My Youth Begins With Loving You - CH 37.2

Lu Zhen smiled comfortably on the phone, as Chen Mo deliberately asked what was his mood when he went to his wife’s house to ask for her hand in marriage.

Lu Zhen simply dropped two words, “Nervous! To tell you the truth, at that time, I dared not stand beside her when I saw her mother cutting vegetables. I feared that I would be the one getting stabbed with the knife.”

1(TL/N: 紧张 = Nervous, which is two character/words in Chinese)

Chen Mo was an honest man, listening to the other party’s story he became speechless right away, and he didn’t know what to say to that.

On the other side of the phone, Lu Zhen smiled as he relaxedly continued, “It’s okay, aren’t I still alive and well? Therefore, in the words of Chairman Mao (1) who truly put it right, all reactionaries (2) are paper tigers, do not hide or be afraid of them. When facing a father-in-law and mother-in-law, we must try our best and show in full force our revolutionary optimism! We must be adept and courageously unite all forces that can be united, and develop resistance against Japan— Ah no, what I mean is our democratic United front should be psychologically prepared to fight hard and bitter battles, despise the enemy’s strategies, be careful of their tactics, and believe that while the road ahead is tortuous, the future will be bright! Victory will belong to us hard-working, brave and indomitable Chinese men!”(3)

Chen Mo couldn’t help but laugh.

“I didn’t know you worshipped Chairman Mao so much.”

Lu Zhen said calmly, “That was only because you didn’t know me well enough. Do you know why I am more capable and more advanced than you, and the wife I married is of better magnitude than yours? It is because the heroic name of our great ancestor (Chairman Mao) has been echoing in my heart, and is the guiding light on my way forward.”

Chen Mo couldn’t say it out loud so he said it in his heart.

Why haven’t I heard you being so talkative before today?

Lu Zhen calmed down and continued with a smile, “Isn’t this good? Brother, relax and take it easy. In the future, you will find that life goes on by its own day after day, and there’s no ultimate goal to be met. All we can do is take in the process. So don’t worry, take your time. Fight soldiers with generals, subdue unruly earth with ample water – Take actions as the situations call for, for life is but a prolonged war of many battles.”

Chen Mo smiled bitterly,

You really are very scholarly!

“That is!” Lu Zhen was not ashamed to say, “Though we are very far from the roots of the imperial city, we’re still within the tenth ring, so how can we not benefit by hanging onto the hems of the imperial robes?” (Even if we’re in the modern world, it’s not like these traditional values don’t apply to us today.)

Chen Mo retorted, “The times are advancing… Now that we have built a harmonious society, you are still holding onto Mao Zedong’s thoughts?”

Lu Zhen chuckled, “The times have passed but all the theories were excellent nonetheless.”

Chen Mo gave up and decidedly hung up the phone. Lu Zhen was left listening to the beeping sound in his earphones as he realised the call had been cut. He then turned to eat and his eyes fell on the green and white vegetables on the table by mistake, making him frown in disgust again.

Chen Mo threw the phone aside and lay on the bed as it bounced up and down. He didn’t know how long he had been like that when someone knocked on the door of his room.

Chen Mo jumped up agitatedly but suddenly realized that it was a bit impolite for him to stay locked in a room all by himself. He opened the door and saw He Yuedi standing outside, with a gentle smile on her face as she went straight to the point, “Are you free? I want to talk to you.”

“Ah…oh! Yes, yes…” Chen Mo quickly let He Yuedi inside.

There was only one chair in the room. He Yuedi sat down, and Chen Mo had no choice but to sit on the bed. The moment his body sank into the quilt, the countless scenarios about negotiations that Chen Mo had trained for flashed through his mind for a moment, including early-stage paralysis and late-stage control, issues dealing with difference in point of view during the negotiation, high to low-level pressure strategy… to everything else.

He Yuedi smiled and said, “You don’t be nervous, I don’t know you well, and since we will probably become a family in the future. So I just want to talk and become familiar with you.”

Chen Mo smiled, “Of course.”

He Yuedi smiled gently and continued in a scholarly manner, “I heard that all of you soldiers like to be direct, so I won’t go around in circles. In fact, I just want to ask this. What do you think of our family’s Miao Miao?”

Think?

Chen Mo’s mind immediately went on alert.

Is this just an attempt? Is she conspiring? What’s her intention……?

“Don’t be nervous.” Seeing that Chen Mo was too nervous to speak, He Yuedi could only smile more cordially to ease his nerves, “I just want you to give me an honest opinion. What kind of person do you think our family’s Miao Miao is?”

Oh, this…

Chen Mo’s mind spun rapidly.

“Very cute… very nice, kind… very…”

Would saying good and obedient be good?

Chen Mo hesitated.

Would it make He Yuedi feel that he was very domineering?

“Huh?” He Yuedi leaned forward, her expression showing all the attention she was placing on him.

“Let me put it this way, I think Miao Yuan is very realistic, and she doesn’t have too many irrational ideas. I should be able to satisfy what she wants.” Chen Mo made his eyes seem as sincere as possible, and he felt that he was currently just a suspect.

He Yuedi laughed, “Just because of this? What do you exactly like about her? Or is it because it’s nothing special?”

Chen Mo thought for a long time and said, “Her cakes are delicious.” He suddenly found that her merits were really difficult to summarize. The closer you are to someone, the more difficult it is to say. Even if a soldier was randomly drawn from the ranks, he could be familiar with all the aspects of his situation, but with Miao Yuan, he really couldn’t tell.

What do you like about her? That she was like a girl, gentle and cute, and that she will have no requirements that will embarrass him. Happiness and optimism could be counted as important traits, but could they be considered something special?

“What about shortcomings? Do you think she has any shortcomings?”

“Shortcomings…” Chen Mo went on cautiously, “She is not too stubborn…”

“You think that’s a shortcoming?” He Yuedi was surprised.

“I’m not very good at describing people.” Chen Mo said at the moment, strongly hoping that Lu Zhen could exchange souls with him. After all, with his tongue that was filled with lotus flowers, he should be able to bluff his mother-in-law enough that she believes him.

“Okay, then…” With her plans thwarted He Yuedi had no choice but to give up. Chen Mo let out a sigh of relief.

“Chen Mo, I fell in love at your age and I also rushed to get married.” Finally, He Yuedi began to get down to business, speaking with a solemn expression, “You, young people, always talk about feelings. However, as I am an elder along with the fact that our Miao Miao is much younger than you, some of the things I will say next may be more practical than what you’re comfortable with. Don’t be too disgusted with what I’m going to impart to you. After all, in the first place, living a life is a trivial thing and it’s not that complicated.”

“It’s okay…” Chen Mo originally wanted to call her auntie cordially, but even though he opened his mouth and he ended up not saying it.

“Marriage means getting married and building a home. When it comes to home, the more realistic thing is the housing issue…”

“Please don’t worry. We can apply for a house in our team. Two bedrooms and one living room. It’s not too big, but it should be enough.” Chen Mo was filled with a lot of basic information about marriage by Chenghui before he came, and everything flowed out smoothly when he opened his mouth.

He Yuedi thought for a while and said, “You’re in the military so if you change jobs, you would need to return the house when the time comes, making it quite troublesome. I was thinking that you should consider buying your own home. How about it?”

“Yes,” Chen Mo always readily agreed with all questions about money, “If we don’t have high requirements for location, there should be no problem.”

He Yuedi asked, “The investment will be handled by you?”

“I have enough money.”

“Of course, that’s not bad.” He Yuedi said, “But our family only has a single child. Whether it’s marrying off a daughter or marrying in a daughter-in-law it doesn’t matter, we don’t want to do something like giving dowry or betrothal gifts. Instead, the two families on both sides will work together to buy a house for you two. In this way, the burden of your future life will be a little less. As for us, we have done our best. What do you think of this?”

Chen Mo didn’t hear clearly at first. When he finally did react, he suddenly felt that Lu Zhen was really right. He had probably really hit the jackpot on dog’s luck that could only be won in a century. He quickly said “No, I will pay. I can afford it, you don’t have to work so hard.” He Yuedi waved her hand to stop him, her solemn expression held a mother’s attitude toward her son-in-law. She said, “At first, Miao Miao told me about you, but I didn’t agree.”

Chen Mo calmed down immediately and heard her continue.

He Yuedi went on “If someone is a mother, the thing they’re the most worried about is their daughter suffering a loss. You are a lot older than Miao Miao, and you have seen a lot of things in society. This child has been careless since she was a child, and she won’t even be able to figure out if she’s being bullied. Moreover, Xi’an is so far away, in reality, we really don’t want her to marry so far, after all, is said and done, she won’t be too familiar with the place.”

Chen Mo was so nervous his heart was beating like a drum so he just said, “Oh, yes”.

He Yuedi smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and said, “But, I thought let it be, she likes you. The last time you two broke up, she said that she was fine and all right, but as her mother, I could tell that she was unhappy. In fact, I don’t have any fond feelings for you. I will treat you better and won’t embarrass you. In turn, I just hope that you can treat my daughter better. I am very grateful to you for allowing my former lively and happy daughter to come back. Now I’m giving my daughter to you, I don’t have any big demands from you, just don’t let her run back to me in tears.”

As she went on, He Yuedi became emotional and her eyes became half wet. Chen Mo felt his heart become stuffy, and the hot blood flowing through his chest made it sore. He held back for a long time and finally squeezed out a sentence, “Auntie, don’t worry, I won’t.

He Yuedi nodded and said, “Then go to rest first. Tomorrow we will go back by car.” Chen Mo accompanied her to the door and fell back on the bed. His heart was still beating rapidly. He felt flushed. He felt agitated as if he had received the most challenging task in everyone’s eyes at his age. The thoughts in his heart were surging vehemently.

A mother told me that I will give my daughter to you, don’t let me down.

Chen Mo thought this should be the most important trust a man can get in his life.

21. Chairman Mao: Mao Zedong, a communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People’s Republic of China.

32. Reactionaries: people who believe a previous political state of society had characteristics which the current one lacks.

43. Basically, Lu Zhen is borrowing the words of a political figure to encourage Chen Mo. lol