Chapter 267 - 264: A Heart-to-Heart Talk Between Master and Disciple (Part 1)

Chapter 267: Chapter 264: A Heart-to-Heart Talk Between Master and Disciple (Part 1)

At lunchtime, Professor Xiao looked at the sumptuous feast spread across the table and frowned. Looking at Zhou Lian, she said, "This isn’t necessary. Just our usual fare would have been fine!"

Looking at her, a little bewildered, Zhou Lian glanced down at the dishes on the table. "Teacher, what’s wrong?" she asked, confused. "This is how we usually eat!"

Professor Xiao glanced at her confused student, then raised an eyebrow at Li Xiu. ’Is it really good for her to be this naive?’ she thought. Zhou Lian was already thirty, yet at times her straightforwardness was like that of a teenage girl. Professor Xiao was certainly glad that someone was protecting her, shielding her from the dark and dirty side of the world. But if he couldn’t protect her for a lifetime, it would be better for her to experience some trials and tribulations sooner rather than later. After all, a greenhouse flower could never withstand the wind and rain like a wildflower in an open field.

"Teacher Xiao, she’s perfect just the way she is," Li Xiu said firmly to Professor Xiao, giving Zhou Lian a gentle look. "My life’s wish is simply that after experiencing all the world has to offer, she remains the same charming young girl I fell for the moment I first met her."

Gently placing some of Zhou Lian’s favorite dishes on her plate, Li Xiu turned to the slightly uncomfortable Professor Xiao and Professor Fan. "Teacher Xiao, Mr. Fan, we usually eat like this. We only added a couple of extra dishes. My dear is a very picky eater, and she doesn’t eat much. It’s always been this way. You are our elders, like family, so we haven’t gone out of our way to do anything special!"

Sister Fang, who was helping the two children eat, heard Li Xiu’s words. She glanced at the food on the table, then looked up at Professor Xiao with a smile. "Teacher Xiao, it’s true, it’s always like this, so please don’t worry about it. But you should have a word with Xiao Lian. She’s a mother of two now, but not only does she eat like a bird, she’s also incredibly picky. Look at her! Li Xiu has to feed her like this every single day, but she never seems to put on any weight. It’s all because Li Xiu spoils her!"

Professor Xiao sized up Zhou Lian, then looked at Li Xiu and asked softly, "Has it always been like this? I remember your parents-in-law were here not long ago. Didn’t they say anything?"

Li Xiu gazed dotingly at Zhou Lian, who kept her head down and focused on her food, refusing to look up. He smiled and said, "Teacher Xiao, it’s fine. I’m keeping an eye on it. The doctor said as long as her nutrition is balanced, it’s okay. Life is short, why force her to do something she doesn’t want to? I have a doctor regularly monitor her health."

Professor Fan glanced at Li Xiu, then at Zhou Lian, who still wasn’t looking up or joining the conversation. He smiled at Professor Xiao. "Let’s just eat. Jin Chen knows what he’s doing; he wouldn’t joke around with Zhou Lian’s health." Judging by how much Li Jincheng cared for Zhou Lian, there was no way he would let her whimsically ruin her own body. With a doctor’s support and his constant watchfulness, no matter how picky Zhou Lian was, Li Jincheng would find a way to handle it.

Shaking her head with a hint of resignation, Professor Xiao smiled at the feast on the table and said no more. Li Xiu had a point. Life is short, so why force things?

After lunch, Li Xiu deliberately stayed behind, letting Zhou Lian walk Professor Xiao and Professor Fan to the garden to rest. He knew that given how much Professor Xiao valued Zhou Lian, she would surely have something to say to her in private. Seeing Li Xiu’s thoughtful gesture, Zhou Lian smiled. ’This man... his emotional intelligence is really something else!’

Just as they entered the garden, Professor Xiao said to Professor Fan, "You go on back to the room and rest. Zhou Lian and I will take a walk. We’ll be back shortly."

After Professor Fan left, Zhou Lian gently took Professor Xiao’s arm and asked softly, "Teacher, is there something you wanted to tell me?"

"You, stop playing dumb!" Seeing Zhou Lian’s silly grin, Professor Xiao sighed and gestured as if to tap her on the forehead. "I used to worry about you," she said gently, "worry that you wouldn’t handle family matters well and would end up fighting with Jin Chen. But now, I’m a little worried he spoils you too much, raising you to be so innocent and artless. I’m very happy that someone cherishes you, of course. But I’m also afraid... what if this person who’s always protecting you suddenly isn’t there to protect you anymore? What will you do then? After all, people’s hearts are hard to predict."

Zhou Lian looked up at the sky, not wanting her teacher to see the tears in her eyes. She let out a soft laugh. She truly had been showered with love her entire life. As a child, her parents and older siblings doted on her. After getting married, she had Li Xiu, who would follow her through life and death. In school, she had a few close friends. She was fortunate enough to become her mentor’s student and be protected by her. Even her two children had been taught by Li Xiu to prioritize their mother above all else.

Pretending not to see the glint of tears in her student’s eyes, Professor Xiao gently patted her arm. ’This child has such a good and kind heart. I hope Li Jincheng can continue to protect and cherish her, just as he always has.’

"Teacher, I’m doing very well. I’m very happy, truly. Sometimes I think I’ve lived my thirty years like a princess in a fairy tale. When I was young, there were eight of us children. I have three older brothers, one older sister, and three younger sisters, but I was the one my parents doted on the most. Never mind my older brother and sister—even my three younger sisters protected me, as if I were the youngest in the family!"

"It’s been even more so since I got married. As you know, Teacher, the relationship between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law is notoriously difficult. But Jin Chen never let me get involved in any of it. He only let me interact with the people in his family who were good to me. As for those who weren’t so friendly, I never even had to see them. Jin Chen once said, ’I’ll be filial to my own parents. They raised me, so it’s my duty. But my wife never ate a single grain of their rice; she has no obligation to put up with their nonsense. I married my wife to cherish her, so why should she have to suffer at the hands of my parents just because she married me!’"

"Later, when Nuonuo was born, Jin Chen took care of everything related to the baby. I had almost nothing to do. Seeing how bored I was, he encouraged me to take the university entrance exams. By some grace of heaven, even though I’d never had a day of formal schooling, I studied hard for a year and actually got into the best university, Beijing University. At that time, all our relatives and friends back home tried to persuade Jin Chen, asking, ’If she leaves, will she ever come back?’ Jin Chen just smiled. He then came to the Capital City by himself, bought a small courtyard house near the university, and went back to tell me that he had set up a home for me in the Capital City."

Seeing her teacher listening intently, Zhou Lian continued, "When the semester started, Jin Chen came north with me for my studies, carrying our baby Nuonuo, who was only a few months old. I once asked him back then if he wasn’t afraid that I’d get ambitious and find someone better. But he just smiled and told me, ’No, you’re not that kind of person.’ He said, ’As long as I’m good enough to you, you won’t be able to bear leaving me.’ He said, ’As long as I’m outstanding enough myself, you won’t look down on me.’ He said, ’I will always cherish and spoil you, and you won’t be able to let go or forget me!’"

"Teacher, I married him when I was 22, and it’s been eight years. I have never washed a single piece of clothing, nor a single bowl. I’ve given birth to two children, but I’ve never washed a single diaper. Besides breastfeeding, I rarely even held them. Teacher, Nuonuo is seven now, and Yanyan is only five. Without me even realizing it, Jin Chen has taught them that Mommy is the most important person in the family and that nothing is more important than her. Teacher, I know what you’re worried about. But do you really think Jin Chen, who has poured his entire heart and soul into me, could ever bear to give up on me halfway?"