To put it nicely, Chen Li was an autism patient. To put it bluntly, Chen Li was a fool – at least, that's what even the Chen family themselves believed.
Chen Li's existence was, for Chen Yunsheng, proof of his infidelity, a stain on his perfect marriage. For Mrs. Chen, he was even more of a thorn in her side, something she wished she could pluck out. The fact that Chen Li hadn't been kicked out of the Chen household was already a testament to Mrs. Chen's "mercy." How could she possibly treat him well?
One could easily imagine Chen Li's status and the treatment he received within the Chen family.
If an unrelated outsider were to speak impartially, they might think the Chen family was kind-hearted to have raised such a fool to adulthood.
But it was merely raising him to adulthood. After all, as soon as Chen Li turned twenty, they were already thinking of marrying him off. This was understandable, though. A fool from a wealthy family who contributed nothing – his only remaining value was in a business marriage, and that was only if someone was willing to take this fool.
No one knew what agreement the Chen family had reached with the Wei family, but the Weis had actually agreed to let Chen Li marry into their family, and moreover, to marry Wei Chen, the most outstanding member of the Wei family's younger generation.
Nobody knew what Old Master Wei was thinking; there was much speculation outside. The most popular theory was that Wei Chen had displeased the old master in some way, and this was a covert method of stripping him of his inheritance rights.
It wasn't just outsiders; even the Wei family members themselves thought so. For this reason, aside from Wei Chen's own branch of the family, the others were watching with schadenfreude, eagerly waiting for Wei Chen to battle against the old master and reject the marriage.
"Honestly, I kind of pity Wei Chen," one matron said, covering her mouth with a smile as she spoke. "He's going to have to marry a fool. I heard that fool from the Chen family can't even speak now. I wonder if he's also mute."
"I heard that too. Apparently, he locks himself in his room all day, doesn't understand what people say, and can't do anything. Last time he was told to run his own bathwater, he nearly flooded the Chen house. If the Chen servants weren't watching him, he might have even drowned himself."
"Really? Tsk, tsk. Then Wei Chen isn't marrying a wife this time, he's getting an ancestor! He'll have to keep him on a leash and attend to his every need, for fear that if he's not careful, the guy might dismantle the whole house."
"Then we should stay far away from that fool in the future. If he has another one of his foolish episodes, we, as his in-laws, will be the ones suffering."
"Listen to you! Hahaha..."
...
Whenever these people talked about Chen Li, it was always "that fool," as if they had forgotten his name entirely. Contempt oozed out from beneath the exquisite makeup of these wealthy women, making their beautifully adorned faces appear indescribably ugly in that moment.
Every word of their discussion drifted clearly into Wei Chen's ears. Because of his facial paralysis, his expression didn't change much, but his eyes grew increasingly cold. He stubbed out his cigarette, turned, and walked into the Wei family living room.
When the people engaged in this topic saw Wei Chen enter, perhaps feeling emboldened because they thought he was now a discarded son of the Wei family, or maybe believing that talking about the fool he was about to marry was a great way to undermine his dignity, they spoke louder and louder, their words becoming increasingly vile.
Wei Chen said nothing. He simply stared coldly at them, then, without a word, picked up a nearby stool and hurled it heavily at the group of gossiping women.
To hell with gentlemanly conduct. To hell with not arguing with women. If anyone dared to speak ill of Chen Li again, Wei Chen would fight them to the death!