The conversation suddenly veered off course, and Shen Weimin found he had no part to play. He'd been determined to prove he was the one in charge.
But then Aunt Bai unexpectedly jumped in, followed by that show-off, the second Xu great-aunt, who masterfully cut off whatever the first great-aunt was about to do next.
My wife had her back to her great-aunt, so she must not have noticed the woman's expression, which was putting on a vivid performance of a remarkably rich inner monologue.
But me?
I happened to see the whole thing.
A moment's thought, coupled with my memories from my past life of how Wang Cuifen always tried to take advantage of Changqing without ever wanting to humble herself and ask nicely, made it all perfectly clear.
It wasn't that she was malicious or couldn't stand to see others succeed, just as Changqing had said. She was simply using her seniority as an elder. She wanted to ask for something but was afraid of the shame of being rejected.
