madnovel Chapter 544 - 421: Closer as Family (2)
Chapter 544 - 421: Closer as Family (2)
After a moment, Xu Hongdou teased again.After speaking, she glanced at Zhao Heng and Xu Man Ni, her gaze somewhat meaningful.
"What are you looking at me for..."
Xu Man Ni rolled her eyes at Xu Hongdou.
Once they came out of the cinema, they checked the time; it was already 10:40.
The evening had been quite fulfilling; they had hot pot and watched a movie.
By the time they got home, it was already past eleven.
Xu Man Ni was a bit tired and went to rest after washing up.
Zhao Heng wasn’t sleepy yet, but he didn’t want to disturb Xu Man Ni in the bedroom, so he took his laptop and sat on the living room sofa.
"Brother-in-law, why aren’t you asleep yet? Didn’t you say you have work tomorrow?"
Seeing Zhao Heng coming out with a laptop, lounging on the sofa, Xu Hongdou, appearing quite relaxed, asked Zhao Heng curiously.
She was also in shorts and a T-shirt now, as it was nighttime and in midsummer, she was getting ready to rest soon.
"I’m not sleepy yet, and I have some data to process."
Zhao Heng said casually, glancing at Xu Hongdou, sitting cross-legged on the sofa with the laptop on his legs.
"Let me see what you’re working on?"
Xu Hongdou leaned over to look at Zhao Heng’s computer screen.
"What, I can’t understand any of it."
After a pause, Xu Hongdou said disinterestedly. Zhao Heng was dealing with a highly professional clinical database, which also involved some programming, and as an arts graduate from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Xu Hongdou naturally couldn’t understand it.
"Hmm... Can I give you a suggestion?"
Zhao Heng suddenly said.
"What suggestion?"
Hearing this, Xu Hongdou was curious about what Zhao Heng would say.
"Can you not lean over so abruptly? My heart can’t take it."
Zhao Heng said calmly, glancing at Xu Hongdou.
Xu Hongdou leaned over so suddenly, and the angle was such that Zhao Heng couldn’t handle it.
"Come on, I didn’t lean over suddenly."
Xu Hongdou said with a slightly red face.
It was because Zhao Heng made her feel like family lately that Xu Hongdou hadn’t noticed these things. Now that Zhao Heng mentioned it, she realized Zhao Heng, besides being her brother-in-law and considered half a family, was also a very normal man.
Some actions indeed weren’t suitable for excessive closeness.
However, Zhao Heng bringing it up made Xu Hongdou feel more at ease.
"I’m like this with my sister too. You’re part of the family, so there’s nothing wrong with it."
Xu Hongdou justified herself.
"Alright, as long as you’re happy."
Zhao Heng said in slight resignation. For both emotional and logical reasons, he had to remind her. Seeing Xu Hongdou’s attitude, she seemed likely to stay with them for a long time, perhaps much longer than Zhao Heng expected.
So, since they were living together long-term, Zhao Heng naturally wanted to make sure they got along well and didn’t create any drama that could affect their relationships.
"Is my sister really asleep? Why does she sleep so early?"
Xu Hongdou asked again.
"After a busy day, she’s naturally tired and wants to sleep early."
Zhao Heng replied.
"So, is it because my sister went to bed early that you’re out here working?"
Xu Hongdou asked curiously.
Under the same roof, some things couldn’t be completely avoided.
The soundproofing in the apartment was good, but when emotions ran high, there could still be noise.
"What does your sister going to bed early have to do with me being out here working?"
Zhao Heng asked, puzzled.
Where is this coming from? What kind of logic is this?
"Oh, I mean, my sister’s tired today and went to bed early, so you probably can’t fall asleep on your own."
Xu Hongdou, unable to say it directly, hinted around.
Recently, Xu Hongdou accidentally came across several questions and answers with quite a few comments and likes on a forum.
For instance:
[Living with your sister-in-law, should you avoid suspicion?]
[Do men really have thoughts about their sisters-in-law?]
[Have there really been so many stories about brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law throughout history?]
[What is it like to have a pretty sister-in-law?]
These types of questions and answers opened Xu Hongdou’s eyes. Although many of the answers were anonymous and their truth unknown, Xu Hongdou combined many highly-rated responses. The general consensus was that men would naturally be interested in beautiful women, but very few actually acted on any interest in their sisters-in-law.
After all, real family relationships are quite fragile and cannot withstand tests.
Xu Hongdou naturally had no thoughts about Zhao Heng. After all, Xu Man Ni was still quite important to her.
But at the same time, Xu Hongdou greatly enjoyed the comfortable and pleasant feeling of being around Zhao Heng, especially since she had never been in a relationship and this was her first time living closely with a man.
So, Xu Hongdou wanted to test Zhao Heng a bit to decide if she should continue staying there. She really didn’t want to be the reason Xu Man Ni and Zhao Heng’s relationship faced any problems.
Men are nothing compared to a sister.
"So what are you trying to say?"
Zhao Heng looked up at Xu Hongdou, picking up on the underlying testing in her words. He wasn’t a fool; he could figure it out.
"Actually, brother-in-law, I’m just saying, in this household — my sister, you, and I — our family dynamic is pretty good. I find it quite comfortable."
"You know, my parents weren’t around much growing up, so my sister’s been my biggest supporter, and you and my sister are so good together. I genuinely see you as family."
Xu Hongdou thought for a moment and said sincerely.
"I think of you as family too, what else could it be?"
Zhao Heng said a bit helplessly upon hearing this.
Of course, he considered Xu Hongdou family; what else could he possibly think?
In ancient times, there were cases of sisters marrying into the same family.
But this is modern times; situations with sisters sharing a husband, while they do occur, are very rare and only under very specific circumstances.
"I was just casually asking, you know. I saw many questions and responses on Zhihu about how brothers-in-law have thoughts about their sisters-in-law."
Seeing Zhao Heng’s response, Xu Hongdou felt more at ease, feeling like their family bond had grown closer.
"You really believe what’s on Zhihu? Those answers are anonymous, aren’t they? If something really happened, would they have the guts to post it with their real name?"
Zhao Heng said with a chuckle.
On forums, if you don’t earn more than ten thousand a month, you’re not seen as qualified to surf the net, let alone believe what’s said there.
"That’s true."
Xu Hongdou thought it over. This was a common issue in the modern information age — there were simply too many channels for information, and often, people couldn’t effectively discern the truth of the information they received.
Many fabricated stories seemed real to those lacking experience and knowledge.
"In reality, situations like you described do exist, but they happen in very remote areas, particularly in the past when life was extremely difficult. I’ve heard stories from back home where two brothers would marry one woman, or two sisters would be with one man."
"But that was decades ago."
Zhao Heng reflected and said.
"Those really existed?"
Xu Hongdou was shocked.
"What did you expect? There are also some local bosses back home who build five-story houses, with each wife living on a different floor, and they live peacefully without bothering each other."
Zhao Heng added slowly.
"Huh? That’s so outrageous."
Xu Hongdou found it hard to imagine such things happening, feeling like reality was even more absurd than fiction.
"So, don’t overthink things all day. Just live well and try not to worry your sister. As for me, having your sister is quite enough."
Zhao Heng said calmly.
That’s truly how he felt. He wasn’t a player, nor was he adept at handling complex relationships. He wasn’t about to create trouble for himself in his already good life.