Chapter 386: I’m Curious To See Just What Kind Of A Daughter-in-law They’ll Be Happy With In The End
“I just came out for a smoke.” The chef stretched his neck. “Imagine my surprise when I saw the boss here. Well, I ain’t got the guts to smoke now, so I guess I’ll go back to work.”
On Yan Huaian’s side, he could not be bothered to figure out why Yue Xingan and Pan Yunfeng had not come out yet. He gave his assistant Liu Jiamu a call, saying, “I had you look up a house in Autumn Garden earlier, so what have you got?”
…
Yu Zi followed her parents into the car. Yu Han sat in the driver’s seat and drove the car, while Yu Gesheng sat in the passenger’s seat, leaving the back seats for the mother and daughter duo.
Yuan Hejing considerately took a packet of tissue paper out of her bag, giving Yu Zi one sheet after another.
Yu Zi had been holding back her emotions before, but she finally let loose in front of parents.
Covering her face with her hands, she wailed loudly, bending her back and pressing her torso to her lap. She cried with no dignity whatsoever, howling with all her might, her bawling constantly reverberating throughout the car.
Did they think she was not upset?
Of course she was.
After all, she had been dating him for so many years. Yue Jingchen and her were more than just lovers, they were practically already family.
Over all those years, she had already gotten used to having him by her side. She had grown accustomed to his good nature.
It was not like she was never obstinate with him. She would throw tantrums at her boyfriend too, and sometimes she would be downright unreasonable. Every time, Yue Jingchen would always stay beside her, comforting her patiently or letting her vent. Even when he clearly did nothing wrong, he would still go to many lengths to apologize to her, admitting his guilt and pleading for mercy using all sorts of different methods.
From the time they first got together and throughout all their years of dating, she had never once considered marrying anyone else. She had long since believed that the two of them would definitely get married.
When Yue Jingchen proposed to her, it was not very romantic. However, the words he used to propose were very real and down to earth.
He had no money so he could not even give her a ring, but she said yes anyway. She wanted to start a family with him, so she did not care about those things. In fact, she even felt that she did not mind buying it herself.
Her memories of their time together included some arguments, but most of it was sweet.
Yu Zi bawled her eyes out, but images of every little trick Yue Jingchen had pulled out of his sleeve to cheer her up kept flashing through her mind. He would pull faces to make her laugh, and though he never spent too much money on it, his actions were always full of heartwarming surprises. Sometimes these surprises were clumsy, sometimes plain, other times kind of cute.
Her memories of all those years had long since been imprinted into her brain.
Those scenes changed into his stunned expression in the room just now.
Perhaps he had never expected her to say she did not want to marry him anymore. The shock, pain, and reluctance in his eyes made her too afraid to look at him.
The worst part was the disbelief flooding his gaze. He never thought that she would make a choice like that.
She had hurt her parents, but she had also hurt him.
It was only when she felt a soft hand on her back that she sensed the comfort of that familiar, warm palm, comforting her and caressing her back.
Yu Zi straightened up and wiped away her tears, but she could not hold back her emotions completely. Her body was still wracked with sobs.
“Mom, Dad, Big Bro, I’m sorry. This is all my fault, I made you suffer so much,” Yu Zi said.
Yuan Hejing patted her back quietly, helping her breathe. “To be honest, we would do anything as long as it makes you happy. However—”
However, now it seemed that marrying Yue Jingchen could not bring her any happiness.
Their parents would have a huge impact on the marriage. If Yu Zi married Yue Jingchen and could not live on their own, Yue Xingan’s and Pan Yunfeng’s personalities alone would cause the children a lot of pain. Their lives would be miserable, not materially, but mentally.
Even if Yu Zi’s family wanted to help, the Yue family would only think that Yu Zi was looking down on them. While they accepted the Yu family’s help, they would still blame and whine about Yu Zi.
After too many arguments, their love would no longer be able to keep them together.
They did not know how long Yue Jingchen would last, and they did not dare to bet on it. They only had one precious daughter, so they were not going to let her marry someone who could not make her happy.
“Have you really thought this through? You really won’t marry him anymore?” Yu Gesheng said in a deep and calming voice.
Yu Zi paused before shaking her head. “I won’t.
“With the way his parents are, to tell you the truth I’m not confident I can continue with the marriage either. I’ve always been confident that I can be a good wife and build a good family. I’ll do everything a wife should do, and I won’t take my husband for granted in any way. But at the same time, I don’t want to give up my career. And yet, his parents…”
Yu Zi laughed bitterly. “They want me to dedicate all my attention to the family. When that happens, I won’t be able financially independent, and then they’ll think I’m leeching off of them, eating their food, using their things. They’ll think I owe them. If I work hard, they’ll think I’m not satisfied with what they have, and that I’m looking down on them. Either way, I’ll never be able to satisfy them. I guess what they’re really dissatisfied with is me as a person.”
“And our family, too,” Yu Han said coldly. “That couple is clearly greedy beyond belief. If Yue Jingchen’s girlfriend is poor, they’ll dislike her. If she’s rich, they’ll feel lowly. I’m curious to see just what kind of a daughter-in-law they’ll be happy with in the end.”
“Besides, I really don’t want to give up my job. I studied so hard and went through all those exams, sacrificing so much. And now they want me to give it up? I can’t,” Yu Zi said.
Yuan Hejing caressed Yu Zi’s hair gently. “We’ll support your decision, no matter what it is.”
“To tell you the truth, we never fancied you marrying Yue Jingchen.” Yu Han glanced into the rearview mirror. “Now that you’ve decided to break up with him, it hurts me to see you so upset, but I’m actually quite glad. The two of you really aren’t suited for each other. I don’t deny that he’s a good guy, but he can’t make you happy. Don’t blame, Fishie, but I really hope you can stand firm this time. Since you’ve decided not to marry him, don’t have anything to do with him anymore. A marriage isn’t a joke, it’s not something you can retry after one engagement attempt fails.”
“I know.” Yu Zi could not get her spirits up. “I also know that you never approved of this marriage. At first I thought it would be fine as long as the two of us were happy. I’d be as filial to his parents as I should, but I wasn’t going to let them influence our lives. Now it looks like I was too naive.”
Yu Zi sighed. “In order to keep me happy, you guys could tolerate your dislike of the Yue family. In that case, I can’t be so selfish as to only care about myself, leaving you guys to suffer their humiliation. You’ve loved and pampered me all my life, so there’s no way I could let you suffer for my sake too.”
Yuan Hejing wanted to say something, but Yu Zi shook her head. “It’s not just because of you guys, either. I truly understand now. With the way things went today, I know my temper won’t let me stay patient forever. I’ll definitely fight with his parents in the future, and his parents never give up either, so I’ll never have a moment of peace at home. My work, my life, all of it will fall apart. And when that happens, the two of us…”
Yu Zi shook her head. “It’ll probably be a matter of time before we break up. Rather than breaking up after an unhappy marriage, it’s better to do it now. At least this way we leave a good impression on each other, and we can still be friends.”
Still, no matter how logically she phrased it, it was still a relationship that lasted several years. That was not something she could give up at the drop of a hat.
That was why no one said anything else throughout the entire journey home.
When they returned home, the household worker was quite surprised to see them back so soon.
Yuan Hejing sent her home first. No one had eaten lunch, so Yuan Hejing said, “I’ll cook lunch myself today, so it’ll just be some simple noodles.”
It was because cooking noodles was quick and easy. Everyone was hungry and filled with rage, so it was best for them to get some food into their stomachs as soon as possible.
While they were eating noodles, no one in the Yu family mentioned Yu Zi and Yue Jingchen’s relationship again.
After Yu Zi finished eating, Yu Gesheng said, “Yi Zi, stay at home tonight. Don’t go back to Autumn Garden.”
Yu Zi nodded and pulled out a sheet of tissue, wiping away the oil on her lips. “I want to go back to my room and rest.”
“Go ahead. Have a good night’s rest, none of us will bother you,” Yuan Hejing said.
Yu Zi returned to her room and closed her door before she finally heaved a long sigh.
To make it convenient for her to get to work, she usually stayed away from home. Yu Gesheng did not want her to rent a place outside, so he had bought her a house in a famous area near the law firm.
However, she would still come home during the weekends when she was free. As for her relationship with Yue Jingchen, on the other hand, both of them were busy with work, and Yue Jingchen often had to work shifts during the holidays too.
On their rare days off, they would go out for a date, so Yu Zi did not come home often. It made her feel especially guilty to her parents.
Now, she saw that every item in her room back home had remained untouched.
She walked up to her dressing table and looked in the mirror. After all that crying, most of her eye make-up was gone, wiped clean by the tissues.
It was her engagement today, so she had gone out of her way to do some intricate make-up… not that it was any use.
So she turned around and removed all the make-up, changing into her loungewear and then darting under the covers.
To be honest, she could not really fall asleep. As soon as she closed her eyes, she would think back upon what happened that noon. Her mind was a mess, turning back and forth.
More than an hour later, her phone rang.
Yu Zi picked up her phone. It was a call from Yue Jingchen.
Yu Zi’s grip tightened. Her heart was still in turmoil, and she did not want to face him, but she had to make everything clear to him at some point.
