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Chapter 9: “The Drama Queen”
“Hey, where are you going? We’re not done talking yet,” Shen Tingjun said, grabbing Jiang Wanwan. He seemed to have no idea why she was suddenly walking away without a word.
“Liking someone’s face isn’t real affection! That’s just lust at first sight! The moment a better-looking girl comes along, you’ll fall for her instead!” Jiang Wanwan argued, yanking her arm away from his grip. But he blocked her path again.
“Liking a person starts with liking their face! You never even talked to me before, so how was I supposed to get to know your inner self? We have to spend time together for my feelings to evolve from liking your looks to liking who you are on the inside. When two people get to know each other and connect on a deeper level—from their personalities to their inner selves—that’s when they can move past the superficial phase and progress from liking to loving and then marriage. If someone falls for someone else just because they’re better-looking, it means their connection wasn’t deep enough in the first place, and it’s better to go your separate ways.”
Jiang Wanwan was lost again in his logical arguments. She was starting to believe that his gang members were so easily swayed by him because he just wore them down with his “reasoning.”
“So, what exactly are you trying to say?”
“I’m trying to say…” Shen Tingjun stepped closer, cupping Jiang Wanwan’s face in his hands.
The last rays of the setting sun shone through the alley, illuminating half of his face. His eyes, usually filled with laughter, were now as bright as cold stars, staring directly at her. In his eyes, she could see her own reflection and the sunset behind her.
“…Will you give me a chance to get to know you… to fall in love with you? The real you…”
Jiang Lan stared at the stack of money on the coffee table, her face ashen. She couldn’t understand how something that should have been settled had become so complicated again in just one evening.
Jiang Wanwan looked embarrassed. She couldn’t explain how she had been so completely bewitched by Shen Tingjun that she’d agreed to his proposal. But since the damage was done, she had to find a way to justify herself before her mother blew up.
“Um, Mom, it wasn’t easy for you to save this money. None of us kids are married yet, and Pengpeng is still little. This is a time when we need money, so I…”
“So you sold yourself again?” Jiang Lan asked, her voice low and tense. Her expression was so dark that Jiang Wanwan felt she would be kicked out of the family if she said yes.
“How could you say I sold myself?” Jiang Wanwan thought to herself. “This is free-range dating!”
She pouted, furrowed her brow, and started to shed tears. “I had no choice! He told me the director of the Provincial Revolutionary Committee is his uncle! I had to agree so I wouldn’t bring trouble to the family…”
At first, Jiang Lan didn’t believe her and remained suspicious. Fortunately, her stepfather, Xu Weishan, had frequent contact with Director Shen and knew he had a very powerful brother-in-law in the provincial capital. When Jiang Wanwan mentioned it, Xu Weishan connected the dots: Director Shen’s deceased wife was named Gu, the same surname as the Provincial Revolutionary Committee Director, Gu Zhansheng. It all fit. Thinking back on how Shen Sanqian could be so reckless, even scamming his country relatives out of three thousand yuan, it was clear he wasn’t relying on his dad. The director of their city’s Revolutionary Committee was one of Gu Zhansheng’s trusted allies; of course, he’d protect his family.
After Xu Weishan’s analysis, Jiang Lan finally believed Jiang Wanwan. But that only made her angrier. She immediately stood up, ready to go to the Shen family to confront Director Shen about how he raised his son.
Jiang Wanwan abandoned her act of being a helpless victim and jumped up, wrapping her arms around her mother’s waist. “Mom, there’s no need! It’s pointless to cause a scene, and it will just make things difficult for Uncle Xu with his bosses. It’s only for a year! I’ll ask for a new dress today and a watch tomorrow. I’ll be so demanding and difficult that he’ll be sick of me in a month. He’ll want to get rid of me himself!”
Jiang Wanwan’s impassioned pleas finally convinced her mother. Her stepfather, Xu Weishan, was so moved and grateful that he took off his glasses and wiped away his tears. Thanks to Jiang Wanwan’s dramatic performance, the family crisis over her dating Shen Tingjun was “peacefully” resolved.
Back in her room, Jiang Wanwan lay on her bed, mentally calculating her next steps.
The countryside assignment? Taken care of.
The job? Since she couldn’t go back to the county, it would be as a teacher at the machinery factory elementary school. She’d report to work on Monday.
The boyfriend? He wasn’t in the plan, and there were a lot of little problems, but he was good-looking and a treat for her eyes. She decided to go with it for now.
And the original plot that had been troubling her? She, the main character, had already successfully settled in the city and opened a new path. The original plot no longer mattered.
With that thought, Jiang Wanwan drifted off to sleep.
Shen Tingjun had spent the night playing cards with his buddies. He hummed a tune as he walked through his front door and saw…
He saw his father sitting on the sofa, reading. Shen Tingjun tried to ignore him and go straight to his bedroom, as usual. But today, his father called him into the study, looking like he was ready for a long talk.
“I hear that not only are you bothering Engineer Xu’s daughter, but you went to their home and upset his wife so much that she had to be hospitalized?”
As soon as his father spoke, Shen Tingjun rolled his eyes. Who else would tell him this but that old hag, Yao Hongjuan?
“Where did you hear this rumor? The girl and I are in a real, loving relationship. It’s just that Engineer Xu’s wife heard all the lies those gossiping old women were spreading about me—how I’m a three-headed, six-armed monster who commits murder and arson—and she got so upset that she went to the hospital.”
“How can you blame me? You should blame those malicious, busy-bodied people who cause trouble out of nothing.”
His father ignored the obvious insults toward his stepmother and got right to the point. “You’re saying Engineer Xu Weishan’s daughter likes you, too?”
He couldn’t believe it. Just a while ago, she came to him to complain, and the girl was going to the countryside just to escape him. How could they suddenly be in love?
“You’re not bullying her or forcing her into this, are you?” his father asked, his face a grim frown. He honestly believed his troublesome son was capable of such a thing.
Whoa, he guessed it! Shen Tingjun whistled to himself. On the outside, he looked unjustly wronged and misunderstood.
“Is that what you think of me? Ha! I forgot you don’t understand love, you don’t understand what it means to give and receive from the heart. In your eyes, I’m supposed to be useless and hated by everyone, right?”
Would a little bit of tears make this better? Shen Tingjun thought. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, they were red, with a hint of moisture.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you. Not only are Little Jiang and I in love, we’ve even agreed to get married in a year. I’m going to be a good husband and a good father, but I will never be a man like you!”
With that, he turned sharply and stormed out of the study.
His father watched his son’s retreating back, feeling a mix of sadness and heartache. His gaze fell on a picture of his deceased wife on the desk. He felt a wave of confusion, wondering why every time he tried to have a genuine conversation with his son, it always ended with him hurting the boy. The father sat in the study, filled with self-reproach.
Upstairs, his son, a master of theatrics, was already in his bedroom, plotting his next move and calculating how much of an apology he would get tomorrow morning.