Mr. Leng Sr. also lost his temper, slamming his cane heavily against the wooden floor. "You tell , why do you disagree?"
What is it about that child that he disapproves of? He really wanted to crack open his head and rummage through it to see what on earth it was made of.
Mr. Leng looked helplessly at his wife and daughter, both glaring at him with anger. "Dad! I must have my reasons for disagreeing! Xiao Ning is my daughter; could I possibly harm her?"
So matters, the old man had known bits and pieces about back in the day, and he could lay them all out now.
But with Mrs. Leng here, he couldn’t say any of it. With her temper, if she found out, there would be no stopping her from turning everything upside down!
Leng Ning looked at her father with disappointnt. He claid he wouldn’t harm her, yet when it ca to soone like Lei Ming, he let her decide for herself; but if it was Jin Yichen, he adamantly opposed it. Why?
"Second Son! Xiao Ning isn’t young anymore. She’s graduating this year. As parents, we can at most offer advice, but do you really think you can make decisions for her?" He truly felt Leng Qiankai was being unreasonable this ti.
Leng Qiankai froze for a mont under Mr. Leng Sr.’s rebuke, but stubbornly insisted, "Dad! Don’t interfere. I know what I’m doing!"
Just as Mr. Leng Sr. was about to respond, Mrs. Leng’s furious shout interrupted him.
"Leng Qiankai! How dare you say such a thing? Over all these years, have you ever truly cared for the child? Let tell you, don’t bla for not warning you in advance – Xiao Ning’s marriage is not yours alone to decide! Saying ’no’ won’t work!" Mrs. Leng was practically seething with anger by now. What right did he have to say these things?
Li Si and Leng Mochen, who had been downstairs comforting Buding after he woke up crying, heard Mrs. Leng’s shout and rushed out.
Just earlier, Li Si had shared with Leng Mochen, who had co over later, about the strange behavior Mr. Leng displayed when faced with Jin Yichen.
But Leng Mochen had been quietly listening all along, without expressing any opinion. If Li Si had observed carefully, she would have realized that soone seed to find Jin Yichen particularly unpleasant.
When bidding farewell at the door, Jin Yichen had been so warm and enthusiastic that it burned through any sense of restraint. His dazzling smile was truly irritating!
Seeing Li Si and Leng Mochen felt to Leng Ning like finding her anchors. She whispered in sadness and shared with them what her father had just said.
At this mont, Leng Qiankai leaned in and whispered sothing in Mr. Leng Sr.’s ear. Mr. Leng Sr.’s expression imdiately shifted. He only told Mrs. Leng to take them and go back ho, saying he had sothing to discuss with Leng Qiankai.
Still fuming, Mrs. Leng left with Leng Ning, Li Si, and the others. Before leaving, she shot Leng Qiankai, who was heading upstairs, a fierce glare.
She thought to herself, he might avoid the first confrontation, but he can’t avoid the next! When he cos ho, she will definitely fight him on this!
Unfortunately, they waited for several hours at Leng Mansion, but Mr. Leng still hadn’t returned.
During this ti, Li Si tried persuading Leng Ning, who fortunately had a broad mind and even took ti to send so texts to Jin Yichen.
At last, Mrs. Leng had no choice. Seeing it was getting late, and it wasn’t appropriate for such a young child to travel at night, she told Leng Mochen to take Li Si and the child back ho first. If there was any update, she would call them later.
...
anwhile, in the study at the Leng Family’s old mansion, silence filled the space entirely. After a long while, Mr. Leng Sr. finally looked over at Leng Qiankai, who was sitting diagonally opposite him, with his head buried in his hands.
"The man you ntioned from back then—you’re saying he’s Xiao Jin’s father?"
The old man’s face betrayed disbelief. How could the world be so full of coincidences?
He only knew fragnts of what had happened back when Leng Qiankai went to the countryside as part of the "Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside" campaign—a romance with a young female intellectual developed between them in secret.
Later, when the woman returned to the city, she married soone else.
For this reason, he’d been dejected for a while, before he followed the family’s arrangents and married Mochen’s mother.
Leng Qiankai’s gaze was complex as he nodded. "Yes! It’s Jin Jiachao!"
He never imagined his own daughter would fall in love with Jin Jiachao’s son.
Had it not been for the resentnt lingering from his generation, he wouldn’t care about Xiao Ning choosing her boyfriend.
But why did it have to be him?
Rembering the past, if Jin Jiachao hadn’t interfered, Su Ye wouldn’t have rushed into marrying soone else.
After his marriage, he took the opportunity given by the restored college entrance examination to enroll in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. With talent, hard work, and stroke of luck, his unique style began to erge. By the 1980s, he had gained considerable fa dostically.
Later, he quietly searched for news of Su Ye, but his efforts were like throwing a stone into the sea—no trace was found.
Only years later, during a gathering of old "Knowledgeable Youth," did he hear from others that Su Ye had passed away long ago.
At the ti, he was truly hurt and spent a period numb to everything, retreating abroad to heal alone.
Occasionally, he would wonder: had Su Ye married him, would she have lived longer?
Her voice and laughter seed like yesterday, yet she had long turned into white bones, cycling through Samsara.
Mr. Leng Sr. sighed deeply. Over the years, the relationship between his second son and Mochen’s mother had remained cool and distant. He understood very well—his second son’s heart was with soone else.
This was why, on many occasions, he sided with Mochen and her mother. Call it favoritism or an attempt at compensating, it was undeniable.
Ultimately, it caused hardship for the Leng family’s in-law, Ouyang Yan.
Mr. Leng Sr. and Mrs. Leng—originally from the Ouyang Family—had a bond akin to brothers with Ouyang Yixun. Though Mr. Leng Sr. narrowly escaped the political upheavals of the ti, Ouyang Yixun had not.
On his deathbed, Ouyang Yixun entrusted his children, Ouyang Yan and Ouyang Zhenglin, to the Leng Family. In the end, Mr. Leng Sr. felt he had failed that trust.
Ouyang Yan married into the Leng Family, and Mr. Leng Sr. believed he had done everything he could for her, but his second son’s heart was beyond his control.
Over the years, their marriage dwindled into a state of prolonged separation, yet sohow they adapted to this arrangent as their children grew older.
Ouyang Zhenglin had left for overseas studies at a young age and rarely returned over the years.
However, he was said to plan to return with his family for Leng Mochen’s wedding.
"Qiankai! Even if his father truly is that man, both he and Xiao Ning are innocent! I must urge you: don’t let the grievances of the previous generation weigh on the shoulders of the next. You know your own life hasn’t been happy—would you want Xiao Ning to endure the sa?"
Mr. Leng Sr. pleaded, sincerely and earnestly. He understood how much this matter ant to his second son. In all these years, his second son had refused to breathe a single word of it, but his actions could not hide from his father’s watchful eye; his burden was heavy.
Leng Qiankai painfully wiped his face. "Dad! Easier said than done! Just the thought of my daughter marrying his son—that man’s son—I can’t accept it!"
How could he face the prospect of the offspring of his old rival—the man who stole his love—becoming his son-in-law, let alone having that person as a father-in-law!
Mr. Leng Sr. thought for a mont. Though he hesitated to probe the old wound, he couldn’t help but ask: "Is his mother that female intellectual from back then?"
Leng Qiankai, dazed, nodded. "She should be!"
He still rembered, before the intellectual youth returned to the city, Su Ye ca to him crying, saying their fate had run out, and it was better to end things.
At the ti, he’d been heartbroken and angry—Su Ye had been a beam of light in his dark world.
Born into privilege yet thrust, post-middle school, into the "Knowledge Youth Down to the Countryside," he was forced into agricultural labor. Whether pampered kids from affluent families or ordinary city dwellers, no one was prepared for such hardships. (To be continued. If you like this story, please visit Qidian [qidian] to cast recomndation and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to read.)
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