A Young Woman's Heart

Moreover, she seemed to be very good at hitting men, always aiming for vital areas with her kicks.

And it seems like they're holding back; otherwise, if they went any further, it would have meant the extinction of their lineage.

"Ah Tao, I respect you as a true man." Mo Xueyao secretly gave him a thumbs up when Lin Huihui wasn't looking this way.

"Cough cough!"

"Ah Tao likes this kind of guy, what do you know?" Shi Haiming teased deliberately, "The more you bully him, the more excited he gets!"

"Damn it, don't treat me like you, okay?" Li Gutao nudged Shi Haiming's thigh. "You just like to judge others by your own standards!"

"Stop pretending, okay? You're all stiff as a board. I don't know what you like about this. What's the difference between you and hugging a big rock?"

"Hey." Li Gutao narrowed his eyes, giving Shi Haiming a disdainful sidelong glance. "Let me tell you, solid is what matters, it's powerful and energetic!"

"What did you say, you guys?" Lin Huihui looked at the two of them.

"Haha, it's nothing, it's nothing..." Li Gutao quickly laughed, "Come on, let's continue."

"I'm not playing this anymore, people always laugh at me. Let's go play a shooting game!"

"Are you guys going to play in the toilet?" Shi Haiming asked, winking at him.

"The toilet? Why?"

"Hehe, it's a shooting game."

"Okay, want to go to the bathroom?" Lin Huihui put her hand on Shi Haiming's shoulder, then gritted her teeth and threatened, "And then play a shooting game? The kind where you just shoot everything in sight?"

"No, no..."

……

Chapter 115 Trying to Understand Each Other

The streets were a bit chilly late at night.

Perhaps it really is autumn; the temperature difference between day and night is gradually increasing, and it's no longer so hot all day long.

The grocery store, which should have been closed, was still open; Grandma Jin had gone home to rest.

Zhuang Lianlian fell asleep leaning against the shelf behind the counter, while Chen Cheng sat beside her, quietly playing with a fountain pen in his hand.

"Clatter." The pen fell to the ground, causing Zhuang Lianlian, who was half asleep, to shake her head violently. She then half-opened her eyes and glanced at him.

A man in dirty, old clothes walked wearily past the entrance of the grocery store.

As he stepped onto the stairs, his steps faltered, and he nearly fell to the ground when he reached the last step.

So he simply sat on the steps and placed his small satchel, which contained his tools and was stained with paint, aside.

The heavy shoulder bag made a crisp metallic clanging sound.

The whole street was so quiet, as if the city itself had fallen asleep.

This is Chen Cheng's father.

He felt around in his shirt pocket, pulled out a crumpled pack of Hademen cigarettes, and after searching for a while, finally managed to take out the last cigarette he had left.

The cigarette was a little wrinkled, so he patiently smoothed it out, at least making it straight again instead of bending over.

"Click." He lit his cigarette with a plastic lighter whose button casing was broken and could only be barely turned on with his fingernail, then took a deep breath.

"call……"

A quiet street, a silent man, and hazy smoke rings...

In the fruit shop, Su Tang jumped out of the small room window, quietly walked to Old Chen's side and sat down. Its ears twitched slightly, as if it really liked the smell of secondhand smoke.

Chen Cheng, who was sitting in the grocery store and secretly watching him, took a deep breath and walked out of the store.

The air at night is free of car exhaust and noisy voices, but filled with the fragrance of earth and the chirping of insects and frogs.

Chen Cheng suddenly felt that there must be a lotus pond nearby, otherwise why would the sound of the frogs sound so close?

It felt as if the sound was right next to my ear.

Staring blankly at the distance, Old Chen, who was lost in thought, noticed someone approaching. He subconsciously turned his head slightly and saw Chen Cheng slowly walking towards him step by step.

This was the first time in so many years that the father and son had looked at each other so quietly.

Both of them had complex expressions, filled with dissatisfaction, guilt, tension, and anticipation, as well as a great deal of confusion.

But in the end, he remained silent.

The cigarette Old Chen was holding between two fingers was almost burned out. He quickly took one last drag before reluctantly throwing the cigarette butt on the ground, watching it burn for the last three seconds before going out completely.

Chen Cheng felt his pants pocket, took out a pack of red hard-pack Zhonghua cigarettes, opened the pack, and handed it to his father.

Old Chen's hand trembled slightly, then he picked up one of the sticks as if he hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Chen Cheng picked up a cigarette, lit it, and put it in his mouth, while handing him his reusable metal lighter.

"Click." A blue flame shot out of the lighter and instantly lit the cigarette.

This time, Old Chen took a deep, deep drag of his cigarette, burning down a third of it in one go.

He flicked the ash from his cigarette at his feet and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Dad." Chen Cheng, who hadn't spoken until now, finally spoke.

Su Tang, who seemed to think that inhaling the secondhand smoke was not enough, simply jumped onto Chen Cheng, who was sitting next to her, and found a good spot to lie in his arms.

"Hehe..." Old Chen chuckled again, his smile seemingly unstoppable.

"..." Chen Cheng opened his mouth, took another puff of his cigarette, and repeated this several times, but in the end he still couldn't bring himself to apologize. Those three words seemed simple, but it was so difficult to say them out loud.

"how?"

"What did you go to do?" Chen Cheng finally asked, his tone still somewhat indifferent.

"Just got back from doing hard labor."

"On the construction site?"

"The construction site closes for the day, so this is a part-time job in the evening."

"Oh." Chen Cheng glanced at the old shoulder bag next to him; the dried white paint on it had turned yellowish.

Old Chen licked his lips. He felt that he hadn't really smoked such good cigarettes in a very long time, and for a moment he was a little unaccustomed to it.

Of course, more than anything, she felt uncomfortable sitting down and having a proper chat with her son like this.

There are so many things I want to say, but when it comes to speaking, I don't know what to say.

So they could only remain silent and wait for the other party to speak first.

Where is my mom?

"...in Shanghai."

"work to earn a living?"

"what……"

"why."

"Ok?"

"Stubborn to the end?"

"Isn't it ridiculous?" Old Chen watched Chen Cheng's practiced smoking movements, then frowned with a wry smile. "You know everything?"

"Ah."

"Sorry, you have a dad who's been to prison."

This time, Chen Cheng's Adam's apple bobbed, and he finally uttered those three words: "I'm the one who should apologize."

Old Chen looked at him with surprise, but also with a hint of joy in his eyes.

He didn't actually place too much hope on Mo Xueyao, but it seemed that Chen Cheng wasn't the kind of person who wouldn't listen to reason.

He's just very stubborn.

However, he knew better than anyone else who was right and who was wrong.

"Are you planning to continue like this?" Chen Cheng paused, then asked.

"We need to make money."

"The debt isn't paid off yet?"

"Haha, it's not that easy to pay it all back!"

"A lot?"

"There's quite a lot, but the rest can be paid back slowly."

"Oh." Chen Cheng turned his head to look at his father's dirty, tattered clothes, and then at the few white hairs on his head.

He may have been reckless in his youth, but after all these years, the price he paid has been enough.

Besides, he didn't make any major mistakes; it was just a business failure.

Chen Cheng licked his teeth, and Old Chen couldn't help but say, "Smoke less, your teeth are turning yellow."

"You're the same."

"I can't help it, I can't keep going without smoking..."

"Living expenses." Chen Cheng moved his cigarette closer to the sewer, flicking off the ash. "You don't need to give me that much."

"Is that enough? You've gotten used to spending like that."

"I will learn to be frugal."

"Oh……"

Old Chen sighed, half with relief and half with emotion.

A huge weight was lifted from my heart, and I felt genuinely hopeful and expectant about the future.

"besides."