Guessed it?
Did it really need guessing? Many people already knew. Chen Ru was not blind or deaf.
Knowing was one thing, but hearing Wen Ying solemnly tell her parents herself carried a different meaning.
Under the gaze of two pairs of eyes, Wen Ying cleared her throat: “Yes, we are dating. You both know him. It’s Xie Qian.”
Of course it was Xie Qian.
Who else could it be besides Xie Qian?
Having met the best one so early, it was hard to settle for anyone else.
Chen Ru pressed: “When did you confirm the relationship?”
“End of last year…”
The second family meeting was originally meant to discuss which job Chen Ru should choose, but it temporarily added new content and turned into Wen Ying confessing her relationship status to her parents.
“Wasn’t it in high school?”
Chen Ru tried to bluff Wen Ying.
Wen Ying would never admit to something she had not done: “Of course not. In high school we were both focused on studying. How could we have time for dating!”
Indeed, there had been no early romance in high school. Wen Ying spoke with full confidence.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of Chen Ru’s mouth.
Whether there had been early romance in high school no longer mattered now.
As Wen Ying said, during high school, both she and Xie Qian had not delayed their studies at all. They had done the right thing at the right age. Even if they had already developed feelings for each other back then, what did it matter?
The smile at the corner of Chen Ru’s mouth flashed and vanished. Wen Dongrong cleared his throat: “It’s right not to date early in high school. If you put all your energy into romance too soon, how could you get good grades? In university, it is indeed the age for dating. Your mum and I will not interfere with your feelings, but there is one thing… let your mum explain it to you.”
Wen Dongrong winked at Chen Ru. Chen Ru found it amusing: “Alright, I know what to say!”
“Um, then you two talk properly. Try to make everything clear in one go! I’ll go out and buy some things.”
After saying that, Wen Dongrong left with his hands behind his back.
He said he was going out to buy things, yet he did not even take the wallet lying on the table. Clearly, he deliberately left space for his wife and daughter to talk alone.
Wen Ying had a vague guess in her heart: it would not be what she thought, would it?
Wen Ying mentally prepared herself. When Chen Ru spoke, however, she went in a completely unrelated direction: “Xie Qian is a very outstanding boy. No one can deny that. No matter whose daughter finds such an excellent boyfriend, the family will be very happy. Your dad and I are naturally very happy too. But I still have to ask you one more thing. Does Xie Qian treat you well?”
Being outstanding was an external condition.
Whether he treated her well in daily life was the internal condition.
Xie Qian was not only outstanding himself, but his family background was also so good.
Chen Ru did not know the Xie family in enough detail yet. Just the things she sensed from Zou Weijun were enough to make Chen Ru cautious.
Dating was one thing, but if it progressed to the next step, Xie Qian treating Wen Ying well was not enough… Would the Xie family be easy to deal with?
Chen Ru thought far ahead. Wen Ying did not catch her mother’s worry: “He treats me very, very well.”
I also treat Xie Qian very, very well.
Wen Ying silently added in her heart.
Chen Ru found it hard to imagine what Xie Qian and Wen Ying were like when dating. Xie Qian seemed very aloof and difficult to approach. Yet Xie Qian also protected Wen Ying very much. Even when Chen Ru personally asked him to persuade Wen Ying to study abroad, he refused.
That meant he really liked Xiao Ying, right?
Even if there were issues on the Xie family side, as long as Xie Qian’s attitude was firm, Xiao Ying had nothing to fear.
If the Xie family tried to find fault in every little thing, humph, Xie Qian was outstanding, but was Xiao Ying any worse?
Chen Ru changed the subject: “Since you’re dating, then date. When I go to work in Shanghai, you can bring Xie Qian home for a meal. I know times have changed long ago. You young people have your own ideas, and your thoughts and actions are bolder than ours were when we were young. Xie Qian is not someone I can lecture. You are my daughter, so I have to manage you…”
Here it came. What was bound to come had finally arrived.
The “sex education” was late but still came.
Chen Ru spoke earnestly, and Wen Ying listened earnestly too.
In her previous life, the mother-daughter relationship had been very distant. Wen Ying had never heard such education from her parents. This was a very novel experience for her.
Little did she know that Chen Ru’s brain cells were almost exhausted.
If she explained too clearly, Chen Ru would feel embarrassed.
If she did not explain clearly enough, she feared Wen Ying would not understand and it might backfire.
“…In short, some things are not forbidden, but before you take that step, you must think it through carefully. If you yourself do not want to, you absolutely cannot do it. You must never use having sex as a bargaining chip to please your boyfriend.”
Chen Ru even deliberately gave Wen Ying a negative example.
When Chen Ru was in school, there was a female classmate in her class who found a boyfriend with very good conditions. In that relationship, the boy dominated, and the girl inevitably felt insecure.
Later, the boy fell for someone else and wanted to break up with the girl.
To keep him, the girl took the most wrong step: she gave herself to him.
“Not the kind of giving myself that I think, right?”
Wen Ying frowned.
Chen Ru rolled her eyes at Wen Ying: “Keep listening.”
Back in those days, “sex education” was even more lacking than now. The female classmate had sex with the boy but did not know about contraception. Two or three months later, she had morning sickness, and the teacher noticed something was wrong.
“Then what happened?”
“We do not know the details in between, but then she dropped out of school. Some said she had an abortion, others said she gave birth to the child and let the boy raise it. In any case, she never had any contact with us again.”
Chen Ru said in a low voice: “The boy was not affected at all. After graduation, he still got a good job and married the well-matched wife arranged by his family. As for her, she has been out of touch with us for many years. No one knows if she is doing well or not!”
In a relationship doomed to have no result, having sex would not change the outcome.
Both were students at school, yet in the end only the girl got pregnant and dropped out. The boy was hardly affected.
Was it worth it?
So foolish!
Wen Ying was half believing and half doubting, suspecting that Chen Ru had made up this cautionary tale on the spot. Chen Ru was not angry: “Why would I make up such a lie to deceive you? That girl was my classmate, so naturally she was also your Aunt Wu’s classmate. Next time you see Aunt Wu, ask her if this really happened.”
Why did Wu Chunqin wait so long to get married?
It was somewhat influenced by this incident.
Wu Chunqin felt that for a woman to enter marriage when she was not yet strong enough was too dangerous. Not to mention marriage, even intimate relationships before marriage were dangerous. The vows of eternal love when in love were real, and destroying those vows when love faded was also real. Putting all hopes on a partner, what to do when the partner changed his mind?
The female classmate back then could not handle her partner’s change of heart.
She did not even have the ability to take care of herself.
Having sex was not something one person could do alone. Not knowing contraception was not solely the girl’s fault. In the end, the boy was basically unaffected and lived much better than ordinary people, while the girl dropped out midway, went far away, and lost contact for many years. That was reality!
Chen Ru brought up the old matter not to scare Wen Ying, but to teach her to know how to protect herself.
The intention was good, though the teaching method was very hardcore.
If Wen Ying had just come of age, after hearing such a story, she would not dare cross the line at all and would obediently hold her bottom line.
Now, however, Wen Ying could not even confirm her own progress. She could only promise Chen Ru: “I know. I will definitely protect myself well!”
