The world treats me like a blade of grass, only you see me as verdant mountains!
Her lonely helplessness, only he felt pity for her; his confusion and hesitation, only she understood him. Eve...
(359)
Thinking of this, Ye Wenyu immediately said respectfully, "Hello, Auntie."
Her words were warm and polite, but her heart was cold, as if filled with withered leaves. She and Cai Wenchuan had broken up. When they were together, she had countless times imagined the day she would meet her in-laws, the exciting scene of her reunion with Cai's mother-in-law. She had smiled sweetly at these thoughts. But she never imagined that things would turn out differently; when she saw Cai's parents again, she had already broken up with Cai Wenchuan.
Haha, the two old people probably never imagined that this girl next door could very well have become their daughter-in-law.
Life is truly full of drama.
By the way, what did Aunt Cai want when she called her?
As Ye Wenyu was lost in thought, Aunt Cai chuckled on the other end of the phone and asked Ye Wenyu, "Xiaoyu, are you free tomorrow?"
Thinking about how Aunt Cai had suddenly called her and repeatedly asked if she was free tomorrow and if she needed to talk to her about something, Ye Wenyu didn't answer directly whether she was free or not. With doubts in her mind, she asked into the phone, "Auntie, what do you need me for?"
Aunt Cai laughed on the other end of the phone and said to her affectionately, "You child, I watched you grow up. Can't I call you if there's nothing wrong?"
Ye Wenyu could only force a few smiles. She thought to herself that although they were very affectionate, and she was indeed someone Aunt Cai had watched grow up, her neighbor, whom she hadn't seen for more than ten years, must have something on her mind to call her suddenly.
She continued to listen.
Aunt Cai coughed and continued, "It's nothing, it's just that tomorrow is the Lantern Festival. I saw you at the hospital last time, and I didn't expect you to have grown so much. Girls change a lot as they grow up, and you've become so beautiful and sensible. Your aunt and uncle both like you very much and would like to invite you to our house for dinner tomorrow so we can catch up."
What? The Cai family invited her to their house for dinner tomorrow?
Ye Wenyu stared in shock, her mind blank for a moment. How ridiculous life is! When she was with Cai Wenchuan, she longed to visit his home and see Uncle Cai and Aunt Cai, whom she hadn't seen for many years. However, whenever she brought up his home and his parents, he always avoided the topic, and he never invited her to his home. But now, after breaking up with Cai Wenchuan, she actually received an invitation from his mother to visit his home.
But now, isn't it too late?
Therefore, Ye Wenyu politely said on the phone, "Auntie, I, I—" She wanted to find a tactful reason to refuse. Everything was in the past, so let bygones be bygones and start anew.
Not dwelling on the past, nor fearing the future—this is the right choice in life.
However, remembering Aunt Cai's kind face, she couldn't bring herself to say it. Aunt Cai, as if afraid she would refuse, immediately said, "We are an old couple and we only have one son, Wenchuan. He has already gone to Germany. Now it's just the two of us at home, which is quite lonely. You know, it's a holiday tomorrow, what's the point of just the two of us old folks at home? That's why we thought of inviting you over for dinner to make it more lively. How about inviting your mother too?"
Ah, so Cai Wenchuan has already returned to Germany. How strange, he didn't even spend the Lantern Festival with his parents before leaving. Maybe he's starting school soon. He went back to Germany without me even knowing. But then I felt relieved. They had already broken up, and he had no reason to tell her about going back to Germany, even though back then, it was because of her that he offended the principal and was demoted to Germany to pursue a postdoctoral degree.
Knowing that Cai Wenchuan wasn't home, thus avoiding the awkwardness of the two meeting again, and seeing how pitiful the aunt sounded, as if they were two elderly people left behind who desperately needed warmth and care, Ye Wenyu felt a sense of relief and could only say, "Okay, Auntie, tell me the time and place, and I'll come on time tomorrow."
"Okay, okay," Aunt Cai happily told her the time and place.
After finishing her call with Aunt Cai, Ye Wenyu called her mother and told her the whole story. At the end, she asked her, "Aunt Cai invited you to her house for dinner. Are you going?" She was worried that her mother was too busy to go, and she was also worried that her mother was not doing well and would not want to visit her wealthy friend.
However, what she never expected was—
Zhang Susu said excitedly, "Xiaoyu, you ran into Aunt Shufen! It's been so many years, of course I had to go see her! She's now the Lin family's nanny, not the housewife she used to be. I'll try to see her more often in the future!"
Ye Wenyu was stunned, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets in shock. She thought to herself, "I didn't expect my mother to be so perceptive. She knows that the Cai family works for the Lin family. Everyone else is eager to get to know the Cai family. In this world, probably only Cai Wenchuan feels inferior because he became the son of a servant of the Lin family."
This Cai Wenchuan is truly baffling.
The next day, Ye Guangyu didn't go to work. She took a day off from her job and, at the agreed-upon location and time, first took the bus to pick up her mother. Then, the mother and daughter went to the Cai family's house together. Having studied at university for two years and worked part-time, she had become increasingly mature. Being a smart and sensible child, she had gradually surpassed her mother in social skills. So, seeing a fruit stand along the way, she bought a basket of fruit, a carton of milk, and a large box of nutritional supplements that older people like, before boarding the bus back to the Cai family's house. The mother and daughter carried the gift boxes together.
Sitting on the bus, the warm sunlight streamed through the windows and fell on them. The mother and daughter sat side by side. Zhang Susu was in a very good mood today, as if she were on vacation. She smiled and looked out the window for a while, then looked at her daughter beside her, and asked triumphantly, "Xiaoyu, how did you run into Shufen?"
Ye Wenyu didn't want to tell her mother about the messy things she had experienced. In her heart, she was also extremely grateful that she had never told anyone about her past relationship with Cai Wenchuan. She once again deeply realized the benefits of being a person with few words. Bad people die because of their own bad deeds. Many embarrassing things in life are also because of the many things that should not have been said.
She had to keep it brief and told the old woman, "We met at the hospital. She recognized me first and asked for my phone number, which I gave her. I didn't expect her to be so thoughtful and say she would treat us to dinner on the Lantern Festival."
Zhang Susu nodded and said to her enviously, "Xiaoyu, your Aunt Shufen is so lucky."
Is it a blessing to have served as a nanny to the Lin family your whole life?
Ye Wenyu squinted in the sunlight, wondering where her mother's logic lay.
Zhang Susu nodded again, looked around, and lowered her voice to say to Ye Wenyu, "Your dad, your Uncle Wang, has a woman at his workplace whose sister is a nanny for the Li family. The Li family can't compare to the Lin family; they're just a small-time nouveau riche. But that woman got into the company because her sister is a nanny for the Li family. Just think about how amazing it is to be a rich person's nanny!"