The Humility of the Live-in Son-in-Law

The Lin family mansion.

7:00 PM, time for the family dinner.

The Lin family had many rules.

There were at least two family dinners a week, and the whole family was required to attend.

Old Madam Lin had said that a family should act like a family; no matter how busy they were, they had to sit down and eat together.

Tonight's dinner had a few more people than usual.

The uncle and aunt from the second branch of the Lin family brought Lin Hao, and there were also a few distant relatives from the third branch.

Along with Old Madam Lin, Lin Ruobing, and Lin Tian, who was serving the dishes.

Over a dozen people sat around the large circular table.

It was lively and bustling.

But this liveliness had nothing to do with Lin Tian.

He wasn't at the table.

He was shuttling back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room.

Serving dishes.

Scooping rice.

Pouring wine.

Clearing bowls.

Wiping the table.

For three years, he had played this role at every family dinner.

A servant.

No, worse than a servant.

Servants at least got paid.

He received nothing.

Lin Tian walked out of the kitchen carrying the last plate of braised fish.

As he passed the dining room door, Lin Hao's voice drifted out.

"Grandma, let me tell you a joke. I was out drinking with friends today, and someone asked me, what does your brother-in-law do?"

"I said my brother-in-law is the best househusband in all of Jinling! Top-notch cooking! Top-notch laundry! The only thing he can't do is make money!"

Roars of laughter erupted from the table.

The uncle from the second branch slapped the table in laughter.

The aunt covered her mouth, amused.

The distant relatives from the third branch joined in the jeering.

"Haozi has such a wicked tongue!"

"But it's the truth, hahahaha!"

Old Madam Lin held her teacup, frowning slightly, but said nothing.

In her eyes, Lin Tian was indeed useless.

The only reason she agreed to let him marry into the family was because Lin Tian's mother had saved the old master's life, and this was a way to repay the favor.

But a favor is just a favor. It had been three years, and this son-in-law had shown no ambition whatsoever.

A piece of trash is a piece of trash.

Scolding him a bit wasn't going too far.

Lin Ruobing sat next to Old Madam Lin, eating with her head down.

She didn't laugh.

But she didn't speak up to stop them either.

Not because she didn't want to.

But because she couldn't be bothered.

In the past, she would have said a few words in Lin Tian's defense, like "Haozi, stop messing around."

Later, she realized it was useless; Lin Hao would just mock him again next time.

And most importantly, her own meager desire to protect Lin Tian had completely worn away.

Three years.

A man who hasn't earned a single cent in three years, doing laundry and cooking at home every day.

Any woman would be disappointed.

Lin Ruobing wasn't a saint.

She would get disappointed too.

Utterly disappointed.

Lin Tian walked into the dining room carrying the braised fish.

The laughter abruptly stopped.

Not out of awkwardness.

But because no one cared.

Lin Tian placed the fish on the table and stepped aside to stand.

His place was not at the table, but on a small stool to the side.

A short plastic stool that didn't match the round table.

This was arranged by Old Madam Lin.

"A live-in son-in-law isn't considered an official member of the Lin family, sitting to the side is fine."

It had been like this for three years.

Lin Tian sat on the plastic stool, a bowl of white rice and a small dish of pickled vegetables placed in front of him.

The delicacies on the table had nothing to do with him.

He lowered his head and ate, bite by bite, very slowly.

"Hey, brother-in-law!"

Lin Hao started again.

Holding his wine glass, he swayed over to Lin Tian, bending down to get close to his face.

"Tell me, as a grown man, don't you find it humiliating living like this every day?"

Lin Tian chewed his rice without looking up.

"I'm just eating my food."

"I'm not talking about eating!"

Lin Hao slapped Lin Tian on the shoulder.

"I'm talking about you as a person! Look at you! Dressed like this, living like this! My sister is such an outstanding woman, she must have been blind to marry you!"

Lin Tian's chopsticks paused for a second.

Then he continued shoveling rice into his mouth.

"What Young Master Hao says is true."

"You're still smiling! You can still smile!"

Lin Hao's voice grew louder as the alcohol hit him.

"Let me tell you, Lin Tian, listen to me well! My sister will divorce you sooner or later! When that happens, get the hell out of the Lin family! Roll back to whatever godforsaken hometown you came from!"

"Stop making a fool of yourself in Jinling!"

The dining room fell silent for a moment.

Old Madam Lin coughed.

"Hao'er, eat your food, stop messing around."

Her tone wasn't heavy.

She wasn't really criticizing Lin Hao.

She just felt the scene was a bit unsightly.

Lin Hao scoffed and staggered back to his seat.

Lin Tian kept his head down, continuing to eat his white rice and pickled vegetables.

From beginning to end, his expression hadn't changed at all.

Not angry.

Not aggrieved.

Not arguing back.

Even the rhythm of his chopsticks hadn't faltered.

Like an emotionless statue.

Lin Ruobing sat at the table, watching the entire process of Lin Tian being publicly humiliated.

Her chopsticks stopped in mid-air, her lips pressed tightly together.

She couldn't say what she was feeling.

Three years ago, she might have felt a trace of sympathy.

But not anymore.

Sympathy requires a foundation.

The foundation is "he deserves sympathy."

But does a man who hasn't shown any ambition in three years deserve sympathy?

Lin Ruobing couldn't think of a reason.

She put down her chopsticks, picked up her wine glass, and took a sip of red wine.

Just then, a talkative Third Aunt among the distant relatives suddenly spoke up.

"Ruobing, I heard you've been getting quite close to that young master from the Shen family lately?"

The air in the dining room shifted slightly.

Lin Ruobing put down her wine glass.

"President Shen is a business partner of Lin Logistics. It's just normal business interaction."

"Business interaction?"

Third Aunt dragged out her words, a gossipy gleam in her eyes.

"But I heard that a couple of days ago you went to the Shen family villa alone and stayed for a whole morning? And someone saw you taking Young Master Shen's car to visit some base in the suburbs? Just you alone, just the two of you."

As these words came out, the looks in several people's eyes at the table changed.

Lin Hao chuckled.

"Yo! Sis, Shen Fei? He's the crown prince of Jinling!"

He nudged the cousin next to him with his elbow.

"If my sister gets together with Shen Fei, wouldn't that make me half a Shen family member too? Hahahaha!"

"A hundred times better than being with my trash brother-in-law!"

Laughter erupted once more.

More unbridled.

More arrogant.

Lin Ruobing's face darkened.

"Lin Hao, watch your mouth."

Her voice was cold enough to freeze water.

Lin Hao shrank his neck back a bit, but still muttered under his breath.

"I'm not wrong..."

The dining room fell quiet again.

Old Madam Lin scraped the lid against her teacup, glanced at Lin Ruobing, and said nothing.

But the meaning in that look was very clear.

Getting closer to Shen Fei wouldn't be a bad thing.

At least it was better than this current useless son-in-law.

Everyone was looking at Lin Ruobing.

Not a single person looked at Lin Tian.

Because he wasn't worth looking at.

But if someone had glanced at Lin Tian's face at that moment, they would have noticed something terrifying.

He was smiling.

Not a bitter smile.

Not an awkward smile.

But an extremely chilling smile, with the right corner of his mouth slightly turned up.

His right hand rested on his knee, his five fingers rhythmically tapping his kneecap with extremely slight movements.

One tap.

Two taps.

Three taps.

Like a countdown.

His gaze shifted from his rice bowl, briefly sweeping toward Lin Ruobing's direction.

Not looking at Lin Ruobing.

But at the phone Lin Ruobing had placed on the table.

The phone screen lit up.

A WeChat message preview popped up.

The sender's contact name consisted of two words.

Shen Fei.

Only a small snippet of the message was visible.

"President Lin, I had someone compile the technical white paper for the AI sorting system we toured last time. Tomorrow..."

The rest of the message was cut off.

But Lin Tian saw those two words.

Shen Fei.

His fingers stopped.

All five fingers clenched tightly at once, his nails digging into the fabric near his kneecap.

The material let out a faint tearing sound.

Then he lowered his head.

He continued eating his plain white rice.

He picked up a pinch of pickled vegetables with his chopsticks.

Stuffed it into his mouth.

Chewed.

Swallowed.

His expression was as calm as a placid lake.

But the chopsticks in his hand were trembling slightly.

It wasn't out of fear.

He was suppressing his murderous intent.

Shen Fei.

It was Shen Fei again.

He had hijacked his operation. Saved his woman.

And now he was getting closer and closer to his woman.

Meanwhile, all Lin Tian could do was sit on a plastic stool, eating plain rice and pickles, listening to this bunch of ants mock him for their own amusement.

Fine.

He would remember it all.

Every joke.

Every eye-roll.

Every sneer.

He remembered every single one.

In two days, these people would learn that they would have to pay for every laugh they shared tonight on their knees.

As for Shen Fei.

Lin Tian swallowed his last bite of rice.

He put down his chopsticks.

Stood up, and silently began clearing the dishes.

He said one sentence in his heart.

Just one.

"You touched my woman."

"In two days, I will carve out your heart with my own bare hands."

Carrying a stack of bowls, he walked into the kitchen.

He turned on the faucet, washing the dishes.

The rushing sound of the water masked everything.

...

At the exact same time.

The Shen family villa, in the study.

A new notification popped up on Shen Fei's system panel.

[Eye of Fortune Monitoring Report: During the Lin family banquet, someone publicly mentioned the relationship between the Host and Lin Ruobing. Lin Tian was present the entire time.]

[Lin Tian Emotion Fluctuation Detection: Murderous intent index has soared to the danger threshold!]

[Lin Tian's hatred value toward the Host has reached the maximum level!]

[Warning: Lin Tian's military operation may be advanced! Originally estimated to take three days to assemble, it may now be compressed to two days or even less!]

Shen Fei looked at the red warning text.

It had been moved up.

Jealousy and anger made people lose their patience.

Lin Tian could have used three days to make much more thorough preparations.

But now he couldn't wait anymore.

Because for every extra day he waited, Shen Fei grew one step closer to Lin Ruobing.

That feeling drove him far crazier than losing twenty-three billion.

Shen Fei picked up his phone.

He sent an encrypted text message to his uncle.

[The timeline might be moved up. Please accelerate the deployment.]

Ten seconds later, a reply came.

[In position. Ready to respond at any time.]

Shen Fei put down his phone.

He leaned back in his chair.

And closed his eyes.

The storm was coming faster than expected.

But he was already prepared.