Chapter 77
Xie Yiling's worries finally came true outside the gates of No. 5 Napa Valley.
Two cars were parked outside No. 5 Napa Valley—one was Shi Cheng's BMW X1, and the other was Huang Ruoyu's Xiaomi—proving that the married couple were both home. But for some reason, the atmosphere at No. 5 Napa Valley today seemed strange, cold, and unwelcoming to anyone.
Fearful and uneasy, Xie Yiling reached out and gently pressed the doorbell by the front door. However, No. 5 Napa Valley did not give her any response. Even when she strained her ears, she could not hear any sound coming from inside. Even the doorbell she had just pressed did not ring. She could only hear the birds chirping and cicadas chirping in the nearby trees, and of course, the panting of Hu Yu and Hu Zhizhi behind her.
Xie Yiling pressed the doorbell a little harder, but it still didn't make a sound. Unsure if the doorbell was broken or something else, she moved to a different spot, walked to the wooden wall, and stood on tiptoe, straining to see into the yard. But the wall was too high; she couldn't see anything. So she used one hand to grip a slightly loose section of the wooden fence, peering through the narrow gaps: there was no one in the yard, but there seemed to be a figure behind a glass window in the distance, though it was unclear. Then Xie Yiling saw Cheng Shi rush from the room into the front yard, looking dejected, but upon closer inspection, he seemed about to explode in anger or burst into tears.
Seeing Cheng Shi's expression, Xie Yiling felt that he would soon resort to extreme violence to vent his emotions, just like her son Hu Zhizhi did on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, lifting a heavy coffee table and smashing it into the distance, if there were a coffee table in the No. 5 yard of Napa Valley.
However, Xie Yiling also realized that Chengshi, in this state, probably hadn't heard the doorbell at all, and was even less aware that the three of them were standing at the door of No. 5 Napa Valley. Judging from Chengshi's appearance, he wasn't coming out to open the door, but was desperately trying to escape from the living room or No. 5 Napa Valley.
But by now, Xie Yiling didn't have time to retreat, because Chengshi had already seen her, and their eyes met: Chengshi saw Xie Yiling, who was dressed properly, sneaking around on the wooden wall, peering through the cracks into Napa Valley No. 5.
Clearly, Cheng Shi was taken aback, then his body stiffened. He then seemed to do his best to put on a friendly smile and greet Xie Yiling.
"Oh, you've arrived?" Cheng Shi said as he opened the courtyard gate. "Hey, please come in quickly."
The Hu family of three politely entered No. 5 Napa Valley and went into the Cheng family's living room. There, they met Huang Ruoyu, whose face was equally terrifying.
Huang Ruoyu's face was not only pale but also sallow. She nervously rubbed her hands and said, "Hello everyone. Please sit down, please sit down. I'm sorry, the house is a bit messy today."
"Are we too early?" Xie Yiling asked anxiously.
"No, no, we were just..." Huang Ruoyu paused, "What would you all like to drink? Tea or coffee?"
"No, no, don't bother, we don't need anything, thank you." Xie Yiling kept waving to Huang Ruoyu, "We'll sit for a while and then leave. We just happened to be passing by your house, so we thought we'd stop by and say hello."
The situation was awkward. The Hu family of three sat side by side on the sofa against the wall, while Cheng Shi and Huang Ruoyu stood with their backs to the TV wall at either end, like stone lions in front of a government office.
It was obvious that there was a problem between Cheng Shi and Huang Ruoyu. Every time they needed to talk, they would lean close to each other, speak, and then immediately separate, as if they both found the other repulsive. By this time, Xie Yiling understood why they were acting so awkwardly: they must have just had a fight.
"Hey, you two!" Hu Zhizhi suddenly broke the silence. "What's going on between you two? I heard you're not going to Dali? Why?"
“Oh,” Narumi laughed awkwardly, “well, actually…we were slapped in the face by reality.”
"What exactly happened?"
Cheng Shi stepped to the side of Huang Ruoyu, pointed to her waist, and said, "This is it. Is that a good enough reason?"
So Xie Yiling turned her gaze to Huang Ruoyu, and then noticed for the first time that Huang Ruoyu was wearing a maternity dress!
"Congratulations, Xiao Huang!" Xie Yiling exclaimed excitedly, "Oh my god! That's wonderful!"
As Xie Yiling said this, she quickly thought in her mind how to be more polite in this situation: should she stand up and shake Huang Ruoyu's hand, and what else should she say?
However, Xie Yiling always felt that Huang Ruoyu seemed unwilling to have physical contact with others. So Xie Yiling remained seated on the sofa and continued, "This is truly wonderful news! I'm so happy! I think you must need a larger, more comfortable living space, right? There are several nice properties in Central Park..."
Xie Yiling kept talking, never straying from her topic. However, the reason she was talking so incessantly was simply to get Hu Zhizhi to sit quietly on the sofa without saying a word, just like Hu Yu.
However, Hu Zhizhi did not do as Xie Yiling wished.
"Mommy, stop." Hu Zhizhi said, standing up. "There's something I don't understand."
As Hu Zhizhi spoke, he stared intently at Cheng Shi's face, just like a policeman staring at a thief.
"I don't understand. What do you all understand? Okay, I can tell she's pregnant, but so what? Do people from Dali not have children?"
"Zhizhi, you, you go first..." Xie Yiling stammered, trying to stop her son.
"Reiko-san, could you please stop interrupting me when I'm speaking? You always interrupt me when I'm talking, what do you mean by that? I'm asking this gentleman a question right now, and if he doesn't want to answer, I think he'll tell me himself. I don't need you to interfere."
“Yes,” Chengshi replied with a smile, head down. “Actually, you can have a child anywhere, but no matter where you are, I think everyone knows that if you don’t have the ability to raise a child, then you shouldn’t let the child be born. The current situation is that since she has another child, if we hope that the child can maintain a certain standard of living or even have a better life, then the only option is to keep the child. To put it bluntly, it’s really a matter of money.”
“Alright.” Hu Zhizhi nodded, seemingly satisfied with Cheng Shi’s words. However, his gaze continued to shift between Cheng Shi and Huang Ruoyu, and then he repeated, “Alright, that’s a pretty good reason.”
Cheng Shi and Huang Ruoyu seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but at the same time Xie Yiling was even more nervous than before, because years of experience told her that something terrible was about to happen.
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