Chapter 15

Chapter 15

That evening, I discovered the reason behind my father-in-law’s explosive rage.

Earlier that day, before Li Muzhou left the house, he had hurriedly called out “Mom,” but my father-in-law hadn’t heard him.

My father-in-law had been busy filming a variety show all day and hadn’t had a moment to check his social media feed.

It wasn’t until a reporter visited the set for a live stream that the issue came to light. The reporter asked him:

“Every time you appear in the public eye, you speak at length about your deep affection for Teacher Zhou Lixuan. Some netizens say you’re intentionally using your late wife to build a ‘persona’ and using the deceased to gain traffic. Everyone knows that shortly after Teacher Zhou passed away, you were already living with your current wife. How can you call that deep affection?”

“Are you asking such a pointed question just to gain traffic yourself?” My father-in-law chuckled, thinking he was being humorous.

He was asked this kind of question often and was well-versed in handling it with ease.

“I have said many times that missing my late wife and accepting a new relationship are not mutually exclusive.”

The reporter pressed further:

“But if you love someone deeply, how could you possibly have the energy left to cultivate a new romance? Is it just a man’s nature to be unable to endure loneliness?”

“You female reporters are always trying to incite gender conflict. Actually, your way of thinking is poisoned by the ‘widowhood’ mindset. It looks like feminism, but in reality, you’re just deeply shackled by tradition.”

“For men, since ancient times, the concept of ‘remaining a widower’ hasn’t really existed. Only women are expected to ‘remain’ behind.”

“In this age of gender equality, you should be calling for women to stop ‘remaining widows.’ If a husband dies, they should quickly go find new happiness, rather than demanding that men ‘remain widowers’ as well.”

“We should have equality in moving on, not equality in staying stuck.”

This wasn’t the first time he’d used this rhetoric, and it actually sounded somewhat reasonable.

When a woman loses her husband, people expect her to remain a widow.

When a man loses his wife, people advise him to remarry.

People assumed that my father-in-law had married Shen Yumei simply because he needed someone to manage the household, not because of love.

Besides, for a woman like Shen Yumei-with her average looks and education-to be able to sleep with a ‘god-tier’ man was surely a stroke of luck for her.

Seeing that he had suppressed the reporter, my father-in-law continued quite smugly:

“My son, my current wife, and I will forever miss and deeply love Zhou. She is my irreplaceable lover and my son’s only mother. That will never change.”

The reporter didn’t let him off the hook:

“Since you’ve already moved on to the next relationship, shouldn’t you stop constantly reminiscing about your late wife in front of the public? Missing someone should be a private matter. Isn’t this unfair to the late Teacher Zhou and to your current wife?”

The reporter hesitated for a moment, then pulled out her phone and held it in front of him. “Besides, you probably haven’t seen your current wife’s social media post yet. Your son is already calling someone else ‘Mom.'”

My father-in-law scrolled through the feed, and his face turned green.