"What if Director Sheng finds out that I've had a bad influence on you and then won't feel confident entrusting his daughter to me in the future?"
Xiao Yanzhi asked seriously. Jiang Li blinked her eyes, and suddenly a tinge of shyness crept over her heart. Stubborn and mouthy, she said, "Mr. Xiao really changes his tune every day. You said you had all the patience in the world to wait for me, but now, after only dating for a few days, you're already thinking about marriage."
As she spoke, her anger flared up. She was bent on wriggling out of his embrace, but the man held her tightly.
"Let go of me, you profit - hungry scoundrel."
"Please, watch your mouth. Your father is also a businessman."
"... He's an honest businessman, while you're a scoundrel." Jiang Li paused for a moment and said unashamedly with double standards, "There's no comparison between you two."
Xiao Yanzhi gave her a sidelong glance. He didn't want to argue about the saying "No merchant is honest" with her, nor did he want to tell her how ruthless Sheng Shuocheng had been in his youth. Instead, he brought the topic back to the two of them.
"So, are you saying that we're dating now?"
Jiang Li was stunned. When she realized what she had just said, she regretted falling into his trap.
"Let's date slowly first, and talk about marriage later." Xiao Yanzhi smiled casually. "How is this not being patient?"
He said it lightly, but Jiang Li knew that he wasn't just being impulsive.
After thinking for a while, Jiang Li still hesitated before saying, "But I still don't want to marry into a family that's not fully in favor of our relationship."
She didn't say it too explicitly, but the meaning in her words was clear enough.
In love, she was just a little girl. She just wanted to hear sweet words, to be blessed like a princess by everyone, and to be happy with her beloved forever.
But Su Jialan didn't like her.
She didn't want to put Xiao Yanzhi in a difficult position, nor did she want to feel wronged. Thinking of this, she began to feel sad again.
"Jiang Li, if this is your last concern, I can explain it to you clearly."
Jiang Li looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"My father has clearly stated that he approves of us. He won't interfere in my relationship - you know, he has no right to."
"As for my mother, haven't I had the chance to tell you yet?"
Xiao Yanzhi ruffled her hair and looked into her eyes. "She wants to apologize to you in person. I wonder if you have time to meet her?"
Jiang Li was stunned for two seconds.
Su Jialan had always been so critical of her and was never satisfied with her. How could there be such a thing as an apology? He must be lying to her.
"You're lying to me again." Jiang Li didn't believe him at all.
"It's true."
The hand around her waist tightened slightly. Xiao Yanzhi continued to explain to her methodically.
"She's a woman who has been restricted by etiquette and rules for too long. When she reached the marriageable age, she was given expectations and responsibilities by her parents. She was supposed to be a good wife and mother, a considerate and all - round assistant - and indeed, she did achieve that."
"Undoubtedly, she's a good wife, a good mother, and a good daughter, but she has never lived for herself even for a single day."
Jiang Li listened quietly.
"She met my father no more than three times before their marriage. They got married just because their parents were satisfied with the match. She was originally prepared to be a virtuous wife after marrying into the Xiao family, but then she found that her husband already had someone in his heart."
Jiang Li remembered that gentle woman lying in the hospital ward.
Her expression showed shock for a moment. "Didn't she ever think about getting a divorce?"
"No, because as I said before, she's a woman restricted by rules for too long. She was worried that resistance would bring a bad reputation to the family, disappoint her parents, and make herself a laughingstock in the outside world. So, she would rather stay with a man whose heart wasn't on her than dare to ask for a divorce."
Hearing this, Jiang Li felt a bit sad.
"In her concept, a complete and correct life means satisfying and being respected by everyone. That's why she did so many despicable things. But at the same time, she's also very pitiful because she has never had a single day that belonged to herself."
She was a wife, a mother, a daughter, but never Su Jialan.
"She lived for the glamorous appearance in others' eyes." Jiang Li murmured.
Xiao Yanzhi put away his smile and nodded. "Your summary is very accurate. She even wanted me to live like her, taking the glamorous appearance in others' eyes as the criterion for a happy life."
Jiang Li could probably understand. She suddenly said, "Actually, she did it for your own good, but she just used the wrong method."
"So I don't hate her." Xiao Yanzhi kissed her cheek, feeling gratified by her kindness. "She's my mother. There's no doubt about her motherly love. It's just that her ideas are the opposite of mine, but it doesn't mean that she wants me to be unhappy."
She might be a failed mother, but no one in this world has the right to pick on their own mother, let alone criticize her from a moral high - ground.
No one is born knowing how to be a good mother. No matter how bad she is, she's the one who carried him in her womb for ten months and gave birth to him with great pain. She's his mother.
There was tenderness in his eyes. "She has expressed her admiration for you many times. In her eyes, you're an independent and outstanding woman, and she really likes you. It's just that she used to judge people with prejudice - and that's really her fault."
Su Jialan was not completely unreasonable.
"Li Li." He said softly, "I'm telling you all this not to plead for her or to make you change your opinion of her. I just want to tell you that she's not irredeemably bad."
He said, "She spent time thinking and understanding, and she can understand your significance to me. She also genuinely recognizes your excellence, instead of blindly rejecting and resisting."
"I'm telling you this just to let you know that no one will be against our relationship, and no one will hinder us - neither my father nor my mother."
Jiang Li leaned against his chest, and her breathing steadied for two seconds.
After thinking for a while, she whispered quietly, "Did Mrs. Su really say that she wants to meet me?"
"Yes."
She bit her lip, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Then... after we get back to China, shall we make an appointment to sit down together?"
It was a question, but she had already made up her mind.
Xiao Yanzhi couldn't help laughing.
"Li Li, thank you."
His kiss landed on her forehead.
Thank you for being so kind and magnanimous; thank you for having such a warm heart.
How could he be so lucky.
---
The news that the movie had its successful premiere in Lyon, France, spread to China. Netizens immediately began to discuss it, and the opinions were diverse. Some praised it, while others jeered.
Occasionally, a few photos of Jiang Li attending the event were leaked. For a while, all the malice was directed at her.