Chapter 40: Past Events
The photo album in front of them was only half-flipped through, with the other half still left to see.
Fu Sizhuo closed it.
Next time, they would look through it together.
“Why is your face so red?” Outside the room, Shen An looked at Shen Zhuying suspiciously, then suddenly understood and teased in a knowing tone, “Okay, okay, I get it, I get it.”
She asked ambiguously, “Did I interrupt something just now?”
Shen Zhuying: “…” In a way, yes.
She felt a belated sense of regret and frustration. She had almost kissed Fu Sizhuo.
A lip-to-lip kiss.
“Oh, by the way, did you discuss it with Little Zhuo?” Shen An asked.
“Discuss what?” Shen Zhuying’s mind was still a bit slow.
“You’re sleeping with me tonight, and Little Zhuo will sleep in your room. Let Uncle Xu sleep in the guest room.”
“No need to… discuss it with him,” Shen Zhuying replied.
They didn’t usually sleep together anyway.
“Why not? You should, you should. You’ve finally tricked him into being your husband, so you should take good care of him,” Shen An said with a smile.
Shen Zhuying thought to herself, where did I trick him?
Just then, the bedroom door opened, and Fu Sizhuo walked out, his face cold and serious, looking very proper.
It was as if the desire she had glimpsed on his face earlier was just her imagination.
“Little Zhuo, I want to sleep with my daughter tonight. Would it be a bother for you to sleep in her room alone?” Shen An asked.
“Of course not,” Fu Sizhuo’s gaze swept over Shen Zhuying, lingered for a few seconds, and then he controlled himself and looked away.
“I’ll do as you arrange.”
And so, it was another mother-daughter talk time that night.
“Zhuying, what’s your impression of Uncle Xu today?” Shen An asked.
“My impression doesn’t matter, Mom. If you like him, that’s all that matters,” Shen Zhuying replied, hugging Shen An’s arm like a koala and rubbing her face against Shen An’s chest.
“Your impression is very important. If, by any chance… I marry Uncle Xu, we’ll be family,” Shen An said.
“Mom is going to marry him?” Shen Zhuying muttered softly. “Is Uncle Xu good to Mom?”
Shen An patiently stroked her hair. “What do you think, Zhuying?”
Shen Zhuying thought he didn’t seem like the type to be good to anyone.
But then she recalled some details from tonight. Most of the dishes on the table were Shen An’s favorites, and a few were hers.
After dinner, Shen An liked to eat some fruit, and he had naturally gone to wash some blueberries and cherries for her.
Although he was quiet and seemed proud, in front of Shen An, he was strangely… like a well-behaved puppy.
Shen Zhuying was silent for a moment, then said decisively, “Okay, I agree to you marrying him.”
Shen An smiled and rubbed her face. “Why did you agree so quickly?”
“Because…” Shen Zhuying’s cheeks were pinched, and her words were muffled. “I can tell Mom likes Uncle Xu a lot.”
The way Shen An looked at Xu Yanzhou now was like she used to look at Shen Zhuying’s father when she was young.
Shen Zhuying used to have the surname Zhao. She changed it to Shen after Shen An divorced Zhao Ziqian and remarried.
Shen An was beautiful when she was young, with a ballet-trained figure and temperament. She was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy with excellent grades.
She met Zhao Ziqian, a handsome and charismatic actor, in university. They started dating, and their relationship was stable.
After graduation, Shen An defied her parents’ objections and married him, moving across 2,300 kilometers, taking a two-day train ride.
Their life together had its sweet moments, which blinded her to the difficulties.
She was willing to give up her dancing career and had two daughters with him, Shen Zhuyu and Shen Zhuying.
However, she didn’t want to give up her dancing career entirely. After over a year of rehabilitation training, she got back on stage.
She was still a shining ballerina, while Zhao Ziqian entered the entertainment industry and started his acting career.
Although he never became particularly famous, he was able to support their small family.
The four of them would go to amusement parks, watch movies together, and occasionally take trips abroad.
In Shen Zhuying’s memory, Shen An and Zhao Ziqian were a loving couple. She was young at the time, but she knew that her parents would often leave her and her sister behind to watch movies together in secret.
They seemed like an enviable family.
This happy facade lasted until Shen Zhuying was in the sixth grade. That was the day she started school, and Zhao Ziqian was caught cheating.
It was with a female actress from the same production, and Zhao Ziqian couldn’t deny it. All he could say was, “She’s just my co-star.”
Shen An’s marriage, which she had worked hard to maintain for 14 years, ended abruptly.
Shen Zhuying hugged her mother tightly.
But it was okay. Shen An would always have the right to start over.
“How about we get a flash marriage, Mom?” Shen Zhuying asked jokingly.
“Sure,” Shen An replied.
“We’ll be there to support you, no matter what.”
That’s what family was for – to support each other.
“I don’t think Zhuyu will support me,” Shen An laughed.
“She’ll probably book a ticket and fly back to scold me.”
Shen Zhuying thought that was exactly what Shen Zhuyu would do. She would probably point at them and shout, “You two are crazy! Why can’t you just behave?”
“Let’s get a flash marriage and show her,” Shen An said, still upset.
“Who told her the red dress looked good? And she said the yellow dress looked like a duck.”
Shen Zhuying replied, “I wore the white dress.”
Shen An: “……”
The mother-daughter conversation went on intermittently for a long time, until 2 am.
Shen An talked to her about the recent business of the dance studio, her first meeting with Xu Yanzhou, and the people they met on their trip.
Shen Zhuying shared with her about the customers at the flower shop, her recent class reunion, and the kiss she almost had last night.
As she was about to fall asleep, Shen Zhuying rubbed against Shen An’s shoulder and said in a drowsy tone, “Mom, don’t have a flash marriage with Uncle Xu.”
She wanted her mom to have a normal relationship with Uncle Xu and then get married. She wanted to give her the most grand wedding to make up for the previous regret.
Shen An and Zhao Zijian didn’t have a wedding when they got married.
But her mom deserved the best love in the world.
T/N: Sorry for the long delayed update, I’ve been very busy, accept my apology with the 3 chapters ( ˘ ³˘)♥
