My Online Girlfriend Has a Twin Sister - Chapter 250 165: Otaku Dimension Cafe (2)

“Getting attached to this car?”

“What’s there to be attached to? This old clunker,” Mr. Chen said, patting the steering wheel. “Didn’t your mom tell you? We’re planning to buy you a new apartment in the city. We’ve saved up almost enough money. We’ll just have to take out a small loan and we can buy it.”

“Huh?” Chen Yuan was stunned. “You didn’t discuss this with me?”

“There’s nothing to discuss. You’re about that age. A few of the older teachers at my school already made plans for their kids long ago. We’re actually late to the game.”

In small northern cities, the traditional family mindset was to prepare for buying a house and getting married as soon as the children reached a certain age.

In rural areas, you could just build your own house.

In the urban districts, families would start planning to buy a house when their children were still in middle school.

“But,” Chen Yuan said hesitantly, not quite understanding, “I might not live around here in the future.”

“I know!”

Unexpectedly, Mr. Chen’s reply was crisp and decisive.

Mr. Chen continued, “Whether you live in it or not, you have to have one. Of course it’s good if you want to stay and build a career in a bigger city—the opportunities and educational resources are much better than what we have here. But you still need a home to come back to.”

Although Mrs. Chen had a strong need for control, a forceful personality, and didn’t particularly like Jiang Zhengfeng, you couldn’t say she wasn’t a good mother.

She would never trap him in their small, barren county town.

What they could provide couldn’t compare to Jiang Zhengfeng. His biological father had money, power, and connections. But they had no intention of shirking their parental responsibilities, even as his adoptive parents.

Chen Yuan couldn’t go without the things other children had.

“But…” Chen Yuan fell silent.

As the provincial capital, Quan City’s housing prices were not low. Even a place in a less-than-ideal location would cost a seven-figure sum!

That was a seven-figure sum!

Even after twenty or thirty years of working hard and saving as teachers, the two of them probably couldn’t reach that number.

“What’s wrong?”

“I just don’t think it’s necessary… I don’t plan on working back home. Besides, with my major, the best paths forward are to stay at the university for graduate studies or find an internship at a good research department.”

“Your mother and I have considered all that. There’s not much more we can do…” Mr. Chen’s voice suddenly became earnest and soft. “A person needs a home. A place to shelter you from the wind and rain. No matter what, you have to have one… Even a humble nest is still a nest.”

Perhaps this was a deep-seated conviction of the older generation, or perhaps it was a reflection of how deeply Chinese culture values family.

Buying a house was always a top priority.

Starting a family, establishing a career…

Every young man, upon reaching adulthood, retraces the path walked by countless men before him. And this was the only support the older generation could offer the next.

After all, everyone’s life is different. Parents can only pave some of the less critical roads; the rest of the journey must be walked alone.

Chen Yuan couldn’t understand his parents’ actions, just as he couldn’t understand why his dad kept repairing this old car time and time again.

Furthermore, their initial plan was to pay off the loan by the time they both retired, which would be a twenty-year term. Their combined salaries, though not large, would be enough to afford the apartment without significantly impacting their quality of life. Of course, they wouldn’t be able to think about any other major purchases. After buying the apartment, they’d have to renovate it, and that would also be a considerable expense.

But, as long as they bought this apartment, when faced with questions from Jiang Zhengfeng or their relatives and neighbors, they could say, full of pride, “We bought this for our son.” It was the gift they, as parents, were giving their child as he entered society.

…

Before long, a travel-worn Chen Yuan arrived at the entrance to Fengting District.

Standing once again beneath the grand, stately stone archway, he scanned his face and walked inside, suitcase in hand. He felt the ache in his shoulders ease a little.

He took the elevator up and entered his apartment.

Chen Yuan changed into his slippers, grabbed a glass and a drink from the fridge, and flopped comfortably onto the soft sofa with a contented sigh! Every muscle in his body relaxed. Even though his feet were still burning, his spirit found immense relief.

It was as if the apartment itself had the power to soothe his fatigue.

No, that wasn’t it.

It was just that he could smell the lingering scent of his girlfriend—a cloyingly sweet fragrance of fruit mixed with a hint of cream, easily distinguishable if he took a deliberate sniff.

On the coffee table was her hair clip, a gel pen with its cap loose, and a porcelain plate with leftover cherry stems.

Because the window had been left open, the living room wasn’t warm, carrying a chill from the cold wind blowing in. A few articles of clothing were hanging on the balcony; the winter wind made Jiangg Yao’s pajamas seem translucent.

When Chen Yuan first started university, he had been reluctant to move out of the dorms. But after living in this apartment for so long and creating so many memories with his girlfriend here, the value of this apartment had suddenly soared.

Time itself is meaningless, and a building of steel and concrete has no warmth. But the past he had lived and the present he was on the verge of losing continuously added to the apartment’s splendor.

So, upon returning to this place steeped in the scent of his own life, Chen Yuan felt his whole body and mind relax.

FSSST—

He yanked open the pull-tab on the soda can, poured it out, and the glass instantly filled with foam.

After slowly finishing the cold drink, Chen Yuan began to unpack his suitcase.

Afterward, he sent a message to Jiangg Yao, telling her he had arrived in Lanjing.

Jiangg Yao and her sister, Jiangg Ning, were scheduled to arrive at noon in three days, flying from Hongqiao Airport in Mingzhu City. In the meantime, Chen Yuan planned to use the few days he had to himself to go to the company and get familiar with their procedures.