Chapter 142: Honest People Suffer

Lin’s father’s words were very direct and also very embarrassing.

And of course, Chen Feng couldn’t make any promises to Lin’s father on the spot. He wasn’t his daughter’s boyfriend in the first place. This time, he was just helping out of righteousness. He didn’t want to get himself into a trap.

Lin Yujiao glanced at the silent Chen Feng, feeling a little disappointed in her heart. However, she still spoke up to help him out, “Dad, we’re both divorced. We’re both more cautious about remarrying. It’s impossible to talk about marriage right after we’ve just met. Even if he’s willing, I won’t be so rash.”

Hearing his daughter say this, Lin’s father sighed and asked Chen Feng, “Where are you from? What’s your job now?”

Chen Feng answered honestly, “I’m from Qingpu Town. I’m working in Xiuzhou now.”

“Working in Xiuzhou?” Lin’s father frowned. “What’s your specific job? How much do you earn a year?”

Lin’s father asked very directly. This was how blind dates were in the countryside. Especially in the case of a second marriage, they would definitely pay more attention to how much a man earned a year. This was not something that could be polite or faked. It was all straightforward.

“I work in finance. My annual income is about two hundred thousand.”

Of course, Chen Feng understated it, but he couldn’t say it was too little. Otherwise, Lin’s father would definitely break them up.

Of course, Lin’s father didn’t understand finance, but an annual income of two hundred thousand was already a high-income group in the town. This made him quite satisfied. The look in his eyes when he looked at Chen Feng immediately became much more pleasing.

The somewhat mean Lin’s mother was about the same. Originally, she had been looking at Chen Feng with a scrutinizing and indifferent look. Now, when she heard Chen Feng’s annual income, her eyes and expression immediately softened.

“Where is your home in Qingpu Town? Is it in the town?” Lin’s mother asked in a gentle tone.

At this point, there was nothing that couldn’t be said. Chen Feng answered very honestly, “It’s on this street.”

“Oh, it’s on this street. What’s your father’s name?” Lin’s father took over the conversation and asked further.

This was a necessary stage of a blind date. Chen Feng was very speechless in his heart, but he could only bite the bullet and continue to answer, “My father’s name is Chen Dayong. I heard that he and Yujiao’s uncle are cousins.”

“Chen Dayong?” Lin’s father thought for a moment and had no impression. After all, they were from two different towns and were a little far apart. It was impossible to know each other by such a coincidence. However, since his brother-in-law knew him and they were cousins, there was no problem. He could just ask him later.

Lin’s father said further, “I see. Then when we have time, let’s have our two families meet and have a meal together.”

This was really pressing step by step.

Although Chen Feng had expected it before, when it really came to the point where the parents of both sides would meet for a meal, he was still a little stuck. He could only force a smile and nod, “Okay, when we have time, we’ll meet.”

Wu Mengting on the side was secretly anxious. When the parents of both sides met, the next step would be to talk about marriage. Of course, she didn’t want this to happen.

She wanted to make things clear, but as an outsider, she really couldn’t make it clear. She could only sit there stuck.

But she also didn’t want Chen Feng to continue chatting with Lin Yujiao’s parents. She said, “Brother, it’s getting late. We should go back.”

Chen Feng didn’t want to talk to Lin’s father and mother anymore. He couldn’t really plan to be their son-in-law, right?
So, he took the opportunity to smile apologetically at the two old people and said, “I still have some things to do at home. I have to go back and deal with them.”

Lin’s father didn’t say anything. Lin’s mother asked curiously, “What’s this girl’s name? Is she your… sister?”

Chen Feng smiled and quickly nodded, “Auntie, you guessed right. She’s my god-sister whom I met in Xiuzhou. She’s from the city. She came to our place to play this time.”

Wu Mengting also smiled and nodded at Lin’s mother.

Hearing Chen Feng’s introduction, Lin’s father and mother were obviously a little suspicious. The atmosphere was a little awkward for a moment.

Seeing this, Lin Yujiao came to the rescue, “Brother Feng, if you have something to do, you should go back first. I have to send my parents back too. It’s getting dark, and it’s not easy to drive.”

“Okay,” Chen Feng quickly agreed. “Then I’ll go back first. I’ll treat uncle and auntie to a meal next time I have a chance.”

After saying that, Chen Feng nodded at Lin’s father and mother, turned around, and left.

Wu Mengting quickly followed.

After the two of them left, Lin’s father frowned and asked with some displeasure, “Yujiao, are these two really god-brother and sister?”

Lin’s mother said directly, “The way that girl looks at him, she’s obviously not some god-sister. A lover-sister is more like it. Yujiao, is this boyfriend of yours two-timing?”

Lin Yujiao smiled bitterly and said, “She likes Chen Feng very much and is pursuing him. But Chen Feng didn’t accept her and has always treated her as a sister.”

Lin’s mother said in surprise, “How is that possible? Is he lying to you? That girl is younger and more beautiful than you. He doesn’t like her?”

Although this was the truth, Lin Yujiao felt very uncomfortable hearing it. She pulled a long face and didn’t say anything.

Lin’s father said earnestly, “You have to think clearly. Although this Chen Feng looks good, you’ve only just met him. How much do you know about him? And he works in Xiuzhou. Does he have any plans to come back and develop? He’s dating you now. You can’t live in two different places and have a long-distance relationship, right?”

Lin Yujiao pouted and said, “We’ve only just met for a few days. We haven’t officially discussed these things yet.”

Lin’s father said, “Then you have to discuss it with him as soon as possible. Otherwise, he should be going to Xiuzhou after the New Year. What will you do then?”

Lin’s mother said, “I think Ah Jun is better. After all, he’s so sincere and knows he was wrong. You’ve been in a relationship for so many years. It’s a pity to just break up like that. And this Chen Feng is not clear with his god-sister. I don’t think he’s reliable.”

“Mom, if you keep talking like this, I’ll really get angry,” Lin Yujiao said very unhappily. “I’ve already made it clear just now. It’s impossible for me and Xu Jun to get back together. You should just give up on that idea. Don’t even think about the two hundred thousand betrothal gift.”

“You child, how can you talk like that?” Lin’s mother said with both annoyance and anger. “Isn’t this for your own good? This boyfriend you found is not reliable at all. He even said he would treat us to a meal at some five-star hotel before. And now? He just ran away. And he’s not clear with that girl. Are you so big-hearted that you really believe that girl is his god-sister?”

Lin’s father also said, “Yujiao, it’s not that your parents are greedy for money. It’s that this boyfriend of yours doesn’t look very reliable. When I asked him when he was getting married just now, he was stumped by one sentence. He couldn’t answer. Obviously, he has no intention of marrying you in his heart.

Of course, I’m not persuading you to break up with him. I just want you not to be deceived by him. How about this, you can date him for at most two months. After two months, you’ll get engaged and married. If it doesn’t work, you can remarry Ah Jun.”

Lin’s father’s words were very pertinent and were indeed considered from Lin Yujiao’s standpoint.

Lin Yujiao knew her own business. She could only smile bitterly in her heart and agree on the surface, “Yes, I’ll try to get along with him first. If it’s really not suitable, I definitely won’t hang myself on this one tree.”

Lin’s father nodded and said, “It’s good that you know what you’re doing.”

Lin’s mother said unhappily, “I don’t think she knows what she’s doing.”

Lin Yujiao rolled her eyes at her.

…

After Chen Feng and Wu Mengting got into the car, Wu Mengting couldn’t help but complain, “Brother, you’re not really going to get serious with Yujiao, are you?”

“How is that possible?” Chen Feng immediately denied. “You know what happened. I had no choice but to be pushed into it. Yujiao is my woman now, after all. I can’t just watch her being harassed by her ex-husband. I just came forward to cooperate and let the other party give up. I really don’t want to talk about marriage with her.”

“Her parents have taken it seriously. And you even told them your family’s address. They might just go directly to your house. How will you explain it then?”

Chen Feng also had a headache about this, but he was open-minded and said directly, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If it really comes to the point of talking about marriage, I’ll just break up with Yujiao at most.”

Wu Mengting was stunned and said in surprise, “Are you willing?”

Chen Feng smiled and said, “It’s just a breakup on the surface. I can still continue to have contact with her in secret.”

Hearing this, Wu Mengting couldn’t help but mutter “scumbag” in her heart.

---

The next day, Chen Feng took Wu Mengting to Feiyun City to play. This was what the two of them had agreed on last night. Chen Feng had also invited Lin Yujiao, but she said she had something to do at home, so she didn’t go with them.

In one day, Chen Feng and Wu Mengting had a good time at two scenic spots in Feiyun City. They took a lot of photos. At noon, they had a farmhouse meal, and the taste was quite good.

They didn’t start their journey home until about five o’clock in the afternoon.

Because it was just him and Chen Feng today, Wu Mengting had a very happy time. She even hummed along with the car music on the way.

Seeing her happy, Chen Feng’s mood also improved.

To be honest, it was really happy to have such a great beauty accompanying him to travel, eat, and drink.

It was just that it was not good for the two of them to be alone like this all the time. Chen Feng was really afraid that one day he would not be able to resist and would ruin her. In that case, he would definitely feel guilty when he died.

So, after the car arrived at the county town, Chen Feng still couldn’t help but ask her when she planned to go home. It was already the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month, and there were only a few days left before the New Year.

Wu Mengting said she wanted to play for a few more days and would go back around the twenty-fifth or twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month.

Her expression was very natural, as if she was determined to stick to Chen Feng, which made Chen Feng very speechless.

She originally looked like a very quiet girl, but now she was a bit shameless and refused to leave his house.

This was very likely due to the fact that the two of them had traveled all over the country together before. They were together day and night and knew each other very well.

And Chen Feng had also said that he would treat her as his own sister. She now really acted as if he was her family. She ate and lived in his house, and everyone in Chen Feng’s family was very fond of her, especially the head of the family, Zhao Xiaolan, who treated her as her own daughter (in-law), which made her even more fearless.

Since Wu Mengting said she would stay for a few more days, Chen Feng couldn’t just drive her away. At most, he could just bring Lin Yujiao along when they went out to play in the future.

---

When they got home, Wu Mengting was the first to go and show her affection to Zhao Xiaolan. This time, she had bought some souvenirs from the scenic spot. She first gave them to Zhao Xiaolan, and then everyone in the Chen family got a share. Especially the two little ones, Wu Mengting bought two more stuffed dolls for them. This made the two little girls overjoyed and immediately clung to her, calling her “sister” and playing with her.

Zhao Xiaolan took the opportunity to pull Chen Feng to a deserted place at the door and asked with a dark face, “What’s going on with you and that Yujiao from the clothing store?”

After being stunned for a moment, Chen Feng immediately understood and said with some embarrassment, “I’m not officially dating her. We’re just friends.”

“Friends?” Zhao Xiaolan’s face was full of suspicion. “Her aunt came to our house this morning and said you’re already a couple. She even asked me when I’m free to meet her parents.”

Chen Feng smiled awkwardly, “How should I put it? I’m just in a close relationship with her now. Yujiao is being urged by her family, so I have to pretend to be her boyfriend. You don’t have to worry about this. If her aunt asks again next time, you can just push it to me and say it’s none of my business.”

“How can I do that? Her uncle is your father’s cousin. You have to call him cousin-uncle. They’re relatives. If you don’t give them an explanation, how can you justify it? You boy, tell me honestly, have you slept with this Yujiao?”

Under his mother’s pressing gaze, Chen Feng’s old face couldn’t help but turn red. He stammered, “Mom, you don’t have to worry about this. Anyway, Yujiao and I are just acting for her family to see. You can keep it a secret for us for now. Yujiao and I will handle this matter… Ouch! Mom, why are you pinching me?”
“Pinching you is light. You brat, you’ve become more and more of a bastard after you got divorced. You have a girlfriend over there, and a god-sister here. That’s not enough. You even went to hook up with a divorced woman. Tell me, you’re so promiscuous. Are you still my son?”

As Zhao Xiaolan spoke, she pinched Chen Feng a few more times.

Chen Feng quickly begged for mercy, “Mom, calm down, calm down. Of course I’m your son. I haven’t done anything that harms others. It’s just that my luck with women has been a little better recently. Can you blame me? I don’t want it either.”

“You shameless person, why can’t you learn from your father and your brother? They are so honest.”

Chen Feng muttered, “Honest people suffer.”

“Is that what I’m talking about?” Zhao Xiaolan glared at him fiercely and warned in a low voice, “I don’t care about other things. Xiaoting is a very good child. I won’t allow you to hurt her. If you really don’t like her, don’t harm her. If you like her, then don’t be so fickle and flirt around. Otherwise, I won’t let you off.”

“Yes, yes, I definitely won’t hurt her. I’ve always treated her as my own sister.”

“Is that what a human would say? Own sister. She came all the way to your house for you. Anyway, if you let her down, I will definitely not let you off. You remember that!”

“Yes, yes, I remember,” Chen Feng obediently agreed almost instinctively.

The power of his mother’s warning was beyond doubt. Chen Feng was so scared by her words that his legs were a little weak.

He had often been beaten with a bamboo board by his mother when he was a child, so much so that he still had a psychological shadow to this day. As soon as his mother got angry and glared at him, he would start to tremble all over.

Of course, he was not the only one with this problem. His older brother, Chen Rui, had the same symptom, and it was even more serious.

---

Returning to the shop, Chen Feng’s face was full of depression. Wu Mengting immediately noticed it. She was puzzled, but in front of Zhao Xiaolan, she couldn’t ask.

After they had dinner together, Wu Mengting chatted with Zhao Xiaolan in the kitchen for a good while before she went back to her room and sent a WeChat message to Chen Feng.

[What did your mom pull you out to talk about before? You’ve been down ever since.]

At this time, Chen Feng was just chatting with Sun Xiaorui on WeChat in his room. She was just out shopping with friends and sent him a lot of street scenes.

Chen Feng glanced at Wu Mengting’s WeChat and couldn’t help but ask back: [Is it that obvious?]

[Very obvious. You only ate one bowl of rice.]

That was true. After being scolded by his mother like that, his mood was indeed not very beautiful. In addition, he had eaten a lot of farmhouse dishes at noon, so he only ate one bowl of rice for dinner. In the past, it was at least two bowls.

To be honest, he was a bit fickle now. But wasn’t he terminally ill? And he was very rich. It was only natural to enjoy himself in time and play with a few more women before he died. They were all consensual and didn’t violate any ethics or morals. It shouldn’t be wrong, right?

But this kind of thing could be done but not said. No matter who heard his story, they would think he was a scumbag. This kind of behavior was definitely not worth promoting and learning.

And now his mother seemed to be really brainwashed by Wu Mengting. Although she didn’t explicitly say that he should marry her, the meaning was very obvious. But he couldn’t satisfy his mother’s wish.

Thinking of his illness again, even if he passed the New Year safely, he didn’t know how long he could live. It would be strange if his mood was good.

Of course, he couldn’t tell Wu Mengting about his mental journey.

He could only type: [My mom found out about me and Yujiao. She gave me a good scolding and said I was fickle.]

Wu Mengting immediately sent a laughing emoji with a sentence: [You deserve it!]

Chen Feng was depressed for a moment and sent a depressed emoji.

Seeing this picture, Wu Mengting couldn’t help but laugh out loud, then typed: [Your mom didn’t wrong you. How long have you been back and you’ve already hooked up with Yujiao? Sister Sun is still waiting for you over there. Saying you’re fickle, she really didn’t wrong you at all.]

[She didn’t wrong me. But she also warned me that you’re a good girl and told me not to harm you.]

[Really?]

[Guess]

Wu Mengting sent a critical hit emoji, then typed: [Your mom obviously misunderstood you, so you’re very depressed, right?]

[You can say that. But the main thing is, I suddenly realized that I’m really a scumbag. I’m being a scumbag to women everywhere now, and I’ve also failed your true feelings.]

[Don’t say that. You’re a scumbag, but you’re very principled. At least you didn’t deceive Sister Sun and Yujiao, and you didn’t deceive me.]

[…Thank you for the compliment]

[This is not a compliment, just stating the facts. And I don’t like you like this now. You know what I mean.]

[I don’t know]

Wu Mengting immediately sent an angry emoji.

Chen Feng replied with a grinning emoji, directly ending the chat.

---

Returning to Sun Xiaorui’s side, she sent Chen Feng a few street photos, then asked: [I saw Mengting’s Moments today. Did she go to your place and is with you?]

Seeing this message, Chen Feng didn’t deny it: [How did you guess? The photos she posted on her Moments don’t seem to have me in them.]

[There are no photos of you, but she said she was playing in Feiyun City. It’s impossible for her to be playing alone, right? That place is very close to your hometown, Linnan County. She can’t not go to find you, right?]

[Correct deduction, but unfortunately no reward.]

[Really, I also want to go and play with you. Why don’t you agree? Do you think I’ll embarrass you if I go?]

[No. You’re overthinking it. You should know the reason. I don’t want to be urged to get married by my family.]

[Then what’s going on with Mengting? Have you met her family?]

Chen Feng was suddenly unable to answer. However, she was not his girlfriend. Chen Feng would not spoil her. He replied unceremoniously: [Can you be the same as her? She’s my recognized sister now. If you also want to be my sister instead of my lover, I can fulfill your wish.]

Sun Xiaorui replied after a long time: [Alright. She’s different from me.]

[It’s good that you know. I’m a lover with you, and a brother and sister with her. You really don’t need to be jealous of her.]

[I’m not jealous of her either. I just really want to go to your hometown to see. I don’t have to meet your family. I just want to go with you to see and play in your hometown. One or two days is fine.]

Chen Feng still didn’t relent, just perfunctorily: [Let’s talk about it then. Let’s talk about it after the New Year, when I’m about to go back to Xiuzhou.]

[Alright then]

…

The next morning, Chen Feng, Wu Mengting, and Lin Yujiao exercised together again.

The three of them ran to the open-air exercise equipment again to rest for a while.

Wu Mengting took the initiative to mention Zhao Xiaolan to Lin Yujiao, saying that Zhao Xiaolan was very good to her and treated her as her own daughter, so much so that she didn’t want to go back to her own home.

She also said that Zhao Xiaolan already knew about her and Chen Feng and asked her how she planned to deal with it.

Lin Yujiao said with a very indifferent look, “I don’t have any relationship. It all depends on how Brother Feng handles it.”

Chen Feng said with feigned depression, “I got into this mess because I was helping you. How can you push it to me now?”

Lin Yujiao said frankly, “You’re my man now, aren’t you? Shouldn’t you stand up for me?”

These words… were not wrong!
Chen Feng was suddenly unable to refute.

Wu Mengting, who was listening on the side, felt a little sour in her heart and couldn’t help but say, “Actually, it’s fine as long as you explain things clearly. To be honest, just say that you asked Brother Feng to pretend to be your boyfriend. In fact, you’re just ordinary friends.”

Lin Yujiao glanced at her and didn’t say anything.

Chen Feng didn’t want to say that he had already explained it clearly to his mother. He could only cough dryly and say, “I’ll handle this matter. Yujiao, if your parents press you again, you can just throw two hundred thousand at them.”

Lin Yujiao said unhappily, “Where do I have two hundred thousand?”

Chen Feng smiled and said, “I have it. I’ll give it to you.”

After being stunned for a moment, Lin Yujiao asked, “Then what should I say? Say this two hundred thousand is your betrothal gift?”

Chen Feng smiled and said, “Just say it’s a gift from both of us to show our filial piety.”

Lin Yujiao was immediately very moved. She looked at him with soft eyes that could overflow with water.

This made Wu Mengting on the side feel very uncomfortable. She deliberately made a loud noise with the exercise equipment, which startled the two of them.

Chen Feng glanced at the slightly stern-faced Wu Mengting, turned to Lin Yujiao, and said playfully, “Don’t be moved. This money will be deducted from your salary.”

Lin Yujiao: “…”