In the eighth cafeteria of the University of Hong Kong, Cao Aiqing and Guo Huai served dishes at various windows. It was meal time, and there were quite a lot of people dining at this time. When they came to look for Guo's mother with dishes, she had already taken the place in advance. A table is ready.
Seeing the two walking together, Guo's mother smiled enthusiastically.
When the two of them sat down, Guo's mother went through their expressions. Seeing that Cao Aiqing was calm and decent, Guo Huai was awkward and reserved, so she took the initiative to praise:
"Xiao Cao, our Huaihuai family is so lucky to meet such a kind-hearted girl like you. Fortunately, you have been taking care of him all these years since he came to Hong Kong to study. Huaihuai mentioned it to me every time he calls. You, at first, I didn’t believe that he could have a girlfriend like you! It’s a rare encounter today, we have to have a good conversation~"
girlfriend?
Cao Aiqing paused slightly after hearing this. She looked at Guo Huai and indicated with her eyes that he would explain.
The girl believes that with Guo Huai's character, even if he had an admiration for her in the past, he would never have the shame to reveal this to the elders in the family, let alone lie and show off, talk about ridiculous relationships such as boyfriend and girlfriend, and Guo Huai The reason why the mother said this was probably because she noticed the unnaturalness after hearing the little girl's name during her son's daily phone calls. So when they saw her today, she just made the right mistake and started testing her.
This can be said to be a common trick used by the older generation. It is a bit excessive to say that it is relying on the old and selling the old, but this kind of temptation to deliberately say the wrong thing always makes people feel uncomfortable.
Guo Huai also felt that it was inappropriate for his mother to misunderstand this, so he frowned and hurriedly corrected:
"Mom, I never said anything like Ai Qing being my girlfriend. Stop talking nonsense and let's eat."
"Okay, okay, I won't say it anymore, I understand you young people, haha, Xiao Cao, you eat more, let's see how thin you become."
Mother Guo diligently served Cao Aiqing with dishes. Her eyes were smiling, as if she had already seen through the "hidden" relationship between the two.
Cao Aiqing knew very well that although the middle-aged woman in front of him had an almost rigid and narrow-minded traditional concept, she spoke with a very typical common people wisdom.
She knows that what she said is wrong, but she wants to deliberately guide you to the wrong place for development, and there is often concern in it. If you have to refute bluntly, it is not polite, after all, the other party's identity Here; secondly, after finishing the refutation, a young man has to be left with the subject of a joke.
And if you are silent, then she will acquiesce to this wrong development, and until you get used to her way of thinking, it will be difficult to have any initiative in communication.
Cao Aiqing had such a bad temper in his previous life.
It's just that today is different from the past. Since the girl can come to eat this meal calmly, she has already made plans in her heart.
"Thank you, aunt."
Cao Aiqing put the dish from Mother Guo into her mouth, chewed it twice and flattered her with a smile:
"Auntie, Guo Huai is now the student council president. He usually takes care of others. In the past, we also learned from each other academically and learned from each other's strengths. Maybe because of this, we have become closer as friends. I'm really sorry for causing you misunderstanding. It's really not good to think about it. I will pay more attention to it in the future."
The girl exerts a thousand pounds in four ounces, retreating in order to advance.
Guo's mother originally wanted to make a match, but the little girl's words meant that she thought her elder was trying to beat her up, so she attributed all the mistakes to herself. Now not only are the two not together, but the distance between them has become even wider.
"No...Oh, Xiao Cao...that's not what Auntie meant. Auntie wants you two to be together."
Cao Aiqing smiled slightly, and now the relationship between the two was broken by Guo's mother's words, and the drama of pretending to be deaf and dumb was over.
At the same time, He Tianran, Wang Ma, and Uncle Hu were also watching this scene happen not far away.
The two teams entered the cafeteria front and back. When Cao Aiqing and Guo Huai went to get the food, they happened to be separated. Since there were two tables of people in the middle, and they were at the side and behind, neither Cao Aiqing nor Guo could notice. He Tianran was near them.
However, the situation on their side was clearly visible to Wang Ma and his party. When Wang Ma looked at Cao Aiqing, she immediately wanted to go up and say hello, because from a certain level, she and Guo Mu's thoughts They are all the same, they all want to bring her together with their descendants.
But this kind of behavior was stopped as soon as He Tianran saw Guo's mother.
"Xiao Tianran, the boy sitting with little Ai Qing is...?"
"Xiao Guo, I seem to remember telling you that the three of us are friends. The person sitting across from us should be Xiao Guo's mother."
He Tianran smiled and handed the chopsticks to Uncle Hu and Wang Ma.
"Then what they are doing now is..."
"It should be... similar to the last time we saw you in the hospital."
"Ah?" Wang Ma was surprised and couldn't help but ask: "Then little Ai Qing... specializes in helping you deal with things like parents urging you to get married and fall in love?"
He Tianran almost burst out laughing. He didn't expect that Cao Aiqing, who was usually as cold as ice, could get such a contrasting "part-time job" from Wang Ma.
He explained: "No way, they probably met by chance. Xiao Guo told me a few days ago that his mother was coming to Hong Kong City to visit him. Since we are all in school, it was inevitable that we would meet him. Like when we meet them now.”
After hearing this, Wang Ma became even more anxious: "Aren't you anxious then?"
"Why am I in a hurry?"
"Just...don't you have any admiration for little Ai Qing?"
Although Wang Zhaodi already knew the true relationship between He Tianran and Cao Aiqing, she accidentally ran into such a scene. She couldn't help but possessiveness and empathy, fearing that someone would snatch her good girl first.
He Tianran comforted him: "Wang Ma, it's a long story here, but in short, this is Ai Qing's own business. Let's not get involved for the time being. And... aren't you curious?"
"What am I curious about?"
"It's... how would Ai Qing handle the same thing when she encounters it? This time, the aunt across from her doesn't have any heart disease. You should be able to see a... more real Ai Qing."
Wang Ma came here to thank Cao Aiqing. At that time, she was messing around with the mandarin ducks, and the girl's cooperation made her very happy. But after all, this was not a fact. The two children were indeed not together, and they could be held by her head. I agreed because I was worried about my heart condition.
This is filial piety and good intentions.
Now that her health is stable, Wang Zhaodi feels a little guilty in retrospect. Now that the situation has happened again, and He Tianran said this, she is really interested.
If she were not sick, what would be Xiao Aiqing's true thoughts about her current love life?
With this thought in mind, Wang Ma listened attentively. Even though the cafeteria was a bit noisy now, she was fortunate that the two tables were relatively close to each other. As long as she concentrated hard, she could still hear something real.
He Tianran breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Wang Ma calm down.
If she also rushed over, wouldn't this become Cao Aiqing's "Shura Field"?
Gee, this scene makes me feel emotional just thinking about it. He Tianran doesn’t mind being a fun person, but obviously, at this moment, Cao Aiqing is experiencing important events that she has not been able to resolve before, just like she must meet her secret love after time travel. Her Guo Huai was put to death once and for all, and as for Guo's mother, the girl must also have something to say.
This is something she has to face alone. The only thing He Tianran can do to help her now is to prevent outsiders from causing trouble for her at this moment.
Just listen to Mother Guo on the other end ask:
"Xiao Cao, Huaihuai always reported good news to me at school but not bad news. Sometimes, I don't even know the real situation."
Guo Huai was embarrassed to interrupt this kind of questioning by name. If he talked too much, he felt as if he had a guilty conscience. Cao Aiqing said generously:
"Well... don't worry, Auntie, Guo Huai is a very hard-working person. He has been shy since high school and now he is the student president of our University of Hong Kong. For this reason alone, I admire him very much, and we all As students, as long as you are healthy, you really won’t encounter anything difficult.”
Guo Huai glanced at Cao Aiqing gratefully and felt that this answer really gave him face.
It's just that his mother was even more happy than he was, and she was so proud that she continued to promote:
"Haha, it's true. When Huaihuai told me that he became the president of some student union, I didn't know what he meant. Later I found out that he was the biggest official among the students. When I thought about it, this is the University of Hong Kong. It’s a place where proud people like you gather together. He doesn’t even know if he can do it. Then I wanted to come to Hong Kong City to have a look. Then, guess what, Xiao Cao, as soon as I came, Huaihuai drove a car. The BMW came to pick me up, and I was still thinking about when he made so much money. It turned out that his friend knew I was coming and lent him the car to drive. It can be seen that Huaihuai is indeed a man of his own!"
Cao Aiqing ate the food quietly and smiled without saying a word.
She knew that Guo's mother wanted to plate Guo Huai's body with gold, and it was human nature to hope that her son would become a dragon. Now that she had gained something, she would inevitably forget about it. It would be really strange if parents did not praise their children at this time.
However, Guo Huai felt uncomfortable all over, especially in front of Cao Aiqing.
"Mom, borrowing a car has nothing to do with whether I am the student council president or not..."
"Hahaha, okay I won't mention it anymore, I got it."
Guo's mother glanced at him and lamented that her son just didn't know how to show off his strengths. Even the little girl said she admired him, but he stupidly pushed it aside.
Zhizi Moruomu, judging from what his son told him in the past two years, he definitely likes the little Cao in front of him, but now he is submissive, and he is really angry like that.
Ever since, Mother Guo might as well expand the topic further and investigate the household registration with a smile:
"Xiao Cao, what do you do at home?"
Cao Aiqing answered honestly: "My father works in a museum and occasionally comes to the University of Hong Kong to give lectures. My mother was the editor-in-chief of a magazine a few years ago, but now it is not easy to publish physical publications, so she resigned last year and started self-media at home. Now Considered a freelance writer.”
Guo's mother was stunned, obviously not very able to summarize the specific functions of these professions. Guo Huai on the side explained in a more popular way:
"Mom, Ai Qing's father is the director of the museum and an honorary professor of the Department of Archeology at the University of Hong Kong. Her mother is a writer."
Now, Mother Guo understood immediately.
"It turns out that Xiao Cao comes from a scholarly family. No wonder he looks so gentle and quiet, so popular!"
It is naturally impossible to hear more appropriate descriptions of temperament such as "gentle, elegant, well-informed, and reasonable" from a person like Guo's mother, but the kind of love she expressed at this moment is indeed true.
However, this kind of love can only be maintained in the initial period.
Guo's mother tried every means to send Guo Huai to study in Hong Kong City, which proves that she knows the importance of "knowledge" in this era, so it is normal for Aiwujiwu to have a crush on girls like Cao Aiqing.
But the paradox is that due to the constraints of their own environment and concepts, the two women, the old and the young, are destined not to live in the same comfort zone.
Guo Huai is her son. When he encounters things that are inconsistent with his views, he can naturally commit himself to making changes to make Guo's mother feel comfortable, and she will not find anything wrong with this, because this is "filial piety" in the traditional sense. , I have been busy for so long, it’s time to enjoy the happiness as a matter of course.
But it is different for an outsider like Cao Aiqing. If one day she becomes Mother Guo's daughter-in-law, then the more she learns and pursues, the more dangerous she becomes. Because others have not received the favor from Mother Guo, Mother Guo There is no guarantee that one can "benefit", and this also seriously affects the birth of the "family" bond.
In the eyes of people of their generation, the concept of "family", in a simpler way, is——
Bloodline.
That is, having a baby.
This is a very realistic thing. Everyone has a different vision and environment, and naturally sees different things. Similar to Guo’s mother, she only values the one-third of an acre she has cultivated, and she does not know how to If you feel that you are wrong, how difficult it is to correct a person's way of survival and change the inherent concepts that have been in place for most of his life...
Therefore, this will lead to the tragedy in the future...
Cao Aiqing was a little distracted thinking about these things in silence. It wasn't until she heard this sentence in her ears that she suddenly came back to her senses——
"Xiao Cao, do you have a boyfriend?"
"……No."
"Then what do you think of our Huaihuai family?"
Mother Guo took advantage of the situation and asked.
Cao Aiqing took a breath and felt that it was time.
Taking advantage of the time, everyone could sit down and talk politely, and the girl decided to completely turn the past to the next page.
However, just when she opened her mouth, Guo Huai, who had always been submissive to his mother, took the lead and spoke——
"Mom, please stop asking about this. Ai Qing is my friend. It's really embarrassing for you to ask this. Moreover, Ai Qing and I are particularly inappropriate. Others have their own plans, and I have my own. Are you still afraid? Can’t I find a girlfriend?”
After saying this, Cao Aiqing looked at Guo Huai quite unexpectedly...
This development was something she didn't expect, but gradually the expression on the girl's face changed from surprise to a smile.
Sure enough...
People always have different harvests under different circumstances...
Last time at the restaurant, He Tianran forced Guo Huai to become braver. After openly expressing his feelings, he has matured a lot. Although he usually faces himself and He Tianran, he is still the same honest and honest person. But the three of them can still maintain this friendship, which proves that Guo Huai has more "confidence" than he did in his previous life.
Based on this alone, Guo Huai's future will definitely go further.
Therefore, in this world, not only people in reincarnation can learn to grow...
Cao Aiqing was filled with emotion.
However, Guo's mother couldn't understand the meaning. When she saw Guo Huai "ignorantly" turning away a good opportunity again, she was angry, but she couldn't get angry, so she could only take it half seriously and half joking. said:
"Oh, Huaihuai, what you said is too presumptuous. What does it mean to be particularly inappropriate? What you said is too absolute. Others may not necessarily think so. I think you two are quite suitable."
"Auntie, Guo Huai is right."
This time, Cao Aiqing did not let Guo Huai get ahead of her. She said calmly. Guo's mother's face suddenly changed, and she heard the girl continue:
"Auntie, you just asked me how Guo Huai is. He is a very good boy with many qualities worth learning from me. He is also a close friend worth making close friends with. However, due to our different personalities and interests, We are different, so we are only suitable to be friends. As for other relationships, I will not consider them."
Although the first part of Cao Aiqing's words was quite polite, the end of the second half was too straightforward. How could Mother Guo have thought that the girl who had just praised Wen Wen Jingjing would suddenly say something like this? To save face for others?
Guo's mother's face turned blue and white. Just now, she was immersed in the complacency of Guo Huai's future. Now that these two children were choking her, she didn't know what to say. She could only say:
"Oh, you are all children, you are still young, who can tell what will happen in the future..."
"Yes, since we are all children, Auntie, please don't worry about this matter. It's nice to see you today. We can talk about other things."
Cao Aiqing spoke politely with a gentle smile.
On the other side, Mother Wang, who had been paying close attention to the situation, was a little stunned and whispered softly:
"It's so similar..."
He Tianran, who was still working with his head down, raised his head when he heard the sound:
"Like? Like what?"
Wang Zhaodi looked at He Tianran and sighed: "Like Xiaobai."
The Xiaobai in her words naturally refers to the man's mother, Bai Wenyu, the former mistress of the He family.
"Dad once said this. Both of them are indeed very decisive in the way they do things, but..."
He Tianran added, although he also knew that because of Cao Aiqing's past bullying experience, after entering society in the future, he has always looked forward to independent women like his mother, and even used them as career templates, but the two are different after all, especially With his new life now, He Tianran believed that Cao Aiqing would be able to find his own way.
"She is who she is, and she is not like anyone else."
He Tianran reiterated this concept again.
However, Wang Zhaodi looked at him, hesitated for a long time, and finally said slowly:
"I'm not saying that she is as decisive as your mother..."
"Then where else is it similar?"
"There are also other similarities. For example...she looks a lot like your mother before she married Panshan. She was carefree and innocent...and she always knew what she wanted and what she loved."
Wang Ma seemed to be lost in memories, speaking softly and word by word, while He Tianran remained silent.
"Xiao Tianran...were you really lying to me before?"
"Yes, Mother Wang... Just like what you see now, if it weren't for your poor heart at that time, maybe Ai Qing... wouldn't have cooperated with my acting."
"Really? Then...is there still a chance for you two to be together?"
He Tianran vaguely recalled that day when Cao Aiqing also resolutely told her father that she could not be with him...
Even though the relationship between the two has improved a lot now, and the bullying and deception no longer exist, the man knows very clearly that there is still a knot, a ravine, and a scar in their hearts that has not yet been untied, difficult to cross, let alone impossible to break. heal……
So regarding this question, he could only shake his head and said calmly:
"We...we have no chance."
Wang Ma kept looking into He Tianran's eyes. It wasn't until a moment after he finished saying that there was no chance that he tactfully said:
"That's it... Xiao Tianran, it doesn't matter if you lied to me, an old woman, but I hope that you two young people don't lie to yourself in the end..."
"..."
He Tianran's mouth was half-opened. There seemed to be countless thoughts lingering in his mind that he wanted to organize into words. He always felt that he had lived a clear enough life and was an old man in thought. After half a century, even a relative who has been on the verge of death can be dwarfed by a simple advice.
This is a very lucky thing for He Tianran.
Because in this world, there is still an elder who, through his own knowledge and experience, can keep him in awe, manage him, and advise him.
