I'm back in 1990

Chapter 1132: One Open and Frank Talk

Just before the conversation was about to end, Gray said, "Also, Mr. Chen, I need to remind you that, according to procedure, the court will appoint an independent minor lawyer for Thomas. This lawyer will meet with Thomas alone to understand his true wishes and then submit a report to the judge. Although Thomas is fifteen years old this year, the judge will only take his opinion as a reference. However, if he clearly states in the report that he does not want to live with you, it will still affect your acquisition of custody."

Having lived in Australia for a period of time, Chen Zhe was familiar with some of the laws there, so he nodded and said, "I understand. I will spend more time with him these next few days and slowly tell him about his mother's actions so that he can judge for himself."

Gray glanced at Chen Zhe and suggested, "Communication is a good approach, but I advise you not to directly belittle his mother. That might backfire. You just need to let him know that you can provide a better educational environment and living conditions, and that he will have more choices in the future. Alright, Mr. Chen, that concludes our conversation for today." After saying that, Gray stood up.

Chen Zhe also stood up and shook hands with Gray: "Thank you, Marcus."

"It's my duty, Mr. Chen. I will stay in touch with you and contact you as soon as there is any progress."

After leaving the law firm, Chen Zhe did not rush back to the hotel, but instead wandered aimlessly along Martin Place.

He remembered something. When he was having dinner with Chen Wuhen at the restaurant that day, Chen Wuhen said something like, "You'll have to ask your ex-wife about that."

It turns out that this kid knew about his mother's failed investment, but he just didn't want to talk about it, or didn't want to tell his father.

Chen Zhe shook his head. He had to blame himself for this. He hadn't contacted the child enough or shown enough concern for him.

In the afternoon, around the time Chen Wuhen got out of school, Chen Zhe called him.

Chen Zhe expressed his desire to meet with him, but Chen Wuhen immediately refused: "I have plans with Stella tonight, let's meet another day?"

Chen Zhe felt a mix of emotions. His son preferred to go on a date with his girlfriend rather than see him, which made him feel frustrated.

He had no choice but to settle for second best: "Then let's do it tomorrow. I'll be staying in Sydney for a while this time."

"Okay then, I'll call you tomorrow." Chen Wuhen said and was about to hang up.

Chen Zhe said into the phone, "Wait a minute, I want to know if your mother has mentioned anything about the family's finances?"

There was a moment of silence on Chen Wuhen's end, then he asked, "Daddy, what do you mean?"

Chen Zhe carefully chose his words: "It doesn't mean anything special, I just wanted to know if you know anything about your mother's investments."

Chen Wuhen replied with a hint of sarcasm, "You mean the money she lost? I know, she gets upset every time she loses money, and then she argues with Old Jon. I hear it all the time."

Chen Zhe was startled: "You knew all that?"

Chen Wuhen spoke like an adult: "Of course I know. First she traded foreign exchange and made some money in the early stages, but then she kept losing money. Later she started investing in cryptocurrency, but she still lost money. Old Jon advised her to stop, but she wouldn't listen. You know what kind of personality my mom has."

Last year, there was a period when our family's finances were very tight, and we managed to get by thanks to old Jon's retirement pension.

After hearing this, Chen Zhe didn't know what to say. It turned out that Chen Wuhen knew everything, but had never mentioned it to him.

Chen Qiao appears to be a very gentle person on the surface. Chen Zhe has lived with her for so many years and knows her temperament well. She is stubborn, extremely stubborn, and doesn't listen to other people's opinions. She likes to do things her own way. If it weren't for this, they wouldn't have divorced in the first place.

Chen Zhe tentatively asked his son, "Would you like to switch to a better school?"

Chen Wuhen replied directly, "I want to, of course I want to, but Mommy doesn't have the money, so it's no use thinking about it. Public schools are fine anyway, and I don't plan to study at a university in Australia in the future."

"Where do you want to go?"

"I want to go to America or England. Australia is too boring. I want to see the outside world."

Chen Zhe saw this as an opportunity and took the chance to steer the conversation in that direction: "If you want to study at a university abroad, then you need to start planning now. Good high school grades and relevant extracurricular activities are very important for your application to universities abroad. However, the resources that your current public school can provide are limited, so you should start planning early."

Chen Wuhen simply hummed in response and said nothing more, but Chen Zhe could clearly sense that Chen Wuhen had taken his words to heart.

So he decided to call it quits while he was ahead: "Alright, I won't keep you on your date any longer. Let's talk again when we meet tomorrow."

"Okay, bye!"

After hanging up the phone, Chen Zhe hailed a taxi. Once inside, he thought to himself that his son wasn't completely ignorant; he simply chose silence and an indifferent attitude towards these matters.

This strengthened Chen Zhe's resolve to regain custody, not out of spite towards Chen Qiao, but because as a father he wanted to create as many options as possible for his son.

After returning to the hotel, he called Huang Xiaochuan, who was still at the Great Barrier Reef with his daughter, since this classmate was the only person he could discuss these matters with.

After listening to Chen Zhe's account of the lawyer's investigation results, Huang Xiaochuan was not surprised at all: "It's pretty much what I expected. Chen Qiao is vain and greedy, and she doesn't have any basic professional knowledge about financial investment. It's no wonder she lost money."

Chen Zhe said worriedly, "What I'm worried about now is Chen Wuhen. I don't know what he'll think. Besides, he knows everything, but he's never told me anything."

Huang Xiaochuan thought for a moment and said frankly, "Old Chen, you really can't blame the child. The responsibility is yours. I think you should tell him why you divorced his mother, and then tell him directly that you want to get back custody of him and plan to take him back to China to study, and see his reaction."

Chen Zhe hesitated, "What if he refuses?"

"So what if he refuses? At least he knows what you're thinking. Besides, we have the upper hand now, what are you afraid of?"

Chen Zhe also felt that Huang Xiaochuan's words made sense: "Okay, I understand. I will have an open and honest talk with him."

After recounting this, Chen Zhe asked, "How did your girl do?"

Huang Xiaochuan glanced at Huang Ruiying, who was shouting at the whales, and said, "What else can we do? Of course, we're having a great time. I'm with her watching the humpback whales right now. Do you want her to say a few words to you?"

"Never mind, let's not bother her anymore. We can talk about it when she gets back." Chen Zhe then hung up the phone.