Chapter 69: Chapter 68: Starting From Asking Your Name 1
When I thought about how panicked this girl was when she found out she was pregnant, how miserable she was when she was sick, how terrified she was when she stupidly ran to the hospital alone to get an abortion...
This punch of hers felt like it landed on cotton, completely powerless.
"Alright, alright, what’s with the crying? Did I hit you or scold you?"
Su Xiaomeng buried her face in her mother’s embrace like an innocent child, sniffling and whining, "You said I should just wait to die..."
"So you think your skin is itching because I didn’t beat you half to death?"
Su Xiaomeng shook her head sullenly against her mother.
"How old are you, and you’re still crying like this?"
"Mom..."
"What?"
"I just wanted to call you."
"You don’t call when you should, and call like a fool when you shouldn’t! If it wasn’t for the counselor calling me, what were you planning to do? Cover it up all the way?"
Su Xiaomeng wiped her tears, picked at her fingers, and argued,
"I just didn’t want you to worry... ouch!"
Su’s mother tapped her on the head, glanced at her, "Go brush your teeth and wash your face, what do you look like?"
"...Oh." Su Xiaomeng responded and headed to the bathroom.
After freshening up, looking at herself in the mirror, she let out a sigh of relief.
Her biggest concern was always Dad and Mom, afraid they’d be hurt, and afraid they’d feel worse than her...
Speaking of which... she is their biological daughter, so of course Mom wouldn’t do anything too harsh, but Yin Shixiu, he just has a face that makes you want to bully him a bit.
If she doesn’t protect him a little, he’d surely be tortured to death by Mom! Yes!
Thinking this, she left the room, and then —
She was dumbfounded.
Her mother was leaning on the sofa watching TV, looking like nothing had happened, even laughing at the variety show.
The side hall was even better, with her slightly pudgy father contemplating a game of chess in front of him, facing... Yin Shixiu?!
He hadn’t left, so was it Yin Shixiu who brought her Dad and Mom in?
But, shouldn’t the scene be not so harmonious right now...
Shouldn’t Mom have brought a washboard, making Yin Shixiu kneel on it for at least twelve hours?
"Hey, checkmate!"
Su’s father suddenly exclaimed in excitement, and opposite him, Yin Shixiu wore a face of conceded defeat.
"Uncle, well played."
Su’s father raised his eyebrows and smiled, "Xiao Yin, do you think I can’t tell you’re letting me win?"
Yin Shixiu just smiled silently, looking up, he finally saw Su Xiaomeng standing in the living room, staring at him with her mouth agape, who knows how long she stayed in that pose.
He smiled at her, "Xiao Meng."
Su Xiaomeng felt a chill down her spine, that call from Yin Shixiu was creepily sweet.
"Dad..."
She ignored Yin Shixiu, focusing her gaze on her father.
"Meng Meng, come here, you’re awake?"
Su Xiaomeng walked over to Su Chengji, who pulled her small hand and hugged her tightly, "You sleep even more than when your mom was pregnant with you!"
Su Xiaomeng felt embarrassed.
Next, she watched her dad casually stroke her slightly protruding belly.
"Hmm, I bet it’s a boy!"
"Pfft—"
Su Xiaomeng couldn’t hold back and spat out a mouthful of her old blood onto Su Chengji’s face.
Su Chengji wiped his face, "You’re about to be a mom, can you calm down a bit?"
"Dad, you, you..."
Dad was too quick to get into character, right?
Su’s mother glared at her husband from a distance, coldly saying, "The child’s birth isn’t even decided, stop getting involved!"
"Well, since it’s here, let’s have it, if not now, it will be later anyway, right?"
Su Xiaomeng pouted, looking at this more carefree middle-aged man, feeling blocked in her heart.
These words...
Her dad wasn’t exactly handsome, but his demeanor was very elegant, and his smile always gave a sense of kindness.
Not at all like that thousand-year-old fox across from her!
"If this Xiao Yin doesn’t want the child, we’ll raise it ourselves, consider it a second child? We’re still quite young!"
"Su Chengji, saying things like this in front of the child, don’t you have any shame?"
Su’s mother’s voice grew colder.
Yin Shixiu quickly chimed in, slowly saying,
"Uncle, I want the child."
Su Xiaomeng shot him a look immediately, "Stop squeezing in when there’s space! What does this have to do with you?"
Yin Shixiu chuckled, then stood up, "Uncle, Aunt, change your clothes, I’ve reserved a place at the restaurant, let’s go eat."
Su’s mother glanced at Yin Shixiu, expression still cold, not making any moves.
Su Chengji saw his wife pulling a stern face and quickly went over to pull her up, "Alright, let’s go eat first."
"How many people in the world are like you as a father? Your daughter’s been bullied by a guy like this, and you act like nothing happened?"
"But our daughter likes him, what can we do?"
Daughter... do you like him?
Su Xiaomeng’s eyes widened instantly. Just as she was about to explain, her hand was held, and she turned to meet Yin Shixiu’s smiling gaze.
He whispered, "Don’t forget, we need to act."
Su Xiaomeng’s heart skipped a beat, and instinctively, she felt as if she had stepped into a trap!
"What exactly did you tell my parents?"
Su Xiaomeng followed Yin Shixiu, tugging at his clothes, and asked through gritted teeth.
"Everything that needs to be said."
Su Xiaomeng was taken aback, "What do you mean... everything that needs to be said?"
Yin Shixiu extended his hand and put it around her shoulders, "Just trust me, that’s all you need to do."
Su Xiaomeng frowned, and just as she was about to push him away, Su’s father and Su’s mother, walking ahead, turned around. With a glance from Yin Shixiu, Su Xiaomeng had no choice but to let him keep his arm around her.
Su Chengji smiled and said to Su’s mother, "Xiao Yin is really a handsome and capable young man. A good match for our Meng Meng."
Su’s mother took a deep breath and rolled her eyes at her husband, "What do you know?"
"Hey, hey! Meng Meng learned her rudeness from you!"
Su’s mother rolled her eyes at him again.
A good match for your Meng Meng?
Yin Family, the true aristocracy of this country. Even searching all over China, you wouldn’t find many prestigious families as renowned as them.
And Yin Shixiu...
If she remembered correctly, and barring any surprises, he should be the next head of the Yin Family.
Could such a status be unworthy of your Meng Meng? Foolish husband!
The restaurant Yin Shixiu chose wasn’t far from his apartment, and after a ten-minute drive, they arrived.
It was lightly snowing outside. Yin Shixiu handed his car keys to the valet and then opened the door for Su’s mother.
Su’s mother still had a cold face. When Su Chengji got out, he patted Yin Shixiu’s shoulder, "What a fine young man!"
"That’s what I should do."
Su Xiaomeng had never seen Yin Shixiu open the door for her, and now saw him being attentive to her parents, she felt something indescribable.
"Wow, such a high-end restaurant?"
Su’s father exclaimed.
Su’s mother glared at him, "Have you never been here or what? If you embarrass me later, I’ll throw you out the window!"
"Haha!" Su’s father scratched his head and whispered, "It’s been a long time!"
Even though Yin Shixiu walked alongside Su Xiaomeng, he didn’t miss what needed attention.
For example, Su’s mother said she was from Chengdu. Her accent did lean Chengdu, but... there was a suspicious hint of a Beijing twang at the end.
"Uncle, even if you’re trying to impress my parents, you didn’t have to bring us to... such a fancy restaurant, right?"
Su Xiaomeng whispered.
At each elevator door stood a greeter, and the constant "Hello, take care, enjoy your meal" was pleasant to hear, but also signified expensive service fees.
Once in the elevator, Yin Shixiu slowly said, "I heard there’s an authentic Sichuan chef here at the hotel restaurant, and the Sichuan dishes are really authentic."
"Xiao Yin, no need for such trouble, we can adapt to northern cuisine just fine!"
Su’s mother said nothing, and for a moment, the atmosphere in the elevator felt strange.
Su Xiaomeng had a nervous feeling in her heart. Exiting the elevator, she suddenly seemed to remember something and smirked, pulling Yin Shixiu aside and whispering, "Do you know why my mom dislikes you?"
"...Why?"
"My mom, just like me, likes young ones!" Su Xiaomeng said proudly, shaking her head, then walked ahead on her own.
Yin Shixiu chuckled lightly, leisurely following behind her.
It was evident, Su Xiaomeng’s carefree nature came from her father.
Thanks to Su’s mother, the meal was quite awkward.
Su Chengji, though, kept talking non-stop, chatting with Xiao Meng about university life, discussing the stock market and politics with Yin Shixiu, then talking with Su’s mother about the taste of the dishes...
Midway through the meal, Yin Shixiu called in a Sichuan opera performer to sing a segment and demonstrate the classic face-changing technique in their private room.
Su Chengji clapped enthusiastically in approval!
Su Xiaomeng was equally mesmerized and clapped along with her father!
Yin Shixiu deboned a fish and placed it in Su Xiaomeng’s bowl.
Su’s mother, with eyes much like Su Xiaomeng’s, was now staring intensely at Yin Shixiu.
Yin Shixiu noticed Su’s mother’s gaze and looked back without dodging.
"Auntie, the spicy chicken here is famous. Have a taste and see if it’s different from Chengdu’s."
Su’s mother didn’t respond, just picked up her chopsticks and took a small piece of chicken.
Though Su Chengji watched the opera performance, he caught Su’s mother’s actions from the corner of his eye.
He smiled, continuing to clap, "Great! Quite the transformation!"
With the opera singer’s performance as a backdrop, the strange meal concluded.
In the afternoon, Yin Shixiu took Su’s mother and Su’s father for a stroll around the Summer Palace.
The Summer Palace, right after a snowfall, was scenic everywhere you looked.
Yin Shixiu walked with Su Chengji.
The two men had a wide range of topics to discuss, from Empress Dowager Cixi to the decline of the entire Qing Dynasty, then from the period of the Republic to the current political landscape.
Su Chengji grew fonder and more appreciative of Yin Shixiu the more he observed him.
Though Su Xiaomeng walked ahead, holding Su’s mother’s arm, her ears were perked up, paying close attention to the conversation of the two men behind.
She was worried that Yin Shixiu might say more nonsense!
"Your dad won’t eat him alive."