Chapter 36 - If you want to indulge, you have to be prepared to price the price (2)
Mother Ruan had originally thought her daughter wouldn't agree to her request. And so, she froze in surprise when her daughter took the two movie tickets before responding with a beaming smile. Although she was over 50 years old, she put effort into maintaining her appearance. In addition, her living standards had greatly improved after her daughter's marriage. So, she didn't look that different from someone in their early 40's.
Right now, there wasn't much for her to worry about. She didn't have to worry about money and had a big home to live in. Her only worry was her daughter and son-in-law's relationship.
Seeing that her daughter's attitude had changed, there was nothing else to feel dissatisfied and unhappy about. Her life was simply too wonderful.
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In the guest room, before Little Wang fell asleep, he wanted to chat with his dad. The curve of his little belly was going up and down as he breathed in and out. "Dad, I found out that other kids' moms aren't as pretty as mine."
The image of that horrifying face still haunted Song Tingshen's mind. Now that his son was here, his attention was finally distracted.
"Dad, do you think mom is pretty?" Little Wang asked.
Song Tingshen suddenly thought of his first meeting with Ruan Xia. At that time, he already had his own company, and the scale of it wasn't small either. A professor from his alma mater had contacted him and wanted him to come back to give a speech, and he had agreed. When he went back to his college, he saw the young college students and suddenly felt as if time had passed so quickly. He had already passed his thirty birthday.
Ruan Xia had been the student responsible for greeting him. He had only thought that the college-aged her was very pretty from a man's perspective.
Later on, she came to his company to interview for a part-time job. Perhaps, the HR department saw that she was going to his alma mater and thought that there was a connection between them. In addition, her appearance was really too outstanding. Thus, she was hired.
On the night that she had schemed against him, he hadn't been drunk to the point of losing consciousness. His judgement hadn't been impaired either.
Insiders had all thought she had succeeded because she was a good schemer. It was only Song Tingshen that knew it was because he had allowed himself to indulge that night.
He had lived for over three decades, and he had always practiced self-control and keeping his emotions under control. Unlike other successful people, he hadn't come from wealth. And so, starting from college, he had been careful.He didn't dare to take one wrong step. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his nerves had always been tense. But, he was a mortal, an ordinary person. There was bound to be a time when he wanted to relax.
There were some people in the business world that called him a gentleman, but he wasn't.
If he was a gentleman, that night would have never happened. The current situation wouldn't exist either.
And so, when Ruan Xia wanted to get married to become Mrs. Song and give birth to their child, he didn't have any objections. In his thirties, he had learned the life lesson that if you want to indulge, you have to be prepared to price the price.
After he had gotten married, there had still been countless people that tried to tempt him, but none of them succeeded.
He wasn't willing to set a bad example for his son, and after that night, he never had the urge to indulge.
If he didn't have the urge, naturally nothing would happen.
Before falling asleep, Little Wang asked again, "Is mom pretty?"
Song Tingshen saw that Little Wang was already half-asleep. He covered him with the blanket and whispered, "Of course she's pretty."
He was a mortal, not a monk. Just like any ordinary man, he liked beauty. If she wasn't pretty, he wouldn't have let himself indulge.
Translator Ramblings: I like how the author doesn't make Song Tingshen a victim. His relationship with the novel's Ruan Xia is more like an egg donor/surrogate mother than wife, and it was a conscious decision on his part. If Song Tingshen had been truthful to his son instead of going along with the maternal grandparents' well-meaning lies, I wonder if Little Wang could have been happier after the initial hurt. He wouldn't have developed twisted feelings of love and hate towards the novel's Ruan Xia. He's already old enough to feel sad that his mom is distant to him. Dragging out this lie until he's too old to be lied to, is it really the better option? It's like slowly peeling off a bandaid vs yanking it off and suffering less.
Since Song Tingshen feels that it's important for a child to have a mother's love and he has no feelings for his wife, I wonder why he doesn't consider divorcing Ruan Xia, offering continued financial support to keep her happy, and marrying a woman that does love kids? He's had four years to see that Ruan Xia has no desire to be a mother. It's time to think of Plan B.