"Uncle and Aunt are back?"
"Yeah, how was your stroll by the seaside?"
"Not bad, just a bit chilly."
At 5:30 in the afternoon, after Li Peifeng and the others returned ho, Li Qiyuan and Yu Huizhi drove back after their supervision.
Old Li bought a bunch of groceries and began bustling around to prepare dinner, enlisting the help of his filial son, Li Peifeng.
Nowadays, with six people at ho waiting to eat, four extra mouths, the daily food expenses are sky-high, and the difficulty of cooking has increased dramatically, which worries Li Qiyuan.
Especially since the three girls have an unusual relationship with his son, strictly speaking, each could be considered a daughter-in-law, the als naturally cannot be simple, each one must be lavish.
Not counting pickled vegetables, at least six dishes for six people, right?
Six dishes aren’t too hard, the key is the three family’s palates differ, so like sour, so love spicy, so prefer light flavors, so don’t eat at, so dislike green vegetables, and so dishes can’t have ginger...
"Better leave quickly, don’t stay here for the new year, or else I’ll have to make at least four types of dumpling fillings!"
Once again offering a lavish dinner, Master Chef Li Qiyuan ate while listening to the girls’ complints, seemingly pleased but inwardly numb.
But the fortunate thing was, the dinner atmosphere was decent, none of the previous open or hidden strife.
After the al, they all helped clean up the dishes, completing their chores and returned to their rooms without any other disturbances. Li Peifeng was also planning to work in the attic, but unexpectedly the couple followed him up.
"Mom, Dad, anything wrong?"
"Let’s talk inside."
Li Qiyuan and Yu Huizhi sat in the small bedroom in the attic, forming an interrogation stance against their son.
"The chat yesterday was good, right? I noticed they hardly quarreled today."
"Yeah, the chat went well."
"Have you thought about it? Who will you choose?"
"...I really don’t know."
Yu Huizhi’s expression changed: "I think you haven’t seriously thought about it, planning to procrastinate, right?"
Li Peifeng gave a dry laugh: "That’s impossible, absolutely impossible, I will carefully ponder and make the right choice in the end."
Li Qiyuan said sternly: "Wanting too much to make the right choice leads to difficulty in choosing, you should use liking as a substitute for correctness, maybe that’s the best choice."
"Mm, yes, yes, yes."
Yu Huizhi glanced at Li Qiyuan and said softly: "That’s what your dad and I an too, we’re okay with whoever you end up choosing, as long as you like it."
"...What I actually prefer is multiple choice."
"If you keep joking, I’ll go downstairs and fetch the rolling pin."
Li Peifeng remained silent, thinking that he had already hidden the rolling pin!
Next, his parents took turns guiding him for a while, pumping him full of life advice, Mr. Li let it go in one ear and out the other, not hearing a word.
Due to the unprecedented verbosity of his parents, after listening for a long ti, Li Peifeng grew impatient too.
"Actually, when I was heading to the capital for college, you clearly taught a truth. Regarding my own life, the only thing I can do is ’Choose the path I believe is best.’ On the other hand, how others evaluate your choice is their issue, which I can’t control nor need to handle, because they can’t take responsibility for my life."
"So you’re going to act willfully, right?"
"I think Li Peifeng, your mind is muddled, not to ntion our consent, do you know what consequence will arise if their parents learn about this?"
"To be unable to obey oneself is to obey others. From ’Thus Spoke Zarathustra’, aning not seeking affirmation outside oneself and beco one’s own master..."
The aning of the words is correct, great wisdom, great philosophy!
But Li Qiyuan and Yu Huizhi did not agree, they got angry and launched a more intense discipline on Li the Filial.
But this ti Li Peifeng wised up, no longer argued, just maintained silence.
Seeing that he was impervious to persuasion, the two elders spoke for a while longer and then had to go downstairs to their rooms,
"Think it over properly yourself!"
"If by the seventh you don’t understand the matter... then don’t stay at this ho!"
Otherwise, on the seventh I plan to fly to Shanghai for the annual eting, a weak threat!
Li Peifeng sat quietly for a mont, got up and went to the window, removed the black cloth covering the easel, revealing the unfinished Starry Night Map.
"This surging emotion, this endless loneliness, and sudden bewildernt is my greatest inspiration!"
Li Peifeng picked up the paintbrush, one stroke at a ti delineating what was on his mind through his painting, awake the entire night.
When confronted with difficulties, besides giving up, there’s another way.
"Precisely because I have the ability to transcend, this challenge has co!"
...
"Uncle and Aunt, I’m leaving now."
"Seems like there’s a bit of snow falling outside, Qingge drive slowly, take care."
"Alright."
On January 3rd at noon, Zhao Qingge set off for Beijing after lunch, Li Peifeng accompanied her downstairs, thinking of driving her to the highway entrance, but Old Zhao refused, instead, just turned on the car’s heater, chatting with him inside.
"I’m off on the sixth, and I’ll return to Ningyuan City that night to hear your decision on the seventh, so there’s no need to take ."
"Mm."
Li Peifeng stayed in the car, holding Zhao Qingge’s hand, and she didn’t start the engine.
In the whooshing sound of the car heater, the two silently gazed at each other for a while, Old Zhao turned to face forward and spoke softly: "No matter who you choose that day, I can accept it. You don’t need to worry too much about my feelings, I accept things going against my wishes. Besides, the feelings I have for you aren’t purely genuine; I still can’t confirm whether they’re what can be called as a romantic sentint between a man and a woman. Perhaps ending this relationship with you sooner might be a good outco, so, don’t feel pressured, understand?"
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