r18novel Chapter 148 Too Excited to Sleep
Chapter 148 Too Excited to Sleep
Cheng Zheng got home at 10 p.m., and his family was still awake.
Cheng Huazhang and Gao Jie sat on the sofa. Ever since they accepted the fact that their son was going to get a marriage certificate with Shen Qing, the couple had been waiting for their son to come and discuss the wedding with them. Who knew that after waiting for two days, they hadn't even seen their son. He only came back so late tonight.
Seeing him enter, Cheng Huazhang frowned: "This is getting more and more outrageous. We never see him again. Where has he gone?"
Gao Jie chimed in, "Is that even a question? Of course she's with Xiao Shen."
Cheng Zheng remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.
Cheng Huazhang glanced at him, then softened his tone: "When are you and Xiao Shen planning to get your marriage certificate? Such a big deal, and you haven't even discussed it with your family. Also, since you're getting married, shouldn't you formally bring Xiao Shen home for a family meal?"
Gao Jie chimed in, "That's right, so I can prepare the betrothal gifts and such in advance."
At this point, she glanced at Cheng Huazhang, her voice tinged with dissatisfaction, "Oh dear, poor Xiao Shen is so pitiful. She's about to get married, and there's not even anyone to help her out. It's one thing if her mother isn't here, but at least her father is right here. It's like he's dead; he doesn't care about anything. If you don't want to take responsibility, then take care of your lower half and don't have children recklessly. It's just a sin to have children and then not care about them."
Cheng Huazhang sensed the hidden meaning in her words: "Alright, that's enough, just say less."
"Am I wrong?" Gao Jie raised her voice a little. "When a daughter gets married, shouldn't the father prepare the dowry and such? But some people are different. They don't even show their faces from beginning to end, and they act like their children are their own."
Cheng Huazhang: "If I don't care, I don't care. I'm the eldest uncle, and I'll prepare a dowry for Xiao Shen."
"Am I worried about the dowry?" Gao Jie rolled her eyes at him. "Xiao Shen will be my daughter-in-law from now on, she'll be part of our family. It's fine if I've prepared the dowry and bride price. I just can't stand my brother-in-law acting like he's invisible, not caring about anything. Look at all this trouble lately, has he said a word? He's like a coward, doesn't he know how shameful he is? If he's so shameful, he shouldn't have done those things in the first place."
Gao Jie named names, and Cheng Huazhang sighed, "Alright, alright, we're talking about the child's wedding now, why are you bringing this up?"
"What do you mean?" Gao Jie's tone became even more aggressive. "What I mean is that our family should have nothing to do with them from now on. You're not allowed to interfere in their affairs! Let the old man worry about it, but you're not allowed to get involved."
Cheng Huazhang: "You're overthinking it. What could possibly happen to their family? The second son is working diligently at his job, Zhang Mei got promoted at the hospital, and Cheng Hao's position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a sinecure. As long as he doesn't make any big mistakes, their family can live a comfortable life for the rest of their lives."
"Hmph, living comfortably?" Gao Jie sneered, leaning back on the sofa. "Let me tell you, believe me or not, there's more trouble brewing in their family. Zhang Mei already looked down on her brother-in-law for being incompetent, and now that she's been promoted, she looks down on him even more. Cheng Hao is unreliable, and who knows, Zhang Mei might dump him later. Then he'll come back to Xiao Shen, putting on some show of father-daughter affection, and Xiao Shen's relationship with her brother-in-law will be brought up again... Heh, your family's affairs are a tangled mess."
Cheng Zheng stood aside, listening to his mother's tirade, and finally spoke up: "Dad, I think Mom is right. It's time for us to sever ties with my uncle's family."
Cheng Huazhang was taken aback and looked up at him.
Cheng Zheng continued, "Leaving aside my uncle, Cheng Hao is also a troublemaker. You don't know, before he went abroad, he got a female classmate pregnant. My aunt paid to settle it, but secretly she used your name. People only kept quiet because they were afraid of you and Grandpa. In short, my uncle's family has too many hidden dangers. Our family can't take the blame for them for the rest of our lives, and we certainly can't clean up their messes for the rest of our lives."
Gao Jie sat bolt upright, her eyes wide with shock: "What? Cheng Hao did something so outrageous?"
"I heard about this from someone else later," Cheng Zheng said.
Gao Jie grew increasingly angry, sat up straight, and exclaimed, "Who knows if they've ever bullied others in our name before? What if something happens? Wouldn't that implicate our family?! We must sever all ties with them!"
Seeing her husband's lack of reaction, Gao Jie turned and glared at him: "Cheng Huazhang, let me tell you, if you side with their family again this time, then we're done! You go with your brother! Our son and daughter will come with me!"
Cheng Huazhang leaned back on the sofa, his brows furrowed, and remained silent for a long while.
My son's marriage has just been settled, and the family has finally had a few days of peace. If something else goes wrong because of my second son's family, we really won't be able to live like this anymore.
"Okay." He finally spoke, his voice sounding tired. "Let's try to have less contact in the future."
Cheng Zheng shook his head: "Cutting ties won't work. It's best to formally sever all ties with them. If Dad can't bring himself to do it, then I'll make a unilateral statement and have it published in the newspaper."
Cheng Huazhang's expression changed: "Publicate an article in the newspaper? Is it really necessary to go to such extremes?"
After all, they were brothers, and they had such a long-standing relationship. To publish a statement in the newspaper would be to completely sever ties. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when he met his son's calm eyes, he swallowed his words. Since his son had spoken, he had made up his mind.
"Alright," he waved his hand, "You can publish it in the newspaper if you want, but I'm not going to issue such a statement."
Cheng Zheng nodded, knowing that his father wouldn't accept it for the time being, and that agreeing to let him publish it in the newspaper was already a concession.
No rush, take your time.
"Mom and Dad, Shen Qing and I are getting our marriage certificate tomorrow." He steered the conversation back on track, and continued, "After we get the certificate, I'll take her home for dinner, and then you can give her the dowry and betrothal gifts you've prepared. We won't live at home after the wedding; we'll move to the staff quarters at my workplace."
Cheng Huazhang and Gao Jie had no objections. Others might need to make preparations, but for the couple, the bride price and dowry were not an issue at all.
Gao Jie had been looking forward to her son's wedding for a long time and had already prepared all the necessary items for the wedding, which were kept hidden away in a trunk.
You can just take it out now.
As for dowry, nothing shows as much sincerity as cash or banknotes.
"Okay, we'll definitely get things done. It's getting late, let's get some rest."
Cheng Huazhang and Gao Jie got up from the sofa and went upstairs one after the other.
Back in her room, Gao Jie lay on the bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.
Cheng Huazhang had just lain down when he heard her mutter in his ear, "Our home is so spacious, yet you insist on moving to the family compound. Everyone says having a daughter-in-law is like having another daughter, but I haven't even experienced what it's like to have two daughters, and she's already moving out."
Cheng Huazhang rolled over, a hint of amusement in his voice: "Don't you understand what your son is thinking? Xiao Shen is so beautiful, and your son is so full of youthful vigor..."
Gao Jie was taken aback for a moment, then understood, and reached out to slap him: "You brat, don't be so reckless. No, I have to talk to Xiao Shen tomorrow, we can't spoil men in that area."
Cheng Huazhang smiled and pulled Gao Jie into his arms.
Gao Jie let him hold her, her voice soft: "Speaking of which, Xiao Shen is a pitiful person. Before I knew her identity, I actually quite liked her. Later, when I found out she was my brother-in-law's daughter, I objected to her being with A-Zheng. I never expected that the two of them would still end up together."
"The two kids are indeed a good match," Cheng Huazhang said. "The key is that I didn't expect Xiao Shen to be so outstanding. I thought that she would not adapt well to this place because she grew up in a small place like Yuncheng and only graduated from junior high school. I didn't expect her to do such an excellent job. She is just as good as our son."
"Absolutely," Gao Jie said with a hint of pride. "Putting aside their status, I'm quite satisfied with this daughter-in-law. No wonder our son was willing to break with the family to marry her. How many girls like that can you find in the whole country? If I were a man, I wouldn't be able to let her go either. After being used to delicacies, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to eat plain soup. Besides, our son has always had high standards. He never went to see any of the girls we introduced him to before, and I even suspected he didn't like women. But after meeting Xiao Shen, I realized that the rascal didn't dislike women; he just liked the prettiest one."
After accepting the fact that their son was going to marry Shen Qing, the couple felt no psychological burden.
They not only started chatting late at night, but they also became more and more excited as they talked.
Cheng Huazhang: "I still laugh when I think about it. At first, I planned to introduce Xiao Shen to that brat as a little sister, hoping he'd take good care of her. But he was so rude and even threatened to get rid of her, which infuriated me. Now he's the one making a scene about marrying her. I really want to ask him, 'Why don't you say things like you're going to get rid of her now?'"
Gao Jie covered herself with the blanket and laughed out loud, not expecting this little incident.
Cheng Huazhang continued, "Heh, I was puzzled at the time. He threatened to get rid of her, but the first week passed and he didn't come to me. The second week passed and he still didn't come to me. I wondered what big move he was planning. If I hadn't gone to inspect the area and wasn't in Beijing later, I might have realized his feelings for her earlier. If I had transferred Xiao Shen then, this whole mess probably wouldn't have happened."
"That's impossible," Gao Jie said with certainty. "That brat fell in love with Xiao Shen at first sight. He took a liking to her at first glance. Even if you get rid of her, he'll still chase after her. Do you believe me?"
"That makes sense." Cheng Huazhang nodded. "Perhaps this is fate."
Gao Jie suddenly leaned closer, her eyes wide in the darkness, and gossiped, "Hey, you know, Shen Yuehong is so pretty, isn't she beautiful too? Otherwise, how could my brother-in-law, who's so afraid of Zhang Mei, have the guts to mess around with other women?"
"Didn't you see the photos? Don't you know whether it looks good or not?"
"That photo made her face look as white as paper, how could you even see her features?" Gao Jie nudged him. "Have you ever met Shen Yuehong? Tell me about it."
"I've met her twice." Cheng Huazhang thought for a moment, then suddenly sighed, "But I feel that Xiao Shen doesn't look like her."
"I'm also a little puzzled by this," Gao Jie frowned. "Have you noticed? My brother-in-law doesn't look like Xiao Shen at all."
"It doesn't seem like it." Cheng Huazhang pondered for a moment. "Maybe Xiao Shen inherited the best traits from both of them. Her parents live in the south and the north respectively, which is quite different from their hometowns. The child's genes may have combined the best of both of them."
"Yes, that's right." Gao Jie nodded, then suddenly smiled. "Do you think our son is asleep yet? He must be so excited about getting his marriage certificate with Xiao Shen tomorrow that he hasn't slept all night."
After saying that, he added, "Actually, I can't sleep either. I'm quite excited. Tomorrow I'll dress up beautifully to welcome my new bride."
A wise child is better than his mother.
Gao Jie was right; Cheng Zheng was indeed not asleep.
As soon as I lay in bed, all I could think about was Lin Shuyao.