Chapter 1672 - 1673: Persuasion
Chapter 1672 - 1673: Persuasion
Qi Fenglian only had that thought because she was really furious at the time; now, after hearing what Cheng Su said, she fell a bit silent.
"She’s seen for herself how her dad behaves." Qi Fenglian said about Xiao Yun, "She’s such a big girl now, she can tell right from wrong. Her dad’s so untrustworthy, what is there to pin any hopes on him for? All these years, her schooling, her living expenses, has he given a single cent? Having a dad like that is no different from not having one."
This was her speaking out of resentment.
Cheng Su said, "No matter what, in a child’s heart, she’ll always know who her real father is. It doesn’t mean she isn’t close to her stepfather or anything. But after all, she’s spent over ten years calling someone ’Dad’. If you make her change her surname, will she feel like from now on she really doesn’t have a dad anymore?"
Qi Fenglian opened her mouth, but didn’t say anything.
"A girl’s thoughts are especially delicate, especially Xiao Yun, that child is very sensitive. When you two divorced a few years back, it’s not like she would’ve felt completely fine about it. Now you’ve both remarried, no matter how happy she looks on the surface, what she’s really thinking inside, only she herself knows." Cheng Su gently advised, "Just like you said, she’s already a teenage girl, she can tell right from wrong, and she’s not an ungrateful person."
A surname really isn’t worth that much; what matters is the person.
If Qi Fenglian insisted on changing the surname, what if the child didn’t want it?
"Whether she changes her surname or not isn’t the important thing, what matters is how you raise her well." Cheng Su patted Qi Fenglian on the shoulder and said, "Don’t, just because of a moment of anger, make the child end up resenting you."
Qi Fenglian let out a sigh. "Bad fate, to end up with that kind of father."
"But having a mother like you—that’s her blessing!" Cheng Su hastily comforted her.
Qi Fenglian was amused by her and felt her mood lift; she also started to laugh.
Seeing this, Cheng Su naturally shifted the topic and asked where they’d been staying these past two days.
"...That night we just found a hotel and stayed there, stayed two days. Today we came back, had a meal, and on the fifth day of the New Year we’ll go to his hometown to visit the relatives, and also invite his uncles and such from back home to a meal, count it as formally acknowledging kinship!" Qi Fenglian said, talking about their plans for the New Year days.
"His parents back home, they’ve both passed away, haven’t they?" Cheng Su asked.
"Yes, they’re gone. He’s got an older brother back home, and I think two younger sisters, married far away. From what he says, they haven’t been back in years, not much contact." Qi Fenglian replied.
Listening, Cheng Su then asked about Chu Zheng, "He seems to be quite good with people. When he called us just now, I didn’t feel the least bit awkward. Does he normally address you that way too?"
"Yes!" Qi Fenglian showed a contented smile. "I told him, if he’s not used to it, he can call me Aunt Lian, but he insists on calling me Mom."
"And with his birth mother’s side..."
"No contact!" Qi Fenglian’s smile faded a little as she said, "From what Changxing said, he hates his real mom to the bone. When he was little, he didn’t even want to mention her. And really, she left him when he was so young—how could he not hate her? Later on she seems to have come looking for him, but this kid wouldn’t acknowledge her, refused to. His heart was hurt."
No wonder—precisely because he has no feelings for his birth mother, he shifted his feelings over to Qi Fenglian.
So Cheng Su said, "That actually gives you two a reason to get along well, you can have a good relationship."
"Exactly. The other day I also told him, the money his dad saved up to help him get a wife, we’ll try not to touch it. If he finds a good girl, he can bring her home. And he said there’s no rush, that if we need money we should just use it..." Qi Fenglian chattered on about how she got along with her stepson.
Listening to her, Cheng Su also felt this truly was a rare sort of harmony; this marriage could be counted as not a bad match at all.
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