Ji Nuan turned to glance at her, asking with a fake smile, "Auntie Shen, what"s wrong? You can"t even hold your chopsticks properly? Could it be that you ate too much of the medicine brought back from overseas?"
"What are you saying, Nuan Nuan. My hands accidentally touched the hot bowl of soup and trembled for a moment, that"s all." Shen Heru placed her chopsticks down, smiling at her calmly. "Nuan Nuan, in the past didn"t you always sit on this side? Auntie Shen especially sat here so that I could chat with you while we eat."
In her previous life, whenever she ate at the Ji home, she would always sit as far from Ji Hongwen as possible. She caused Ji Hongwen to be upset every time, and he would criticize her to no end at the table. Their father-daughter relationship kept worsening that way.
"Sitting here is quite good, I can chat with my father." Ji Nuan saw that the helper had brought the white wine Ji Hongwen often drank and immediately reached out to block the bottle.
"Dad, when mom was alive, she often said that your stomach is not good. It"s fine if you have no choice but to drink some when you"re working, but you can"t keep drinking at home!" as Ji Nuan spoke, she turned to the person behind her, "Auntie Qin, bring this wine away. In the future, if my Dad wants to drink during meal time, repeat every line of the words that my mom said to him back then!"
"All right, all right." Auntie Qin rushed over to take the wine away.
Ji Hongwen wanted to drink the wine, but Ji Nuan, that brat, has never cared so much about him.
He clicked his tongue. "Drinking is my only hobby in my entire life. You are even interfering with this!"
"Aren"t you clear about how your own health is like? With your body, you obviously can live to a hundred. For the sake of a few mouthfuls of wine, you want to reduce several tens of years from your lifetime, would that make you feel good?" Ji Nuan furrowed her brows as she said, "What"s the point of eating body supplements. I think if you don"t drink so much alcohol, everything will be fine!"
"Fine, fine, fine, you child. Either you act completely immature, or the moment you become mature, you can"t stop nagging." Ji Hongwen helplessly waved his hand, signaling for Auntie Qin who was at the side to bring the wine away.
Shen Heru, who could not get a word in for half a day, suddenly smiled and said, "After returning this time… Nuan Nuan has really changed quite a bit…"
Ji Nuan coolly glanced at her. "Auntie Shen, you"ve already been married to my father for so many years. Not only do you not care about his bad habit of drinking, but the relatives from your Shen family are also always sending wine here. Are you planning not to let go of my father"s stomach?"
"Nuan Nuan, you"ve misunderstood. You should also understand how stubborn your father is. How could I possibly have persuaded him…" Shen Heru maintained her smile but felt a greater apprehension toward Ji Nuan.
Earlier on, Ji Nuan even brought up her birth mother who had already pa.s.sed away for so long. Although her words did not sound sharp, it was clearly meant to bring trouble for her!
Ji Nuan curved her lips coldly. "Oh, you can"t persuade him to drink less, but you persuade him to take more medicine? I remember that your family is well-versed in medicine. You should know that taking too much medicine is bad for the body."
Shen Heru could not hold on well to her expression.
This Ji Nuan was really strange!
In the past, even if she did not like her as a stepmother, she never cared much about Ji Hongwen. When she was at home, she would always do her own thing and would never speak to her like this.
"Eat, let"s all eat. Nuan Nuan, don"t start bickering with your Auntie Shen the moment you come back." Ji Hongwen glanced at the table bereft of wine bottles and held in the thought to ask Auntie Qin to bring it back, quickly moving his chopsticks.
Back when Ji Nuan stayed at the Ji home, whenever the fight began it was always between him and Ji Nuan. Normally, Ji Nuan did not even look at Shen Heru.
Now that Ji Nuan was suddenly against Shen Heru, as the head of the family, Ji Hongwen really could not take the way these women argued with hidden words.
Shen Heru smiled. "That"s right, Nuan Nuan, your words are full of attacks. I find it hard to adjust all of a sudden. Your words are usually straightforward and sudden. I guess I"m used to that."
"Dad, I"m just nagging for Auntie Shen to care more about your health, how is this bickering? Isn"t it all for your own good?" Ji Nuan glanced at him with a face full of sincerity. "Are you unhappy that I"m worried for you?"
Ji Hongwen"s lips trembled. "All right, the problem is on me. I"ll drink less from now on."
Seeing that this family"s father and daughter were getting along so well, Shen Heru gripped her fists tightly under the table.
Originally, she had thought to use the opportunity to let Ji Hongwen lecture Ji Nuan for a bit. However, this Ji Nuan was becoming harder to predict. Her words always skipped past the real issue and made Ji Hongwen who rarely put down his ego to become soft with his daughter.
"Old Ji, Nuan Nuan words are right. You really should cherish your own body more. Things like alcohol, try to drink less when you can." Shen Heru quickly changed her almost angry expression from earlier, suddenly smiling and speaking softly.
Ji Nuan glanced at her without a hint of a smile.
This Shen Heru was also someone who could tolerate. Tolerating for so many years in the Ji family, was it not all for the final goal of fitting all of the Ji family"s money into her own pocket?
When she thought of the hatred in her father"s eyes during his last moments, Ji Nuan raised her foot under the table harshly kicking Shen Heru"s legs.
Wanting to pretend that the issue about the medicine was over? As if she would let her stay so calm!
"Ah!" Shen Heru was defenseless. Her calf bone was in a lot of pain, and she could not help but call out.
"What"s wrong with you? Can"t you eat calmly? At this age, yelling and crying like a ghost at the dinner table!" Ji Hongwen"s expression was ugly as he scolded.
Shen Heru never thought that Ji Nuan would do this to her. She felt wronged as she said, "Earlier on, I think Ji Nuan kicked me under the table. I"m not sure if it was on purpose. It"s because it hurt too much that I…"
"When did I kick you?" Ji Nuan"s expression was innocent. She then looked at Ji Hongwen whose eyes held rage. "Dad, I didn"t."
"You clearly did! Already twenty-plus-years old and you did such a childish thing! Everyone is sitting here, how could I wrong you?" Regardless of how much Shen Heru could tolerate, her legs were hurting to the point where she couldn"t take it. Ji Nuan clearly did it on purpose, and the area she kicked was the most sensitive area at the calf.
Ji Hongwen glanced down and saw that Ji Nuan"s legs were placed obediently by her chair.
In addition, Ji Nuan was wearing a long skirt that covered her legs. The skirt was long, and there were no signs of wrinkles. The skirt made it such that it could not be seen if she was wearing heels, but it indeed seemed like she did not make any large movements.
"All of you eat quietly. You are all grown adults, don"t act like children," Ji Hongwen spoke impatiently, glancing unhappily at Shen Heru.
Shen Heru was mad to the point where her face almost twisted. The calm expression that she maintained earlier was immediately used up. She harshly gripped her chopsticks tightly.
Ji Nuan calmly drank the soup that Auntie Qin served her.
Shen Heru, in the previous life you caused my father to die alone in the hospital bed. This debt between us, we will slowly repay it.