Chapter 89: Flatterer Oh my, this is the new son-in-law. ...
During the rush hour, the city's main roads are crowded with all kinds of vehicles, each one bathed in the glow of the sunset, eager to return home.
As if she couldn't figure it out, Luo Shu sat in the passenger seat, feeling impatient. She crossed her arms and started to make trouble: "Old Luo, how could you just casually invite an outsider to our house for dinner?"
Luo's father appealed to his feelings and reasoned with him: "This is Xiao Fang's first time in Ningcheng, and he's unfamiliar with the place. What's wrong with us showing hospitality?"
Luo Shu didn't care: "It's just wrong. It's irrational."
As if convinced, Luo's father slowed down the car. "Since my daughter doesn't want to, I'll stop the car now and let him go home. He should go wherever he wants and not get in the way of our family of three."
As the saying goes, experience always makes the difference. Luo Shu instinctively stopped him by saying, "Don't stop."
Luo's father stood firm in his opinion: "No way, it's his fault that my precious daughter is unhappy."
Luo Shu had no choice but to turn her face to the window and said, "I'm not unhappy. If he wants to come, he can come. We don't need a bite of food at home."
Luo's father stifled a laugh, turned the steering wheel, and headed into the open-air parking lot of his residential complex. "There's an old saying that goes, 'It's a joy to have friends coming from afar.' After all, my ex-boyfriend is still half a friend."
"You heard he brought you some wine, so you had a legitimate reason to drink, so you invited him to dinner." Luo Shu glanced at the SUV following closely in the rearview mirror and exposed him, "Be careful, Ms. Ai and I will tell on you."
Hearing her call for help, Luo's father quickly distanced himself from the matter: "How narrow-minded! Your mother called him back home, saying she was there to help check on you. Who knew he was your ex-boyfriend?"
As he spoke, he tilted his head in a gossipy tone and asked, "Isn't she the one who made you return to school early during the winter break?"
Luo Shu was speechless, wondering how did Old Luo know this dark history?
Seeing that Luo Shu didn't say anything, Luo's father muttered to himself again: "Oh, it seems it's another one."
Luo Shu frowned in complaint, "Does your daughter look like someone who's been in multiple relationships?"
"Of course not," Luo's father boasted. "Your loyalty must be my fault, but I don't know who you got the lie from. You gave up your nice trip and said you were back to school to prepare for the exam, but you were actually with your boyfriend. You're already in college. Your mother and I are very open-minded and supportive of your relationship. There's no need to hide it from us."
Luo Shu's secrets were exposed beyond recognition, and she could only break down: "Did my cousin tell on me? I only told her."
Downstairs in the community, Ms. Ai saw from a distance that the father and daughter were talking and gesturing to each other behind the windshield.
I shook my head as if it was normal. Oh, they were probably communicating their feelings again.
After parking the car, Mr. Luo opened the door and got out, and winked at the leader who was waiting downstairs in the unit. Ms. Ai immediately understood and looked back. After seeing the license plate and car logo clearly, her pupils dilated for a moment.
Luo Shu got out of the car reluctantly. The moment Fang Qingzhuo showed his face, she happened to catch a glimpse of the satisfaction on Ms. Ai's face. Well, it was her fault that she was obsessed with looks.
Here, Luo's father came forward to greet Fang Qingzhuo with his elder airs, patting his shoulder. He wanted to say a few words of courtesy, but he unexpectedly found that his hand felt particularly firm: "My dear, exercise more often, and you will be like me in my old days."
Fang Qingzhuo walked around to the back of the car and responded modestly, "How can I compare to you, uncle? After meeting you today, I finally understand what it means to be calm and reliable. You are a role model for our generation."
The wind blew these flattering words into her ears, and Luo Shu couldn't help but roll her eyes, what a flatterer.
Father Luo was so coaxed that the wrinkles in the corners of his eyes deepened. "You said it was good that you were here, but why did you bring any wine? It's so formal."
Fang Qingzhuo pressed the trunk control button: "This is my first time to bother you, so I must be polite."
The back of the car opened up, and the trunk was filled with gift boxes of all sizes.
Luo's father's smile froze at the corner of his mouth, and he was visibly surprised: "Xiao Fang, you..."
"They are just some ordinary gifts, not a token of respect." Fang Qingzhuo said calmly.
Anyone with eyes could see that the ordinary gifts he mentioned included, but were not limited to, mugwort seeds, Chinese catkins, bird's nests, and even ham. Luo Shu pulled Fang Qingzhuo aside and whispered, "Fang Qingzhuo, what do you mean by that? Are you using this to test the cadres and bribe my parents?"
Fang Qingzhuo smiled silently, bent his neck, and whispered in her ear: "All of these combined are not even as valuable as the necklace I gave you. How can this be considered a bribe? Besides, they are all carefully selected as a token of my gratitude. Just consider it as a portion of what I owe you, and give it back to your uncle and aunt, okay?"
"Just say it, why are you standing so close to me?" Luo Shu turned her face away as if she didn't want to communicate. Ever since she met Fang Qingzhuo in Yuncheng, her heart was in turmoil and she didn't know how to face him.
Ms. Ai came up to him with a smile and said, "Xiao Fang, right? These things are too grand, we can't accept them."
Fang Qingzhuo said politely, "Auntie, please listen to what I have to say before you refuse. In fact, whether Luo Shu comes home or not, I should come to visit her. The supplements I prepared may not be the best in price, but they are definitely the most suitable after careful consideration and comparison. Moreover, this cart of things is not only for you and uncle, but also for all the elders."
His words were sincere and reasonable. "One year I spent the New Year alone. I have a very vivid memory of it. Luo Shu gave me half of the New Year's money she received from the elders without hesitation, saying that it was a way for me to share in their warmth and blessings. I've always wanted to find an opportunity to repay her gratitude, so I decided to return the gift. It's a little late, but please don't mind, uncle."
On the one hand, he shows his willingness to repay a drop of kindness with a spring of gratitude, on the other hand, he reveals his miserable past, and on the other hand, he highlights Luo Shu's special care for him.
Luo Shu was so impressed that she didn't bother to figure out whether his words were sincere or just a display of her own cleverness. In the end, he won because Ms. Zhuang's eyes were full of love and affection, which gave Luo's father a bit more approval, even with her own wavering heart.
During this period, I met my neighbor who was coming back from buying groceries.
"Oh, Xiaoshu is back." Before she could finish her words, she accurately scanned a strange face and a cart of cigarettes, alcohol and health products. "Oh my, this must be the new son-in-law. It's his first visit, and it's so grand."
Ms. Ai stole a glance at her daughter's absent-minded reaction, and was unsure of her decision. She quickly went upstairs with the loud-mouthed neighbor: "Oh, her Aunt Wang, isn't she..."
The little episode passed amidst sounds of envy.
When they got home, Fang Qingzhuo was walking at the end. Not long after he put down the boxes and bags in his hands, a Samoyed jumped out from nowhere and ran straight towards Luo Shu.
Almost as a conditioned reflex, he pulled Luo Shu towards him.
Luo Shu was caught off guard and nearly fell into his arms. She met the gazes of two people joining in the fun and stammered, accusing the instigator: "Fang Qingzhuo, what are you doing?"
"I'm afraid it will hurt you." Fang Qingzhuo replied immediately.
Luo Shu pulled out her wrist, which had been gripped tightly and heated, and raised her voice pretentiously: "We, hehe, are notoriously shy and timid in the community. How could they possibly hurt anyone? But you should not startle it and scare it."
Then, she poured out a piece of freeze-dried beef and squatted down to feed the dog, "Good boy, sister is back."
The Samoyed woofed to show his appreciation, then picked up the freeze-dried food and started chewing it.
"You see, it only kisses people it knows."
The next second, the Samoyed, who had finished eating the freeze-dried food, sat in front of Fang Qingzhuo with his tongue hanging out, glaring at him with his wet little red nose. Seeing that the other party had no hostility, he sniffed and rubbed against the stranger, shaking his tail like a propeller and tilting his head to look cute.
"Is this what you call being shy?" Fang Qingzhuo suppressed his laughter and half-knelt, spreading out his palms to shake hands with it. The Samoyed also cooperated very well, raising its paws and placing them on his palms.
Fang Qingzhuo shook hands with him as if they were meeting with two heads of state. He shook his hand twice and solemnly assured, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were there and didn't prepare a gift for you. I will make it up to you next time."
As if it understood, the Samoyed barked twice.
Luo Shu was petrified in an instant. The slap in the face came too quickly, successfully demonstrating what it meant to be a traitor.
As if sensing a lull in the atmosphere, Father Luo walked straight to the dining table carrying two bottles of wine: "It seems the dishes tonight are a bit lacking."
Ms. Ai took the opportunity to shout: "Why don't you go and fry some?"
Thinking of drinking wine tonight, Luo's father happily tied his apron and said, "Good wine must be paired with good dishes. I'll make some dishes right away. Xiao Fang, drink with uncle tonight."
Seeing this, Fang Qingzhuo made a move to go into the kitchen: "Uncle, I'll help."
Seeing him get up and leave, the Samoyed immediately followed him inside.
Ms. Ai was surprised that Fang Qingzhuo could cook: "I didn't expect you could cook at such a young age?"
Fang Qingzhuo smiled and said, "I just learned a few new dishes recently. Let me show you my skills and let uncle give me some guidance."
Ms. Ai politely replied, "How can we let guests who have come from far away cook for us? If it gets out, people will say something bad about us."
At this time, Luo's father called from the kitchen: "Xiao Fang, it's seafood."
"Food." Fang Qingzhuo walked into the kitchen while actively responding to the concerns of his future mother-in-law. "Auntie, please don't treat me as a guest. Treat me as someone who is here to learn from you."
It seemed as if everyone had forgotten the person squatting at the entrance, being neglected.
When the sounds of chopping vegetables and meat came from the kitchen, Luo Shu approached Ms. Ai without giving up: "Do you also think this person is very slick?"
A head popped up out of nowhere, scaring the elegant Ms. Ai into screaming: "When did you come?"
"Just tell me, is it him?" Luo Shu hugged her tightly, as if he would not let go until she answered.
"I wouldn't call him slick, but he's pretty watertight." Ms. Ai kept pushing her head away from the forehead that was about to hit her eyes. "Why don't you go wash your hands and get ready for dinner? I'm hungry even if you're not."
The kitchen was bustling with activity, the hum of the range hood masking the sounds of conversation, the wok was sizzling, and the aroma of stir-fried meat with chopped onions, ginger, and garlic wafted through the air. In contrast, the living room was peaceful and quiet.
Ms. Ai leisurely pressed the remote control to change channels, and finally stopped at a variety show. However, Luo Shu was absent-minded and peeked into the kitchen from time to time.
"Are you so worried? It was the small yellow croaker that was put into the frying pan, not him."
Luo Shu said stubbornly, "I'm just afraid that he'll set our kitchen on fire."
Ms. Ai saw through it but didn't say anything: "I heard from your dad that you dumped her?"
Luo Shu got angry when she mentioned this: "He deserves it."
As soon as these words came out, Ms. Ai immediately became interested. A hint of cunning flashed across her ageless and handsome face: "How about I help you test it?"
Luo Shu's expression became awkward: "Mom, don't do anything stupid."
Ms. Ai disagreed: "Have you forgotten what your mother does?"
How could Luo Shu forget? She swallowed nervously. Ms. Ai was the living signboard of Ningbo University and a well-known professor of psychology.
No sooner said than done, the doorbell rang suddenly.
"Someone is coming. I'll go and see." As if relieved, she trotted to open the door. When she opened it, she looked as if the sky had fallen. Three smiling faces were standing outside the door.
Tong Menglin, who burst out laughing and rushed over to hug her, Jiang Xun, who had a forced smile on his face, and Shen Qianshu, who was beaming with joy, each carried a gift.
It's not surprising that Tong Menglin and Jiang Xun are here, but why is Shen Qianshu here too?
"Are you touched? This is a surprise we carefully prepared." Tong Menglin walked in familiarly, opened the shoe cabinet, and changed her shoes. She glanced at the large gift packages filling the aisle, which were nothing compared to what they brought.
"Luo Shu, you've made a fortune, drinking and smoking, and buying so many gifts to bring home. Are you planning to open a tobacco and liquor store at home?"
Hearing the noise, Ms. Ai in the inner room called out, "Is Linlin here?"
"Hey, it's me, Auntie. We're here to visit Luo Shu."
Ms. Ai came out to greet them with great joy: "You kids are so familiar with each other, what else do you want to bring? Come in quickly."
Shen Qianshu bent down to change his shoes, and was not surprised to notice a pair of playful eyes looking at him from above. He looked up and saw that it was Fang Qingzhuo who was holding a plate of cold dishes.
The love rivals were extremely jealous of each other when they met, and the atmosphere reached a freezing point the moment their eyes met.
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