Chapter 9
Chapter 9
At breakfast the next morning.
Rarely, Lin Zheng was actually there.
Lin Zhilan was a bit uncomfortable and acted much more well-behaved while eating.
Once she finished, Lin Zheng lowered his gaze and said, seemingly casually, “From now on, you can enter your mother’s room, but you are not allowed to damage anything inside.”
Lin Zhilan’s eyes widened as she looked at Lin Zheng in disbelief.
“Da… Daddy… I… I won’t…”
She opened her mouth to make a promise.
I placed my hands on her shoulders and looked at Lin Zheng.
“Don’t set a requirement that’s impossible for a child to meet.”
“It’s impossible for a child to never break anything. She can only promise you that she won’t intentionally damage the things inside.”
“If she accidentally bumps into something and breaks it, as long as it wasn’t on purpose, you cannot use it as an excuse to scold or punish her.”
Lin Zheng gave me a long, deep look.
He agreed.
He left for work.
I drove Lin Zhilan to school.
On the way, Lin Zhilan was very excited.
“Auntie, Auntie, was Daddy telling the truth?”
“Mhm, it’s true. When you get home from school, I’ll take you into the room to look around.”
“Auntie, thank you. Did you talk to Daddy about it? Was he angry?”
I glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Her face was full of excitement, but there was also a hint of worry.
I said, “Yes, he was very angry, but I achieved my goal.”
Lin Zhilan stammered, “Auntie, aren’t you afraid of Daddy? Mama used to be very afraid of him getting angry. Whenever he got angry, Mama would agree to anything he said, but she would secretly cry.”
I fell silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.
Should I say that the female leads in tragic romance novels never use their words?
Actually, I had been in a relationship once. It went from sharing everything at the beginning to having a stomach full of words but being unable to say them in the end, and that shift only took a short year.
Was I truly unable to speak?
No, it was more that I felt there was no longer any point in speaking.
It was disappointment, it was giving up, it was preparing to make a quiet exit.
I didn’t know which one Wen Su was.
Seeing how resolute she was at the end, she probably felt that communicating with Lin Zheng was no longer necessary.
But Lin Zhilan was still young and had a long road ahead of her.
I didn’t want her to become someone who had no desires or needs right from the start.
She should work hard to fight for her own rights.
Because in this world, if you don’t speak up for yourself, no one else truly will.
I hoped she would become a brave person who could face her own desires and disappointments, as well as her own weaknesses and sorrows.
I said, “Lanlan, I want to tell you something: don’t be afraid of conflict with others.”
“Because an argument isn’t just an argument; it’s actually a way of fighting for your own rights.”
“If I had backed down, you might never have been able to enter that room to see your mother’s things.”
“From that perspective, the argument was very much worth it, even if it made me look a bit fierce. It doesn’t matter.”
“After all, you defended your rights. That is something only a brave person dares to do.”
“I hope you become a brave person-someone who dares to refuse, dares to strive, and dares to respect their own heart.”
As she got out of the car, I gave her one last piece of advice.
“One more thing: don’t easily promise to do things you can’t achieve. That’s just digging a hole for yourself.”
Lin Zhilan smiled.
She threw herself into my arms trustingly and thanked me sincerely.
“Auntie, I love you so much. I wish I had met you sooner.”
Hahaha.
About that!
If she had met me sooner, I wouldn’t have been doing so well myself back then, and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to say these things.
Meeting now is the best possible start for us.