Wen Miao's mother was still smiling. "What about our Wen Miao?"
Lin Zhilan shot Jiang Chengzhou a look. "You say it yourself."
Jiang Chengzhou took a deep breath and stood up straight.
"Recently, Wen Miao has been coming to me frequently, asking me to date her. I've turned her down many times, but she hasn't stopped harassing me. She comes to my house constantly, and when she can't find me there, she waits for me on the street to block my way."
Wen Miao's face flushed bright red. "Jiang Chengzhou, you—"
Wen Miao's grandfather turned to his granddaughter with a cold expression. "Is what he said true?"
"I just like him. It's not like I did anything wrong." Wen Miao's voice was full of grievance and stubbornness.
Wen Miao's mother tightened her face and said, "Miao Miao isn't wrong either. How could a girl like her harass a boy?"
Jiang Chengzhou continued, "But I find it very troubling. I don't like her, and I hope she'll stop pestering me from now on."
Wen Miao's father hastily interjected, "There's no need for kids to speak so harshly. You may not like Miao Miao now, but what if you end up liking her later?"
"I won't like her later either." Jiang Chengzhou's tone was firm.
"Enough!" Wen Miao's grandfather said disapprovingly. "Since he's already said he doesn't like you, then why keep clinging on!"
"Grandpa, I just like him."
"And I just don't like you!" Jiang Chengzhou said coldly.
Wen Miao immediately burst into tears. Her mother quickly hugged her, while everyone else stared at Jiang Chengzhou with reproachful eyes, as if he were being heartless and unreasonable.
Lin Zhilan stood up and shielded her nephew behind her. "Everyone, don't you think you're missing the point? I didn't call you all here to hear Comrade Wen Xin give a speech about her feelings. I'm here to solve a problem."
"What problem do you want to solve?"
Wen Miao's grandfather asked impatiently.
After all, Wen Miao was his own granddaughter. Being so openly rejected like this, he was angry at his granddaughter for being spineless, and also felt that he had lost face himself.
A sarcastic smile tugged at the corner of Lin Zhilan's mouth. "Solve the problem of our child being harassed right now. If you don't discipline your daughter, then we'll report it to the police."
Wen Miao's mother held her daughter and darkened her expression. "I don't believe the police would do anything. Since when is it a crime for a girl to like someone?"
Lin Zhilan retorted mockingly, "Like father, like daughter, indeed. Wen Miao just said the same thing, and now I'll say it back to you: Is it Jiang Chengzhou's fault that he doesn't like Wen Miao?
Wen Miao, stop crying. Chengzhou doesn't like you, and that's that. If crying actually worked, why not try going after the President of the United States and see if he'd marry you just because you cried and wailed?
What would the police do? That's a good question. For harassment, whatever the law prescribes, that's what will be done!"
Lin Zhilan turned to Jiang Chengzhou. "Go, report this to the police right now!"
"No!" Wen Miao's father hurriedly blocked the door. "We can't call the police! If you do, how will Miao Miao ever show her face again?"
Wen Miao kept crying, sobbing so hard she could barely catch her breath.
Her mother patted her back sympathetically, then looked up and glared at Lin Zhilan and Jiang Chengzhou. "You two are going too far. If you don't like her, fine—just say so in private. Do you have to make a spectacle of it? Doesn't Miao Miao have any dignity as a girl?"
Director Zhang quickly tried to smooth things over. "Let's all talk this through calmly. Wen Miao, make a promise to him that you won't bother Jiang Chengzhou anymore. Jiang Chengzhou, you should cool down too. Let's each take a step back and stop talking about calling the police."
Lin Zhilan sneered. "Say it in private? How many times has Chengzhou already said it? Did any of you listen? Did Wen Miao listen?"
She then asked Director Zhang, "Wen Miao has been causing trouble for this long now—has anyone here ever respected Chengzhou's feelings? If it hadn't escalated to this point today, would any of you have even tried to persuade Wen Miao?"
Director Zhang fell silent.
Lin Zhilan pulled Jiang Chengzhou to sit down. "We've made our position clear. Now you can go talk some sense into Wen Miao."
In this world, when disputes arise, those on the outside who want to quell the conflict often only try to persuade the gentler, more considerate party to compromise.
Reasoning and arguing about right and wrong takes too much energy. Making the reasonable and understanding person concede is the quickest shortcut to ending an argument.
The easier someone is to deal with, the more likely they are to be used to smooth things over.
Sure enough, after Lin Zhilan put on that unyielding attitude, everyone else turned to persuade Wen Miao instead.
Wen Miao's parents did indeed want their daughter to be with Jiang Chengzhou, but now that things had escalated this far, it was basically impossible.
Yet Wen Miao seemed oblivious to all that. She was stubbornly stuck on her one track and refused to listen, no matter who tried to reason with her.
The others had no choice but to look back at Lin Zhilan.
Lin Zhilan blinked. "Why are you looking at me? I'm a doctor—do you want me to check her for an illness?"
Everyone: "..."
Jiang Chengzhou said in a low voice, "Aunt, is it really an illness?"
Anyway, Jiang Chengzhou felt that Wen Miao didn't seem quite normal.
Lin Zhilan said, "Possibly."
"What illness?"
Everyone's attention was drawn over, and even Wen Miao's crying quieted down.
"Erotomania."
Based on her observations just now, Wen Miao was completely living in her own world. Jiang Chengzhou's rejections, in her eyes, were signs of shyness, restraint, reserve, or him not having thought it through.
Her public, blunt proclamation of love probably wasn't bravery—it was obsession.
A normal person would be ashamed and retreat after being rejected. But she only grew more persistent, more intense with each rejection. Anyone who tried to reason with her, she would get agitated, argue, even throw tantrums.
The moment Jiang Chengzhou shattered her fantasy, she would lash out with harsh words, yet afterwards she'd still cling to him.
Her parents tried to persuade her gently, her grandfather scolded her—soft or hard approach, Wen Miao wouldn't budge.
Either this girl was simply a paranoid person by nature, or she really did have erotomania.
Wen Miao's mother's face turned red. "Nonsense! How could she have erotomania?"
Wen Miao's mother had heard of erotomania before.
When she was a child, a few streets over, there was a girl who had this illness. At first, everyone said she was lovesick, frivolous and indecent. Later, that girl became famously known as a madwoman.
People in this era were naturally conservative. If their daughter were branded with "erotomania," her reputation would be ruined. She'd be treated like a lunatic for the rest of her life!
And then what decent family would ever want to marry her?
Lin Zhilan frowned. "I'm being sincere when I advise you—take her to a hospital for a checkup. Don't let it get worse."
"Nonsense, our Miao Miao is not sick!"
"Believe it or not, it's your daughter, not mine."
Jiang Jinzhu had been sitting dryly for the better part of the afternoon and finally couldn't help but say his second sentence: "Old Wen, Zhilan is highly skilled in medicine. I suggest you take the girl to the hospital for a look. Don't end up delaying her condition."
Wen Miao's grandfather's eyes flickered. "Since when is it that mystical? A young girl developing feelings is only natural. Going a bit overboard is possible. Who says it's erotomania just like that?"
