"Hello!" In the restaurant, Xu Chen found the other person first based on the photo, and pulled his sister to sit opposite the young man and the middle-aged woman. The group extended their hands to greet each other, and the middle-aged woman felt somewhat displeased seeing Xu Chen and Xu Nan's intimate behavior.
"May I ask who you are?" The middle-aged woman couldn't wait any longer and asked first, wanting to ascertain the relationship between Xu Nan and Xu Chen, and whether the middleman was playing her tricks, since the middleman had been paid.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Xu Chen, Xu Nan's younger brother." Xu Chen nodded and gave a very serious self-introduction. As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed that Xu Nan's head was leaning against his back, and the fragrance of Xu Nan's hair was still lingering around his nose.
"What's wrong, sis?"
Xu Nan pointed under the table in the direction of the man. Xu Chen looked up and found that the man was staring intently at Xu Nan. Xu Chen had no choice but to cough lightly. When the woman saw Xu Chen "pretending" to cough, she followed Xu Chen's gaze to her son and found that he was staring at Xu Nan with a lecherous look on his face. The woman looked a little embarrassed and nudged her son with her arm. Only then did the man come to his senses.
Seemingly realizing his rudeness, the man appeared somewhat embarrassed. He stammered as he introduced himself, "I... I'm Ling Yu... I currently work at the Municipal Bureau of Justice." Speaking of his workplace, Ling Yu became somewhat more assertive; he straightened his back and stopped stammering. Xu Chen nodded and nudged Xu Nan, who reluctantly began to introduce himself.
"Xu...Xu Chen, where are your parents?" The middle-aged woman originally wanted to ask Xu Nan, but seeing that Xu Nan seemed to be in a bad mood, she turned to Xu Chen and asked. Although blind dates are not a big deal, the matchmaker asked her to come, so it was impossible that the other party's parents were not invited.
Xu Chen said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Auntie, my parents are a bit busy with work, so I'll be their representative."
"If you're too busy with work to come, you should have told me in advance. What's the point of sending a kid like you?" The middle-aged woman was somewhat dissatisfied. Although Xu Chen was already "twenty-seven years old," he looked like he was in his early twenties, so it was no wonder that the middle-aged woman called him a child.
"Auntie, I'm so sorry. How about this, I'll pay for this meal today as an apology to you and Ling Yu." Xu Chen patted his chest and made a promise. It was just that it wasn't mealtime yet, otherwise he would have called the waiter over to order immediately.
“It’s alright. Since your parents are busy with work, it’s only right that you take on the role of parent.” Wang Meifang didn’t want to argue with the child, so she simply waved her hand and said. After she finished speaking, she saw her son Ling Yu take out his phone and chat on WeChat, while Xu Nan was doing the same on the other end. Wang Meifang was still angry, so she kicked Ling Yu’s foot under the table.
"Mom? What's wrong?" Ling Yu put away his phone, noticing his mother had kicked him and looked furious. Curious, he asked. Wang Meifang glanced towards Xu Nan, and Ling Yu, understanding, put down his phone and started chatting with Xu Nan. Out of politeness, Xu Nan responded to Ling Yu. The two chatted intermittently, like they were playing a very slow question-and-answer game.
Seeing this, Xu Chen thought the blind date was on the right track, so he walked out of the private room and sat at an empty table outside to smoke. Wang Meifang saw that the two children were having a good conversation, so she also came out and sat down next to Xu Chen.
"Hello, Auntie." Xu Chen nodded and greeted her. At the same time, he continued to smoke and scroll through his phone.
"Hello, hey, Xu Chen, what does your family do? The middleman didn't mention this to me."
"Ah, my mom is a small business owner, and my dad is a junior civil servant."
Wang Meifang nodded, seemingly thinking that the Xu family was quite well-off. She wanted to press the matter further, but Xu Chen extinguished his cigarette and instead asked Wang Meifang a question.
"What does your family do, Auntie?"
Wang Meifang was taken aback, but then said frankly, "My husband and I have been working in Guangdong Province. This year, because our child got a job, we came back to Changsha to find work."
"Did you find it? If not, I can help, Auntie," Xu Chen said earnestly.
"No rush, let's take care of the child first. By the way, child, has your sister ever had a boyfriend?"
"No, in my memory she has always been single."
"That's good, that's good." Wang Meifang breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is your aunt more traditional?"
"No, no, it's because my son has always been single."
Xu Chen nodded. If her son truly remained single, then it was possible to expect the woman to be the same. As they chatted, they realized it was almost time and prepared to return to their private room to check on the progress of their blind date.
"Ling Yu, He Nan..." After opening the door to the private room, Wang Meifang saw the same scene again. The two were sitting opposite each other, silently playing on their phones. She hurriedly sat back down next to her son, ready to give him a good scolding.
"Sis, what's wrong? Did you have a bad chat?" Xu Chen called over the waiter, poured a cup of hot tea for his sister and the mother and son across from them, and asked curiously. Xu Nan shook her head and glared at Xu Chen. Xu Chen touched his nose and, seeing that it was almost time, fulfilled his previous promise and called the waiter over to start ordering.
"Auntie, please order." Xu Chen picked out a few dishes that he and his sister liked and handed the menu to Wang Meifang. After they ordered, the group fell into an awkward silence.
Ling Yu looked at Xu Nan, "Xu Nan, there's a Jay Chou concert in Changsha this weekend, wanna go together?"
Xu Nan glanced at Ling Yu, who looked hopeful, and then at Xu Chen and Wang Meifang, who were waiting for her response. Just as she was about to express her thoughts, a middle-aged man suddenly burst in from outside the door.
"Nannan, why did you lie to me! Who are they?! Didn't you say you would stay with me until we grow old?"
Everyone in the room was shocked. Xu Chen looked at Xu Nan in surprise, then at the fat, big-eared middle-aged man, silently repeating to himself that it was all an illusion.
"Xu Nan? Who is this?" Ling Yu asked Xu Nan with a hint of anger in his voice, suppressing his anxiety. Seeing his brother's surprised look and his immediate movement to take out his phone, Xu Nan quickly said, "I don't know you. Who are you?"
"You don't recognize me? Then who is the girl I spent several days with at the Xingcheng Hotel? Don't be silly, Nan Nan, come with me!" The middle-aged man suppressed a laugh and made a gesture as if to pull Xu Nan away.
Upon hearing the man's words, Ling Yu was so shocked that his head was buzzing. Wang Meifang wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, she still felt extremely angry, so she simply pulled Ling Yu away.
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