Chapter 17: Mastering Both Offense and Defense
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Mother sat motionless across from her on the sofa. At first, Xiao Han paid no mind, picking up a Chinese language textbook from the coffee table and quietly flipping through it, deeply absorbed.
Thus, mother watched her daughter intently, while the daughter kept her eyes on the book. The living room was silent, broken only occasionally by the soft sound of turning pages.
Time passed unknowingly...
Weishi Man, whose eyes were growing tired, found it hard to keep up the act any longer. She shifted her posture to relax and asked, “Aren’t you going to say something to your mother?”
Hearing this, Xiao Han looked up with a sorrowful expression and replied in a clear voice, “Being your daughter is really exhausting.”
Weishi Man remained unmoved. “What’s his real name?”
“Don’t you already know?”
“I know my daughter well. Maybe that’s a fake name.”
Xiao Han pouted but smiled helplessly, bluntly saying, “What his full name is doesn’t matter. If you insist on having a convenient name to call him by, just call him ‘Tomcat’ or ‘Stray dog.’”
Weishi Man stared into her daughter’s eyes, paused for two seconds, then asked, “Where is Li Heng from?”
Faced with this deliberately tricky question, Xiao Han chose to ignore it. After finishing one page, she turned to the next.
Five minutes slipped away in silence. Weishi Man, tormented, finally lost patience and snatched the book from her daughter’s hands.
Using provocation, she asked, “Tell me, why lie? Do you like this boy?”
Just then, the family’s tabby cat jumped from the other end of the sofa to Xiao Han’s side. She casually grabbed the cat’s neck, lifted it up, and teased, “If I say I like him, what will happen?”
Her gaze slowly passed over the cat and landed on her daughter. The playful smile faded from Weishi Man’s face, replaced by a serious look.
Seeing this, the girl’s face twisted into a wry expression. She stretched the cat’s cheeks apart with both hands and said pitifully, “I’m just testing the waters. If it really happens, won’t you break my legs?”
Weishi Man spoke sternly, “If it really happens, I’ll start with kindness, then force. First, I’ll tell you to leave him.”
Xiao Han used her thumb and forefinger to open the cat’s eyelids, forcing it to roll its eyes at her mother three times in a row. Then, she sighed self-pityingly: “Poor kitty, when you’re too beautiful, you easily become a target. Life is so hard. Someone once told me exactly the same thing.”
Weishi Man asked, “Who?”
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Xiao Han answered, “Chen Zijing.”
Upon hearing this, Weishi Man was a bit taken aback but then realized something: Li Heng’s name sounded familiar because it was connected to Chen Zijing.
It was related to the rumor from Shangwan Village.
Throughout middle and high school, Xiao Han was closest to Yang Yingwen and Chen Zijing, often inviting them home for meals.
Thus, Weishi Man was not only familiar with Chen Zijing but very well acquainted.
Imagining Chen Zijing’s delicate appearance, Weishi Man asked with surprise, “Doesn’t Zijing come from a well-off family? Why would she like this Li Heng?”
“Mom, do you think he’s not good enough for Chen Zijing?”
“I’m not judging him, but in this small town, few people are worthy.”
Xiao Han agreed, “I wondered the same thing and even asked Chen Zijing about it.”
Unconsciously drawn into the conversation, Weishi Man asked curiously, “What did she say?”
Xiao Han patted the cat’s head, mischievously saying, “What else could she say? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. She said that anyone who doesn’t appreciate Li Heng has bad taste.”
To Weishi Man, those words felt awkward.
She fixed her gaze on her daughter, feeling as if she was being indirectly criticized but couldn’t find evidence.
Noticing her mother’s eyes growing sharp, Xiao Han squinted and smiled, hastily clearing herself: “Those are Chen Zijing’s exact words. Don’t blame your own daughter. If you don’t believe me, go ask Yingwen yourself.”
Weishi Man’s curiosity flared: “Is that rumor true? Are Li Heng and Zijing really...?”
Xiao Han turned her head, eyes clear and bright. “What rumor?”
Weishi Man tapped her daughter’s arm. “You little troublemaker, don’t pretend. I don’t believe you haven’t heard. Before the New Year, during the busy season, people were spreading all kinds of versions. The gist was always the same: the poor boy and the Chen family’s noble daughter sleeping together.”
Xiao Han continued teasing the cat, “I’ve heard that rumor too. They say Zijing’s aunt caught them in the act. But you know how family secrets are kept quiet—if her aunt really caught them, how would it get out? Probably just gossip.”
Weishi Man shook her head. “I heard a different version. Zijing’s aunt did catch them, but someone passing by the courtyard overheard it at the window and spread it.”
She believed this version more because many rural houses are built around courtyards. Neighbors live close, and accidental discoveries of secret affairs happen often.
Otherwise, if family secrets were really kept, the world would be too peaceful, with no rumors at all.
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She was right. The matter between Li Heng and Chen Zijing was overheard by Aunt Pang as she passed by the Chen family’s window—and she was the one who spread it.
After saying this, Weishi Man stared intently at her daughter, watching her expression.
Having never been grilled so severely by her own mother, Xiao Han felt like crying but held her ground and boldly retorted:
“If you were as young and pretty as me, would you like a twice-divorced man?”
The words “twice-divorced man” sounded like a spring breeze to Weishi Man’s ears. She smiled and said,
“Today’s rice, if I were to bargain, maybe I could get it for one yuan seventy. I spent an extra three seventy for your sake. I’ll deduct that from your allowance.”
Hearing about the deduction, Xiao Han gloomily scratched the cat hard. The cat crouched low, unable to resist, looking woeful.
Seeing this, Weishi Man smiled wider, then got up and left.
In her heart, she thought: since her daughter grew up, this was the first time she truly had the upper hand—what a satisfying feeling.
As for her daughter’s relationship with Li Heng, she did not press further, nor did she ask why her daughter helped him today.
Chen Zijing’s presence explained everything.
More importantly, as a mother, she felt reassured: for the past six years, her daughter had never mentioned a single word about Li Heng at home.
Therefore, she chose to trust her daughter.
At dinner, before Weishi Man could ask how the rice tasted, her husband Xiao Hai took a bite and said, “Is this new rice?”
Weishi Man served him a piece of chicken breast. “It’s freshly bought today. How does it taste?”
Xiao Hai adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and praised, “Soft, fragrant, and sweet with an aftertaste. It’s better than the rice you bought before.”
Hearing his high praise, Weishi Man took a few bites, then happily said,
“It’s really good. Tomorrow I’ll bring two bags to your eldest sister. She should like it.”
…