No, no, this has gotten way out of hand! (Please vote for this chapter)

Knowing that Feng Jiayou had not yet read the letter, how could Mother Feng possibly let her see it now? If she did, wouldn't her resentment toward her sister deepen even more?

She put the letter away and showed it to no one.

By dinner time, everyone had mostly returned home. Even the second sister-in-law, who rarely stayed over, was there.

Sun Juan had been quite conflicted recently. When her sister-in-law Feng Jiayou suggested that her husband help tutor her in the evenings, she was initially shy and couldn't accept it. But after reflecting on how difficult it was to be a daughter-in-law in the Feng family, she reconsidered during several visits to her parents' home. Besides, tutoring wouldn't be private—her sister-in-law Feng Jiamo would join as well—so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.

With that thought, Sun Juan came home today, intending to ask her brother-in-law to help her with her studies, as her preparations for the exam were becoming increasingly strenuous.

But who could have expected this? As soon as she arrived, she heard that the youngest sister-in-law, Feng Jiamo, had secretly written a love letter to her brother-in-law behind her sister's back and behind the family's back.

Stunned and alarmed, Sun Juan dared not mention tutoring that evening.

She also wondered inwardly, just how much charm did that country-bred brother-in-law possess?

She knew all too well! Her sister-in-law Feng Jiayou, after repeated tutoring sessions with that man, eventually couldn't resist and ended up in his bed, returning to the city with a pregnant belly.

Now the youngest sister-in-law was following suit—she hadn't even been tutored for two days and was already secretly writing love letters to him!

Goodness, what were these sisters after?

Forget it! Sun Juan's wavering interest in being tutored by her brother-in-law was immediately extinguished. She truly feared ending up like her two sisters-in-law.

Who knew what hidden allure he had? As soon as someone studied with him, something outrageous seemed to happen!

If, as a sister-in-law, she too fell under his spell and did something even she was afraid of, how could she go on living?

"Mom! Dad! I'll say it again—I really didn't write it!"

At the dinner table, Feng Jiamo, still indignant and aggrieved, declared, "I'm sure it was Zhu Shan who wrote it! Mom, was the letter's opening like this?"

Holding her rice bowl in her left hand, Feng Jiamo stuck her chopsticks into the white rice and looked up at her mother, reciting the part about sneaking a cat, roughly as it was written.

Zhu Shan was Feng Jiamo's deskmate. Recently, she'd been seen writing love letters to Feng Jiamo's brother-in-law, the author of "Wrangler," Lao Xu.

When Feng Jiamo discovered this, Zhu Shan hid the letter and refused to admit it. Feng Jiamo had even mentioned it to her sister, always asking whether Lao Cheng had received any readers' letters, especially from her classmates—Zhu Shan in particular.

So Feng Jiamo suspected that Zhu Shan had secretly written a love letter using her name.

The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

With such a plaintive defense, her eldest brother, Feng Jiaozhao, sister-in-law Ke Yumei, and second sister-in-law Sun Juan all looked to Mother Feng.

Father Feng, too, glanced at Mother Feng with a questioning look.

Mother Feng still held the letter; no one else had seen it.

As for dinner, Cheng Xueming and Feng Jiayou, the couple, didn't dare show their faces.

A sister-in-law writing a love letter to her brother-in-law—what a scandal!

"You still insist you didn't write it?! Feng Jiamo… I could just kill you!"

Mother Feng's expression changed from bewilderment to extreme anger as she rose, truly ready to punish her wayward child.

She could recite the contents of the letter herself, yet here Jiamo was, feigning innocence.

"Mom, if the opening is really like that, then it's definitely Zhu Shan. She must've secretly used my name!"

"Right! Look at the handwriting! The envelope is mine, but the letter inside is hers. I truly didn't write that to Lao Cheng!"

---

Seeing her mother's reaction, Feng Jiamo knew for sure that it was Zhu Shan who'd used her name to write the love letter.

Well then!

A girl who usually seemed so quiet and gentle dared to write a love letter to a stranger behind everyone's back.

If you want to write, fine—but why use Feng Jiamo's name?

Didn't Zhu Shan know Lao Xu, the "Wrangler" author, was Jiamo's own brother-in-law?

And now, it had turned into a huge mess: sister-in-law writing a love letter to her brother-in-law?

It was too much! Not only had it thrown the house into chaos, but how could she continue to mooch off Lao Cheng for roast duck and a spot on his bike?

"Are you sure you didn't write it?"

Mother Feng, seeing her daughter's adamant denial and insistence that it was Zhu Shan, began to wonder if she'd misjudged.

"Mom, how many times do I have to say it? I didn't write it!" Feng Jiamo, now emboldened, continued, "I know perfectly well that Lao Xu is Lao Cheng! With the way Lao Cheng is, would I write him a love letter? Besides, he's my brother-in-law! If I wrote that, wouldn't my sister beat me to death?"

"It was Zhu Shan! Last week, I noticed her acting sneaky and caught a glimpse—she was writing a love letter!"

"I think I even told my sister about it, so she could laugh at Zhu Shan when Lao Cheng got the letter!"

"Mom! It was really Zhu Shan—I wouldn't lie to you!"

"If you didn't write it, then you didn't. What's wrong with your brother-in-law? From now on, stop calling him 'Lao Cheng'!"

Mother Feng shot her daughter an angry look. "Whether it's Zhu Shan or not, after dinner, we'll go to Old Zhu's house together and confront her!"

Despite Jiamo's defense, Mother Feng remained half-convinced. Zhu Shan, the girl in question, was Old Zhu's second daughter—a neighbor in the same alley, not far away.

To get to the bottom of it, she'd go to Old Zhu's house and ask face-to-face.

"Confront her, then! I didn't write it anyway!" Feng Jiamo pouted, still defiant.

She hadn't done anything wrong, yet almost got slapped by her mother. She was still feeling aggrieved.

"Go call your sister and brother-in-law to dinner!"

"And remember, call him 'brother-in-law'! If you keep saying 'Lao Cheng,' I'll… tear your mouth apart!"

Uh?

Mother Feng's attitude toward her son-in-law today truly surprised Feng Jiaozhao, Ke Yumei, Sun Juan, and the others.

Wasn't she always the one who disliked her son-in-law most?

Normally, Jiamo called him 'Lao Cheng' left and right, but never before had Mother Feng issued such a warning.

Even Father Feng noticed the apparent shift in her attitude toward his son-in-law.

Perhaps it was because of "Wrangler?" More likely, it was the two manuscripts she now held.

"Sis, bro—brother-in-law, Mom says it's time for dinner! What are you two doing hiding in your room?"

"Sis, don't hit me! It was Zhu Shan—Mom just compared the handwriting. It was Zhu Shan, using my name to write Lao Cheng a love letter. I had nothing whatsoever to do with it!"

She still slipped and called him 'Lao Cheng'; it was habit, and she couldn't change it so quickly.

"Zhu Shan? Zhu Lin's sister?"

Feng Jiayou lifted her eyelids and asked calmly; her reaction was no longer intense.

Earlier, Cheng Xueming had analyzed it with her and concluded it probably wasn't Jiamo who wrote it. If she had, she wouldn't have been so lively lately.

Besides, she'd been eagerly awaiting readers' letters all day—if she'd written one herself, would she dare act so giddy in front of her older sister?

Moreover, she'd overheard the conversation outside and deduced it was likely Jiamo's deskmate, Zhu Lin's younger sister, Zhu Shan.

"Yes, it was Zhu Shan—she nearly got me into trouble this time!"

"Mom says we'll go to her house after dinner for a confrontation!"

---

Feng Jiamo bared her little tiger teeth, cute and fierce, beginning to act arrogant again.

Zhu Lin?

Though said in passing, it caught someone's attention.

Cheng Xueming, upon hearing the name 'Zhu Lin,' immediately recalled the 'Queen of the Women's Kingdom' from "Once Met, Forever Changed"—could this be her?

The queen's sister had written him a love letter?

"Mom, let it go! This isn't a good matter—there's no need to go to Uncle Zhu's and stir things up, making both families uncomfortable."

Feng Jiayou and Cheng Xueming entered the hall and, as soon as they sat at the table, Jiayou said to her mother, "Mom, give me the letter. I'll find time to talk to Shan individually."

Since it wasn't Jiamo who wrote it, Jiayou was indeed curious about the content of the letter—what could have prompted her mother to almost slap her youngest daughter?

"Very well." Mother Feng nodded, handing the envelope to Jiayou. "Her sister Lin just came back, didn't she? Shan is most afraid of her sister. Jiayou, you've been close with Lin since childhood. Give the letter to Lin and let her talk to Shan."

"Lin is back in the city?!" Jiayou's eyes lit up, excited. "It's been years since I've seen her—I'll make time to visit!"

"Yes, she just returned. I heard Old Zhu is helping her secure a job," Mother Feng nodded, shifting away from the topic of the letter.

Old Zhu's second daughter was remarkable—still in high school and already writing love letters to strangers, and to the Feng family's son-in-law, no less. Mother Feng resolved to have a word with Old Zhu about this.

"Zhu Lin is back? Then is Jiacheng coming back soon too?!"

Second sister-in-law Sun Juan's eyes also brightened, gazing hopefully at her parents-in-law.

Zhu Lin and her husband, Feng Jiacheng, had both been sent to the Yunnan construction corps. Now that Zhu Lin had returned to the city, would her husband be far behind?

"Jiacheng should be returning soon—likely before the New Year," Father Feng replied.

Recently, the educated youth had all been returning city by city, though it happened in batches. His youngest son, Feng Jiacheng, hadn't returned yet, but before the New Year, it shouldn't be a problem.

"Then we must hurry and secure Jiacheng's job in advance. Otherwise, with so many educated youth returning en masse, things will get complicated," Mother Feng agreed, turning to Father Feng.

"I'll see to it," Father Feng promised.

As a father, he would certainly pay attention to his son's return and employment. But with so many youth waiting at home for jobs, some networking was necessary.

Hearing that her husband would be home before the New Year, Sun Juan felt even more hopeful.

"Grandpa, Grandma, Mom—is Dad coming home soon?" the older child, Feng Liqin, asked happily.

"Yes, he is. Dad will be back in a while," Sun Juan replied, happily picking up her son, Feng Liwen, her joy obvious.

"Wonderful! Dad's coming home! My dad is coming home!" Feng Liqin, overjoyed, hugged her bowl and ran out.

"Mama, Mama! I want to go play with sister!"

The younger child struggled out of his mother's arms, wanting to chase his sister. Sun Juan had to let him go, calling after them, "Feng Liqin, slow down and watch your brother!"

"Old Feng, Xueming, I have something to say." Suddenly, Mother Feng glanced at Old Feng, then looked across at Cheng Xueming.

"What is it?" Father Feng asked, turning his head. Cheng Xueming also looked up.

"Mom, is this about what you mentioned earlier? What is it?" Feng Jiayou guessed—her mother had teased her about it earlier when they returned from school. Now she asked again, thinking herself clever. "Is it about Xueming's manuscript being published in October?"

Lately, their family's big issue had been her mother's obsession with that manuscript. Her mother's supervisor, Liu Xinwu, had hesitated, awaiting approval from above.

Apparently, approval had finally come.

"It's been approved!" Mother Feng smiled. "The ministry has given the go-ahead for publication! Also, the senior leader has invited Xueming to the ministry for a meeting tomorrow at ten o'clock. I'll go with Old Liu to accompany you."

...