207. Investigation
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Mother was anxiously sitting inside Wu Guodong’s car, occasionally turning her head to peek out the window, trying to spot Lin Nan. But after waiting for a full ten minutes, all she could see was… nothing. No sign of her precious kid.
Worry gnawed at her guts as she turned to Wu Guodong and asked, “Why did Nan Nan go off to her dad’s? She must be going through a lot.”
“Does she usually ignore WeChat?” Wu Guodong replied, opening the car door and lighting a cigarette with the car’s lighter, sitting back to indulge in his nicotine fix. “She probably didn’t see your messages. You should’ve called her.”
“Do you think she’s going to blame me later?”
“A little cash will fix that,” Wu Guodong said. He didn’t know Lin Nan well, but he had definitely noticed his niece’s little money-grubbing tendencies.
However, Mother didn’t pay too much attention to Wu Guodong’s comment; she was still too worried.
Another ten minutes passed, and finally, she spotted Lin Nan’s figure. Just as she was about to get out of the car, Lin Nan came bounding over, pressed her face against the window, and waved enthusiastically.
“Get in!”
Mother opened the back door and gestured for Lin Nan to hop in, but Lin Nan stuck to the spot, glancing back at Chen Yao, who was trailing behind her.
Wait a minute, there was a guy with Lin Nan!
Looks like one of her little buddy pals?
She stared at Chen Yao, who was lugging a suitcase in one hand and a cat carrier in the other, while Lin Nan was just standing there empty-handed. It seemed like Chen Yao was carrying all her stuff, which definitely didn’t scream “just friends.” If anything, it screamed “more-than-just-friends.”
The last time she saw Chen Yao, things were fine and dandy, but now she felt like her kid’s relationship with him was a little… more than usual.
“Uncle, could you open the trunk?”
Wait, did he know Lin Nan’s situation and…
Lin Nan caught the worried look on her mother’s face and quickly explained, “I stayed with him at the inn last night. Didn’t have anywhere else to hang out during the day, so I came to wait at his place for you.”
Mother’s gaze on Chen Yao turned into a glare that could melt steel. How long had her child known she was a girl? She hadn’t even had surgery yet, and this guy was obviously taking advantage of her situation!
And here she had thought Lin Nan made a decent friend…
Once Chen Yao managed to stuff the cat and suitcase into the trunk, he looked up and instantly froze under Mother’s judgmental stare, clearly perplexed as to what just happened.
There was no dialogue, but the vibe said it all—definitely not friendly.
“Uh… what did I do wrong?”
Feeling more than a little awkward, he shuffled up to Lin Nan’s side, completely lost.
“Let’s go,” Mother said, turning her head to ignore this so-called gentleman.
Chen Yao didn’t have a clue what had irked her. He noticed Lin Nan climbing into the backseat and rushed to the front, trying to open the door to get in.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m just keeping her company,” Chen Yao said as he boldly plopped down in the passenger seat. If there was one thing he had plenty of, it was thick skin. “I figured I’d take a little trip around before the New Year anyway.”
Oh, the audacity of this little punk!
Mother shot him a fierce glare, while Wu Guodong was feeling jealous. His niece—so beautiful—would now be a target for pigs like Chen Yao?! That thought was seriously frustrating.
Lin Nan quickly noticed that both her mother and Uncle seemed a bit off about Chen Yao. Her soaring spirits took a hit as she cautiously glanced between her mom and the unfazed Chen Yao, then gently tugged at her mother’s sleeve.
“So… what’s going on?”
She was terrified her mother would think Chen Yao did something to her, so she quickly explained, “We’re just friends, that’s all.”
“Someone might disagree with that.”
Chen Yao silently rolled his eyes. If it weren’t for me, your kid would still be stuck in that hellhole, okay?!
But still, he could see the intensity of her mother’s protectiveness over Lin Nan. It definitely made her dad look like an amateur in comparison.
He turned back to Lin Nan’s mother and flashed a harmless smile.
She shot him a sideways glance, refusing to engage, and began softly updating Lin Nan on everything that had happened recently, which was pretty much in line with what she’d texted. However, Lin Nan was left speechless by her father’s character.
First off, the plan was for her mother to leave the marriage with nothing. Naturally, she wasn’t having that, so she consulted a lawyer and took the case to court. There was no way around it; the court decided on a 50/50 split of everything, especially the newly bought house, which belonged to them as post-marriage assets. Mother chose to take the money.
But guess what? Father’s pockets were practically empty. Even if he had money, he clearly didn’t plan to share it. He was still avoiding paying up.
Mother initially thought things would go smoothly. Now that Lin Nan was confirmed as female, the house didn’t seem to matter much; what mattered was getting the cash for the surgery. But since Father wouldn’t budge… she was stuck working at a factory in the countryside to make ends meet while simultaneously dealing with legal matters.
Lin Nan was heartbroken hearing about all of her mother’s troubles. No wonder she hadn’t had time to call in the last month!
Uncle must have known about all this, but Lin Nan and Chen Yao were both fuming.
“Honestly, what were you thinking when you married that idiot? How could you even like someone so dumb?” Chen Yao snapped, unable to hold back. “If I hadn’t gone to pick Lin Nan up yesterday, you’d have probably been a total mess today!”
“What did he do to you?” Mother asked, her heart aching as she rubbed Lin Nan’s little head. “Tell me all about it.”
“Not much… he just said he could accept me…” Lin Nan said softly.
Mother scoffed, “He can ‘accept’ you? Ha! I bet he just wants you to put on a happy face now so that later on he can cash in on all your kindness!”
Lin Nan fell silent, reluctant to talk about her father.
She didn’t know him well, and, prior to this, they hadn’t exchanged more than a few words. She hadn’t formed any strong opinions about him. But after listening to her mother, she started to realize that she didn’t really need his validation or anything from him.
Once the four of them settled in the car, after discussing how Chen Yao had gone out of his way to look after Lin Nan since middle school—essentially providing the familial affection she lacked—Mother was suddenly warming up to the idea of this potential son-in-law.
But, hang on… wasn’t this guy straight?
Lin Nan hadn’t even had her surgery yet… could he even deal with that?
“When we get to our destination, I want you to have a meal with me,” Mother declared, deciding to do a little more investigating to see what Chen Yao was all about.
Chen Yao felt a wave of panic. Despite him constantly explaining to his parents that he and Lin Nan were not dating, if he could win over Lin Nan’s mother…
Wouldn’t that be half the battle won?
“Why do you need to eat with him?” Lin Nan was basking in her mother’s care, leaning against her and resting her head on her shoulder, her beautiful eyes squinting with joy.
“It’s an investigation! Can’t let you get scammed and end up counting cash for a j*rk.”
“I’m not that silly,” Lin Nan pouted, her tone adorably sulky. “Besides, I’ve known him for like six or seven years! What’s there to investigate?”
“Sure, being friends is perfectly fine…” Mother gently stroked Lin Nan’s hair while casting a stern look at the expectant Chen Yao.
But as for whether he was fit to be a son-in-law? That was still up for debate!
She had already let Lin Nan suffer enough in the past due to her negligence; she absolutely didn’t want her daughter to undergo any more hardships in the future.
