You are my wife, don't doubt it!

Chapter 39 Mother-in-law (two chapters in one)

2023-07-31

Yu Lihua returned three days earlier than originally planned.

The price of this South Korean pilgrimage tour is indeed very low, but... although it is called a pilgrimage, half of the time is spent on shopping, which is really annoying.

It just so happened that something urgent happened at school, so Yu Lihua hurriedly booked the nearest flight back home.

Now, the advantage of low-priced tours is gone. What is going on?

Before entering the door, Yu Lihua noticed the pair of sneakers on the shoe rack.

The shoes looked new, but if they belonged to my brother, they were a little too small. If they were new to my daughter, they were as big as a boat.

She reached out to pick up the shoes to have a look, but then she thought of her daughter's panicked tone on the phone just now, and seemed to have thought of something, and her outstretched hand retracted as if she had been electrocuted.

Yu Lihua staggered, staggered against the wall, and continued to stare at the pair of... men's shoes with a frown.

The wooden door in front of her was opened. Yu Lihua turned around and saw her daughter's pale face and a forced smile: "Mom~"

Her daughter, Yu Luying, stretched out her slightly trembling hands, picked up the suitcase by the door, and took the bag in her left hand.

"So many facial masks," Yu Luying said as she walked into the house, looking into the bag. "Is this enough for three years?"

Yu Lihua ignored her and walked into the room with a sullen face.

There shouldn't be a living person hiding behind the curtain.

There were several dishes under the dish covers on the table. It was quite rich, but there was not much left of each dish.

"Mom, have you eaten yet?"

"Ate."

Sure enough, there were two sets of bowls and chopsticks in the sink.

The bed and sofa are clean and tidy, and it takes a lot of time to make them.

Think positively, nothing happened, think negatively...

That's impossible. After all, she is the daughter I raised.

Yu Lihua pulled over the trolley case, placed it in front of the bed, and squatted down to open it.

Her eyes darted under the bed, which was cluttered with boxes and junk—there couldn't possibly be anyone there.

Then, there is only one place left.

When Yu Lihua took out two coats from the box and walked towards the closet, she caught a glimpse of her daughter's expression out of the corner of her eye and sighed inwardly.

She took a deep breath and opened the closet door forcefully.

The clothes hanging inside seemed to have been moved, but there was nothing else except the clothes.

You wouldn't jump out of the window, would you?

Yu Lihua caught a glimpse of her daughter's frightened face out of the corner of her eye.

Mom is so scary...?

A sad face was reflected in the floor-to-ceiling mirror in the closet.

Short hair, tired, stern, haggard, the face of a middle-aged woman.

In the mirror, another young face with long hair appeared.

So young, so beautiful, no need for makeup or facial masks, overflowing with collagen, it seems like it will flow down if you take a bite...

It's exactly what I looked like back then, so similar.

"Mom, I missed you so much." The girl behind her hugged her waist.

Yu Lihua turned around, hugged her daughter in her arms, and gently touched her head.

"I miss you too." said Yu Lihua.

--split line--

"You just came back and you're leaving now?" Yu Luying said.

"Well, we have to go to school right away." Yu Lihua put on her high heels and picked up her bag: "Something urgent happened at school, so I might be back late. Please check the doors, windows, and gas switches before you go to bed..."

"I know, I know." said the girl.

Yu Lihua walked down one floor and heard the door of her own house upstairs closed. She tiptoed up two floors, turned into a shadow, and stopped.

She took out a pack of blue Essence, opened it, took out a thin and long cigarette, and casually crushed the popping bead in the filter.

I smoke this cigarette just to squeeze the popping bead, Yu Lihua thought.

Yu Lihua tried several times to light the lighter but failed, but the door of her home downstairs had already been pushed open.

A tall and thin figure walked out quickly from inside.

"Xiao Yao." After the door closed, Yu Lihua called out.

The dark shadow shuddered and ran downstairs.

Yu Lihua did not chase after him, but just lit her own cigarette.

But the figure didn't run far before it slowly climbed up again.

"Yu Luying's mother? Is that you?" the boy called timidly.

Yu Lihua took a puff of minty cigarette into her lungs and slowly exhaled.

She walked out from the shadows and looked at Xiao Yao in the pale corridor light.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?"

"it is good."

--split line--

The Madiel Café is an old shop with a long history. It is located on the old commercial street nearby. Although its items are not rich and the prices are quite high, it still attracts many white-collar workers and residents nearby with its old money-style arrogance and the sense of ritual of the exchange of Chinese and foreign products.

"A caramel macchiato, no sugar." Yu Lihua put out the cigarette in the ashtray.

"Auntie, I won't drink it. I don't like coffee." Xiao Yao said stiffly, "I mainly want to chat with you."

"Okay, let's chat." Yu Lihua leaned back in her chair and said, "By the way, where were you hiding just now? Did you climb out of the window barefoot?"

"This..." Xiao Yao hesitated for a few seconds and did not answer her question directly: "Auntie, don't blame Yu Luying. She did nothing wrong. It was me who pestered her and followed her into the house..."

"Why should I care whose fault it is?" Yu Lihua flicked the ash off her cigarette and smiled a far-from-friendly smile. "Last semester, I went to your school, hoping that the school would take effective measures to keep you away from my daughter. But your Director Lin and Teacher Yao both defended you and finally asked you to write a letter of guarantee."

The boy in front of him paled.

"Regarding what happened today, if I go to school again, do you think Director Lin will consider agreeing to the last suggestion—"

"Auntie, this is why I want to talk to you. I would like to ask you to allow Yu Luying to choose who to be friends with." Xiao Yao sat up straight and said loudly.

Yu Lihua covered her eyes and nose, shook her head and laughed.

"I chose you, didn't I? That's enough." After laughing, Yu Lihua leaned forward, clasped her fingers and placed her elbows on the table. "I'll get straight to the point - you're still a student, you should focus on your studies. When you go to college, graduate and enter society, and your relationship matures, then we can look back..."

His boring and stale sermon was interrupted by the boy in front of him: "Yu Luying is the first in the class and in the top ten in the grade, and from what I know about her, even if she really falls in love, it will not affect her studies--"

"Of course my daughter can weigh the pros and cons." Yu Lihua nodded: "Thank you."

The second half of the "thank you" was addressed to the waiter. She took the coffee and took a sip: "So I'm not talking about her, I'm talking about you."

"Me?" The young man in front of him showed a confused expression.

"Yu Luying is the top student in the class, and you are the last..."

"The second to last." Xiao Yao corrected: "The last one is Zhang Jialong."

"From what I understand, you're about to repeat a grade, right?"

"There is no such thing."

"You have been doing bad things since last semester, which has caused a lot of headaches for your teacher Yao. You skipped classes many times, played games in Internet cafes, didn't hand in homework, and even... harassed girls, namely our Yu Luying. If it weren't for your school's habit of protecting the weak, you would have been punished long ago," Yu Lihua leaned back in her chair and said, "Is everything I said correct?"

"So, you think Yu Luying doesn't know about my situation?" The young man held the glass of water tightly in both hands: "She is capable of weighing the pros and cons. You said so yourself."

"Are you trying to say that my daughter is in love with you?" The veins on Yu Lihua's forehead popped out, and she emphasized the second "you" with great emphasis, her tone full of disbelief: "So, you want to convince me not to stop it?!"

"If a girl always keeps to herself, it won't be surprising if she falls in love with anyone one day." Xiao Yao spoke as if he had made a great decision.

"Girls shouldn't love anyone at this time!" Yu Lihua slammed the table angrily, attracting the attention of the surrounding guests and waiters.

She knew she had lost her composure, and was silent for a while before speaking again.

"If it was a boy in the church, I would have turned a blind eye..."

"If it's really because of this..." Xiao Yao blurted out.

"Will you join the religion too? It's meaningless," Yu Lihua said. "Your foundation is not stable. Pretending to convert in order to get married is just a formality. In the future, your attitude towards life and marriage will still be that of a foreigner, which will be a great destabilizing factor."

"Auntie, you're thinking too far ahead," Xiao Yao's neck turned red: "We are only in high school--"

"Yes, you are still just high school students. Marriage is too far away." Yu Lihua's eyes passed over Xiao Yao's back and cast into the unknown void: "So, just enjoy your love. As for the consequences and the responsibilities in the future, those are not what you need to consider. This is the taste of youth, right?"

"That's not the case, Auntie!" The boy looked a little angry: "Your idea is too biased."

"Oh?" Yu Lihua turned her gaze back to Xiao Yao's face with interest.

"First of all! Is your theory of bloodline and origin in line with the doctrine?" Xiao Yao said excitedly: "The class is rigid, refusing to marry newcomers, being self-contained and self-contained, how can we absorb fresh blood and develop? No matter where we are, the next generation is always the future..."

Yu Lihua looked at Xiao Yao's righteous words and was a little stunned: "Did you think of these words yourself, or did Yu Luying teach you?"

"Of course it's me—"

"Yes, Yu Luying probably can't say these words." Yu Lihua nodded: "I began to understand why my daughter only likes you." She still emphasized the word "you".

"What, like?..." Xiao Yao was stunned.

"I admit that what you said is all right. I even began to admire you a little bit." Yu Lihua's eyes softened a little: "By the way, your parents are not together anymore?"

This sudden conversation caught Xiao Yao off guard: "Yes, how do you know everything?"

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to expose other people's scars," Yu Lihua said softly, "but I have a colleague who works in social sciences, and she told me that statistics show that if a person's original family marriage is unhappy, not only will his probability of an unhappy marriage increase by 50%, but his friends around him will also be easily affected - I can't take this risk again."

"Auntie," Xiao Yao clenched his fists, "Everyone is an independent individual. Everything depends on human effort. Human free will is very important and cannot be simply represented by probability..."

"So, do you want to tell me that you have already figured out how to marry her, how to give her a safe, stable and reliable future, and that you will never leave her no matter poverty, illness, or anything else?" Yu Lihua shook the empty coffee cup, and there was a hint of drunkenness in her tone.

"..." The boy was silent: "I don't know."

"Oh." Yu Lihua sighed softly: "You are honest."

"If it was two months ago, one month ago, I would have said yes without hesitation," the boy said hesitantly, "but now, I don't know. I don't know what the future will be like, so I can't make promises casually, but I still don't want to lose my friend Yu Luying, and... and, I believe she also, she also..."

"It seems like you have really thought about it seriously, right?"

Before Xiao Yao could reply, Yu Lihua chuckled again: "Really? Why am I telling you this? If it were another girl's parents, they wouldn't tell you this at all."

"Yes, Auntie," Xiao Yao said sincerely, "So I am very grateful to you, thank you for telling me your concerns and opinions, and thank you for listening to me..."

"That's enough, you little brat," Yu Lihua waved her hand, "Tell me, you didn't bully Yu Luying during the two weeks I was away from home, did you?"

"Absolutely not," Xiao Yao raised his right hand to the sky: "Respect each other like guests! - No, uh, I mean..."

"Okay, let's go back." Yu Lihua stood up: "It's getting late."

Xiao Yao still sat in his seat and hesitated for a few seconds: "Auntie, I have something else to say."

"Oh? Sure, go ahead." Yu Lihua raised her eyebrows and sat down again.

"I have something to ask of you," Xiao Yao said with his head down, "I sneaked into your house while you were not at home. It's my fault. You can blame me however you want. I just hope you can promise me not to hit her again this time."

"Who told you that I hit her?" Yu Lihua's face darkened again and her voice rose octaves.

"..."

"Forget it, who else could it be." Yu Lihua smiled bitterly: "I understand."

"You agreed? That's great!" Xiao Yao said happily, "Also, I've been thinking about this for a long time. In fact, Yu Luying doesn't have many friends at school, and she has almost no male friends except me. During this period when you were away, I think her whole state has improved a lot, and she feels very relaxed, whether in school or in——"

"It seems that you have been together not just tonight, but all this time?" Yu Lihua asked softly.

"No, no, it's mainly about my condition at school..." Xiao Yao waved his hands repeatedly, realizing that he was getting a little too proud of himself.

"Xiao Yao, do you think I'm giving you face?" Yu Lihua's tone became cold again, and her eyebrows knitted together: "You want to interfere with our mother-daughter relationship? She hasn't even married you yet!"