Chapter 39: The Restless Parents

*Beep, beep, beep.*

"Hello, this is Xiao Hongwei."

"Hello, Uncle Xiao, this is Chen Hanxing. I want to speak to Xiao Rongyu."

"Hanxing, ah, Little Fish is resting. Call again tomorrow."

...

*Beep, beep, beep.*

"Hello, who is this?"

"Good morning, Uncle Xiao, this is Chen Hanxing. Could you please ask Xiao Rongyu to pick up the phone?"

"Little Fish is out. Sorry about that."

...

*Beep, beep, beep.*

"Uncle Xiao, this is Chen Hanxing. I want to speak to Xiao Rongyu."

"She hasn't come back yet. Call again tonight."

"No problem, then could you please tell her that I went back to school today?"

At these words, there was suddenly silence on the other end of the line. It seemed like someone was covering the microphone. Chen Hanxing, with his sharp hearing, could vaguely make out Xiao Hongwei's voice: "He went back to school today…"

Chen Hanxing couldn't hear who answered, but after a while, Xiao Hongwei picked up the phone and said, "Hanxing, I'll pass the message on. Be careful and let your parents know when you get to school."

After hanging up, Xiao Hongwei looked at Xiao Rongyu with a worried expression and said, "What exactly are you two fighting about? Tell Dad."

Xiao Rongyu, dressed in a pale white camisole and with her hair casually hanging loose, was sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees. She looked exhausted, her eyes still a bit swollen, and her delicate face seemed even sharper.

She didn't say anything, just sat there blankly.

After returning last night, Xiao Rongyu had locked her bedroom door. Not long after, Chen Hanxing called again.

From a professional perspective, and from the role of a father, Xiao Hongwei could tell that this matter was definitely related to Chen Hanxing.

"Your mother will be back soon, and when she sees you like this, she'll definitely ask."

Xiao Hongwei sighed.

This remark finally had an effect. It seemed Xiao Rongyu didn't want her mother to find out anything, and she finally stood up to wash up.

"Little Fish."

Xiao Hongwei called out to her: "Are you and Chen Hanxing in a relationship?"

Xiao Rongyu suddenly turned around and said resolutely, "No, never had one, don't have one now, and will never have one!"

Xiao Hongwei sighed. As someone who had been through a lot and was also an expert in criminal investigations, he could tell whether his daughter was lying.

At lunchtime, Xiao Rongyu's mother, Lü Yuqing, came home from work. She saw her husband washing vegetables in the kitchen and, after taking off her coat, went to help.

"Where's Little Fish?" Lü Yuqing asked.

"She just woke up and is washing up," Xiao Hongwei said, helping his daughter cover the story.

Lü Yuqing was a bit puzzled. "She's rarely this late waking up."

"It's the holidays. It's normal to sleep a bit longer," Xiao Hongwei pretended to be a bit impatient, so Lü Yuqing didn't ask further.

After a while, Xiao Hongwei casually said, "I remember you're quite familiar with Chen Zhaojun's wife."

"Liang Meijuan?"

Lü Yuqing said, "We used to be close, but we haven't been in touch much lately."

"Well, you should invite her out for a meal sometime. It's good to maintain friendships," Xiao Hongwei said as he continued peeling vegetables.

"Is Chen Zhaojun being promoted?" Lü Yuqing immediately thought of this possibility.

Xiao Hongwei laughed helplessly. "We're at this age and still thinking about promotions? Just want to catch up with her, nothing more."

Seeing her husband not telling the truth, Lü Yuqing didn't press him further. Xiao Hongwei's work often involved confidentiality, and family members couldn't ask too many questions.

"Alright, I'll go and fix Little Fish's hair. If I get a chance, I'll arrange to meet up," she said.

After Lü Yuqing left the kitchen, Xiao Hongwei wiped his hands and sighed, "We're almost at the top, we need to start thinking about our children's future."

...

A similar scene was unfolding at Chen Hanxing's house, but the atmosphere was completely different.

"My life is so miserable. I've never had a good day since I married into the Chen family. Now that my son has grown up, he's just an ungrateful brat."

Chen Hanxing didn't even wait for the holidays to end before deciding to return to school. Liang Meijuan tried to persuade him but just kept nagging.

"I'm the class monitor now, my time doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the entire Class 2 of Public Administration, Mom. I don't have a choice," Chen Hanxing said while packing his things, talking nonsense.

"Pfft, I don't know what the homeroom teacher was thinking when they made you the class monitor."

Liang Meijuan knew her son well. When he didn't want to tell the truth, he could talk nonsense.

Chen Hanxing always packed his own luggage, a habit formed over the years, and his parents, Chen Zhaojun and Liang Meijuan, never interfered. But when Liang Meijuan saw two special products from Hong Kong—Phoenix Geese—she asked, "Are these for your dorm mates?"

"No, they're for my homeroom teacher," Chen Hanxing replied.

This time, he had specifically brought hometown specialties for Guo Zhongyun, both to thank him for helping smooth over the incident with the fight, and to maintain their personal relationship.

Chen Hanxing didn't give Guo Zhongyun any red envelopes. Not to mention whether he would accept them, the teacher-student relationship would become complicated if money were involved.

Before leaving, Liang Meijuan gave him 1000 yuan to take with him. Chen Hanxing refused, "I don't need money right now."

"How much of the 2000 yuan you brought at the beginning of the semester is left?" Liang Meijuan insisted on asking.

"I've spent half of it," Chen Hanxing replied honestly.

Liang Meijuan was taken aback. "In just one month? What did you spend it on?"

In the past, when Chen Hanxing studied at home, the family's monthly expenses were about 1000 yuan, but now that he was away at college, Liang Meijuan and Chen Zhaojun's monthly living expenses were only a few hundred yuan.

"Eating, drinking, buying random stuff. Men have to socialize," Chen Hanxing said casually.

"You don't even have a girlfriend and you're learning to socialize?" Liang Meijuan almost laughed in anger but was also a little confused. "Then why don't you want this 1000 yuan?"

"I earned 2500 elsewhere. I'm never short of money," Chen Hanxing didn't want to explain further.

He pushed open the door and said, "Dad, Mom, I'm leaving. Take care of yourselves. If you're going to argue, just don't fight."

Watching Chen Hanxing leave, Liang Meijuan suddenly felt a bit lonely.

"Old Chen, are we getting old?"

"Why do you say that?"

"I feel like Hanxing doesn't need us anymore. He doesn't want the money, doesn't tell us what's going on, and has his own world now."

Chen Zhaojun smiled, gently wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders, and said, "Isn't that a good thing? We can worry less now."

"No way!" Liang Meijuan suddenly furrowed her brow. "I still want to give this little brat some grandchildren. Do you have any colleagues or friends with a suitable daughter? After she graduates from college, let them get married."

"Maybe... I do," Chen Zhaojun didn't know that Chen Hanxing and Xiao Rongyu had already "broken up," and the image of the young girl suddenly flashed in his mind.