Shadow and Light: The Bride Who Clicks Her Way to Love-Chapter 137 - 138: Barbed Words

But in front of Mr. Lu and the matriarch, she couldn’t scold Su Xingyu, feeling stifled.

At the head of the table, the matriarch looked kindly at Su Xingyu, "Good child, eat more, look how thin you are."

Su Xingyu had no reaction, but everyone around was shocked—over the years, they had only seen the matriarch’s reserved and stern side, when had she ever shown such concern for any of the Lu Family descendants? Not even Lu Yong or Lu Shifeng had received this treatment! They looked at Su Xingyu in disbelief, then at the matriarch, and some sharp-eyed noticed the white jade bracelet that had been a constant on the matriarch’s left wrist for decades was indeed missing. The familiar luster was now shimmering on Su Xingyu’s wrist.

Some quick-witted person chimed in: "Yes, Shifeng’s wife, eat more, and give birth to a chubby boy for the Lu Family soon."

Su Xingyu awkwardly smiled.

She hadn’t thought about having children yet; she had been with Lu Shifeng for so long, and her stomach hadn’t moved. To be honest, she felt quite relieved. She couldn’t imagine what a forced marriage would bring in terms of a child. Even though her relationship with Lu Shifeng had somewhat improved, it was only a slight improvement, and it was too early to talk about children.

But Lu Shifeng thought otherwise.

He slightly turned his head to look at her, his expression gentle.

Du Shuxian saw this and felt her anger boiling over. No, how could her grandson crawl out of the belly of a lowly woman? Her grandson’s mother must be a woman of noble status!

She couldn’t help but speak: "They’ve only been married for such a short time, what’s the rush? It’s not too late to have children in three or five years!"

The matriarch looked at her displeased, "I’m old, not sure if I’ll live to see the day I can hold my great-grandchild."

Du Shuxian protested, "Mom! You’re in such good health, you’ll live to a hundred! What are you talking about, I just had someone buy some blood swallow for you! As soon as it’s delivered, I’ll cook it for you."

The matriarch’s expression softened; after all, this was the daughter-in-law she personally chose, and despite her many faults, her filial piety was always there.

Su Xingyu lowered her eyes, keeping her thoughts to herself, not intending to engage in this topic. Coincidentally, a servant brought over a large platter of Golden Thread Crab, so she took one to peel, trying to cover up. Unexpectedly, this act gave Du Shuxian a chance to speak: "Su Xingyu, have you never seen crab before? So eager to eat? Put it down. In our Lu Family, there are specialized servants to peel crabs. As the young lady of the house, no matter how greedy you are, it’s beneath you to do it yourself! Aren’t you embarrassed?"

The rebuke left everyone quiet, all eyes were on Su Xingyu.

Su Xingyu felt very awkward. It was her first visit, how could she know there were so many rules? Holding a Golden Thread Crab, she hesitated; if she continued peeling, she feared breaking the rules; but if she put it down, it would really be embarrassing beyond words...

Just as she was indecisive, she heard Lu Shifeng’s cold, indifferent command in her ear: "Peel it for me."

"Ah? Oh." She instinctively responded, realizing suddenly, he, he...

Was he helping her out of an awkward situation?!

She glanced at him, seeing his indifferent face calm and unrippled, as always stern.

Beside her, Du Shuxian was furious, her reprimand was interrupted by her son like this, it was outrageous! "Which of the servants doesn’t peel better than her?" Du Shuxian reprimanded Lu Shifeng with a mother’s authority, "Look at her, doesn’t even know how to use the crab-eating tools, how well can she peel? If you want to eat, have Mrs. Xiang and the others peel for you!"

Su Xingyu’s face turned slightly red, only then noticing that not far away were several servants holding trays, likely filled with crab-eating tools, each one as exquisite as a work of art. One servant was elegantly and skillfully peeling a Golden Thread Crab with the tools from the tray, and the peeled crab meat was complete and good-looking, far superior to hers.

She looked at the crab in her hand, not even half was peeled after all this time.

What crab-eating tools? Du Shuxian was right, she really didn’t know how to use them, no, she hadn’t even heard of them before.

Amid the eyes around the table, either worried or watching for fun, Lu Shifeng said: "I love eating the crabs she peels for me."

A single sentence, firm and resounding.

Du Shuxian was left speechless, while Su Xingyu’s heart settled with his words.

It’s just peeling a crab, what’s the big deal about using tools? Hmph, she ate plenty of crabs before marrying into the family without using any crab-eating tools, where did all these rules come from! She grumbled internally, venting all her grievances on the crab, keeping her head down, focused wholeheartedly on peeling the crab.

The dining table quieted again, with a hint of concern in the matriarch’s eyes, and Mr. Lu wore an enigmatic expression.

Many people were watching Su Xingyu peel the crab, as if it was the only thing in the world that could capture their attention. Suddenly, Lu Shixu lightly laughed: "Sister-in-law’s crab peeling skills are almost half as good as Mrs. Xiang’s. Mrs. Xiang used to work at a crab farm, a real expert at serving crabs, now sister-in-law is helping out by serving, reducing Mrs. Xiang’s workload."

The implication was equating Su Xingyu to a servant. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Su Xingyu felt uncomfortable, but didn’t want to make a scene in front of the entire family, so she continued placing peeled crab meat onto Lu Shifeng’s plate while jokingly saying: "Your brother says men are to work outside while women take care of home, it’s only right I take care of him. But if it were someone else, like you, dear brother-in-law, even if you piled gold and silver mountains before me and begged, I wouldn’t serve you."

Lu Shixu replied with a sarcastic smile: "I’m not married, I don’t understand the men-work-outside, women-take-care-of-home concept, but I’ve seen grandpa and grandma love each other their whole lives, with grandpa taking great care of grandma, not bearing to let her dirty a single finger, quite unlike you and my brother." He was pampered under Mr. Lu’s knee since a child, with a lively nature and sweet mouth, winning Mr. Lu’s favor, thus he spoke freely.

But Su Xingyu dared not speak of Mr. Lu and the matriarch, despite her grievances, she kept her head down peeling the crab.

The crimson crab shell shimmered before her eyes, and she heard Du Shuxian’s cutting remarks: "Shixu, your words aren’t right, how could your grandma’s noble status be compared to Su Xingyu? Let me tell you, people from humble backgrounds know themselves that they can’t match my son, naturally they should humble themselves."

A crab leg pricked Su Xingyu’s finger, making her wince in pain.

Her eyes began to sting, she had been giving way step by step, speaking up for her mother-in-law as much as she could, but her mother-in-law’s words were still piercing.

Suddenly, Lu Shifeng beside her grabbed her hand, making her feel a numbness at her fingertip as he brought it to his lips.