Chapter 40: 28 is the time to rebel
Meng Weishen's father.
Jiang Ranxu entered this line of text into the mind map and painted a blood-red circle around the edge.
He thought he knew Meng Weishen well enough, but thinking back, Meng Weishen had never mentioned his father to him. He only mentioned in a few words that his parents divorced very early, probably when Meng Weishen was just born. Since Meng Weishen was old enough to understand, the father and son had almost no contact, partly because his father went abroad for work, and partly because his mother objected.
So far, Meng Weishen's father's social status is unknown, his personality and hobbies remain a mystery, and even his surname remains unknown. Jiang Ranxu can only confirm that he is a male, and like most male mammals in the animal kingdom, he has a strong reproductive drive and a weak sense of responsibility.
Jiang Ranxu originally wanted to take the opportunity of meeting the parents to ask Meng Weishen about the situation, but Meng Weishen himself did not have much more information than him, and his anxiety was even more serious than his, almost to the point of being absent-minded.
Never mind, just wing it.
On the day of the meeting with the parents, Jiang Ranxu had specially prepared a navy blue executive jacket, paired with a pure black T-shirt. The overall look was earthy yet sweet, commonly known as the male version of the marriageable style. He looked to have a job, a good work ethic, and a good reputation. He left work at five o'clock and picked up his child from school with the Golden Dragon Fish Oil provided by the company.
Meng Weishen was stuck at the company and was going to be late. Jiang Ranxu arrived at the roast duck restaurant alone and exchanged glances with a middle-aged man and woman.
The middle-aged man and woman were obviously related by blood to Meng Weishen, and both had some of Meng Weishen's shadow on their faces, but it was hard to imagine why their blood had mixed: although the two of them were sitting in a row, there seemed to be an invisible river between them, each occupying two sides of the bench, as if half of their buttocks were hanging in the air.
The woman's expression was particularly grim, as if she had just confiscated his phone during evening study. The man, rumored to be mysterious, was quite friendly when they met, inviting him to look at the menu and order.
Jiang Ranxu solemnly announced:
"Hello, dear mother-in-law and father-in-law. I am your son's legal spouse. You may call me Xiao Jiang. First of all, I would like to express my sincere apologies to both of you. Your son will be late today."
Meng Lirong had been teaching for over thirty years and had been the head teacher of countless classes. She had seen all sorts of cunning students, so it was naturally difficult to fool them. She rolled her eyes at him and muttered quietly, "Who is your mother-in-law?"
The man deliberately contradicted Meng Lirong, praising him repeatedly: "Xiao Jiang speaks very steadily. I heard that you are a few years older than Weiwei, and his mother and I rarely come to Beijing, so I ask that you take good care of him."
Meng Lirong never let go of her eyes: "Take care of it, it's even recorded in the household registration book, how can I not take care of it." Perhaps every class teacher would be sarcastic like this.
The man tutted, signaling her to be polite. He received no response. He continued chatting with Jiang Ranxu, "Xiao Jiang, what do you do for a living?"
"I am currently working in a subordinate unit of the Municipal Health Commission." This means that the dental clinic of a private hospital is under the jurisdiction of the Health Commission anyway.
The other party was indeed misled: "Is there a staff?"
"Speaking of staffing, my family is very knowledgeable about it. When my grandfather's seafood store was merged into a state-owned enterprise, he was assigned to a state-owned unit as a purchasing manager, one of the first iron rice bowl jobs in New China..."
"Stop talking nonsense! You're giving me a headache!" Meng Lirong interrupted him impatiently, pressing her fingertips against her temples. "Is the establishment the key point? The key point is that male homosexuality itself is wrong and violates ethics and morality!"
So what? The mimeograph seal on the marriage certificate has dried. Anyone who wants to object to their marriage will have to queue up behind Director Tan.
Jiang Ranxu said obediently, "Mom, what you said makes a lot of sense. When Meng Weishen comes back, I will definitely educate him well and try to help him change his sexual orientation as soon as possible."
Meng Lirong's punch felt like it had landed on a chicken's blood, and it slid away without a single hit, leaving her hands stained with the smell of blood. She raged, "Who's your mother? And who are you trying to teach a lesson to? Are you his mother, or am I his mother?"
"The law stipulates that the mother-in-law is the adoptive mother."
"You... so you asked for the household registration booklet so you could get married? Your actions are a lie and a deception!"
"What did you say? I've been advising Meng Weishen to have a good discussion with you about his sexual orientation. As for how he got the household registration book, I don't know either."
For criticism and education to be effective, it must successfully inspire students' sense of shame. Unfortunately, encountering a bad student like Jiang Ranxu who was so fearless made Meng Lirong feel very difficult.
When the waiter brought the roast duck, the woman pretended to have a headache again and ignored the two people at the table out of anger.
The sliced roast duck was folded into a peony shape and served on the table along with the pancake and dipping sauce. The man spoke at the right moment: "Xiao Jiang, isn't Weiwei coming yet? Why don't you hurry him up?"
Jiang Ranxu had just sent a message to ask about the progress of Meng Weishen's hair perm when the other person's figure appeared in the floor-to-ceiling window of the restaurant.
To be honest, he didn't recognize it as Meng Weishen at first glance.
He only knew she was planning a rebellious look, a way to show her parents she was grown up. She could wear whatever she wanted, marry whomever she wanted, and no one should get involved.
…but this outfit is a bit too rebellious.
Meng Weishen wore a tight-fitting leather vest, made of tight material and barely reaching his waist. His overalls were so overstuffed that the legs tucked in a bit below his waist. His clothes were a plain black, yet their shimmer was striking. Countless nails pierced the fabric from chest to trouser legs, like a human body dissected and then stitched together.
Only when Meng Weishen sat down next to him did Jiang Ranxu see clearly that the other person's left ear had also grown a few new ear holes, with black earrings embedded in them, and the edges were slightly congested.
Meng Weishen naturally took Jiang Ranxu's water cup, took a sip of the hot lemonade, and frowned: "It tastes bad. I asked the waiter for Arctic Ocean, what would you like to drink?"
Jiang Ranxu said dignifiedly: "I'm fine with anything. Ask your parents what they want to drink."
Meng Lirong's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She was stunned for a moment, not knowing where to begin. "Meng Weishen, what's wrong with your brain? You, what are you wearing?"
Meng Weishen pulled off his sea urchin-shaped woolen hat, and his short, slightly curly hair fell in front of his eyes. He shook his head slightly, and his black hair appeared a grayish blue in the light. "I'm dressed normally, what's the problem?"
"When did you dye your hair? Does it look good? What decent person would dye their hair blue? If you walk down the street, everyone will laugh at you..."
"Just don't take yourself too seriously. No one would go out of their way to make fun of me except you."
"Only your mother points out your shortcomings because I want you to become a better person. Just because others don't point them out doesn't mean they don't have their own thoughts. They're just waiting to see you get worse and worse."
Classic rhetoric. Countless memories flashed through his mind. Meng Weishen gripped his water cup tightly, the veins in his arms bulging. "I'm not bad, I just didn't do what you wanted."
"Normal people wouldn't come into contact with homosexuals. Meng Weishen, you're already abnormal. Don't you realize it?" Students with such a strong sense of shame like Meng Weishen are the easiest to discipline. Meng Lirong regained her strict teacher demeanor, "Meng Weishen, you were apparently normal during the Chinese New Year. How could your life have become so corrupt in just a few months? Think about the reasons."
Seeing Meng Weishen's head almost buried under the table, silent as a stone, Jiang Ranxu's heart was alarmed. He hurriedly wrapped the roast duck roll in a pancake and forced it onto Meng Weishen's plate, asking him to concentrate on eating and not talk.
"Mom and Dad, I'd like to share my humble opinion on this issue. My knowledge of psychology isn't just superficial, it's also quite advanced." Jiang Ranxu cleared his throat and said seriously, "According to the basic attribution theory of psychology, if parents are overly controlling, their children will tend to rebel. If a child becomes homosexual, parents should first reflect on whether there's something wrong with their own parenting methods."
The man quickly disavowed responsibility: "I didn't control Weiwei. I have always been very open-minded in my children's education."
Meng Lirong sneered: "You have never taken care of him at all. Who are you educating?"
Jiang Ranxu said: "There is another possibility, genetic inheritance. If parents carry homosexual genes, their children may become homosexual."
This time it was Meng Lirong's turn to gain the upper hand. She questioned the man: "America is so chaotic, do you want to have sex with men in America?"
The man also refused to admit it: "Stop talking nonsense. You always think you know everything just by reading a few news items. It's not as bad as you think."
"That's due to education." Jiang Ranxu wrote a diagnosis sheet to each of the two people opposite him. "The father was absent for a long time during the child's growth, resulting in the child's vague understanding of gender relations. The mother fulfilled her responsibilities but her parenting methods were too strict, which led to the child's rebelliousness. After analyzing it, it's your fault that the child has become bad. Mom and Dad, you can start slapping yourselves."
The man knew he was in the wrong and stopped struggling. Meng Lirong, however, had a gloomy expression on her face as she turned to question Meng Weishen, "Meng Weishen, do you think there's something wrong with my way of educating you? If I weren't strict with you, could you have gotten into the best university in China? Could you have stayed in Beijing and worked?"
Meng Weishen did not answer for a long time.
"You don't have a problem, I have one." Meng Weishen seemed to have made up his mind and let out a long breath. "Sometimes I think it would be great if I could just get into the technical school near my home. After graduation, I could open a car wash like my elementary school classmate. He might be happier now than me."
This analogy clearly infuriated Meng Lirong. She gritted her teeth and sneered, "You're just talking nonsense. Can you handle physical labor? Would you like to kneel down and scrub someone's car in the middle of summer?"
“Hard work is hard work, and happiness is happiness.”
"Well, since you think so, I should have ignored you then, just like your father did, and left you to starve to death on the street. You'll know happiness only when you have nothing to eat and nothing to wear."
"It would have been fine if I hadn't been born." Meng Weishen said calmly, "You divorced so quickly, leaving behind a child would be a burden. You might as well travel back twenty-eight years, buy condoms in advance, and kill me in the bathroom."
"What are you talking about!"
Meng Lirong leaped to her feet. A surge of blood and energy suddenly surged to her skull. Before she could cover her forehead, her head, overwhelmed with weight, fell back down. She fainted.
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