117 Only sane person around?

"By the time these six days are over, I want to see Tang back and informed about his marriage to Mei Zhen. Else, I will personally go and tell him about it and you can be rest assured that I wouldn't be polite about it," Mr. Liang warned before walking away with his wife.

Mrs. Xie led her shaken looking husband towards the sofa in the living room and helped him sit down. He suddenly looked so forlorn that she got worried and started dialling their family doctor's number.

"Am I actually that bad? In my son's eyes, I have been a failure all these years. Now, Mei Zhen, whom I have treated like a daughter seems to hate me as well," he covered his face with his hands.

Mrs. Xie disconnected the call and came to sit beside her husband.

"Tang was always an introvert as a child. He was also easy going for most of the times. But the minute he became attached to something, he internalised it. It was like it belonged to him forever. I should have realised it being the same in Jia Li's case, much more so since she was the only girl that he was ever involved with. But at that time, you were so rigid and he had never verbally brought up the topic about the two of them. Then, he didn't react at all to your behaviour with Jia Li's parents that I thought maybe he wasn't so serious about her. I should have known that it was his way of showing his anger against us, by completely ignoring the issue and us, in the process. I remember that he had nearly stopped communicating with you and me. He had even refused to come home for the longest time post that. Unfortunately, Jia Li went ahead and got married in a rush, probably because of her father's wish. By then, it was too late anyways for me to come speak with you about it," she said in a sorrowful tone.

"I am not blaming you. I am questioning my own actions which I have always taken in my children's best interest. But then why can't my family be happy? I know you have been hinting at things not been well between Mei Zhen and Tang during the past months but I chose to ignore it. This time, I had taken Tang's consent in selecting his life partner. Nothing was done against his well. Then why can't things work out fine between them?" he said, frustration evident in his voice.

Wang residence

"I don't know where has he gone, madam," the maid trembled, fearing the verbal lash from Mrs. Wang.

After dismissing her, Mrs. Wang called up her secretary asking him to find Wei's whereabouts.

"Since when have you started taking so much interest in our son's comings and goings," her husband said, in the middle of turning the newspaper's page.

"Considering you seem to be indifferent to it, how do you care about the when and why?" she snapped back at him.

"That's because I don't need a detective to tell me where my child is. I can hazard an accurate guess," he replied, unperturbed by his wife's rude tone.

She snatched the newspaper from his hands and said, "really? Then pray tell me where is he?"

Mr. Wang got up slowly from the chair that he was lounging in. Taking a sip from the juice kept in the breakfast tray next to him, he took his sweet time answering.

"If I am not mistaken, our otherwise lazy son would have woken up in the wee hours of the morning and gone chasing after his woman. I think it's normal behaviour for someone who finds himself at the deep end of the love sea for the first time, without possessing a single clue as to how to sail through it," he smiled.

"I can't understand what's gone wrong with the men in this house. Shanghai's most eligible bachelor has gone and fallen for a tramp. His father, instead of reprimanding him, seems to be cheering him on. Am I the only sane one left here?" she nearly shouted.

"Anyone listening to you speak right now might have questions about YOUR background and values. As for Wei's choice, since I haven't met her yet, I haven't made up my mind. Having said that, I believe the decision to choose whom he dates, loves and marries solely belongs to him. If the situation arises where he seeks my opinion, I shall surely offer one. Otherwise I am happy to let him make his decisions and live with the consequences, as we all do," he said in all seriousness.

Mrs. Wang was upset with her husband's attitude. She would have never imagined him to be so nonchalant regarding his only child's future.