CHAPTER 196: CHAPTER 196: CLOSE TO THE WATERSIDE PAVILION

"Xiao Yu, mom knows she doesn’t have much education and isn’t great at raising kids. But mom won’t let you end up in that predicament!" "Mom has come to understand one thing over the years—there are two most important things for a girl to live a good life! First is to understand a principle, chasing after a man—it’s not a transaction!"

"You see those men who managed to marry despite their shamelessness, do they face ridicule anywhere they go? No one laughs at them! But it’s different for us women! Those who move into a man’s house before getting married, I’ve heard quite a few such cases. Do you know what people say behind those women’s backs? They say she’s throwing herself at him! They say she has no shame!"

"Ah..." Mrs. Zhen let out a long sigh, "So, mom hopes that in the future you can, can, what’s the word?"

"Reserved." Zhen Yu understood her mother’s meaning and replied.

"Right! Be more reserved! Understand?"

"I understand." Zhen Yu looked into her mother’s eyes, extremely serious.

Mrs. Zhen showed a relieved smile and continued, "The other thing is money! Mom has been earning money for others all her life, and no matter how much I earned, your grandparents would take it all! Not a cent stayed in my own hands. If it wasn’t for this, your dad wouldn’t have,"

Mrs. Zhen paused for a moment before continuing, "He wouldn’t have gone out searching for someone else, gotten someone’s stomach big and divorced me."

A year had passed, and Mrs. Zhen had completely let go of her husband’s affair, so when she talked about what happened back then, she was objective and fair, without any bias towards herself.

Now, all she has in mind is to make money! Earn lots and lots of money! To support her two kids through High School and college!

"So, we women need to have our own money! What others have, that’s theirs! Only what’s in your hands is truly yours. You know that, right?"

"I know, financial independence!" Zhen Yu really didn’t expect that in just a short year, her mother would have this awareness, and she couldn’t help but smile happily.

—

"Xiao Yu, mom knows you’ve become much more sensible this year. When mom is busy earning money, it’s you who looks after your brother. But your brother, he’s not like your uncle! Even if you don’t look after him, regardless of his abilities, he will always protect you! The two of you don’t have other relatives to rely on; you are each other’s closest people! In case mom isn’t here one day, you still have each other to rely on."

"Mom! No way! You’re still young!"

"In life, who can say for sure? Mom never expected to get divorced either! But it still happened! I will never be like your grandma, making you take care of your brother all your life! Whatever money this family saves in the future, it’ll be split equally between the two of you! You! When you grow up and no matter who you marry, never be like mom! Don’t always transfer everything to your maternal family!"

"Mom! I’m only thirteen." Zhen Yu suddenly felt very reluctant to leave her mom and brother, knowing that her marriage was still a far-off matter, but still, she acted coy with the heart of a young daughter.

"Alright, alright! My girl is only thirteen, there’s still plenty of time before marriage! How could I not keep you until you’re twenty-six, eh!" Mrs. Zhen said as she stroked her daughter’s back, with tears gleaming in her eyes.

Mother and daughter cuddled silently together for a while, then Mrs. Zhen said, "Aunt Han mentioned that Ming Yue will come over again tomorrow to take care of you. I was reluctant at first, but Shoe City has indeed been too busy lately. It’s all because of you insisting that I go into inventory!"

Zhen Yu joked with her mother, "Is the inventory hard to sell? Or is the sales volume not appealing?"

"What appealing? It’s just that it’s selling too well, Li Li can’t handle it all by herself, that’s why I don’t have time to take care of you at home!" Mrs. Zhen directly ignored the question about being appealing, "We still owe rent! You also need to take out a loan, while the shop is still operating, better to sell as much as possible! So, I agreed to it, two more days won’t make much difference. After you’ve recovered, you must do as I said, you hear?"

Zhen Yu posed with an obedient sitting expression, "I hear you."

——

"Just during these next few days when it’s only the two of you at home, you have to be extra careful! I always feel..." Mrs. Zhen, worried her daughter might overthink, quickly swallowed the rest of her words.

She always felt that those two boys from the Han Family might be harboring intentions toward her daughter, not to mention Fu Yu...

These three rascals, she’d have to keep a close eye on them in the future! To prevent them from taking advantage of close proximity...

As if it’s that easy to catch her precious moon! Hmph!

Zhen Yu waited with her eyes wide open for what her mother would say next, but she suddenly fell silent, so Zhen Yu asked, "Feel what?"

"Nothing! There’s also the incident where you almost got snatched! Don’t you know your own strength? Just like Uncle Han said, couldn’t you have asked him to hold onto it for you? Or walk home with him in the evening? Are you out of your mind?"

Zhen Yu stuck out her tongue and secretly criticized in her heart, "Uncle Han, you snitch! I didn’t expect you to be such a person!"

"Tomorrow, I’ll stay home and wait for Uncle Han and his family to come over, and I’ll walk with them, also make a deposit. Ming Yue will stay home to take care of you, and remember to lock the door during the day!"

"I know!" Zhen Yu felt that the word she had said the most tonight was ’I know’...

"Uncle Han said you shouldn’t tire your brain since you’ve hit your head, so I’m going to bring in some water for you to brush your teeth and wash your face before you go to sleep early!" Mrs. Zhen stood up while saying this.

Zhen Yu didn’t realize it until her mother mentioned it, but she did feel a bit woozy. "Actually, now that you mention it, I’m feeling somewhat sleepy."

"Then you should hurry up and get to sleep!"

——

A good night’s sleep.

The next morning, both the water for washing up and breakfast were personally brought to the bed by Mrs. Zhen. Had Zhen Yu not mentioned that Ming Yue would be coming over to look after her, Mrs. Zhen would have even moved the winter chamber pot into the bedroom! Zhen Yu quickly seized the moment before the Han Family arrived to visit the bathroom under her mother’s watchful eye.

Mrs. Zhen packed the prepared lunch into a steamer basket and placed it on the gas stove. After the four members of the Han Family arrived, she instructed Ming Yue to heat up the food for lunch before locking the door and leaving with Mr. Han and Mrs. Han.

Zhen Yu, not wanting to fall behind in her schoolwork due to taking too many days off, suggested that they study by themselves by reading books.

Ming Yue disagreed, as Mr. Han had said that they shouldn’t let Zhen Yu use her brain too much.

Finally, after negotiating, they settled on Ming Yue reading textbook passages aloud for Zhen Yu to listen to.

They chose subjects like history and politics to read, with one reading and the other listening, not focused on remembering too much, just aiming to retain some general impressions in their minds.

Neither of them were particularly eloquent, and although their feelings for each other were different from those for others, they were both not very expressive, so the only thing they knew and could do was to provide silent companionship.

In the afternoon, Han Jiaoyang came with the keys to Zhen Yu’s gate, bringing Bai Xue and Fu Yu to visit her. What the three of them saw was exactly such a harmonious scene.