Rong Dai looked at Huo Shao Ting's back. His tall body looked cramped lying on the sofa.
She shifted her numb body a little and felt much better after a while.
She had originally wanted Huo Shao Ting to come back and sleep on the bed while she took the sofa, but he had his back to her, clearly not wanting to talk.
She sighed lightly and also turned to go to sleep. There were still things that needed handling tomorrow.
She had to conserve her energy given that Mother-In-Law was clearly very annoyed and who knew what battles awaited at first light tomorrow.
Rong Dai slept exceptionally well that night since she didn't have to sleep on the sofa. She barely dreamed and woke up naturally early in the morning.
This time she didn't forget that Huo Shao Ting was still in the bedroom. She turned and looked towards the sofa, and as expected, Huo Shao Ting was no longer there. The bathroom was silent, so he had likely gotten up very early.
She glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was just past six.
She thought about it. Last night’s matter was very serious.
Although it was Huo Shao Ting who had made Mother cry, the real culprit was the original owner, her current self.
Huo Shao Ting was their elder brother. No matter how much they fought, they were still family. To them, she was just an outsider.
Whether Huo Shao Ting had intentionally or unintentionally caused the situation last night, the matter had already blown up. She could only try to resolve it now.
With these thoughts swirling in her mind, Rong Dai got out of bed and quickly washed up before going downstairs to the kitchen.
"Mrs. Wang, what's for breakfast today?" she asked, seeing Mrs. Wang busy cooking breakfast in the kitchen. She wanted to pitch in and do something as well.
After all, the way to one's heart is through their stomach. No matter the circumstances, she had to show willingness.
As for the original owner’s prior actions, she could only deal with them one by one. Getting through the present hurdle came first.
Mrs. Wang saw that she was up so early and replied, "The lady and young miss like millet porridge, the young master likes soy milk. They're all simple breakfasts. The kitchen is smokey, my lady should go wait outside."
Rong Dai looked at Mrs. Wang adeptly operating the appliances in the kitchen. She still insisted on helping with breakfast after thinking about it.
Seeing her determination, and recalling Lu Zheng’s angry expression when she returned upstairs last night, Mrs. Wang guessed something must have happened.
She didn't reject Rong Dai's offer, and the two got busy in the kitchen.
By the time Rong Dai carefully prepared breakfast, she was drenched in sweat.
"Mom, Shao Jie, Mei Shu, you're up!"
She happened to see the mother and children coming down the stairs just as she exited the kitchen. Huo Mei Shu looked haggard, with swollen red eyes, having evidently cried hard last night.
Lu Zheng's face was gloomy, and even Huo Shao Jie looked solemn.
Seeing their expressions, Rong Dai felt a chill run down her spine, her body tensing up instinctively.
"Humph, don't call me mom. I'm not worthy of it, am I?" Lu Zheng shot her an icy look, anger still evident in her voice.
"What are you saying, mom? Let's all come eat breakfast first. I'm not very skilled in cooking, so I don't know if it will suit your tastes." Rong Dai quickly placated her with an apologetic smile, pulling out chairs and looking eagerly at Lu Zheng.
Mrs. Wang echoed in agreement, "That's right, the lady got up early to make breakfast in the kitchen. She worked very hard."
Huo Mei Shu looked at Rong Dai in disgust. "Since you don't know if it will suit our tastes, then don't make it. Even your ingratiation is so perfunctory."
Rong Dai's smile grew strained. This little sister-in-law clearly harbored immense resentment towards the original owner.
Of course she knew her skills were taught by the head chef, so she was well aware of their quality.
She had only been modest in her words. She didn't expect it to become fodder for Huo Mei Shu to provoke her.
"Mei Shu, I know you were wronged last night, but can you give me a chance to explain?"
Huo Mei Shu crossed her arms over her chest, looking at her contemptuously and mockingly. "Explain? That's great, I'll give you that chance today. Go ahead and explain properly."
Rong Dai was taken aback, a sense of futility welling up inside. If she could explain things clearly now, the situation last night wouldn't have happened in the first place.
"Let's have breakfast first. This is sister-in-law's good intentions." Huo Shao Jie quickly smoothed things over, seeing her predicament.
"Good intentions? Her intentions may be good, but are ours trash? Such great intentions, you all go ahead and eat. I certainly won't!" Huo Mei Shu scoffed coldly before turning around and heading upstairs, not giving Rong Dai an ounce of face.
Rong Dai felt a little helpless. This little sister-in-law would be difficult to handle.
It wasn't that she lacked means, but that she still didn't fully understand everything that was going on. She didn't dare make reckless moves for now.
"Mom, Shao Jie, have a little something first. I'll go upstairs and see how she's doing."
Although Huo Shao Jie knew what had happened last night, he was also aware of what the elder sister-in-law had done previously.
And elder brother had been too harsh with his words last night as well.
But seeing Rong Dai so obsequious now in order to curry favor with Huo Mei Shu, he suddenly felt that perhaps they had gone too far as well.
"Mom, sit and eat first. Don't get involved in these matters." Huo Shao Jie sat down and looked meaningfully at Lu Zheng.
Lu Zheng had only heard the gist of things, but with her daughter aggrieved like this, how could she not be furious?
Yet seeing Rong Dai's current state, she also felt a little sympathy.
She wasn't the sort of unreasonable mother-in-law who liked to make things difficult. She just hoped her daughter-in-law would treat her son well.
Of her three children, she felt she had wronged her eldest son the most.
So even when she disliked Rong Dai initially, since her son had agreed to the marriage, she didn't object.
After Rong Dai joined the family, she also properly fulfilled her mother-in-law role and didn't interfere in the young couple's affairs.
But she didn't expect them to sleep in separate rooms right after getting married, and the things Rong Dai did really chilled her heart.
However, she seemed to have had a change of heart these past few days, even displaying improvement. And last night...
Recalling the scene she had accidentally intruded on in their bedroom, she didn't want to complicate matters further. So she sat down to have breakfast.
"Rong Dai, I hope you understand, once you married into this family, you became one of us. Divorce is unheard of in the Huo family. I only hope you can get along well with my son. As for these matters, I won't interfere, but if you can't handle them properly, even if it means offending the whole Huo family, I won't keep you in this household."
Seeing Rong Dai still standing there after sitting down, Lu Zheng decided to make things clear.
Huo Shao Jie frowned slightly and glanced at her, so Lu Zheng fell silent and started eating breakfast.
Hearing these words, Rong Dai finally felt relieved. As long as her mother-in-law wasn't too upset, everything else could be discussed.
"I understand, mother." She nodded and replied very seriously.
