novelraw Chapter 255: Don’t Be Mad at Me
Chapter 255: Don’t Be Mad at Me
’In her last life, she never even made a special trip to meet his mother’s side of the family. Now, she wanted to go even less...’
Xu Su dreaded meeting elders. In her last life, she hadn’t been invested in Zhou Mochen, so she never thought about putting on a good act for his parents and relatives to leave a good impression.
Back then, she wasn’t nervous at all. But now, just the thought of it made her feel flustered.
Her refusal was blunt, and Zhou Mochen didn’t press the issue, simply smiling and agreeing.
After quickly settling their plans for the New Year, winter break arrived right on schedule.
On the afternoon of the twenty-ninth of the twelfth lunar month, the day before New Year’s Eve, Zhou Mochen took Xu Su out for dinner after school let out. He then drove her home. When they pulled up in front of the Xu family’s apartment building, he suddenly grabbed her hand, reluctant to let go. "Do you really have to go back?"
They had seen each other every day for the past six months. The sudden separation, with her going home to stay for even just two days, was as painful to him as carving off a piece of his own flesh.
Xu Su was speechless. "If I don’t even go home for the New Year, do you think that would be proper?"
’No matter how distant her relationship with her parents was, she was still a high school student. Not going home for the New Year and spending it with her boyfriend instead... that just wouldn’t be right...’
Zhou Mochen nodded in resignation. "Fine, go back if you have to. But don’t let yourself get pushed around."
He knew exactly what kind of people Chen Shulan and her husband were. His brow furrowed as he instructed her, "Make sure you keep your phone with you at all times. I need to be able to reach you."
"..." Xu Su fell silent. He made it sound like she wasn’t going home, but walking into a lion’s den.
If it were the old Xu Su, she would have found his instructions annoying. But now, she was actually a little touched. She nodded in agreement to everything he said, acting incredibly docile.
Finally, struck by a sudden whim, Zhou Mochen ruffled the top of her head. "How about I go back and stay in the apartment across from yours for a couple of days? At least that way I’ll be closer to you."
"...Don’t." ’What kind of clingy monster is he?’ Xu Su’s head ached. "You’re gone all year. If I go back and you suddenly show up too, my parents will probably start interrogating me."
Zhou Mochen squeezed her hand and asked with a smile, "I’ll have to meet your parents eventually. What’s the difference if it’s a little sooner rather than later?"
"Absolutely not!" Xu Su’s expression changed instantly. The memory of Chen Shulan and her husband’s fawning faces as they groveled before Zhou Mochen in her last life—after they had sold her out for their own gain—filled her with a visceral disgust.
She said sternly, "My parents are my parents, and I am me. Zhou Mochen, we’re in a relationship between equals. I absolutely refuse to let them demand any benefits from you because of me! That subsidized apartment already has them thinking I’ve hooked a rich man. If you actually show up at their door and reveal who you are, my parents will probably jack up the price on the spot and sell me off!"
Xu Su’s sudden, intense reaction took Zhou Mochen by surprise. He knew she didn’t like her parents, but he hadn’t realized her aversion ran this deep.
"Don’t be angry with me. When I heard you were sleeping on the sofa, how could I stand it? Giving them a new apartment was a trivial matter for me."
Thinking of her parents’ blatant favoritism toward their son, Zhou Mochen’s expression darkened as well. "Fine. I’ll listen to you. I’ll stay at Imperial Central for the next couple of days."
"Mm." In a sour mood, Xu Su let Zhou Mochen give her a quick kiss, then opened the car door and headed home.
’In this life, while Chen Shulan and her husband still favored their son, they hadn’t yet done those truly repulsive things. Xu Su couldn’t bring herself to be ruthless enough to cut them off completely like in her past life. But it was also impossible for her to cast aside her past grievances and accept them without any reservations. She could only take it one step at a time.’
When she arrived home, the three members of the Xu family had already finished dinner and were watching television. Seeing Xu Su return, Chen Shulan stood up from the sofa, about to say something, but she froze in place.
She stared blankly at her daughter for a long moment before coming to her senses. "You haven’t been home in over six months, and you look like a completely different person. I almost didn’t recognize you."
’She always knew her daughter was pretty, but not *this* pretty.’
Xu Weiping looked over as well, his expression somewhat dazed. He didn’t say anything for a long while.
Xu Su greeted them with a quiet "Dad, Mom." After changing her shoes, she headed to her room to drop off her schoolbag.
Chen Shulan followed behind her, asking with concern, "Have you eaten yet? How about I make you a bowl of noodles?"
"No need, I’ve already eaten." She pushed open her bedroom door. The books on her desk were gone, replaced by a pile of toys. She froze, then turned to look at Chen Shulan. "Isn’t this my room?"
"This room gets better sunlight, and your brother said he liked it," Xu Weiping explained as he walked over. "We figured since you haven’t been back in so long and it was just sitting empty, we’d let your brother use it." He opened the door to the room across the hall, which had originally belonged to Xu Yang. "But since you’re back now, we can have your mom switch your rooms back."
Facing the daughter he hadn’t seen in over six months, he was clearly trying to bridge the gap, not wanting to alienate her further when she was already so distant from the family.
Chen Shulan hurriedly chimed in, "That’s right, I’ll go get new bedding for you right now." The words sounded nice, but she didn’t move an inch.
’They called on the 27th to ask when my break started. If they really intended to switch the rooms back, why would they have waited until now?’ Xu Su knew perfectly well what they were up to, but she simply smiled and said, "Okay."
"That’s my room! I’m not giving it back!" The moment Xu Su agreed, Xu Yang shot up from the sofa, pointed at her, and shouted, "You’re not allowed to take my room!"
Xu Su stood there quietly, waiting for her parents to act, not bothering to engage with her biological brother.
Chen Shulan and her husband exchanged a look, both appearing troubled.
When Xu Yang saw that his parents, who always gave him whatever he wanted, were actually hesitating, his face fell. He threw down the remote control and looked ready to start wailing.
Chen Shulan rushed over to soothe him, then looked back at Xu Su, trying to reason with her. ".Susu, your brother really loves that room, and he’s still little. Why don’t you just let him have it?"
"How can we do that? Switch the rooms back. I’m telling you, Yangyang is just spoiled rotten by you. He’s this old and still cries at the drop of a hat!" Xu Weiping said, glaring at his son with a stern face, appearing to take Xu Su’s side.
’One playing good cop, the other bad cop. What a perfect routine.’
Xu Su watched them for a moment, then suddenly felt it was all pointless. She stepped into the room that had originally belonged to Xu Yang and said coldly, "Fine. Leave it. No need to switch."
Her tone was far from pleasant, and the smile on Chen Shulan’s face froze. "You child, why are you getting angry? You can’t take that attitude with your parents. Is this how your grandmother taught you to behave?"
"My grandmother taught me very well, you don’t need to concern yourself. Instead of wasting your breath criticizing me, you’d be better off taking a look at yourself." Xu Su couldn’t stand hearing anyone speak ill of her grandmother. She took a deep breath, unable to stop the vicious words from spilling out. "You’re not exactly a model of respect when it comes to your own mother, are you?"
With that, Xu Su walked into the room and shut the door, unwilling to say another word.
’She was already starting to regret coming home...’
Xu Weiping was an extreme chauvinist. He stared at the closed door, his face livid, feeling that his authority as the head of the household had been utterly disrespected.