Cheng Xuemin, what took you so long to get here?

“How much longer are you going to drag this out!?”
“We agreed on a two-week deadline. If he doesn’t show up here, you’ll obey and get rid of it!”
“Do you understand? The longer you wait, the more dangerous it becomes as the months go by!”
“If he really intended to come, two weeks would have been enough for him to make the trip twice!”

Inside the second courtyard of a quadrangle house on Fudong Lane, Beitaipingzhuang, Feng Jiayou faced her mother’s interrogation in silence.

“Jiayou, your mother is thinking only of your best interests. You really can’t delay this any longer, just get it over with!”

Second sister-in-law Sun Juan echoed, urging her sister-in-law to hurry; otherwise, it would become even more difficult as time went on.

It was eldest sister-in-law Ke Yumei who gently tugged at her husband Feng Jiazhai’s sleeve, wishing to speak but hesitating.

With his wife’s subtle hint, Feng Jiazhai hesitated, looked at her uncertainly, but forced himself to say, “Actually…”

“It’s settled! Tomorrow, you’re going to the hospital!”

Before her eldest son could finish, Mother Feng stood up and made the decision, leaving both Feng Jiazhai and Ke Yumei blushing in embarrassment.

“Where are you going!?”
“You little troublemaker, where do you think you’re going at this hour?”

Seeing her eldest daughter suddenly stand and walk out in silence, Mother Feng hurried after her, questioning anxiously.

“I’m going back to school! I don’t agree—I’d rather die than agree!”

Feng Jiayou’s face was flushed with urgency, her heart even more so.

By her calculations, Cheng Xueming should have already arrived in Yanjing.

Why hasn’t he come?

If this drags on any longer, her mother really would tie her up and take her to the hospital.

Feng Jiayou had never expected that a single impulsive night with Cheng Xueming would leave her pregnant.

Truth be told, she wasn’t prepared to be a mother. When she first returned to the city, she was filled with dreams of a beautiful future.

Then, with her parents, elder brother, elder sister-in-law, and second sister-in-law all returning one after another, her joy knew no bounds.

She wanted to share this wonderful news with Cheng Xueming, far away in Shaanbei, but her mother stopped her and secretly intercepted the letter.

Her mother made it clear: she must never have any further entanglements with a rural farmer, sever all ties.

Even though he was her daughter’s savior, and had helped her gain the qualifications for the college entrance exam and successfully enroll at Yanjing University.

But how could such ties be severed so easily?

What’s more, her mother didn’t know that Feng Jiayou had left her most precious and beautiful thing on that yellow earth.

So soon, the joyful reunion between mother and daughter turned into confrontation!

Especially after Feng Jiayou was found to be pregnant, it was like a bomb detonating in the Feng house.

Lacking self-respect!

Mother Feng was furious at her daughter’s lack of self-respect. She had endured five years, only to do something so foolish the night before returning to the city.

The child must be aborted!

---

This was a matter of principle. The entire Feng family almost unanimously advised Feng Jiayou to terminate the pregnancy.

But Feng Jiayou, as a mother, became fiercely determined to keep the child.

Such a monumental affair—how could her parents possibly tolerate her willfulness?

The confrontation continued to escalate.

Seeing the months advance, her belly beginning to show, and their daughter threatening with her life, even Father Feng, usually liberal and gentle, could not sit idly by. He had a serious talk with her.

This finally made Jiayou waver and agree to sit down with her mother for another calm discussion.

Mother Feng’s bottom line was clear: the child must go.

Feng Jiayou still insisted, so mother and daughter continued their deadlock.

In the end, it was Father Feng who mediated, proposing that the decision should be left to the child’s father.

If he didn’t want the child, then Feng Jiayou would have no grounds to keep it.

Reminded by her father, Feng Jiayou finally relented and agreed to let Cheng Xueming decide. She would write to him immediately.

But Mother Feng refused.

If Jiayou wrote to that farmer and let him choose, was that really a choice?

That rural farmer would certainly want the child—perhaps even use it as an excuse to come to Yanjing and join their family.

So writing was acceptable, but it had to be dictated by her mother: Jiayou would write exactly as her mother said, not a word more or less.

Thus came the letter Cheng Xueming received.

The content of the letter need not be elaborated upon here.

What matters is what happened outside the letter: mother and daughter made a gentleman’s agreement.

No matter what attitude or decision that farmer, Cheng Xueming, expressed, from the day the letter was sent, two weeks!

If Cheng Xueming could appear at their house within two weeks, it would show he had some ability and responsibility.

Mother Feng promised to make a final decision only after meeting him.

If within two weeks, Cheng Xueming did not appear, it would mean he had no real care for her daughter, no sense of responsibility.

Then, there was no need to discuss further—Jiayou would obediently go to the hospital.

In essence, it was a gamble.

A gamble on whether Cheng Xueming, the farmer, truly had responsibility toward Feng Jiayou.

Even though the letter expressly stated that the child had already been aborted, that there would be no further contact, and he should not write again, would he still be anxious enough to rush to Yanjing?

If he came, it would prove he had some sense of duty and cared for her daughter.

Moreover, as her daughter said, even though the farmer didn’t finish secondary school, he had the ability to get into university.

If he managed to come and also enroll at Yanjing University, everything could be negotiated.

But now, two weeks had passed, and not a shadow of him had appeared.

---

That brought about today’s renewed confrontation between mother and daughter.

“What sin have I committed, to have such a troublesome child!”

“Go, go, go! If you dare step out of the courtyard, Gu Xueqing will no longer acknowledge you as her daughter!”

Such a daughter, who reneges on her word!

Just two weeks ago, the terms were clearly set, and Jiayou swore she’d abide by them.

Yet, what happened?

That wild man clearly didn’t care for her!

If he really did, he could have made the trip twice in two weeks!

“Feng Jiazhai, why are you just standing there? Go and bring your sister back! Do you really want your sister to give birth to that bastard child?”

Harsh words aside, as a mother, she knew her daughter’s stubbornness better than anyone. Seeing her about to run out, Mother Feng, Gu Xueqing, shouted at her eldest son, still dazed.

“Ah?”
“Jiayou, Jiayou!”

Feng Jiazhai didn’t dare delay, rushing forward to pull his sister back.

“You all go as well! Are you not afraid of being disgraced in front of the neighbors?”

Seeing her eldest and second daughters-in-law merely watching the drama, Mother Feng cried and shouted again.

“What a calamity!”

Father Feng, who had barely spoken, also shook his head angrily and followed them out.

If word got out, the Feng family’s century-old scholarly reputation would be utterly ruined!

But when Feng Jiazhai caught up, he found Jiayou standing still, gazing dumbly towards the front courtyard gate.

“Jiayou, Jiayou, listen to your mother! She only wants the best for you. Besides, you both accepted the wager, it’s not as if you weren’t given a chance!”

“The truth is, he simply doesn’t care about you!”

“In two weeks, minus five or six days for the letter, he’s had over ten days to come. If he was going to, he’d have done so long ago!”

Feng Jiazhai caught up and, with his wife not present, gently advised his sister.

Just as their mother said: if he really cared for Jiayou, he could have made two round trips.

But since he didn’t come, he really couldn’t let his sister’s life be ruined over this.

“Cheng Xueming, why are you only coming now!?”

Caught unawares, Feng Jiazhai was stunned by his sister’s cry of utter grievance.

Ke Yumei, Sun Juan, and Father Feng, who had followed, all looked towards the front courtyard gate at Jiayou’s aggrieved call.

There, at the entrance, a plainly dressed young man pushed a bicycle inside.

…