The two left the county at around 9 PM, and it took more than two hour to reach Lu Zheyu’s hometown.
Most people in the village went to bed at 9 PM. That’s why Lu Zheyu didn’t expect there would be a “guest” this late.
He didn’t rush in, but stood outside and overheard the conversation for a while.
The person who spoke was a neighbor of his house, named Wu Mei. She had a particularly loud and resonant voice.
After a moment of silence, a slightly rougher female voice replied, “Zheyu is actually quite filial. Although he hasn’t come back, he has been sending money home…”
“He is doing that for others to see!” Wu Mei exclaimed loudly, “He is afraid that you will go to school to look for him, afraid that others will say that he is unfilial. When he leaves this county, it will be difficult for you to find him ever again.”
Mrs. Lu said, “But I heard that the university that Zheyu was admitted to is the best university in the country.”
“What’s the use of a good university? To attend such a good university, you have to be able to afford the tuition money. I heard Q University’s tuition is around tens of thousands per year. It will cost at least hundreds of thousands to get his degree. How much money do you earn in a year? Even if you put all your savings for him, will Zheyu appreciate it? What will you do if he turns his back on you after graduating from university? Look, I’m not saying he shouldn’t attend that university, but you have to think twice about it. Going to university isn’t the be-all, end-all. What’s more important is to prevent your son from running away. Once he does that, he will never return.”
Mr. and Mrs. Lu looked at each other and hesitated.
Wu Mei drank water calmly, feeling secretly proud.
After the news that Lu Zheyu was admitted to Q University reached the village, the Lu couple showed off to everyone they met in the village, and their smug look really disgusted her.
Now seeing the couple in distress, she felt a little better.
Not long after this, there was a knock on the door. The middle-aged couple was startled, and Mrs. Lu went up to open the door.
Seeing the young man standing outside, Mrs. Lu was stunned for a moment. She was a little surprised that her son actually came back. Before she could think of what to say, she saw the person following Lu Zheyu.
Wu Mei couldn’t see Cheng Chen from her perspective. She only saw Lu Zheyu at the door and curled her lips quietly.
Lu Zheyu looked past his mother and looked at the people sitting in the living room. Lo and behold, his father was looking healthy and hale.
Mrs. Lu could feel Lu Zheyu’s gaze. She felt guilty and asked anxiously, “Who is this?”
Lu Zheyu retracted his gaze.
Before he could speak, Cheng Chen smiled and said, “Hello, Auntie. I am Zheyu’s friend. I heard that his father had a sudden heart attack at home. I drove him to his hometown so we could take Uncle Lu to the city hospital easily. My car is parked at the intersection. Where is his father?”
Mrs. Lu felt even more embarrassed. “N-no need, his father is fine now.”
“Really?” Cheng Chen said “worriedly”. “But even if he is fine now, it’s important to give him a thorough health check-up. Heart disease is not a small problem. It will be too late if we wait until he really gets sick.”
Mrs. Lu: “…”
Mr. Lu didn’t expect that there was someone else outside, and his expression was not very good.
Lu Zheyu knew that Cheng Chen did this on purpose, and he didn’t stop him. Seeing his parents embarrassed, he said, “What’s the matter with calling me back?”
“…”
Wu Mei had already stood up when she heard that there was someone else outside. She walked to the door and looked, and was suddenly stunned.
The person standing outside the door was wearing a simple apricot-gray shirt, but he exuded an elite and mature demeanor, the kind that was carved in one’s bone. His every move was elegant and grand, which made her unable to look away.
Lu Zheyu frowned and said, “Aunt Wu.”
Wu Mei quickly came back to her senses and couldn’t help but speak in a sarcastic tone, “Oh, Zheyu, do you still remember this Aunt Wu? I haven’t seen you for two years, and Aunt Wu almost doesn’t recognize you.”
Lu Zheyu ignored her and said directly to his parents, “I will go to Q University. There’s no need to pay for the tuition.”
Both of his parents stared, looking flabbergasted.
Lu Zheyu asked, “Anything else?”
“You…what’s with your attitude?” Wu Mei seemed to be unable to bear it and stood in front of Lu Zheyu, “Your father just had a heartache, and you didn’t care about him when you came back…”
“He was pretending.”
The room was silent for a few seconds. Seeing that he didn’t hide this matter from outsiders at all, Mr. Lu subconsciously glanced at Cheng Chen, his face flushed and said, “Unfilial thing, what did you say!”
Lu Zheyu: “Then let’s go to the hospital now.”
Mr. Lu: “…”
The middle-aged man choked into speechlessness. His complexion looked bluish.
He didn’t feel guilty for pretending to be sick to trick his son to go back home, but he felt that he had lost face in front of others. An angry look appeared on his face.
At this time, Wu Mei stood up again and said, “Zheyu, how can you talk to your father like that? Even if your father is fine, he did this just to see you. You said that you didn’t come back once in two years of high school. Your parents raised you with great difficulty. How can you treat them like this?”
As she spoke, she kept glancing at Cheng Chen out of the corner of her eye, wanting to let this friend see Lu Zheyu’s cold-blooded nature.
However, Cheng Chen always had a smile on his face, looking at her with interest, and said, “As far as I know, the reason why Zheyu didn’t go home for two years was to earn his tuition and living expenses. He studied at school every day, and worked day and night during holidays. He didn’t have any rest time. He wanted to reduce the burden on his family. How could you say that to him?”
Wu Mei: “…”
Lu Zheyu’s parents: “…”
“Oh, right.” Cheng Chen added, “I also heard what you said to Uncle and Aunt just now, so let me clarify: the yearly tuition cost at Q University isn’t that much. With Zheyu’s grades, he can easily get a scholarship, even get extra living costs from the scholarship programme. Auntie, I think your source is misleading, I wonder who you heard that information from?”
Wu Mei: “I…”
She looked at Mr. and Mrs. Lu nervously. The two were also looking at her. Mrs. Lu frowned, as if she realized something.
Wu Mei had deliberately exaggerated facts to scare them, but she didn’t expect that her words would be exposed so bluntly, making her instantly embarrassed.
Lu Zheyu glanced at her indifferently, then looked at his parents and said, “You raised me, and I will take care of you in your old age. If you want to stay here, you can stay. If you want to go to the city, I will arrange a place for you to live and hire someone to take care of you. It’s your choice.”
“How can this be possible?” Before Mr. and Mrs. Lu started to hesitate, Wu Mei jumped out again, “Go to the city? It’s easy for you to say, but how can your parents adapt to a place where they are unfamiliar with it? They don’t have much education, and there won’t even be anyone to talk to. Maybe they will be looked down upon when they go out to buy something. Can you still accompany your parents all the time?”
“Hmm…” Cheng Chen suddenly said, “Aunt Wu, right? You sound very knowledgeable. Have you ever been looked down upon in the city?”
Wu Mei’s face froze, “How can you talk like that? I’m just reminding them kindly!”
Lu Zheyu said, “How my parents are doing in the city is none of your business.”
“You!”
Wu Mei was confronted by the two of them again and again, with her breath stuck in her throat. She looked at Mr. and Mrs. Lu, who remained silent despite the presence of an outsider. She angrily waved her hands and said, “Your kindness is taken for granted!”
She left angrily.
The room became quiet again. After being reminded by Cheng Chen, Mr. Lu calmed down. Mrs. Lu secretly looked at Cheng Chen, acting a little reserved. She was curious about how her son could make such a friend, but she couldn’t get rid of her inferiority complex, not to mention that she had just been laughed at by Wu Mei.
Cheng Chen saw their embarrassment, greeted the two of them considerately, and said t o Lu Zheyu, “I’ll wait for you outside.”
Lu Zheyu: “Mn.”
Cheng Chen didn’t ask what the three of them said in that house.
In the end, it was decided that Lu Zheyu will be attending Q University. He has the ability to complete his studies on his own, and his parents couldn’t stop him no matter how much they make a fuss.
Mr. and Mrs. Lu wanted to keep their son by their side, as they wanted their son to give them prestige. However, there is no such perfect thing in the world – they always have to make a choice.
In the final analysis, the reason why Lu Zheyu didn’t go home for two years was because they didn’t understand the situation and cut off his living expenses.
If they can be good parents, then Lu Zheyu will also be a good son.
After waiting outside for almost half an hour, Lu Zheyu was sent out by his parents. It was obvious that the two elders were still reluctant to let Lu Zheyu leave, but they didn’t dare t o let others laugh at them because of the presence of “outsiders”.
After returning from the muddy path and getting in the car, Lu Zheyu seemed to be relieved and said, “Thank you.”
If Cheng Chen hadn’t followed him back, he would definitely not be able to return to the county town today.
Cheng Chen accepted his thanks unceremoniously, smiled and said, “That Aunt Wu is really a warm-hearted person.”
Lu Zheyu: “…”
It’s obviously a sarcastic remark – Lu Zheyu did not comment.
Aunt Wu contributed to the rumors in the village about his “shameful behavior” in attending clubs and bars.
There was always a kind of person who couldn’t stand other people getting something good. It made them feel inferior, so they lashed back, making them try to belittle others at any given opportunity.
He didn’t express his opinion, and Cheng Chen didn’t ask again.
During the way back, Cheng Chen was ruminating on how to bring up the topic of their relationship, but before he arrived at the county town, he received a call from his company. He had to deal with an urgent matter temporarily, so he had to go back to E City first.
A few days later, Lu Zheyu heard that someone invested in building a road for his village. He didn’t need to think about who was behind it.
Cheng Chen built the road with great fanfare, and specifically mentioned that the investment was obtained by Lu Zheyu, which made Mr. and Mrs. Lu more respected in the village.
Wu Mei still did not change her ways. She tried her best to persuade Mr. and Mrs. Lu to be “more careful.”
“…is there such a good thing that came from nowhere, no strings attached? The village’s road has been in ruins for so many years and no one has repaired it. The government doesn’t care. How can others help us repair the road for no reason? The man who came back with Zheyu that day didn’t look normal. Zheyu must have been deceived. That man was really suspicious. What will other people think when they notice this?”
However, after Wu Mei said this, the road that had just been repaired a few days ago was pried open by an excavator and restored to its previous bad condition.
Faced with the villagers’ questions and obstructions, the person in charge of road construction played the recording of Wu Mei slandering Lu Zheyu, explaining, “Our Cheng-zong spent money to build the road to contribute to his friend’s hometown, and yet, he only get slandered in return. A certain person has too little knowledge, so instead of gossiping all day long, they should be more sober and think about how to broaden their horizons, not easily judging others with their narrow and despicable ideas. As for the road construction, since Ms. Wu doesn’t appreciate it, she should pay for it herself and repair the road.”
Wu Mei: “…”
Suddenly the blame was put on her head. She instantly became the target of public criticism.
Wu Mei was infamous for her long rant, but the villagers usually let things slide as long as nothing bad came from it.Now Wu Mei has not changed her bad habits and has aroused public anger. Every day someone comes to her house to ask her to pay for road construction. Her mother-in-law blames her for not being able to control her mouth, her husband thinks she is embarrassing and wants to divorce her, and even her son who has just entered junior high school is unwilling to pay attention to her.
While Mr. and Mrs. Lu were being flattered by others who hoped that they would talk to Lu Zheyu again, they also heard from their neighbors that Wu Mei had laughed at their stupidity behind their backs. Recalling some of the things Wu Mei had said to them over the years and the things she had “suggested” them to do, they finally realized that all her “suggestion” only leads to bad results.
They immediately cut off their relationship with Wu Mei.
It was quite lively in the village that Wu Mei was being pushed down by everyone, and Lu Zheyu felt mixed emotions after hearing about Cheng Chen’s operation of repairing the road and then tearing it apart.
It must cost at least a million. And all of this trouble was just to let him vent his anger?
Lu Zheyu didn’t know whether he should be moved or angry.
‘This wasteful spendthrift!!’
