Chapter 11 I Want to Eat Fish We're Just in a Contractual Marriage
The chef prepared many of Yu Xue's favorite dishes. The main reason was that when Liu Xin notified them, she only told Yu Xue that she was coming back and didn't mention that anyone else would be there. The few meat dishes on the table were added by the chef at the last minute.
Liu Xin is Wen Feng's mother.
She knew that Yu Xue didn't like the smell of greasy food at night, so she didn't ask them to cook meat dishes.
Liu Xin asked Yu Xue to sit down next to her, in the seat furthest away from the relatives.
It wasn't that they didn't get along, but he was afraid that his uncles and aunts would serve him food, and if they served him something he didn't like, he would feel embarrassed not to eat it out of respect for his elders. So he simply called Yu Xue over to sit next to him.
"Mom," Yu Xue whispered.
"Hmm?" Liu Xin turned her head.
Yu Xue said, "I want to eat that broccoli."
Liu Xin secretly moved the broccoli in front of Yu Xue while the relatives were chatting idly, saying, "Eat it."
Yu Xue smiled and said, "Thank you, Mom."
"Hey, when is Xiao Yu planning to have children?" Uncle Er suddenly turned around and asked, "How old is Xiao Yu?"
"Not very big."
"No rush."
Liu Xin and Wen Feng spoke at the same time. The mother and son exchanged a glance, and Wen Feng looked away, gesturing for his mother to speak first.
Liu Xin: "It's still early. Xuexue's health isn't good, so it's still too early to say whether the young couple wants to have a child."
"Children should be born when they are young so they can recover easily. Our Xiao Yu is a star, she can't afford to lose her figure," said the second aunt.
Liu Xin: "The child is a singer, not a model. If you're really worried about losing your looks, you can just not have children."
After Liu Xin said this, the dinner table fell silent for a long while.
No one dared to argue with her.
When Liu Xin was young, she had a good temper, which caused her a lot of trouble with her in-laws. She originally said she wouldn't have children, but her in-laws, brother and sister-in-law took turns persuading her, so she had one anyway.
As she gets older, her temper has worsened. She's had three major arguments with her in-laws, and now she doesn't even go home for Chinese New Year. To put it bluntly, she's just waiting for her in-laws to die so she can collect their bodies.
Now, everyone in the Wen family says that Liu Xin is a powder keg. Apart from Yu Xue and Wen Feng, no one is on her side. Even the once-vowed love has turned into a mountain stream over time. Life goes on as usual, but it's hard to say whether they still love each other or not. They might not love each other, but they don't seem to love each other at all.
Liu Xin once told Yu Xue that she regretted that she was naive when she was young and gave up her own name for the person she liked. She was clearly uncomfortable when she heard others call her "Mrs. Wen", but when her mother asked her if she would marry him, she still chose to marry him. At the time, she felt that she could be with the person she loved, so what was a little grievance that she couldn't bear? Over the years, she has never had the nerve to correct the housekeeper and cook in her family.
Now that I'm in my fifties, my feelings have faded. I realize that the vows we made were just a passing fancy. Now that I'm old, all I have left is a forgetful old man.
She suddenly wanted to work hard and have her own career before retirement, so that when she went out, people would call her Ms. Liu instead of Mrs. Wen.
The night before Yu Xue married Wen Feng, her mother held her hand and told her, "Never give up your career for your husband or children, or you'll regret it every day when you get old, just like me. There are always things in this world more worth cherishing than a husband, children, and a warm bed."
Looking at her high, straight nose and glancing at her worried eyes, Yu Xue felt that she didn't seem like a mother-in-law, but rather a mother.
When Yu Xue recalled these words, she suddenly realized that she had failed to hold onto either her career or her love life.
Uncle San broke the silence at the table, looking at Wen Feng who was picking out okra for Yu Xue, and asked, "What does Wen Feng think?"
Wen Feng cleaned the garlic off the okra and put it in Yu Xue's bowl, saying, "Yu Xue isn't feeling well and has work to do. I'm also busy with work and don't have time to take care of her. We'll talk about it later."
Third Aunt laughed and said, "Let Xiao Yu take care of her. Xiao Yu just sings every day, she's not busy. If all else fails, there's always a nanny."
Wen Feng repeated, "Yu Xue is not in good health and has work to do."
My second aunt said, "With modern medicine so advanced, childbirth is easy. Even people with disabilities can have children."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xin's eyes suddenly lit up, and she exclaimed with delight, "Then, second sister-in-law, please help our Xuexue have a baby!"
Second Aunt was taken aback, then suddenly blushed and said, "Then of course my child is mine."
Liu Xin: "Then have two children, and give one to our Xuexue. We'll pay for it so that our sister-in-law won't work for nothing. It's perfect, since our Xuexue isn't in good health, so it'll save her the trouble. Thank you in advance, sister-in-law."
"Pfft..." Wenxi laughed heartlessly, but after being glared at by her mother, she immediately pursed her lips, lowered her head, and remained silent.
Wen Feng's father nudged Liu Xin's elbow, "Hey, stop joking around. Your younger siblings didn't mean any harm. Let's talk this out."
The meal ended in unusual silence, except for Wenxi, whose mouth was practically stretched to her ears in a wide grin.
Wenxi was also pressured to get married by her parents every day. She could only rebel by making a scene. Since they were her own parents, she couldn't say anything too harsh. Of course, she knew that her parents didn't mean any harm, and the blind dates they introduced to her were all pretty good. But she just didn't want to get married, nor did she want to live according to her parents' experience.
Since her aunt said such harsh things, her parents probably won't mention it for a long time.
After finishing their meal, Wen Feng made up an excuse and left with Yu Xue.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Second Aunt suddenly remembered something. "Oh dear, we heard that Xiao Yu was injured, so we brought him a lot of tonics. We were chatting happily with your Third Aunt just now and almost forgot to take them out. Honey! Have someone get them for you."
"Oh, oh." Uncle Er hurriedly told the housekeeper to fetch it. "Look at our memory, we're really getting old."
The second aunt personally handed the tonic to Yu Xue, and said with a smile, "Auntie was a little tactless just now. Auntie just likes children and didn't mean anything by it. Don't take it to heart. Go back and take good care of your injury."
"Mom, you don't just like kids, you have outdated ideas," Wenxi chuckled.
Her second aunt glared at her again.
She turned around and reached for Yu Xue's hand, but Yu Xue had an injury on her wrist and didn't dare let her touch her, instinctively shrinking back.
Wen Feng quickly stepped forward and took the tonic for Yu Xue, saying, "Thank you, Auntie. I know you mean well, but the child's matter is ultimately our own business. Please don't worry about it."
Wen Feng always spoke with a blank expression, his words stiff and stiff, as if he were angry.
Yu Xue used her good hand to pull her aunt's hand and smiled at her.
Her second aunt smiled at her too.
The two of them just left.
Wenxi and the other children went upstairs, and the room fell silent again.
On the way back, Wen Feng would occasionally glance at Yu Xue beside him.
Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer and whispered, "Sorry, I'm not feeling well today."
"It's alright." Yu Xue turned her head and smiled at him. "Aren't all relatives like that? You can just deal with them. Besides, I know that my aunts really don't have any bad intentions. Just like Wen Xi said, they're just a bit old-fashioned. It's hard to change the ideas they held onto their whole lives when they were young."
Wen Feng: "Did you eat your dinner?"
Yu Xue nodded: "I'm definitely full. I ate the whole plate of broccoli."
Wen Feng paid special attention to Yu Xue's movements. Yu Xue did eat quite a lot of that plate of broccoli, and also some okra.
He had previously suspected that Yu Xue had anorexia and was planning to take her for a check-up sometime.
Now he's uncertain again, wondering if Yu Xue is genuinely sick or deliberately eating so little.
"Wen Feng," Yu Xue suddenly called out to him.
"Hmm?" Wen Feng turned his head, trying to make his expression less stiff.
Yu Xue: "What did you mean by those words you said today?"
Wen Feng pondered for a moment, "What?"
Yu Xue: "I love you."
Wen Feng was stunned. He subconsciously thought that Yu Xue was confessing her feelings, but it took him a while to realize that Yu Xue was repeating his words.
Wen Feng looked at her downcast eyes and didn't respond for a long time.
Do you like it? Of course I do.
I've liked it for four years, maybe even longer, and that feeling has never changed.
But if he tells the truth, will it affect their relationship? He feels that Yu Xue doesn't love him. When she proposed four years ago, Wen Feng didn't dare to confess his feelings. Instead, he made up an excuse, saying that he was "annoyed by being pressured to get married."
Actually, no one was urging him.
He just wanted to get married because he met the person he wanted to marry.
The closest he ever got to Yu Xue was at their wedding, when he kissed her cheek.
Wen Feng: "I didn't mean that."
"Oh." Yu Xue turned her head away dejectedly.
Wen Feng sensed that she might be a little embarrassed, and continued to explain, "I only consider you a close friend. I feel that we get along well, and I don't want you... to leave."
"Mm." Yu Xue nodded perfunctorily.
She propped her head up with her hand, looked out the window, and said nothing. Her mind was a mess. She suddenly felt like crying, but she couldn't.
"I want to eat fish," she said abruptly.
Wen Feng said, "Now? Your stomach isn't good, so don't eat too much tonight..."
"What's it to you?" Yu Xue said irritably.
Wen Feng looked at the grilled fish restaurant outside, but before he could think about it, the car had already passed by.
Yu Xue said, "Stop the car. It's okay. If you're busy, go ahead and do your thing. I'll go eat by myself and take a taxi home later."
Wen Feng: "I won't let go..."
"Leave me alone, we're just in a marriage of convenience." Yu Xue interrupted him, her tears already swallowed back, her tone revealing impatience.
Wen Feng didn't know why she was suddenly in a bad mood again, nor did he know whether he should go along with Yu Xue.
"Did you hear that!" Yu Xue's voice suddenly became shrill.
The driver quickly pulled over and slammed on the brakes, causing Yu Xue's elbow to hit the car door.
Wen Feng quickly approached her, "Are you hurt?"
Yu Xue didn't answer him. Just then, the car stopped, and she opened the door and got out.
Wen Feng quickly followed, "Don't run away, if you want to eat fish, then let's go eat fish."
Yu Xue took a deep breath, her frustration written all over her face. "You don't need to worry about me."
Wen Feng didn't know why Yu Xue suddenly got angry; she was fine in the car just now.
He stopped and waited until Yu Xue had some distance between them before he followed her in small steps and waited at the entrance of the grilled fish restaurant.
He reflected and realized that it might be because his advice made Yu Xue feel disrespected. He knew that Yu Xue cared about this and that she didn't like being treated as a mentally ill person who couldn't take responsibility for her actions.
He paced back and forth downstairs, annoyed. He should have happily said he wanted to eat fish too when Yu Xue said she wanted to, and then they could have gone together.
A note from the author:
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