"Not asleep?" Chen Chu asked.
"Ah! What time is it? Hmm... The new house is all set up. My mom can stand up with support these past couple of days. Your technique is really good..."
"Hmm..." Chen Chu exhaled.
"I'll go for acupuncture again tomorrow..."
"No need. I looked this up in a book. It needs to be done according to the course of treatment. Too much acupuncture doesn't seem to be good... By the way, what have you been busy with today?" Liu Bingbing asked.
"I... oh, I'm busy cracking down on gambling. It's winter, and there are more people playing mahjong, so I'm with the police station to crack down on gambling..."
Liu Bingbing hummed in agreement.
Then she whispered, "My parents are asleep, I'll go to the bathroom to tell you..."
After a while, Liu Bingbing said again, "It seems like my dad doesn't approve of us. He said he wants to introduce me to a PhD student or something. I've been a bit upset with them these past few days."
"Huff..." Chen Chu exhaled, thinking that he had passed the test of his mother-in-law, but not his father-in-law.
But Liu Bingbing just said she was angry with them? The word "them" clearly refers to both her parents.
He couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? By the way, is it your father who disagrees, or...?"
"Well, my family…" Liu Bingbing hesitated for a moment before saying, "My dad didn't agree, and later my mom also disagreed, saying that you're too young and don't have a proper job, so you have to work hard. They even said we should move to my relatives' place, but I didn't move…"
Chen Chu slapped his forehead in fright, suddenly understanding. He thought, "That's ruthless! What the hell is this? Ingratitude? Or a complete disruption of their plans?" Holy crap…
Now that she hardly needs to do anything herself, they're starting to undermine her. The old lady can stand up again, so they're going to take her daughter away? They've been cleaning the house these past few days, which means they're cleaning it up and leaving it for themselves as compensation.
And a few days ago, this old lady tested me, and she actually guessed right! She thought I had something going on with her daughter, so she wanted to move? Wow… experience really pays off! All that talk about getting the house ready and getting Liu Bingbing to marry me—it was all beautiful nonsense…
Chen Chu understood somewhat.
However, he is no longer a child. No, he won't act impulsively. A few months ago, he would have been furious and immediately confronted the old lady, but not now.
He was figuring out how to take Liu Bingbing away.
"Hmm... Bingbing, my dear, if you had to choose between me and the child, and your parents, what would you choose?"
Liu Bingbing thought for a moment and said, "Why are you asking this?"
"Oh... I was just asking, if one day your parents disagree with us and take you away, what would you choose to do?"
Liu Bingbing was stunned.
After a few minutes, he said, "I might choose my parents..."
...
Whew...
Chen Chu smiled.
"What are you laughing at? I am, after all, my parents' child. If I don't choose my parents, what choice do I have? Abandon my parents?"
"Hmm...no, you're right. Actually, maybe I'm still young and don't think about things much. So tomorrow, I'll go and give your mom acupuncture. The more acupuncture sessions you have, the faster your mom's leg will heal."
Liu Bingbing hummed in agreement, paused, and then said, "Chen Chu, maybe we were a bit naive before. I've never been in a relationship before, and even when I had, it was only superficial. What do you think we should do in the future?"
Chen Chu scratched his head.
"Bingbing, have you been thinking about this the past few days because you haven't called me?"
"Yeah, I think about it sometimes."
...
Whew...
The two spoke intermittently, and Chen Chu sensed something was wrong. It seemed that Liu Bingbing's parents had almost convinced, or rather, brainwashed, their daughter. This was no longer the Liu Bingbing they knew.
People may change, but Liu Bingbing's parents...
Chen Chu didn't want to say too much.
Liu Bingbing then said, "Chen Chu, perhaps we are both too young and immature. Maybe we will have better choices when we are more mature..."
"How about we meet?" Chen Chu asked.
"Chen Chu, I'm... on a sleeper train now, we can't meet..."
"You..." Chen Chu was a little confused, and his head was also a bit fuzzy.
"You're on the train? Didn't you just say you were at home? And your parents are asleep."
"Yes, my parents are at home, but not in the county town, they're somewhere else. And I'm going to other places too..."
"You… Liu Bingbing, you… you left me? You…" Chen Chu suddenly didn't know what to say, took a few steps forward, and leaned against a tree.
He felt weaker than ever before and sat down helplessly from the tree trunk.
"Liu Bingbing, do you mean you've already left the county? You were lying to me just now? You mean we've broken up, right?"
"Hmm... Chen Chu, don't get excited. If you don't believe me, listen to the sound."
Chen Chu could indeed hear the roar of a train over the phone, and Liu Bingbing then brought the phone closer to her ear.
Chen Chu let out a breath.
"Liu Bingbing, what do you mean? If you want to break up, just say so. Why did you sneak away? And what about the baby? You're going to abort it, right? Fine, you're so capable, you'd even abort your own child? Yeah, right, all you college students are normal when it comes to having kids, right? Anyway, there's another one every ten months... Fine, go find your civil servant, go find your rich man, fine, go ahead, get lost..."
Chen Chu hung up the phone and sat under the tree, feeling a wave of dizziness.
He felt he had never felt this weak when he fought Ji Yang, Lao Ba, Yan San, or Ma Houzi.
He suddenly remembered something Shao Xiaodong had said: "Women are all liars, all heartless, you shouldn't pay any attention to them... Why bother with them, it's just for fun... Don't get emotionally involved..."
Chen Chu took a deep breath, feeling that Shao Xiaodong was right. That's how you really should treat a woman; you never know when she might hurt you.
For example, right now, where do I go to find her? How do I find her? Who do I go to?
Besides, why would we need to find them?
Chen Chu was speechless for a moment.
He steeled himself and dialed Liu Bingbing's number again. This time it rang for a while before Liu Bingbing answered.
Chen Chu felt as if she was crying.
He snorted, "Why are you crying? Did you have an abortion these past couple of days? Fine, go ahead and have it. You can always find someone else after that. I'm such a fool, okay? I shouldn't have taken responsibility..."
Chen Chu said a lot.
Liu Bingbing then said, "Go ahead and keep cursing!"
Chen Chu touched the jade thumb ring on his hand.
A period of calm gradually subsided.
Suddenly, the jade thumb ring seemed to transmit a voice from within one's consciousness, as if it were something that was being uttered from within one's consciousness.
"Life lasts at most a hundred years, and a couple only spends a few decades together. In the end, it's like taking a train; someone always gets off first. In the end, everyone is alone. Life is about being apart more often than together. We're just passing through this world, so why worry so much? We all have to leave eventually; nothing lasts forever..."
Although Chen Chu's emotions had calmed down, he still couldn't shake the image of Liu Bingbing from his mind.
I couldn't help but sigh.
"Fine, whatever you want."
Chen Chu felt a sense of sadness, but also a sense of relief.
If death is an end, then it can also be a new beginning.
Chen Chu chuckled.
"Okay, Bingbing, come back to Hancheng when you have time. Remember to bring your boyfriend along, I'll treat you to a meal, hehe..."
...
"Bastard!" Liu Bingbing gritted her teeth on the phone.
"Chen Chu! You motherfucker!" Liu Bingbing cursed.
Chen Chu was stunned.
"Liu Bingbing, why are you swearing at me! If you want to break up, then break up. I'm not going to drag things out at all, and I even wish you well. Why are you swearing at me?"
"I'm swearing? Chen Chu, I fucking want to strangle you, you bastard! Where are you?! I'll kill you with my own hands, you beast!"
"What...what do you mean?"
"What do you mean? I played a joke on you, and that's how I found out you're such a bastard! You hypocrite! I thought you could coax me and win me back! I never expected you to dare say you wish me well and then abandon me? Whose child is in my belly? What's its last name? You bastard..."
Chen Chu fainted.
"Bingbing...you, you're testing me! Don't even mention how heartbroken I was just now!"
"Get lost! What are you so sad about! I know you're going to study in Chuncheng, so I made a special trip to Chuncheng to find my classmate Ban Xiaoxue and ask her if there were any jobs available here, like teaching a middle school student. I'm rushing back tonight. My parents have already tidied up the house for you. We'll live here from now on. You...you bastard!"
"I..." Chen Chu chuckled.
"Hmm... I'm such a bastard, such a bastard." Chen Chu scratched his head, feeling that his life had been quite dramatic and exciting.
Liu Bingbing paused for a moment, then said, "You still think you're not a bastard? You haven't called for days. By the way, when are you coming to Chuncheng to study? I need to come over early to teach..."
Chen Chu let out a breath.
"Um... is your child... oh no, our child alright?"
"Pah! Our child is perfectly fine, by the way! What did you just say? What did you mean by 'what happens when college students get abortions'? What was that term again?"
"No...nothing, I didn't say anything. Bingbing, what do you want to eat? When are you arriving in Hancheng? I'll pick you up..."
"Get lost... I don't need you to pick me up. I came back with my classmate Ban Xiaoxue. You... you need to clean up your dark, grimy face, and also, fix your messy hair, change your clothes, and tidy yourself up. Don't look like you crawled out of a garbage dump every day. It's one thing to embarrass yourself in front of me, but don't embarrass yourself in front of my classmate Ban Xiaoxue..."
"Ah! I know, I know, I understand..." Chen Chu chuckled, thinking to himself, "I've already cleaned it up."
She thought of her best friend, Ban Xiaoxue; the name sounded nice.
Chen Chu let out a breath, rubbing his hands together happily.
Moreover, Chen Chu heard a series of silvery laughs coming from next to Liu Bingbing's phone, and he could tell from the voice that it was a beautiful girl.