Chapter 17 Shichahai is not a sea
The reason why Meng Weishen recruited a male wife actually had something to do with his parents.
He didn't tell the matchmaker the truth. For the first twenty or thirty years of his life, his family of origin was a secret that was difficult to talk about, like a stubborn stain on white clothing that could not be washed out and could only be covered up with a patch.
But the secret could not be kept until the weekend of that week, and he told it all to Jiang Ranxu.
He had originally intended to discuss orthodontic treatments, but instead happened upon the dental clinic's soft furnishings. The walls had already been painted, the overall color scheme changed to a calming shade of light blue and pea green. The murals and mascots were clearly from the same company, and to complement the jungle-themed soft furnishings, the chubby teeth had tiger tails and deer antlers.
When he arrived, the wall-mounted TV was being debugged in the clinic. There was some problem with the TV signal, and it was quite stuck. The head and limbs of Tom the cat on the screen were separated.
Meng Weishen looked at the tiger sprouts on the wall and felt like he had stumbled into a children's playground. He was also over the age limit, which made him feel very awkward. Fortunately, Jiang Ranxu was very good at calming patients—no matter their age, he took him to the front desk to rest.
The two of them sat in front of a wall covered with banners, waiting. Amidst all the praise for his "superb medical skills" and "compassionate care," his own wisdom tooth-killer stood out, and memories of the Spring Festival and the aftermath connected in his mind.
A strange itch suddenly became more pronounced in his left chest, like the feeling of a seed taking root. He blurted out, "Doctor Jiang, I'm planning to find a man to marry."
As he expected, Jiang Ranxu was very surprised: "You like men? I never noticed it before."
Meng Weishen quickly explained: "That's not the case... I guess. Anyway, it has nothing to do with this."
Jiang Ranxu didn't continue to explore his sexual orientation. He just asked, "Are there any other reasons? Tell me."
Meng Weishen hesitated for a moment and began to tell Jiang Ranxu about his bizarre Spring Festival experience.
——
After the showdown with Sister Yan, Meng Weishen's blind date career came to a complete standstill. He did not plan to return home for the New Year. However, Meng Lirong threw a thunderbolt in the family group:
[Meng Lirong] My mother suddenly became paralyzed this morning. Those traveling or working out of town, please return home as soon as possible.
The sign of becoming a mature adult is doing things you are unwilling to do out of a sense of responsibility.
Despite his resistance, Meng Weishen and his relatives embarked on their return journey, first taking the high-speed rail to the provincial capital and then driving back home. Thanks to him, his relatives had just escaped the illegal tour group and were almost fleeced. The carriage was filled with snoring, and the suitcases were filled with candied fruits and other unsavory local specialties. It seemed that their trip to Beijing was just a shopping mall.
Meng Weishen sat with his youngest cousin. The little girl rested her head on his arm, sleeping soundly. But Meng Weishen couldn't fall asleep. He kept his eyes open, his gaze fixed on the scenery rushing past the window. Countless chaotic memories flooded back, unable to find a place to rest, giving rise to a heart-wrenching panic.
He has a special emotional connection with his grandmother, who is probably the only person in the family he can talk to.
Before he went to middle school, Meng Lirong left Meng Weishen, who was in elementary school, to live and eat at his grandparents' house all year round in order to take care of the boarding students.
His grandfather had a rather eccentric temper and acted like a local tyrant at home. Because Meng Lirong was a quiet child, always staying in his study flipping through popular science magazines, the old man insisted there was something wrong with his language development and demanded Meng Lirong resign immediately and take him to the provincial hospital for brain treatment.
The old man was actually too lazy to look after the child and was looking for an excuse to send him away. As a child, he also vaguely understood that he was not welcome, and his cheeks were sore that he couldn't open his mouth to argue.
But grandma disagreed. She assured Meng Lirong that there was nothing wrong with Meng Weishen's brain, he was just a bit introverted and that he just needed to practice speaking more.
After that, Grandma started reading magazines with him. After he finished reading an article, he would recite it back to Grandma, who would correct his word choice and sentence structure. This method was very effective, and gradually, Grandpa stopped mentioning brain treatment.
The paralysis happened so suddenly. Grandma had always been in excellent health, especially after her husband's death. She lived a very comfortable life. She also had a youthful mindset. In her eighties, she even learned to shoot short videos. Her homepage is filled with lip-syncing videos, with a level 10 beauty filter.
As soon as Meng Weishen got home, he went straight to his grandmother's bedroom.
He had made all the mental preparations, but the scene before him still exceeded his expectations.
The old lady was indeed lying in bed, but she had her legs crossed, her hands busy watching short videos, and grinning at her dentures. Seeing her younger generation coming to visit, she hurriedly lowered her legs, locked her phone, and closed her eyes, looking very weak.
It was obvious that the old lady could eat and sleep well, and there was nothing wrong with her, but she just didn't like to talk to people. Several of her children tactfully returned to the living room to play cards and chat, leaving Meng Weishen in the bedroom to take care of her.
Grandma opened one eye and said, "Your aunt and uncle went to Beijing to play somewhere. They both look exhausted."
Sun replied: "Shichahai."
Grandma was confused: "Shichahai? Is there still a sea in Beijing?"
Sun explained: "No, Shichahai is an imperial artificial lake."
Grandma sighed, "Beijing is so big! Even its lakes are called seas. Weiwei, you are so promising to be able to work in such a big city like Beijing."
Sun didn't know how to explain.
Beijing is indeed big, but Shichahai is small. Beijing also has many big figures, but they are very small.
The old lady wanted to record a short video of herself greeting her friends while lying in bed, and she needed to maintain a quiet creative environment. So she sent Meng Weishen away and asked him to help Meng Lirong prepare dinner.
As the eldest sister in the family, Meng Lirong possesses a certain stubborn sense of responsibility. Every Chinese New Year, she has to be the head chef while her younger sisters and brothers take a break and play mahjong.
Meng Weishen was only assigned the task of helping out and preparing the fillings for the dumplings.
"Is grandma really paralyzed? Is it that serious?"
Meng Weishen cracked an egg on the side of the bowl and used his chopsticks to stir the added pork paste evenly.
Meng Lirong had already started heating oil in a wok. Her voice cut through the splattering oil: "Don't be fooled by her energy. As soon as she gets out of bed, her legs go weak. These past few days, I've been bringing her meals to her bedside."
"We still have to go to the hospital for a check-up. I'll take her there tomorrow."
"It's not your turn to worry about it. Just take care of yourself."
Meng Lirong remained silent for a while, concentrating on frying the flour. As the aroma of the sugar-oil mixture filled the kitchen, she suddenly asked, "Meng Weishen, when you saw your grandmother today, didn't you have any thoughts?"
Meng Weishen was most afraid of his mother's leading questions. His grip on the chopsticks froze, "What's your idea?"
Meng Lirong didn't answer him, but instead ordered, "Stand by the wall and let me see."
He had no idea what to do, so he put down his chopsticks and leaned against the wall, like a student standing in the corner of a classroom, waiting anxiously for the teacher to give more instructions.
Meng Lirong looked him up and down and said critically, "You were just too skinny before, no wonder you couldn't find a girlfriend. Now you're okay, right? Have you been to the gym? But your crooked teeth are so ugly, hurry up and get them fixed."
"...Mom, what are you going to say?"
His back felt cold as he leaned against the tiled wall, but he couldn't shrink back because his mother would definitely criticize him for his hunchback.
Fortunately, Meng Lirong got to the point: "What else can I say? Hurry up and bring a girlfriend back! How long can your grandma wait? Hurry up and fulfill her wish."
"Wish? Her wish is for her video to get 500 likes. She just said it herself."
"It's all your fault for not giving birth to a great-grandson sooner for your grandma to play with! She's so bored that she spends all day fiddling with her phone. She's completely ruined by it."
"Don't worry, she's not going to take the college entrance exam, so what's wrong with playing with her phone?" For some reason, whenever Meng Weishen was facing his mother, his irritability threshold became extremely low. "You should learn from your grandma and find something else to do. Don't think about getting married and having children all day long."
Meng Lirong gritted her teeth and made a judgment: "Anyone who is still unmarried by the age of 30 is either mentally abnormal or has very poor conditions. Are you mentally abnormal?"
Meng Weishen thought to himself, you got married early, and you were almost divorced by the age of 30. Your own marriage is so rotten, and you still have the nerve to urge me, damn it.
He was glad that he didn't say it out loud, otherwise the situation would have escalated and his aunt and uncle would have been dragged in to act as peacemakers.
Because Meng Lirong called his name: "Meng Weishen, don't you know?"
Alarm bells rang in Meng Weishen's mind. He carefully observed his mother's expression, but unfortunately, his ability to read expressions was limited. He couldn't find any answers from her overly calm face.
"What do I know?" Meng Weishen asked cautiously.
"Just play dumb with me."
"I really don't know."
"He didn't tell you?"
"'who is he?"
As Meng Weishen raised his question, an answer suddenly flashed through his mind. Then his heart tightened, and he didn't want to listen anymore.
Just as he had guessed, his mother finally told him cryptically, "Your father has a job change and may return to China to settle down for a while this year."
Meng Weishen's tone suddenly became fierce: "No, I haven't added his contact information, mobile number, WeChat number, anything. How can he tell me? In a dream? Don't ask me anymore."
A triumphant smile passed across the mother's face, leaving a barely perceptible ripple. The other person used a slotted spoon to stir the fried food in the pan, his movements gentle, ensuring that every piece of meat could withstand the high temperature frying:
"You have to do your best and don't embarrass yourself in front of your dad, okay? Find a girlfriend and bring her to him to prove that you can live well even without him."
That night, his aunt and uncle praised the flavorful filling, but Meng Weishen himself couldn't taste it. He suspected the dumplings were undercooked, the tang of raw meat lingering in his throat. But Meng Lirong had cooked the dumplings, and no one could deny their mother's hard work, so he had to force himself to eat.
By midnight, Meng Weishen still hadn't fully digested the raw dumplings. The sour water in his throat kept churning, making it unbearable. He had to find an outlet to release it.
He got up in the dark and planned to go to the bathroom to vomit.
The room was shrouded in darkness, the furniture and appliances only visible as shadows on the moon. The kitchen door was ajar, and a faint light leaked through the crack, drawing his attention.
Meng Weishen became suspicious. He deliberately walked lightly and waited until he was very close before slowly pushing open the kitchen door.
I saw a hunched dark figure squatting next to the stove, making a squeaking sound like a rat spirit.
The other party was also startled and turned around in a daze, with half of the fried pork tenderloin still in his mouth. He didn't have time to swallow it or hide it.
"...Grandma, aren't you paralyzed?"
The Meng family urgently set up a temporary court, interrogated the parties involved in the case one by one, and finally got to the bottom of the case by combining physical evidence and confessions.
The old lady had become addicted to the internet in recent years, and Meng Lirong couldn't stand it any more. She tried to control the old lady's phone time like she controlled students. She also forced her to go out for exercise and socialize with other old ladies in the community.
The old lady was so frustrated that she pretended to be paralyzed in bed. She also cried and complained that her children were too busy with work and they could not see them often. They could only look through old photos on their phones. Meng Lirong softened her heart and returned the phone to the old lady.
From then on, the old lady lived the ideal life of lying in bed and browsing her phone every day. The only price she paid was the poor food. She could only eat the bland hospital meals and had to sneak out at night for snacks.
——
Meng Weishen wanted to take a male wife home, and it was his grandmother's inspiration that helped him develop a method to deal with Meng Lirong:
If she makes a request, don't resist. But you must let her see the consequences of making unreasonable requests, no matter how bad they are, so that she won't dare to make them again.
So, when Meng Lirong urged him to get married, Meng Weishen obeyed her wishes and quietly married his same-sex partner, bringing devastating news to the old Meng family. When Meng Lirong completely gave up, Meng Weishen used emotional discord as an excuse to divorce her, and then he saw who dared to bring up the matter of marriage in front of him again.
He confided the truth to Jiang Ranxu, and seeing the other party's rather subtle expression, he became a little worried: "Doctor Jiang, am I hurting her too much?"
"Just do it, don't hesitate." Jiang Ranxu said, "Now that you are financially independent, you don't need to follow your mother's wishes in everything."
"Then I'll give it a try. The matchmaker has already found someone for me, and all we need is to schedule a meeting time."
Jiang Ranxu continued, "Your idea is good, but the plan you've developed doesn't sound very mature. Can I give you some advice?"
Meng Weishen responded readily: "Of course, do you have any suggestions?"
At this time, Sister Ni came to remind them that the TV had been installed and the clinic was ready for use.
"Come with me."
Jiang Ranxu signaled him that he could see the doctor, but Sister Ni did not stay in the clinic as usual. When Meng Weishen stepped into the clinic, they were the only two people in the room.
The TV was indeed installed, and the signal was no longer lagging. Tom the cat on the screen had fallen in love with a beautiful little white cat and was being toyed with by her.
Jiang Ranxu turned off the TV and locked the door tightly, leaving a silent, enclosed space.
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