Chapter 0039: A Change in Mentality
When it comes to family, why should wealth be the only measure of a person's worth?
Is money really that important?
If he had a choice, Li Bin would much prefer a family atmosphere that didn't care so much about money, but focused more on kinship.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, the only thing on everyone's mind was houses, cars, and money.
Where was there any room for family ties?
If you had no money and no prospects, everyone would lecture you, mock you, and look down on you.
If you were rich and successful, they would all fawn over you, trying every trick in the book to take advantage of you.
This made Li Bin feel no sense of family affection at all.
His wife, Wan, on the other hand, never looked down on him when he was poor. Now that he had earned so much money, she didn't seem particularly proud or happy either. Instead, a constant look of worry was etched on her face.
Watching Shen Han relentlessly show off how excellent her son-in-law was, Shen Yun felt more and more displeased. For so many years, hadn't the Du family always been the ones lording it over the Wen family? She never would have imagined that today, this live-in son-in-law, who had always been so useless, would be the one to bring honor to the Wen family.
After dinner, Wen Wan and Wen Ting helped Shen Han clear the table. They then brought out a table full of fruits and snacks, brewed some tea, and they all sat down together.
Because of what had just happened, the atmosphere between the two families was rather awkward.
In the past, the three members of the Du family would have probably started lecturing Li Bin out of habit, putting on a high-and-mighty act and scolding him, urging him to hurry up and get a job.
But today, as the two families sat together, they discovered they had nothing to talk about.
For a moment, the scene became incredibly awkward.
"Hmm? Where's that little girl Wen Ting today? I haven't seen her all day." Perhaps to break the awkward silence, Shen Yun suddenly asked with curiosity.
It was only then that Li Bin remembered that his younger sister-in-law, Wen Ting, was already on summer break. How come he hadn't seen her all day, and she still wasn't home yet?
"That girl, she said she's on summer break and went to a classmate's gathering. Don't worry about her. Kids these days, they're just something else. I wonder if that girl can even get into Tsinghua or Peking University this year..." Shen Han waved her hand and said with a laugh.
"Oh... hehe, well, we won't stay any longer today. We have some things to attend to at home, so we'll be heading back." Shen Yun exchanged a glance with her husband, Du Jianjun, and stood up with a smile to say their goodbyes.
"What? Leaving so soon? Stay a while longer. You rarely come over, we should have a good chat! Didn't Yinyan say she wanted to ask your brother-in-law for advice on writing a book?" Shen Han was finally able to hold her head high, and how could she bear to let her sister's family leave now? She warmly tried to persuade them to stay.
"No, Auntie. Yinyan and I are going out, so we won't disturb you." Du Bin, the motormouth, hadn't said a single word throughout dinner, his face ashen. He had been wanting to leave for a long time. Hearing Shen Han's offer to stay, he immediately refused.
"It's fine, it's fine. If you have things to do, you should go. We can visit your home another day. If Yinyan wants to write a book, she can ask me for advice anytime." Li Bin couldn't wait for this family to leave.
"Brother-in-law, can I add you on WeChat? If I have any questions in the future, I can ask you for advice on there!" Yu Yinyan said innocently, holding up her phone and looking at Li Bin with a hopeful expression.
"Of course." This was exactly what Li Bin had been waiting for. He immediately took out his phone and added Yu Yinyan on WeChat with a smile.
Watching the family shuffle off and get into their car, Wen Lan couldn't help but let out a "Pfft" of laughter. "Brother-in-law, you were so cool today! You finally stood up for our family! Let's see how they can act so superior from now on! Seeing them look so defeated just now, I was overjoyed!"
"Xiao Bin! You did well! Yesterday when you told me you wanted to buy me a Benz, I thought you were just humoring me. I never imagined you'd quietly earned so much money! Your father even wanted you to come work at his place yesterday. His crappy factory's yearly salary isn't even worth a month of your manuscript fees! You silly child, why didn't you say so yesterday? You must have felt so wronged!" Now, Shen Yun looked at her son-in-law with growing satisfaction and affection. She affectionately held Li Bin's hand and asked with a smile.
"It's not that much money. I didn't want to say anything. I was planning to tell you all after I bought you the Benz, to give you a surprise. But Uncle and Auntie's words were just too harsh. It's one thing to bully me, but they actually had to bring you and Wan into it, so I couldn't hold back. I don't have to give them face, but Father-in-law is my father-in-law after all. How could I talk back to him to his face?"
Li Bin said to Shen Han with a sincere smile.
"Good child! You're so thoughtful! It's truly Wan's blessing to have such a good husband. And for your father-in-law and me to have such a good son-in-law, we must have accumulated blessings over eight lifetimes!" Looking at Li Bin's sensible and filial appearance, Shen Han's eyes welled up with tears. She was indescribably happy in her heart.
[Affinity with Shen Han: +20 (80 Intimate)]
[Affinity with Wen Lan: +2 (93 Intimate)]
As soon as Li Bin spoke, not only did his mother-in-law's affinity increase significantly, but even his sister-in-law, who was standing to the side, gained 2 points of affinity.
Truly, good fortune lifts one's spirits.
Ever since he got the system, Li Bin felt that his entire mentality had changed.
Coupled with the 1 million reward he just received, having money in his pocket not only improved his mood and boosted his confidence, but even his speech had become more and more eloquent.
*****
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