The ancient war between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in a wealthy family

I rubbed my temples. I had been working so hard these past few days preparing for the Zhan family's annual art exhibition. I finally managed to gather all the exhibits, but discovered new problems.

"Look, the style of these works is completely inconsistent with the theme of our exhibition, and the quality..." I paused, unable to think of a euphemism, "I really can't praise it."

Zhan Yu picked up one of the paintings, looked at it carefully for a moment, and frowned.

"Indeed, these paintings have childish brushwork and no clear composition. How did they get in here?"

I sighed, feeling vaguely uneasy.

This exhibition is of great significance to the Zhan family. If such inferior works appear, it will inevitably affect the reputation of the Zhan family.

"I have to find out who sent these paintings." I said, picked up the paintings and walked to the registration desk.

The person in charge of the registration office was a young girl. When she saw me holding these paintings, she looked a little flustered. "Miss Bai, is there anything wrong?"

"I'd like to ask who sent these paintings and where is the registration information?" I tried to keep my tone calm, but I could feel my palms starting to sweat.

The little girl stammered, "These...these paintings were...sent by Miss Mo."

Miss Mo? Molly? Zhan Yu's ex-girlfriend? My heart sank, a bad premonition washing over me.

Just then, Molly came over, holding Zhan Yu's arm with a provocative smile on her face.

"Hey, isn't this Madam Zhan? What do you think of my painting?"

I took a deep breath and tried to control my emotions.

"Ms. Mo, I appreciate your kindness, but the quality of these paintings really doesn't meet the requirements of our exhibition."

Molly smiled contemptuously, "Really? I thought Madam Zhan's standards were so high, but it turns out she's just this good." She turned to look at Zhan Yu and said in a coquettish tone, "Yu, don't you think so?"

Zhan Yu gently pushed Molly's hand away, walked over to me, held my hand, and gave me a reassuring look. "I trust my wife's judgment."

I glanced at Zhan Yu with gratitude, then turned to Mo Li and said calmly and firmly, "Miss Mo, if you do this, Zhan Yu will only look down on you even more."

Molly's face changed. She didn't expect Zhan Yu to stand on my side, and she didn't expect me to refute her so directly.

She bit her lip, and a trace of resentment flashed in her eyes... Molly's face turned red and white, as if a color palette had been overturned.

She probably didn't expect that Zhan Yu would stand on my side so unhesitatingly, and she didn't expect that I would point out her childishness so mercilessly.

I am not one of those ladies who allow others to bully me. As the daughter of the Bai family, I will never swallow my anger.

"You..." Molly was so angry that she couldn't speak. She could only glare at me fiercely.

I smiled slightly, my tone still calm.

"Ms. Mo, instead of wasting time here, why not go back and improve your painting skills? After all, with your current level, even if you use a backdoor, you will only be laughed at."

Zhan Yu gave me an appreciative look and tightened his grip on my hand. "My wife is right. Molly, you should go away and stop disturbing us."

Molly's eyes were red, she stomped her feet hard, turned and ran away.

Looking at her embarrassed back, I didn't feel a bit proud, but more worried.

Given Molly's personality, she will definitely not let it go.

As I expected, the next day, rumors about the low quality of the Zhan family exhibition began to circulate in the art circle.

Some people say that we are just filling in the gaps, some say that we are just seeking fame and reputation, and some even say that we don’t understand art at all.

These rumors came like a tide, almost drowning me.

I sat in the office, looking at the comments online, and my heart went cold.

I know that there must be someone behind this, and that person is most likely Molly, or someone related to her.

This exhibition is of vital importance to the Zhan family. If these rumors are allowed to spread, the consequences will be disastrous.

I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. I couldn't let these rumors get me down. I had to find a way to turn the situation around.

At this moment, my cell phone rang. It was art critic Shen calling.

"Miss Bai, I've heard the rumors about the Zhan family exhibition..." His voice was low, with a hint of worry.

I gripped my phone tightly, and a bold idea suddenly occurred to me. "Mr. Shen, would you like to visit our exhibition in advance?"

I called art critic Shen and my heart was pounding.

When the call was connected, his voice was low and slightly tired. I got straight to the point: "Mr. Shen, I'm sure you've heard the rumors about the Zhan family exhibition. I know that nothing I can say now will be of any use, so I'd like to invite you to come and visit in advance so you can see for yourself."

Mr. Shen was silent for a moment, his tone hesitant: "Ms. Bai, you know my principles. I don't accept any form of 'public relations'."

"I understand, Mr. Shen. But I invited you here not to ask you to say good things, but because I hope you can see our real efforts and contributions. If you still feel that the exhibition is of low standard after seeing it, I will have no objection." My tone was firm, with a hint of determination to go all out.

Perhaps my sincerity touched him, and Mr. Shen finally accepted my invitation.

The next day, he showed up at the exhibition hall on time.

I personally accompanied him on the tour and explained in detail the creative concepts and stories behind each exhibit.

I noticed that at first Mr. Shen's expression was serious, even with a hint of scrutiny, but as I explained, his brows gradually relaxed and his eyes showed a bit more appreciation.

Especially when he saw several ancient landscape paintings that I carefully selected, he praised them highly and even took the initiative to ask about the origin and historical background of the paintings.

I answered their questions one by one and gave him some historical documents collected by the Bai family for reference.

After the tour, Mr. Shen walked up to me and patted me on the shoulder. "Ms. Bai, you did a great job. The quality of this exhibition is very high, especially the ancient landscape paintings, which are truly exquisite. As for those rumors, don't pay attention to them. I will publicly express my views."

Hearing his affirmation, I finally felt relieved.

Sure enough, the next day, Mr. Shen published a long article in his column, highly praising the preparations for the Zhan family exhibition and specifically praising my understanding and passion for art.

He also specifically refuted the rumor that the mixing of low-quality works was my fault, saying that it was malicious slander.

Mr. Shen’s support was undoubtedly a shot in the arm, which quickly quelled the rumors.

But I did not let my guard down because I knew that the real challenge was still ahead.

Just as I was about to take a breath, my assistant hurried in, her face pale, "Miss Bai, this is not good..."