This was the first time ever that Chen Dong Lan’s hand was trembling while entering the passcode to open the door of his home.
It was the third year of them being together and Chinese New Year had arrived. He and Yuan Yuan would be entertaining both sets of parents in their home for the first time. Actually, since being together all this time, Yuan Yuan’s parents had already visited a few times, but Chen Dong Lan’s mother had never returned to the country.
How many years had it been? Chen Dong Lan could barely remember.
It was Chinese New Year’s eve today. After he had picked up his mother and Uncle Xu from the airport and sent them to their hotel to leave their luggage, he brought them to his and Yuan Yuan’s home. He felt extremely uneasy bringing his mother into this house as if he was bringing a threat and an intruder into his stable and blessed home. He couldn’t anticipate how Mother Chen would behave in front of Yuan Yuan and his parents, afraid that Mother Chen would only bring a very unhappy Chinese New Year to this home.
To say the least, from the time when Chen Dong Lan picked up Mother Chen, not once did she show him a friendly face. On the road, Uncle Xu was the one speaking, caught in the middle as a messenger between Chen Dong Lan and Mother Chen. If not for the situation already developing to this point, Chen Dong Lan would not have brought such uncomfortable awkwardness into the home.
The door opened and Chen Dong Lan saw Yuan Yuan behind the door to welcome the guests. Father and Mother Yuan heard the sounds and came over as well.
“You’re here?”
Yuan Yuan smiled cheerfully and reached out, first pulling to his side Chen Dong Lan, who was torn on how to introduce his elders.
The floor heating had been turned on in the house. Dressed in a sweater and casual pants, Yuan Yuan didn’t show any reservations at all in both attitude and action. He was always so at ease facing his elders in his own home.
“Auntie, Uncle Xu, I’m Xiao Yuan. It has been a tough journey. Come in and sit down. Oh, you’re too polite, what did you bring? Pass it to me, I’ll take care of everything.”
Luckily for Uncle Xu, not only did he bring gifts, but he also smilingly exchanged greetings with Yuan Yuan. “Xiao Yuan, it’s our first time meeting, of course, we need to bring gifts.”
Yuan Yuan laughed and said, “I’ve been wanting to try this brand of liquor for a long time. Is it not convenient to buy this from within the country? Thank you so much to you and Auntie.”
Mother Chen had dressed meticulously in a nude dress with dark purple embroidery. She wore a cashmere coat over that, with high-heeled leather boots. Although understated, all her jewellery was exquisite and in line with her age and financial abilities. Chen Dong Lan thought to himself, she had probably even pre-planned which expression to put on and what kind of attitude to portray.
She smiled politely, without the slightest bit of warmth, but it couldn’t be considered coldness either. In short, the awkward scenario that Chen Dong Lan had been dreading did not unfold.
The two families greeted each other in a friendly manner and everything seemed to be going well.
This was until everyone was seated and tea was served. When Mother Chen started speaking to Chen Dong Lan, the atmosphere turned uncontrollably stiff.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Pc atf mjg, P tfjgv sbe rjslcu atja sbe agjcrofggfv ab j gfrfjgmt lcralaeaf ab kbgx?”
Ugfnlberis, Jtfc Gbcu Ojc kjr fwqibsfv lc j mbgqbgjalbc. Pa kjrc’a yjv jcv atf rjijgs kjr jigluta jr kfii. Coafg pblclcu atf gfrfjgmt lcralaeaf akb sfjgr jub, tlr meggfca pby rmbqf kjr cbk fcalgfis klatlc atf ijybgjabgs.
“Yes.” Chen Dong Lan nodded.
It seemed like Mother Chen had already worked out a draft in her mind. “Young people should do something more practical. A lot of research is unrealistic, and even after many years, there might not be any accomplishment. I know your previous company. It wasn’t bad and the group behind it was big. I don’t know why you couldn’t just continue working there. Anyway, you’re grown up and I can’t control what you do.”
After saying this, she continued, “I saw that when you picked us up, your driving wasn’t proficient. It’s definitely due to not driving regularly and not even practising despite that. At the hotel, you almost couldn’t park the car, if not for your Uncle Xu beside you helping to check the situation. I remember I spoke to you very early about getting a driving licence and practising driving. I also told you to learn swimming, some music theory and a musical instrument. All these are basic skills. Look at Xiao De, when he reached adulthood, he had already learned…”
Mother Chen spoke continuously while Chen Dong Lan listened earnestly, nodded occasionally and responded with a mindless hum or two.
Around the time when Chen Dong Lan started to become more sensible, the interactions between him and his mother had changed into this strange form. Being silent was the norm. Occasionally, on a whim, the mother would nag continuously. It would be filled with criticism, preaching, emotional prejudice and strange aggression. Chen Dong Lan would listen obediently, only replying with a hum or an “okay”. It seemed like total acceptance, but it was actually complete numbness.
When it first started, Chen Dong Lan would feel uncomfortable because of his mother’s words. He wanted to rebut but didn’t dare. Wishing to gain his mother’s favour, he was afraid that talking back would cause his mother to hate him.
Later on, it was like as if he had lost the ability to verbally interact with his mother. Whatever Mother Chen said, he just listened. In any case, whether he rebutted or agreed, it was meaningless.
“Auntie, he has only had this driving licence for a year and just completed his probation period. Normally, I drive more often than him. But he managed to get this driving licence within three months. Normally, he only practises after work. This shows that he has an innate skill in driving.”
This conversation between mother and son didn’t last long, since it caused Yuan Yuan to frown and step in to help speak for Chen Dong Lan.
He couldn’t stand to see Chen Dong Lan being scolded.
Mother Chen looked at Yuan Yuan and pulled a smile that couldn’t be considered sincere. “Xiao Yuan, when did you get your driving licence?”
Yuan Yuan said, “I got it around my high school graduation.”
Mother Chen seemed to have expected that and immediately said to Chen Dong Lan, “See, others know that they should learn it earlier.”
Yuan Yuan laughed. “Getting it earlier was useless. I was only proficient after I graduated from university.”
Some of the blame was made jokingly, some were sincere reprimands. Yuan Yuan had a smile on his face but felt unhappy on the inside. He changed the topic, “Auntie, why didn’t Dong Lan’s younger brother come along? Is he currently still playing in a band?”
Following that, Yuan Yuan took charge of dealing with Mother Chen. He chatted about Chen Dong Lan’s brother and Uncle Xu, then about himself. From education to occupation to daily life, he had an abundant reserve of conversation topics that could last for days.
Father Yuan got up to attend to the food and Chen Dong Lan followed Father Yuan to the kitchen. The amount of interaction time between Chen Dong Lan and Father Yuan was actually very little. But strangely, when Father Yuan took the helm like this with him in the supporting role, it made him feel comfortable and at ease the first time it happened. Father Chen would chat with him about ordinary life, and teach him small cooking techniques. These were all things that Chen Dong Lan himself encountered in his daily life, so even if he was considered inarticulate, he could converse well with Father Yuan.
“Were you picky with food when you were young, Dong Dong?” Father Yuan asked.
From this year onward, he started calling Father Yuan and Mother Yuan “Dad, Mom”, and they started calling him “Dong Dong”.
In Chen Dong Lan’s memory, he never had a nickname. This was his first one.
“I wasn’t picky with food.” Chen Dong Lan handled the knife quickly to julienne the potatoes.
“Slow down!” Father Yuan glared at him. “Be careful not to cut your hand. Nobody is rushing you.”
“But you chop it so quickly.” Chen Dong Lan stopped and was a little embarrassed. “Just like those chefs in food documentaries, you know how to handle a wok and light a fire in it.”
Father Yuan laughed. “You’re flattering me. That’s called Wok Hei. I wouldn’t dare to do that here in your small kitchen.”
Chen Dong Lan was very curious. “How do I achieve Wok Hei?”
Father Yuan thought for a while and after feeling that he couldn’t use any scientific explanation to reply, he said, “Why don’t you check online?”
Chen Dong Lan took out his phone and the two of them studied it. Chen Dong Lan studied Chemistry and could understand it at a glance. On the other hand, the explanation and demonstration of it to Father Yuan instead made Father Yuan move to a corner to wash the rice.
When the meal was ready and everyone was seated at the table, Mother Chen and Yuan Yuan had already chatted until they were familiar with each other. Just on the topic of Xiao De alone, Yuan Yuan had countless angles to chat about with Mother Chen. As for the mother, Xiao De, coincidentally, was also the topic she could speak endlessly on.
Chen Dong Lan sat opposite Mother Chen and looked at her, slightly confused. From the start, Mother Chen had plainly made all efforts to oppose him and Yuan Yuan being together. She had scolded, cried, used both unyielding and placating attitudes, and even tried to sever relations with Chen Dong Lan. Now, she seemed to show quite some admiration for Yuan Yuan, even talking and laughing with Father and Mother Yuan.
“Auntie, do you drink?” Yuan Yuan asked Mother Chen.
“It’s okay to drink a bit.”
Yuan Yuan got up to pour some liquor for the four elders. When he reached Chen Dong Lan, he put it down and switched to a bottle of orange juice.
When Mother Chen saw, she said, “Everyone is drinking, he should drink a little. Xiao Yuan, pour some for him.”
While responding verbally, Yuan Yuan didn’t stop pouring the orange juice for Chen Dong Lan. “Xiao De can drink quite well, right? Dong Lan can’t. Just a little and he’ll go down. The brothers are not the same.”
“What do you mean he can’t drink. Xiao De can drink due to practice. He just needs to practise more and he’ll also be able to.”
“Why should he practise drinking?” Yuan Yuan was disconcerted and raised his eyebrows. “Liquor isn’t something good. The best is to not drink a drop, right? Dad, Uncle Xu, sometimes at work, we cannot avoid drinking a little. This is a bad habit. A healthy work environment like Dong Lan’s that doesn’t deal with liquor and the need to become intoxicated is certainly something to be envious of, wouldn’t you say?”
Uncle Xu quickly nodded, smoothing things over. “Right, now that I’m older, I actually can’t drink much. It’s just a few sips for the occasion. Since it’s the New Year, it’s alright to drink a little. Come on, Dong Lan, Uncle Xu will drink a glass with you.”
Chen Dong Lan got up and unable to find another glass, took Yuan Yuan’s glass. “Okay, I’ll drink a toast to Uncle Xu.”
Yuan Yuan wrested the glass back. “Hey, what if you get drunk? Uncle Xu, you don’t know, Dong Lan really can’t drink. A few years ago when Xiao De visited, he drank a glass and immediately lost consciousness. He didn’t even know where he lived. Luckily, Xiao De called me and I went to fetch him. It’ll be the same if I drink in his place. Here, I’ll drink a toast to you.”
Uncle Xu had heard the story about Xiao De tricking him into drinking. Speaking about it was, of course, awkward, so he didn’t insist and happily clanked glasses with Yuan Yuan.
After this drink, they could actually get past the situation, but Mother Chen was still unwilling to let it go. “He has never understood the ways of the world. Finding a job in an unsophisticated environment has made him more and more unsophisticated. After I arrived, did he take the initiative to entertain me? Xiao Yuan knows how to engage me in conversation and toast Uncle Xu. As for him, does he know that he needs to entertain Xiao Yuan’s elders?”
With a wooden expression, Chen Dong Lan held the glass filled with orange juice, not lifting it up or putting it down.
The complaints that Mother Chen had against Chen Dong Lan were sudden and very harsh. If she and Chen Dong Lan were like Yuan Yuan and Mother Yuan, a normal mother and son pair, it would be nothing. But it seemed like she was only resentful of someone coming out to “honour” Chen Dong Lan when she was “demoting” him. In this way, her status, dignity and validity as a mother would be gone.
Was it over?
*Unedited, so apologies for any errors. The remaining part of the chapter will be released tomorrow, as I couldn’t finish it by today. 
suddenly seeing this update made me shocked and excited for all the reasons possible! This is one of my absolute favourites and I often read this series!Thank you to Flareax for translating this!seriously, i am so upset for Dongdong and so angry for this mother chen! Did she ever care for her 1st son? If you would have even as much as shown 10% interest in him, you would know his habits, his likes, his passion and all… but all you did all these years is only care for your 2nd son and only sat infront of him to nag!
come here dongdong, this sister will hug you!
What a beautiful surprise! I have reread this novel multiple times and was very glad for an update. Still hate this bitch of a mother. 🤬🤬🤬🤬
I really can’t stand this woman ಠ益ಠ First she left her child, but still want to control him even now… Ugh, terrible parent
Thank You for the new chapter (｡･ω･｡)ﾉ♡ I was super happy and suprised to see this update. Thank You very much ❤️❤️
Thank you so much for taking time to translate this new chapter. Seeing it pop up on the author’s profile when I just happened to browse through it was…unbelievable. I so love this story. From looking at other comments, yeah, I also return to reading your translations of it again and again (and stupidly smirking at all your translator comments again and again). Just love it 🙂
Just like Buck’s parents. Only excuses and never accepting their own incompetence.
Mother Chen is the worst. I can’t stand her. She’s an awful mother and will always be.
This fucking rat. I don’t just want him to cut her off, I want her to D I E.
Filial piety? Don’t make me laugh. She doesn’t deserve to have a wonderful son like him
Her husband is also an enabler of her abuse. No wonder they copulated together; they’re both cut from the same cloth 🤢