After Becoming Financially Free, They Offered Their Loyalty - Chapter 90

Chapter 90: This Flex is Pretty Lame

TL: YYang

“Mom, I’ll be off the highway in about ten minutes. Which hospital are you at?”

Chen Na was driving her little Honda Fit, heading towards Ling County.

The thought of her father lying in a hospital bed made her heart burn with anxiety, along with a deep sense of self-blame.

If she had known, she would have gone back to deal with the blind date. Even if they wouldn’t be together, at least meeting him would have put her parents at ease, and she could have also reminded her dad to drink less. Her dad, Chen Yongxiang, was still quite willing to listen to her.

“Nana, come home first.”

Her mother Yu Shufen’s voice came through the car’s Bluetooth.

“Huh? Isn’t he in the hospital?”

Chen Na didn’t understand.

“Just come home first. Your dad and I are both at home.”

“Uh… okay.”

Chen Na was stunned for a moment but didn’t think too much about it. Maybe Old Chen’s condition wasn’t serious. He stayed one night and was discharged today.

Chen Na comforted herself. Twenty-five minutes later, she arrived home.

Her home was in an old residential complex in Ling County, which her parents had bought around 2006. At that time, housing prices were cheap, especially in a small county like this.

This house was considered good in 2006, but with the rapid development of real estate, it seemed very shabby compared to the new residential complexes now.

The facilities and amenities were too poor. Not to mention the basic separation of pedestrians and vehicles, there weren’t even elevators or gardens. Their home was on the 7th floor, and they had to climb 7 floors every time.

As housing prices rose, Chen Na’s parents’ income did not. After retiring from the factory, they ran a small convenience store. The profit was very meager, and it was basically impossible for them to afford a new house.

Chen Na had always wanted to get a new house for her parents, but she could only save 30,000-40,000 a year at most, which was difficult even for a down payment.

“Knock, knock.”

Lost in thought, Chen Na had unknowingly climbed to the 7th floor. She subconsciously raised her hand to knock on the door. She had left in a hurry this time and had forgotten to bring her house keys.

“Nana’s back!”

Chen Na heard her mom Yu Shufen’s familiar voice from inside the room, but the tone was a bit strange. Since her father was sick, shouldn’t her mother be sad? Why did her voice sound somewhat joyful and high-spirited?

The next second, the door opened, and Yu Shufen smilingly pulled Chen Na to the side. “Nana, let me tell you something.”

“????”

“Mom? Didn’t you say Dad had a stroke?”

Chen Na felt something was wrong. She subconsciously peeked into the room and saw Old Chen inside, chatting energetically with a guest.

There were two guests inside, one was her cousin-aunt, and the other was a young man she didn’t recognize.

Chen Na finally realized. No wonder they didn’t let her come back last night and told her to come straight home. It turned out that the stroke and hospitalization were just a lie her mom made up to get her to come back for a blind date.

And that man must be her blind date.

Yu Shufen felt a bit guilty. “Nana, it’s not that your dad and I deliberately tricked you into coming back. It’s just that you’re not young anymore. You’ll be 27 next month, and you don’t even have a boyfriend yet. Look at Xiao Li upstairs and Tingting in the next building. They’re the same age as you, and they already have two kids.”

In a small county like this, women generally married early, mostly getting married at 22-23. So, the fact that her daughter Chen Na was still unmarried at 27 had always been a worry for Yu Shufen.

In a county town, this kind of situation would be gossiped about by the neighbors.

Yu Shufen cared about her reputation, and she was also worried that her daughter wouldn’t be able to get married.

“Mom!”

Chen Na was so angry she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. On one hand, she was relieved that her dad hadn’t had a stroke, but on the other hand, she was angry that her mom would use such an excuse.

“You could have just told me properly. Why did you have to use such a scary excuse?” Chen Na couldn’t help but complain.

“Would you have come back if I told you properly? I’ve been telling you for months, but you just wouldn’t come back. If I hadn’t tricked you like this, you probably wouldn’t have come back until the New Year. Think about it, how old will you be after another year?”

Yu Shufen said with disappointment, “After your 27th birthday, you’ll be 28! It’ll be even harder to get married!”

“Let me tell you, the blind date your cousin-aunt brought over has excellent conditions. He runs his own company, has a car and a house. The house is in Zhuzhou, over 130 square meters, and his car is a BMW.”

Yu Shufen took Chen Na’s hand and said earnestly, “When you go in later, you can have a good chat with him. He has a pretty good impression of you.”

Chen Na felt a bit helpless. They hadn’t even met, and he already had a good impression. It was probably just based on a couple of photos.

Yu Shufen pointed towards the sofa. “See? Not bad looking, right?”

“A match like this is great. Don’t be picky anymore. In another year or two, you’ll be thirty, and it’ll be even harder to get married then.”

“Sigh, alright.”

Chen Na sighed silently. Since she was already home, it would be too much not to meet him. She would just do it to put her parents’ minds at ease.

Actually, she really wanted to tell her parents that she had a man.

It was just that this man didn’t seem to be able to marry her…

But even so, he was very good to her. Not only did he help her open a coffee shop, but he also bought her a 3-million-yuan house and was going to buy her a car.

Their relationship wasn’t official, so Chen Na couldn’t bring herself to tell her parents, especially since Shen Yuan might not even come.

She was just a canary, after all…

Thinking this with a heavy heart, Chen Na followed Yu Shufen into the house.

“Nana’s back.”

The speaker was her cousin-aunt, Gan Fengzhen. She beckoned Chen Na to sit on the sofa and made small talk. “Nana, it’s only been half a year, and you’ve gotten fairer again. You’ve kept your figure so well.”

Chen Na nodded lightly. “Thank you, Cousin-aunt.”

“Let me introduce you. This is Dong Qitao. He came back from Zhuzhou specifically. He’s a good friend of my son’s,” Gan Fengzhen said with a smile.

Dong Qitao was about thirty, dressed in a neat shirt and trousers, wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. He looked quite scholarly and smiled.

“Hello, Chen Na.”

“Hello.” Chen Na nodded slightly.

“Nana, I heard you’re in car sales in Star City. It must be going well, right?” Dong Qitao asked familiarly.

Three months ago, Dong Qitao had seen a photo of Chen Na and found that she was not only beautiful with a great figure, but her age was also very suitable.

According to Aunt Gan, Chen Na didn’t seem to have much relationship experience.

A woman like this was perfect for a wife!

So for the past three months, he had been asking Aunt Gan to help set them up. Finally, he was lucky enough to have a meeting today. He had been a bit pained about the two bottles of Wuliangye and the carton of Huazi he had bought.

But now, seeing her in person, it was all worth it!

Chen Na replied faintly, “I’m not doing that anymore. I’m working at a coffee shop now.”

Dong Qitao was slightly stunned, then immediately reacted. “A coffee shop is great. Working in a coffee shop is much more relaxed. Sales is indeed very tiring.”

Dong Qitao secretly complained. Aunt Gan’s information was a bit outdated. How could she not know that she had changed jobs?

But this was good too. When Chen Na was with him, a job like sales where she had to show her face in public wasn’t suitable.

Anyway, he could afford to support her.

“Nana, let me tell you, Qitao runs his own company with dozens of people. The company’s annual turnover is over ten million. And he’s also bought a car and a house. Qitao, what model is your car again?”

As Gan Fengzhen spoke, she gave Dong Qitao a look.

Dong Qitao immediately understood, took the car key from his belt, revealing the BMW logo. “It’s not a great car, just a 5 Series.”

Chen Na resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That wasn’t a great car? A 5 Series would cost four to five hundred thousand. For an ordinary person, being able to drive a 5 Series was already very good.

But this flex was too forced; he even needed someone to cooperate with him. Chen Na couldn’t be bothered to expose him.

Chen Na thought she should still give him some face. After all, her cousin-aunt was a relative she saw during the New Year. So she nodded. “It’s quite good.”

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

Actually, Dong Qitao was also very helpless. He didn’t want to put on such a low-class act. Chen Na used to be a luxury car salesperson and must have seen many rich people. He just didn’t expect Aunt Gan to insist on making him show off, which made it quite lame.

Gan Fengzhen greeted them and let the two young people chat by themselves. She then went into the kitchen and said to Yu Shufen, “Look, don’t they make a great couple? A talented man and a beautiful woman.”

Gan Fengzhen was cutting vegetables and couldn’t help but glance towards the living room, sighing, “They are indeed a good match. I just don’t know if Nana likes him.”

“Whether she likes him or not depends on the man on one hand, but it also depends on you as parents. You should say more good things about him in front of Nana later. After all, Nana is at the age to get married. When you meet someone suitable, you should act quickly.”

Gan Fengzhen said with a beaming smile.

Actually, her enthusiasm for being a matchmaker was also for her own selfish reasons. If she successfully matched this couple, the red envelope from the man’s side would definitely not be small. With the man’s good conditions, he definitely wouldn’t be stingy in this regard.

After she retired, she relied on being a matchmaker to earn some extra money.

“I’ll have a good talk with Nana, but sometimes this girl doesn’t listen to me,” Yu Shufen replied.

“It mainly depends on whether Nana likes him herself. Nowadays, we advocate for freedom in love. Parents can’t force it.”

The speaker was Chen Yongxiang, who was washing vegetables.

Actually, he didn’t approve of “tricking” Nana into coming back with this excuse, but he couldn’t win against his wife, Yu Shufen. He valued the man’s character more, as well as whether his own daughter was happy. Financial conditions were secondary.

After letting the two young people chat for a while, Yu Shufen put down her work and called Chen Na into the bedroom. “How is he? He’s not bad, right? I see you two are getting along quite well.”

“He’s alright.”

Chen Na had just been making perfunctory conversation, her mind elsewhere.

“This Xiao Dong, he even specially bought your dad two bottles of Wuliangye and a carton of Chunghwa cigarettes. He’s quite generous, so I think you two can get to know each other more.”

“How about this, after lunch, you two can go for a walk downstairs, go out for a cup of milk tea or coffee.”

“We’ll see. We’re not at that stage yet.”

Chen Na gave a casual reply and changed the subject. “Where’s my sister? Is she not home?”

Hearing her daughter’s attitude, Yu Shufen was a bit dissatisfied. “Did you forget today is Friday? Your sister isn’t out of class yet. But I told her, she’ll be back for lunch.”

“Alright.”

Chen Na pretended not to see Yu Shufen’s expression. “Then I’ll rest for a while. I’ll come out when it’s time to eat.”

Yu Shufen became even more resentful. “You girl, Xiao Dong is still waiting outside. We should at least have basic hospitality, right?”

Chen Na blinked her beautiful eyes innocently. “Your daughter got up early this morning and drove for over two hours.”

In the end, Yu Shufen still doted on her own daughter and sighed helplessly. “Alright, you rest for a bit. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat.”

After Yu Shufen left the bedroom, Chen Na threw herself onto her sister’s bed, took out her phone, and realized she had missed a message from Shen Yuan. She replied:

“I’m so mad at my mom. It turns out my dad wasn’t hospitalized. She deliberately tricked me into coming back for a blind date.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back this afternoon.”

“Mwah~”

Chen Na looked at her chat with Shen Yuan with satisfaction and couldn’t help but want to change his nickname. Thinking about how he had repeatedly tricked her before, Chen Na simply typed “Scammer with Exquisite Skills.”

Looking at this nickname, a smile as bright as a flower appeared on the corners of Chen Na’s mouth.

On the other side, Shen Yuan received Chen Na’s WeChat message and also breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that she was okay.

However, Chen Na was his woman, and it wasn’t a solution for her to be constantly urged by her parents to get married. Even if she dealt with it this time, she would be asked to go on blind dates again next time.

He had to think of a once-and-for-all solution.

Shen Yuan pondered for a moment, then picked up his phone and made a call…