Chapter 83: I'm Here
"How are you feeling? Any better?"
"Mm... just really tired..."
Chen Cheng half-opened her eyes and swung her leg over the back seat of the bicycle, resting her head against An Yuan’s back.
Yawning, she wrapped her arms around his waist and slipped her cold hands into the pockets of his jacket to warm them up.
"Are you sitting properly?"
"Yeah."
Only then did An Yuan start slowly pushing the bike forward with his feet, slowly moving towards the school gate.
It was rush hour after school, and students crowded the entrance. But couples as openly affectionate as these two were still rare, drawing curious glances and double takes from passersby.
Once they reached the street outside, An Yuan finally placed one foot on the pedal.
"Chen Cheng? An Yuan?"
That voice... sounded way too familiar.
A cold shiver ran down An Yuan’s spine. His back tensed, goosebumps rising all over his arms. Stiffly, he turned his head.
And there, standing on the sidewalk, was Chen Cheng’s dad.
The sheer terror of getting caught in a high school romance!
That stern expression, those fierce eyes… if glares could kill, An Yuan thought he'd have died at least two times already.
He leaned back slightly and whispered to Chen Cheng, "Your dad’s here."
"Huh? My dad? Achoo!"
Chen Cheng looked up dazedly at her father approaching her.
She froze.
She was stunned, her mind, which had been confused by a fever, suddenly became clear. Panicking, she let go of An Yuan’s waist, scrambled off the bike, and stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do.
"Dad... why are you here?"
Her father glanced at the punk standing next to his daughter, his expression unreadable.
So it’s confirmed. This kid really is after his daughter.
"When did you two start dating?"
"Uh... If I say we’re just friends, would you believe me?" Chen Cheng muttered, even doubting herself.
Her father, overwhelmed with heartbreak, could only think, ‘Seventeen years of raising my daughter… only for her to be snatched away by this brat.’
He wanted to scold her, but she was already seventeen, not exactly a kid anymore.
Should he just beat up An Yuan instead?
He shot An Yuan a death glare. An Yuan could only smile awkwardly, his shameless expression making it even more frustrating to look at.
With no other choice, the father sighed and grumbled, "You’re still young. It’s easy to be tricked by men… and it’ll affect your studies."
"...Uh."
Chen Cheng, not knowing what to do, lowered her head and started playing with her fingernails, unable to think of anything to say.
Desperate to change the subject, she quickly asked, "Dad, why did you come to pick me up all of a sudden?"
"Get in the motorbike. We’ll talk on the way."
He pressed his scooter key, and the parked electric bike beeped.
"Oh..."
Chen Cheng followed him in small steps, got on the back seat, and turned to secretly make faces at An Yuan.
But then, remembering how her own father had just caught her in such an intimate moment caused her to lose all her joy, and she looked utterly miserable with her lips drooping.
Her father saw his daughter like that, his heart felt like it was pierced by an arrow.
Seventeen years of raising a daughter, and she won’t even hug her own father’s waist, but she clings to that brat like it’s nothing…
That punk used to bully Chen Cheng all the time. How could she even like him?!
Suppressing his frustration, her father grumbled, "He broke your arm once, you know."
"Huh?" Chen Cheng blinked. "That was just an accident while we were playing."
Back in elementary school, during a National Day holiday, she and An Yuan had been chasing each other around the neighborhood park when she tripped and fell, landing on her left hand and fracturing her wrist. An Yuan had been so scared that he cried.
She never really cared about it, but apparently, her father had never forgotten.
Although… it seemed like he misremembered a few details and had been blaming An Yuan all these years.
Chen Cheng didn’t want to talk about An Yuan anymore, so she changed the subject.
“Dad, are you planning to get a divorce?”
“Divorce? What’s the point? We can still get by.”
“......”
“I’m doing all this for you, you know? Why else would I go all the way to work in the provincial city? Every time I come home, I have to put up with your mom’s temper. She just stays home, doesn’t take good care of you, and spends all her time playing mahjong, traveling, and shopping…”
Her father went on and on, complaining about her mother. Chen Cheng frowned as she listened.
She lived with her mom most of the time, so even though she often found her annoying, she still felt closer to her. Hearing her father badmouth her made her uncomfortable.
But she couldn’t argue back either. She just lowered her head, played with her nails, letting his words go in one ear and out the other.
“If it weren’t for you, I would’ve divorced her already. Other kids have both parents, how could I let you be the only one without? Look at single-parent families. How many of those kids actually turn out well? Most of them drop out in middle or high school and start messing around. And you, as a girl, are even more vulnerable…”
Chen Cheng instinctively felt guilty and anxious. She bit her lip, but deep down, she knew that in her case, her parents getting a divorce might actually be a relief. At least she wouldn’t have to suffer through their constant fights and emotional exhaustion.
Maybe she was just their excuse for staying together.
“If we did get divorced, would you want to live with your mom or me?”
That question again. A choice she couldn’t make, yet was always forced to answer.
After a moment of silence, she replied, “I’ll be going to college.”
She wasn’t a child anymore, why did she have to pick one? Even if they stopped giving her money, she could work, write novels, whatever it took. She wouldn’t starve.
When they arrived back at their apartment complex, her father went to park his scooter while Chen Cheng headed straight upstairs.
She was beyond frustrated.
She didn’t want to see her parents.
Maybe she should just skip the college entrance exam and move out as soon as possible.
The doorbell rang, and An Yuan’s mother opened the door to see the girl standing in the hallway.
“You’re back?” she greeted warmly. “Your mom was just saying she wanted you to come home.”
“I’m not going. I’ll wait until they’re divorced.”
Chen Cheng kept her head down and quickly walked toward An Yuan’s room.
“Why are you so stubborn? Divorce isn’t something that happens overnight~” An Yuan’s mother sighed, then turned toward the door. “Wait, where’s An Yuan? He’s not back yet?”
“He’ll be here soon.”
Chen Cheng entered the room, pulled out her unfinished homework, and sat down at the desk.
She wanted to keep busy. If she buried herself in work, maybe she could forget how upset she was.
But then, her phone rang.
She glanced at the caller ID, hesitated, and answered.
“Chen Cheng~ Why are you at the Auntie’s place again? You’re already grown up, stop bothering other people.”
“I... I’ll go back after Dad leaves for work.”
“He’s leaving tomorrow morning.” Her mom paused, then yelled at her father in frustration, “I told you to pick her up, and you couldn’t even do that!”
The suffocating pressure made Chen Cheng gasp for air.
Her hands trembled as she quickly hung up, turned off her phone, and tossed it aside.
“Mom, where’s Chen Cheng?”
An Yuan had taken a little longer to get home on his bike. As soon as he arrived, he pushed open the door and saw her sitting at the desk, her hair messy and her posture slumped.
“Mom, don’t come in.”
He shut the door behind him and locked it. Without saying a word, he walked over and gently wrapped his arms around Chen Cheng’s head.
“Don’t…” She tried to pull away, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want to cry, it’ll look ugly.”
“Who was it that said, ‘If you’re going to cry, just cry openly’? I won’t laugh at you.” An Yuan joked. “Besides, you’d probably look really cute crying, like a little flower in the rain. Anyone who sees you would feel bad. No one would think it’s embarrassing.”
“I’m almost thirty… I still can’t do anything. Nothing has changed. Maybe I shouldn't have pressured them to get a divorce? What kind of child would do that...”
Chen Cheng turned her back to him, her thin shoulders trembling.
An Yuan didn’t know how to fix her family situation, but he tightened his embrace and gently ran his fingers through her hair.
“I’m here.”