1987 My Era

Chapter 17, Offense and Defense

My mother sat opposite me on the sofa, motionless.

At first, Xiao Han didn't care at all. He took the Chinese reference book on the coffee table, lowered his head and flipped through it very seriously.

Just like that, the mother stared at her daughter eagerly, while the daughter lowered her head to read a book. The living room was quiet for a while, with only the occasional sound of turning pages.

So, I don’t know how long it has been…

Wei Shiman, whose eyes were tired, couldn't hold on any longer. She changed her posture to relax and asked:

"Aren't you going to say something to Mom?"

Hearing this, Xiao Han looked up with a worried look on her face and said crisply, "It's so tiring to be your daughter."

Wei Shiman was unmoved: "What's his real name?"

"Don't you know?"

"I know my daughter. Maybe that's fake too."

Xiao Han pouted and smiled helplessly, saying bluntly: "His last name is not important. If you insist on having a catchy name, then just call him Tom and Gou."

Wei Shiman stared into her daughter's eyes, paused for two seconds and then asked, "Where is Li Heng from?"

Faced with this deliberately difficult question, Xiao Han chose to ignore it. After reading one page, he turned another page.

Five minutes passed in silence. Wei Shiman was tortured to the point of losing her patience and reached out to snatch her daughter's book.

I deliberately used provocation to ask: "Tell mom, why did you lie? Do you like this boy?"

Just at this moment, the domestic cat jumped from the other side of the sofa to Xiao Han's side. She grabbed the cat's neck, picked it up, teased it, and asked:

"What will happen if I say I like you?"

His eyes slowly swept across the cat and fell on his daughter. The joking look on Wei Shiman's face gradually disappeared, replaced by meticulousness.

Seeing this, the girl's face twisted into a knot, she pinched the cat's face with both hands and stretched it to both sides, saying miserably: "I'm just testing it, if it really works, won't my legs be broken?"

Wei Shiman said calmly, "If it really happens, I will use courtesy before force and notify you to leave him first."

Xiao Han used her thumb and index finger to pry open the cat's eyelids, causing the cat to roll its eyes at her mother three times, and sighed with self-pity:

"Kitty, if you are too pretty, you are easily targeted. It is so hard to be a human being. Someone said the exact same thing to me before."

Wei Shiman asked, "Who?"

Xiao Han replied: "Chen Zijin."

Hearing this, Wei Shiman was a little stunned, but finally reacted and said that the name Li Heng sounded familiar, and it turned out that he was related to Chen Zijin.

It turns out that it is related to the rumor about Shangwan Village.

Throughout the entire high school period, including junior high and high school, my daughter got along best with Yang Yingwen and Chen Zijin. She would often invite the two classmates to her home for dinner.

Therefore, Wei Shiman was not only not unfamiliar with Chen Zijin, but was extremely familiar with him.

Imagining Chen Zijin's charming appearance in her mind, Wei Shiman asked in surprise: "Isn't Zijin's family well-off? Why did she fall for Li Heng just now?"

"Mom, do you think he is not worthy of Chen Zijin?"

"I won't comment on him, but there aren't many people in our small place who are worthy of him."

Xiao Han echoed: "I am also confused. I have also asked Chen Zijin about this question."

Wei Shiman was invisibly drawn into the question and asked curiously, "What did she say?" Xiao Han patted the cat's head and said eccentrically, "What can she say? Of course, a lover's eyes see beauty in everything.

She said that people who don’t know how to appreciate Li Heng have problems with their vision.”

Wei Shiman felt very uncomfortable hearing these words.

She stared at the devilish girl in front of her, feeling that her daughter was making indirect accusations, but she couldn't find any evidence.

Seeing that thorns were about to grow in her mother's eyes, Xiao Han narrowed her eyes and smiled, and hurriedly cleared herself of suspicion: "These are Chen Zijin's original words, you can't falsely accuse your own daughter. If you don't believe me, go back and ask Ying Wen."

Wei Shiman suddenly became curious: "Is the rumor true? Are Li Heng and Zi Jin...?"

Xiao Han turned his head, his eyes were extremely clear: "What rumors?"

Wei Shiman raised her hand and patted her daughter's arm: "You little devil, why are you pretending? I don't believe you haven't heard about it. When they were going to the market before the New Year, they were going crazy about it.

There are various versions, but the meaning is basically the same, they all talk about a poor boy sleeping with the noble lady of the Chen family. "

Xiao Han continued to tease the cat: "I have heard this rumor. It is said that it was caught by Aunt Chen Zijin. But you also know the principle of not airing family disgrace in public. If it was really caught by her aunt, how could it be spread? I guess someone spread the rumor."

Wei Shiman shook her head. "The version I heard was different. It was true that Aunt Zijin discovered the incident, but someone in the yard happened to overhear it under the window when passing by. This was spread by someone else."

In fact, she believed this version of the rumor more. In those days, many houses in rural areas were in a U-shaped courtyard, and each household was close to each other. It was common for thieves and robbers to be caught by accident.

Otherwise, according to the saying that family disgrace should not be made public, the world would be peaceful and there would be no rumors.

She actually guessed it right. Aunt Pang overheard the affair between Li Heng and Chen Zijin when she passed by the window of the Chen family, and she was the one who leaked it out.

After saying this, Wei Shiman stared at her daughter closely, observing her expression.

This was the first time that Xiao Han was interrogated by her own mother like a criminal. She felt like crying but had no tears. She asked confidently:

"If you were as young and beautiful as me, would you fall for a divorced man?"

The words "remarried man" made Wei Shiman feel like spring breeze, and she smiled and said:

"If I had bargained for the rice today, I might have been able to buy it for 1.7 cents. Mom spent an extra 3.7 yuan to save her daughter's face. This will be deducted from your living expenses."

Hearing that his money was going to be deducted, Xiao Han scratched the cat in frustration. The cat lay prone, not daring to resist, with a resentful look on its face.

Seeing this scene, Wei Shiman smiled even more and stood up and left.

I couldn't help but sigh in my heart: This is the first time I have control over my daughter since she grew up. It feels so good.

As for the relationship between her daughter and Li Heng, she did not ask any more questions, nor did she ask why her daughter helped the other party today?

Because of Chen Zijin's existence, everything makes sense.

Of course, what makes her as a mother even more relieved is that in the past six years, her daughter has never mentioned anything about Li Heng at home.

Therefore, she chose to believe her daughter.

At dinner time, before Wei Shiman asked how the rice tasted, her husband Xiao Hai took a bite of rice and started talking: "Did you change to new rice?"

Wei Shiman picked up a piece of chicken breast for him and said, "I just bought some rice today. How does it taste?"

Xiao Hai took off his gold-rimmed glasses with his right hand and praised: "It's soft, sweet, and has a lingering taste. It's better than the rice you bought the last few times."

Hearing her husband's high praise, Wei Shiman lowered her head to taste two mouthfuls, and then said happily:
"It's really good. I'll bring two bags of rice to your elder sister tomorrow. I think she will like it."

...

(End of this chapter)