The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 314: Chapter 314: Calm and Enlightened

After sitting for a moment, Qi Wenxuan smiled. ”Xiao Jing, I brought a book of poetry. How about we go over to my seat and read it together?”

Han Xiaoqing paused for a second, then smiled. ”Sure. Just a moment, I’ll grab some melon seeds to bring over.”

With her back to Qi Wenxuan as she got the seeds, Han Xiaoqing rolled her eyes at her sister and pouted.

Han Xiaorui was amused. ’Read poetry? He’s trying to confess!’

’He’s being so wishy-washy, even Han Xiaoqing is getting annoyed!’

The thing was, Han Xiaoqing loved novels and didn’t care for poetry at all. She felt that aside from a few exquisite collections, most of it was just melodramatic nonsense.

Han Xiaoqing especially disliked reading modern poetry.

’If she had that kind of time,’ she thought, ’she’d rather be memorizing classical Tang and Song dynasty poetry. It was far more elegant and beautiful!’

Han Xiaoqing followed Qi Wenxuan to his seat to look at the book of poetry.

As Qi Wenxuan walked away, Ye Feng couldn’t help but roll his eyes at his back.

”All this beating around the bush and hiding things... isn’t it exhausting?” Ye Feng muttered quietly, sitting beside Han Xiaorui and draping a long arm around her slender waist.

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”You don’t get it.”

”What?” Ye Feng protested. ”I don’t get it? If I didn’t get it, how could I have married such a beautiful and capable wife in less than a year?”

Han Xiaorui pinched his side. ”The children are right here. Stop talking nonsense.”

Just then, the little rascal Ye Chen chimed in, ”Sister-in-law, Big Brother isn’t talking nonsense. At home, my dad is always praising you, saying you’re a great wife.”

”My dad dares to glare at Mom and argue with Big Brother. Hitting Second Brother and me is nothing to him. But in front of you, he’s so well-behaved and even tries to butter you up. That proves it, Sister-in-law. You’re the strongest one.”

A child’s logic is simple: if you don’t dare to provoke someone, that means they’re powerful.

To them, the person at the very top is the one everyone defers to and respects.

Han Xiaorui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ”Well, thank you for the compliment. I’ll keep up the good work and try to do even better.”

Ye Feng whispered in Han Xiaorui’s ear, ”Just a moment ago, Qi Wenxuan was in another car. He deliberately traded berths with someone to get a spot nearby.”

Hearing this, Han Xiaorui chuckled to herself. ”This time, if Qi Wenxuan still doesn’t confess to my sister, I bet Xiao Jing is going to start keeping her distance.”

”A person who doesn’t dare to confess his feelings or pursue them shows he’s not determined enough, not brave enough, and might not even want to face his emotions. How can you have high hopes for someone like that?”

Ye Feng thought for a moment and nodded. ”You’re right. That’s how it should be. After Qi Wenxuan graduates, he’s going to study in Germany. And if Xiao Jing studies abroad, it will be for more than three years.”

”Three years isn’t long, but it isn’t short either. If the feelings aren’t solid, it’s better to break it off early. You can’t just drag things on, wasting time and their youth.”

Han Xiaorui couldn’t agree more. ”In my sister’s field, the research abroad is indeed more advanced than here at home. In the future, if she wants to, I’ll support her studying abroad. As for her love life, I’ll leave it to fate. I won’t force anything.”

”If she learns the most systematic, advanced methods from abroad and combines that with her own research when she returns, she can become an expert in her field, just like Professor Wang.”

”It’s great to have a career. If she can also have a wonderful romance, that’s great too, of course. But if not, there’s no need to get hung up on it. Being happy is what matters most.”

Ye Feng chuckled lightly. ”That’s a very open-minded way of thinking.”

”What else?” Han Xiaorui retorted. ”Should she cry over a man, laugh for a man, throw a fit and threaten to kill herself over a man? If my sister ever acted like that, I’d slap her silly! This is a new society. Men and women are equal. This is the era when women in Hua Country have the highest status they’ve ever had.”

”In feudal society, women could only stay at home to serve their husbands and raise children. They were appendages to men. Only a small minority of women had the chance to learn how to read. Men used sayings like ’a woman’s virtue is her lack of talent’ and practices like foot-binding—these mental and physical tortures—to restrain women. Many women couldn’t fight back, so they could only accept their situation.”

”I can understand it in those circumstances. But this is a new era! Our great leaders and martyrs established gender equality. We not only have the right to an education, but also the right to equal pay for equal work. Of course, due to a woman’s physical makeup, they might not have the same advantages as men in certain jobs, but female intellect stands out in other areas.”

”In such a great social environment, especially for a university student like my sister, shouldn’t she use this opportunity to better herself, instead of wasting time on men? I’m a living example. I tell Xiao Jing that when it comes to dating and marriage, a woman needs to keep her eyes wide open.”

”If you accidentally step in dog crap, you throw away the crappy shoes and, if you can, buy a better pair. You don’t just stare at the dirty pair, trying to wash and scrub them while whining endlessly about your misfortune.”

This speech left Ye Feng utterly stunned.

He was now completely certain that if he ever messed around, Han Xiaorui would, without a moment’s hesitation, throw him away just like a pair of dirty shoes.

”Xiao Rui, your views are very unique,” Ye Feng praised, giving her a thumbs-up.

Han Xiaorui gave Ye Feng a wry look. ”Heh, I know you’re making fun of me, but I meant every word.”

Ye Feng took Han Xiaorui’s hand. ”I’m not making fun of you. You should teach Pingping and An’an more of this, so they won’t be taken advantage of. If we have a daughter, you should teach her this way too.”

Han Xiaorui’s face grew slightly warm. ”Thanks for the compliment.”

In front of the children, the two couldn’t be overly intimate, so they exchanged meaningful glances.

Thankfully, Pingping and An’an’s attention was captured by their two young uncles, so they weren’t paying attention to their parents.

Meanwhile, Han Xiaoqing and Qi Wenxuan sat down together.

A middle-aged man across from them saw Han Xiaoqing, paused in surprise, and then grinned. ”Young man, no wonder you were so set on swapping seats. With a girlfriend this beautiful, of course you’d want to be closer.”

A single sentence was enough to make Qi Wenxuan blush.

Han Xiaoqing smiled. ”Sir, you’ve misunderstood. I’m not his girlfriend yet!”

The man burst out laughing when he heard this. ”Young man, you followed her all the way onto the train! Be more proactive, don’t drag your feet! If a great girl like this gets snatched up by someone else, you’ll be left crying into your pillow at night!”

”Exactly!” another passenger chimed in. ”You’re young, this is the perfect age for romance. Be a man, don’t be so shy and reserved.”

Urged on by all the neighboring passengers, Qi Wenxuan replied, ”Thank you all for the advice. I’ll make my move.”

After speaking, he quickly took out the book of poetry, flipped to a page in the middle, and handed it to Han Xiaoqing. ”My feelings are all on this page.”

Han Xiaoqing’s gaze fell upon the page. It was a confessional poem.

Beneath it, Qi Wenxuan had personally written two sentences with a fountain pen: ”Xiao Jing, I like you and want to be with you. Will you be my girlfriend?”

Qi Wenxuan’s personality seemed gentle and cheerful, but in reality, he was very reserved and shy.

Making this confession seemed to have drained all of Qi Wenxuan’s courage.