Chapter 118: Chapter 118

Hu Honglian finished speaking and really went into the room.

She was angry, deliberately ignoring her daughter.

Tian Xiang chuckled, "Grandma, I’ll do it myself."

As they were talking, Hu Family’s second aunt and a cousin-in-law came out from the inner room, where they were making clothes. They warmly invited her to sit and poured her some hot water, bringing out a few peanuts.

Xu Jiafeng asked her granddaughter with concern, "Xiangxiang, have you eaten lunch?"

"You must be tired from cycling all the way here. Let your second aunt make a bowl of egg sugar water for you."

"Grandma, don’t bother, I’m not hungry, I’m fine."

The three of them chatted in the main room for a while. Xu Jiafeng soon sent them away and pulled Tian Xiang aside. She said, "Xiangxiang, your mother’s concerns aren’t unreasonable! Your family has only one precious daughter, and we can’t afford any mishaps. You young people view things too idealistically, and once it happens, you’ll regret it greatly."

Looks like her mother told her grandma about her and Meng Cheng’an.

Tian Xiang said, "Grandma, I’ll go inside and talk to my mom."

Xu Jiafeng nodded, "Go ahead, Honglian didn’t rest well last night, she only dozed off around midnight."

Tian Xiang sighed, "I know, I’ll take my mom back soon..."

Hu Honglian stood by the door, listening to the situation outside. When she heard her daughter about to come in, she quickly threw herself onto the bed and lay down.

Tian Xiang entered the room and saw Hu Honglian lying on the bed with her back facing the door.

The Hu Family’s courtyard was small, and the room was tiny, similar to the conditions over at Sanli Lane.

The mother had to squeeze in with the grandma, and it was strange if she could sleep well.

Tian Xiang sat on the edge of the bed, nudging Hu Honglian, saying, "Mom, get up and tidy up, I’m taking you home."

Hu Honglian feigned deafness and said nothing.

She thought she could take her home without a word—no way.

Tian Xiang said, "Mom, I wasn’t completely right about yesterday, but that guy Zhou Ming, you saw him, obviously not a good person. He knew about me and Meng Cheng’an’s matter back in the training class, even met him. Now he’s been explicitly refused by me and is upset, going to Granny Liu to accuse me.

Lucky for all this, otherwise, how could we see his true character? If we really became a family, it would be a hassle. I, Tian Xiang, am a good socialist youth, how could I marry someone with poor character like that."

Tian Xiang’s reasoning was sound, all of which Hu Honglian knew, yet she wasn’t angry for losing face in front of Granny Liu.

Hu Honglian stopped pretending, sat up, and seriously looked at her daughter, "You’re dead set on being with that Meng Cheng’an, right?"

It’s not about being set or not; Tian Xiang simply couldn’t let go. That person would go mad.

Tian Xiang said, "Mom, what do you think about this? Before the New Year, I’ll give you an answer. Whether it works out or not, let’s all take some time to think carefully."

Tian Xiang just wanted to delay, wait for Grandpa to come back and see what happens.

Hu Honglian knew her daughter too well; her every look, her every move, she had to decipher.

Her daughter wanted to brush things off, she wouldn’t agree.

Hu Honglian said, "So what if it works out? And what if it doesn’t?"

Tian Xiang said, "Mom, if their family can maintain the current state all the way through, give me a year—just a year—if we’re still fine, will you agree then?"

Actually, there’s only a bit more than nine months left, by then after the openness of the college entrance exam, many things would change.

Hu Honglian said, "And what if it doesn’t work?"

Tian Xiang nervously licked her lips a bit, "I won’t date anyone, I’ll work on myself, improve, focus on my career, and address personal matters in a couple of years."

Anyway, she and Meng Cheng’an are in the same factory; they see each other regularly. If they just keep it secret, who’s to say if they’re dating or not!

Given how tense things are at home, Meng Cheng’an probably understands as well.

Hu Honglian directly observed her daughter, "Are you serious or are you deceiving?"

Tian Xiang said, "Of course I’m serious."

Hu Honglian felt stifled; she was clearly lying, yet spoke so earnestly.

For that guy, she was really deceiving her own mother.

She felt so sad and upset!

Hu Honglian felt heartache. Yet her only daughter, regardless, she couldn’t bear to part with her.

"Xiangxiang, there are twenty days till the end of the year, and I can agree to your proposal. But the precondition is that you clarify your ties with Meng Cheng’an now. Don’t interact with him. We need time to think just like you two need to seriously consider if you truly can’t do without one another, and whether you can be responsible for each other’s future happiness."

Hu Honglian felt her daughter was in the honeymoon phase, behaving and speaking irrationally, and needed her brain to clear up and think deliberately.

If she seriously thought about it and insisted on being together, Hu Honglian knew her daughter’s stubborn temperament very well, she couldn’t stop her.

However, accepting her daughter’s marriage into the Meng Family, she couldn’t accept it. She would slowly come up with ways in the year’s time.

Tian Xiang and Meng Cheng’an’s matter, everyone held their own stance.

Meng Cheng’an wouldn’t let go.

And Tian Xiang wouldn’t leave him alone either.

Hu Honglian felt Meng Family was a pit of fire, and wouldn’t allow her daughter to jump in.

Currently, let’s see who can persist to the end.

Tian Xiang nodded, "Mom, I’ll listen to you."

If you really listen, you should break up with him.

However, Hu Honglian understood that some matters, if pressured too much, would backfire.

Just like Zhuang Ermei, sneaking the family household registration book to get married.

Though the Zhuang Family was wrong, such behavior was indeed too bold. What if that guy isn’t good, there’s no retreat at all.

Tian Xiang rode the bike, Hu Honglian sat at the back holding her daughter, and the two of them slowly went back.

They stopped twice on the way, and when they returned to Sanli Lane, Hu Honglian asked her daughter to let her down as she wanted to go to the market to buy groceries.

"Mom, I’ll go with you."

Having argued and fought recently, and with weekend dates with Meng Cheng’an, she hadn’t spent time with her mother for a long while.

Thinking back to when she didn’t work before, they used to frequently go to the market hand in hand, their relationship seemed great.

The mother and daughter entered the vegetable market. Since the eldest brother and sister-in-law were coming back for the New Year, they held onto various coupons waiting to be spent at the year’s end, living frugally these days.

Today with this matter, the two seemed to have talked it through and reconciled.

Tian Xiang just wanted to buy something good to spoil her mother. She had quite a few coupons from Meng Cheng’an, but given the situation, she dared not take them out.

Generally nothing special, the family usually ate simply. Hu Honglian bought a bundle of green vegetables and went back.

Afterwards, they didn’t ride, they just walked and talked.

But when they returned to the courtyard, coincidentally they heard He Cuifen gossiping about their family’s affairs.

Somehow, Meng Cheng’an’s family situation spread over here.

He Cuifen gloated as she spoke to the people in the courtyard, "Who is Hu Honglian! High-minded and proud, how could she agree with Tian Xiang finding someone like that! Look, she was so angry she went back to her parents’ house.

But what can be done? The daughter can’t be kept home; Tian Xiang insists on marrying, frequently visiting the settlement area, and the young guy’s grandfather happened to be arrested, leaving him all alone...