The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 537: Chapter 537: Don’t Know What’s Good For You?

For the time being, however, they had to prepare for Han Xiaoqing’s wedding.

Many of the things they needed weren’t available in the local supermarkets.

So, they went to a local Chinese enclave and managed to buy some of the items on their list.

For instance, using red paper, Granny Cai cut out a pair of ”double happiness” characters and put them up inside the new apartment.

They also pasted a ”happiness” character on the front door. In Granny Cai’s eyes, the place finally had a proper festive air.

Just as everyone was bustling about preparing the new home, a woman in her forties, carrying an insulated thermos, appeared at the door and stood there, dumbfounded.

She ripped the ”happiness” character off the door and walked in, looking displeased.

”Xiao Jing, this is a foreign country. Don’t do things in this neither-here-nor-there way. People will just laugh at you!”

Han Xiaoqing’s eyes fell on the crumpled ”happiness” character in the woman’s hand. ”I put it on my own door, not on anyone else’s. How is that making a fool of myself?”

”Besides, I’m the one getting married, not you. And even though I’m in Germany, I’m still from Hua Country. I’m not like some people—yellow skin, white heart—who’ve forgotten who their ancestors are.”

The woman stared at Han Xiaoqing in disbelief. ”You... How dare you say that to me?”

Han Xiaoqing rolled her eyes. ”Give that back to me. You ripped up a perfectly good red ’happiness’ character. That’s such bad luck! Are you trying to jinx my wedding?”

The woman was stunned. ”I went to all the trouble of bringing you soup, and you’re this ungrateful!”

Han Xiaoqing waved her hand dismissively. ”I don’t need your soup right now. Take it and go! And don’t come to my house again!”

Just then, Granny Cai and Han Xiaorui, who had been busy in the kitchen, came over.

When Granny Cai saw that the ”happiness” character she had cut out was now torn and crumpled in the woman’s hand, she immediately grew angry.

”I could understand if a foreigner didn’t know the meaning of this ’happiness’ character, but you’re a Chinese speaker. Don’t you get it?”

”You knew perfectly well that a wedding is just around the corner, yet you ripped down the red ’happiness’ character. What exactly are you up to?”

Han Xiaorui arched an eyebrow and said sarcastically, ”Xiao Jing, I don’t remember your mother-in-law looking like this. Did your father-in-law get a divorce and remarry?”

Hearing this, Han Xiaoqing couldn’t help but chuckle. ”She’s my mother-in-law’s maid. Ever since I got pregnant, my mother-in-law has her bring me soup sometimes.”

”But I can’t stand her soups! I always give them to Chen Wenxuan, but it seems he only takes a few sips before pouring the rest out because he doesn’t like the taste either.”

The woman, thoroughly humiliated, trembled all over, her face ashen with embarrassment.

”I meant well! This is abroad, not back home! It’s a Western-style wedding, so we should follow Western customs for everything.”

”But no, you have to bite the hand that feeds you! Saying this isn’t just disrespecting me, it’s a slap in Mrs. Chen’s face.”

Chen Wenxuan came down the stairs, fastening the buttons on his cuffs, his face grim. ”Aunt Liu, I’m going to call my mother right now and tell her not to have you come over anymore.”

”Yes, it’s a Western-style wedding, but that only applies to the ceremony at the church. What we do in our own home is our business. We’ll do things the way Xiao Jing and I want, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

Utterly humiliated, Aunt Liu grabbed her insulated thermos and left.

On the way back, she realized she still had the undelivered soup.

The whole way, she wondered how she was going to explain this to Mrs. Chen.

After returning to the house, Aunt Liu wiped away some tears. ”Mrs. Chen, I’m so sorry. I’m useless. The soup I made wasn’t good enough; the Young Madam wouldn’t even look at it.”

Mrs. Chen frowned slightly at her words. ”Your soups are always delicious. Why wouldn’t they drink it? They’ve accepted it before, haven’t they?”

Aunt Liu shook her head. ”Before, the Young Madam didn’t have anything else to eat, so of course she drank my soup. But now that her family is here, she looks down on what I make!”

”Not only that, she told me not to bring soup anymore! She said I’m not allowed to go over there again. And all I did was say a few words. I never thought she’d blow it so out of proportion.”

Mrs. Chen frowned slightly. ”What did you say?”

”I just said that this is Germany, and they should respect German customs. That they shouldn’t put up a bunch of gaudy decorations and become a laughingstock to the locals.”

Mrs. Chen paused when she heard this. ”That can’t be all, can it?”

Aunt Liu gave an awkward laugh. ”They were pasting red paper all over the place, so I tore it down! There’s an explicit rule here in Germany—you can get fined for that!”

”Red paper?” Mrs. Chen narrowed her eyes. She knew that for weddings back home, it was customary to put up ”double happiness” characters and couplets. ”Where did they put it?”

Aunt Liu grew a bit nervous and replied sheepishly, ”On the front door! I thought it looked strange, so I tore it down!”

Mrs. Chen shot a glance at Aunt Liu, then started gathering her things to go pay her daughter-in-law a visit.

Seeing Mrs. Chen’s reaction, Aunt Liu grew even more nervous.

The truth was, she wasn’t just being malicious. Her own daughter, an outstanding young woman, was in love with Chen Wenxuan.

But Chen Wenxuan, against all reason, was only interested in Han Xiaoqing from Hua Country, not her own daughter who had grown up in Germany.

Her daughter had been crying for days, and as a mother, seeing her daughter’s pain broke her own heart.

However, she didn’t dare to openly move against Han Xiaoqing. After all, her daughter was in university and relied on Mrs. Chen’s financial support.

So, frustrated and resentful, Aunt Liu could only resort to petty acts to spite Han Xiaoqing.

Aunt Liu dared to act this way partly because she knew that, deep down, Mrs. Chen didn’t actually like Han Xiaoqing either.

Mrs. Chen had asked Chen Wenxuan to stay in Germany on more than one occasion.

If he stayed abroad, with his hard work and the Chen family’s influence, winning a Nobel Prize wouldn’t be out of the question.

But if he went back home, he would only earn a pitifully small salary of a few hundred yuan a month. It was a dead end.

Every time the subject came up, Chen Wenxuan would refuse without a moment’s hesitation, insisting that he would one day return to his home country.

Originally, Mrs. Chen had thought she could convince her daughter-in-law, Han Xiaoqing, and through her, persuade her son Chen Wenxuan to stay.

Unexpectedly, Han Xiaoqing’s stance was even more resolute than Chen Wenxuan’s. The moment she finished her doctorate, they would be returning home.

No matter how good it was abroad, in their hearts, it was still just a foreign land.

Only Hua Country and Jinshan Bay were their true home.

’The Young Madam and Young Master just didn’t know what was good for them. They could live more comfortably abroad and have a much better future, yet they insisted on going back to that backward place.’

When Aunt Liu had come to Germany with her parents, it was right after the Jianguo of Hua Country, during its most backward and destitute period.

In Aunt Liu’s memory, Hua Country was a dilapidated, war-torn place, a far cry from Germany.

Therefore, in her heart, Aunt Liu looked down on Chen Wenxuan and Han Xiaoqing for being so intent on returning to their country.

’They were like wild boars unable to eat fine bran—too unrefined to appreciate what was truly good.’

After Aunt Liu had stormed off, Han Xiaorui looked at Han Xiaoqing with suspicion. ”Why would your mother-in-law send such an awful person to bring you soup? With an attitude like that, it’s obvious she looks down on you. How could she possibly be taking care of you in good faith?”

”Aren’t you afraid of being poisoned by soup from someone like that? You’re usually so sharp. Why didn’t you say anything when she was giving you such a hard time? Cat got your tongue?”