The atmosphere in the tea house was very gloomy. Celeste thought of her unbearable past, and her anger was almost out of control.
Blanche lifted the ceramic cup in front of her, took a sip, and said, “I don’t know what your purpose is in approaching my daughter-in-law, but I must warn you not to do anything bad. My son and daughter-in-law’s relationship was quite good, and it can’t be destroyed by anyone who wants to.”
“Good? Oh, that’s ridiculous. What’s the use of being good? My relationship with Patrick was also quite good, but we broke up. It has been ruined by a vicious person.”
“Do you still think Patrick loved you? He never loved you, not for a second, and I had a painful struggle accepting his feelings in the first place. After all, love isn’t something I can just run away from, and you’re my best friend.”
“Do you mean you’ve been guilty of it too? If you have a conscience, why did you have an affair with my fiancé? You’re already five months pregnant when you get married.”
Blanche put down the cup of tea in her hand and sighed, “It looks like we have no way to communicate. I won’t ask you out again. I believe you don’t want to see me either. We’ll each live our own lives, and never meet again.”
“I’m afraid it won’t be what you want. I have a feeling that you’re going to live a pretty exciting life then.”
Celeste sarcastically smiled, taking the lead in picking up her bag and stepping away with her head held high.
Blanche went home in a very gloomy mood, went back to her room early to rest, and didn’t go downstairs to eat dinner. Bella came to Blanche’s room, knocked on the door, and pushed the door in after getting her permission.
“Mom, are you uncomfortable? Why are you resting so early?”
She sat by Blanche’s bedside and asked with concern.
Blanche shook her head, “It’s fine. I probably just slip into an old habit. I’ll just sleep for a while.”
“Do you want anything to eat then? I’ll get it for you.”
“There’s nothing I want to eat. Don’t worry about me. I want you to eat more. You haven’t looked very good lately.”
“Well, I’m fine too. Don’t worry.”
“Where’s your father-in-law?”
“Dad hasn’t come back from his afternoon out. Do you want me to call him?”
“No, you tell him to come upstairs when he comes back.”
“Okay.”
Bella nodded gently, covered the blanket for Blanche, quietly left the room, and closed the door.
When she arrived downstairs, Lena asked, “Bella, what happened to my mother?”
“She said she felt sick.”
“I’ll go see.”
“Don’t go. She’s just fallen asleep.”
She dragged Lena’s arm, a little sad, “She didn’t eat dinner either. Won’t she be hungry this night?”
“Of course she’ll be hungry. Don’t you know how to cook? You can make some red bean porridge for my mom. She loves it.”
“But she says she doesn’t want to eat it.”
“It doesn’t mean she hasn’t always wanted to eat it. As soon as my dad comes back, tells her some jokes, massages her legs and waist, she’ll want to eat it right away.”
Bella thought, “That’s fine.”
She walked towards the kitchen, tied the apron numbly boiled up the red bean porridge. Lena looked envious on the side, “Bella, no wonder my mother likes you so much. You are also too capable, a so-called expert at all sorts of trades. Fortunately, I don’t have a mother-in-law whom I need to please, otherwise, my life must be super sad.”
“A woman can do nothing but must have a good hand at cooking. Don’t think that it’s just to please the in-laws. In fact, mastering a good hand at cooking is the same as attracting a good man. Isn’t there a saying that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?”
Lena frowned, “It’s very reasonable. But I don’t know anything about cooking. How am I going to win Alvin’s heart?”
“It’s okay. I will teach you someday.”
“Great.” Lena cheered.
“Don’t get too happy too soon. Cooking is a big subject. It’s hard to learn without patience and perseverance.”
“Don’t worry. For the sake of our Alvin, I’ll do everything.”
“Okay. It’s nice of you to think so.”
Bella patted Lena’s shoulder and turned around to continue her work.
The porridge wasn’t ready yet, but her father-in-law came back, and she rushed to the living room and hurriedly said, “Dad, you’re back.”
“What’s wrong?”
Patrick raised his eyebrows in confusion.
“Mom is feeling a little sick. She didn’t even eat dinner and is sleeping upstairs.”
“Does she slip into an old habit?”
“It seems like it. Go take a look, I’m making her porridge. I’ll serve it up when it’s ready.”
“Good.”
Patrick nodded, and hurried upstairs.
After ten minutes or so, Bella’s porridge was ready. She filled a big bowl full of it, then got two plates of small dishes and put them on the tray, ready to serve it upstairs.
Lena smelled the aroma of the porridge and smelled fierce, “Wow, you are simply my idol. Looking at it all makes me work up an appetite.”
She reached out and pinched a small dish to her mouth, “Delicious.”
Bella stared at her lovingly, “There’s more in the pot if you want to eat it. Don’t eat mom’s food.”
“Really? Is there anything for me?”
“Of course, you glutton.”
“Wow, Bella, I love you so much.”
The girl bounced into the kitchen, and Bella smiled and took the tray upstairs.
She stopped in front of Blanche’s bedroom door. As she was about to knock at the door, she heard the sound of quarreling –
“Why did you go see her? Did you think she came back because of me?”
It was the voice of Patrick.
“Is it not because of you? How dare you say you didn’t know about Celeste’s return?”
“So what if I know? You know my feelings for you better than anyone else, and I’ve never loved any woman but you!”
“Don’t lie. I don’t tell you something, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know. You know best what you did when you were young!”
“What have I done?”
“Do I have to be forced to say it? Okay, then I’ll get straight to the point. How are you going to explain to me about Camille?!!!”
Bella was listening attentively, but her shoulder suddenly was lightly patted by someone. She was so frightened that her hand shook, and a bowl of hot porridge almost fell to the ground.
Embarrassed, she looked back, glanced at the person who patted her was actually Kevin, and said, “What are you doing? You’re sneaky!”
Kevin grunted, “Am I sneaky? Am I sneaking around or are you sneaking around? What are you doing in front of my parents’ door?”
She swallowed and raised the tray in her hand sharply, “I’m bringing food to Mom.”
“You can walk in openly. But you eavesdrop on them like a thief. Is that something you can do as a teacher?”
“They are arguing.”
“Whether it’s a conversation or a quarrel, you’re behaving a bit badly, aren’t you?”
Bella rolled her eyes and knew she was in the wrong so she didn’t argue with him. She knocked on the door, shouting, “Mom and Dad, can I come in?”
“Come in.”
Patrick responded.
“Mom, I’ve made you a bowl of red bean porridge. Drink it while it’s hot.”
She walked to the bedside and was shocked. Blanche was actually teary-eyed sitting there. She handed over her handkerchief, “Mom, don’t cry, don’t cry. Let’s try to get along.”
Kevin also followed and quietly asked his father, “What happened?”
“Nothing.”
Patrick shook his head angrily.
Kevin went to his mother’s bedside, “Mom, what’s going on?”
“You ask him. These days, he came back late every night. He thinks I know nothing, but I know it all!”
Bella’s heart thumped. Could it be that the Patrick had really been having an affair at this age?
“I have explained to you. Because some old friends came back from overseas, I went drinking with them.”
“Drinking? You’re drinking at this point. You really think I’m an idiot, don’t you?”
Blanche angrily picked up a pillow and threw it with a whoosh, hitting Patrick right in the face and smashing the glasses on the bridge of his nose to the ground.
Bella hadn’t seen such a scene before. She was so dumbfounded that she didn’t know what to say for a moment.
“You’re simply being unreasonable!”
Patrick stomped in frustration, picked up the pillow on the floor and left the room, mumbling as he went, “I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight. You can make a scene as you like.”
As soon as he left, Blanche sobbed and cried, and Bella hurriedly comforted her, “Mom, isn’t it normal for couples to quarrel? Patrick loves you so much. He won’t let you down.”
“Bella, what do you know? A man superficially cares for you, but in fact, he’s to atone for his own emotional derailment. An honest man will also have cheating, and your father-in-law is the best example.”
Bella was speechless, “Patrick shouldn’t have done such a thing…”
“Why wouldn’t he? Don’t I know him better than you? This man is no good. I won’t even speak for my son. Bella, you have to watch him closely. Once he tries cheating on you, you can’t control him.”
Kevin was silent on the side, but he was unable to endure, staring at them, “Mom, why do you wrong me while scolding your own husband? Are you jealous that I’m so close to your daughter-in-law?”
“I just tell her about the character of men.”
Blanche wiped her tears and said to Bella again, “Believe me. There really isn’t a decent man. In Kevin’s first year in college, he went to a social gathering with his father and got drunk that night and had sex with an escort girl.”