Some people might find Chen Ru’s thoughts strange.
If her daughter could find a boyfriend like Xie Qian in the future, should she not be happy?
Xie Qian was not only a super academic topper, he also came from a superior family background. His personal qualities and family circumstances were excellent. Parents with even a little scheming would not only not obstruct but would secretly push their daughter towards Xie Qian. They would take advantage of Xie Qian not yet completing the utilitarian transformation from boy to adult, using the emotional foundation built in his youth to tightly grasp Xie Qian. Others would do that, but Chen Ru absolutely would not!
This was related to Chen Ru’s character.
Chen Ru was too competitive.
“Competitive” could usually be equated with “high aspirations”.
If Wen Ying were extremely outstanding herself, Chen Ru would be proud of her daughter.
If Wen Ying did not strive herself and merely found an extremely excellent boyfriend through various little tricks, Chen Ru would not see any point worth being proud of!
Little schemes and cleverness could only occupy temporary advantages, they could not maintain a lifetime of glory.
If the gap between the two sides was too wide, the superior one would always have the upper hand. In the relationship, one would have to yield everywhere to the one with superior conditions and always be vigilant against the excellent one proposing a breakup.
What about the inferior one?
After breaking up, taking the excellent ex as the standard, finding a new partner as excellent as the ex would be almost impossible. That was why there was the saying, “One cannot meet someone too stunning in youth, otherwise one will remember them for a lifetime”.
Xie Qian sat opposite Chen Ru, her vigilance at maximum. For a moment, even someone as strong as Chen Ru wanted to retreat. Persuading Xie Qian to encourage Wen Ying to go abroad was a wrong idea. If they really went abroad to study together, letting Wen Ying and such an excellent boy interact in a foreign land, it would be strange if Wen Ying did not fall for him!
If they could make it to the end, that would be best. If not?
Chen Ru did not yet know the specifics of Xie Qian’s family situation, but merely the glimpses revealed already showed it was far from ordinary superiority.
For example, she and her husband had worked for so many years to afford a mortgage on a house in Rong City, yet Xie Qian and his mother could own a large courtyard in a good location. Even after Zou Weijun left Rong City, Xie Qian, a high school student, could still live there with a housekeeper auntie. The gap between the families was evident!
So even if Xie Qian insisted, if the Xie family opposed, the two young people would still find it hard to make it to the end.
Moreover, Xie Qian’s appearance was truly too outstanding. Who knew how many girls he would attract to pursue him relentlessly. Over time, the chance of Xie Qian changing his heart was not small!
The main matter had not even been discussed, yet Chen Ru had already imagined a whole heap.
Seeing Chen Ru remain silent for a long time, Xie Qian had to break the silence himself.
“Auntie Chen?”
Chen Ru came back to her senses. “Sorry, I suddenly thought of some work matters and got distracted. I asked to meet you today for two reasons. First, to thank you for helping Wen Ying with her studies these past two years. Second, to consult you on something.”
Gratitude was not just words.
Xie Qian had been tutoring Wen Ying all along. For a capable “tutor” like Xie Qian, if Chen Ru hired him with money, it would absolutely be a considerable expense over these two years.
She would have to grit her teeth to spend such a large sum, and it might not even achieve the same effect.
Chen Ru and Wen Dongrong as a couple were not wealthy enough. The Li Mengjiao family did not lack money. Li Zhentao and his wife had the cheek to let Li Mengjiao tutor at Xie Qian’s home, which showed Xie Qian’s abilities were stronger than ordinary teachers!
Of course, converting all of Xie Qian’s two years of tutoring friendship for Wen Ying into a financial account would be meaningless. If at this moment Chen Ru pulled out a stack of money to “pay”, that would truly insult the effort Xie Qian had put in.
This was friendship between the children.
Chen Ru had previously firmly denied the existence of pure friendship between boys and girls. Now she had no choice but to acknowledge it because it was not just Wen Ying studying at Xie Qian’s home!
At least, the friendship among these few young people had not progressed further yet.
Chen Ru had prepared a small gift for Xie Qian.
“This pen was brought back for me by a colleague from Hong Kong. I hope you like it.”
That was right, Chen Ru gave Xie Qian a fountain pen.
Xie Qian recognised the brand of the pen. For an ordinary student, it would absolutely be luxurious. However, the Xie family had several pens of the same brand.
Xie Qian had previously not even paid particular attention to it. When he bought fountain pens, he valued usability more than price. From this point, Chen Ru’s concerns were not entirely without reason. Xie Qian’s family conditions were vastly different from Wen Ying’s.
Alright, the brand was not the point!
The point was that this was a fountain pen gifted to him by the hamster’s mum. It could not be simply measured by price or brand. Auntie Chen was truly worthy of being the hamster’s biological mum. Both mother and daughter followed a practical approach when gifting. The hamster loved giving people fountain pens. During the trip to Macau, she bought a whole bunch!
Thinking of the mother and daughter sharing the same vein in gifting ideas, Xie Qian’s brows and eyes softened completely. “Thank you, Auntie Chen. I really like this gift.”
Xie Qian had an intuition that Chen Ru had only given him the fountain pen and not Song Shao.
A one-of-a-kind gift, Xie Qian liked this definition!
Even someone as restrained as Xie Qian could not help but gently stroke the pen in its gift box with his hand.
Seeing the boy opposite her show that he liked the gift, Chen Ru’s mood lightened considerably. After pondering several times, she still stated her purpose:
“I want to ask if you have any ideas about studying abroad. It might be a bit abrupt to ask this suddenly, but I truly feel that with your abilities, it would be a pity to study at a university in China!”
Xie Qian’s stroking of the pen paused.
“Auntie Chen, you are probably not asking if I want to study abroad, are you?”
The person who most wanted Xie Qian to go abroad was undoubtedly Xie Jinghu.
No one else in the Xie family, including Zou Weijun, ever interfered with Xie Qian’s decisions. Everyone respected Xie Qian’s thoughts and choices and believed he could be responsible for them!
For a moment, Xie Qian fell into conspiracy theory again, suspecting if Xie Jinghu was behind it.
The next second, Xie Qian denied his own guess.
Xie Jinghu could not buy off Chen Ru.
If Chen Ru could be bought, Wen Ying could just throw money at her. Why would there be constant tension between mother and daughter!
So what was the point of Chen Ru caring whether he studied abroad or not?
It could only be using the pretext of caring about him to interfere with Wen Ying.
In a short instant, Xie Qian had already figured out Chen Ru’s intention.
Chen Ru no longer beat around the bush. “You guessed right. I am asking if you want to study abroad because I want Wen Ying to go abroad to study too. Do you know Song Chan’s daughter, the editor Song? After hearing she was admitted to Yale, I started thinking about this. If Song Chan can be admitted to Yale, why cannot Wen Ying give it a try?”
“Have you asked Wen Ying herself?”
The hamster did not want to go abroad.
From the beginning when Xie Qian met Wen Ying, she had shown her fondness for Mo Du. Xie Qian had also prepared to apply to universities there.
University, logistics company, film company. Xie Qian had made so many arrangements in advance.
If Wen Ying now changed her mind to study abroad, Xie Qian would still have to think about who to hand over the various arrangements in Mo Du to.
Of course, going abroad with Wen Ying was not impossible. Changing plans would be troublesome, but not unchangeable.
Chen Ru loved to overthink, and Xie Qian was no less so.
In such a short time, he was already thinking about who to entrust the foundations in Mo Du to!
Chen Ru frowned slightly. “Of course I have asked her. She refuses to go abroad no matter what. I cannot understand her thoughts! You are classmates and good friends. Can you help Auntie persuade her?”
Promise quickly!
There was a voice clamouring at the bottom of Xie Qian’s heart.
Even if Wen Ying ultimately still did not want to go abroad, Xie Qian could tell Chen Ru that he had tried his best.
As long as he agreed now, he would be the most reliable “friend of Wen Ying” in Chen Ru’s heart. Any Song Shao or He Zhen would be inferior to him!
But this was deceiving.
Deceiving Chen Ru was not good. Violating his own heart was even worse. Forcing Wen Ying was the worst of all.
Xie Qian pushed the fountain pen back in front of Chen Ru.
“Auntie Chen, sorry. I cannot persuade Wen Ying. Nor do I want to.”
