Chapter 77: Auntie
Ding-dong! Ding-dong-ding-dong…
"Coming! Who is it?"
Hearing the urgent ringing of the doorbell, An Yuan’s mother hurried to the door. When she opened it, she saw Chen Cheng standing outside with her schoolbag, head lowered, hair messy.
She looked puzzled. "Did you leave something at An Yuan’s place?"
"No…."
The moment Chen Cheng spoke, her trembling voice made An Yuan’s mother realize something was wrong. Gently, she took Chen Cheng’s arm and pulled her inside.
"Come in, it’s cold outside. What happened? Tell me."
"It’s nothing, really…"
Chen Cheng sat down on the couch, taking deep breaths, clenching and unclenching her fists, trying to get her emotions under control.
She had wanted to be strong, like a fierce lion, intimidating her arguing parents into silence. But the truth was, she had always been a soft-hearted person. The moment she opened her mouth, instead of intimidating her parents, she ended up making herself cry.
That’s why she hated arguing. Even when she had a valid point, she could barely get two sentences in before tears started falling uncontrollably.
An Yuan’s mother brought over a cup of warm water and sat beside her, wrapping her slightly rough hands around Chen Cheng’s.
"It’s okay, Auntie is here~ Did you argue with your mom? I’ll argue back for you later."
"Mm…"
The tears she had just managed to hold back threatened to spill again at Auntie’s comforting voice.
At least now, no one would tell her “boys don’t cry” or “stop acting like a girl” when she was upset.
Because, well, she was a girl.
Chen Cheng stared down at her toes, already regretting her impulsiveness.
If she could just endure it for another seven or eight years, her parents would divorce anyway. Realistically, she only had to deal with it for one more year, once she went to college, she wouldn’t be home often, and their bad relationship would no longer be her problem.
As for trying to "fix" their marriage?
Impossible. Completely out of the question. They had no intention of making up in the first place.
"Did your dad come back?" An Yuan’s mother guessed. "And then started fighting with your mom again?"
"Yeah."
"Sigh… they’ve been arguing since you were little. I tried talking to them before…" An Yuan’s mother frowned. Back when Chen Cheng was still in kindergarten, she would often run to An Yuan’s house to escape from her parents' fights.
Back then, she was just a little kid, so it was fine for her to stay the night. But now, she was a grown girl…
"Chengzi?"
Chen Cheng turned toward the voice and saw An Yuan stepping out of the bathroom. His hair was damp, and he was shirtless, wearing only a loose pair of shorts.
Their eyes met, and An Yuan instantly froze, looking awkward and unsure whether to flee back to his room to put on a shirt. Even though Chen Cheng had seen him running around half-naked plenty of times before, this time felt different.
But then, he noticed her red, teary eyes, the slight shimmer of unshed tears. She looked pitiful, as if she was about to cry again at any moment.
His instinct to escape vanished. Instead, he asked, "What happened? You looked happy just earlier."
Chen Cheng wiped the corner of her eye. "I didn’t cry."
"They had a fight again." An Yuan’s mother sighed. "It'd be so much better if things were as peaceful as they are in our family, right?"
Chen Cheng’s parents constantly fought because her father worked away from home, creating a growing rift in their marriage.
An Yuan’s parents, on the other hand, had the opposite situation. His dad also worked far away, but instead of drifting apart, his parents actually got along better that way. Every time they reunited, it was like a long-awaited rainfall after a drought, so affectionate it made An Yuan cringe.
"Go put on a shirt! Walking around half-naked, what kind of look is that?"
Only then did An Yuan snap back to reality, rushing back to his room to get dressed.
Chen Cheng hesitated for a moment. She wanted to follow him into his room, but her parents would probably come looking for her soon. She could only suppress the urge and stay seated on the couch.
"It’s alright now, Auntie’s here~"
An Yuan’s mother reassured her, then grabbed a box of tissues from the table and placed it in her lap. "How about staying over tonight? Don’t go home."
"Mm."
"How about sleeping with Auntie tonight?"
Chen Cheng shook her head, hesitating for a moment before swallowing her words. "I’ll just sleep on the couch. I’m used to sleeping alone."
After all, what she really wanted to say was that she wanted to sleep in An Yuan’s room. If she had said that, An Yuan’s mother might’ve gone ahead and prepared some protection for the night.
"No way, how can I let a guest sleep on the couch?"
Just then, the doorbell rang again. An Yuan’s mother’s gentle expression instantly turned cold. She patted Chen Cheng’s back reassuringly before standing up to open the door.
"You two are unbelievable! Fighting in front of your daughter every single day!"
"You don’t know how infuriating her father is—"
"Oh, and I don’t know you?"
"……"
As soon as she opened the door, An Yuan’s mother roared like a fierce mother tiger. Chen Cheng shrank back, nervously peeking toward the entrance.
Her mother, who was usually the dominant one at home, was suddenly overpowered. After all, her mother was a bit introverted, tough when arguing with her father, but completely outmatched against An Yuan’s mother.
Luckily, An Yuan’s mother was her mother’s longtime best friend. If it were anyone else, her mother probably wouldn’t have even tried to argue back.
"Let’s take this outside! Don’t scare Chen Cheng!"
With a dark expression, An Yuan’s mother grabbed Chen Cheng’s mother by the arm and shut the door behind them.
An Yuan, now fully dressed, stepped out of his room and glanced toward the door. "What’s going on? My mom and your mom are arguing again?"
"She’s standing up for me~" Chen Cheng was actually a little happy to see her mom getting scolded. "I hope she convinces my mom to get a divorce. She always tries to make peace, but it never works."
"And what about you?"
"I’m probably staying at your place tonight."
An Yuan grabbed a bottle of Coke from the fridge and handed it to Chen Cheng before leaning against the back of the couch.
Her eyes were still a little red. She opened the bottle and gulped down half of it in one go, then let out a small burp. Hugging the bottle, she lowered her head and stayed silent.
An Yuan reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Don’t touch my head."
"I thought it might cheer you up."
"I’m not some cat or dog that feels better just from a head pat." Chen Cheng leaned back against the couch, her bare feet resting on the cushion as she hugged her knees. She muttered, "Marriage is all the same. My parents, you… none of them are happy."
Her gaze dropped as she absentmindedly picked at her fingernail. "If I get married, I’ll probably end up the same way… I’m also the kind of person who’s tough at home but moody and unstable…"
Ever since she became a girl, she had definitely noticed she was more emotional than before.
"It’s not that bad, you just see more of the unhappy ones." An Yuan scratched his head awkwardly. "In my case, I had no choice. Who knew she’d turn out to be like that? And stop bringing her up, you always get jealous when we talk about her."
"……"
Chen Cheng suddenly went quiet. An Yuan felt a little uneasy, wondering if he had said something wrong.
Thinking back on the past few days, he glanced cautiously toward the door, hesitated for a moment, then sat down beside her.
"You wanna borrow my shoulder?"
"We’re brothers. If I needed it, I wouldn’t need to ask."
Chen Cheng leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder with a sigh.
Feeling the weight on her shoulder, perhaps at this moment the girl needed a hug more than anything. But the current atmosphere made An Yuan worry that it might be a step too far, and that Chen Cheng would instead be displeased.
"I’ll sleep on your couch tonight."
"Then, I’ll get you a couple of blankets. Do you want a late-night snack later?"
"No, I’m too tired."