Old Wen is going to another province?
Wen Ying could not hide her astonishment.
In her previous life, Old Wen had stayed obediently in their little county town back home.
In this life he had already been transferred to Rongcheng, which was more than he ever achieved last time. Yet now, from what Old Wen was saying, another new opportunity had appeared.
For a leader to want to take him along when moving provinces showed that Old Wen’s ability had earned genuine recognition. If he really followed the leader, he would become a trusted right-hand man!
Old Wen was only forty-three this year. There was still huge room for advancement in his career, and he had always been obsessed with officialdom. Faced with such a golden chance, instead of snapping it up he was actually frowning and hesitating.
Wen Ying was truly surprised. “Where does the leader want you to go?”
Wen Dongrong sighed. “Jinling. It’s bloody miles away from Rongcheng. I don’t want to go.”
That was laying it on a bit thick. Wen Ying didn’t believe a word of it. “If you really didn’t want to go, why agonise over it? You wouldn’t even have mentioned it when you got home!”
Which meant he did want to go!
Wen Dongrong glared fiercely at this rotten little cotton-padded jacket who had torn both his face and his dignity to shreds.
“What would you know…”
As he spoke, he glanced nervously at the study door.
The tigress had gone in there ages ago and still hadn’t come out. Had she heard him or not?
Of course Wen Dongrong wanted to go to Jinling!
When he was young he had refused to marry the leader’s daughter, sat on the bench for years, and only later clawed his way back with his writing skills. Those lost years had held him back.
If he hadn’t wasted that time, he would definitely have risen higher.
Now fortune was finally smiling on him. He had met a big leader who truly valued him, and Wen Dongrong knew how rare this chance was.
If he let it slip, he might regret it for the rest of his life!
When the leader had spoken to him, he hadn’t immediately agreed because he was worried about his wife Chen Ru’s feelings.
The Chen Ru of today was not the Chen Ru of the past.
In the past, Chen Ru’s job was just a job. She had no great career ambitions. If Wen Dongrong got a chance to work elsewhere, Chen Ru could simply follow… but now Chen Ru’s own career was flourishing. Why should she uproot herself and trail after Wen Dongrong to some far-off place?
He had already tasted long-distance marriage once and had no desire to taste it again.
So Wen Dongrong was torn.
On one hand he couldn’t bear to give up the opportunity, on the other he didn’t want to be separated from the tigress at home.
Wen Ying looked her father up and down. “Dad, you really have changed a lot.”
The very fact he was hesitating showed Old Wen was no longer as selfish as before. He no longer put his career first in life. He had learned to consider the feelings of his family.
This was a big deal.
Wen Ying suggested holding an emergency family meeting to discuss whether Wen Dongrong should follow the leader to Jinling.
“Let’s list the pros and cons first, then decide by vote~”
Wen Ying’s proposal was clearly the best way forward at the moment. Wen Dongrong nodded slowly. Wen Ying fetched Chen Ru from the study. Chen Ru said nothing. She obviously hadn’t made up her mind either.
Should she stop him?
Chen Ru knew that if she firmly opposed it, Wen Dongrong would definitely give up the chance.
She had plenty of reasons to object.
Following the leader to Jinling would give Wen Dongrong an opportunity, but Jinling was a completely unfamiliar city to the leader too.
Nobody knew how long the leader would stay there or whether the work would go smoothly!
Only if the leader performed outstandingly would Wen Dongrong have a platform to shine. If the leader struggled, Wen Dongrong would be stuck in limbo.
Leaving was easy. Coming back was not. Even if he could return to Rongcheng later, would his current unit still have a place for him?
“Every choice is a gamble. You gamble on luck, on your future. No one can decide for you.”
Wen Ying couldn’t tell from Chen Ru’s tone whether she supported the move or opposed it. Her voice was too flat.
Wen Dongrong turned his gaze to his black-hearted little cotton jacket.
Although he would never admit it out loud, over the past three years Wen Ying had proved through her outstanding performance that she possessed both decision-making ability and execution. At this critical moment, Wen Dongrong instinctively wanted her opinion.
Wen Ying was even less willing to decide for him. “I have one vote, but Mum has veto power. Whether you stay in Rongcheng or go to Jinling, whether your career flourishes or flops, you’ll still be my dad. Our blood tie can’t be cut. But it’s different with you and Mum. Parents and children only walk part of the road together. Mum is the one who will accompany you for life… If you go to Jinling to work, what gets affected is your relationship with Mum.”
Wen Ying had never been married.
But she knew many couples faced exactly the same dilemma Wen Dongrong faced now.
When one partner gets a better opportunity, should the other support them and let them go?
If Chen Ru was willing to support Old Wen, that was Old Wen’s incredible good fortune. He must have cultivated blessings for ten lifetimes to marry such a reasonable and understanding wife!
If Chen Ru did not support him, that would be perfectly understandable too.
The decision lay not only with Chen Ru but also with Wen Dongrong himself.
If Wen Dongrong insisted on going to Jinling and fighting for his career, then he would have to accept the risk of living apart from his wife. He couldn’t hog all the benefits for himself!
Chen Ru left the choice to him, Wen Ying left the choice to him. Both wife and daughter were showing him respect, and instead of feeling relieved Wen Dongrong’s mind was in turmoil.
Having quit smoking long ago, Wen Dongrong went to the kitchen, turned on the extractor fan, squatted there and smoked two cigarettes alone. When he returned to the living room he had made his decision.
“Tomorrow I’ll politely decline the leader’s kind offer. I choose to stay in Rongcheng.”
Career or family, which weighed more?
How should a man balance personal ambition and responsibility?
In that moment, Wen Dongrong made his own choice.
He didn’t know whether he would regret it later, but right now he could not bear the risk of family discord!
Chen Ru’s tone remained calm. “Are you sure? I really will respect whatever you decide. You can’t give up Jinling today and then blame me later for holding you back.”
“I’m not that kind of person.”
He might have been once, but he no longer was.
Wen Dongrong pushed down his disappointment and regret, patted the sofa arm, and told Wen Ying to fetch Aurora University’s admission letter so he could look at it properly.
“I barely saw it earlier!”
Chen Ru snorted. “You’re still in the mood to admire an admission letter? If I were you I’d be gutted right now… You’ve made your choice, now it’s my turn to tell you what I think. I support you going to Jinling.”
Talk about a plot twist.
Chen Ru’s reasonableness left Wen Dongrong dumbfounded.
He instinctively objected. “Once I go, it could be one or two years, maybe three to five if it drags on. We can’t stay apart that long, can we?”
Wen Ying’s eyes were full of laughter.
Over these three years, Old Wen had not only learned how to be a “father”, he had also learned how to be a proper “husband”.
If Old Wen had opened his mouth and asked his wife to give up her job and follow him, Manager Chen would not only have refused to let him go to Jinling, she would have beaten the idiot half to death.
Precisely because Old Wen never suggested it, Manager Chen was being perfectly reasonable instead.
Sure enough, Chen Ru gave a cold humph. “Don’t think too far ahead. I’m giving you one year. You go and work smoothly in Jinling for a full year, then I’ll move my own job to Jinling too!”
“You… you’re willing…”
Wen Dongrong was stunned.
Of course Chen Ru wouldn’t struggle to find work in Jinling.
With her ability, qualifications, and years of banking experience, she wouldn’t starve even in Beijing or Shanghai, let alone Jinling!
But finding a job was one thing. Giving up her current career footing in Rongcheng made Wen Dongrong’s heart ache on her behalf.
In Jinling, Chen Ru probably wouldn’t earn what she did now. Her existing big clients wouldn’t follow her. She would have to start from scratch again!
Wen Dongrong remembered how hard Chen Ru had studied late into the night and felt he really shouldn’t have brought this matter home at all.
“Forget it. It’s too much to ask you to give up your job for Jinling. I thought about it seriously just now. Mum’s getting on, and I want to stay close so I can look after her if anything happens. Plus Big Brother and Third Brother’s families moved to Rongcheng because of us. I ought to keep an eye on them…”
Chen Ru supported Wen Dongrong going to Jinling, yet Wen Dongrong himself was now backing down and coming up with all sorts of excuses.
Chen Ru laughed coldly. “Who said anything about me giving up work? Keep dreaming! Yes, Mum is older, but she’s settled with Big Brother’s family. Whenever she feels unwell it’s Big Brother and Sister-in-law who take her to the doctor straight away. When has she ever needed to bother a busy man like you? And looking after Big Brother and Third Brother’s families is even more ridiculous. Both families are doing fine now. They’d manage perfectly well with or without your ‘care’.”
Before Wen Dongrong could find fresh excuses, Chen Ru raised an eyebrow. “Mr Wen, all these excuses… you’re not scared, are you?”
Wen Dongrong stuck his neck out. “Hah! What would I be scared of!”
“Oh, plenty. Scared you’re not actually up to it, scared you’ll grab the chance and still fail. With your usual arrogance you’d never admit defeat, so later you could blame me, or Grandma Wen, or Big Brother and Sister-in-law, or Third Brother and his wife. We’d all be the stumbling blocks holding you back.”
Chen Ru’s doubts stabbed straight into Wen Dongrong’s pride.
He leapt up at once. “Who’s scared? Anyone who’s scared is a bastard!”
In the end the couple did have a row.
But the purpose of the row was not to stop Wen Dongrong going to Jinling. It was to goad him into following his own heart.
Wen Ying looked at Manager Chen, then at Old Wen, and felt utterly superfluous.
Good grief, who’d have thought she would still end up eating her parents’ vintage dog food!
