novelraw Chapter 243 - 232: Love Is Conserved
Chapter 243 - 232: Love Is Conserved
Qian was originally racking her brains, trying to figure out how to break through Teng Shuixian’s mental defenses and get her to accept her therapy.
Unexpectedly, her nagging mother in menopause effortlessly opened up Teng Shuixian’s heart.
"Actually, your father cares about you just as much as my mother cares about me."
Upon hearing Qian mention her father, Teng Shuixian pouted.
"Forget it, he only has eyes for money. He’s always busy, ignoring me, and even makes me go on blind dates with strangers."
"Blind dates?"
Hmm, this seems like something that didn’t happen in the past life.
Qian doesn’t recall Teng Shuixian getting married; in the past life, she came to see her for treatment a few years later, and by then, Teng Shuixian was nearly 30, still without marriage prospects.
That must mean the blind dates aren’t successful.
"Yeah, why did he bring me to Q City? It’s because when he went to the countryside back then, he had an educated youth friend who wanted me to go on a blind date with his son. I’ve already said I don’t want to go on blind dates, but he insisted on bringing me here, I hate him."
"Maybe your father is worried about your health and wants you to find a boyfriend to distract you and help you eat more."
"No way! He’s such a jerk. He wants me to go on blind dates just for benefits! His friend is a government official, so he wants to marry me off to form an alliance. I’m not letting him succeed."
Upon hearing this, Qian cautiously asked.
"What’s his friend’s surname?"
"Zhu— why are you asking this?"
Qian exhaled a long breath of relief; luckily, it’s not the surname Yu, so it has nothing to do with her family, Yu Minglang.
"My boyfriend is local, you know, I’m just checking if I recognize him."
"I’ve already decided not to let my dad succeed. Whatever he wants me to do, I won’t do. He doesn’t care about me anyway."
Seeing her speak indignantly, Qian listened with a smile. Allowing an introverted person to vent her frustrations is very good.
Teng Shuixian complained to Qian about her father for a few moments, then suddenly realized something and shyly said.
"Sorry, I’m adding to your troubles. I shouldn’t have told you this."
"It’s okay, listening to the secrets of China’s top billionaires is still interesting. Shuixian, aren’t you worried I might sell these stories to a gossip magazine?"
Teng Shuixian shook her head, "You won’t; you said I’m your friend. I’m good at reading people."
As expected from a billionaire’s daughter, her insight is quite keen.
"Do you remember what I told you yesterday, about someone whose character drastically changed?"
"Yes, I thought about it all night. I think all feelings eventually fade; no emotion is eternal in the world. Family love, friendship, and romance all change due to material things. My dad now only loves money and not me."
Qian didn’t argue with her but continued speaking at her own pace.
"People change, you know. Let me tell you about the person in my heart."
The two girls were sitting side by side on the bed. Qian grabbed a frozen pear and handed it to Teng Shuixian. Teng Shuixian attempted to take a bite, but the pear hadn’t defrosted yet; it was cold on her teeth. She puckered her face in discomfort from eating it. Qian placed a bowl of frozen pears and persimmons on the radiator and began sharing her journey.
"The man in my heart is a wonderful person. When he was in his twenties, he was particularly undisciplined. Whenever he got the chance, he’d stick to me. What did he do, you ask? I’ll tell you. He took me on a date, and we ended up on muddy ground, completely messy..."
Qian recounted story after story; Yu Xiaoqiang had plenty of shameless anecdotes. Mentioning any could leave one dumbfounded.
"Once, he came to my house and sneaked in through the window without telling my mom or brother. My brother got up at night, and he was lurking behind him like a ghost. I was angry and speechless with him."
"Haha! This guy is hilarious; he sounds like a kid!" Teng Shuixian didn’t expect there to be such a man. It sounded really entertaining.
"You think he’s like a kid, huh? But do you know what happened to him ten years later?"
"Did he turn into a grown-up boy?" It sounded like he still had a youthful spirit.
Qian shook her head, patted her face into a serious expression.
"He turned out like this, like a block of ice, speaking less than 20 sentences a day. Those sharp eyes were extraordinarily steady and mature. He valued work above all. Whenever a call came in while we were together, he’d leave immediately without explaining to me, never clinging, always me being the proactive one."
"Ah? How did this happen? Has he changed his heart— Wait a minute, how old are you? You were how old ten years ago?"
Qian chuckled, "Don’t worry about age issues. At one point, I indeed thought he didn’t love me, or maybe he was obsessed with looks, enamored with my youth and beauty, thus treating the younger me better than the older me."
She is currently only 18, young and beautiful. When Yu Minglang encountered her in the past life, Qian was nearly 30, already a mature woman. She had considered whether Yu Minglang liked her now because she’s younger and prettier than back then.
"Then a man who only cares about appearances is not worth having," Teng Shuixian said dejectedly.
Qian shook her head, "No, it’s time, time changed us."
"Time?"
"Yes, men in their twenties are essentially big kids. It’s normal for them to have some childish behavior. If they’re nearing forty and are still that childish, then there’s a problem in the head. The same concern, expressed differently based on age, naturally reflects their identity and career."
Yu Xiaoqiang is currently only in his twenties, essentially a big kid. Despite his mature appearance and skilled business, he’s still pampered. But when dealing with girls he likes, his youthful and childish side inevitably reveals itself, being serious on the outside and relaxed when with Qian, because in front of her, he doesn’t need to pretend.
In the previous life when Qian met Yu Minglang, he was already nearing forty, and the way he expressed feelings was certainly not like it is now. At that age, despite wanting to be wild, you can’t; yet he still waited half a lifetime for her.
After working it out, Qian suddenly cherished the current Yu Minglang very much, as there will never be a second youth to grow alongside him.
"If only people never grew up..." Qian’s words touched Teng Shuixian’s heart.
She wished she was still the little girl living with her father in a dilapidated house, relying on each other, unlike how he cared for her now.
"But people have to grow up, Shuixian. Your growth speed lost to your father’s aging speed. Look back carefully, he’s already old, can’t hold you anymore, but he’s still the one who loves you the most. Perhaps expressing it differently now, yet I always believe that the love between family is conserved, not disappearing but transforming into different ways of expression."