"Anyway, your aunt doesn’t see eye to eye with me, but she’s pretty tough," Mei Yinan suddenly realized having a few shameless people in the family might not be such a bad thing after all.
But then again, having a few shameless relatives isn’t something good, is it?
Fan Tianyu readily agreed, "Okay, but we’re staying here. If you bring your aunt over and she notices something amiss, what then?" Isn’t his mom determined to maintain the façade of poverty? It wouldn’t be good to expose themselves by bringing someone over.
"We won’t go to your place, am I that stupid? Your aunt and I will stay directly at an inn, and you can arrange that for us."
It didn’t really matter whether they stayed at an inn or a hotel, as long as it wasn’t too high-end. She, a poor vegetable seller, couldn’t afford to offer hospitality at an upscale hotel. It was an unspoken understanding, so there was no need to spell it out too clearly.
Mei Yinan was fully aware that bringing Mei Yifan along this time was a bit of a gamble, but she was genuinely concerned that she couldn’t handle it alone. After all, hadn’t Fan Tianyu said that those people had a complicated background? If things really got out of hand, she wanted them to know that her family wasn’t to be trifled with.
After finishing her words, Mei Yinan hung up the call, and Fan Hongwei hurriedly said, "Maybe I should take a few days off and go with you."
"No need, just stay home with Chenchen. Zhenzhen is fine, we don’t need to tell Chenchen and worry him unnecessarily."
Fan Hongwei nodded, "Alright, if you run into anything you can’t handle, give me a call."
"Mhm."
The couple exchanged glances, each breathing a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Mei Mengchen was out playing at a friend’s house today, otherwise they couldn’t have avoided the conversations.
...
As soon as Mei Yinan hung up the phone, she went to Mei Yifan’s place.
Wang Gaofeng was the main worker in Mei Yifan’s family, and although she was formally employed, her job was more relaxing and comfortable, leading to a lower salary. With the extra time, Mei Yifan either focused on making money or on her daughter.
Mei Yifan’s daughter, Wang Qiuhe, perfectly inherited Wang Gaofeng’s features—delicate and pretty, tall and slender, at just fifteen years of age, it was already evident that she was going to be a beauty.
This shouldn’t have been a bad thing, except influenced by her parents, Wang Qiuhe’s temperament had its own issues. Not only were her grades at the bottom, but her non-mainstream hairstyle was enough to give anyone a headache.
The school had naturally communicated with the parents, but Mei Yifan simply didn’t take it seriously. She believed her daughter’s temperament was natural and saw nothing wrong with it. As for grades, she was even more indifferent. She and Wang Gaofeng’s grades were nothing to write home about, so how could they expect their child to excel academically? To Mei Yifan, this was perfectly normal.
Moreover, in Mei Yifan’s view, academic performance wasn’t the primary factor determining whether someone was intelligent. Many people simply didn’t grasp studies, but often after graduation, they found opportunities that led to success. She firmly believed her daughter belonged to the latter category, so she was quite laissez-faire regarding her studies. This resulted in Wang Qiuhe straying further down the path of bad behavior, becoming uncontrollable upon entering her rebellious phase.
No one could understand Mei Yifan’s way of thinking, and as Mei Yinan was the eldest sister and often provided more guidance, she would occasionally make a remark or two. This made Wang Qiuhe dislike her even more.
When Mei Yinan arrived, Wang Qiuhe was in the middle of arguing with Mei Yifan. Seeing the garishly dressed Wang Qiuhe, Mei Yinan could barely look. However, it was convenient since Wang Qiuhe didn’t want to see Mei Yinan either. Ignoring her completely, she continued with what she was doing just moments before, "Mom, isn’t 10 bucks enough? Just give me 10 bucks."
Under normal circumstances, Mei Yifan would have bickered with Wang Qiuhe for a while, but with Mei Yinan’s arrival, she glared at her daughter and reluctantly handed over 10 bucks, adding, "This is your allowance for the week. You’re not getting any more once you run out."
Wang Qiuhe didn’t listen at all; that’s what her mom always said, but wouldn’t she still give her more money after making a fuss at home? Wang Qiuhe didn’t even give Mei Yifan a second glance, grabbing the money and heading straight for the elevator.
Mei Yifan reminded her daughter to be careful, and after closing the door, she finally got down to talking with Mei Yinan, "Big sis, why have you come at this time? Is there something you need?"
Mei Yinan frowned and, without any pleasantries, sat on the sofa and couldn’t help but start with a reminder, "Your daughter is 15 now; you can’t keep letting her go on like this. You need to take control."
"Big sis, it’s normal for teenage girls to be like this," Mei Yifan didn’t see anything wrong with Wang Qiuhe.
"Normal? Who else’s teenager is like this? Tianhua isn’t like this, and neither is Zhenzhen," Mei Yinan was baffled, finding the appearance completely displeasing to the eye. "Dressing like one of those what, non-what stream? With hair permed like that, even if someone had two heads, they wouldn’t have one as big as that."
Actually, Mei Yifan also disapproved of that hairstyle; she had been called into school several times because of it, but Wang Qiuhe stubbornly refused to change it back, leaving her helpless. And regarding Tianhua and Mengzhen, she didn’t want to compare her daughter with those two. Sure, they behaved well and did the right thing, but they looked like the types who would never achieve much.
Although Mengzhen was still in college and could be set aside, Tianhua quit his job just a few days after graduating and started selling vegetables with Tianyu. Did selling vegetables require a college degree? But Mei Yifan would never counter her sister on such a topic and promptly changed the subject, "Big sis, is there something you need?"
Seeing Mei Yifan avoiding the topic, Mei Yinan didn’t press but looked troubled as she said, "Here’s the thing, I’d like you to join me on a trip to Jiangcheng. We’ll play for a few days before coming back."
Upon hearing this from Mei Yinan, Mei Yifan paused abruptly.
Mei Yifan’s mind raced; her big sister, Mei Yinan, wanted to go out to play and actually take her along? That was completely unthinkable. Hence, upon hearing this suggestion, she suddenly didn’t dare to speak, fearing she might have done something to upset Mei Yinan, and she was making up an excuse to deal with her.
But upon reflection, she hadn’t done anything recently, which led her to another possibility—could there be some trouble in Jiangcheng?
As Mei Yinan waited a long time without a response, she had to continue asking, "Yifan, what do you think about a trip to Jiangcheng for a few days?"
"Big sis, why are you suddenly thinking of taking me to Jiangcheng for fun out of the blue? Is there something going on?"