I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Yang Suling often thinks about how she took care of, or rather served, her mother when she was young. Her mother became paralyzed when she was eleven or twelve years old, and later her brain also became less functional. Many times, she was like a pile of flesh with a name, just sitting there.

At that time, what she did most was to lift the blankets, repeatedly take off and put on diapers, and turn the other person over and apply baby powder, even though she was not the only child in the family.

At first, she thought it was because she and her mother were both women. It wasn't until a few years later, when her father was also hospitalized and she was the one responsible for lifting the blanket, that Yang Suling realized that it wasn't because of that. Sometimes, all it takes is a sentence like, "You don't care that your parents are sick. What does it matter if they are men or women? The person lying here is a patient."

Just like the old saying goes, "A daughter-in-law who has endured many years of hardship eventually becomes a mother-in-law," there are only two times when a woman can be served by everyone: when she is pregnant and about to give birth, and when she is old and bedridden.

Compared to lying there drooling while someone pulls off the covers, Yang Suling definitely felt that the former was better, and that it would be best to give birth to a son.

Although the difficulty of taking care of an infant and an elderly person is essentially the same, at least the infant will babble and smile at her incessantly. And unlike the former, which will eventually grow weaker and weaker and die, along with all the labor she has put into it, the latter is always more promising for the future. Even if it's just the thought that if she is undressing him now, he will one day undress her in return, she can still do it with a smile.

But the result is that an infant's life may be just as fragile as that of an elderly person.

She didn't believe in superstitions, so she gave birth to another child.

It has to be said that Shen Nianqiu's existence, or rather her growth process, increasingly proves her point of view. After all, Yang Suling did not give her the same enthusiasm and companionship as she did with her first child. You could say she completely ignored her, but didn't she grow up like that herself? And the other child did not have any problems and grew into a daughter who would definitely pull the blanket off her in the future.

So perhaps, just like those elderly people, infants also lack self-awareness. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many cases of caregivers abusing the elderly and nannies abusing babies. Moreover, she didn't abuse them; she just ignored them.

...She just wanted to feel waited on.

As for Shen Nianqiu's absence last night, just like the mentality that parents often hold, "You can't possibly stay away forever," Yang Suling herself didn't really have any particular thoughts. She would just secretly remember it in her heart, just like a mother at that stage would unconsciously keep repeating how much suffering she endured when she was pregnant with her.

She slept very late again, only to be woken up by her child, Shen Tianci. Her husband had already left for work. Yang Suling yawned, pushed open the door, and went out. She saw the hired nanny/maternity nurse soothing the baby. For no reason, she remembered a scene from a period drama where a prince was closer to his wet nurse than his biological mother. She lazily walked over and took the baby in her arms.

"Didn't you breastfeed?"

Yang Suling, who was already a high-risk pregnancy, could not breastfeed, so she bought formula instead, which was paid for by her husband. After all, this was his child, surnamed Shen, and she had already done a great deed by giving birth to him. She didn't want to do anything more to take care of him.

If it weren't for the fact that various Douyin and WeChat public accounts hadn't yet emerged and gained momentum at that time, Yang Suling would probably already be spouting "postpartum depression," "postpartum rage," and "postpartum trauma" all the time.

"Feeding them now."

As the nanny was speaking, she suddenly heard a series of knocks on the door. Yang Suling handed the child back to her, then put on her slippers and went to open the door.

There was only one person standing there:

Shen Nianqiu.

Chen Junqian really didn't want to play the role of a crooked-mouthed dragon king. Firstly, he wasn't the heir of a reclusive wealthy family, the leader of a mysterious assassin organization, or a legendary urban doctor. Secondly, in reality, it's not as simple as revealing your identity and expecting the other party to bow down and worship you, then having someone slap you and say things like, "You've caused me so much trouble, go apologize to XX," leaving the person pale and bloodless, and everyone around gasping in shock.

For example, if he wants to negotiate with someone right now, he definitely needs to put in some effort.

It was quite a coincidence. Lin'an, which is adjacent to Guoning, is another major origin of hickory nuts in China. So the company's business could easily expand to this area. With Chen Junqian's deliberate contact and networking, it was easy to connect with a trading company where Shen Nianqiu's father, Shen Jian, worked.

Of course, to be more precise, it should be said that the other party wants to establish a relationship with their increasingly exaggerated behemoth.

Incidentally, the identity of a rich second-generation is a common character setting for villains in urban novels, and it is actually quite useful in many cases. This is largely due to the many idiotic predecessors who have laid the groundwork for it. So when he showed even a little bit of the idea of ​​acting out of anger for his girlfriend, Shen Jian, who was just a small manager, was promptly summoned to the meeting room by the company's general manager.

This was a plan discussed from the beginning. He was responsible for contacting Shen Jian, while Shen Nianqiu would personally face Yang Suling. His goal was to use his power to intimidate her and, incidentally, influence Yang Suling through Shen Jian to help Shen Nianqiu. As for Shen Nianqiu, what he was going to do was less about confronting his mother and more about making a clean and decisive farewell to his past self.

When Shen Jian arrived, he was wearing a slightly cramped dark blue suit. His balding head was covered in hair gel, making him look greasy. When he first received the notification, he thought he was going to be promoted, and his face was full of fawning smiles.

"Mr. Wang, you wanted to see me?"

However, when he saw the excessively young man sitting in the main seat of the sofa, he stopped in his tracks, because the other man's gaze had locked onto him the moment he entered.

"Mr. Shen, please have a seat."

Chen Junqian raised his hand, his tone polite but carrying an unquestionable air.

Shen Jian looked at his general manager with a puzzled expression, but the other party just coughed, made an excuse to leave, and closed the heavy soundproof door behind him.

"Who...who are you?"

Shen Jian sat awkwardly on the edge of the sofa, his hands nervously rubbing against his thighs.

Chen Junqian did not answer, but instead pushed the book "Dearest Forever" that he had brought with him in front of Shen Jian.

"Mr. Shen, do you usually read novels?"

Shen Jian was completely bewildered. He glanced at the cover and chuckled awkwardly.

"This... I don't read those kinds of things for young girls. Sir, are you sure you haven't come to the wrong person?"

"You've come to the right place. The author of this book is a good friend of mine; she wrote the story of another girl."

Chen Junqian crossed his long legs, his voice echoing in the quiet room:

"The girl's name in the book is Zhu Nianxia. The story is adapted from her own personal experience. It's very popular online, and the copyright is about to be sold. Maybe we can see the show airing next year. I guess the parents in the show will be criticized even more harshly then, although they're already quite harsh now."

Shen Jian's brows furrowed instantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Of course he recognized that they were talking about Shen Nianqiu.

"You...who are you to Nianqiu?" This is our family matter, it's none of our business. Did you take her away last night because she didn't come home? She's still a minor, I'm going to sue you!

Shen Jianqiang tried to maintain his composure, but his voice sounded weak.

"Sue me?"

Chen Junqian sneered at this and casually changed his form of address back to his original one:

"Shen Jian, I don't have time to discuss this with you. I'm here today to give you a choice."

As he spoke, he pulled out another document from the side and slammed it heavily on the table.

"First, continue with your nanny training program. But as a price, you'll have to pack your bags and leave this afternoon, and you'll also face legal action, because soon netizens across the country will find out that the story in this bestselling novel has a real-life counterpart, and who knows what will happen then."

Shen Jian suddenly stood up, his face turning from white to pale:

"That's intimidation! Damn it, Nianqiu's hooked up with a rich guy, hasn't she? She's a good-for-nothing..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Junqian's fist had already struck out.

The male protagonist in a romantic comedy doesn't necessarily need to resort to violence, but this isn't a romantic comedy.

"Watch your mouth, or are you really not going to work here anymore and are you preparing to experience a mid-life unemployment crisis?"

Shen Jian's breathing quickened, his eyes twitching between greed and terror. He knew very well that the Shen family was now entirely dependent on his salary, and with the arrival of his son, expenses had skyrocketed. Losing this job would be a devastating blow.

"Who...who are you? Why are you protecting her like this?"

Shen Jian asked through gritted teeth.

"I'm her boyfriend. That's her business, and it has nothing to do with either of you."

Chen Junqian said this, emphasizing each word.

“After you sign this statement, I will no longer interfere with Nianqiu’s studies, social life, or future. She will come to Guoning with me during the winter break and won’t even come back for the Chinese New Year. In exchange, I will put in a good word for you with President Wang, and he will look after you on next year’s promotion list. I will keep your dirty deeds to myself. Once she graduates from university, if you behave yourself, she will repay the alimony she owes you as her ‘father’.”

Shen Jian's shoulders slumped as he looked at the book on the table, as if he could see Shen Nianqiu's face, which was already somewhat blurred.

"……I see."

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

PS2: For me personally, the older sister character who has had the greatest influence is Kazami Ichihime, mentioned in this chapter.

Chapter 51: A Reply from the Past (Part 2)

In the bestselling book "My Dearest Forever," which has garnered an astonishing number of readers, Zhu Wenyun proactively mentioned the Antigone complex when her character and family broke apart.

Unlike the Oedipus complex, which is named after her father and is almost universally known thanks to a psychologist, the Antigone complex she possesses as a daughter is undoubtedly far less well-known.

But in fact, even the title of this book was taken by Zhu Wenyun from the original line in this ancient Greek tragedy that succeeds Oedipus Rex: "With my beloved by my beloved, I will forever win the favor of the ghosts of the underworld, more than I would win the favor of mortals."

In its simplest terms, it's essentially a subconscious psychology of willingly sacrificing one's life for love, without sexual desire, for the sake of blood relatives. It involves believing that fathers and siblings are more important than spouses and children because the former are predetermined at birth and therefore possess a greater sacredness, while the latter can be chosen.

As Antigone herself said:

“My husband is dead, I can find another; my child is lost, I can have another child with another man; but now, my parents are buried in the ground, and I can no longer have a younger brother. It is based on this principle that I pay my respects to you.”

But then, Zhu Wenyun herself refuted this viewpoint in the book through the character's words.

A person who has never left cannot return home. Only when a child can truly leave her parents can she one day truly return.

Children always faithfully inherit their parents' unconscious influence. Under the halo of their parents' love, a daughter has no choice, or rather, out of love and loyalty to her parents, she is incapable of making a choice. This is a phenomenon that a psychological counselor often observes in their work.

Children are always sitting in the therapy room being "treated" with their parents' problems in mind, even though it is the family that is sick.

As for why children always find it difficult to escape the influence of their families, Zhu Wenyun believes it is because children who are inherently dominated by their parents have absolutely no way to resist them without strong internal and external support. For children, this means both an irresistible temptation of love and an insurmountable threat.

How do you make a child genuinely confused? Of course, you do all the things you wouldn't dare do to anyone else, to strangers. After you've scolded, hit, vented, and ignored her, finally tell her that Mom and Dad love you.

This is the irresistible allure of love.

As for the latter, just like the topic of running away from home that Chen Junqian was still thinking about last night, most children, after leaving their parents, can't even solve the most basic problems of what to eat and where to stay, and in the end they still have to honestly admit their mistakes and go back.

In the parent-child relationship, parents should ideally have more awareness and self-discipline, but often the situation is completely the opposite.

Japanese author Masaya Nakagawa once wrote the following in his bestselling book, *Tokyo Tower*:

Children leave their parents to seek something beyond the parent-child relationship, to find other, vibrant relationships—such as friends, lovers, and spouses. We leave home in search of these beautiful and genuine relationships.

But in Chen Junqian's view, in many cases, what children go out to look for is just another set of parents. Just as mentioned in the film "Shoplifters," which was later starring Masaya Nakagawa and won the Palme d'Or at the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the children may choose a better family than the family they were born with.

Does giving birth to a child automatically make one a mother?

This is a line from the play that Chen Junqian provided to Zhu Wenyun as material, and Shen Nianqiu herself is now facing her mother with the same awareness and understanding.

"You heartless bastard, you actually know how to come back?"

Upon hearing these words, which were almost a direct copy of the original lines from the book, Shen Nianqiu felt a little dazed, but at the same time, she unconsciously curled the corners of her mouth and even wanted to say thank you to the middle-aged woman in front of her.

Thank you so much, Mom.

Thank you for remaining unchanged all these years.

If you improve yourself, it will make it harder for her to say certain things.

After all, having dealt with the overwhelming threat, Shen Nianqiu now only needs to deal with the irresistible temptation of love, which will remind her of the warmth and love she felt in her childhood and family.

"Yes, but I'm not coming back, I'm saying goodbye to you, Mom."

It felt like a line I'd wanted to say for a very long time, so much so that once I actually said it, I felt instantly relieved.

Shen Nianqiu showed no interest in looking into the room, at the walls covered with baby photos, or at her room, which was unrecognizable from its original state. Instead, the nanny inside, hearing the commotion, carried the baby and walked over curiously, wanting to see what had happened.

But to everyone's surprise, before Shen Nianqiu could react, Yang Suling suddenly screamed as if she had realized something, and hurriedly snatched her child from the nanny's arms. With the kind of posture that a host would vividly describe in a gratitude speech—"women are inherently weak, but mothers are strong"—she glared at Shen Nianqiu with her claws outstretched.

"I know, I know. You just can't stand to see our family doing well, and you can't stand to see your brother doing well. It was the same when I gave birth to him last year, Aunt Zhang! Get ready to call the police!"

Although she had no idea what was going on, the nanny in the house reflexively took out her phone from her pocket, but her eyes were still blank, clearly not understanding what kind of family drama was unfolding before her eyes.

Judging from the way she's called "younger brother," the high school-aged girl who's come to the door should be Shen Tianci's older sister. But she's been working in this house for two months and has never heard the male or female head of the household mention her. In fact, there isn't a single group photo or individual picture in the entire house.

and……