Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 103 - 102: How Long Can It Be Hidden

Chapter 103: Chapter 102: How Long Can It Be Hidden

Chen Shi curled his lips, continuing, "They also say that Mr. Chen is gentle and cultured, handsome and unique, with quite a few tricks up his sleeve, and upright as a person. That’s why the emperor took notice of him, and at such a young age, he was assigned as the governor of Dingzhou. Ah, a high-ranking official of the fourth grade."

Mrs. Zhang scoffed, "He drove away his original wife as soon as he became an imperial scholar, how is that upright? That he is crafty is indeed true."

Chen Shi said, "I had heard from a classmate that my sister-in-law was not driven away by Chen Shiying — oh, Mr. Chen. By the time he had become an imperial scholar and hadn’t yet returned to the countryside, his mother had sent my sister-in-law back to her family." His voice dropped a little lower as he added, "I heard, Mr. Chen went to search for her at her family’s home after he returned to the countryside, but she had already married my brother."

Mrs. Zhang glanced out the window again before turning around and whispering, "My dear, I’ve always felt that my sister-in-law was a good person, knowledgeable and reasonable, with great loyalty. You can tell from the way she treats my brother. But she had stayed with Mr. Chen for ten years, raising him by herself, she must have developed some feelings, right? How could she be sent back to her family and married to my brother just ten days later? Even if her stepmother forced her, she shouldn’t have been willing to marry another man so quickly? Especially considering my brother’s situation." A possibility suddenly occurred to her as she widened her eyes, "Ah! My dear, my sister-in-law gave birth to Afu just over seven months after marrying my brother ... Afu, who is incredibly handsome, looks nothing like you Chens ..."

Chen Shi had heard from Mrs. Chen and Chen Ye long ago that Afu was not Chen Ming’s biological daughter. They also said that it would be even better if Mrs. Wang was pregnant. At that time, Chen Ming was nearing his end, surely unable to consummate the marriage. If Chen Ming didn’t survive, there would still be a descendant. Mrs. Wang was indeed a fortunate woman and quite capable. Not only did she cure Chen Ming’s illness, she had been supporting the family with her embroidery work, and a few years later, the two of them had a son.

Therefore, Chen Shi truly appreciated Mrs. Wang and respected her as a resilient and remarkable woman. He had always treated Chen Afu as his own niece, even when she was still mentally handicapped, he never looked down on her.

The fact that Chen Afu wasn’t Chen Ming’s biological daughter was a huge secret of the Chens, known only to Mrs. Chen, her three sons and Mrs. Wang who was involved. Chen Shi would definitely never reveal it, even to his own wife.

Hearing Mrs. Zhang’s words and seeing her look at him with curiosity, Chen Shi scowled and said, "What are you imagining? Of course Afu is my brother’s own daughter, she was born prematurely because my sister-in-law had a fall during her pregnancy." He added cheekily, "Why isn’t it possible for Afu to look like the Chens because she’s handsome? Your father only agreed to marry you off to me because he thought I was handsome."

When Mrs. Zhang saw her husband getting angry, she shut her mouth, but deep down, she was more convinced.

Chen Shi visualised the exceptionally handsome face of Chen Shiying, which slowly overlapped with the face of Chen Afu. The two of them looked too alike. Now that Chen Shiying was back in Dingzhou, anyone who saw him and Chen Afu at the same time, and knew about Mrs. Wang’s background, would definitely guess their relations.

He wondered how long this secret could be kept.

A few years ago, Chen Shi and Chen Ming were studying in the town and had seen Chen Shiying once during a poetry festival in Sanqing County. Back then, Chen Shiying looked exactly like current Chen Afu. Handsome and exceptionally talented, he was the object of everyone’s envy and was said to have many admirers among the girls ...

Chen Shi said to Mrs. Zhang, "In the future, don’t call him Mr. Chen again, calamity comes from the mouth. Regardless of whether or not you like him as a person, he is now the authority here, holding power over our lives. Never be disrespectful to him. If others hear it, it will bring bad luck."

Mrs. Zhang was startled and quickly responded, "Alright, from now on I’ll call him Mr. Chen."

Chen Ming sighed and added, "Never speak about Mr. Chen being the governor here. My sister-in-law has been having a hard time these years, and her life has just started getting better, don’t upset her."

Mrs. Zhang replied, "Even if you don’t remind me, I wouldn’t casually mention that in front of her."

What they didn’t know was that Chen Afu was in another space, listening to their conversation.

Chen Afu wanted to spend some time in the space. But with Alu in the ear room, Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Wang were in the kitchen, Dabao was leading Qi Qi and Hui Hui in the courtyard, and there were even people in the guest room. So she took the opportunity when nobody was around to go to the empty hall, and disappeared into the space.

She leaned against an agarwood tree and watched Jin Yanzi bumbling along building her "gold house." Watching the sparks flying from Jin Yanzi’s mouth as she would occasionally eat a leaf and drip some green juice. Some of the juice came together to form a small piece of bird’s nest, some held gold together, it was quite an interesting sight.

She watched for a long, long time, and was about to leave when Mrs. Zhang entered the room, so she had to stay inside a little longer. Unexpectedly, she heard this bit of gossip.

She recalled Mrs. Chen’s appearance, who was about fifty years old, had a triangular eyes, thin lips, deep wrinkles, she looked harsh and mean. Mr. Chen didn’t resemble his mother at all, he probably looked like his father. It seemed that the old hag was the one who destroyed their happiness.

That old witch was too terrible, for the sake of her son’s prestige, she bought Mrs. Wang to be her daughter-in-law since childhood to bring good luck, and for the sake of her son marrying a lady of higher status, she drove out the pregnant Mrs. Wang.

She was unsure whether Mr. Chen truly wasn’t involved or if it was for his reputation that he let his mother handle it...

Anyway, it didn’t matter how it happened, that man was no longer related to Mrs. Wang or her family. As soon as they returned to the countryside, he would no longer concern her.

Having thought of this, Chen Afu decided that whether Chen Shi would accompany her or not, she must visit the dental clinic tomorrow, buy the land and return to the countryside as soon as possible.

She only left the space and returned to the ear room after Chen Shi and Mrs. Zhang had left the hall.

The midday meal was very sumptuous, not only did they have their home-brewed meat and vegetables, they also made a radish and bone marrow soup. Now that they had money, the quality of Chen Shi’s family’s meals had also increased, with meat every day. But generally, they made more dishes for dinner, because their youngest son was back and the family was together. As for today’s midday meal, they made five or six dishes, even the brined chicken hearts meant for sale were brought out, half a plate of it, this was the first time.

During the meal, Chen Shi kept urging Mrs. Wang to eat more, saying that thanks to her raising such a wonderful daughter, their family found a more profitable livelihood and also got to know the steward of the senator’s mansion. He additionally signalled Mrs. Zhang to serve Mrs. Wang more meat.

Chen Afu felt that Chen Shi must respect Mrs. Wang’s resilience and sympathise with her plight, hence such treatment. Chen Shi was the same as Chen Ming, both were good men. In the future, not only would she consider Chen Ming as her real father, but Chen Shi would also be her real uncle.

Seeing the somewhat aged Mrs. Wang, Chen Afu felt a lump in her throat, she also kept giving her the best dishes.