World 2. Chapter 2
“Did you hear what I said? Don’t forget to bring plenty of stuff back when you come home for the Mid-Autumn Festival—food, drinks, household items, anything will do. We’re running low on everything at home…” Just like always, after a round of grumbling, she started making outrageous demands, treating their family’s grocery store like a free warehouse to support Zhang Dachun’s parents and his younger brother Zhang Dabao’s family—and sometimes even his younger sister Zhang Dali and her husband.
“She pulls this same stunt every year—can’t she come up with something new?” After a half-hour of rambling instructions, the person across from her finally fell silent. Lin Yanan pursed her lips and couldn’t help but complain.
“She is my mother, after all. I…” Zhang Dachun knew full well that his wife and son had no affection for those people, but she was the woman who had given birth to and raised him, so he couldn’t just ignore her completely. When Lin Yanan looked his way, Zhang Dachun could only sheepishly lower his head and remain silent.
“It is the Mid-Autumn Festival, after all. If you bring Mom some food and drinks, I have no objection. But if you dare to do what you used to do—giving so many things to Zhang Dabao and Zhang Dali’s families—watch out, or I’ll lose my temper with you.” Seeing his expression, Lin Yanan grew furious. Now that those people saw their family’s circumstances had improved, they were all coming to milk them for handouts. But when their family was “separated” from the main household, who had ever asked how they were doing?
“No way, I definitely won’t.” Seeing Lin Yanan’s expression darken by the second, Zhang Dachun quickly made his promise. The couple remained united on this issue, all because of the outrageous things Zhang Dabao and Zhang Dali had done. It had led to a huge fight between the original owner and Zhang Dachun, with her flatly stating that if he ever meddled in his younger brother and sister-in-law’s affairs again, they would divorce.
It was the most serious argument they’d had since their marriage. Zhang Dachun was an honest and dutiful man; he wasn’t oblivious to the situation. He knew that only his wife would stand by him through the tough times. Since that fight, he hadn’t reached out to his family on his own initiative. Things had been quiet on that front for a while, until this Mid-Autumn Festival, when Zhang’s mother, putting her pride aside, called personally to ask for something.
“Um, Dabao’s son is getting engaged. How much should we give as a gift?” They’d heard earlier that the couple planned to get engaged during the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday and wanted them both to come home. According to the customs back home, no matter how strained family relations might be, major events like engagements and weddings required a return to the family home.
“Whatever others give, we’ll give the same.” In Lin Yanan’s mind, she didn’t want to give a single cent, but she had to consider Zhang Dachun’s feelings. She could let go of it without hesitation, but those people were his relatives too.
“By the way, Mingxuan, do you have a girlfriend yet? Now that you’re in college, studying is certainly important, but as long as it doesn’t interfere with your studies, Mom doesn’t object to you dating.” Zhang Mingxuan had been lost in thought about the “clash” between his family and his hometown, so he was caught off guard when Lin Yanan suddenly shifted the conversation to him.
“Cough… cough!” Startled, Zhang Mingxuan choked a bit: “ “Um… Mom and Dad… I’ve started dating someone recently, and I plan to bring her home to meet you during the National Day holiday.” When Lin Yanan asked, Zhang Mingxuan had initially hesitated about revealing he had a girlfriend, but upon second thought, he figured there was no harm in telling them, so he simply stated his plan.
“Great! That’s wonderful news. Your dad and I will definitely make sure to prepare properly. Is she a classmate of yours? What does her family do for a living…?” Most parents react similarly when they hear their children are dating—they ask questions with more scrutiny than a police interrogation.
“Her name is Yan Xue. She’s not in the same department as me. We met at a gathering for people from our hometown. Out of politeness, we exchanged contact information, and as we kept in touch more and more, we started dating…” Zhang Mingxuan wasn’t surprised by Lin Yanan’s questions; he knew this would happen sooner or later.
Listening to Zhang Mingxuan’s explanation, Lin Yanan thought to herself, “Just as I expected.” In the previous reality, the situation was much the same—Zhang Mingxuan had also ended up with Yan Xue. However, back then, the original host had been so annoyed by her in-laws’ perceived overstepping that she hadn’t asked her son about his girlfriend. It wasn’t until later, when Zhang Mingxuan took the initiative to tell them, that she made a trip home during winter break.
At the time, the elderly couple had been overjoyed that their son had found a girlfriend. After all, they’d previously believed that with his quiet, reserved nature, he wouldn’t be popular with girls, and that he might have to rely on others to set him up for marriage. Now, to their delight, their son had actually taken the initiative to start dating.
Upon learning that Yan Xue was coming to visit, the elderly couple thoroughly cleaned the house and prepared all sorts of delicious food, treating her to the highest standard of hospitality they could offer. Little did they know that while she spoke kindly, she immediately hinted to Zhang Mingxuan that the place was too noisy and crowded, severely disrupting her rest. On top of that, since Zhang Mingxuan had to work after returning home and wouldn’t have time to spend with her, she didn’t want to stay there. As a result, the plan to stay for a week fell through, and she wanted to leave after just two days.
At this point, the elderly couple assumed they had done something wrong to upset her. Not daring to ask Zhang Mingxuan to help with chores anymore, they hurriedly gave him 5,000 yuan and told him to take Yan Xue out to have fun. However, Yan Xue said that since it was vacation, it was only natural to help out at home, and he didn’t need to spend all his time with her—a complete turnaround from her complaints just a couple of days earlier that Zhang Mingxuan didn’t have time for her.
Faced with his girlfriend’s change of attitude, Zhang Mingxuan didn’t think much of it. He simply assumed she was just having a minor tantrum because she was new to the area and didn’t know her way around yet, and that it would blow over. So he was particularly pleased by her thoughtfulness, handing her the five thousand yuan outright and telling her to go have some fun during the break; he’d pick her up once school started again.
Yan Xue pretended to refuse for a while, but in the end, she left with the five thousand yuan. But later, Zhang Mingxuan realized that her thoughtfulness was all a sham. Yan Xue had always treated him as a backup; when she wasn’t flirting with anyone else, she used him to fill the void. Once she found someone else, she would play the role of the caring girlfriend, urging him to focus on his studies and family, while she took the money he gave her to go out and have fun with other men who could make her happy.
Just like this time: Yan Xue hooked up with their class president, and the two of them used that 5,000 yuan to go out and have a blast for several days.
Yan Xue’s sudden departure had always weighed heavily on the elderly couple’s minds; they constantly felt they hadn’t done enough. So after school started, they frequently sent her expensive snacks, fruits, and local specialties, hoping to make up for their shortcomings.
As for these free gifts, Yan Xue was more than happy to accept them. At first, she was relatively restrained, but later she began asking the original owner to buy her even more expensive skincare products and clothes. If the purchases didn’t meet her expectations, Yan Xue would secretly nitpick them. Eventually, this evolved into the original owner transferring her several thousand—or even over ten thousand—yuan a month as “snack money.” Combined with Zhang Mingxuan’s monthly part-time wages and a portion of his living expenses, which were all spent on Yan Xue, her standard of living had risen significantly compared to before.
Relying on this financial support, Yan Xue packaged herself as a “rich, beautiful, and privileged” girl from a wealthy family, successfully luring a wealthy second-generation heir she had her eye on. While she was romancing him, she kept Zhang Mingxuan hanging on, making him continue to spend money on her.