"Have you lost your mind? Of all the people to choose, why pick a penniless pretty boy? You're the one who's going to suffer." Xu Yu'e spat out these words as if cursing herself, thinking back to when she inexplicably chose Wen Shixuan, a man without money, and ended up enduring hardship in raising children, never having enjoyed a day of bliss since marriage.
Knowing her mother's temper all too well, Manman fears that speaking back would only provoke her mother to rage even more. So, she just waits for Xu Yu'e to finish her tirade.
After a stream of scolding without seeing any reaction from her eldest daughter, Xu Yu'e tires of her own berating and sits back down to rest, hand on her forehead, unable to understand why she had given birth to such a disappointing daughter. How wonderful it would be to have a son, the sole heir of the Wen Family. Then she wouldn't have to worry about Wen Shirong's second branch climbing over her head.
Seeing that Manman doesn't speak up, Yuanyuan feels bored. While chewing her food, she says, "Sis, whether it's good or bad, at least say something back to Mom."
It's the younger daughter who's considerate. Xu Yu'e picks up her chopsticks and adds another piece of meat to her younger daughter's bowl: "You should eat your fill. You need your brain for studying every day and can't think of being like your sister. Your sister is too skinny. I had spoken to a few families before, but they rejected her, thinking she was too skinny and without good fortune."
At hearing this, Wen Shixuan can't stomach another bite. He understands his wife's favoritism, realizing that her words are not only aimed at Manman but at him.
Xu Yu'e and Yuanyuan both lift their heads to stare at Wen Shixuan as he stands up.
"Dad?" Yuanyuan asks.
"You keep eating. I'll make myself a bowl of noodles," Wen Shixuan says as he leaves the dinner table, keeping his head low to avoid his wife's gaze.
As expected, as soon as he's away, Xu Yu'e starts to grumble at the table again: "Don't mind your dad. Does he think our family is rich now? Complaining about this and that even during a meal. If he was capable, he wouldn't be eating here. He'd take his wife and child out to a restaurant for abalone and shark's fin soup."
It's Manman's turn to be unable to sit still. While her mother and sister are enjoying their meal, she silently walks away and slips into the kitchen.
Sitting at the kitchen threshold, Wen Shixuan lights a cigarette, smoking, his eyes as wooden as can be, not moving at all.
"Dad. I'll make the noodles for you, do you want an egg? Or, I remember there's still a tomato in the fridge," Manman comes in, opens the fridge door, takes out a tomato, washes it clean in the sink, and chops it into eight slices on the cutting board.
Only when the gas stove ignites with a 'pah' does Wen Shixuan snap back to reality, saying, "You haven't eaten either. Boil two eggs, we'll have two bowls of noodles."
"No need. If Mom notices there are a few eggs missing, she'll make a fuss."
"What can she say? If she asks, just tell her I ate two eggs, two bowls," Wen Shixuan could only talk back with such defiance when his wife was neither in sight nor earshot.
Manman doesn't respond, drops noodles into the boiling pot, and stirs them skillfully with long chopsticks. The noodles separate and blossom like flowers, a sight so delightful that it would whet anyone's appetite.
His eldest daughter is not lacking at all. With her gentle and calm nature, Wen Shixuan believes that any man could be charmed by her. So the words he says next are not to take his wife's side, but because he genuinely feels his daughter deserves better: "Manman, listen to Dad. You are great, Dad thinks you are much stronger than Yuanyuan or Haoxue. It's okay if you haven't found someone yet. Dad will keep asking around. Dad doesn't believe you won't marry well. So we don't need to settle, don't think because you can't get married you must choose someone who will make you suffer."
"Dad—" Manman is grateful that the steam from the pot conceals her face with a veil of mist, hiding her reddened eyes.
"Don't resent your mom," Wen Shixuan concludes, as the head of the family he naturally hopes for peace and prosperity at home, "She, like me, is just afraid you'll end up like her, married to a nobody like me and suffering for it."
"I know, I understand," Manman replies, knowing that no matter what, they are her parents. The debt of birth and upbringing is hers to repay. Therefore, no matter how angry or fiery her mother gets, she would never talk back. Her mother was being pressured by life itself, she understood.
The noodles, ladled into two bowls, gave father and daughter each a portion to eat side by side, and the heaviness in their hearts finally left the dinner table, dissipating.
In the evening, as she grabbed a broom to sweep up the broken pieces of bowl on the floor, Manman's mind suddenly conjured up the image of Jiang Yan, full of solemn promises.
"There won't be any problems."
He was adamant, brimming with confidence, as if victory was already in his grasp.
Ah~
She just felt he was like a child.
——On the wedding night——
Jiang's father and mother got off the plane but did not inform their son of their arrival. They secretly checked into a hotel first and summoned Mo Wenyang's parents to question them.
Their younger son had taken a vacation for a few days and then abruptly declared he was smitten with a girl upon first sight and would marry no other. As parents, they were pleased on one hand that their son was considering marriage, but on the other, they were naturally worried about what kind of woman could make a man fall for her at first sight—she couldn't be a vixen, could she?
Jiang's father and mother, especially Jiang's mother, were precisely in this state of mind at the moment.
Luckily, Mo's father and mother had also heard about this from their son Mo Wenyang. Mo's father, as one of the initiators of the matchmaking banquet, responded to the Jiang couple's queries, "Wen Shirong is a colleague of mine in the city government, though we are not very close. Actually, that day, Wen Shirong invited my son to see a new car his family had bought. Unexpectedly, Wen Shirong ended up inviting so many girls over. Jiang Yan simply went with Wenyang to hang out, and that's how he met that girl."
"Is that girl your colleague's daughter?" Hearing that the girl's parents might work for the city government and could be the children of officials, Jiang's mother felt reassured.
However, Mo's father dared not lie about the matter and clarified, "No, she is the eldest daughter of my colleague's older brother. She is about the same age as Jiang Yan, just a year younger."
If that was the case, Jiang's mother asked, "What does your colleague's older brother do?"
"I'm not sure about that; I would have to ask my colleague," Mo's father said.
Jiang's mother thought, since this younger brother managed to get a position in the city government, the older brother must be doing well too. Anxious, she immediately asked Mo's father to accompany her to the city government to ask Wen Shirong.
Arriving at the city government office building, Mo's father led her through the halls until they arrived at a door with a plaque on it. Jiang's mother looked up and saw it read "Security Office," and then she immediately pulled Mo's father to a stop: "What position does your colleague hold, exactly?"
"He's the head of the motor pool. Now that he's older, they've given him an office job," Mo's father replied.
Upon hearing this, Jiang's mother's face turned ashen, having thought that the girl's uncle held a high-ranking office, only to find out he was just a driver.
Seeing Jiang's mother's displeased expression, Mo's father did not dare to enter Wen Shirong's office casually and hesitated: "This—"
"Let's go back," said Jiang's mother with a light statement, yet her steps did not hesitate as she turned to leave.