“Mom is awesome!”
The aunt’s family’s way of mocking the Song family was simple and brutal, and Zhong Lingyu’s way of retaliating was equally direct.
Zhong Lingyu had clearly heard Zhou Wenxuan’s words downstairs. At that moment, he finally understood more deeply how Song Chan, enduring repeated malice without ever finding release, gradually became withdrawn and insecure.
No matter how composed he was, he couldn’t stand idly by.
Zhong Lingyu’s Rolls-Royce, parked not far from the neighborhood, acted like a demon-sealing tower, suppressing the aunt’s family’s demonic nature.
Thus, an unprecedented scene of family harmony unfolded at the dinner table, a picture of the aunt’s kindness and the nephew’s filial piety.
The uncle-in-law began his speech by picking up a piece of sweet and sour fish and putting it in his mouth with an air of blissful ecstasy. “This fish is delicious! I misjudged it before; only after tasting it did I realize how fresh and delicious it is. The sweet and sour flavor is so appetizing! Come on, fill my rice bowl!”
He shoveled a few mouthfuls of rice and let out a burp.
“By the way, what kind of business does your family run?”
Zhong Lingyu was placing a plate of braised lion’s head meatballs in front of the ravenously eating Song Qing.
“My shop is on Yuming Road, at the intersection.”
The uncle-in-law subconsciously found it amusing: “Yuming Road, hahaha, there’s more than one…” Finally, he seemed to realize something, “Your surname is Zhong?”
Zhong Lingyu nodded with a smile: “Yes, my father is Zhong Qiyun.”
The uncle-in-law swallowed hard, as if something had choked him; his obsequious manner of officialdom vanished.
This Buddha in front of him was a bit too big.
Song Chan’s aunt, however, completely missed the point, only feeling she had secured a valuable connection and needed to capitalize on it.
The aunt was oblivious to the desperate hints in her uncle’s eyes.
“Lingyu, weren’t you abroad before? Why did you suddenly come back?”
Zhong Lingyu smiled politely, “Because I wanted to.”
“Then you’re from Luhua Middle School, the same school as my Zhou Wenxuan, what a coincidence.” The aunt affectionately patted Zhou Wenxuan’s head, “My Zhou Wenxuan is quite famous, you must have heard of her, right?”
Zhong Lingyu: “Never heard of her.”
Aunt: “You can’t just focus on your studies; you need to pay attention to the outside world, too. Song Chan only cares about her studies. Look at her, so dull, she doesn’t understand anything.”
Zhong Lingyu put down her chopsticks and smiled.
“A student’s task is to study. How do you think a student should pay attention to the outside world? There are many ways. For example, does your daughter watch the news? Does she follow national affairs? Does she know today’s exchange rate? How has China’s per capita GDP changed compared to last year? How much does it cost to drill a well in a severely water-scarce area? How much effort does a county need to make to truly escape poverty? If your daughter knew all this, then she would be considered paying attention to the outside world.”
When it comes to educating children and lecturing, no one can beat Mr. Zhong. When he gets angry, he dares to lecture even his in-laws. And these mere relatives from the Song family dare to say that Song Chan knows nothing?
But this time, he was already showing some restraint. At least his tone was almost calm, unhurried, and gentle, like a soothing breeze.
Zhong Xin and Zhong Cheng, however, were on tenterhooks.
Outsiders might not be able to tell, but couldn’t they? Their father was very angry, practically bursting with rage.
But according to their observation, the good news was that Meng Mian and Song Zhen seemed oblivious. After two cups of sorghum liquor, their faces glowed, and they looked at Zhong Lingyu with great satisfaction—perhaps even thinking he knew a lot.
The people involved, however, were completely different.
The aunt, her face displeased, grumbled indignantly, “What kind of little girl knows these things?”
Zhong Xin raised her hand: “Today’s central parity rate of RMB against the US dollar is 6.4523 yuan. China’s per capita GDP has increased by 6% compared to last year.”
The aunt said, “Your Zhong family’s education is naturally different from that of ordinary people like us.”
Song Chan said, “The standard for a country to be lifted out of poverty is a poverty incidence rate of less than 3%. Doesn’t my cousin know that?”
This left not only the aunt’s family speechless, but even Meng Mian and Song Zhen were astonished.
Their daughter knew something they didn’t.
Song Qing: “Oh wow, don’t you guys know our school cafeteria plays the news every night? Almost all the students watch it while they eat, but I’ve never seen my cousin sit down and watch it properly.”
Her aunt’s teeth were visibly worn down.
Zhong Lingyu’s smile deepened, calm and collected, with a sense of accomplishment, her tone as gentle as ever: “Please eat.”
Her aunt and uncle quickly accepted the offer, “Oh, okay, okay, you eat too! Everyone eat! Hahaha.”
They behaved themselves from then on.
Her aunt’s family left at eight o’clock that evening.
Song Chan was washing dishes in the kitchen when her cousin Zhou Wenxuan came looking for her.
“Why haven’t you left yet?”
“I’m leaving soon.”
“Oh.”
Song Chan’s tone was indifferent.
After a while, Zhou Wenxuan leaned closer again.
“Um…Song Chan, I wanted to say…”
“What do you want to say? Stop stammering and just say it.”
“I don’t blame you for getting my dress dirty today. Let’s just consider it a misunderstanding and make up.”
She finished speaking and happily turned to leave.
“Stop right there, Zhou Wenxuan.”
Song Chan put down the bowl in her hand and turned off the running tap, instantly silencing the kitchen.
Zhou Wenxuan looked at Song Chan’s serious expression and shrank back slightly in fear. “What do you want to do?”
Song Chan shook her head. “I don’t want to do anything.”
She took a deep breath.
“Zhou Wenxuan, I still remember what you said downstairs today.”
“Song Chan, I was just saying it in anger. Don’t take it seriously.”
“The amusement park, the Chinese restaurant, and every time we met before—your isolation, your sarcasm, your irony, your bullying—it’s all still vivid in my mind.”
Zhou Wenxuan opened her mouth, but couldn’t say anything. Song Chan moved closer.
“In my memory, you were arrogant, rude, and disdainful of others. I thought it was because your family was too well-off that you developed this unpleasant personality. I thought that when we grew up and understood the importance of family, you would mature and treat your younger sister and brother differently.”
“Until I saw the instant change in you when you met Zhong Lingyu.”
“Timid and hesitant, cautious and careful, every word carefully chosen, even your smile was extremely fake.”
“I immediately understood that it wasn’t that you didn’t understand social etiquette; it was that your etiquette was based on social class and hierarchy. Your politeness and decorum were only reserved for those who were wealthier and more powerful than you.”
“Zhou Wenxuan, you’re not just ignorant; you’re a sycophant, a bully. Even if it’s someone slightly less capable than you, even if it’s your cousin, you’ll still hurl vicious insults at her, use despicable means to hurt her, isolate her when she’s close to you because she loves you, and selfishly push her out to take the blame when she faces dire straits!”
Zhou Wenxuan’s face paled, and she nearly fell off the stove behind her.
She had never seen Song Chan so terrifying.
“So you do have self-respect, Zhou Wenxuan! You don’t even know if Zhong Lingyu heard your vicious outburst, and you’ve become a frightened bird. You used to be so arrogant and domineering, but just now you didn’t dare pick up a single piece of fish from the table! I finally see you clearly today; you’re laughable! How come I only realized this kind of person today!”
Zhou Wenxuan’s legs trembled, tears welling in her eyes. Her voice trembled uncontrollably, “I…I’m sorry, Song Chan, I…I…”
She couldn’t utter another word, turned, and fled quickly.
Long after Zhou Wenxuan left, Song Chan took a deep breath.
She finally felt a sense of relief, as if everything had vanished.
She had never arrogantly questioned anyone before. Saying those words today had left her exhausted. She wasn’t suited for such things, and she truly hoped she would never encounter anything like it again.
Song Chan went to the living room.
No one was home; everyone had gone out to see the guests off.
She sat on the sofa to rest for a while, then went out to take out the trash.
After the door was closed, the bedroom door quietly opened a crack, and three heads peeked out.
Zhong Xin: “Mom is so awesome!”
Zhong Cheng: “I’ve never seen Mom get angry before.”
Zhong Lingyu pushed the two children out: “Go back to your own home quickly, don’t let your mom see you.”
Seeing things were getting out of hand, Zhong Lingyu had quickly thrown the two children who were trying to eavesdrop into the bedroom, and then hid inside herself, only daring to come out after everything was over.
Recalling everything that had happened in the kitchen, Zhong Lingyu breathed a sigh of relief.
Song Chan’s previous pressure had finally been released, which was truly a good thing.
Clearly, Zhong Lingyu’s appearance had allowed Song Chan to see the contrast in Zhou Wenxuan, to recognize the truth of the matter, and to understand Zhou Wenxuan’s true nature.
Song Chan was utterly disappointed in this sisterhood, and she would finally be free from it.
On the screen in the shopping mall across the street, the weather forecaster announced rain, urging citizens to bring umbrellas.
Shortly after she finished speaking, a torrential downpour began.
Song Chan shielded her eyes with her hand and hurriedly ran back to the stairwell to take shelter from the rain.
Sitting on the steps, she stared blankly as the rain washed away the neon lights.
How amazing, how did she have the courage to say those words?
She bit her finger, savoring the moment, feeling that she had actually done quite well. Fluent, without any stuttering.
A cold rain drifted in, and Song Chan pulled her legs together, moving a few steps up the ladder.
As she rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought again, the image of Zhong Lingyu floated through her mind.
His busy figure in the kitchen, the way he spoke to her, the gentle tone in which he coaxed her to be happy… Song Chan knew that her timid self, able to defy him today, owed her the confidence Zhong Lingyu had given her. His care, his strength, his gentleness, had unknowingly given her the courage to face the malice of humanity.
=
After Zhong Xin and Zhong Cheng returned home, they did the math.
Then they discovered that living alone in a rented apartment was unexpectedly expensive, consuming most of their meager allowance!
Zhong Xin, quick-witted, suggested, “Why don’t we let Dad move in and cover our living expenses? That way, we can save a lot of pocket money.”
“Zhong Xin, you make a good point.”
“Hehe, aren’t I clever?” Zhong Xin turned around and saw Zhong Lingyu standing beside her, while Zhong Cheng stood in the distance, hands clasped in silent mourning.
Zhong Xin inwardly screamed, “Does Dad walk silently? When did he get here?!”
Just as she was about to argue, Zhong Lingyu tapped her on the head.
“You two cooperated well today, and I was planning to reward you with some pocket money, but given your embarrassing behavior just now, it’s confiscated. I absolutely refuse to live with you.”
Living across from her in-laws’ house was quite stressful.
Zhong Xin and Zhong Cheng shook their heads helplessly and went to chat with Zhong Lingyu across the hall.
Song Chan was excitedly talking about how her phone was stolen that day.
“You guys didn’t see what happened. That mother and daughter were obviously trained fighters. I wonder how long they’ve been doing this. They snatched my classmate’s phone in one go. Liang Zhuo, a guy, couldn’t even overpower her. The older woman just deleted the videos from Liang Zhuo’s phone.”
Song Qing: “Holy crap, what do we do now? All the evidence is gone!”
Song Chan: “Liang Zhuo calmly got his phone back, recovered the videos from the trash can, and then told them, ‘Don’t you know the trash can has a recovery function?'”
Song Qing: “Hahahaha!”
Zhong Xin covered her mouth again, exchanging glances with Zhong Cheng: Isn’t Liang Zhuo her mother’s first love’s name?!
Just as they were at a loss, Zhong Xin’s phone vibrated. She opened it and saw: a transfer from Zhong Lingyu.
Turning around, she saw Zhong Lingyu behind her, his face full of loving fatherly affection. “From now on, Dad will be moving in. This is the first payment for living expenses this month, plus double your allowance.”