Chapter 406

We saw Aunt Wanru at the entrance of the Maternal and Child Health Hospital; she was pacing and looking around. She seemed to be waiting for someone, or perhaps hoping for someone.

She looked nervous and her demeanor was very unnatural. She peered into the entrance and then pulled her gaze back in a flustered manner. She walked to the flower bed, reached out to pluck a rose, sniffed it, and slowly crumbled the petals, scattering them all over the ground.

Following Aunt Wanru's gaze, I saw my cousin's car parked under a tall poplar tree. I didn't see my cousin in the car, only a driver sitting there blankly.

Not long after, I saw a man hurry over. Seeing Aunt Wanru, he took a few quick steps toward her and whispered something.

I didn't dare go over. I hadn't told Aunt Wanru which hospital Chen Meng was in; she must be very angry with me.

Huang Weiwei wasn't familiar with Aunt Wanru. Seeing me not getting out of the car, but staring at a graceful woman, she asked unhappily, "What are you looking at?"

I didn't answer her.

Huang Weiwei opened the car door to get out, and I grabbed her hand and said, "Wait."

She looked at me in confusion, and I had to say, "My aunt is here."

Huang Weiwei widened her eyes in surprise and asked, "What is she here for?"

"What else?" I said with a bitter smile, "To see her grandson."

"What grandson is she seeing?" Huang Weiwei curled her lips and said, "What does it have to do with her?"

I scratched my head and said, "It has a little bit to do with her."

As we were talking, we saw a doctor in a white coat hurry out and walk quickly to my cousin's car. Seeing no one in the car, he looked up and peered around.

Then I saw my cousin's secretary go over, and Aunt Wanru followed. The three of them stood by a cluster of roses, talking in low voices.

"You didn't need to hide at all," Huang Weiwei said. "If you aren't going, I am."

She opened the door and got out regardless, walking straight toward Aunt Wanru.

I had no choice but to get out and follow. Aunt Wanru happened to look over, caught sight of me, and said with a face full of frost, "Xiao Feng, you've finally appeared."

I put on an awkward, smiling face and said embarrassedly, "Aunt, I slept a bit late last night."

Aunt looked at Huang Weiwei standing beside me, a trace of a smile floating in her eyes. She asked, "Are you Xiao Huang?"

Huang Weiwei didn't expect Aunt Wanru to know her, so she hurriedly replied, "It's me. My name is Huang Weiwei."

Aunt Wanru had an innate reserve; this charm of hers was revealed from her very bones. Compared to the quiet Huang Weiwei, the contrast was immediately apparent.

If Huang Weiwei was a woman of the girl-next-door type, Aunt Wanru was the very image of a lady from a prominent family.

Southern women and Northern women are very different. Southern women are like bodies made of water, soft, like willow branches in the spring breeze of March. Northern women have an air of looking down on the world, with strength in their softness, like a piece of raw jade wrapped in a ball of cotton—softness within strength, and strength within softness.

Aunt Wanru smiled faintly and said, "I've heard Xiao Feng mention you. You are now the daughter-in-law of the Lao Chen family, which means you are also the daughter-in-law of our Lao He family."

She took a hairpin out of her bag, looked at it, handed it to Huang Weiwei, and said, "According to our Northern customs, when elders meet the younger generation, they need to give a gift. It's a rush today, and I don't have anything good to give you. This hairpin was passed down from the previous generation. I'm giving it to you."

Huang Weiwei was startled; she didn't know whether to accept it or not. She didn't dare reach out her hands at all, so she had to look at me.

This action of Aunt Wanru's also surprised me quite a bit. Looking at this hairpin, it should be a rare item. I guessed that Aunt Wanru had it on her not to give to Huang Weiwei, but for someone else.

Sure enough, seeing Huang Weiwei not taking it, Aunt Wanru sighed and said, "You are the daughter-in-law of the Lao Chen family, but actually, it's the same as being the daughter-in-law of the Lao He family. Giving it to you is also giving it to one of our own. Come, take it."

Huang Weiwei's face flushed red, and she stammered, "Aunt, wouldn't that be inappropriate?"

Aunt Wanru smiled, "What's inappropriate about it? We're all family, don't be polite."

As she said this, she pinned the hairpin onto Huang Weiwei's head, looked at it from left to right, and actually clapped her hands and laughed, "It's really beautiful. This hairpin seems to have been tailor-made for you."

Huang Weiwei smiled shyly, reached out to touch it, and couldn't bear to take it off. She leaned against me and said, "Why don't you hurry and invite Aunt inside?"

The doctor who had just come out greeted Aunt Wanru, "Leader, I'll go in first. If there's anything, just give your orders."

Aunt Wanru waved her hand, "Sorry to trouble you."

She reached out and pulled Huang Weiwei over, exaggerating, "What a great figure."

Huang Weiwei became even more shy, not daring to look at me, and with her head down, she held Aunt Wanru's arm and led her toward the ward.

I thought for a moment and followed.

Since Aunt Wanru could find Chen Meng, she definitely came with an attitude. For the wife of a Municipal Party Deputy Secretary to find a pregnant woman waiting to give birth in a Hengyue City hospital was simply a piece of cake.

With my cousin's secretary taking action, no matter how authoritative the doctor was, he wouldn't dare not lower his status. From the nodding and bowing of the doctor just now, it was clear that the secretary had done his homework.

I didn't know the purpose of Aunt Wanru's rush to the hospital, and I didn't dare ask. I had to follow behind her, step by step.

Aunt Wanru walked a few steps, stopped, turned her head, and called to me, "Xiao Feng, I have a few words for you."

Seeing Aunt's serious and earnest look, I felt like I had a mouse in my heart, scratching away uncomfortably.

"You go first, Xiao Huang," Aunt Wanru let Huang Weiwei go in. Huang Weiwei looked at me, waiting for my reaction.

I nodded secretly. Aunt Wanru was as clever as ice and snow; she let Huang Weiwei go in first to find a buffer zone. Huang Weiwei and Chen Meng were best friends, and the two talked about everything; even things they couldn't say to their parents, they could discuss perfectly well.

Aunt Wanru wanted Huang Weiwei to give Chen Meng a preconceived idea. She was afraid that coming so abruptly would cause unnecessary embarrassment.

Aunt pulled me aside and whispered, "Xiao Feng, what do you think of this?"

I smiled bitterly, "Aunt, what do you want to do?"

Aunt Wanru pondered for a moment and sighed, "Since there's already a child, what else can be done?"

I tentatively asked, "Aunt, do you mean to let them get married?"

Aunt Wanru nodded with a grave expression, and after a while, she sighed, "If they can't get married, the child should be taken back."

I was startled and stammered, "Aunt... is this... is this appropriate?"

Aunt Wanru replied decisively, "What's inappropriate about it? Should Lao He's grandson be raised by someone else? Since he bears the He surname, he should return to the He family."

I hesitated, "Will Chen Meng agree?"

"What's there to disagree with? Either she marries Jiaxiao, or she gives the child to me." Aunt Wanru swept away her usual gentleness and adopted a tough attitude.

"Of course, this is also your uncle's intention." She concluded and then said, "Jiaxiao is already on his way; let him solve this matter himself."

I was at a loss; how should this mess be ended?

I knew that if Chen Meng were to give the child to Aunt Wanru, even killing her might not make it happen. But with Aunt Wanru's attitude, it was also absolutely impossible to make her back down.

"What does Jiaxiao think?" I asked, hoping to find a straw to save my life.

"His opinion is not important," Aunt Wanru said firmly. "He must take responsibility. A grown man must dare to act and dare to take responsibility."

I was speechless for a moment. My aunt, back then you were determined not to let them be together, just because Chen Meng was a few years older than He Jiaxiao. Now, although they have already cooked the rice into porridge, they have let each other go. Yet you want to twist them back together; isn't this forcing people to hang themselves?

"How about waiting until the child is born before making plans?" I used a delaying tactic, wanting to send Aunt away.

"No. You have to strike while the iron is hot. It will be too late to talk about it after the child is born," Aunt Wanru wouldn't budge an inch.

"It's not very good to talk about this now," I was still trying.

Last time, when I brought Chen Meng back from Central Province, I gave He Jiaxiao the bottom line. Although he still loved Chen Meng, under my persuasion, he had basically let go.

To love someone is to let her be happy! This was the advice I gave him.

Because I knew that my Aunt Wanru would not accept Chen Meng; she could not bear the reality that her daughter-in-law was a few years older than her son. Rather than long-term pain, it was better to cut the knot quickly.

Chen Meng was determined to give birth to the child because of her maternal instincts. She might still love He Jiaxiao; she could see the reality, but she had always held onto hope. Therefore, she had been rejecting Guo Wei from beginning to end.

Now, the one in a mess is me. The whole incident has something to do with me.

If He Jiaxiao hadn't gone to Suxi Township with me, he wouldn't have had the chance to meet Chen Meng. If I had stopped him back then, there wouldn't be today's situation.

Just as I was lost in thought, I heard a voice come over: "No one is allowed to control me!"

It was Chen Meng speaking; her voice pierced through the corridor and traveled far in the quiet hospital.

Aunt Wanru and I both heard it; we looked at each other and shook our heads.