"You mean..." He paused for a moment.
"My dad is actually quite difficult to deal with, especially when it comes to things related to his precious daughter." I put on a sympathetic expression.
"Oh, I see. So what should I do?" It was funny to see him frowning.
"Show him your raw, unadulterated heart." I pinched his cheek, looking at him with unwavering, serious eyes.
"Let's go to the street and buy a knife now." He blinked, putting on a pitiful look, as if he was ready to risk everything.
"But there's another shortcut: just win over my mom. As long as she's happy with you, my dad's opinion will be ignored." I said honestly, not knowing if this counts as siding with outsiders. Mom and Dad, I'm sorry for the debt of raising you. I feel a little remorse in my heart.
Actually, my dad just can't bear to part with me. It's really disgusting. I'm already 25 years old, and in his eyes, I'm still just a little lamb. Moreover, there are only two kinds of people around me: wolves in sheep's clothing and wolves in plain clothes. Unlike my mom, who encouraged me to find a boyfriend quickly when I was a freshman in college, otherwise all the good ones would be picked over. In short, according to my mom's philosophy, men older than me at my age have already been picked over several times.
It's terrifying that these two people have such extreme views, and are worlds apart, yet they've lived happily and contentedly for so many years, and it seems they're destined to live happily and contentedly for many more.
"What are you thinking about?" Shao Yuzhe kissed me with displeasure, pulling my attention back to reality.
"How do you deal with my parents?" That's a cruel answer; I absolutely can't let my parents know.
I am truly sinful.
"Oh right, I forgot to mention, An and Tang Lei will be coming today, along with Yu Mo and Xiao Yuan. Lin and Jiang Chen's vacation is finally over, and they want me to host a welcome-back dinner for them." Why am I so unlucky? Very few people invite me to dinner, and almost no one asks me to cook. I don't know which heartless person said the saying "the capable should do more," but he must be someone who has been freeloading on meals for a long time.
That would be a good opportunity to announce some news, giving Tang Lei a glimmer of hope, and maybe I could also extort a little money from him to give me a raise.
"They don't know I proposed to you yet, do they?" Shao Yuzhe once again drew my attention back to him with dissatisfaction.
"Huh? Oh, yeah." I didn't understand why he would suddenly ask that.
"Sure enough, if they knew, they would have rushed over immediately, and your house wouldn't be so quiet now," he said with a smile.
See? It turns out all my close friends are incredibly gossipy; they've all figured it out.
The plane arrives at 1:30 PM. Yesterday, An said to me very generously, "Nuan Nuan, you don't need to pick them up. Leave these errands to me and A Mo. You can stay home comfortably and prepare a big meal for us. We've agreed not to eat breakfast for you, so please prepare more."
This woman, asking me to prepare food for eight people plus an unbelievably fat cat, and still managing to say the words "comfortable"—she's truly oblivious to the suffering of the people. She's used to exploiting them, and they've all been spoiled rotten by me.
"Then let's get ready together," Shao Yuzhe said, pulling me into his arms and stroking my hair.
I grabbed his hand in annoyance. It seemed he was really addicted to playing with my hair. Having learned from my previous experience, I decided to nip this habit in the bud from the start.
But it seems too late.
"I'm so hungry!" Before even hearing the doorbell, An's unrestrained screaming could be heard. An, who usually tries to act like a lady, was clearly very hungry.
I can't stand it, it's her fault for not eating breakfast.
"Nuan Nuan, it's been a long time. Here's a gift." As soon as I opened the door, the first person to fly in wasn't An, but Luo Lin. He first gave me a heavy hug, and then a bunch of miscellaneous things landed in my arms.
I really couldn't resist, but I was also happy to see Luo Lin so happy. Actually, she's a very active person and hasn't been out to play for a long time. It seems she's been really cooped up for a while.
"Where's my darling little black cat?" The first thing she did after letting go of me was look for that cat. Come to think of it, it really is a heartless cat; it didn't even come out to greet its owner when they came back.
"Jiang Chen, what are you doing?" I looked around and turned around to see Jiang Chen, who had come in at some point, squatting on the ground with his back to us, doing something I didn't know. I walked over curiously.
"Weigh it," she replied without looking up.
I saw her place the black feather on my home health scale and intently read the value.
Do you think it's a pig? Weighing it! I was so angry I almost spat blood.
"You've gained weight, but it's alright." She stood up with satisfaction and placed the black feather in Luo Lin's hand.
I am completely speechless. I will refuse to comment on this woman's words and actions from now on.
"Nuan Nuan, are you living with Shao Yuzhe?" A cool voice drifted over from the side. It had been a long time since I'd seen Yu Mo. She and Xiao Yuan had been so busy with company matters that I'd barely seen them lately. Judging from their expressions today, I thought I should wish them well.
As for her question just now...
I smiled slightly, and all the heads crowded around me.
"We're not living together, and we haven't gotten to that point yet." Seeing everyone's disappointed looks really made me happy.
"But we're getting married soon." Everyone looked like they'd just come back to life. Even Xiao Yuan, who was always gentle and unpredictable, and Jiang Chen, whom I won't describe anymore, showed expressions I'd never seen before. I continued to smile smugly.
"As long as my parents agree." After saying the last sentence, I thought of Hayakawa's asthma, how many good comrades it has harmed once it was contagious.
"Haha, finally we can get married!" Tang Lei shouted in the tone of Sun Wukong bursting out of the stone.
He was the only one who was excited.
It's obvious they don't recognize my dad.
So nobody paid any attention to him.
“Yu Zhe is a good comrade, your uncle will understand, and besides, your aunt is still here.” An patted my shoulder and said firmly with my usual piercing gaze.
"Don't worry about that. I'm determined and have a clear goal. No matter what kind of person your uncle is, I'm going to marry Dong." Shao Yuzhe appeared behind me at some point, put his arm around me, and declared as if making a solemn declaration. His tone was truly unwavering.
The atmosphere is so nice. If it weren't for this bunch of durable Philips light bulbs burning tirelessly all night, I think I would have kissed him and held him until sunset.
"That's wonderful! Yu Mo and I are here today to announce that I've finally convinced Uncle Yu and Aunt Yu to let Yu Mo marry me," Xiao Yuan said with a strong voice.
Although we all guessed it, hearing them say it themselves still made us cheer and celebrate together.
I think this is the happiest meal I've ever made for us.
Then, a week later...
Chapter Twelve (The End)
"Are you nervous?" I asked Shao Yuzhe, who was standing next to me.
"A little." He said honestly, a smile curving his lips.
The plane from Japan will arrive at night, so I think we should hold the meeting at home to create a warm, homey atmosphere and evoke memories for my parents. It's always good to lay the groundwork for this.
So I'm currently in a very busy and stressful situation.
"Winter, I love you," he said, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind and gently kissing my neck.
"Yes, me too."
Isn't this atmosphere a little too romantic?
"I'll cook today's dishes, so that Uncle and Aunt can feel my sincere and delicious food first. If all else fails, I'll just cut open that bloody one." His voice came muffledly from behind my neck.
I chuckled. It's been a week, and he still remembers.
"Alright then, I won't take credit." I solemnly handed him my apron and even helped him put it on as a bonus.
Actually, this is fine. Judging from my dad's attitude, my mom's standard is that she should be able to handle both social situations and domestic duties, wash clothes, fix toilets, and be hardworking and obedient, able to complain but not allowed to resist. So dressing like this should be fine. On the one hand, it can please my mom, and on the other hand, it's hard to say that my dad might feel a sense of familiarity and won't make things difficult for him.
While he was busy in the kitchen, I meticulously cleaned the house again. Seeing that it was almost time, I officially set off to the airport to pick up my parents.
Needless to say, I just met my mom. But my dad hasn't changed much. The first thing he did when we met was give me a huge hug, almost suffocating me. As soon as he let go, before I could even catch my breath, he started bombarding me with questions:
"Where's that kid? Why didn't he come with you? Is he hiding something and afraid to come see me? Is he good to you? Has he bullied you? I just don't agree with your mother's constant talk about marrying you off. Look at that kid Ji Zhi she had her eye on before, he almost ruined my daughter."
My dad spoke with righteous indignation, then suddenly turned to look at me pitifully and asked, "Daughter, are you really going to get married? Are you really willing to leave your old man like this? You agreed without even asking my opinion. My daughter is so naive and easy to fool, how can your old man trust you to be handed over to that boy?"
"Are you ever going to stop? You've been nagging for a week now, and you keep repeating the same few things. Our daughter is all grown up now, do you want her to never get married?" My mother, unable to bear it any longer, grabbed my father's ear and forcibly separated us, saving me from almost suffocating.
How disgusting! This is an airport! I spent ages trying to muster the courage to scream.
Thankfully... everyone was in a hurry, and no one paid attention to my two nonsensical parents.
Wiping away their sweat, my parents finally started moving, so I quickly led the way to the parking lot.
"By the way, where is that kid now?" Dad asked casually.
"Cooking at home to welcome my parents' arrival. Resource Bear () - A provider of millions of bundled resources."
"What?! You two are living together?!" Dad roared at the top of his lungs, and even the busiest person would turn around to take a look.
Thankfully... no one I knew was there...
No matter how I explained, my dad wouldn't believe me. I endured his relentless barrage of questions the whole way. I thought to myself, "I can't clear my name even if I jump into the Yellow River. Okay, I can ask Shao Yuzhe to move in now. Let's not waste resources."
I finally arrived at my doorstep, but I hadn't brought my keys when I left. Shao Yuzhe opened the door, and I gave him a pitying look before quickly slipping inside. Then I saw my father glaring at me with a dark expression, and my mother staring at me with the look of a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law.
There's a really wide variety of options; I hope he can handle it.
"Dong, why does Uncle keep glaring at me?" After paying respects to his parents, Shao Yuzhe secretly asked me.
"Just consider it an occupational hazard," I said to him with great sympathy.
"Occupational hazard?" he asked, puzzled.
"My dad is a traditional Chinese medicine doctor. He uses the four diagnostic methods of observation, listening, questioning, and palpation. He'll come over and take your pulse in a little while." Perhaps it's because he works in such an ancient profession that he's a bit old-fashioned.
I helped him put the dishes on the table. My dad couldn't make a scene in front of "outsiders" to save face for his elders, but my mom seemed to really like Shao Yuzhe, so I was generally quite relaxed.
Shao Yuzhe chuckled and reached out to ruffle my hair. "No matter what, I will make your uncle like me and willingly marry his daughter to me."
I turned to look at his confident smile and felt a warmth in my heart.
Once at the dinner table, the atmosphere appears calm on the surface, but undercurrents are turbulent beneath.
At first, my dad tried to put on a stern elder's air, putting on a stern face to put pressure on Shao Yuzhe and make him feel uneasy. I'm all too familiar with this trick. Back when I was in school, whenever I did poorly on a test and there was a parent-teacher conference, or when I did something minor at school and the teacher talked to my parents, my dad would use this trick. It forced me, a young and ignorant child, to frantically shovel rice into my bowl without daring to lift my head. I was either scared to death or choked to death.
However, today was a bit special. Gradually, Dad noticed that Shao Yuzhe was being bombarded with questions by Mom, leaving him with no energy to feel the murderous aura emanating from him. It could be said that apart from me habitually shoveling rice into my mouth and occasionally glancing at Dad from the edge of my bowl while secretly laughing, no one paid any attention to him.
Next, Dad tried desperately to express his opinion, but because he hadn't taken the initiative from the start, he couldn't get a word in edgewise.
When my mom met my dad, he was basically at the end of his rope. Even though I've known about this situation for over 20 years, I still can't help but feel sorry for him.
Looking back at my mom, she's all smiles. My aesthetic sense was entirely shaped by her. I think there's no reason for my mom to say that someone who is handsome, talented, and good-looking is bad.
This meal, which everyone was on edge about, actually went quite smoothly. As expected, based on my understanding of my parents—that "if Mom says it's good, Dad's opinion can basically be ignored"—I grasped the key points, made a breakthrough, and achieved twice the result with half the effort. Yay!
After dinner, ignoring the pots and pans, the four—no, theoretically three—enjoyed themselves together for a while longer. When Shao Yuzhe realized it was almost time to leave, his father, as if finally seizing an opportunity, followed him to the door, patted Shao Yuzhe on the shoulder, and said in a very serious voice, "Kid, have a drink with me."
I originally wanted to say something like I had to go to work tomorrow in an attempt to avoid the confrontation between Shao Yuzhe and my dad, but my mom stopped me and signaled me not to interfere. After thinking about it, I realized that the handsome son-in-law was going to meet his father-in-law, so in the end I just gave Shao Yuzhe a "good luck" look to see him off.
"What if your dad doesn't agree after his investigation?" I asked, turning around as I closed the door and looking at my mom who was smiling at me.
"If it doesn't work out, let's elope," I said with unwavering determination.
“…I’ll call your dad right now,” Mom said, but she didn’t move.
"My dad will like him and will willingly hand his daughter over to him. That's what he told me himself." I emphasized that it was his words, and that he would take responsibility for anything.
"...You're really confident. I think this kid is quite reliable and very polite. By the way, you told me before that he was your high school classmate, so I looked at your high school graduation photo before I came." Mom took my hand and examined the ring closely.
"No way, they still keep those things from the Qianlong era, waiting for them to appreciate in value?" I'm really exasperated with my mom. The two of them are always flying around having fun, where are they supposed to hide those things? They can't just take them everywhere they go, can they?