It was the husband of the mistress Ke Yong was involved with.

“I despise this type of man most—cowardly yet vicious.” Sun Jingfei flicked her cigarette ash. “He sets himself up as the image of a good husband kept in the dark, instigating me to confront them.”

“What do you plan to do?” Sun Jingcheng asked.

“I won’t give him what he wants. I’ve been in the workplace for over ten years, I’ve got plenty of ways to kill without showing blood.”

Sun Jingcheng questioned her so-called methods, “But you still got kicked out…”

“Bullshit! That was one of my methods.”

“Sun Jingcheng, I’m not criticizing you, but your emotional intelligence compared to your wife is…” As she spoke, she heard Mother Sun’s laughter from the kitchen, and looked at him. “You heard that, right?”

Sun Jingcheng said proudly, “My relationship with my mother-in-law is also very harmonious.”

…

“This society doesn’t lack clever people. I’ve seen too many who play clever tricks.” Sun Jingfei said flatly, “It’s precisely because there are too many clever people, all taking shortcuts, that marriages and workplaces are fraught with danger.”

“For a woman to run a family well is very mentally draining and exhausting. Far more difficult than pursuing a career. The twists and turns, the trivial matters—none of it can be explained to outsiders.” Sun Jingfei said, “Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships, sister-in-law relationships, sister and brother-in-law relationships… any conflict in any relationship directly affects the marital relationship. The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is the most fatal.”

Sun Jingcheng didn’t understand her meaning.

“A woman who can handle all family relationships can generally do well in a career. But a woman who does well in her career can’t necessarily handle family relationships.” Sun Jingfei glanced toward the kitchen. “Throw your wife into the workplace, and she’d be just as successful, better than me.”

This sounded wrong no matter how you interpreted it. Sun Jingcheng said to her, “Why do you always want to provoke Zhou Yu…”

“I genuinely admire her from the bottom of my heart.” Sun Jingfei stubbed out her cigarette. “I admire women who can handle both family and career well.” She had her own sisters-in-law and sister-in-law, so she deeply understood.

Mother Sun’s laughter came from the kitchen again.

The siblings fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.

After a while, Sun Jingfei spoke again, “You two not running your marriage well is a personality issue. Even if you divorce, Mom won’t blame anything. I’m different. Even if I tell Mom the divorce was caused by Ke Yong’s infidelity, Mom will still think the responsibility lies with me. She’ll say I was too focused on my career, she’ll say my frequent business trips led to his affair. Not just Mom, but Dad too, even the entire circle of relatives will think this way.”

“Even if Ke Yu ultimately chooses Ke Yong, everyone will think it’s only natural. Even the lawyer thinks this way.” Sun Jingfei looked at him. “Because the child grew up with his paternal grandparents, and his father also provided long-term companionship—every single point indicts me for my failures as a mother. And I’m speechless, because that is indeed the fact.”

“And what makes it hardest for me to face is, examining my conscience, back then I pursued my career for myself first, secondarily for the family’s better life.” Sun Jingfei had no grievance, her tone flat.

She was simply someone with a strong career drive. Back when the child was weaned, she entered the workplace. She earned more money also just for a better life—there was nothing shameful about that. While pursuing personal value, she did indeed neglect the child, and she acknowledged this. But to admit that pursuing personal value was wrong—that she couldn’t do.

Things being what they were, even if time could flow back fifteen years, she would make the same choice, still entering the workplace after weaning. She’d just give more focus to the child, reduce ineffective socializing and business trips, spend more time with him, as much as possible.

She owed the child, but she owed Ke Yong nothing. Her logic was simple: if Ke Yong couldn’t tolerate her career ambitions and filed for divorce, she’d accept it—nothing to argue about. But if he couldn’t tolerate her career ambitions so he had an affair, then turned around and blamed her, that was vicious!

The most vicious thing in marriage is the so-called destroying someone’s heart. Clearly you’re the victim, yet in the end all relatives sympathize with the abuser.

The two were still chatting when eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law arrived one after another. After exchanging a few household pleasantries, they each took their things and left. Mother Sun said Zhou Yu had also helped all afternoon and was tired, urging her and Sun Jingcheng to go home.

Sun Jingfei rolled up her sleeves and tied on an apron, “You all go, I’ll do the washing up.”

“You finally know to lend a hand?” Mother Sun said to her.

“Mom, say one more word and I’m going back to my room to sleep.” Sun Jingfei was annoyed by her nagging.

She was capable of doing this. Mother Sun clenched her jaw shut, saying nothing more.

On the way home, the two didn’t rest idle—they started arguing again. Sun Jingcheng asked if she’d known about Ke Yong’s affair early on. Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment, saying she’d run into it last year.

Sun Jingcheng got angry, asking why she hadn’t told her sister, or at the very least told him. The implication in his words was that Zhou Yu didn’t consider his family as family.

Zhou Yu countered, “If you saw your close friend’s wife cheating, would you tell him to his face?”

“I would!” Sun Jingcheng said without hesitation.

“Then you’re an idiot.” Zhou Yu said calmly, “Your brotherhood would be over too.”

“You think everyone’s as selfish as you?”

“I worked hard all afternoon and I’m very tired, I don’t want to argue with you.” Zhou Yu raised a white flag. “Besides, it’s meaningless.”

“If this happened to your real sister, I would definitely tell you!” Sun Jingcheng was very serious about this.

“You’re just heartless. My sister has been so good to us!”

“Didn’t your sister find out even though I didn’t say anything?” Zhou Yu was annoyed by his droning on and on… droning on and on… endless droning.

“Is the nature the same?” Sun Jingcheng looked at her. “And you still think you’re right?”

“You’re clever, righteous, and genuine.” Zhou Yu said, “I’m selfish.”

“Stop talking to me.” Sun Jingcheng was annoyed with her.

Zhou Yu deliberately spoke, “Don’t always act clever and self-righteous. You think you’re being righteous, others think you’re there to watch the show.”

Sun Jingcheng covered one ear with his hand.

Zhou Yu opened the bag in her arms and pinched off a piece of fried hairtail to eat. “If you really told your close friend, he’d have no way to face you afterward. Precisely because your relationship is too good. Seeing through but not speaking through is also an art.”

“Only you play the reasonable moderate!” Sun Jingcheng looked at her nonchalant face. “Sun Jingfei is my sister, she’s my sister! She’s not an outsider!”

“Why are you yelling?”

“You just don’t have me in your heart! Don’t have my family in your heart.” Sun Jingcheng made the judgment.

The fish couldn’t go down anymore. Zhou Yu wrapped it in a tissue, preparing to throw it away.

Sun Jingcheng didn’t say a word.

The hairtail was something he’d remembered Zhou Yu loved to eat, so he’d specifically called Mother Sun in the morning to request it, which was why she’d fried it. In previous years, no one in their family ate it—they all found it too fishy.

Upon reaching the new district, Sun Jingcheng grabbed his racket and went to the sports center. Zhou Yu didn’t bother with him either, packed up her clothes and went to take a bath.

She didn’t think she was wrong. Put yourself in their shoes—if Sun Jingcheng had an affair and someone saw it, then that person specifically came to tell her, she would think they were there to watch the show.