Chapter 24
Chen Huanong stayed back for another three weeks this time, which was longer than expected. So on the day she returned home, her parents came to pick her up in person. Chen Huanong didn't think that her mother had developed some useless thoughts about her daughter after not seeing her for so long. Chen Huanong handed a gift bag to the intern and asked her to take it back to the institute to share it when she went to work. The remaining three were all handed to Chen's mother. Sure enough, she saw that although her mother said no, she hugged the gift very honestly. After receiving the gift, she also taught Chen Huanong not to spend money indiscriminately. Chen Huanong felt that her mother was really excellent in her daily life!
Chen Huanong lost eight kilograms in three weeks in Kenya, and even his chubby face seemed to droop. He went home, took a shower, and went into his room to adjust to the time difference. He slept for more than twenty hours.
"Should we ask her to get up and eat something? How can she go for such a long time without eating? It's so bad for her health!"
Mother Chen grabbed Father Chen and said, "Don't wake her up. She must not have slept well outside. I made some porridge. She can eat it after she wakes up. She will definitely get angry if you wake her up."
Thinking about how Chen Huanong would get mad when he woke up, Dad Chen followed Mom Chen's advice and the two of them quietly went upstairs and downstairs, fearing to wake up the little ancestor of the family. Unexpectedly, just as they reached the stairs, they heard Chen Huanong calling them. Mom Chen quickly turned around and walked into her room, "What's wrong? Why did you call Mom as soon as you woke up?" Although she said this in disdain, her face was full of smiles. The fact that she called Mom first instead of Dad was enough to show her status in the family.
Chen Huanong saw through his mother's thoughts and felt that she had become more and more childish over the years. "Is there anything to eat? I'm hungry, and you didn't even wake me up to eat!"
Mother Chen ordered Father Chen to go downstairs to serve porridge while she picked up the clothes she had thrown on the floor. "You're so grown up, and you still need your mother to wake you up? How dare you! I won't wake you up. When you were in college, I asked you to get up for breakfast, and you were so upset the whole morning. Your father and I don't want to have to deal with your bad mood at our age!"
Chen Huanong felt that her tendency to hold grudges was really hereditary. She had explained this to her mother countless times, but her mother still brought it up from time to time. She said she was just being irritable because she got up early, and her mother insisted on accusing her of making a face.
Chen Huanong leisurely finished a bowl of eight-treasure porridge, and her mother had already packed her suitcase. She assumed her mother would come downstairs after her nagging, and she could just give her a listen as usual. She was scrolling through messages on her phone, but when she didn't hear the door close for a while, she looked up and saw her mother's hesitant look.
"What's wrong? Is there anything you want to tell me?"
"Nothing, you just came back, have a good rest. Mom just hasn't seen you since I was good. I think my daughter has grown up a little bit."
Something must be wrong when things are out of the ordinary. Chen's mother is rarely so gentle, unless she feels that Chen Huanong has been wronged. She has been abroad for three weeks, so how could she have been wronged?
After more than ten hours of international travel and twenty hours of sleep, Chen Huanong's brain was in a state of dullness. Therefore, she could not appreciate the deeper meaning of Chen Ma's words, nor could she see the worry behind Chen Ma's hesitation. She just used her habitual thinking logic to guide Chen Ma to tell the truth.
While searching for the Shensong Law Firm, Chen Huanong's cousin found the first-instance judgment for Chen Huanong. Although the divorce was denied, Chen's parents were already aware of the divorce lawsuit. Chen Huanong didn't have time to get angry at her emotionally retarded cousin. She could imagine the scene: during her many days abroad, every time she called Chen's mother, she would be cheerful, but then she would be so worried about her daughter in a foreign country, clearly worried but unable to ask a single question.
"Mom, I'm fine. Tang Chengting and I did have some issues, but I don't know what they are yet, so I can't divorce you without knowing the details." In those brief seconds, Chen Huanong couldn't think of any words of comfort. She could only be honest, hoping her honesty would comfort her mother. "Once I've figured out all the issues, we'll do whatever needs to be done. So don't worry, Mom."
"I'm a law student. I can protect myself." Chen Huanong, with dark circles under his eyes and a tired look, forced himself to maintain his composure and said to Chen's mother with a smile, "Look, I've suffered all these years. Don't you believe me? Who am I? I've been bullying others since I was a child!"
Over the years, Chen's mother occasionally reflected on whether she'd pushed Chen Huanong too hard. Her youngest daughter had been praised for her intelligence since she was little, and a fortuneteller had said it was a shame she was a girl; if she'd been properly educated, she'd have been a prime minister. She'd always told Chen Huanong this as a joke. Secretly, however, she didn't believe in fate. So what if she was a girl? She could still be just as good as boys in the future. This was her way of thinking, and it was how she raised her. If other girls were wronged outside, their mothers would immediately feel heartbroken and send them home, using their connections to find them a good job. But for Chen Huanong, while she felt heartbroken, she wouldn't let her back down. Thankfully, after graduation, Chen Huanong never flinched. She never said, "Mom, I'm tired, I want to go home." Instead, she often said, "Mom, it's okay, don't worry." For a time, Chen's mother was relieved that her daughter had grown up strong, but then she realized that her weaknesses wouldn't be appreciated, so she quietly hid the grievances she'd experienced growing up. Her original intention was not to let Chen Huanong hide. She hoped that Chen Huanong would speak out and then face it bravely. They would face it together. She never wanted her little daughter to fight alone.
"You've never been one to avoid problems. One year in elementary school, you did poorly on an exam, and you wrote me a letter explaining why. You said you'd study hard and do well next time so you wouldn't let me down. At that time, I was already very satisfied. I'm not worried about whether you'll become a successful person in the future, because I know my daughter is brave. She can face the setbacks in life and face her own problems. As long as she has the responsibility to face her problems, she won't do too badly no matter what."
"When you grew up a little, you started to rebel. Your rebellious period was quite long, six years in total. During those six years, Mom was really exhausted. I didn't dare go out to work, for I was afraid that you would be in a bad mood one day. How lonely it would be to be alone at home with no one to comfort you! Although you wouldn't tell me, Mom felt that as long as I was by your side, my daughter would also feel a little comforted!"
"My greatest pride and joy over the years is that you've grown up safely and healthily. You've been raised in the palm of my hand. I'm strict with you not because I don't love you, but because I know life isn't easy. You're an only child, and when your father and I are gone, you'll have no one to rely on, so you'll have to face life's setbacks on your own. You'll always be my daughter. When I'm around, you can be a little child. When I'm not around, you have to be your own adult."
"I secretly didn't agree with you marrying Cheng Ting. Cheng Ting was indifferent, and I was afraid he wouldn't treat you well enough. But you just held my hand, just like I held yours when we were little. You said, Mom, this is probably the only person I've ever truly loved. When you mentioned Cheng Ting, you were as happy as if you were a kid getting a favorite toy. I told your dad, let her do what she wants. The most important thing is that my daughter is happy."
"Mom hopes you can grow up happily, but if you are unhappy, just look back and I will pick you up from behind."
Mother Chen tucked in the quilt for Chen Huanong and said goodnight to her daughter with a smile. She turned off the lights for her on her way out. When Chen Huanong heard the noises downstairs had stopped, she finally let out the tears she had been holding back for a long time. Her mother was so smart, she should have known it long ago, but since Chen Huanong didn't say anything, she pretended not to know.
She had thought she was the only one who knew what she'd been through all those years, but later realized that aside from the Zhao Liangqi incident, which she'd kept a secret, her mother had been a bystander, watching over everything else, never revealing anything, protecting her pride, her temper, everything about her. Her protectiveness towards Tang Chengting was partly out of love for him, and partly out of the hope that he would care for her a bit more. She'd ultimately caused her parents to worry.
That night, Chen Huanong was sleepy, and her mother didn't sleep much either. The next morning, when her father made breakfast, the two of them were still lying in bed. Her father was too lazy to wake them up, so he let them sleep until noon. At noon, Chen Huanong was about to fall asleep, but her mother slapped her on the butt, forcing her to wake up.
After lunch, Chen Huanong called his childhood friend, who now runs a matchmaking company and is doing very well in this small place. Chen Huanong admires him and feels that the market is too competitive now. Fortunately, he bought the company and closed it early.
"I'll send you some information on WeChat. Please arrange it. It'd be best if it's a full-scale banquet, from morning to night, with no time to breathe."
"Who are you? Why are you being so ruthless? What do you want?"
Chen Huanong thought for a moment and said, "They look harmless, but when you get along with them, they have a lot of problems. The external qualities must match, and you can choose the rest as you see fit."
After hanging up, she sent the information. After half an hour of browsing Weibo, her childhood friend sent her the information of the blind date candidates. She glanced at it briefly and thought that her childhood friend's success was justified. She was very satisfied with the efficiency. She rolled her eyes and called downstairs again, "Mom, I want to eat pigeon soup tomorrow."
Mother Chen, who was picking vegetables in the garden, glanced at Father Chen, feeling particularly helpless. "You see, your daughter just can't be spoiled. She really does what she wants. You heard it, your daughter wants to eat pigeon soup, so you decide what to do."
Father Chen objected, "You're talking as if she's my daughter. She's calling you, not me. You decide what to do!"
"I'll do whatever I want. Tsk, I can't even get a pigeon without you. When we eat, I'll tell your daughter that your dad couldn't bear to give you a pigeon to eat."
Ding ding ding, Dad Chen was defeated.
Three years after marrying Chen Huanong, Tang Chengting finally understood how the ranking of Chen Huanong's family came about, and how Chen's father, as the "backbone" of the family, was ranked last. This was because Chen's father could not argue with Chen's mother, and Chen's mother could not argue with Chen Huanong. When it came to the art of speaking, Chen Huanong had indeed completely inherited Chen's mother's style, and even surpassed it.
Dad Chen changed out of the rain boots he had been wearing for the whole pool and walked obediently to his cousin Chen Huanong's house. Catching wild pigeons was something he was good at, and that was all Dad Chen was good at.
The next day at noon, Chen Huanong, as expected, saw her cousin and her aunt, who was worried about her daughter's marriage, in her own restaurant. Chen Huanong changed her usual polite and distant attitude and put on a warm smile. She tried hard to insert herself into the conversation between Chen's mother and her aunt, which included trivial conversations such as whose son had a second child, whose dog died, and whose chicken ate whose cabbage. Chen Huanong endured it for a long time until her aunt finally changed the topic to her daughter. Chen Huanong immediately straightened his posture and pretended to be very warm-hearted.
"Aunt, I have a childhood friend who runs a matchmaking agency just a few blocks away from where Meimei works. He has a lot of men of the right age there. I want him to pick out a few good ones and let Meimei meet them."
"Oh, she doesn't want to. I don't know what she's thinking. She's so old and doesn't want to be in a relationship. She's not willing to go on blind dates. I'm so worried. You're already married at her age, but she hasn't made any move. I asked her to go on a blind date before, and she blamed me for being nosy."
"It's okay, it won't hurt to meet him. What if there's someone suitable? She's not dating right now because her social circle is too small and she can't meet any good guys. I'll ask my childhood friend to pick out a few good ones. Maybe she'll be interested in them. If she is, she won't say you're meddling."
With Chen Huanong's eloquent persuasion and solemn promises, her cousin's mother successfully sold her own daughter forty kilometers away, and made an appointment with Chen Huanong, and the matter was settled.
"You're up to something like this? You're not the type to meddle in other people's business." After her cousin's mother and her family had left, Mother Chen looked at her daughter with a puzzled look on her face. "You two have been at odds since you were little. How can you not get along well now that you're this old?"
"Mom, you have to say this nicely. I'm not against her. She's just jealous of me. Besides, aren't we getting along well now? Let her get married quickly so she doesn't have time to worry about other people's families. Don't worry, I've chosen someone with very good conditions for her. My cousin's mother will be satisfied."
Seeing Chen Huanong so sincere, Chen's mother didn't know what to say. After all, she was her daughter, so she had to choose to believe her. Later, when Chen's mother thought about this matter again, she really didn't know what to say. With her daughter's vindictive character, how could she have believed her harmless words?
Later, when faced with Chen Ma's scolding, Chen Huanong acted confidently. She was old enough, and she couldn't just grow old without growing wise. After all, she was still a staff member. She had no sense of propriety. Since she didn't know, I'll teach her a lesson. She had to experience firsthand the saying "people's words are scary" before she knew where she was wrong.
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