Chapter 3

Chapter 3

My husband’s name is Li Muzhou.

The “Li” from Li Huaishan.

The “Mu” from the word for adoration.

The “Zhou” from Zhou Lixuan.

My father-in-law, Li Huaishan, was once a producer for a traditional opera program on the local television station and is a well-known drama critic.

My husband’s biological mother, Zhou Lixuan, was a famous Huangmei opera actress.

And Shen Yumei was Zhou Lixuan’s student.

She started studying opera under Zhou Lixuan at the age of eleven, frequently visiting their home. During summer and winter breaks, she would simply live with them.

They were “master and apprentice” in name, but their bond was more like “mother and daughter.”

Twenty-five years ago, the couple was involved in a car accident while traveling for a performance.

Li Huaishan was seriously injured, and Zhou Lixuan died on the spot.

The following year, eighteen-year-old Shen Yumei moved into her teacher’s home.

Three years later, she married Li Huaishan, became Li Muzhou’s stepmother, and devoted herself to being a housewife.

Before I married Li Muzhou, someone warned me.

They said my step-mother-in-law might look honest and dutiful, but she was actually quite calculating.

Back then, my father-in-law had status, talent, and looks. Countless beautiful women wanted to be his second wife, but he turned them all away.

Only my mother-in-law managed to strike his weak point with a single sentence.

She said, “Other women want to love you in place of Teacher Zhou. I’m different. I want to help Teacher Zhou look after you, look after the child, and protect Teacher Zhou’s home.”

Thus, the deceased Zhou Lixuan actually continued to live on in this house.

A large stage portrait of her has always hung in the most prominent spot in their living room.

In the photo, she is dressed in a red robe, her eyes bright and full of spirit, radiating confidence.

Zhou Lixuan remained the soul of this family.

For the past twenty-odd years, Shen Yumei has always called Li Huaishan “Teacher Li.”

Li Muzhou has also always called Shen Yumei “Sister Yumei.”

I didn’t want to follow Li Muzhou’s lead and call her “Sister,” but calling her “Mom” felt like a mess of generational ranks, so I simply called her “Teacher Shen.”

Li Huaishan never called Shen Yumei his wife; he only called her “Xiao Yu.”

The family’s forms of address were a complete mess.

Zhou Lixuan lived on precisely through these titles.

In short, if this family’s story were written as a romance novel, it would be quite spectacular.

It had the artistic background of the opera world, a transcendent love separated by death, a dazzling and irreplaceable “White Moonlight,” a “White Lotus” substitute overflowing with a martyr complex, and that taboo sense of “my teacher’s husband falling for me…”

And now, it even added the spicy flair of Stepmother Literature. It’s simply peak drama!

If I weren’t a “character in the play” myself, I would be willing to pay ten times the price for a Yanxuan subscription just to see the ending!