Chapter 704 470: Attitude

The high-speed rail station in the early hours of the morning.

Chen Yuan was on the phone with Liu He, craning his neck to look into the distance. He was trying to spot his parents in the dense, bobbing sea of heads. He listened as Liu He described the landmarks around her, but he couldn't find them no matter how hard he looked. Finally, he just stood in place and waved his arms frantically.

"Do you see me? See me yet?"

Quite a few young women walking by glanced over, quickly realizing he was picking someone up.

"Over here, son!"

Suddenly, a shout came from the crowd.

Chen Yuan turned his head and saw not Liu He, but his father, waving.

Although they weren't related by blood, Chen Yuan had never doubted his connection to his dad as a child. Mr. Chen was quite tall and had the refined air of a middle-aged gentleman. Upon closer inspection, their faces even shared a slight resemblance.

Of course, compared to Jiang Zhengfeng, any resemblance paled in comparison.

All those aunts and uncles who used to say, "Yuan, you look just like your dad," had stopped saying it.

Liu He, on the other hand, was of average height, so she didn't stand out in the crowd.

Spotting them, Chen Yuan hurried over and took the two incredibly heavy suitcases from their hands. Now that they were here, he couldn't say anything to spoil the mood. He decided to just treat it as if he were picking up his parents for a vacation.

"Why did you bring so much stuff?"

"Your mom's homemade beef jerky, dried purple sweet potatoes, pickled wild vegetables from back home, freshly picked toona, fried crispy pork, steamed lily bulbs... It's all in this suitcase," Mr. Chen said, his shirt already soaked with sweat as he wiped his forehead.

"Mom, are you opening a convenience store?"

"Tsk, I was just thinking that my daughter-in-law is injured and needs some nourishing food. You can't buy this homemade stuff anywhere else, and you know it's safe to eat."

"Her family is well-off. What kind of nourishing food can't they buy? This is all just unnecessary," Mr. Chen said flatly.

"What do you mean, unnecessary? So what if her family's well-off? Being well-off doesn't mean you can get all-natural, additive-free dried purple sweet potatoes," Liu He said to her husband with a stern face. Then she turned to Chen Yuan with a smile. "These were dug up from your grandpa's fields."

The three of them talked as they walked.

Chen Yuan didn't say anything to hurt his mom's feelings. Instead, he nodded in agreement. "You really can't get these anywhere else."

"See?" Hearing that, Liu He's smile grew even wider.

"Last time you came to Lanjing to see me, you didn't bring anything. It's been ages since I've had any of our homemade beef jerky."

Liu He was from a county adjacent to Qishui, and her family still lived there. It was a county famous nationwide for its beef, exporting its cattle all over the world. It was pretty much the county's signature industry, and every household knew how to make dried jerky and meat strips.

Chen Yuan's maternal grandma was an absolute master at it.

When he was a child, every time he visited his grandma, he'd always bring back a huge bag, the kind that would stuff his schoolbag until it was heavy.

Liu He had never seriously tried to learn the craft before. But a few years ago, during a trip back to her parents' home, her mother was making beef jerky again and offered to teach her. This time, after always demurring, she agreed. For the next two years, she went back every time the season was right.

Chen Yuan had been too young to understand back then.

Now, his grandma had passed away.

This was the first time Liu He had made beef jerky on her own initiative.

Lost in these thoughts tinged with a faint sorrow, Chen Yuan suddenly missed a step. Liu He, who was beside him, quickly grabbed his arm, but he was a grown man now and heavy-boned. Not only did she fail to stop him, but she was pulled off balance herself.

Fortunately, she didn't fall.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?" Liu He chided, steadying herself before giving his shoulder a light smack.

"I was just thinking about the beef jerky," he said, scratching his head.

"These aren't for you. They're for my two daughters-in-law. So hands off."

"That's so biased, Mom… Wait, why did you say *two* daughters-in-law?"

"You think we don't know about the idea your biological father gave you? Whatever he's thinking, he has to discuss it with us first before telling you." Liu He wanted to stand on her tiptoes and poke his head, but her hands were full. Annoyed, she kicked Chen Yuan's shin. "You little troublemaker. You were so well-behaved as a kid, and now that you're grown up, you're scheming to marry two wives. You must be thrilled with yourself, huh?"

Mr. Chen chimed in from the side, "Sigh… Your old man's principles have never changed, always consistent. You haven't learned a single thing from me."

Seeing their attitudes, Chen Yuan didn't feel like he was being reprimanded at all. Instead, with a hint of anticipation in his eyes, he asked tentatively, "So… what's your opinion on the matter?"

"Why else do you think we came here to help?" Liu He rolled her eyes.

In truth, she knew Chen Yuan's personality very well. After all, she had raised him since he was a child—no one in the world knows a son better than his mother. So, Liu He was well aware that he was a passive and soft-hearted person who was unwilling to force others to do anything. In other words, he wasn't assertive enough.

And for a man, not being assertive enough in matters of love could be a fatal flaw.

Just as they were speaking, the three of them arrived at the car.

Chen Yuan tossed one suitcase into the trunk. But as he was about to throw the other one in, Liu He suddenly reached out and stopped him.

"Hey! Don't put this one in yet."

"Why not?"

"Give it here." Liu He took the suitcase, muttering, "It's been so long. I hope it didn't suffocate. It won't be fresh if it's dead."

"What the…"

Chen Yuan was still wondering what she meant when he watched, dumbfounded, as Liu He unzipped the suitcase on the ground and pulled out a massive cage—a literal cage.

Inside was a live chicken!

Instantly, a somewhat foul, gamey smell wafted out.

He jumped in shock.

"Your mom specially got it from your aunt's house. It's a free-range black-boned chicken, very nourishing. She's going to make soup with it for Ningning and Yaoyao."

"Wait, Mom, how did you get this thing onto the high-speed train?"

"Well, they never said I couldn't. Besides, I kept it in the suitcase, so there was no smell. Good thing it didn't suffocate to death."

As if in response, after she finished speaking, the black-boned chicken gave a vigorous shake, and a feather fluttered down from a corner of the cage.

Liu He then asked if the hospital he was going to had a kitchen, saying she wanted to prepare it herself. While buckling his seatbelt, Chen Yuan readily agreed to everything. He was truly blown away by his mom's enthusiasm for her daughters-in-law.

He'd seen so many dramas on his family's TV about mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law tormenting each other. Looking at the situation now, it all seemed fake. Who says a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law can't get along? The difference between how Liu He treated him versus how she treated Ningning and Yaoyao was like night and day.

On the way, Liu He relentlessly peppered him with questions about the current situation between the three of them, determined to get to the bottom of everything.

Chen Yuan told her everything, holding nothing back.

He didn't know how his mom still had so much energy after sitting on a train for hours. In contrast, Mr. Chen remained quiet, yawning from time to time and only chiming in if a particularly important topic came up.

It was a long drive, and Chen Yuan wasn't speeding, so they still hadn't arrived after more than twenty minutes.

But in those twenty minutes of questioning, Liu He had already issued some important directives.

"Son, do you understand the crux of the problem yet? You don't understand women. For a girl, security about her future is extremely, extremely important. You have to put her at ease and make her believe in you before you can take things further. At the very least, you have to show your commitment. But look at you. What kind of commitment have you shown?"

"But isn't providing security about taking action? Just talking is useless."

"You need both actions *and* words! Since you want to be with them, why would you settle Yaoyao's matter ahead of time? You can't treat them differently!"