Back to 1993: The family splits up at the start, and the ingrates regret it so much they cry.

Chen family.

Chen Yinghao has recovered.

That's how coronary heart disease works. When it's not acting up, you're just like a normal person, but when it does, it's a heart attack, and you can die at any time.

"This is a condition I was born with, thankfully I didn't pass it on to Qingshu," Chen Yinghao said with emotion.

Mentioning Chen Qingshu, he couldn't help but sigh, "Yili, what has Qingshu been up to?"

"What else can he do?" Liu Yili held Li Fang's hand. "He went to curry favor with Zhang Xiaoqing and hasn't come back yet."

These words carried a deep resentment.

The biological father almost died, and the son is still hanging around the woman.

Chen Yinghao sneered, "The Zhang family is going too far. What do they want? Don't even think about it!"

"Does she even deserve a car?" Liu Yili's resentment grew even stronger.

The elderly couple gritted their teeth with hatred when they talked about their son's fiancée.

Wang Peng understood.

It turned out that Zhang Xiaoqing was using this as an excuse to accuse Chen Qingshu of having an affair.

Using the pretext of announcing the engagement, they forced the Chen family to buy a car worth fifty or sixty thousand yuan.

The commotion between the Chen and Zhang families originally had nothing to do with Wang Peng, but the Zhang family used his cousin's reputation as a pretext.

"Uncle Chen, Aunt Chen, I have something I shouldn't say."

"The premise of marriage is respect. The Zhang family does not respect you and does not treat you as equals."

"Zhang Xiaoqing is being unreasonable, and Uncle Chen has a heart condition. His future days will be very difficult."

Wang Peng didn't mind fanning the flames.

Hearing this, the elderly couple looked worried.

They had said this to their son, but he wouldn't listen; it seemed he had been poisoned by Zhang Xiaoqing.

“A son is no longer under his father’s control once he grows up.” Chen Yinghao sighed deeply. “Xiao Peng, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

"If you ask me, any girl would be better than Zhang Xiaoqing as a daughter-in-law," Liu Yili sneered.

Chen Yinghao waved his hand, got up and went to the bedroom to get five hundred yuan.

He handed the money to Li Fang, saying, "Xiao Fang, it's not much, but thank you for saving my life."

"No!" Li Fang hurriedly waved her hand. "Teacher Chen is Pengdi's homeroom teacher. How can I take your money?"

“From now on, as long as Teacher Chen pays more attention to Pengdi’s studies, that will be enough to thank me,” Li Fang added.

Wang Peng was speechless for a moment.

He didn't want Lao Chen's attention, because the result of being noticed was that he had to do more practice problems than others.

"Take it." Liu Yili held Li Fang's hand and smiled, "Qingshu is Qingshu, and we are us, we are different."

Li Fang blushed and said, "Auntie, I really don't want to, really, please stop talking."

The elderly couple insisted on giving it to her, but Li Fang insisted on refusing.

Wang Peng watched them struggle silently.

If it were him, he wouldn't want the five hundred yuan either; there's no need for it.

After arguing to the very end, Li Fang still refused to take the money.

The elderly couple sighed with emotion.

"If Qingshu could marry a good girl like Li Fang, I'd be laughing in my sleep," Liu Yili thought to herself.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Dad, are you alright?" Chen Qingshu rushed home.

"I'm fine." Chen Yinghao frowned. "How did your discussion go?"

Chen Qingshu remained silent, not wanting to talk about his messy affairs in front of his students.

"Uncle Chen, Aunt Chen, Teacher Chen, we're leaving now." Wang Peng stood up to say goodbye.

Li Fang hurriedly stood up, ready to go home with her cousin.

"Xiao Fang, I'll stew some pork ribs for you. I'll make you some pork rib soup tonight." Liu Yili was still holding Li Fang's hand.

"No need, please don't be so polite." Li Fang felt uncomfortable all over.

Chen Qingshan looked at her and said, "Thank you."

Li Fang smiled and left the Chen family home with her cousin.

Chen Qingshu closed the door, sat opposite his parents, and lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong.

“Xiao Qing insists that I buy a car.” Chen Qingshu clenched his fist. “She said that if I don’t buy a car, we won’t get married.”

"She also said that her good friend Dong Lina's fiancé bought a Santana, and that she was telling me to buy a Xiali to save me money," Chen Qingshu added.

Liu Yili blushed with anger and immediately lost her composure.

"Is Zhang Xiaoqing the only woman in the whole world?"

"Do you really think you'll only marry her in this lifetime?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't want her to marry into our family."

Chen Qingshu suddenly raised his head and looked at his mother's slightly ferocious face, feeling a sense of bewilderment.

A few minutes later, Chen Yinghao slowly began to speak.

"Qingshu, tell your father the truth, is it really true that you insist on marrying her?"

"If so, I'll sell the house tomorrow and buy you a car."

“You’ve always been my pride since you were little. I’m willing to go all out for your happiness.”

These words were like a hammer, striking Chen Qingshu's conscience again and again.

He lowered his head, trying hard to hold back his tears.

How can a childhood sweetheart relationship, built over decades, be severed so easily?

After a long while, he raised his head, tears blurring his vision.

"Dad, Mom, please call off the engagement. I've had enough."

After saying that, he slumped onto the sofa.

"Ugh..." Liu Yili looked at her son, whose face was ashen, and felt as if her heart was being torn apart.

With tears in his eyes, Chen Yinghao stood up and patted his son on the shoulder.

"Qingshu, whatever decision you make, I will support you. You will always be my pride."

Chen Qingshu couldn't hold back any longer, covered his face with his hands, and sobbed uncontrollably.

……

The Chen family's new house.

“Pengdi, I don’t want the Chen family’s money, is that right?” Li Fang asked.

“Everyone has a different answer in their heart,” Wang Peng smiled. “As long as you think it’s right, that’s fine.”

Li Fang nodded. "Teacher Chen seems to be preoccupied. Is he alright?"

"Who knows?" Wang Peng shook his head. "Never mind them, this has nothing to do with our family."

"No," Li Fang said softly, "Actually, it's all my fault. If I hadn't fallen asleep on the bus, none of this would have happened."

Wang Peng was speechless for a moment.

While others are scrambling to shift blame, my cousin is doing the opposite – she insists on finding fault even when there isn't one.

Li Fang added, "Zhang Xiaoqing is too demanding. Teacher Chen works so hard for the students, and not only is she not considerate, she also deliberately causes trouble."

"Sister Fang, Wu Cheng'en once said that you're like bringing someone else's coffin into your own home to cry over," Wang Peng retorted mercilessly.

Li Fang blushed, "Wu, who is Wu Chengen?"

"Sun Wukong's father." Wang Peng patted the Journey to the West book on the table, picked up his pen, and continued copying the book.

He found a copy of Journey to the West in Old Chen's study and was copying Sun Wukong's Three Battles with the White Bone Demon.

Li Fang stuck out her tongue behind his back, turned around and went back to her room, picking up Qiong Yao's Plum Blossom Mark.

I spent the whole afternoon reading, turning only three pages in total, and the image of Chen Qingshu looking lost and dejected kept coming to mind.

At that moment, Liu Yili's voice came from the living room.

"Xiaopeng, is Xiaofang home? The pork rib soup is ready."

Li Fang hurriedly went out, "Aunt Liu."

Wang Peng also went out and said with a smile, "Auntie, I have to go out to take care of some things, so let Sister Fang go over there."

Inviting her to dinner was the Chen family's way of repaying a debt of gratitude. Since the debt of gratitude was so great, they might as well give it all to their cousin, after all, she and Old Chen were husband and wife in a past life.

"Xiao Peng, eat first before you go to do your errands." Liu Yili grabbed Wang Peng's sleeve. "Eat first, my pork rib soup is delicious."

Wang Peng laughed and said, "Then I'll have Sister Fang bring me a bowl. Auntie, I really have to go out right now."

Seeing that he wasn't joking, Liu Yili nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll have Xiaofang bring you a bowl."