It took Xu Man a long time to recover from the shock.
Her heart was pounding. When she finally came to her senses, she couldn't speak clearly: "You...your parents want to see me?"
"Yeah." Qin Shen replied with a smile.
Xu Man felt a little panicked.
——Meet the parents. This was something she had never thought of.
Of course, it’s not that she feels that there is no future for her and Qin Shen, it’s just... this "future" is indeed a real "future" for her. She is not even a senior yet, and if she really wants to talk about marriage, she has to wait until she graduates from college in a year.
She is not a little girl living in fantasy, thinking that first love will definitely accompany her for a lifetime and love can be unswerving. In fact, what she encounters more often are cheating men and couples breaking up. Even her best friend Tian Si holds an attitude of playing with the world, which has influenced her to some extent, making her always remind herself not to think too much and just enjoy the present.
In Tian Si's words, "No matter what happens in the future, enjoying the process to the fullest and leaving no regrets is the best reward for yourself."
Although she sometimes couldn't help imagining her future life with Qin Shen, it was just imagination. Occasionally she would say a few words to him in a joking tone, which also contained temptation and expectation. She didn't dare to really think about it.
She is a coward when it comes to relationships. She is like this when she is secretly in love with someone, and she is still like this even after she confesses her love and they are dating.
As a result, once again, Qin Shen got ahead of her and told her that he wanted to take her back to meet his parents.
No matter how much Xu Man didn't dare to think about it, the meaning was still clear to her - this was a real relationship, a relationship that could determine the "future" and "later".
My heart was still beating slightly faster, and I couldn't describe the feeling, like timidity, or fear, with a little dizziness, and the beats were spreading out like ripples.
"...This...is too sudden..." Xu Man lowered her eyes, twisting her hands together unconsciously. Her trembling words revealed her nervous heart at the moment, "I'm not ready yet..."
"What's there to prepare for?" Qin Shen said, with a relaxed smile on his face that he didn't know if it was real or fake. "You just need to come home with me and meet them. There's nothing to prepare."
"But..." She opened her mouth and closed it again, feeling confused and not knowing what to say.
Qin Shen saw her confusion and nervousness, leaned over to embrace her, put his arm around her shoulders, and smiled comfortingly: "I know this is very sudden, but we have to meet them one day earlier or later, it doesn't make any difference, right?"
The warm embrace had a calming power, which gradually calmed Xu Man down. She raised her eyes to look at him, and her eyes were sparkling under the light, as if filled with water.
She whispered, "I still think it's a little too early..."
Qin Shen kissed her forehead: "It's a little early, but my parents are very interested in you and want to meet you."
Xu Man was startled. Hearing that what he said was not right, she straightened her waist and wanted to talk to him seriously. However, she did not expect that the consequences of her messing around on the sofa were too strong. As soon as she straightened her waist, her back ached. She quickly lay back in his arms: "How did your parents know about me?"
"Why doesn't she know you?" Qin Shen pretended to be puzzled. "Didn't my mother know you a long time ago? She was the one who introduced me to your job."
"You know I'm not asking that." Xu Man slapped him lightly, "When did you tell them about me? Do they know we're dating?"
"Yeah." He smiled and said, "The last time I went back, my dad asked me about the beating incident and mentioned you. And before that, my mom urged me to transfer you to the city bureau as soon as possible, so I... ahem, I told her that I wanted to pursue you and couldn't transfer you away, and then my mom knew that I liked you. When I mentioned you that day, my mom remembered that I was pursuing you and asked me if I had succeeded in pursuing you, so I told her the truth."
Xu Man opened her eyes wide when she heard this. She didn't know there were so many things behind him, but what surprised her even more was that his parents had known about their relationship for a long time, especially Aunt Jiang, who even knew that Qin Shen wanted to pursue her. Doesn't that mean -
In fact, Xu Man and Jiang Ya’s contact was not limited to the time when she first came to Mingzhou. They would occasionally chat with each other, but it was always the other party who took the initiative to contact her, and she, as a junior, would respond politely. Not to mention the distant past, just last weekend, the other party sent her a greeting message, asking her how she was doing in Minnesota and whether Qin Shen was taking care of her.
When she saw it, she didn't think much about it. She just thought it was an ordinary greeting from an elder. After all, he worked under her son and was the child of a good friend, so she had to ask about his news and know about the situation, so she responded with relatively polite words.
When she sent the message, she felt a little guilty, thinking that she was deceiving others. She was already dating the other party's son, but she was still using the identities of "good friend's daughter" and "son's subordinate". But she felt weird when she was asked to introduce herself and say "I'm dating your son".
She originally planned to wait for a while, at least until the second half of her senior year next year, to see how stable the relationship was, and then discuss with Qin Shen whether to inform both parents. In her opinion, falling in love is one thing, telling parents and meeting parents is another thing, which really involves discussing marriage.
It turns out that Qin Shen had already told his parents about their relationship?
Then what about the guilty feeling she felt every time she faced Jiang Ya’s message?
Xu Man felt a deep regret in her heart. Although she had always struck a balance in her replies, neither appearing too unfamiliar nor too enthusiastic, just like treating a relative or elder in an ordinary way, as soon as she thought that the other party knew that she and Qin Shen were dating, she felt that her replies were a mess.
No wonder the other party would always ask her how Qin Shen took care of her. She thought it was because the other party was hospitable, and since she was the daughter of a good friend, he would take extra care of her in this regard. She didn’t expect it was because of this!
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Xu Man felt more and more regretful. She couldn't help but hit Qin Shen's arm with her hand. "You--did you know that your mother would come to chat with me sometimes? Every time I replied to her nervously, for fear that I would accidentally reveal the truth and expose the fact that we were dating. I was also afraid that if I treated her badly, she would have a bad impression of me when we made it public in the future. I was so worried that you--"
Qin Shen looked at her in surprise: "My mother wants to talk to you? When?"
"On her cell phone. She has my contact information. I was the one who got your cell phone number from her in the beginning."
"Oh." He understood. "I was wondering, how come she came all the way from Xinjing to chat with you, but I didn't see her. But that doesn't make sense." He came to his senses and looked at her with a slightly frown. "Why don't you want her to know about our relationship? It's not something shameful."
Xu Man choked and didn't dare tell him what was really in her heart. This idea was too cowardly. If she said it out loud, not only would he be laughed at, but he might also be angry and think that she didn't trust the relationship between them.
"I... I just want to tell them later." She whispered, lowering her eyes guiltily, not daring to look him in the face, "I'm not mentally prepared yet..."
Qin Shen smiled slightly and combed her hair with his fingers. He might not be able to understand all of his lover's thoughts, but that didn't mean he couldn't be tolerant. "It's okay. My mom has a very good impression of you. She said a lot of good things to my dad, so my dad also likes you very much and took the initiative to ask to meet you. If you are not ready, I will tell them that you don't have time during the Mid-Autumn Festival and wait until the winter vacation to see them, or even later, next summer vacation?"
Xu Man has always been a person who responds to soft tactics rather than hard ones. In other words, most tactics of retreating to advance work well on her. When she saw Qin Shen backing down, she immediately began to reflect on whether her reaction was too extreme. He is very right. If the two of them want to continue together, meeting their parents is only a matter of time. It doesn't make any difference whether it's a day earlier or later.
Although this matter was brought up suddenly and she was completely unprepared, but thinking about it carefully, there is still a month until Mid-Autumn Festival, which is enough time for her to prepare herself mentally dozens of times. Moreover, Qin Shen taking her to meet his parents means that he affirms their relationship. If she backs down on this matter, she would be too sorry for his feelings for her.
Thinking of this, Xu Man raised her eyes again, looked at Qin Shen, nodded, and said, "Okay, I'll go with you."
Qin Shen looked at her gently: "You don't have to accommodate me. If you don't want to go, just say so. It's okay."
She shook her head: "I want to go see them. This way, when the National Day comes... you can also go to my house and meet my parents."
She spoke the latter part of the sentence very quietly, but Qin Shen still heard it clearly. A smile appeared on his face, showing great surprise: "Really?"
"If you don't want to go, that's fine." Xu Man was a little shy, but still answered him with a smile. The confusion gradually dissipated, revealing the joy hidden behind it. She thought that Tian Si's blessing might come true.
"Of course I'll go." Qin Shen said, staring at her without blinking, his eyes changing from joy to affection, and finally to a few traces of love, he lowered his head and kissed her lips.
Xu Man did not refuse. She raised her hand and put it in his hair, responding to the kiss.
Perhaps she felt that she had lost to him in terms of confidence in their relationship. When Qin Shen kissed her along her collarbone and put his hand under her pajamas, she did not say "the quota is used up" again. Instead, she relaxed her body with a little guilt and a sense of compensation, allowing him to continue. However, she whispered at the critical moment: "Slow down... My waist is too sore, I can't stand it..."
Qin Shen smiled, raised his head, and kissed her on the lips. He didn't say anything, but slowed down his pace and adjusted his posture to make her feel as comfortable as possible, and then he embraced her with utmost tenderness.
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