Chapter 240: Troubles of Youth (Two Chapters in One)
"You still remember Yu Minghuai, right?" Lu Jingyou started the car.
"I remember, what's wrong?" The name Yu Minghuai suddenly brought Su Jiaojiao back to her previous life. She met Yu Minghuai when she was working as an assistant to Lu Jingyou in Jiahe Group.
At that time, she and Qin Xiuming were still in a relationship, and during team building, they had dinner with Yu Minghuai.
Yu Minghuai is one grade higher than Lu Jingyou and is Lu Jingyou's senior. He studied architecture, but opened a psychological clinic after graduation.
In my impression, Yu Minghuai always wore a Tang suit with a small braid tied behind his head. He was one year older than Lu Jingyou, but he always dressed in an old-fashioned way.
In her previous life, Su Jiaojiao always suspected that he had been stimulated by something.
"He's from Guangzhou. His family also makes clothes. Yu Minghuai refused to take over the family business, so his sister Yu Mingyuan studied fashion design and officially took over the family's two clothing factories this year."
Lu Jingyou glanced at Su Jiaojiao in the rearview mirror as the car slowly drove past the snack street. Su Jiaojiao listened to him intently, "Qingyuan is having a clothing fabric exhibition these days. Yu Mingyuan said she couldn't come, so she asked me to help arrange for a batch of jacket fabric to be shipped to Yangcheng. You know, I don't know much about these fabrics."
"Actually, I don't know much about clothing fabrics. How dare you take on such a big job?" Su Jiaojiao smiled. "This is not your style."
If Yu Mingyuan can't come, you can send someone.
It would be too hasty to let an outsider supply them with goods.
"No matter how ignorant you are, you're still better than me." Lu Jingyou looked at her calmly, "Don't worry about the fabric. It won't be wrong. You've finished the college entrance examination anyway. I'll take you out to relax. I think you'll be interested in the clothing fabric exhibition."
"Okay, I'll go with you tomorrow." Su Jiaojiao was indeed interested.
As they were talking, the car drove into Century Garden and stopped steadily downstairs.
"Come in and sit down!" Su Jiaojiao invited him.
"No, I have something else to do, so I won't be going up today." Lu Jingyou helped her take the suitcase off the car. "I'll pick you up around ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't worry."
Su Jiaojiao readily agreed.
Chen Guilan had already returned and was busy cooking in the kitchen. When she heard the door open, she came out and saw her daughter holding a bunch of flowers. She asked her, "Who bought you these flowers?"
"I bought it myself." Su Jiaojiao took the flowers back to the bedroom.
"What are you buying flowers for?" Chen Guilan went back to the kitchen to continue cooking. Su Jiaojiao didn't say anything. After a moment, Chen Guilan came out of the kitchen again and asked her, "How did you do on the exam?"
"Not bad." Su Jiaojiao opened the suitcase, took out the clothes and threw them into the washing machine. She had forgotten to ask Lu Jingyou if he could come back that day, otherwise she would have to bring some spare clothes.
During the meal, Chen Guilan told Su Jiaojiao, "A few days ago, your grandmother fell downstairs while taking out the trash at your aunt's house. She's now hospitalized at the orthopedic hospital in front of our community."
Su Jiaojiao said "oh" and remained unmoved.
"Your aunt came to our house and complained to me." Chen Guilan frowned. "Your aunt had to go to work and there was no one to take care of the child, so she took a few days off. She wanted your aunt to come and take care of your grandmother, but your aunt said that your grandmother fell at her house and it had nothing to do with her. They almost got into a fight at the hospital."
"Mom, their family's affairs have nothing to do with us. If they want to fight, let them fight." Su Jiaojiao was speechless. "Don't ask about it, otherwise they won't let you go either."
Su Xiumei and Feng Yuefen are not reasonable people, they bite whoever they catch.
She couldn't let her mother get involved.
"I didn't ask." Chen Guilan said embarrassedly, "I just think she is your grandmother after all. Do you want to go see her?"
"No." Su Jiaojiao refused directly. Xu Yuxiang had a lot of sons, daughters, granddaughters and grandchildren, so there was no need for her to visit them.
Chen Guilan didn't say anything either.
"Mom, there's a clothing fabric fair in Qingyuan tomorrow. I want to go and take a look." Su Jiaojiao said to Chen Guilan, "I have some free time now. Besides leather jackets, I'll see if I can make something else."
In fact, she wanted to rest for a few more days before thinking about these things.
But she couldn't help but help Lu Jingyou.
"Who are you going with?" Chen Guilan asked.
"With Mr. Lu." Su Jiaojiao couldn't hide it from her. "Mr. Lu is helping a friend look at fabrics at the clothing fabric fair, and we just happened to be going together."
"When did you meet Mr. Lu?" Chen Guilan subconsciously looked out the window. Su Jiaojiao smiled and said, "We just met on the road."
"Jingjiao, you've got to be careful when you go out with others. Don't judge people by appearances." Chen Guilan had a good impression of Lu Jingyou, but he frequently went out with her daughter, and as a mother, she couldn't help but think about it. "Especially with someone like Mr. Lu, it's better for you to avoid associating with him..."
"What's wrong with a person like him?" Su Jiaojiao really wanted to hear Chen Guilan's evaluation of him.
"I heard from Qin Shuang that he has a girlfriend in the capital. What if you, a little girl, are often with him and get misunderstood?" Chen Guilan didn't want Su Jiaojiao to have any relationship with Lu Jingyou. She only hoped that her daughter could get into a good university and marry someone from a similar family background as them in the future.
Qin Shuang said that families like theirs pay attention to matching social status and will not marry anyone casually.
In addition, Chen Guilan is very satisfied with the current life of her and her mother. They have a big house to live in, a shop space, and a stall in Hualian Shopping Mall. They have no worries about food and clothing.
Chen Guilan believed that their lives would get better and better, and she did not want her daughter to marry into a rich family and suffer grievances.
"Mom, don't worry, I know what's going on." Su Jiaojiao couldn't explain to Chen Guilan the relationship between her and Lu Jingyou. Lu Jingyou had helped her sincerely, helping her sell leather jackets so that she had enough funds, and helping her review her lessons, which indeed improved her grades a lot.
Of course, she kept this affection in her heart.
Now that he needed her help, she had no choice but to help.
As the mother and daughter were talking, Feng Yuefen and Su Cuicui arrived. They looked worried and said they had just come from the hospital. Chen Guilan asked Feng Yuefen, "How is Grandma Jiaojiao?"
"It's a broken bone, and the doctor said we need surgery," Feng Yuefen snorted. "The doctor said we didn't have to have surgery, but her grandmother insisted, saying it would heal faster. So, she called my wife and me over to discuss it. Now the three of them are discussing it in the hospital, so my mother and I won't get involved."
Neither Chen Guilan nor Su Jiaojiao said a word.
There is no need to guess, they will definitely have an argument, not about whether to have the surgery or not, but about who should pay for the surgery.
"By the way, Jiaojiao, have you finished the college entrance examination?" Su Cuicui suddenly remembered this and looked at her with wide eyes. "How did you do?"
"Not bad." Su Jiaojiao replied.
"Look at Jiao Jiao, she's so promising!" Feng Yuefen glared at Su Cuicui. "You're only one year older than Jiao Jiao. Not only are you bad at studying, but you're also dating a foreigner. I don't even want to say anything about you in front of your stepmother and Jiao Jiao."
"What's wrong with outsiders?" Su Cuicui was unhappy. "Outsiders are not human beings. If we go to other places, we will also be outsiders."
"Anyway, I won't allow you to date or marry someone from outside of town," Feng Yuefen said agitatedly. "You better break up with that young man right now, or I'll have your second uncle fire him."
"Humph, who do you think my second uncle is? How dare he fire an employee casually?" Su Cuicui laughed angrily, "Mom, I'm not a child anymore. Don't scare me like a child. It's my freedom to date anyone I want."
"No matter how old you are, you're still my child. You have to listen to me." Feng Yuefen's face flushed with anger as she said to Chen Guilan, "Guilan, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. You said her boyfriend is from Mocheng, three or four hundred miles away from Jiaoxian. Not to mention how life will be like after she gets married, it will be difficult for her to return to her parents' home in the future."
"Mom, you're getting married soon, are you living well?" Su Cuicui asked Feng Yuefen. Feng Yuefen's face darkened. "It's precisely because I'm not living well that I hope you'll live well. Mom has been through it all and won't hurt you."
"I won't hurt myself either." Su Cuicui was determined as if she had eaten a weight. "Anyway, I won't listen to you. None of you can separate us. If you force me, I will elope with him."
"How dare you!" Feng Yuefen was furious and raised her hand to hit Su Cuicui. Chen Guilan was so panicked that she hurriedly stopped her, "Sister-in-law, please talk it over nicely."
"Even if you beat me to death, I won't break up with him." Su Cuicui ran out crying, and Su Jiaojiao stopped her, "Sister, I'll go out for a walk with you."
The heat of July.
The night was also exceptionally hot and humid. The streetlights in the neighborhood were dim, and a few children were jumping rubber rope on the roadside: "Little rubber ball, kick it with your feet. The Malan flower blooms twenty-one, twenty-eight, twenty-five, six, twenty-eight, twenty-five, seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty-one..."
When they were young, Su Jiaojiao, Su Cuicui and Chen Juan also jumped rope and sang songs like this. At that time, they were carefree and happy.
Now, they have grown up and each has their own troubles.
Su Jiaojiao remembered that she read a sentence in a book that said girlhood was the cruelest period in a person's life because one had to face the troubles, sweetness, and pain of choosing a spouse. If one was not careful, it would leave a shadow and misfortune on one's life.
Because we are young, have little experience and knowledge, we have all kinds of troubles.
The two sisters walked aimlessly on the small path in the community, each with their own thoughts. Su Jiaojiao remembered that in her previous life, Su Cuicui did marry someone from another place, but she was not sure whether she married to Mocheng or whether she married her current partner.
"His name is Xu Hao. He works in the packaging workshop, ironing clothes. He's very tall and doesn't like to talk much, but he's very capable. The packaging workshop director likes him very much, and so do the girls in the workshop, including me." Su Cuicui spoke first. "I look forward to seeing him every day. When I see him, I feel happy, but also nervous. I want him to know what's on my mind, but I'm also afraid that he will know..."
Su Jiaojiao didn't say anything and just listened quietly.
She had this feeling before...
"Until a few days ago, someone in my dorm gave me a letter saying Xu Hao asked her to give it to me. Xu Hao said that he liked me when I was in the packaging workshop." Su Cuicui was walking when she suddenly stopped and said excitedly to Su Jiaojiao, "Jiaojiao, do you know? That feeling is like winning the lottery. The person you like also likes you. It's such a lucky thing!"
"I understand. This is called a two-way rush." Su Jiaojiao did not ask about Xu Hao's family background. People in love like them are content with love. Only when they talk about marriage will they have to face various problems.
Su Cuicui is now enjoying this heart-pounding feeling and she can't listen to what others say.
"Jiaojiao, do you also think Mocheng is too far away?" Su Cuicui sighed, "Xu Hao has an older brother. It's not impossible for him to stay in Jiao County, but he needs to buy a house."
Buying a house requires a loan.
Paying the mortgage every month is a very worrying thing, and this is the main reason why Feng Yuefen disagrees.
Whether she marries in Mocheng or Xu Hao stays in Jiaoxian, it would be better to find a local one directly.
"As long as you don't mind, it's not a big deal." Su Jiaojiao said calmly, "I don't think you need to have a conflict with your mother over this matter. Eloping is even more unacceptable. If Xu Hao really likes you, he will face these problems with you, instead of you fighting for your love while he sits back and enjoys the fruits of your labor."
Faced with this problem, if a man does nothing.
That means this man is not worth her efforts.
"He doesn't even know that my parents don't approve of us..." Su Cuicui got angry when she talked about this, and said angrily, "It was my second uncle who told my dad. He's really nosy. And that Gao Meifeng, she even advised me not to look for someone from another place. She's just a mistress, what right does she have to criticize me?"
"Sister, I think it doesn't matter whether you are looking for a partner, whether he is from another place or a local. The most important thing is that you have to be independent first and have a job that can support yourself. You are you first, and then you two. You should talk first and take it one step at a time." Marrying someone from another place does not necessarily mean you will not be happy, and marrying a local does not mean you will marry well.
There will be a lot of mess after marriage anyway, so there is no need to compare who has more messes.
"I understand." Su Cuicui listened to the advice and felt much better. In her better mood, she began to appreciate the greenery in the community. "Your community's greenery is very good. I wish I could afford a house here. Jiaojiao, tell me, how did you make so much money?"
"Didn't they say that I bought this house with the help of a man?" Su Jiaojiao didn't care about these rumors. It didn't affect her anyway, so she didn't take it to heart.
"These are all rumors made up by Gao Meifeng!" Su Cuicui didn't believe them. "Don't worry, if anyone talks nonsense again, I will scold them for you."
Su Jiaojiao just smiled.
After the mother and daughter left, Chen Guilan also became anxious and worried: "Jingjiao, will you marry someone from another place in the future?"
“…” Su Jiaojiao didn’t know what to say.
For this reason, Chen Guilan kept her talking for half the night, chatting about all sorts of things, implying that Su Jiaojiao should come back after graduating from university. After all, they had a house and a shop, and as long as the man was a good person and treated her well, it would be fine.
As a result, Su Jiaojiao started to feel sleepy as soon as she got in the car the next day.
"Have you not rested enough?" Lu Jingyou looked at her in the rearview mirror, his eyes full of smiles. "If you want to sleep, take a nap. I'll call you when you arrive."
"Not bad." Su Jiaojiao perked up and looked out the window. As she looked, her eyelids began to droop and she fell into a deep sleep unknowingly.
When she woke up again, she saw the waves crashing outside the window. She rubbed her eyes, sat up quickly, and asked Lu Jingyou, "Where is this? Didn't you say we were going to Qingyuan?"
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