Chapter 100: Chapter 97: Really Like, But Not Enough to Love
Being together seemed like a matter of course.
"But one day I suddenly figured it out. He and I actually can’t end up together. Even if you hadn’t appeared, even if that accident hadn’t happened."
Yin Shixiu looked at the girl in front of him. You could say she’s young, but sometimes when she speaks seriously, it feels like a mature woman expressing her thoughts.
This side of her is quite charming too.
"I believe that true love, destined to last a lifetime, won’t be separated by any difficulty. Trust each other, tolerate each other, understand each other..."
"Ren Yixuan is actually a very extreme person, he can’t tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes..."
"So even if it’s not because of you, one day he and I would still end up like this for some other reason."
She doesn’t ask Ren Yixuan to be a perfect dad for her, nor does she ask him to tolerate the mistakes she’s made.
It’s just not enough... love.
Like very much, but not enough love.
"The reason my pregnancy was exposed, I know it was mainly Xiao Ling causing trouble, Yi Xuan might have told Xiao Ling, maybe just very, very unintentionally."
"... Your mind is still quite clear."
Yin Shixiu tapped her nose lightly.
"Of course, I’m very smart."
"Then why still blame him?"
"Even if unintentional, he’s the one who said it... It seems like I blame him, but actually, he’s also blaming me."
Yin Shixiu wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they walked back, listening to her speak words that reassured him.
When the two went upstairs, Ren Yixuan was just coming downstairs to throw out the trash.
Su Xiaomeng looked up, they greeted each other in the stairway, and then brushed past each other.
It’s not that she doesn’t care about emotions, she’s just very clear that, no matter what, she can’t go back to the past.
At the moment they passed by each other, she felt a stifling sensation in her chest... uncomfortable.
But, it was still within her bearable range.
She... just didn’t want to exert effort to save anything anymore, even though what she lost was an incredibly precious relationship.
Yin Shixiu pulled her closer into his embrace.
This small action did not escape Ren Yixuan’s notice.
Yin Shixiu didn’t feel he owed Ren Yixuan anything...
Perhaps this is just a man’s nature, naturally competitive, possessive, domineering and strong-willed... Immature yet mean.
The next morning, the weather was great!
Apart from the light snowfall on the first day of the year, the weather during the New Year had been mostly clear.
The Su Family packed up early in the morning, loaded the car, and prepared to head back to Su Family Village.
Which is Su Xiaomeng’s grandpa’s house.
Yin Shixiu drove with Su Xiaomeng following behind Su’s dad and Su’s mom’s car.
Su Xiaomeng was excited and thrilled from early in the morning, chatting away with him nonstop all the way.
Describing the scenery of Su Family Village one moment, and mentioning her dearly loved grandparents the next.
This made him faintly curious about that rural village.
However, Yin Shixiu never would have thought... that the Su Family Village which piqued his slight interest would be worth describing with the word "terrifying"...
Su Family Village is located near Qingcheng Mountain.
The village is rather backward, with fields taking up most of the area.
Su’s dad parked the car in the nearest residential area parking lot with Yin Shixiu.
Su’s mom looked at Yin Shixiu’s car, a bit worried, "What are you doing, driving a Bentley out here..."
Yin Group has a subsidiary in Chengdu, and this car was from the company.
Yin Shixiu spotted what Su’s mom was worried about and quickly said, "Don’t worry, this car is equipped with satellite navigation and an automatic alarm system."
Su’s mom raised an eyebrow and said no more.
"Wow! So cool, Xiao Yin, can you fit my car with one too?"
Su’s dad chuckled as he came over.
"You’re dreaming, your car’s worth next to nothing if stolen, isn’t it?"
Su’s mom gave Su’s dad a look, muttering.
"Honey, how can you say that..."
Yin Shixiu carried some gift boxes, walking behind Su Xiaomeng.
At the entrance of Su Family Village, Yin Shixiu visibly hesitated for a moment, seeing winding paths ahead. Although the road was paved with cement, some areas had already cracked and were uneven.
Walking from the village entrance inward was fine, but going further in, Yin Shixiu saw the cement road gradually narrow until there was no trace of the cement road anymore.
Though the weather had been sunny for the past few days, it was still quite damp, and the path was wet and muddy. Before long, Yin Shixiu’s leather shoes were covered with a thick layer of mud.
The most annoying thing was seeing Su Xiaomeng casually running ahead. Although her sneakers were also muddy, it wasn’t as severe as his.
Each step felt heavier than the last...
He thought of speaking up, but feared it would be embarrassing.
As a result, the mud on his shoes grew thicker, and just as he tried to scrape some off, with a bit of force, his shoe flew off...
Yin Shixiu was dumbfounded.
The first to notice his predicament was Su’s mom, but even she, upon turning back to see Yin Shixiu standing with one bare foot and his shoe flung three meters away, paused for a second before bursting into laughter!
Su’s dad and Su Xiaomeng heard the noise and turned back—
"Pfft, hahaha!"
"Haha... Xiao Yin, you don’t need to take off your shoes! Just dip them in the little stream, a little water will make them non-sticky! Hahaha!"
Yin Shixiu, embarrassed, could only say helplessly, "The road is really hard to walk."
Looking at the shoe in the distance, he had no choice but to step with his socked foot in the mud to retrieve it...
"Uncle, don’t move!"
Su Xiaomeng, seeing him about to step down with his socked foot, quickly spoke.
Yin Shixiu looked up, only to see Su Xiaomeng picking up his shoes and running over to him lightly.
She was just about to squat down to clean the shoe sole in the groove when someone grabbed her hand.
"I’ll do it myself."
Yin Shixiu gazed at her, his eyes full of gentleness, "Help me hold these things."
After speaking, his foot in only socks still landed in the mud.
Su Xiaomeng was startled, "Uncle..."
Yin Shixiu awkwardly cleaned the shoe sole, and the other foot got a little wet as well, before taking back the gifts from Xiaomeng’s hands.
"Let’s go."
"...Oh."
Su Xiaomeng watched as he just put on his shoes like that, suddenly feeling a bit guilty.
She knew he was a neat freak...
"Uncle, it’s just a short stretch, might be a bit hard to walk, but my grandpa’s place over there is really clean, it’s all concrete roads."
She hurriedly looked up and said to Yin Shixiu.
Yin Shixiu ruffled her hair, "It’s okay, I brought a change of socks and clothes."
Su Xiaomeng smiled at him, "The sausages that my grandma makes herself are especially delicious. I can eat two long strips just by myself every year when I come over!"
"Slow down, the road is slippery."
"You really sound like an old man, look, we’re almost being left dozens of meters behind by my parents!"
Yin Shixiu was speechless.
In the United Kingdom, even when visiting some farms, most are very modern estates. This completely rural countryside, he really hadn’t experienced it before.
Judging by Su’s mother’s look, she didn’t seem to intend to take any special care of him.
After about seven to eight minutes of walking, they finally passed the muddy road, and Yin Shixiu’s shoes were a mess, his coat stained with quite a bit of dirt.
He thought this was probably his most embarrassing moment, but unexpectedly, worse was yet to come.
Su Xiaomeng wasn’t wrong; her grandpa’s place was quite clean. It was a small, three-story old building, without tiles or flooring, like an unfinished city apartment, but tidy enough.
When they arrived, the other members of the Su family were also there!
The local Sichuan dialect hit them in waves, exploding by their ears.
Grandpa Su, seeing his youngest son return, hurriedly supported himself with a cane and went out to meet him.
"Dad! We’re back!"
Su’s father smiled and was about to go over to hug his father, only to see Grandpa Su awkwardly maneuvering with the cane yet quickly sidestepping Su’s father, and then lovingly calling out, "Xiao Meng Meng!"
"Hey! Grandpa!"
Su Xiaomeng hurriedly ran up and gave Grandpa a full hug, "Happy New Year, Grandpa!"
"You’re finally back. How’s studying in Beijing? Are any classmates bullying you?"
"No way! Beijing is great!"
Su’s father scratched his head and, seeing his old mother in a new cotton-padded jacket coming out, he quickly called, "Mom! I—"
"Xiao Meng Meng, Xiao Meng Meng! Come over to Grandma! Oh my, I missed you so much..."
Su’s father’s hand stiffened again.
Was he really this old couple’s biological son?
"Alright, are you really going to be jealous of your daughter?" Su’s mother approached and laughed.
Every year it was like this, the two old folks particularly doted on Meng Meng.
Su’s father sighed and greeted Su Xiaomei and her husband standing at the door.
Su Xiaomei had two children, a boy named Du Qian, twelve, and a girl named Du Qing, eight.
Su’s mother handed each of the kids a red envelope.
"Sister-in-law, you’re being too polite!"
"It’s what we should do, buy some snacks for the children."
"Thank you, Aunt!"
Du Qian and Du Qing were particularly well-behaved and sweet talkers.
"Sister-in-law, who is that man..."
The matter of Su Xiaomeng and Yin Shixiu, Su’s mother had only mentioned it to Grandpa Su and Grandma Su. Judging by Grandma and Grandpa Su’s tone, they didn’t seem to be angry, which is why she brought Yin Shixiu over.
But the others probably didn’t know yet.
Su’s mother glanced at the man who seemed to belong to another world, pursed her lips, and then smiled, "My future son-in-law."
"Pfft—cough cough!"
Du Fan, Su Xiaomei’s husband who was sipping tea on the side, unexpectedly sprayed out his tea.
Su Xiaomei gave him a glance.
Du Fan quickly put away the surprise in his eyes, stammering a bit, "Th-this young and getting married already?"
"Xiaomeng has grown up, and she’s willing. As parents, we can’t really oppose."
"That’s true... compared to those in the city who can’t get married even at thirty-something, it’s better to marry earlier! Look, that man looks quite decent, what does he do?"
"Small business."
"Must be quite capable at making money, right?"
"Just average, just an ordinary person."
Su’s mother said calmly.
"Looks quite a bit older than Xiaomeng..."
"...Well, not too bad..."
"Actually, there’s nothing wrong with an older husband and younger wife."
Su’s mother knew Su Xiaomei meant no harm, but...
She took a deep breath, smiling, "He’s not old. Can’t be considered an old husband with a young wife."