Mommy Huang’s face stiffened. "My Zhou Ting is the one and only... Only Zhou Ting can help my son..."

"Zhou Ting is a good girl indeed. But, Mommy Huang, I’m afraid she might be hard to please, don’t you think?"

"..."

"Marrying too far above one’s station is ill-advised. I certainly wouldn’t want Li Zhen to be a mistreated Prince Consort. If Xixi were to like him back someday, they’d be a well-matched pair, from families of similar standing. Alas, what a pity!"

Huang Xiaojue had been "dating" Zhou Ting for nearly a year now, hadn’t he? Yet, to this day, his family hadn’t met her parents, the esteemed Zhou family. They hadn’t even received a single phone call, let alone dared to imagine being "summoned" for a meeting.

After all, with someone as busy as the Zhou patriarch, who would have time for ordinary people like Mommy Huang?

"Well, forget it. It’s easy to watch others carry a heavy load, but when you carry it yourself, it feels like your spine will break. Everyone has their own joys and sorrows to bear. Anyway, goodbye to you two."

Mommy Huang and her sister watched, stunned and fuming, as the mother and son departed.

Mommy Huang sneered, "Sister, what’s with your daughter-in-law’s aunt? Look at her, acting all high and mighty like a university professor, always looking down on us. Is Yan Xixi really all that?"

"Don’t even get me started. She’s always been like that."

"I really don’t know what sort of Love Potion Yan Xixi fed her."

"Haven’t you heard? She went to the shop to secretly check out Yan Xixi. Sigh, that woman is so scheming and manipulative. We can’t afford to provoke her. If Li Zhen really ends up with her, it’ll be a constant eyesore in the future."

This was what vexed Mommy Huang. She detested Yan Xixi, yet the woman was constantly in her face. Yan Xixi had finally broken up with her son, only for Li Zhen to suddenly appear. Wasn’t Yan Xixi doing this intentionally to spite her?

What infuriated her most was that Li Zhen was a Cambridge Doctor with a promising future. Why on earth would he fall for Yan Xixi?

"Forget it, Teacher Yang isn’t exactly a saint either," Mommy Huang’s sister said. "After Yang Wei’s incident, her family persistently urged Li Shanni to divorce my son. They claimed Yang Wei had a questionable character and that she should divorce him even if she didn’t get a single cent. They said being with Yang Wei would ruin her life... If Yang Wei’s dad and I hadn’t pleaded with her, almost to the point of kneeling, Li Shanni would have left. She only stayed for the children’s sake... sigh..."

Mommy Huang grumbled, "Having relatives like that is truly awful."

"Tell me about it! They even egged Li Shanni on, saying her parents’ house, car, and savings were all for her and the children, so she wouldn’t have to worry about a place to live if she divorced..."

"With relatives like that, you should really tell Li Shanni to keep her distance from them."

"What can I do? Li Shanni listens to everything they say. She said her aunt and uncle paid for her schooling from elementary through vocational school; she only didn’t attend university because she couldn’t pass the entrance exams. And Shanni’s parents—my in-laws—hang on that couple’s every word."

"What do they get out of acting like this? ’Better to demolish ten temples than ruin a marriage.’ They should be careful, or they’ll face retribution."

"That family was never any good. Take Yang Wei’s recent incident. It was only thanks to Zhou Ting pulling all sorts of strings that he even got probation. Now he just stays home, afraid to step outside. But that couple, Teacher Yang and her husband, what do they do? They gifted Li Shanni a car! Said they felt sorry for her, all the trouble of taking the kids to the hospital and whatnot. But the car isn’t even in her name; it’s in her parents’ names! Aren’t they just guarding against my son? Just a few days ago, Yang Wei wanted to use it for a bit. Li Shanni flat out told him it was a car her aunt and uncle gave her parents and wouldn’t let him drive it. I was so mad I could have burst!"

Once they were in the car and Li Zhen had started the engine, he drove for a while before chuckling. "Mom, I bet your comments really infuriated Auntie Huang."