I Found A Planet

 “Son, the director of the tax bureau has approved for me to retire six months early. From next month onwards, I won’t need to go to the unit anymore. Later on, I’ll concentrate on taking care of Su Yun at home. Finally, I’m able to shed all this weight on my shoulders,” said He Li with a smear of melancholy on her face. She was almost 55 and could finally retire. In the rest of her old age, she would stay at home taking care of her daughter-in-law and grandchildren. As her sight swept through everyone at the round table, she paused briefly on the white hair on her husband’s temple. She sighed. “An entire lifetime gone in the blink of an eye. Humans grow old before even fully enjoying their youth.” A train of past memories jogged through her mind. Unconsciously, some tears hung by the corner of her eyes.

“It’s a good thing that you will retire early. You can concentrate on our house and the grandkids,” Chen Gang said. “I could only retire in about another decade or so. The company issued a ‘sprinting decree,’ striving to realize mass production of the CR929 long-range aircraft before 20X5, and at the same time started the ‘Super Passenger Plane C939’ R&D project, striving for success before 20X0… if everything goes smoothly, I’ll retire in another eight years. I can’t help in bringing up the kids during this period of time.” In fact, he too wished to retire early and play with his grandchildren at home. But he had more meaningful work to do. Hence, he decided to keep going for another few years.

He Li glared at him. “You are already past 60 and still going to work. How could your brain outrun the youngsters? At the end of the day, you only want to slack off from bringing up our grandchildren.” She had gone to the director’s home for two days and helped her to take care of her grandson, Chen Bufan, or as she called him, Fan Fan. She immediately realized that bringing up kids in current times was no easy task, even three adults to one child was a little lacking. Anyways, only torture awaited them in the times to come.

Chen Jin nodded. Su Yun’s pregnancy was already six months along. Her due date was the end of November. She would need someone to care for her at home. His mother retiring early and becoming a full-time nanny at home was the best thing that could ever happen. He felt more assured. “Mom, I’m sorry that I have to trouble you with this. You’ll be suffering more in the future,” Chen Jin told his mother while nodding his head.

“You unfilial brat. Looks like I won’t be getting any rest throughout my entire life just for your sake,” said He Li helplessly. She looked at him with a glare of complicated feelings. Unable to tell whether his mother was praising him, dissatisfied at him, or pleased with him, Chen Jin coughed twice awkwardly.

She knew. She knew about the things going on between him and Yuan Li for a long time now. A few months ago, she dragged him to a corner and inquired about everything.

Chen Jin was shocked at that moment. He was flustered as he asked, “Mom, how did you know about this? Who told you about it?” He was a little frustrated. He exhorted Yuan Li countless times not to spread things around, but his mother still received the news in the end.

He Li was speechless as she watched him trying to cover things up.

For all that time, she always felt that her husband Chen Gang betrayed her and abandoned the relationship between them. She held a grudge towards him for more than 20 years. However, the year before, that woman by the name of Zhen Xiao Qin came to her in private. Not only did she apologize to her, but she also threw light on the whole situation. Upon listening to her clarification, He Li was stunned. It turned out that her husband never once betrayed her. His connection with Zhen Xiao Qin was innocent. Especially after she saw the aged yellowed IVF surgery record, He Li was astonished by this woman’s craziness. She lifted her hand right on the spot, wanting to give that woman a slap on the face.

Zhen Xiao Qin did not try to dodge. Instead, she said with infatuation, “I do not regret it.”

He Li ultimately did not swing her hand. The fanaticism and infatuation of this woman in front of her actually bred a glimmer of sympathy and compassion within her. A sense of guilt emerged from the bottom of her heart. Her attitude towards her husband was indeed a little too harsh over these years. Her husband Chen Gang was a decent person. He was no scumbag!

But as for her son Chen Jin… without a doubt, when she saw Yuan Lin visiting her home with a bulged tummy, and after she listened to her director questioning her, He Li only kept her head down and stayed by her guests for their entire visit.

Scum. Her son was quite a scumbag. She tried very hard to convince herself otherwise but ended up realizing that there was no way of whitening this in any way possible. After confronting Chen Jin and looking at him trying so hard to conceal the facts, it gave her a vivid lesson: so… this is what a real scumbag looks like.

She had to clarify on her end as well. “That lady did not come to me, it was her mom, Dong Lei, that brought her along to visit.”

“So that’s the case. Who aside from you knows about this?”

“No one. You dad went to work that day.”

“Oh, that’s great.” Chen Jin gave out a sigh of relief.

He Li rolled her eyes. How did I give birth to such a scumbag?

But she couldn’t bring herself to criticize him, and even had to help him cover things up. She was even a little pleased and surprised on the inside: I can hold my grandchild soon. In the end, she only sighed and lightly pinched his arm. “How did I give birth to such a thing?”

“Mom, I’ll explain it to you later. Our urgent priority now is to calm down the emotions of the Yuans and let Yuan Li give birth in peace and quiet. We can talk about other things at a later time.” Of all Chen Jin had said, there was only one meaning at its core: keep it a secret. Hold down the Yuans and keep this from spreading.

“Alright!” He Li nodded in resignation. Her presence immediately became that of a ‘stabilizer’ for Chen Jin, sharing with him much of the pressure. Chen Jin gained quite an amount of peace in his mind. He sighed. “You are the best in this world, mom.” But He Li could only do so much.

Especially after watching Chen Bufan, who was constantly getting bigger and bigger, and thinking about her grandson’s awkward position, the child’s grandmother, Dong Lei, considered this intolerable. Her heart could not understand any of this and her sufferings grew larger as the days passed by.

Recently, she came to He Li and faced her in private. “Director He, it is either the child following my daughter’s surname or your son giving my daughter an official title! He must choose one of the two options!”

Chen Jin’s mother conveyed her message to him. His head was cracking in the face of these two options. Mrs. Director, it is just a title, why do you insist on it so much? Of course, the child must be a Chen. Going for Yuan is not quite good.

In the end, after thinking critically for a long time, he took out a stack of photos. After exhorting his mother with a few words, he let her bring those photos to the director.

After opening the letter and going through the photos inside, Dong Lei was startled. Her body was trembling furiously, and she began mumbling to herself, “So that’s what happened, I never thought that it was like this.”

…

After their meal, upon seeing that Su Yun was in the living room watching television, Chen Jin slipped into the kitchen and whispered to his mother who was doing the dishes, “Mom, have you settled it with the director?”

“It’s settled.” He Li nodded. She had some lingering fears. “Are those photos true? They are so gruesome and terrifying! Even I was shocked. You said you became the CIA’s primary assassination target and they deployed a special force to kill you, but they were punched to death by your guards… is that true, my son?” Her face was filled with tension and worry, while her hands were mildly shaking.

“Those were fake, they were all put together. And I made up the story. The M nation is a civilized country, how could they possibly engage in this kind of thing? I deliberately exaggerated stuff a little. Of course, we would have to take precautions and let Li Li, the Director, and my son be careful and try their best to keep a low profile, so… I’m not shedding responsibilities, it’s all for the sake of their safety.”

“Really?” He Li was hesitant, but chose to trust her son in the end.

The M nation was the representative of liberal democracy. It was impossible for them to commit such an evil crime. But why did those photos look so real? She shook her head, her heart filled with confusion.