Chapter 56 Family
Fu Guanshan was carrying large and small bags of supplements, looking around on the gray stairs.
This was his first time visiting the place where Meng Chu grew up. There are no high-rise buildings or elevators in the community, and you can see low hills in the distance. In the quiet sunshine, the elderly are ballroom dancing in the park.
Meng Chu and Meng Jining followed behind, trying their best to appear indifferent.
They told nothing to the elder they were about to meet.
Framed, prosecuted, on the run, criticized by public opinion, and vindicated, life has been full of ups and downs in the past year, but the only information Meng Changqing received was that "the youngest son rarely calls home."
For them, after the dust has settled, they can finally announce to their father that life has returned to normal. To Meng Changqing, it was just a long-awaited family gathering.
Like every father welcoming his children home, he complained that they brought too many things and asked them to sit down. The dishes on the table were already prepared, half of them were his own cooking, and the other half were prepared meals he had packed.
Judging from his steady steps, his lumbar spine has recovered well.
Only Fu Guanshan was a real guest, so the tea was poured by Meng Chu and the chopsticks were distributed by Meng Jining. Meng Changqing sat opposite, glanced at Meng Chu with tears in his eyes, and then fixed his eyes on Meng Jining.
"Why are you losing weight again?" He sighed. "You young people just don't eat well. You skip breakfast all day, eat supper, don't cook for yourself, order takeout, how can you be healthy?"
"I have a big appetite, Dad," Meng Jining said, "My brother eats less. I lived in his house for a while. If my brother-in-law was not around, he would just drink a bag of oatmeal in the morning."
"Are you tired from being on that singing show? I saw you guys singing, dancing, and rehearsing," Meng Changqing said. "I watched that show every day, but there were too few shots of you. It was gone in a flash."
"I'm a newcomer, how can you keep filming me?" Meng Jining lifted the bowl and moved away from his father's chopsticks. "Dad, do you know? The new weather instrument installed on our provincial highway was designed by my brother."
Meng Changqing still put the fish into his bowl and looked at Meng Chu. "Really?" he exclaimed. "I think I saw it on the news. Did you design that? That's amazing."
Then, he turned to Meng Jining and said in a hesitant, negotiating tone: "Look, your brother is so good. In fact, I think that if investment banking is too tiring... you can go to a central enterprise, or take the civil service exam, wouldn't that be good? Look at your brother, he has a position, subsidies, winter and summer vacations, and he doesn't have to work in the office."
At this point in the conversation, Meng Changqing finally took the initiative to mention Meng Chu. He raised his head and explained, "Dad, I don't have winter and summer vacations. Scientific research is a year-round activity. Although I don't work in the office, I work overtime every day. It's not a leisurely time at all."
Meng Changqing paused. "Oh..." he said, "You've worked hard, eat more food."
Meng Chu picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it in his mouth, but he couldn't taste anything.
"Hey," Fu Guanshan leaned over, "Don't you dislike eating Artemisia? You said it tastes bitter."
Meng Chu glanced at the table slowly: "If there are dishes you like more, don't eat them. If there are none, eat them. Vegetables are used to supplement nutrition anyway."
Meng Jining bit his chopsticks, thinking hard, trying to adjust the atmosphere at the table. "Dad," he said, "have you seen my new car? It's a beautiful mist blue."
"Did you buy a car?" Meng Changqing became interested in the topic related to his old profession. "What brand is it?"
Meng Chu said a name.
"Oh, now young people are buying more new energy vehicles," Meng Changqing said, "our factory is also making parts for domestically produced cars."
Mentioning the car, Meng Chu's expression softened: "By the way, Jining and I have discussed buying you a car so that you can go out more conveniently..."
Meng Changqing was so surprised that the arc of his wrinkles changed. He immediately refused: "You spend your own money. I'm not going to travel, why buy a car? It's a waste of money."
"Cars are cheaper now," Meng Chu said. "You can buy a very good one for 100,000 yuan."
"One hundred thousand is still money. It's not easy for you to earn money." Meng Changqing said, "When did I say I wanted to buy a car..."
"I want to buy it," Meng Chu said, "You sold the car more than ten years ago and never bought it back. I've been thinking about it."
"Alas, why are you thinking about it?" Meng Changqing said, "I didn't sell it for you, so don't take it to heart."
Meng Chu was stunned: "What?"
"Your brother needed money at the time," Meng Changqing glared at Meng Jining. "He was already in the third year of junior high school, and his grades suddenly dropped like a roller coaster. It seemed that he would not be able to go to a key school. I wanted to give him tutoring quickly, so I sold the car. But guess what he said, he said he failed the exam on purpose..."
Meng Chu suddenly felt something falling straight down. Even though it was already in danger, there was at least a glimmer of hope holding it up. Just now, with a silent push, the line finally broke.
Meng Jining tried desperately to make gestures to his father. Meng Changqing frowned and finally understood his son's intention.
"Oh, it's been so many years, why are you still bringing it up..." Meng Changqing looked around and saw that the dishes on the table were almost finished, so he stood up and said, "Have some fruit, please."
He turned and went into the kitchen and took out a large plate with various cut fruits on it. The red, orange, yellow and white colors looked very beautiful.
Meng Chu stared at the plate, his temples buzzing and his head roaring.
Meng Changqing put the plate in the middle and said, "This mango is very sweet. Your aunt bought it from..."
Suddenly, a crisp collision sound was heard in the living room. The others were startled and looked towards the source of the sound.
The porcelain bowl in front of Meng Chu fell onto the table. He stared at his father: "Why are you always like this?"
Meng Changqing had never seen Meng Chu get angry, let alone this anger was directed at him: "What's wrong with you?"
"Have I done anything wrong?" Meng Chu's tone became increasingly harsh, and the anger that had been accumulating since he entered the room burst out. "Have I ever been unfilial to you? Why do you treat me like this?!"
"I..." Meng Changqing was surprised and annoyed, "What did I do to you? Why are you yelling at me all of a sudden?"
"Since you were little, I've sent you greeting cards, helped you with housework, asked you not to worry about your studies, and never asked you to buy anything," Meng Chu said. "I've done this much, what else are you dissatisfied with?"
"When have I ever been dissatisfied with you?" Meng Changqing frowned. "Have I ever complained about you in front of relatives and friends? I always say you are a good kid."
"Good boy?" Meng Chu said, "Do you think of me as your child? Isn't Meng Jining your only son?!"
"Is this the tone you use when speaking to an elder?"
"Elder? Have you ever cared about me? Do you understand me?" Meng Chu pointed at Meng Jining, "Can you describe my preferences like he does? In your heart, I am a burden after he comes!"
"What's wrong with you today? You're talking to your dad all the time?" Meng Changqing stood up suddenly. "How have I ever done anything wrong to you? Have I ever hit you? Have I ever scolded you? Have I ever made you suffer? You and Jining sleep in the same room, eat at the same table, and go to the same school. You wanted to go to the training camp, but didn't I still give you the money in the end?"
"Yes! I eat at the same table with him, but are the dishes on this table cooked for me?" Meng Chu pointed at the plate of fruit. "If Meng Jining had a rash after eating mangoes, would you buy mangoes when you buy fruit? I am sitting at this table, but are you chatting with me? Do you want to know what my life is like? What's the difference between me here and air? Yes, you spend money on me, but don't I give money to my family? When I got the scholarship, didn't I buy you a gift?!"
"Is that what I asked you for?"
Meng Chu was stunned: "What?"
"Have I ever asked you for money?" Meng Changqing said, "Did I ask you to buy me a car? Haven't I always told you to spend your own money? I didn't even ask you to book a hotel for me when I attended your wedding. I got sick in the middle of the night, and the first person I called was my brother. Have I ever troubled you?!"
"So!" Meng Chu almost yelled, "Why didn't you call me! Why didn't you want to stay at my place for two more days! You don't treat me as your son!"
"Yes! That's right!" Meng Changqing said, "I just like my own son. I think my own son is good. What's wrong with that?! I care about my own son more. I can't treat him equally. What's wrong with that?! I raised you for so many years. No matter how hard and tiring it was, I never sent you back. What else are you dissatisfied with?!"
The room fell silent for a moment. Meng Chu looked at him and was silent for a long time, as if he was replaying the memories of the past twenty years bit by bit.
Gradually, the anger around him dissipated and his eyes calmed down.
He suddenly realized clearly the absurdity of the whole scene. It was not just now, but had been like this for more than twenty years.
"Yes," he sighed and said mockingly, "I was wrong."
He picked up his coat from the back of the chair and put it on. "You didn't treat me as a son," he said, "and I shouldn't treat you as a father."
He looked at the father and son at the table: "I shouldn't expect you to treat me like a father."
Fu Guanshan had already stood up following his movements. When the verbal fight just started, he wanted to join in, but later he found that Meng Chu was too powerful and he couldn't get a word in, so he just watched the situation quietly from the side.
Now it's time to go.
"You actually want to be alone with your biological son," he said to Meng Changqing, "I won't come back to bother you in the future. If there is anything urgent or you need money urgently, just tell me."
He said to Fu Guanshan, "Let's go," and went out. Fu Guanshan remembered something and came back to add, "The ribs taste better with some vinegar."
Meng Chu walked down the stairs step by step. In the narrow corridor, the sound of his footsteps echoed for a long time.
Fu Guanshan walked beside him and put his hand on his shoulder. He smiled and put his hand in his: "I'm fine."
In fact, he had never felt so good in this home.
He had seen it on a program before. An old man with a wrinkled face, who had experienced a lot, was sitting on a rattan chair under the shade of a tree and being interviewed by a reporter.
The other party asked him what he was still worried about. After a long pause, he said into the microphone: "My mother doesn't love me."
He was over 70 years old, and his mother had long since become a tablet in the house, but at the end of his life, he still said: "My mother didn't love me."
Compared with this, being able to let go of this matter before the age of thirty is already a rare blessing.
There were footsteps behind him again. Meng Chu turned around and saw Meng Jining catching up with him with a complicated expression. He stood at the stairs, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Meng Chu looked at him for a while, then said, "Thank you."
Meng Jining opened his mouth. He was always good at speaking, but he didn't know what to say at this moment: "I actually..."
"You don't have to explain," Meng Chu said, "I know."
The fact that the other party could get the very thing he wanted so badly by just playing around with it and using some tricks was such a heavy blow to him.
And if he thought about it further, he would become even more desperate - fortunately Meng Jining didn't really need the money. If Meng Jining's grades really dropped, would Meng Changqing give him the money?
At that time, he needed his father's care more than his brother's charity.
"I'm really fine," Meng Chu said, "Now, his concern is not that important to me."
Meng Jining hesitated for a while and looked at him hesitantly. "Then...Brother, will you still come to watch my rematch?"
Fu Guanshan was a little shocked: "You made it to the semi-finals?"
He heard from Hai Qiu that there were several royal families in this program and not many spots were left for other contestants. It was amazing that Meng Jining did not get eliminated in the first round and still had some potential to become famous.
However, Meng Chu did not look surprised, as if he had known this would happen. "Of course," he said, "my brother can do anything."
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