Meeting the parents
The road leading to Feng'an District shows a stark contrast; for example, the buildings suddenly turn a grayish hue and have a sense of age. But what Wen Dai sees now is an increasingly prosperous main street, lush with vegetation.
"No." Chen Sizhe's calm denial showed no sign of guilt. He drove with ease, his lips parting slightly: "I'll take you to meet my parents."
A bad feeling welled up inside her. Wen Dai stared at him with wide eyes, her tone slightly frightened: "Meet your parents? Is that what I'm thinking?"
"Um."
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Wen Dai turned around abruptly, leaned against the car door, and gazed at the road outside the window.
"You can't jump out of the car. I've locked the doors. Forget about it." The tone was as cold and ruthless as the "hmm" from before.
The thought of meeting Chen Sizhe's parents as his girlfriend made Wen Dai's scalp tingle, but she couldn't resist the urge to quell the urge, as her fingers were already starting to get cold.
Her previous identity was Wen Dai, and then the child left behind in this world by Chen Wenkang's old friend, so it's normal for Chen Wenkang and Qi Ya to feel pity for her; but what if she were Chen Sizhe's girlfriend?
In middle-class and above families, which parent would allow their child to be with someone who has neither education nor background?
Wen Dai's growing anxiety was noticed by Chen Sizhe, who glanced at her several times. When the red light ahead turned on, he gradually brought the car to a stop in the traffic and reached out to grab her.
Wen Dai instinctively turned her head to meet his gaze. The man's eyes were firm and resolute. He said with certainty, "Your worries are just negative imagination, not the truth. If you can't control your nervousness, just leave it to me later. You know that my parents like you very much. They will only feel that it is my greatest fortune that you are with me."
"Or you're blind."
"Pfft." He made her laugh. It was hard not to find it...adorable when someone who was so serious suddenly said something that subtly belittled her.
He held onto her hand, still gripping the fleeting red light while waiting for the time to pass. He stroked her cold fingers, his warm palm wrapping them tightly, as if trying to warm her with his own flesh and blood.
However, Wen Dai had too many things to consider, and her forehead unconsciously furrowed. "But it's not good for me to be empty-handed, is it? Besides, your parents have helped me a lot, and I haven't even started preparing a gift yet."
Chen Sizhe: "There's no need to rush. They won't care. After all, this isn't the first time you've come empty-handed."
Wen Dai: "..." Although what you said is true, it still makes me a little unhappy, even though I may not have the right to be unhappy.
He withdrew his hand before the green light turned on, and after the car stopped in the underground garage of the Chen family villa, he opened the car door for her.
After she got out of the car, he took her hand, no longer walking side by side as before. Now, Chen Sizhe was quite self-aware as a boyfriend, slowing down and walking alongside her.
However, the hand holding hers slowly changed its position until their fingers were intertwined. The movement became more subdued, but the strength was still increasing as he gripped her tightly.
As they rode the elevator up, Qi Ya, who was leaning back on the sofa drinking herbal tea, didn't even flinch when she heard the elevator doors open with a ding. "Oh, so you know to come back and visit?" No one knows a child better than their mother, but this time Qi Ya was about to demonstrate that even the wisest can make a mistake.
A hesitant voice rang out: "Aunt Qi."
Qi Ya immediately put down her teacup, stood up and turned to look at the elevator. The voice belonged to Wen Dai, and standing next to her was her son Chen Sizhe. There seemed to be no problem, but—she slowly lowered her gaze, her eyelids drooping even higher.
What's with those interlocked fingers?!
Chen Sizhe led Wen Dai, who didn't want to move, forward. He met Qi Ya's incredulous gaze directly, tightened his grip on Wen Dai's hand, and even raised it, as if wanting Qi Ya to see it more clearly.
His low, husky voice, carrying the words, landed like a rock: "Wen Dai and I are together now, and we'll be getting married soon. You don't need to rush to arrange blind dates for me anymore, nor do you need to find me suitable blind date partners. If you want to pick an auspicious day, go ahead, but I might not listen anyway."
Just as Chen Sizhe was spouting his wild words, Chen Wenkang happened to come downstairs. He tilted his head and looked over, his eyes filled with the same shock as Qi Ya's.
What happened next was exactly as Chen Sizhe had predicted. Wen Dai's worries were indeed unnecessary, because Qi Ya asked her if she had been to an eye exam.
Perhaps, no one knows a mother better than her son.
Chen Wenkang emotionally wiped away the moisture from the corners of his eyes. He sat on the sofa, his neck bent low, and held a mouthful of something in his mouth for a moment before finally speaking with a sigh: "Ah! Good, good, this is good too."
"It was probably fate that you didn't become our goddaughter back then. Look, after all these years, we're still family." Chen Wenkang smiled, but a faint sense of melancholy lingered between his brows. He was probably thinking of Wen Zheng.
Mentioning fate, Wen Dai couldn't help but feel lost. She wondered if the audience above was satisfied with this drama about her.
Dinner was left at the Chen family's house. She didn't take Chen Sizhe's words to his parents to heart, but the person who said them seemed to want her to.
The night cast a hazy glow over the two people in the car, creating an atmosphere perfect for emotional expression.
Unfortunately, Menglong encountered Chen, who loved to get straight to the point—"When are we going to get our marriage certificate?"
If a person can choke to death on their own saliva, then Wen Dai thinks she might as well pack her bags and die.
"Attorney Chen, it seems like we've only been dating for two days already, and you're already asking me when we're getting married?" Even a whirlwind marriage shouldn't be this fast. However, for those who go through with whirlwind marriages, getting married the day after meeting doesn't seem to be uncommon.
Attorney Chen stated matter-of-factly, "Anything not prohibited by law is permissible."
Wen Dai, choking on her own words, stared at the person in the driver's seat.
Unmoved, the other party continued to ask the initial question: "So when are we going to get our marriage certificate?"
"Shouldn't we go through three stages before marriage: dating, engagement, and cohabitation? Engagement can be omitted, and I don't really care about that step. After all, engagement is just a ceremony." Wen Dai simply wanted to express her thoughts, not expecting what kind of consequences her words would bring her.
But she soon found out.
Chen Sizhe pinpointed what he thought was the key point in her words: "Oh, so you want to live with me."
Although their relationship was already established, talking about living together shouldn't be anything to be ashamed of, but that didn't stop Wen Dai's face from burning red. She glared at Chen Sizhe and corrected him, "What I mean is that we shouldn't be thinking about marriage so quickly. We've only been dating for two days!"
The car suddenly stopped on the side of the road. At this time, the city center would surely be bustling with traffic, but they were on a quiet side road.
The man in the driver's seat leaned back against the seat, turned his head to meet her gaze, and spoke in a deep, resonant voice, his words penetrating to the heart:
“But we’ve known each other for over a year and been through a lot together. I think I know you well enough to get married—you like sweet desserts, especially mango pomelo sago, and you also prefer sweet Chinese food, and you’re picky about meat.”
Not only did he not look away, but he also kept his gaze fixed on her eyes, or rather—she herself couldn't take her eyes off him.
The gentle narration continues:
"You may seem unreliable and erratic on the surface, but you're actually quite rational. It's just that when it comes to things you want to do, your rationality has to give way to your impulse. But your impulse isn't recklessness; you consider the consequences and countermeasures. Rather than saying you're independent, I'd say you're the kind of person who's forcibly maintaining your independence because you have no one behind you, so you bear everything on your own. You're contradictory, but also very real."
His fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel; Chen Sizhe's posture was languid and relaxed, but his eyes and tone were undeniably serious.
"What I want to do is stand behind you, so you don't have to be independent and strong all the time anymore. When you're sad, you don't have to smoke to drown your sorrows anymore. You can talk to me or let your tears fall. I will always be by your side. In the future, you won't have to be alone anymore."
His words stirred a sour feeling in my eyes, a warm sensation welling up within them; tears welled up, tears were about to fall.
Wen Dai bit her lower lip, holding back her tears as she stared at him for a long time, her peach blossom eyes gradually reddening under his gaze.
"Besides, isn't the purpose of dating to get married? I'm just looking for efficiency. Since we're going to get married sooner or later anyway, we might as well do it quickly." It was unclear whether this person was trying to dispel her emotions or to calm the atmosphere and prevent her from crying.
The insecurity that Wen Dai had been hiding was now revealed. She clutched a corner of her clothes, turning away her tear-streaked eyes, and said, "But living together is different from being together in everyday life. You and I have never lived together before. What if my habits are completely different from yours? What if you find me terrible in everyday life? What if..."
But he abruptly cut her off, saying firmly, "There's no 'what if'."
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at him in astonishment.
"Being together requires mutual adjustment, and living together doesn't mean our pace of life has to be the same. I love you, so I accept you whether you're good or bad. Being with you is only because of love; as for the practical things you mentioned, there's a word called tolerance."
I never imagined that Chen Sizhe could be so humane when he was alive.
At this moment, Wen Dai truly felt the maturity of a twenty-seven-year-old man.
However, when it comes to a whirlwind marriage, Wen Dai really can't categorize him as mature.
"Let me think about it." She slowly turned around, fiddling with her fingers as she fell into deep thought.
To be honest, she couldn't refute Chen Sizhe's words. He did understand her, even without her knowing. This feeling of being silently cared for and watched over truly touched her.
When the car stopped downstairs at her apartment building, Chen Sizhe asked the same question again, but Wen Dai compromised and said, "Let's live together for a month first. If there are no problems, then we'll get married."
Upon hearing this, Chen Sizhe frowned slightly, but still agreed. For him, it was just another month's wait.
But the drive of a man approaching thirty who longs to get married exceeded Wen Dai's expectations.
This time, she didn't stop Chen Sizhe from going upstairs with her. The day before, she thought it was too fast, but after what he just said, her views were restructured by him—what's meant to happen will happen, it was bound to happen sooner or later anyway, and time really doesn't mean anything; moreover, they had known each other for more than a year, and combined with what they had experienced, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them life-and-death friends.
However, the first thing Chen Sizhe said as he entered the door was: "Take some changes of clothes and your necessities with you today. It's getting late, and it will take too long to buy more. We can talk about the rest tomorrow. If there's anything you absolutely have to bring, you can come back tomorrow to get it. We can just buy the rest that you can replace."
Wen Dai, who had just changed into slippers, doubted her ears. She turned to look at him incredulously, "What are you saying?"
The man standing at the door didn't bend his back at all and answered quite matter-of-factly, "Aren't you going to live together? Let's start today. Now you can go and pack the things you'll need for today's stay at my place, and we can deal with the rest tomorrow."
"Chen Sizhe, are you so eager to get married?" Wen Dai found it amusing.
Ironically, this person, who used to be quite concerned about saving face, nodded without hesitation, "Yes, so please try your best to fulfill my wish."
Suddenly, she couldn't bring herself to refuse. Wen Dai's shoulders relaxed, and a smile spread across the corners of her eyes.
She lowered her chin and pondered for a while, then looked up and surveyed the home she had lived in for over ten years.
People always have to move on from the past; it's just a step.
Let's go for it then.
She had asked Chen Sizhe to help her move the things. She originally wanted to bring some more things over, but Chen Sizhe, who was sweating profusely, stopped her.
“I told you, you only need to bring essentials today. The trunk is already full, and the back seat is full of your stuff. If you move any more, the car will be empty.” The man was panting slightly.
After making several trips up and down to the third floor as a porter, a blush spread across his face, which was flushed and added a touch of allure to the corners of his eyes. His bright red lips, in particular, were striking; it was hard to tell whether it was his fair skin that made them look so beautiful, or whether his red lips made his skin appear even whiter.
Saying it was almost empty was an exaggeration. Wen Dai looked back at the empty bedroom with reluctance before reluctantly leaving with Chen Sizhe.
Stepping out of the stairwell and pushing open the creaking, clanging unit door, the white, misty clouds in the night sky give way to the moon, revealing its pale, bright light.
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