Chapter 14: With a Little Effort, It Can Still Be Won Back

"Where are Mom and Dad?" Xu Heng circled the house, seeing no one else.

Xu Ruoxi lounged on the side of the living room, eating potato chips while watching *Home with Kids*, and replied nonchalantly: "Dad went to work, Mom went downstairs to buy braised dishes, she'll be back in a bit."

"Are you on break?"

"I've been on break for a few days."

"What was your score?"

"What do you mean? I study really hard, okay!"

At the mention of grades, his younger sister's little face immediately puffed up like a pufferfish, her large eyes glaring at Xu Heng with dissatisfaction; the small favors Xu Heng had given her just minutes ago were cast to the back of her mind.

No one wants a brother with good grades in the house.

Although Xu Ruoxi was considered outstanding among her peers in their small city, having gotten into the second-best high school in the entire city, compared to Xu Heng, she was a bit lackluster.

And the thing elders love to do most is compare!

Whether eating out with friends or running into relatives on the street, they always have to bring them out for a comparison.

Xu Heng's father and mother didn't really like comparing these things, but they couldn't stop others from asking, and once they answered, it was always a classic combo attack.

Things like, "Oh my, I remember your little Heng was in the top ten of the city, how come it's not the same with Ruoxi?" while taking the opportunity to mention that their own child scored six hundred and something.

If they can't beat your son, they'll beat your daughter!

The neighborhood ladies specialize in the Tian Ji horse-racing strategy.

It is easy to imagine how sensitive Xu Ruoxi, having had these experiences, is to the two words "grades."

"So, what was your score?"

"Nearly six hundred."

"Give me the specific number." Xu Heng pretended to reach for the bag of snacks on the coffee table.

"Five hundred and thirteen."

"You call that nearly six hundred?"

"Five hundred and thirteen is five hundred-something, and five hundred-something is nearly six hundred, so 'nearly six hundred' is perfectly fine~" Little Sister Xu counted on her fingers and said with righteous confidence.

Xu Heng couldn't help but laugh: "You really aren't afraid of Mom and Dad using the stick on you."

Xu Ruoxi clung to his arm affectionately and said in a sweet voice: "What's there to fear? Don't I still have you, my dear brother? Mom and Dad have always loved you the most since we were little; if I get hit, you pleading for me will definitely work."

"Right, right, right, and it would be best if I took a couple of whacks for you too, right?"

The door lock turned, and a middle-aged woman walked in to see Xu Heng and Xu Ruoxi bonding; she couldn't help but pause, but a smile quickly appeared on her face.

"Little Heng is back."

Facing his adoptive mother, who looked over ten years younger than he remembered, Xu Heng also froze for two seconds before nodding gently: "Yeah."

"Rest for a while, we'll wash up and eat in a bit."

The woman placed the cooked food she had bought on the dining table and took an apron from the hanging basket by the kitchen entrance.

She was Xu Heng's mother now, Song Ming.

Time had already left its mark on this woman; at nearly fifty years old this year, Mother Xu's back appeared somewhat thin and short.

Mother Xu was once a state-owned enterprise employee; after being laid off early, she could still earn one or two thousand in wages, while Father Xu was a technical worker currently employed at a state-owned enterprise, earning four or five thousand a month.

The combined wages of the two elders were more than enough to support two children through school, and with their housing provident fund and various benefits, buying cars and houses for the children was no problem.

Mother Xu had been strict with Xu Heng since he was a child, hoping her son would distinguish himself when he grew up; later, it was her suggestion that Xu Heng take the civil service exam.

Contrary to Mother Xu was Father Xu; because he worked at his unit year-round, he was basically only home every evening and on weekends, so his relationship with Xu Heng was a bit distant, and slightly better with Little Sister Xu, though not by much.

In Xu Heng's memory, his father always had a serious expression, and even when he returned home, he was as busy as if he were still at work.

It was only after Xu Heng passed the civil service exam that he gradually understood that after working in the same unchanging position for most of one's life, a person really does become rigid, or even indifferent.

Having lived two lives, Xu Heng was no longer the naive person he was in his previous life; he began to understand the difficulties of being a parent.

During the meal, Mother Xu asked him about things at school; Xu Heng didn't remember much about what happened during his freshman year, so he could only make things up.

Mother Xu had never been to college and didn't understand these things; she nodded as she listened, taking everything he said as the truth, completely unaware of her precious son's glorious record of failing three subjects in one semester.

"How are things going with Ziyun?"

After finishing the trivial small talk, Mother Xu shifted the focus of the conversation to the major events in Xu Heng's life.

Face to face, he didn't continue to hide it and replied flatly, "We broke up."

"Broke up?"

"Broke up?"

Mother Xu and Little Sister Xu, who were both looking down at their food, turned their gazes toward Xu Heng almost simultaneously.

One looked stunned, while the other looked stunned but also somewhat pleasantly surprised.

"How did you break up? How could you two break up..." Mother Xu murmured, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

She had such a great daughter-in-law, and just like that, she was gone?

"College students breaking up is a common phenomenon." The secretly delighted Little Sister Xu helped Xu Heng explain, "For someone like my brother, dating five or six people over four years is perfectly normal."

No, your brother only dated one person in his four years of college.

Thinking of his own future, Xu Heng shook his head: "Ying Ziyun and I had incompatible values; breaking up was just a matter of time."

In his previous life, although Xu Heng had told Mother Xu about the breakup at this time, he was still very confident then, convinced he could win Ying Ziyun back, and Mother Xu had even expressed her support for that.

Unfortunately, in the end, they had no future.

In this life, Xu Heng did not intend to waste time on Ying Ziyun, so he stated their situation clearly to let his mother give up the idea of Ying Ziyun becoming her daughter-in-law.

Mother Xu asked if they had been arguing, or if Xu Heng had made her angry?

Xu Heng spread his hands and said no, but she didn't believe him.

At Mother Xu's age, it is very difficult to change things once they have been decided.

In her mind, Ying Ziyun had always been the best candidate for a daughter-in-law.

"You two have been seeing each other for a year or so at least, there's some affection there; if you put in some effort, you can still win Ziyun back."

"Uh... let's talk about that next semester."

"What do you mean next semester? Isn't Ziyun from Tong City? You hurry up and take some action for me."

Just like that, after finishing the meal, Xu Heng was kicked out of the house by Mother Xu.

Xu Heng thought with a bitter smile, you may like her, but she doesn't like your son!

Doing something like fawning over someone who is cold to you is not something he can do now.

However, Xu Heng had originally planned to go out in the afternoon to buy some things, so being kicked out of the house by Mother Xu was just convenient for him.

It only takes ten minutes or so to walk from the residential complex along Huaihe Avenue to the pedestrian street; that's the one good thing about living in the city center, you don't need to take a taxi to get anywhere.

Currently, there is only one place in all of Tong City to buy electronic products, which is Red Star Computer City inside the pedestrian street.

Xu Heng strolled all the way to the Dell flagship store, and after some deliberation, he bought a newly released Inspiron 1420 model from this year, spending seven thousand yuan.

Actually, he wanted to buy a better computer, but most of his money had been invested in the stock market; now he only had ten thousand yuan left on him, so he still had to spend it sparingly.

A laptop is a necessity, so he spent a bit more money to buy this not-so-bad Dell.

Then there was the mobile phone; he had to use that pathetic 2G network every day to check the performance of his book, so he bought a Nokia 6120 classic for seventeen hundred yuan.

The most awesome mobile phone this year is undoubtedly the Nokia, the Nokia N95, the hegemon of the 2G and 3G eras; taking it out would be very prestigious.

It's a pity that he can't afford the seven or eight thousand yuan price tag for the time being, so he'll just make do with a "youth version N95."