Chapter 367: Parents' Thoughts
“This is the license plate, no mistake.” Father Pei hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pulled open the passenger side car door.
As soon as the door opened, Father Pei saw Bae Joo-hyun fiddling with the car's buttons.
“Bae Joo-hyun, what are you doing?” Father Pei asked in surprise.
“Looking at the buttons. Hurry up and get in, it’s hot outside.”
Father Pei and Mother Bae got into the car one after the other.
“You still haven’t figured out your own car?” Father Pei, in the passenger seat, said while pulling on his seatbelt.
“This isn’t my car, it’s our Chairman’s.”
Hearing this, Father Pei and Mother Bae in the back row were both stunned.
“Your Chairman let you drive his car?”
“Yes, I originally planned to borrow Seulgi’s car, but Chairman Jiang was next to me, so he let me drive his car,” Bae Joo-hyun explained.
Father Pei turned around and exchanged glances with Mother Bae, both seeing surprise in each other’s eyes.
They were certainly not unfamiliar with DM Entertainment’s young, wealthy Chairman.
“Do you drive this car often?” Father Pei asked again.
“First time.”
Father Pei’s eyes dimmed, but then he immediately heard Bae Joo-hyun’s next words.
“Because this car is one the Chairman just got, probably less than two months ago.”
Father Pei’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Bae Joo-hyun, tell me, a man understands another man best.” Father Pei said with a smile, looking at Bae Joo-hyun, “A new car is like a man’s second face. Even his own brothers wouldn’t easily borrow it during its new car phase.”
“But now, your Chairman lent you his car! Tell me honestly, do you and Chairman Jiang Shu have any special relationship?”
Bae Joo-hyun was startled by her father’s words.
She really didn’t know there was such a saying, but the problem was that she truly didn’t have the kind of relationship with Jiang Shu that her father imagined.
“We’re not dating, we haven’t even held hands,” Bae Joo-hyun said helplessly. “Maybe Chairman Jiang just has a lot of money and doesn’t care about whether a car is new or not.”
“That’s not how it works, oh.” Father Pei raised his hand and shook it. “Based on my experience, even if rich people don’t care about whether a car is new or not, they wouldn’t lend their private car to others unless the relationship reached a certain level.”
“So, this Chairman of yours is still very special to you.”
Bae Joo-hyun was made dizzy by her father’s words. She actually felt that Jiang Shu’s attitude towards her was unusual, but Jiang Shu was too good at keeping things to himself, and he didn’t say anything, which made Bae Joo-hyun unable to tell if it was real or just her imagination.
But with her father analyzing it like this, it sounded like… there really was some truth to it?
No, no!
Bae Joo-hyun reacted the next second, almost letting her father lead her astray.
“Chairman Jiang and I don’t have any special relationship, so stop guessing,” Bae Joo-hyun said, then started the car.
“Let’s go, to the company. I’ve already arranged for you to meet with the cafeteria manager. We’ll talk in his office when we get there.”
Seeing that Bae Joo-hyun was unwilling to dwell on the issue, Father Pei also stopped there.
Going too far is as bad as not going far enough. It seemed now that their daughter and Chairman Jiang had some potential, which was a huge step forward!
He and Mother Bae were almost worried sick. Their daughter was thirty-one and still didn’t have a boyfriend. What were they going to do?
Now there was finally some potential, and it was with the handsome, wealthy, and talented Chairman of DM Entertainment. This potential made them incredibly happy.
Haste makes waste. Slowly, at least it was much better than before, when there was no potential at all.
“Should we bring some gifts? It wouldn’t be good to go empty-handed, would it?” Mother Bae spoke up.
“You’re right. Let’s buy some gift boxes when we pass by a supermarket later,” Bae Joo-hyun said, driving and thinking.
“Yes, we can’t go empty-handed,” Father Pei echoed.
Although they had the connection with Jiang Shu, the cafeteria manager would be their direct superior in the future. They still needed to show proper etiquette; going empty-handed was simply not good.
No matter what, they weren’t genuine connections.
If Bae Joo-hyun were truly Jiang Shu’s girlfriend, then it wouldn’t matter, and the manager would even have to curry favor with them.
However, now that the relationship was only somewhat special, it was best not to overestimate their position and to be mindful.
“Are you staying in Seoul tonight?” Bae Joo-hyun asked.
“Let’s see. If the discussion goes late, then we’ll stay one night at the house you bought.”
“Yes, your father and I haven’t seen your house after it was renovated with our own eyes yet.”
“Okay, then we’ll go back and pack tomorrow,” Bae Joo-hyun replied.
She had bought a total of three properties: two fully paid for, and one on loan.
One was still a simply furnished apartment, and she didn’t have money for renovations, planning to wait until the loan for the third house was paid off.
Houses in Seoul were still too expensive. Bae Joo-hyun had only debuted for three years, and being able to buy three houses already put her in the super high-income bracket. In other companies, even top-tier idol group members couldn’t achieve this level of income; it was only possible at DM Entertainment.
“I didn’t expect to be eating my daughter’s food before I even reached retirement age,” Father Pei said with a chuckle.
“You raised me for so many years, now it’s my turn,” Bae Joo-hyun said, also laughing.
Ninety-nine percent of family conflicts in the world stem from money. When there’s enough money to spend, most families are left with harmony.
Before, Bae Joo-hyun was unmarried and still living at home, and her parents found her displeasing no matter how they looked at her.
It wasn’t that they thought she was freeloading, but rather that they worried about what Bae Joo-hyun would do without a husband to rely on or a decent job after they retired or passed away.
But now, Bae Joo-hyun earned in a year what they earned in a lifetime, so those worries dissipated with the surge in her income.
Even the pressure to marry, which had been present over the years, was no longer as urgent.
Ultimately, they wanted Bae Joo-hyun to marry so she could have her own small family, someone to rely on besides them.
Similarly, whether male or female, parents’ desire for their children to marry early largely stems from similar thoughts.
Perhaps some parents have a controlling and exploitative mindset towards their children, but clearly, Bae Joo-hyun’s parents’ affection for Bae Joo-hyun aligns more with the protective love of most parents, and it is this protective love that makes them spontaneously view problems from Bae Joo-hyun’s perspective.
The reason Bae Joo-hyun’s father wanted Bae Joo-hyun and Jiang Shu to have a special relationship was that he saw Jiang Shu’s capabilities, or rather, that the other party met all the criteria he considered for his daughter’s future, a reliable good match.
Parents’ considerations for their children might be pragmatic, or perhaps not what you wish for, but generally, they are for the children’s sake.
Bae Joo-hyun was well aware of this, and thus, although she sometimes felt troubled by her parents’ pressure to marry, she never got angry or felt a sense of control.
