Wife, please behave yourself.

Chapter 49 The Inferiority Complex of a Mother

Beside the square, in front of the stalls.

The streets are bustling with people, vendors hawking their wares, and filled with the vibrant atmosphere of everyday life.

They looked at each other in bewilderment.

Wen Yunwei finally realized what was happening, and her grip on the clothes tightened unconsciously, as if she wanted to hide these cheap clothes behind her back.

However, despite her thoughts, she ultimately couldn't do it.

"I never expected to meet you here."

After greeting him with a smile, Liu Changcun suddenly felt that the world was very small.

After their last encounter on the bus, he thought he would never see him again.

I never expected to run into you here again.

Seeing that Wen Yunwei in front of him did not respond, his gaze moved down and looked at the ornaments on the table again.

“My daughter really likes the bracelets you make and wants to buy one.”

The man's voice reached her ears.

Wen Yunwei, upon hearing this, felt somewhat embarrassed.

Observing the brother and sister standing next to the man, Wen Yunwei smiled nervously.

She didn't know how to face Liu Changcun.

If the chance encounter on the bus last time was just a reunion of a senior and a junior who hadn't seen each other for many years.

Nowadays, it's just a regular meeting between customers and sellers.

Wen Yunwei remembered what Liu Changcun had said on the bus.

The other party now runs a bookstore and has two lovely children.

Self-employed, with considerable income.

In contrast, she lives alone in this city, relying on her daughter for support.

To this day, he still doesn't have a decent job that he can talk about, and has instead been reduced to setting up a stall near the square.

Perhaps when setting up a stall in front of strangers, Wen Yunwei had already taken off Kong Yiji's long gown.

But after seeing an old acquaintance... without realizing it, he put that long gown back on.

The inferiority complex arising from the comparison left Wen Yunwei unsure how to respond.

He opened his mouth several times, but no sound came out.

He silently lowered his face.

"Mom...why aren't you saying anything?"

Shen Ruzhi, who was behind the stall, moved closer to her mother and questioned her silence.

However, no matter how she gestured, Wen Yunwei beside her remained unresponsive.

Seeing this, Liu Changcun did not continue speaking.

Instead, she turned her gaze back to her own daughter, noticing that Liu Wanqiu had stopped choosing and turned her attention to her daughter's face.

"Have you chosen yet?"

"Hmm... all done."

Nodding, Liu Wanqiu picked up the bracelet she had chosen from the stall.

The silver chain, adorned with faux diamond flowers, does indeed suit the little girl's aesthetic.

"Give."

He took out his wallet from his pocket and handed over two banknotes of different denominations.

Liu Changcun's gaze swept past Wen Yunwei, whose face was bowed, and went directly to Shen Ruzhi beside her.

Seeing that the other party had paid, Shen Ruzhi had no choice but to temporarily put aside her efforts to persuade her mother.

Take the banknotes and put them away.

After paying, Liu Changcun turned and left, calling his children to follow.

Liu Wanqiu followed behind him, her attention completely focused on the newly bought bracelet. She couldn't wait to put it on and kept waving her arm around it to admire it.

Liu Songyan, standing behind, silently bent down, picked up the dumbbells again, and then followed him away.

Only after the three figures disappeared did Shen Ruzhi, who had been watching them go, turn her gaze away.

He then looked at his mother beside him.

Looking at my mother's indescribable expression.

"mom……"

She called out softly.

As a daughter, Shen Ruzhi didn't know what was wrong with her mother, or why she suddenly became like this after meeting Liu Songyan's father.

She was clutching a cheap piece of clothing she'd bought from a street stall, her eyes lowered as she looked down at the road in front of her.

After a long while, I heard my mother's voice again.

"Zhizhi...Is Mom really useless?"

"..."

"You can't even find a decent job, and now you have to come with me to set up a stall on the weekend..."

Shen Ruzhi is a very obedient and sensible child.

The weekend, which should have been a day of rest for the daughter, was instead spent with her mother at a street stall.

While other children are out playing, she, as their mother, is unemployed and has to spend the whole day at this deserted stall.

There is no harm without comparison.

Especially when I saw my former junior classmate taking his daughter out shopping and sightseeing.

Her daughter could only look after the stall.

At that moment, Wen Yunwei felt inferior, and she suddenly realized that she had not taken good care of her daughter.

His drooping face eventually lifted up.

Looking at her daughter, who was standing there in a daze, and at Shen Ruzhi's face.

Seeing her daughter's short hair, which was different from that of ordinary girls, made her feel even more guilty.

"Sorry……"

"Mom, what are you saying?!"

It wasn't until she heard three words of apology from her mother that Shen Ruzhi, who had been startled, came back to her senses.

The 14-year-old girl waved her hands anxiously, panicking at that moment.

"Why should I apologize? You didn't do anything wrong!"

As she offered words of comfort, Shen Ruzhi looked at the other person in a panic.

“What’s wrong with setting up a stall? You can meet all kinds of customers, and I actually find it very interesting.”

"..."

"mom……"

The soft murmurs did not adequately soothe the other person.

Wen Yunwei simply looked at her daughter, her gaze filled with heartache and guilt.

He silently took out a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket.

As if to make amends, he handed it to his daughter beside him.

"Go buy something to eat, and you can buy anything you like."

"I do not want……"

"Go ahead, don't make things difficult for your mother."

"..."

The bitter smile was jarring.

The expression on Wen Yunwei's face at this moment was one that her daughter, Shen Ruzhi, had never seen before. Her mother was always optimistic and cheerful, strong and brave.

It seems... he is not as omnipotent as he appears.

--------

Night has fallen before we even realize it.

The sky darkened, and the streetlights came on.

The bustling streets were filled with the noise of surging crowds.

Shen Ruzhi clutched the hundred-yuan bill tightly in her hand. For her, who only had twenty yuan of pocket money a week, this amount of money was obviously a huge sum.

Lost in the middle of the crowd, I looked out at the street full of snacks in the distance.

She couldn't understand why her mother, who had been running back to the stall with great joy just a moment before, suddenly became like this after seeing Liu Songyan's father.

The doubts in his heart could not be relieved, and even the generous pocket money given by his mother could not improve his current mood.

I walked aimlessly forward.

I walked through the crowd and stopped.

As Shen Ruzhi looked ahead, she saw the figure she had met not long ago.

The two, one adult and one child, were sitting at the seats set up by the stall owner, eating the food that had just been served in front of them.

It was Liu Songyan and his sister.

The paused steps resumed, starting slowly and gradually quickening.

Arriving at the square table and chairs, I picked up a stool from the side.

They sat down around the table.

The sudden arrival of the siblings brought them to a halt as they were enjoying their meal.

Liu Songyan raised his face and looked at the figure sitting next to him.

"..."

"Boss, I'd also like a plate of fried noodles, mildly spicy with an egg!"

"okay!"

The owner, who was wielding a spatula, turned around, confirmed the customer's identity, and responded loudly.

Shen Ruzhi turned her face and looked at the two people in front of her again.

His gaze was fixed on Liu Songyan's face.

Ask.

"Does your dad know my mom?"

"do not know."

"Where is Uncle? I have some questions I want to ask him."

"She went shopping and hasn't come back yet."

She asked and he answered.

Liu Songyan picked up a piece of fried noodles and put it in his mouth. While chewing, he used his chopsticks to remove the chopsticks that were trying to take the fried egg from his plate.

The younger sister, Liu Wanqiu, was taken aback. Even though she was facing her short-haired older sister and speaking to her, the younger sister was able to accurately detect her movements.

Looking at my brother's face, whose features I couldn't make out.

She didn't understand at such a young age.

How exactly did they manage to do that?

"Is there something you need? If not, don't disturb me while I'm eating."

Liu Songyan picked up the fried noodles again and said in a cold tone.

"My mom is very unhappy right now!"

"It's none of my business."

"I want to know why she's unhappy..."

"Then take your time to think about it."

"..."

Without any disturbance, Liu Songyan was finally able to continue eating.

He slurped up the fried noodles on the plate, leaving the plump and juicy fried egg for the last bite.

He chewed, glancing at his younger sister.

Liu Songyan noticed that the other person had stopped eating and noticed that only fried noodles remained on the other person's plate.

After thinking it over, I was about to pick up the fried egg and put it on my sister's plate.

Following the direction Liu Wanqiu was looking, I subconsciously turned around and looked to the other side.

"..."

The chopsticks reaching for the fried egg paused.

Liu Songyan looked at the person beside him.

He looked at Shen Ruzhi.

His tightly pursed lips made no sound; it was unclear whether it was from the sweltering heat or from being unable to breathe properly.

At this moment, Shen Ruzhi's face was flushed, and her eyes were filled with tears, like full water droplets that kept swirling and gathered in her eyes.

Sniffling, I tried my best to endure it.

Just look at him.

Not a word.

"You... cried?"

"no!"

She raised her hand and wiped it hard, unwilling to admit it.

His tightly pursed lips opened again, and he gasped for breath.

"I just want to know why... I want to know why Mom is unhappy, why won't you tell me!"

"..."

"She's never been like this before; she's always been cheerful and optimistic about everything..."

"..."

"I'm very worried about her now that she's like this..."

"..."

"Please...please tell me the reason...Liu Songyan..."

From initial fervor to eventual weakness.

Shen Ruzhi's voice grew softer and softer until, if the two hadn't been so close, they probably wouldn't have been able to hear what she was saying at the end.

Liu Songyan looked at the girl beside him, and the heartless man remained silent.

On the one hand, he never expected that Shen Ruzhi, who was usually so decisive and efficient at school, would be so anxious that she would shed tears.

On the other hand, he genuinely didn't know.

Liu Songyan, who has a good memory, remembers Ning Mengyao and An Zhaoran, who had visited the bookstore.

He had never met Shen Ruzhi's mother.

He didn't even know what the relationship was between his father and the other party.

For the first time, 14-year-old Liu Songyan felt helpless.

Facing a girl whose eyes were glistening with tears.

For the first time in my life, I felt panicked.

(End of this chapter)