Chapter 72: What I Gave Her Is Not a Cage, But Wings
"I know who you are, Chen Mo. I spoke to your teachers about you," Li Fengzhi said, glaring at Chen Mo.
"Then I’m truly honored," Chen Mo replied with a calm smile, his demeanor poised and unflustered.
"I know you come from a good family. A rich boy."
"We’re just comfortable."
"Don’t stand there with that smirk and slick talk. I know exactly what kind of person you are."
As she spoke, Li Fengzhi turned to Su Yuqing, her face a mask of pained sincerity. "Don’t think that just because he’s handsome and rich, you’ve found your lifelong happiness.
How old are you two? What do you know about love?
Even when you’re adults, these rich boys are the least trustworthy. They don’t take women seriously at all.
He’s cut from the same cloth as your father. He’ll cherish you when he likes you, but the moment he’s tired of you, he’ll kick you to the curb.
They have looks and money, they can have any woman they want! Can’t you see me, your own mother, as a cautionary tale? The one type of man you must never choose is a handsome, rich one!
An ordinary man would treasure you, but in the eyes of a man like him, you’re nothing!
Sooner or later, he’ll get tired of you and abandon you. It’s not too late to wake up and turn back now!"
Hearing this, Su Yuqing, with tears welling in her eyes, turned to glance at Chen Mo. She didn’t believe it. She refused to believe Chen Mo was the same kind of person as her father.
’Besides,’ she thought, ’we haven’t even made things official or gotten together. What’s there to abandon?’
"Ma’am, you’re absolutely right. No one can guarantee what the future holds. Some people can say the most beautiful things now, but who knows what they’ll be like later. However, I know one thing for sure: as long as Yuqing is with me, all she will have are happy memories. That alone is enough," Chen Mo said, gently wiping away Su Yuqing’s tears with his sleeve.
Promises like "I’ll love you for ten thousand years" or "I’ll treat you well for a lifetime"—Chen Mo had no interest in writing such empty checks.
He only knew that if you love someone, you must cherish them. To love in the present meant cherishing the present, protecting her as if she were his everything.
"I don’t care what sweet nothings you used to trick my daughter. I’m giving you a solemn warning right here and now: stay away from her. Otherwise, the day I find out you’ve hurt her, I’ll fight you to the death!"
"Then let me give you a solemn warning as well. Yuqing has just come of age. She has a stable job and an income that can support her daily life. Legally, she is now qualified and has the right to be free from your compulsory guardianship.
I hope that you will no longer subject her to any unnecessary harassment, whether at school or in her personal life. If you wish to love and care for her as a mother, you are always welcome. But if your goal is to exercise your maternal rights and keep her as your puppet on a string, then I’m sorry, but I won’t let her live like that anymore."
As he spoke, Chen Mo took out the employment contract and slapped it down in front of Li Fengzhi.
Li Fengzhi’s fingertips trembled as she picked up the contract, the paper slicing a sharp arc through the air. "Just come of age? Guardianship?"
She let out a sudden, sharp laugh and slammed the contract onto the entryway cabinet, making the glass vase on it tremble slightly. "Fine, fine! So young and you’re already trying to play lawyer with me. I don’t know anything about the law, but it’s the natural order of things for parents to discipline their children. No one can interfere! Don’t you try to fool me!"
Chen Mo calmly moved Su Yuqing behind him, his tall, straight shoulders blocking the slanted twilight from the window. His tone was firm as he said, "According to Article 18 of our country’s Civil Code, an adult, even one who has just come of age, who can support themselves with their own labor income is considered a person with full capacity for civil conduct."
While speaking, Chen Mo even pulled out his phone, searched for the relevant article in the Civil Code, and showed it to Li Fengzhi.
At the same time, he tapped his knuckle on his own mother’s signature on the document. "Yuqing is currently legally employed by my family as a nanny, with a monthly salary of six thousand yuan—more than enough to live independently."
"Six thousand?!" Li Fengzhi’s pupils contracted. Her nails scraped shrilly against the cabinet’s surface.
The figure was more than double her own monthly income. She suddenly realized that her daughter’s slender frame concealed such a resolute will to resist.
"Fine, fine! So money makes you powerful, does it? So powerful even I can’t control you anymore!"
After seeing the Civil Code content Chen Mo had searched for, even if Li Fengzhi didn’t understand the law, she knew it wasn’t something he could have fabricated. But she still refused to back down.
"Don’t talk to me about the law! I don’t agree, so you can’t leave. If you dare take her, I’ll bring the police to your house!" Li Fengzhi threatened.
"Ma’am, let me be blunt. Everything we are doing right now is perfectly legal and by the book.
Even if you call the police, we are the ones in the right. It’s useless no matter how much of a scene you make.
But you need to think clearly about the consequences of making an unreasonable scene and bothering the police every time. You might not care about the gossip, but what about Yuqing’s little brother? Her stepfather?
Have you considered them? Have you thought about how ugly rumors about this might affect them.
Especially Xiaoyu. He’s still so young. It’s easy for classmates to isolate and bully someone because of rumors. Surely you don’t want your actions to lead to him being bullied at school!"
Every word was a killing blow. Chen Mo’s speech had struck Li Fengzhi’s weak spot.
It was true. She felt she owed Li Gang far too much. He loved her selflessly, but she had only ever offered him affection born from guilt and a need to compensate. How could she let her actions cause her husband and son to suffer?
"Fine, fine! Just get out!" Cornered and rendered powerless by a high school boy, Li Fengzhi could only grab the ceramic lucky cat from the entryway cabinet and hurl it against the wall to vent her fury and helplessness.
SMASH! The porcelain shattered into sharp, star-like fragments at Chen Mo’s feet. He didn’t even flinch, but instead completely shielded Su Yuqing behind him, protecting her from the flying shards.
"You remember this when you walk out that door! When this rich boy gets tired of you, don’t you come crying back to me! You think you’re a canary entering a gilded cage, but it won’t be long before you realize what a terrible mistake you’ve made." Li Fengzhi’s face was filled with grief and indignation as she watched the daughter she had raised all by herself treat her with such silence. Her heart ached as if sliced by a knife.
Chen Mo bent down and picked up the largest piece of porcelain, its sharp edge pressing a red line into his palm. "You’re wrong. I’m not building her a cage."
He gently placed the shard back on the cabinet. As he turned and lifted the suitcase, the clink of the metal zipper was as crisp as a wind chime. "I will cherish her like a canary, but I won’t lock her in any cage. I will only teach her how to grow her own wings and fly toward a world that belongs to her."