Chapter 26.5 (1/2)

Chapter 26.5: Sense and Sensibility

The next day, He He sat down together with her mother in the living room, basking in the sun as they were drinking tea and chatting.

He He’s mother asked: “What is wrong between you and Zheng Xie?”

“There is nothing wrong between us.”

“The last time you are back; you were close with him. Last night you refuse to even look at him. Acting like strangers.”

“That……. I am too close with brother Zheng Xie, afraid of Ms. Yang misunderstanding …… no…. afraid that she might mind.”

“You and Zheng Xie are very close for over twenty years. Even if she want to mind, it is too late.”

He He bowed down and said: “Better to be careful. Avoiding is better.”

Then, He He continue reading her novels while her mother continued to read her professional journal.

“That Cen s.h.i.+, he is not your marriage interest, right?” Suddenly He He’s mother asked.

“That…..” He He was stunned momentarily, “We still have a long way to go……”

“For you to be willing to bring your boyfriend back to be introduced to me, it means that you are looking at him as a potential marriage partner, that is why you are dating him, right?”

He He carefully asked: “Mother, do you not like him?”

“If you like, I would respect your choice. But to my understanding, the person that you would be willing to marry would be a person that you highly respect and even awe. But your att.i.tude towards him, it does not seem like it.”

He He kept quiet for a long time. Then she suddenly asked: “Mother, did you highly respect dad and are in awe before you marry him?”

“You have never asked about your dad.”

“In fact, I have always wanted to ask but did not dare. How did you met father? Once, I saw in a very old city yearbook in the library that has father’s profile. It says above that he has only completed junior high school education. When you married father, you were already a graduate student. At that moment, I had wanted to ask…. Why did you marry father?”

“Education cannot represent the gap between two people. Your father was a good man.”

“I know. I am sorry. I should not have asked you that, mother.”

“It’s okay. For so many years, many of you think that I do not like to reminisce the past, so no one ever dare to ask me. Both your father and I were orphan, so we grew up together. I look small so was often bullied. Your dad always protect me. Then later he told me to marry him, and he will protect me forever. I went off later to study while he stayed back to work. He wrote me a letter to tell me that he met a blind woman. She makes him feel good and he wants to date her. If it is right, then he wanted to marry her. The next day, I went to school and claimed that my brother was sick and took a leave of absence. I came back to warn him, the promise that he made needs to be fulfilled. He either do not get married in this life or if he wants to get married, it is only to marry me.”

“What happen then?”

“He refused, but I insisted. So he waited until I graduated. I finally married him. He honored the first half of his promised but then in the most respectable way, destroyed the latter half of the promise.”

“Why did you marry Father? You did not mentioned about this.”

“He was a good man. The best man I have ever met. I was thinking, if I missed the opportunity to be with this man, I will regret it later as I will never be able to meet anyone like him.”