Now all three of them were looking at her, and she felt like her pressure was about to explode!

An impulse to give up and do nothing rose in her heart.

She strode up to Gu Rongqi, took his hand, and said, "Mom and Dad, this is my boyfriend, Gu Rongqi!"

The air was quiet.

"Oh, okay!" Mr. Cheng spoke up to defuse the situation. "Why are you all standing? Let's sit down and chat."

The four of them sat on the sofa, making the already cramped space even more crowded. Cheng Qicai felt like she couldn't breathe.

Ms. Yun's expression returned to normal. "Qicai is the same. She talked to you but didn't tell us. If we knew she had talked to someone, we wouldn't be introducing her to people everywhere."

"No, Auntie. We haven't talked for very long. Maybe Qicai wants to settle things down before telling you."

“Really? Seven colors.” Ms. Yun looked at her.

Cheng Qicai nodded with a forced smile: "Yes..."

"Mr. Gu, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Why don't we go out for a meal together?" Mr. Cheng suggested, trying to defuse the situation.

Gu Rongqi smiled politely, "Uncle, you don't need to call me that, just call me by my name."

"Okay." Mr. Cheng paused for a moment before nodding. She looked at Cheng Qicai and said, "Go tidy up your kitchen. We're going out to eat."

“…Okay.” Cheng Qicai stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

“Uncle, I’ll go help Qicai.” Gu Rongqi also stood up.

Ms. Yun: "It's alright, let Qicai go."

"I'd better go help her." With that, Gu Rongqi stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

When Cheng Qicai saw Gu Rongqi enter, she grinned and sidled up to him, groaning, "I'm doomed!!!"

"What? I'm not presentable enough?" Gu Rongqi's eyes darkened.

“That’s not the problem.” Cheng Qicai looked anxious. After thinking for a moment, she scratched her hair and said dejectedly, “Forget it, let’s just take it one step at a time.”

Gu Rongqi looked at her thoughtfully.

Cheng Qicai looked at the fish cooking in the pot and said, "It's a pity I cooked so much rice."

"How about we eat at home?" Gu Rongqi said. "The dishes are almost ready, we just need to stir-fry them."

"Huh?" Cheng Qicai was a little embarrassed. She didn't want to face Ms. Yun and the others at all right now.

Before she could decide, Gu Rongqi had already gone outside. "Auntie, Uncle, why don't we eat at home? The food is almost ready. It'll be more troublesome to eat out."

Mr. Cheng: "How can we do this..."

"I see you've already steamed the fish, Uncle. If we're not going to eat it, it'll all have to go away. I was originally planning to eat it at home with Qicai anyway."

Seeing Gu Rongqi's response, Mr. Cheng nodded hesitantly, "Alright then."

Gu Rongqi walked back with a smile and saw Cheng Qicai clinging to the kitchen door frame.

Amused by Cheng Qicai's sneaky behavior, he ruffled her hair and said, "Go and keep your parents company. I'll be fine here."

"No..." Cheng Qicai instinctively refused.

"They might get even angrier if you don't go out and explain."

Cheng Qicai glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, looked outside the door, and did not see Ms. Yun and the others coming over.

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Then I'll have to trouble you."

After the kiss, she felt incredibly audacious, even though she was about to die, she was still indulging in lust.

Lust is a dangerous thing!

She walked out of the kitchen and sat on the sofa. She and Ms. Yun stared at each other blankly.

Mr. Cheng seemed to be having a lot of fun playing with Golden Bean.

Ms. Yun no longer wore the same expression she had when facing Gu Rongqi. She looked at Cheng Qicai with a stern face and asked, "Why did you come out?"

"Gu Rongqi said he would cook and asked me to come and keep you company."

Ms. Yun whispered in her ear, "How did you talk to him?"

"He's the one my sister introduced, don't you know him too?" Cheng Qicai pretended to be naive.

Ms. Yun wasn't so easily appeased. She sneered, "I knew you wouldn't tell us your full name! I bet you knew we wouldn't agree! You just ignore what I say, don't you?"

"No..." Cheng Qicai denied, glancing at the other person, "They're still here! I'll tell you when I get back tomorrow, okay?"

“That’s right, Rong Qi is still here, right? We can talk about it when we get back,” Mr. Cheng added.

Suppressing her anger, Ms. Yun still glanced at the kitchen with some unease. "You're just going to let him cook alone in the kitchen? Can a young master like him even cook?"

"Of course he would! He's always the one cooking when we're together!"

"..." Ms. Yun looked her up and down, then sighed, "There are three of us, it's not good to let him cook all by himself, it would seem like bullying. You should go in and help him."

"Oh!" Cheng Qicai went back into the kitchen.

Gu Rongqi saw her and asked, "Why did you come in?"

"My mom was afraid you'd burn the kitchen down, so she kicked me out again." Cheng Qicai shrugged. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Now that Ms. Yun and the others know, she feels relieved.

I no longer have any psychological burden.

Gu Rongqi smiled and said, "We're out of garlic. Could you peel two more cloves for me?"

Cheng Qicai picked up a few cloves of garlic and peeled them, then helped Gu Rongqi with the task, mostly just standing by and watching.

I'll try it out while I'm at it.

After dinner was ready, the four of them sat down around the coffee table to eat.

Gu Rongqi smiled and said to Ms. Yun and the others, "Auntie and Uncle, my cooking skills are just so-so. Please try it and I apologize for the poor quality."

"No, I can tell just by looking at it that you've cooked a high-quality meal. You're too modest." Mr. Cheng picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork, chewed it a couple of times, and gave it a thumbs up. "Delicious!"

"Thank you for the compliment, Uncle!" Gu Rongqi smiled gently.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!