When my wife got to her dad, the tears just started streaming down his face.
This guy, who'd worked hard his whole life, looked like he just couldn't take any more.
"Lu Wan, you finally came to see your old man. You have no idea what I've been going through lately."
Right there, in front of my wife, my father-in-law was crying his eyes out, snot and tears everywhere.
I'd grown up with my wife, so I knew her family had it tough.
Years ago, her mom died pretty young from some incurable disease.
It's not easy for a man to raise two kids on his own, and because of that, my wife worked super hard when she was in school.
But her older brother, Lu Feng, was a different story. He didn't do well in school, dropped out early, saying it was to help the family out.
But I knew the truth – that good-for-nothing didn't bring a single penny home.
When my wife was in college, we could still contact each other sometimes, but I knew she was always working to support herself.
If I just had some innocent crush on my wife back in middle school, after college, I was head over heels for her.
Seeing all this, I really felt how small my own power was.
At least, I didn't have the ability to change their lives.
My wife was more worried about her dad's injuries. She asked, "Dad, where did they hit you?"
My father-in-law shook his head. "Actually, I'm not hurt anywhere. I was just so upset at home that I came to the hospital. That good-for-nothing son of mine is driving me crazy!"
Everyone knew that the "good-for-nothing son" he was talking about was his own son, Lu Feng.
Just then, Lu Feng suddenly knelt down in front of his dad and said, "Dad, I was wrong. Please forgive me!"
I shook my head to myself, thinking, "A leopard can't change its spots."
Usually, if Lu Feng was willing to kneel down to his father, the reason was simple: he wanted his dad to step in and solve his debts.
But my father-in-law was in his fifties, looking more like his sixties, having spent his whole life working himself to the bone for his kids.
Now that his kids were grown up, where was he supposed to find over half a million to pay off this debt?
Besides, even if this debt crisis was resolved, would that good-for-nothing change?
If something like this happened again, what would my father-in-law do? Would he have to give up his life for it?
So, I didn't think someone like that deserved any sympathy.
Actually, I understood what was going on. My father-in-law was really pushed to the limit by his own son. He didn't even want to go home anymore.
I could imagine the debt collectors blocking their door every day. How could they live like that?
Since I was married to his daughter, my wife's father was my father too.
I suddenly said, "Dad, if you're not comfortable staying at home, you can come stay with us. We don't have kids right now anyway. Having an elder around will make things livelier."
Hearing me say that, my wife gave me a weird look.
To be honest, our place was only about 60 square meters. It felt a bit cramped even for the two of us, let alone adding a father-in-law.
My father-in-law was a sensible man. He shook his head and said, "No way, I can't disrupt your happy life. Besides, I wouldn't be used to living at your place."
I knew my father-in-law was telling the truth, so I didn't argue.
My wife gave me another strange look. Even I wasn't sure what that look meant.
But then, something suddenly clicked in my head.
If my father-in-law wasn't injured, then the story about Pretty Boy beating him up was completely made up!
But my wife had rushed over and slapped Pretty Boy, and he didn't even look angry.
Could it be that because my wife was the goddess of our school, Pretty Boy felt honored to receive such a slap?
Actually, at that moment, I felt uneasy. I had a feeling things weren't as simple as I thought.
And then, for some reason, Pretty Boy hadn't left. He was still hanging around the ward.
At this point, the logic in my head was getting a bit jumbled. I didn't understand why Pretty Boy was doing this.
Could it really just be about that debt of over half a million?
Just then, I placed the nutritional supplements I had bought one by one next to my father-in-law's bed.
Actually, I felt a bit sad while doing this because my father-in-law's bedside table was completely empty.
Clearly, no one had come to visit him since he was hospitalized.
My father-in-law waved me over and said, "Zhao Jian, come here. I have something to tell you."
Back when I was pursuing Lu Wan, my father-in-law was strongly against it. In his eyes, Lu Wan was a golden phoenix, and she could never end up with a toad like me.
Now, his attitude towards me was exceptionally warm. I couldn't help but sigh at how things had changed.
I walked to my father-in-law's bedside. He held my hand and said, "Zhao Jian, actually, I wasn't very optimistic about you and Lu Wan at first. But after more than a year, I've started to trust my daughter's judgment. She chose a good husband."
Being praised directly by my father-in-law for the first time, especially in front of Lu Wan, made me feel a little giddy. But I still said humbly to my father-in-law, "Dad, don't worry. I'll take good care of Lu Wan for the rest of my life."
This was the honest truth from my heart, and I also wanted Lu Wan to hear it.
I secretly glanced at Lu Wan's expression and noticed that she looked very calm, without any sign of being touched.
A goddess should have her own style, not easily revealing her true thoughts.
Then, Lu Wan spent some time chatting with her father about everyday things. The sky quickly darkened.
Maybe Lu Wan realized it was getting late. She stood up and said to her father, "Dad, I'm going back now. I'll come see you again when I have time."
My father-in-law's eyes seemed to show reluctance towards his daughter. He held Lu Wan's hand, as if unwilling to let go.
Thinking about it, it made sense. He couldn't rely on his son, so he could only count on his daughter.
I figured that was why my father-in-law was being so exceptionally kind to me now.
When my wife stood up to say goodbye, she suddenly said to Pretty Boy, "Take good care of my dad."
Hearing that made me feel a bit lost.
My wife didn't even trust her own older brother. She was putting her trust in a thug like him.
Clearly, Pretty Boy's purpose here wasn't to get money from Lu Feng, but to keep an eye on my wife's parents.
For a hoodlum to have such patience was way beyond my expectations.
And the fact that he didn't retaliate when my wife slapped him – what was going on?
Pretty Boy didn't answer my wife's question. He didn't show any emotion.
Just as my wife was about to turn and leave, Lu Feng suddenly spoke, "Little sister."
My wife turned her head back, looking at Lu Feng with cold eyes, like she wanted to devour him.
But Lu Feng didn't care. He said to my wife, "Little sister, I'm really short on cash these days. Could you lend your big brother some money first?"
I looked Lu Feng up and down, knowing he must be going through a tough time.
Before my wife could even open her mouth, I took out all the three thousand-odd yuan in my pocket and shoved it all in front of Lu Feng.
Lu Feng's eyes lit up when he saw the money.
Honestly, I really looked down on people like him.
When we were leaving the hospital, my wife kept complaining to me.
"Zhao Jian, are you made of money or something?"
I knew my wife was still upset.
"No matter what, he's still your older brother. Could you just stand by and watch him struggle?"
My wife instantly went silent. I immediately understood that she still had feelings for her brother.
Sigh, I was just trying to make my wife happy and ended up pretending to be richer than I was. That five thousand yuan was given to me by the boss's wife this morning, and I'd spent it all in one day.
Now I finally understood what it meant to spend money like water.
When we got home, my wife went straight into the bathroom to take a shower.
I remembered when we first got married, we used to often take showers together, but it had been a long time since we did that.
Could it be that my feelings for my wife had faded?
But I knew in my heart that I loved my wife even more than before because I thought she was the most amazing person.
I secretly made up my mind that with a thoughtful and caring husband like me here, no one would be able to steal my wife away.
But as the old saying goes, life is mostly filled with disappointments. The more I wanted to protect my wife, the more it seemed like fate was against me.
At ten o'clock that night, my phone rang.
Actually, after getting married, I would usually turn off my phone at ten o'clock because I was afraid of disturbing my wife's sleep.
In my memory, my wife's sleep quality wasn't very good.
But today, because we went to see my father-in-law, we went to bed late.
So, I hadn't turned off my phone in time, and trouble followed.
Because my wife answered the call.
Ever since I had dealings with Gu Xiaofei, my wife seemed particularly sensitive about my phone calls.
Actually, seeing my wife like this made me a little happy because it showed that she cared about me.
But the person calling gave me a headache. It was actually Gu Xiaofei.
My wife had been in a good mood, but after receiving this call from Gu Xiaofei, her whole demeanor changed.
"I don't understand, why are you calling my husband so late?" my wife suddenly said into the phone.
Faced with my wife's questioning, Gu Xiaofei sneered and said, "It's so late, you can call other men, so why can't I call your husband?"
Even I felt that Gu Xiaofei's words made no sense. It seemed like she was deliberately trying to cause trouble.
But at this moment, I saw my wife's face gradually change. Clearly, she was very angry about this.
"Gu Xiaofei, please have some self-respect. There's nothing going on between Mr. Zhang and me."
Although my wife's words were calm, I knew in my heart that she was suppressing her anger.
Having been with my wife for over a year, I knew she didn't easily show her emotions, but if she really exploded, probably very few people could handle it.
If I let them continue talking like this, my wife's anger would erupt sooner or later.
Seeing that things weren't right, I quickly said to my wife, "Give me the phone, let me talk to her."
Originally, I wanted to give Gu Xiaofei a good scolding to prove my innocence, but it was already too late because my wife's anger had completely exploded.