Chapter 389: Side Story

Li Xianglin’s words sent Li Xiangrui into a thoughtful silence. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed before; he just thought the idea was a bit absurd. Their father had always doted on him and his sister. And while the pecking order in their house was that Mom was always right and everything had to make way for her, it was only natural for their dad to love their mom. But hearing his sister state it so plainly left him at a loss for words.

Li Xiangrui gave a wry smile, looked at Li Xianglin, and said softly, “It’s not that I haven’t noticed. It’s just that Dad always doted on us so much when we were kids that I thought I was just overthinking it. Everyone knows Dad is unusually fixated on Mom. I remember once, when I was little, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. I got up to walk around the garden and saw Dad holding Mom in the waterside pavilion, watching the moon.”

“There were lights on in the pavilion, and I was about to go over to them. But after just a few steps, I glanced up and saw the way Dad was looking at Mom. I didn’t really understand it at the time, but I felt like I shouldn’t disturb them. I didn’t get it then, but thinking back now, unless I saw it wrong, his eyes were filled with a devouring madness. I’ve never seen anyone look at another person that way.”

Li Xianglin looked at Li Xiangrui and asked calmly, “How old were you then?”

“Eight or nine, I guess. Honestly, Dad really scared me back then. But the next day, I saw him doting on Mom and being so loving to me and Sis, so I told myself I must have seen it wrong. It was dark, after all. Even with the lights in the pavilion, I couldn’t be sure what I saw. But looking back, I was just young and didn’t understand. Father’s feelings for Mother are more than just love and respect. It must be what you read about in books: ‘For life and death, I made you a promise. To hold your hand and grow old with you’!”

Li Xiangrui continued, looking utterly dejected. “You know, Sis, it’s because of Mom and Dad’s relationship that I’m a little terrified of that kind of love. Having seen so much of the ugliness out there, I realize just how precious what they have is. But I have no confidence that I could ever develop that kind of ride-or-die love for a woman I share no blood with. So, Sis, that’s why I was so conflicted when I heard you found someone you like.”

“You think way too much for your age. You yourself said Mom and Dad’s relationship is precious and rare. But aren’t there plenty of couples who stick together through thick and thin? Take Uncle Bao, for example. Over the years, plenty of people have tried to set him up with other women, and plenty of women have chased him, whether their feelings were genuine or not. But have you ever seen him do anything to betray his wife?”

Shaking her head, Li Xianglin spoke in an earnest, heartfelt tone. Her brother’s stubborn streak came straight from their father. If he truly became resistant to the idea of a relationship, that would be a real problem. Life is fleeting, after all. Your parents will eventually pass on, and your children will grow up and leave. Once siblings have families of their own, they have their own households to worry about. If you don’t have a soulmate to grow old with, your life will always feel incomplete.

Hearing his sister’s words, Li Xiangrui managed a small smile. “Sis, I don’t have a fear of marriage, so you don’t have to worry about me dying alone. I’m just resistant to that ride-or-die love our parents have. It’s not that I’m against relationships in general. I understand the saying: ‘No one is closer, yet no one is more distant, than a husband and wife.'”

“So you really were spooked by them!”

Seeing his sister’s smirk, Li Xiangrui wiped a hand over his face in exasperation. “I wouldn’t say ‘spooked.’ I just find the idea of entrusting your entire emotional world to one person, the way Dad does, to be a bit outrageous and absurd. It’s like Mom and Dad were fated to be together from birth. In any case, that’s the kind of love I’m happy to admire from afar. Sis, please don’t tell me you envy what they have and want that for yourself!”

“Are you kidding me? You and I both inherited Dad’s emotional detachment. How could we ever be like Mom and Dad, willing to sacrifice everything, including our lives, for another person? When it comes to being deeply loyal and devoted, that’s all Mom. Dad only seems that way; in reality, he’s the most ruthless of all. And at the end of the day, we two take after our father.”

Li Xianglin pursed her lips and shot her darling little brother, Li Xiangrui, an irritated glance. Their father always presented the image of a perfect gentleman, as gentle and refined as jade, but if you peeled back that skin, he was the most detached and ruthless of them all. However, her father was also a man who was clear about his grievances and his gratitude, and this trait had been passed down to both of them—something Li Xianglin thought was perfectly fine.

Li Xiangrui rubbed his forehead. “Okay, Sis, let’s stop talking about Mom and Dad. Your situation is more important right now. This Fang guy you mentioned… are you really set on him?”

“Not at all. It hasn’t reached that point. I just find him easy on the eyes. You know I’m a pretty good judge of character. The guy is smart, but his heart isn’t full of twists and turns. He’s a very straightforward person. In this day and age, men like that are hard to find. I came across one who happened to catch my eye, and he’s interested in me too. So, why not give it a shot?”

Li Xianglin said this nonchalantly. ‘I don’t get why my brother is acting like we’re facing a formidable enemy,’ she thought. ‘It’s not like we’re discussing marriage. And even if we did get married and it wasn’t a good fit, we could just get a divorce. This isn’t the ancient world where women have to follow the ‘Three Obediences and Four Virtues.’ If it works, great; if not, we split. It’s that simple. Why does he have to make it so complicated?’

The unspoken understanding between them made Li Xiangrui roll his eyes. He suppressed his frustration and said, “Sis, you’re a girl. I’m worried you’ll be the one to get deceived and hurt. If you were a guy, I wouldn’t be like this. As long as our family doesn’t come out on the losing end, I couldn’t care less about what happens to anyone else!”

“Girls aren’t always the ones who lose out. Do I look like the type to be taken advantage of? Come on, Yanyan, don’t worry. I won’t let anyone hurt me. Besides, we’re really not at the point of talking marriage yet. We’ll just see how things go.”

Li Xianglin looked at her irritable little brother, holding back a laugh as she tried to placate him. ‘Sure, I’m a girl,’ she thought, ‘but has he forgotten that we used to follow Dad around when we were young, helping him handle all those shady affairs that couldn’t be brought into the open? My understanding of human nature isn’t something a college student like Fang Lingjun can even compare to. No matter how smart Ling Jun is, his parents are just kind, ordinary people.’

‘Ling Jun’s inherent purity must have come from his parents’ example. Having seen the depths of darkness, I’m only drawn to people with that kind of pure character. Man or woman, I feel like only someone with a personality like Fang Lingjun’s could ever truly attract me.’

Li Xiangrui gave his sister a gloomy look, a wry smile touching his lips. “I overheard Mom and Dad joking once. They said raising a daughter is like tending to a precious flower. You water it, fertilize it, and protect it with the utmost care… only for some guy called a son-in-law to come along and take the entire pot.”

“It’s fine if she ends up happy! But if she’s unhappy, the pot gets smashed, the flower wilts, and she has to come back home! And I remember Dad’s final line: if that so-called son-in-law dared to make his little girl unhappy, he’d make sure that man’s entire family, for eight generations back, would know misery!”