The younger generation of the Yan family had strong personalities even before reaching adulthood. After becoming adults, they focused on their careers and ambitions, dodging their mother’s concerns about their love lives. They stubbornly ignored her wishes, letting her words go in one ear and out the other.
Watching them reach their thirties while still being labeled as golden bachelors and leftover women in the capital made Mother Yan anxious. But what could she do? Father Yan sided with them, believing capability and success were most important. Yes, that was true, but even with their achievements and continued climb to the top, it would be meaningless without a loving partner supporting them.
Unable to change their minds, Mother Yan could only silently fume. After much thought, her youngest son who had settled down after marriage gave her the least worry. Yan Cheng was lucky to have married Chen Jinyao. Finding a good wife really depended on luck – some marriages brought harmony to families, while others brought chaos.
“Xiaoting had a grandson last month,” Mother Yan said, lowering her eyes. This Xiaoting, surnamed Gu, was their neighbor and Mother Yan’s close friend.
Mother Yan sighed, “I can’t count on your brothers and sisters anymore.”
“Don’t make excuses. You must bring Yao Yao home for dinner tonight,” her tone quickly shifted from weak to strong, her attitude very determined. She felt awkward calling Yao Yao directly about this matter, understanding young women were more reserved, but she could hint at it subtly once they were home.
Mother Yan continued, “I’m still able-bodied now, I can help take care of children too.”
“…” Yan Cheng tugged at his tie, narrowing his eyes slightly. He looked up at Chen Jinyao, who was watching him with a questioning gaze from across the room. After a while, he shrugged, showing a helpless expression. Then, covering the phone to block out his mother’s endless chatter, he said, “My mom wants us to come home for dinner.”
Chen Jinyao rested her chin in her hand, her eyes curving in a smile, “Sure.” After a pause, she lowered her eyes and began tidying the desk, putting medical records into a folder and shutting down the computer. “Tell mom we’ll head over after I finish work.”
Yan Cheng immediately choked, furrowing his brows with an expression of wanting to speak but holding back.
Mother Yan, victorious in her first battle, said, “Stay overnight when you come back.”
Then, without waiting for Yan Cheng’s response, she hung up contentedly.
Thus, the luxurious penthouse suite they had happily booked just half an hour ago now had to be canceled. The feeling was like watching a duck fly away just as it reached your mouth. Yan Cheng drooped his eyelids, pressed his lips together, and lazily clicked his tongue. That single short sound somehow conveyed deep regret.
Chen Jinyao took off her white coat, hanging it in the closet. She turned her face sideways and smiled soothingly, “Look on the bright side, life has its ups and downs.”
Easier said than done. Yan Cheng stared at Chen Jinyao with wide eyes, silently cursing her for speaking without understanding the burden. Of course, his dissatisfaction wasn’t about missing out on the luxury suite – he wasn’t that desperate. He just felt sorry for the naive girl before him. After a moment of silence, he raised his eyebrows, deliberately showing a schadenfreude expression.
He pulled out a small pack of gum from his pocket, took out a piece, slowly unwrapped the thin foil, folded it in half, and put it in his mouth. As he chewed, he mumbled unclearly to warn Chen Jinyao: “I’m afraid you’ll be the one who can’t stay positive later.” After a pause, he added, “I’m saying this for your own good.”
“You need to understand what we’re facing when we go back for this dinner!” He explained with a serious face, seemingly crafting an image of himself as the terrible son who forgot his mother after getting a wife.
“I know,” Chen Jinyao smiled gently, very calm. Unlike Yan Cheng, who often chose to live carefree, she had actually considered everything that needed to be considered. She had pretty much guessed her mother-in-law’s intentions from Yan Cheng’s hesitant expression during the phone call. Honestly, it wasn’t surprising that her mother-in-law had such thoughts – if anything, it had come later than she had initially expected.
Chen Jinyao walked up to Yan Cheng, looking down at him. After thinking for a moment, she cupped his face in both hands. After several seconds of eye contact, Chen Jinyao spoke with a seemingly all-knowing expression, in an extremely calm and neutral tone: “You don’t know, but my mom sends me WeChat messages every other day.”
Yan Cheng’s eyes flickered slightly as he obediently and quietly looked at her. In the silence, he seemed to signal her to continue.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly as Chen Jinyao curved her lips and decided to say everything at once: “She keeps sending me all sorts of random things about women’s golden age for childbirth, how babies born in the Year of the Dog will have smooth lives, and so on.”
“So you see, my mom already can’t wait for me to give birth to a chubby boy tomorrow. We’ve been married for so long, this was bound to happen.” Chen Jinyao tilted her head and smiled lightly, “You think I haven’t dealt with this before?”
Yan Cheng withdrew his gaze: “…”
Since ancient times, Chinese marriages have involved two families. It wasn’t as simple as just a man and woman being in love. Couples could have their own planned lifestyle, but after living happily, especially after being in their own world for a long time, pressure from both sets of parents would quietly seep in. Parents believed that having children after marriage was true happiness, or they had thoughts about continuing the family line. Thus, they would intervene in their children’s married life, trying to add fuel to the fire.
This was such a common phenomenon that everyone had grown accustomed to it. When elders applied pressure, positive and negative effects often coexisted.
Chen Jinyao now felt no pressure and was even completely open about it. Honestly, if this pressure had come earlier, she might have felt irritated and anxious. But times were different now – she found Yan Cheng quite reliable, and after completely eliminating her concerns, the remaining little details weren’t really problems anymore. Moreover…
“Weren’t you starting to quit smoking?” Chen Jinyao gently pulled at Yan Cheng’s cheek and rubbed it. “This proves we’re already preparing for pregnancy, so why fear pressure from elders when we’re already taking action?”
“That’s true.” Yan Cheng suddenly brightened up, raising his eyebrows and nodding. Thinking of their previous discussion about a cute little daughter, he completely emerged from his mental dead end and understood his mother’s perspective. From a certain point of view, this was truly harmony between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Being too young, the little Master Yan, who was delighted by the word “daughter” at the time, didn’t know how to write the word “regret” and hadn’t thought to secure more quality time for just the two of them. How to put it… Having been used to being the ancestor himself, he had never imagined that one day a little ancestor would climb onto his head and boss him around.
What needed to be faced still had to be faced. But this wasn’t about meeting force with force. So, the couple didn’t need to exchange meaningful glances – they just needed to answer truthfully.
The sky was gradually dimming, the sunset already blocked by the distant mountain ranges, with only scattered rays of light still bursting forth, showing its remaining might. That large bunch of roses was safely placed in the back seat of the SUV.
Chen Jinyao said meaningfully, “This is where you don’t understand.”
Hearing this, Yan Cheng raised his eyebrows and looked back at the car. He truly didn’t understand, and he had no intention of investigating her behavior deeply.
“Since we’re here, you should have bought a bunch for mom too,” she curved her eyes and looked at him sideways with a smile, half-jokingly saying, “We can’t let mom think you’ve forgotten about her after getting married.”
Yan Cheng glanced down at the fruit in his hands and righteously declared, “I can’t steal my dad’s thunder, or I’ll get scolded again.”
Chen Jinyao gave him a sympathetic look as if watching a poor, helpless, small furry animal, and after a few seconds, she burst out laughing with a “puff.”
“…”
Mother Yan looked Yan Cheng up and down, finding him particularly flashy and feeling somewhat disgusted. But in front of her daughter-in-law, she couldn’t say anything. She just glared at her son before changing her expression to one of extreme warmth as she pulled Chen Jinyao into the house.
Yan Cheng, confused by the glare: “????”
He lowered his eyes, shrugged, and let out a sneering laugh as he followed behind them.
It was still the same unchanging opening line.
Mother Yan: “Yao Yao, if Little Six bullies you, just tell mom.”
Yan Cheng expressionlessly: “Mom, you’ve said this eight hundred times.”
Who would disparage their own son like this?
“I’ll keep saying it, just to remind you.” Mother Yan “hmph”ed.
Caught in the middle, Chen Jinyao said helplessly: “Mom, don’t worry, he’s very good.”
Yan Cheng suddenly froze.
Then an overwhelming joy swept through the depths of his heart. Such straightforward affirmation made his vanity start to swell, like a balloon about to float into the sky. He barely maintained his outward composure, grabbed the balloon string and pulled it down, but even though it had landed, it still felt like it was floating. He proudly whistled, grinning, desperately wanting to pull Chen Jinyao to his side for a good hug, “Listen, listen, your son is good, he’s good to your daughter-in-law too, don’t worry needlessly.”
Damn, his wife’s words were so sweet!!!
Chen Jinyao: “…”
Mother Yan smiled: “Quickly put away that tail of yours that’s reaching for the sky. Yao Yao, don’t spoil him, once you spoil him, he’ll really fly to the sky.”
Aunt Zhao was still busy in the kitchen, with several dishes waiting to be cooked after people arrived. There was still some time before dinner.
Mother Yan pulled Chen Jinyao to sit on the sofa, “I spoiled him too much, and later he became lawless, even after starting a family he’s still not mature.”
For once, Chen Jinyao didn’t take Yan Cheng’s side on this statement. She squinted her eyes thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded in agreement, “That’s right.”
“…”
Hearing this, Yan Cheng frowned, his previously uncontrollable upturned mouth corners suddenly drooping into a straight line.
Tch.
“Compared to maturity, I think responsibility is more important,” After a while, he very cleverly found himself a way out. Then, lifting his chin, he asked the fence-sitter Chen Jinyao: “Right?”
Chen Jinyao deliberately fell silent, even showing a hesitant expression.
He knew she was teasing him, but he still silently ground his teeth.
The living room lights were bright, illuminating the warmth and laughter filling the room. The little thought in Mother Yan’s heart could be spoken without hesitation in front of her son, but for some reason, when facing her daughter-in-law, she became hesitant, feeling somewhat embarrassed. Especially when she saw Chen Jinyao’s bright eyes, Mother Yan, influenced by dramatic portrayals of mother-in-law relationships, felt even more like she was being a wicked mother-in-law.
“…” She pressed her lips together and tried to signal Yan Cheng with her eyes, but who would have thought that Yan Cheng would pretend not to see it to get revenge for earlier. She really raised this little brat for nothing.
Chen Jinyao saw all of Mother Yan’s hesitation. She curved her lips, holding back a laugh. Just as she was about to speak, planning to tell them about the couple’s intentions to let Mother Yan know that her wishes were already being addressed and she didn’t need to worry anymore, before she could make a sound, she was interrupted by her phone ringing.
Chen Jinyao dug out her phone from her bag, glanced at it, looking a bit surprised.
At this time, Yan Cheng lazily lifted his eyelids and casually asked: “Who is it?”
Chen Jinyao stood up, waving her phone, “My university classmate.”
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