Chapter 24 Getting Along with Parents
As soon as she arrived at the door, Wenxi saw two familiar figures.
Yan Huai'an and Zhou Ruo looked up outside from time to time, probably waiting for them.
Wenxi stepped forward first: "Dad, Mom, it's so cold outside, why don't you wait inside?"
Zhou Ruo looked at Wen Xi with gentle eyes: "Mom wants to see you soon."
Zhou Ruo made no attempt to hide her desire to make amends to Wen Xi and to be good to her.
Wenxi paused for a moment, then reached out to help her, her tone indifferent: "It's cold outside, let's go inside."
A smile appeared on Zhou Ruo's face: "Okay."
Shang Chen and Yan Huai'an walked behind.
Faintly, they heard Shang Chen call out, "Dad."
Yan Huai'an responded several times and asked Shang Chen in a low voice about recent events.
As soon as they sat down, the aunt brought over some tea. Zhou Ruo took it and handed it to Wenxi: "Mom has been free lately and has been researching how to make flower tea. Why don't you try it and see how it tastes?"
A few roses, goji berries, and lemons bloom in the glass.
Wenxi took a small bite and said, "It's very fragrant, but a bit too sour."
"Really?" Zhou Ruo: "Then I'll put less lemon next time. If you like it sweet, Xixi, I'll add some red dates and longan. It's good for girls' health to drink this."
As she spoke, Zhou Ruo looked Wen Xi up and down: "I saw that the temperature wasn't high today, and I was worried that you might have forgotten to put on more clothes, so I sent you a message."
Wen Xi: "Shang Chen reminded me."
Zhou Ruo smiled gently, revealing a knowing smile: "It's good that you two have a good relationship."
Zhou Ruo also brought out several kinds of flower tea for the group to try.
Wenxi and Shangchen occasionally offered suggestions, while Yan Huai'an praised them without any principles, creating a relatively harmonious atmosphere.
Zhou Ruo also took some time to cook a few side dishes in the kitchen.
In no time, the table was filled with dishes.
Zhou Ruo: "Xixi, your stomach isn't good, so I just cooked a few light dishes. I haven't cooked in a long time. Try them and see if they suit your taste?"
Seeing Zhou Ruo's expectant gaze, Wenxi tasted a little of every dish.
Zhou Ruo: "Is it delicious?"
Wenxi nodded: "It tastes good, but you can add some chili next time."
"good!"
Before Wenxi could finish speaking, Zhou Ruo agreed.
She wasn't afraid of Wen Xi offering opinions; what she feared was that Wen Xi would remain distant and polite, agreeing to everything but showing no concern for anything.
That's how a guest treats a host, not how a daughter treats her mother.
Wenxi wasn't a cold-blooded person. Zhou Ruo had lowered himself so much and offered his sincere apology, so she couldn't possibly be completely unmoved.
Wenxi explained slowly, "Actually, I quite like spicy food, but I have a sensitive stomach, so I don't dare to eat too much spice."
She then placed a piece of food on Zhou Ruo's plate, saying, "Don't just focus on me, eat some too."
Zhou Ruo's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of moisture appearing on them: "Okay."
"Then next time you go home, Mom will make it for you again, with a little bit of chili."
"Um."
Yan Huai'an joked, "Xixi's taste is like mine; she also loves spicy food."
Zhou Ruo: "Your dad had a lot of social engagements in the past few years, which ruined his stomach. I don't let him eat spicy food now, but I can't stop him. He always goes out to eat with his group of old friends behind my back, and then comes back complaining that he doesn't feel well."
After Zhou Ruo finished speaking, she glared at Yan Huai'an.
Yan Huai'an chuckled: "My son-in-law is still here, don't embarrass me."
"I'm only saying less because of Shang Chen."
After dinner, Zhou Ruo took out many old photos to show Wen Xi.
“This is a photo of me when I was pregnant with you.” Zhou Ruo smiled gently, as if recalling the past: “Your father and I got married early, but we couldn’t get pregnant after six years of marriage. Both sets of parents were urging us, and I was under a lot of pressure myself. I don’t know how many times I went to the hospital, and I took a lot of Chinese and Western medicine.”
"Later, your dad saw that I looked unwell from drinking Chinese medicine, so he had all my medicine thrown away."
Yan Huai'an laughed and said, "Your mother even had a fight with me about this back then."
"Who knew that after I threw away those pills, I immediately got pregnant with you."
Zhou Ruo raised her hand to wipe away her tears, looking at Wen Xi: "You are the child that your father and I have been waiting for for six years..."
How could she not love Wenxi?
What was lost was twenty-seven years, which was also an extremely painful thing for Zhou Ruo.
Their biggest barrier wasn't Yan Zhao, but time.
Wenxi didn't know how to respond to these words, so she could only remain silent.
After chatting for a while, Zhou Ruo asked the aunt to bring over a bag.
She took two scarves and a pair of gloves out of the bag.
“I thought Xixi got sick during the change of seasons, probably because she couldn’t feel the cold and didn’t keep warm.” Zhou Ruo: “I happened to have some free time recently, so I knitted a scarf for you and Shang Chen, and also knitted gloves for Xixi.”
Zhou Ruo held Wen Xi's hand and said gently, "Just put your things in the car, they won't take up much space. Just wear them whenever the temperature drops, they're convenient and keep you warm."
"XiXi, do you want to give it a try?"
Wenxi took the gloves and tried them on. Just as she finished putting them on and looked up, Zhou Ruo wrapped the scarf around her neck with a very gentle gesture, which also revealed a mother's affection for her daughter.
Zhou Ruo praised Wen Xi without reservation, "My Xixi is so beautiful!"
Wenxi touched the scarf around her neck.
Both scarves are gray, soft and smooth to the touch, with fine stitches and a very good texture, making them perfect for pairing with a coat.
Zhou Ruo probably chose this color because she liked wearing coats and also because of the nature of her and Shang Chen's work.
Wenxi: "Mom is very skillful, unlike me."
“You take after your dad,” Zhou Ruo chuckled. “He grew up eating dumplings and doesn’t even know how to make one.”
Wenxi: "...I don't know either."
Zhou Ruo: "I remember that merchants like to make dumplings together as a family during festivals?"
Shang Chen spoke up at the right time: "I'll teach Xixi then."
Wenxi glanced at him.
One is that Shang Chen never mentioned making dumplings to her, and the other is... why did he suddenly call her by her nickname?
Shang Chen's dark gaze met hers, calm and unwavering.
It seemed like they were asking her what was wrong.
The two had absolutely no chemistry.
Wen Xi looked away. "I'm afraid I can't learn it."
“There were a lot of craft activities in elementary school. I couldn’t handle any of the assignments that required hands-on work, so my brother always did them for me.”
Wenxi is the most clumsy of all.
Zhou Ruo: "I also heard that your brother has taken good care of you since you were little. When he comes back to China, Mom and Dad want to invite him to our house for dinner to thank him in person."
Wenxi: "Okay."
As they chatted, Wenxi suddenly remembered some things from the past.
"I remember once my craft project was to make a boat. I started working on it as soon as I got home from school, and I still hadn't finished by midnight."
"I was so anxious that I cried while I was doing my homework the next day, and my brother found out and stayed up all night with me."
"I finally couldn't stay awake and fell asleep, but my brother stayed up all night to finish it for me."
When Wenxi recounted her childhood, Zhou Ruo and Yan Huai'an listened attentively, feeling somewhat saddened.
If it weren't for the baby swap incident, these things should have been experienced by Wenxi's parents.
Zhou Ruo would even subconsciously imagine the scene of her staying up all night with her daughter to make paper boats.
She turned her head away and quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
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