He dare not claim he will surpass you older brothers, but at the very least he wants to close the gap, so that no one can say the ninth young master of the Zhan family is useless while you are all so outstanding that he could never catch up even on horseback.
All of these things are pressure.
Do not be fooled by how Ninth grins and laughs all day, like a child who has never grown up. In reality, he is under enormous pressure. It is only in front of us sisters-in-law that he can truly relax a little.
It is sisters-in-law like Haitong who genuinely put no pressure on Ninth.
If any brother bullies him, Ninth goes straight to the relevant sister-in-law to complain, and she will stand up for him.
He knows full well that the sisters-in-law are the sturdy thighs he can cling to.
Zhan Yin smiled. “It is good that he feels pressure. The thing to fear most is if he were completely carefree and had no sense of pressure at all. Then he would never improve.”
“But his personality seems very cheerful to me. Even if the sky fell, he would treat it as a quilt to cover himself with.”
Haitong agreed with her husband’s assessment.
Ninth was indeed under huge pressure, yet his nature was bright and optimistic. He never worried about the sky falling on him.
After all, he had eight older brothers holding it up.
“Who knows what kind of girl Ninth will like.”
Zhan Yin said, “Who can tell? When his fate arrives and he meets a girl he likes, he will naturally bring her home for us to see.”
“When Ninth falls in love, he will definitely tell you first. He respects you, his eldest sister-in-law, more than anyone.”
Haitong smiled. “Then I will wait for Ninth to come and tell me he has someone he likes.”
She treated every brother-in-law the same, though, yes, she spoiled Ninth a little extra.
Ninth Young Master: That is exactly why I say, if I cling tightly to Eldest Sister-in-law’s thick thigh, I can strut around Guancheng and no one will dare say a word.
Even Big Brother has to watch Eldest Sister-in-law’s mood.
The moment Eldest Sister-in-law gets angry, Big Brother panics like ants on a hot pan.
Ninth thought mischievously to himself that he rather enjoyed watching Eldest Sister-in-law get cross and Big Brother frantically spinning in circles to soothe her.
Big Brother was completely under Eldest Sister-in-law’s thumb.
Calling Big Brother henpecked was absolutely accurate. He was the genuine article, a true henpecked husband.
The couple chatted idly for quite a while.
Haitong grew sleepy. She turned over, rested one hand on her daughter’s small body as if holding her close, and yawned as she said, “Husband, no more talking. Let’s sleep. We have work tomorrow.”
“You are holding Beibei again, but never holding me.”
“Get lost.”
Haitong kicked him lightly with a laugh.
Still, she fell asleep cradling her daughter.
A soft, adorable daughter was far cuter than Zhan Yin.
Fortunately, Beibei’s personality took after hers. If she had taken after Zhan Yin, life would have been dull.
Mu Qing often complained to her that the older Junyan got, the more she resembled Ye Junbo, with none of a little girl’s softness and charm.
