Return of the Antagonistic Lady Boss

Chapter 970: Chapter 943: Seeing Your Own Problems in Others

Nowadays more and more people live in apartment buildings, so this kind of simple affection is getting rarer. These old men must really care about Yu Minglang, otherwise how could they have skipped over his father and gone straight to his door to lecture him?

Even though it was a big misunderstanding, Qian still felt this kind of affection was worth preserving.

"That’s true. If we have kids in the future, there’s no way their morals will go wrong. A child growing up in this kind of environment is bound to have the right values."

On this matter, Xiaoqiang had the most say. When a child walks into the courtyard and randomly bumps into an elder, they’ll get dragged over, and a simple chat turns into half a day. They’ll go from talking about the War of Resistance to patriotism. You can’t not listen even if you want to. By the time they start school, they’ve already got a natural edge in history class.

"Actually, sometimes I feel that if relatives could keep the same distance from each other as neighbors do, that would be nice."

Qian sighed. As soon as Xiaoqiang heard the subtext, he thought, could his wife’s sudden emotional downturn tonight have something to do with her family?

"Why would you say that?"

"Today I saw the relationship between Qiuqiu’s dad and Qiuqiu, and I couldn’t help thinking of me and my brother."

"This... how are those two things even related?" Was such a small matter really worth his wife taking so much to heart?

"There’s something in common. You think Qiuqiu’s dad is awful, right? But he’s also kind of pitiful. He’s bent on arranging a good future for his child, but he doesn’t realize that what he’s arranging is never what Qiuqiu wants. As Qiuqiu’s friends, from our standpoint, this kind of all-encompassing interference in someone else’s future is extremely annoying."

Isn’t this just a special form of family affection under special circumstances?

Parents are used to taking over everything. From school, to buying a marital home, even to helping their children raise their kids, they’re used to a parental dictatorship.

Yu Minglang nodded, signaling her to go on.

"I’ve been reflecting too. Me planning out Dalong’s future like this—am I right or wrong? He’s young, simple, hasn’t seen much of the world, and his thinking is pretty naive. Me smoothing out his future path with half coaxing and half tricking... is that really the right thing to do?"

Using others as a mirror is something top psychologists can never get around; you always end up seeing your own problems in someone else’s issues.

So that’s what it was! Xiaoqiang finally understood why his wife had been fine during the day, but after seeing Qiuqiu’s dad, her mood suddenly sank. Turned out it was all about her brother again.

"There’s a saying, ’Each generation has its own blessings.’ But with someone like Dalong, if he develops along that simple-minded way of thinking, what kind of blessing could he possibly have?"

Qian really wasn’t fear-mongering or looking down on her brother.

What happened in her previous life was still vivid in her mind. If that kid’s development wasn’t restricted, he easily went off the rails, but at his core he wasn’t a bad child.

"Don’t overcomplicate this. Your family’s situation and Qiuqiu’s family are two completely different things." Xiaoqiang was firmly on Qian’s side. He didn’t think his wife had handled anything wrong.

"In a sense, Qiuqiu’s dad is also thinking for Qiuqiu. Even if his methods look stupid to us, his intention is for Qiuqiu’s good. I also believe I’m doing this for my brother’s sake, so isn’t that the same?"

This was the knot Qian just couldn’t untangle.

According to the idea of laissez-faire, she shouldn’t interfere in Dalong’s affairs at all. But she couldn’t just watch him end up like in her previous life. On one side was emotion, on the other reason. Standing at that fork in the road, her heart was full of endless feelings.

"It’s not the same. You and Qiuqiu’s dad are fundamentally different. First, his method can only lead to a wrong outcome in the end, but you are definitely going to help your brother grow into someone outstanding. Second, Qiuqiu never once asked his father to help decide his future, from beginning to end, while Dalong has always relied on you. He actively asked you for help. He trusts you, so he discusses everything with you. There’s a passive versus active difference here. Third, in Dalong’s subconscious he accepts the arrangements his big sister makes, whereas Qiuqiu subconsciously rejects his father. So the two can’t be compared."

Top students are good at grasping the main points. After he said that, Qian seemed to feel a lot better.

She actually understood all this in theory; it’s just that when someone points it out for you, it feels different. Qian stood so high up that there were very few people who could offer her guidance. Everyone was looking up to her, relying on her, even treating her like some kind of deity. Yet right by her side there was someone who stood on equal footing with her, who could, when she was lost, hit the nail on the head with a single sentence.

"What I’m most afraid of is that even after we’ve done our best, we still don’t manage to bring him up right. If he grows crooked—"

The shadow of her previous life lingered in Qian’s heart and wouldn’t go away. Having seen with her own eyes how her brother turned into a spoiled wastrel, she was always afraid she’d fail to educate him properly.

"If he grows crooked, you can beat me up."

"Why would I beat you?" She looked at him strangely. In his mind, was she really such a violent person?

"I share responsibility in this. My wife is the decision-maker in action, and I’m the one who carries it out. You sending this plan over to Dalong is heroic, correct, absolutely flawless. If the education doesn’t work out, then the problem lies with me, the executor. My wife is always right."

"You’re such a smooth talker." Qian had been stuck on this issue for so long, and he’d talked her around with hardly any effort.

Other men, when something came up, would avoid getting involved if they could. Yet this fool insisted on charging forward. That really did meet Qian’s standards; the more she looked at him, the more she felt he had real responsibility.

"Honestly, that place Dalong is about to go into—can it really straighten him out?"

Qian still couldn’t feel at ease. In her eyes, her brother seemed a little hopeless.

Since coming back, she’d been focused on his education. Fugui had taken complete charge of his studies. With the two of them working together, they’d only managed to push his grades up to the level needed for a third-tier college. In life, he wasn’t motivated, always thinking about taking shortcuts. As a dignified female boss, there was no way she wasn’t frustrated.

But forget just a younger brother—even with your own child, making lavish, all-encompassing plans for their life isn’t good either. If, in the end, the person doesn’t turn out well and you end up like Qiuqiu’s dad—criticized by everyone inside and out—that would be infuriating.

"We’re only giving Dalong a general environment. It takes all sorts to make a world. Even the best environment can’t guarantee a hundred percent success. But looking at Dalong objectively, at heart he’s not some unforgivable kid. Give him a direction and he’ll know to work hard. You should stop viewing him with so much subjective bias."

Xiaoqiang had noticed that Qian’s attitude toward her brother was particularly interesting. To sum it up precisely, it was a mix of love and hate, with a bit of "hating iron for not becoming steel." Qian could analyze anyone else objectively, but when it came to her brother, she always assumed the worst.

What Xiaoqiang didn’t know was that all of Qian’s subjective bias toward Dalong came from the shadow of her previous life. She could never forget how that walking disaster had dragged her down for a whole lifetime.

But she also couldn’t forget how, after she came back, her idiot brother had stood up for her and their mother. When those two kinds of feelings intertwined, her emotions became complicated.

"It’s fine. I’m here, so don’t think about anything else." He lowered his head, wanting to kiss her, but Qian dodged.

"We’re just friends right now, okay? Keep your distance!"

Oh? She wanted to play games with him now?