“Yao Yao is with me, she’s being herself.” Fu Wenxuan looked at Mother Chu and said seriously.
“I don’t deny you love her. My parents love me just as much. To support me, they were even willing to retire early so that I could be with Chu Yao.”
“I like Chu Yao very much, but I will agree to your separation not because I think Chu Yao is not good, nor because I fear you, but because it is the result of careful consideration.”
Fu Wenxuan’s eyes were sincere, and Mother Chu looked at him speechlessly.
“Dating is a matter for two people, but marriage is a matter for two families. I never thought of climbing into your family, nor did I ever think of using Chu Yao to gain anything. Watching my parents fall in love and support each other since childhood, I yearn for that kind of relationship too, where two people support each other and grow old together.”
Fu Wenxuan’s words made Mother Chu feel that he was truly serious about considering their future together. Father Chu sighed softly and walked to Mother Chu’s side.
“Not receiving your support as parents is the reason I made the decision to break up after careful consideration. Your family’s conditions are indeed very good, but money doesn’t represent everything. Compared to your family, we don’t have money, but my parents are enlightened. They respect me and my sister, making us never fear any storms…”
“You don’t need to worry about me pestering Chu Yao. I will explain it clearly to her. You’re right, she is a good girl and deserves a man with better conditions than me.”
Fu Wenxuan looked at the Chu couple and nodded at them.
“I’m sorry, I still need to check on my sister. Please excuse me.” Fu Wenxuan said and left.
Leaving Father and Mother Chu behind, they watched his retreating figure, and Mother Chu fell silent.
She couldn't speak for a long time.
“Did I really put so much pressure on Yao Yao?” Mother Chu looked at Father Chu, her eyes filled with doubt.
“You were also for her own good…” Father Chu said gently, looking at the vulnerability in Mother Chu’s eyes.
“I don’t know. I never realized I had put so much pressure on her.” Mother Chu lowered her gaze. “I always thought that everything I prepared for her was also what she wanted… but I never asked her.”
“You’ve done a lot for her, you are a good mother.” Father Chu quickly comforted Mother Chu as she became increasingly self-blaming.
“Stop talking,” Mother Chu shook her head, feeling her steps were unusually heavy.
Images of Chu Yao’s childhood flashed through her mind. Every time Chu Yao wanted something, she would refuse her with various excuses. Gradually, Yao Yao stopped asking her for things and would obediently do as she thought. Therefore, she always believed her daughter liked the path she paved for her and liked her arrangements.
Now it seemed her daughter was just compliant, never showing particular joy. It was always she who was happy, and Yao Yao would just sit quietly…
When was the first time her daughter showed her joy in front of her…
“Let’s go home.” Mother Chu glanced at Father Chu. She needed to go home and look at her daughter’s diary to confirm the answer.
After apologizing to the Lu family, Father and Mother Chu drove home.
Mother Chu immediately got out of the car and ran into the house, finding Chu Yao’s diary. This was Chu Yao’s habit since childhood, and she had never read her diary.
But now, she really wanted to know what her daughter was truly thinking…
Opening her daughter’s diary, she saw that her daughter wrote about what she did every day, until…
The first thing she wanted to do was to have a kitten when she was little. She was refused repeatedly with reasons like cats being dirty, cats scratching people, and cats bringing bad luck.
She wrote:
I know Mother loves me very much and it’s for my own good. I should be sensible and not worry Mother, but I’m really so disappointed.
Mother Chu’s eyes reddened.
The second thing was that she envied other children who had their own pink bicycles. She also wanted to ride a bicycle, but her mother worried she would fall and didn’t want to see her get hurt.
She was very disappointed. Even the next day, when her mother bought her favorite pastries, she couldn’t be happy.
Third, fourth, fifth…
One by one, all of Chu Yao’s desires were rejected by her with excuses. Flipping further, Chu Yao no longer had any desires.
Because anything dangerous, her mother would not let her come into contact with.
Her diary entries became fewer and fewer, from being able to fill a whole page to only writing one sentence.
— The sky is clear today, and the birds fly freely.
Mother Chu’s tears could no longer be stopped. She held her daughter’s diary and wept bitterly.
Father Chu came in and saw Mother Chu crying. He went forward and held her, comforting her.
“What did you find?”
“She never cared about whether she could speak. When she was little, she happily wrote that she was praised by the teacher today because she didn’t have as many things to say as other children…”
Mother Chu looked up at Father Chu, choking with sobs.
“It was me, reminding her again and again, making her more and more insecure.”
“Did you know she wanted to raise a cat?” Mother Chu asked Father Chu.
Father Chu was stunned and nodded.
“She found a kitten abandoned by its mother in a corner of the garden. She secretly kept it, wanting to raise it herself and get your permission. You listed a bunch of reasons why she couldn’t have a cat, and finally told her you hated cats. So she cried and asked me to send the kitten away…”
“Why didn’t you tell me!” Mother Chu’s tears flowed uncontrollably.
“Neither of us wanted to disappoint you,” Father Chu held Mother Chu. “Following me, you suffered a lot to get where we are today. I promised you that when I had money, I would never let you be unhappy.”
“It’s the same for our daughter. She knows you love her.”
“What about the bicycle? Did you know about all the things she wanted to do written there?”
Mother Chu felt an even deeper pain.
“…Some I knew, some I didn’t,” Father Chu looked at Mother Chu and replied.
“Yao Yao used to tell me at first, but later she also noticed and stopped telling me…” Father Chu’s eyes were filled with guilt. Between his wife and daughter, he chose to support his wife.
“Why didn’t you say anything! Why didn’t you say anything… How much must daughter hate me…” Mother Chu hit Father Chu.
Even he didn’t stand by their daughter’s side. How sad must she have felt?
“Sob… What a terrible mother I am! All these years, Yao Yao has been disappointed again and again. Fu Wenxuan is right. My love has trapped her, broken her wings, and kept her forever by my side, yet I thought I was being good to my daughter…”
Mother Chu collapsed onto Father Chu, weeping silently and breaking down, soaking his clothes…
Mother Chu looked at everything in her daughter’s room. Everything in the room was chosen by her for her daughter.
Looking at this room, not a single item was something her daughter had wanted.
Staying here, she could almost feel her daughter suffocating.