Oh… oh no!
Song Qiuyu’s hands trembled as she pushed Jiang Xiao away.
A beat too late, she hurriedly withdrew them.
“You father and son haven’t seen each other in a long time. Do you want to have a little drink and a good chat?” Mother Song, Su Luo, spoke to Father Song, her voice reaching Song Qiuyu’s ears with terrifying clarity.
Song Qiuyu’s mind went blank. She didn’t dare look up at Jiang Xiao in front of her.
Just a moment ago, her mind was still struggling, yet her body had made a choice faster than her brain. Between the two options, she had made a choice with great pain.
Like a child who had done something wrong, she kept her head lowered, clutching the hem of her clothes on both sides.
She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself down.
She desperately searched for the root of the problem, looking for a way to explain the current situation.
Finally, all her thoughts pointed toward one thing.
This Lunar New Year.
She probably wouldn’t be going to Jiang Xiao’s house with him.
Not this year, and likely not ever again.
Even without her saying a word, Jiang Xiao already understood this.
From the very beginning, he had intended to take advantage of the fact that Xi’er’s family wouldn’t be home to spirit her away to his own house.
But now that her family was back, she was no longer spending the Lunar New Year alone.
So, the outcome was obvious.
Then again, this little hedgehog was truly cunning.
She was the one who had raised her quills to stab his heart, yet here she was, looking like a poor, pitiful thing.
Who was she trying to show that to?
“Hmm?”
A strange man’s voice rang out. “What’s wrong with them? The atmosphere seems a bit strange, doesn’t it?”
That voice was quite deep and powerful. For some reason, it reminded her of the strict instructor from military training.
In that instant, Song Qiuyu’s heart skipped a beat.
Her body stiffened as she turned around, staring blankly at the person beside her mother.
She saw Father Song, who possessed a face full of integrity.
He had a clean, sharp buzz cut and a burly physique. His entire being radiated masculinity and strength.
‘Uh? Is my dad actually this handsome?’
Song Qiuyu’s impression of her father was very blurry. Even though she couldn’t fully remember him, she felt an indescribable sensation.
The moment she saw this man, she felt that he really was the father who had been missing for over ten years!
Perhaps this was that bond called blood relations?
She stared at her father with wide eyes. Father Song also stared back at her with wide eyes, looking at her with an expression of disbelief—even shock.
“Honey, we had a boy back then, right?”
Song Zhao Ye pinched his chin, sizing up the person in front of him who was supposed to be his son.
He didn’t doubt his own eyesight.
If his vision were poor, he would have likely become an unidentifiable corpse long ago.
For the past fourteen years, he had been sent by his superiors as an undercover agent to wipe out a nest of drug dealers.
Because the mission was top-secret, he could only leave a few brief words before completely vanishing from their lives to protect his wife and child from those people.
Afterward, he took on an identity arranged by his superiors, dancing with wolves and fighting tigers.
It wasn’t until now that the mission was successfully completed.
He had returned this time with the intention of making up for the debts of the past fourteen years and taking good care of his family.
But… was this girl, who looked far too much like his wife in her youth, really his son?
His professional instincts kicked in. His eyes narrowed, and he subconsciously grew wary.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu felt a jolt of alarm.
Her mother hadn’t said anything after seeing her, so how did her father notice just by looking…
“Our little treasure isn’t a boy? Could he be a girl then?”
Su Luo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
She looked at her son, smiled, and continued, “Though this child has indeed changed quite a bit.”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu pursed her lips, not even daring to breathe.
“How so?” Song Zhao Ye asked, stunned.
“His whole face has become more rounded. It seems he’s taken very good care of himself,” Su Luo said with a sigh of relief.
“Our baby is far too sensible. On the contrary, we two parents have been very negligent.”
As soon as those words were spoken, Song Qiuyu felt incredibly guilty.
Su Luo looked at her husband with a complicated expression and patted his shoulder.
Fortunately, he had returned safely.
The family still had a long time ahead of them. She was already thinking about how to quickly close the distance within their family.
“Alright, let’s eat first!”
Song Zhao Ye sighed, pushing aside the thoughts about his son’s appearance.
He turned to look at the boy standing beside his son, humming slightly.
As he watched, he couldn’t help but look back at his son. To be precise, he followed the boy’s gaze toward his son.
To ensure his family’s safety, he truly hadn’t dared to contact them, return home, or even steal a glance at his son for over ten years.
Therefore, he didn’t understand his son’s situation at all.
The only thing he was sure of was that his disappearance had created a massive void in the lives of his wife and son.
He instinctively let out a test cough.
Sure enough, the boy named Jiang Xiao immediately retracted his gaze. ‘As I thought, is there something going on between these two kids?’
“I’ll go get the bowls and chopsticks!” Song Qiuyu hurried into the kitchen.
“Song Qiuyu, I’ll help you!” Jiang Xiao followed immediately.
Song Zhao Ye frowned and spoke in confusion, “Honey, do you think they…”
“They really are so sensible, these two kids!” Su Luo said, her eyes curved into a smile.
Song Zhao Ye silently swallowed the words he wanted to say.
Seeing that his wife was still the same after all these years—lacking a scheming mind and being quite slow—he suddenly felt a bit relieved, yet also a bit worried.
A moment later, everyone was at the table.
Su Luo first took her husband’s bowl and filled it with a mound of white rice.
“Thank you, dear!” Song Zhao Ye smiled as he took the rice, his expression slightly bashful.
“We’ve been married for how many years? You’re acting so distant. Don’t let the kids laugh at us!” Su Luo was also a bit embarrassed.
After saying that, she reached out to take her son’s bowl to serve him rice.
“Mom, I’ll do it myself!”
Song Qiuyu hurriedly stood up, took the bowl, and began serving herself. The gratified smile on Su Luo’s face deepened.
Next, Song Qiuyu quickly served her own rice and then, out of habit, naturally picked up the bowl of the person beside her to serve him as well.
“Jiang Xiao, here’s yours!”
After sitting down, she belatedly realized that the gaze of her parents from across the table had turned strange. Her whole body stiffened.
Only then did she realize what she had just done.
Cold sweat broke out on her back. Her mind raced to find a way to fix this.
After all, if they were very close friends, helping a guest serve rice could be explained away, right?
Jiang Xiao, however, spoke before she could, giving a brief explanation of how things were.
Of course, Jiang Xiao only mentioned that he had been very withdrawn when university first started, and she, as his roommate, had helped him step out of his shell. He didn’t mention a single extra word beyond that.
Song Qiuyu looked at Jiang Xiao and bit her lip.
Thinking about how she had pushed him away earlier, her chest felt incredibly tight.
This feeling of annoyance had been with her for a long time.
Ever since she realized her feelings for Jiang Xiao, it followed her like a shadow.
It felt like she was becoming less and less like herself.
She could handle other things well, but when it came to matters of the heart and Jiang Xiao, everything was a total mess.
She clenched her hands. Her thoughts suddenly jumped, and she began to let her imagination run wild.
‘If only my family were incredibly rich.’
Perhaps if their relationship were discovered, her mom or dad would pull out a massive check and throw it at Jiang Xiao.
Then they would say, “Five million. Leave my son!”
Then, her own attitude would make Jiang Xiao completely exhausted.
Thus, Jiang Xiao would take the check and leave her forever.
Of course, this overly melodramatic romance novel plot wouldn’t happen in reality.
Song Qiuyu sighed in her heart. ‘This won’t do. How can I think about using outside forces to drive Jiang Xiao away just because I can’t harden my heart? This is clearly… an issue between me and Jiang Xiao.’
‘Song Qiuyu, oh Song Qiuyu, you can’t be this selfish anymore!’
“I didn’t think our little treasure would be so good at taking care of people!” Su Luo’s praise snapped Song Qiuyu out of her thoughts. “This is wonderful. We were worried that because we neglected you all these years…”
“Mom?” Song Qiuyu looked up.
She saw that the middle-aged woman across from her had tears pooling in her eyes for some reason.
She was clearly smiling, but it looked more painful than crying.
There were likely many more things she wanted to say, but they all seemed stuck in her throat.
Even so, Song Qiuyu only needed to look into her mother’s eyes to understand most of it.
The feelings of resentment she had harbored over the years, and the memories that had been distorted by time and her mother’s absence, suddenly didn’t seem very important.
Song Qiuyu frowned.
Being good at reading people, she sensibly remained silent, leaving the moment for her mother.
“Honey, the family has finally reunited. What’s the point of crying during a meal?” Song Zhao Ye spoke up, seemingly unable to read the atmosphere.
“Dad…”
Song Qiuyu turned her head and saw that her father’s face was also covered in tears.
This tough-looking man, who told her mother not to cry, was actually crying harder than her mother.
Song Qiuyu had been starting to get swept up in the atmosphere, and her nose was beginning to sting.
But seeing this scene from her father, her tears suddenly vanished.
She even felt that the two of them were being a bit much.
“Just eat, you two old fossils. After we’re done, Jiang Xiao and I will do the dishes. You two go rest,” Song Qiuyu said as she stuffed a piece of cola chicken wing into each of their tearful mouths.
How many children in the world would dare speak to their parents like that? Likely very few, because a child who did so would surely get a beating and would most likely become obedient afterward.
She hadn’t dared to at first, but seeing her parents like this, she suddenly felt the courage.
As expected, the two old folks didn’t say anything.
They just cried and smiled at the same time, looking as if they thought their little treasure was so well-behaved.
Song Qiuyu breathed a sigh of relief, though she couldn’t rule out the possibility of them settling the score later.
Then, she picked up another chicken wing and brought it close to Jiang Xiao’s mouth.
She felt it was necessary to shut him up too.
However, just as the wing reached his lips, Song Qiuyu noticed her parents’ gazes again.
She changed her mind in a split second, intending to awkwardly drop the wing into Jiang Xiao’s bowl.
With a *chomp*, Jiang Xiao was faster and bit down on the chicken wing.
Song Qiuyu’s small hand, which was holding the chopsticks, couldn’t help but tremble.
For a moment, they stared at each other.
Two pairs of older eyes were also wide with shock.
The atmosphere was bizarre.
‘No, brother, if you’re going to eat the wing, just eat it. Why did you have to make a sound as if you were afraid my parents wouldn’t notice?’
At this moment, Song Qiuyu’s heart was a mess of emotions.
She desperately wanted to sneak a kick at Jiang Xiao under the table.
She even had a thought pop into her head that only a certain silly roommate would say—*Damn it, Haki Xiao, how can you be this wicked!*
Jiang Xiao had never been a “good” guy.
Today, he was indeed being mischievous on purpose. However, the most important thing was that the chicken wing served by his girlfriend was far too delicious. He couldn’t let it go!
Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth and gave Jiang Xiao a glaring look before releasing the chicken wing and letting him eat it.
“These two kids have such a good relationship. It reminds me of the time when we were still in school.” Su Luo briefly fell into a memory while nibbling on her chicken wing.
“Yeah,” Song Zhao Ye agreed, nodding as he too seemed lost in reminiscence.
Song Qiuyu felt a sense of novelty.
She had spent so little time with her parents that she had never heard them talk about their past.
But besides the novelty, it felt a bit strange. ‘Maybe I’m just overthinking it. They probably just mean that they helped each other out during school as well.’
“Ma’am, the cola chicken wings you made are delicious!” Jiang Xiao suddenly began showering Su Luo with flattery.
Though they really were delicious.
“Oh, you child…” Su Luo felt embarrassed.
“If you like them, eat more. Oh—Xiao Jiang, space is limited. Would you mind squeezing in with Little Fish tonight and sharing a room?”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu froze.
In the past, it would have been fine, but given the current situation, she wasn’t very willing to share a room with Jiang Xiao.
But if Jiang Xiao didn’t sleep in her room, where else could he go? Let him sleep in the same room as her dad? That wasn’t realistic!
Her parents hadn’t seen each other in years.
Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and after such a long absence, the atmosphere tonight would likely be very heated.
So, Jiang Xiao couldn’t go there.
While she was still thinking, Jiang Xiao had already smiled and agreed.
“Sure!”
Song Qiuyu poked her rice with her chopsticks and gave a muffled hum.
Then, a smile spread across her face, and she followed with a nod.
Dinner ended amidst some mindless small talk.
During the meal, Song Qiuyu asked her father what he had been doing all this time, but she only received a very abstract answer.
He said… he had gone to be an Ultraman…
Song Qiuyu was speechless, feeling that he was truly being unserious.
However, she could sense a little something, so she didn’t ask further.
Afterward, the two old folks were chased into their room to catch up, while she absentmindedly washed the dishes in the kitchen with Jiang Xiao.
Neither of them spoke.
The strange, heavy tension made Song Qiuyu’s chest feel even tighter. In the past, she had plenty of ways to break a dead silence, but now, her mind was empty. She was completely useless.
This continued until they finished the dishes and she brought Jiang Xiao to her room.
“I’ll copy those study materials for you first. Let me tell you, I have every taste and style here. Basically, if you can’t think of it, I have it!”
Only then did Song Qiuyu start a conversation.
She sat at her desktop computer, turned it on, and plugged in the USB drive.
She seriously began selecting the resources, not planning to leave a single bit for herself.
Next—
Jiang Xiao grabbed the chair she was sitting in and spun her around to face him. Song Qiuyu was slightly stunned.
A certain bad premonition expanded and spread deep within her heart.
Her heart rate accelerated.
Immediately after, Jiang Xiao stared intently into her eyes.
He actually used his knee to push apart her closed legs, and suddenly, his face pressed down toward hers!
The good news was that Jiang Xiao had begun a continuous offensive!