My Online Girlfriend Has a Twin Sister

’Maybe this is what normal parents are like,’ they both mused.

They were so used to being bullied by Jiangg Ruxue that the warmth and affection from Mr. and Mrs. Chen moved them deeply.

The two sisters exchanged a glance. Though not a single word was spoken, they knew exactly what the other was thinking, as if they shared a telepathic bond—a rapport that would make anyone envious.

"Chen, look over here."

Over on the sofa, Liu He tugged on Mr. Chen’s sleeve and gestured toward Chen Yuan.

Mr. Chen looked over and immediately picked up on the subtle, sweet intimacy between Chen Yuan, Jiangg Ning, and Jiangg Yao. He and Liu He exchanged a knowing glance.

A sweet, knowing smile spread across both parents’ faces.

"Your son’s got some moves," Liu He said, lowering her voice. Her tone was dripping with sarcasm. "Managing to get two wonderful girls like them to get along so peacefully."

"You say that like he isn’t your son, too... However," Mr. Chen said with a straight face, "Yuan does have a hint of my charm from back in the day. It’s a burden to be so popular, you know. Sigh."

"Oh, get lost!"

Liu He laughed in exasperation. He was acting as if it were some great honor, still trying to sing his own praises when this was clearly a huge mess.

"So, Chen, what do you really think about all this?"

"About what?"

"What else? What do you think?"

"At the end of the day, nothing is set in stone yet. Let’s just let them figure it out for now. We can’t be the ones to decide for him; his own feelings are what matter most."

"You should be thankful nothing is set in stone. If it were, their family would be at our door, pointing fingers and yelling at us about how we raised our son. Would you be happy then?"

"If that happens, we’ll just get Zheng Feng to come over. He can take the verbal abuse for us."

"..."

Mr. Chen didn’t see it with the same gravity as Liu He. Or perhaps, he simply didn’t want to interfere too much.

He had poured his heart and soul into raising Chen Yuan to adulthood. Now that his son was in college, he felt he had more or less completed his fundamental mission as a father.

Because society is cruel, and for most men, growing up is a stressful affair. No one can remain a child forever, running home to cry after making a mistake. Facing life’s storms head-on is a necessary part of growing up.

The same was true for matters of the heart.

Only through experience could one learn what was worth letting go of, and what was truly important.

If, in the end, Chen Yuan made a good choice, then he, as a father, would be happy for him from the bottom of his heart. But if things blew up into an unfixable mess, that would be a consequence he deserved—an unavoidable pain.

Mr. Chen and Liu He had clearly different ways of thinking on this matter. One wanted to take a hands-off approach.

The other was racking her brain for a solution, afraid that Chen Yuan was too young to handle the situation.

The truth was, Chen Yuan’s decision not to tell his parents from the start was a choice in and of itself.

"I just hope he acts with some discretion. I’m not asking for anything else," Liu He said, glancing at her son, who was chatting quietly with Jiangg Ning by the dining table.

"Hard to say."

Mr. Chen took a sip of his fragrant tea and shook his head slightly.

...

"Yuan?"

After a quick cleanup from lunch, Liu He waved Chen Yuan over to the sofa.

"What is it, Mom?"

"I have something to tell you," Liu He said, grabbing her bag and pulling out a contract. "Do you have your ID? Put it here so I can take a photo, and then you just need to sign the contract."

"What’s this contract?" Chen Yuan asked, looking it over curiously. When he saw what it was, he was stunned. "You really bought me a house?"

"Is there a problem with that? Look how old you are. Your father and I should have started worrying about getting you a house a long time ago. We should’ve bought one years ago, but look how high the prices have gotten."

"Exactly! So why buy it when prices are at their peak?"

"Yuan, let me tell you something," Liu He said, rapping the table for emphasis. "A person only has a few major milestones in their life. Getting a good education is important, but having a home—a roof over your head—is even more important. This way, you’ll always have a place to call your own."

"But I have a home. Aren’t we living just fine in the university’s faculty housing?"

"No, that’s *my* home. You can just move out later."

"Wait, we’re already splitting up the household...?"

"Don’t be a smart-aleck. Go get your ID. Why do you think I came all the way to Lanjing to see you? The sooner we get this sorted out, the sooner your father and I can enjoy our retirement in peace. You kids are so much work. Your dad is already fifty, you know—"

Chen Yuan’s head started to throb as he listened to her go on. He quickly held up a hand to signal for a timeout before heading to his bedroom to find his ID in his backpack.

He had glanced at the contract earlier and caught a few details: a house over a hundred square meters, with a twenty-year mortgage.

’They were really willing to spend the money.’

Chen Yuan felt a mix of helplessness and deep gratitude. He had never asked his parents for anything, yet as his adoptive parents, they had never held back in giving him everything he needed.

Every year, Jiang Zhengfeng transferred a sum of money into Mr. Chen’s account.

But Chen Yuan could tell at a glance that they hadn’t used any of that money for the down payment. This came purely from their own hard-earned savings, accumulated over many years of work.

"Alright, all done."

After a while, once Liu He had forced Chen Yuan to add his thumbprint, she finally put the contract away, satisfied. It was a great weight off her mind.

Just then, Jiangg Ning asked tentatively, "Auntie, if you two are free this afternoon, we could show you some of the sights in Lanjing. Have you had a chance to visit Chen Yuan’s university? We could all go together since you’ve come all this way."

"That’s right, Mom. You’ve come all this way, why don’t we go out for a bit? The weather is perfect for it today," Chen Yuan added, walking to the window to look outside. "We can rest for a while, and once the sun isn’t so strong, we can head out."

"Oh... but wouldn’t we be getting in the way of your plans?"