0089 Face Recognition (Bonus Chapter at 800 Beads)
"I heard everything from Diandian. Your brother went too far. I won't let him come home next time..." Ignoring Diandian's presence, Yao Man boiled an egg and smeared it on Diandian's face, frowning with heartache.
"Okay, next time he comes back, Mom, you can chase him out with a broom." Jiang Jifan had just vented her emotions with tears, and her emotions had now calmed down.
Seeing that she was still in the mood to joke, Yao Man breathed a sigh of relief. Recalling the scene of her and Tantai Qing hugging at the door of the house just now, she asked her again, "When did you start dating? You didn't even tell your mother."
Jiang Jifan was more relaxed around her, then nervously rolled his eyes, "We haven't been dating for very long. I told you because I was afraid you'd pressure me to get married..."
Yao Man lightly patted her shoulder, annoyed. "Don't lie to Mom. Mom knows you don't want to get married."
Although she had always lived in the countryside and had never seen much of the world, she could still keenly sense from his speech, manners, and clothing that he was a person of high status and wealth. She glanced at Jiang Jifan and asked with some concern, "Do his family know that you two are dating?"
"You know, but I'm not really sure," Jiang Jifan shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.
Upon hearing this, Yao Man sighed, glanced at Tantai Qing in the living room, and said to her in a low, earnest voice, "I can tell that the child treats you very well, but people from their family background, no matter how I look at it, I don't think it's quite right for them..."
Wealthy families have high expectations, and she understood this after Yao Sheng got married. She knew what kind of person her daughter was, and regardless of whether Yao Sheng wanted to or not, Yao Man didn't want her to marry into that kind of family and suffer.
Jiang Jifan laughed and said she was overthinking things, then leaned on her shoulder and said, "Mom, don't worry, I won't marry anyone. I'll stay home and take care of you from now on. I want to be a mama's girl for life..."
Yu Diandian glanced back at the heartwarming scene between the mother and daughter, feeling extremely envious.
They were cooking inside, while Tantai Qing and Jiang Mingting were watching TV outside.
"Tingting, why do I feel like you don't really like your father?" Tantai Qing turned to look at her, asking as if it were a very ordinary question.
Jiang Mingting was engrossed in watching cartoons when he unwittingly fell into his trap: "Because he bullied Auntie."
She realized she had let something slip after she finished speaking, and quickly covered her mouth in regret.
The two stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Jiang Mingting suddenly let go of his hand and asked him, "Will you always be good to my aunt?"
“Of course, I will always be good to her,” he said without hesitation.
"Really?"
Tantai Qing smiled. "Yes, really."
Then, extending his thumb and pinky, he softly said to her, "If you don't believe me, we can make a pinky promise."
She hesitated for a moment, then reached out and made a pinky promise with him, before saying seriously, "No lying, or...may I be struck by lightning!"
He thought she had Jiang Jifan's style and nodded with a smile.
"Can you tell me now?"
"Can."
With each word she spoke, Tantai Qing's expression darkened, until finally he fell silent.
Jiang Jifan brought out the dishes and, seeing them chatting so animatedly, asked with a smile, "What are you talking about? You seem to be having a great time."
He subtly curled the corners of his lips to conceal his true emotions, and replied, "Let's learn about the lives of kids these days."
Seeing that there was nothing more to say, Jiang Mingting jumped off the sofa and ran to her side, eagerly saying, "Auntie, let me help you carry it!"
"Alright, I'll take care of it. You're wearing a new dress today, so don't get it dirty."
Tantai Qing then noticed that the dress Jiang Mingting was wearing was one of the children's clothes that Jiang Jifan had bought in City B and brought back specifically for him.
After the meal, Yao Man asked Jiang Jifan to take him out for a walk.
In the evening, few people went out in the small town; everyone had gone home for dinner. Only a few children were playing with firecrackers on the road.
Jiang Jifan and he walked slowly hand in hand on the empty road.
How did you get here?
"I took a plane, and after I got off the plane, someone brought me here."
"I was worried you came alone." Hearing that someone had brought you, she breathed a sigh of relief.
If you want to visit her properly, you have to take a plane, then a train, and then a bus. The distance is far and the journey is bumpy.
Tantai Qing smiled and looked at her, saying, "I originally had this plan, but I wanted to see you as soon as possible, and I was also afraid that I wouldn't know the way if I came by myself. If it caused a delay, it would be a loss."
She nodded. "Where were you when you called me?"
"On my way to find you."
There was no GPS navigation available for her home, so he had to drag his luggage around asking passersby one by one before he finally found it.
"Are you tired?" Jiang Jifan recalled the time she went home and said to him, "When I first got home, I slept for a whole day before I could recover."
Tantai Qing said it was a bit.
She smiled and massaged his shoulders. "You've worked hard, Mr. Dan."
"To commend you, I've decided..."
"Smack!"
Something exploded beneath his feet, and Jiang Jifan screamed in fright, almost jumping up.
Tantai Qing quickly pulled her into his arms, "Are you alright, Ji Fan?"
"Hahahaha!" A group of children stood by the roadside, laughing uproariously as they watched them, each holding a firecracker and throwing it in their direction.
Explosions rang out one after another around them. Jiang Jifan instantly became furious. He got out of his arms, angrily chased after them, grabbed one of the culprits, and said fiercely, "What are you doing? Whose kids are you!"
The children were taken aback by her and immediately stopped laughing.
One of the little boys, who recognized her, slapped the guy who had just thrown the firecracker hard across the head. He said in a seemingly soft but actually very loud voice, "You idiot! Do you know she's Jiang Mingting's aunt? My mom said she's a hundred times fiercer than Jiang Mingting! Run!"
The kids looked at each other in disbelief, as if they'd seen a ghost, and immediately grabbed their toys and ran away as fast as they could. In less than ten seconds, only the two of them remained on the already sparsely populated road.
After they left, Jiang Jifan stood there laughing so hard he couldn't straighten up.
After she finished laughing, she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingertips and sighed to him, "It seems that Tingting and I are truly a pair of aunt and niece who inspire fear in everyone."
Tantai Qing also found it amusing and joked, "They were blind and didn't recognize the real person; they bullied the wrong person."
Jiang Jifan said he was thirsty, so he took him to the convenience store to buy drinks.
"Uncle, Happy New Year!"
The old man who was putting away the goods turned around when he heard the sound, and when he saw it was her, he immediately smiled and said, "Jifan is here."
"Yes, sir, I'd like to buy a bottle of water from you." Jiang Jifan said as he picked out a drink and chatted with him.
"Have you eaten, old man?"
"Let's eat." The old man put down the last box, stood up, and clapped his hands.
"Hey, who's this?" he asked in surprise when he saw the man beside her.
Tantai Qingchao smiled slightly and then greeted him.
Jiang Jifan picked out a bottle of iced tea, asked the old man what he wanted to drink, and then introduced him to the old man, saying, "Uncle, this is my boyfriend."
Upon hearing this, the old man immediately fumbled for his reading glasses and put them on. He leaned closer to examine Tantai Qing standing beside her closely, and after a long while, he laughed and said, "Oh my, so handsome!"
Not only that, he also made sure to call his wife to come and see.
An elderly woman with dyed red hair walked in, cracking sunflower seeds, and stood with the old man, sizing up the unfamiliar man in front of them.
"Do you think she's pretty?" the old man asked her.
The old lady didn't seem as excited as him, and said in a matter-of-fact manner, "Ren Jifan is good-looking to begin with, so it's only right that he finds a handsome young man."
Then he said to Jiang Jifan, "Your mother must be so proud now, finding such a handsome son-in-law..."
Tantai Qing was a little embarrassed by their straightforward praise, and the tips of her ears turned slightly red.
Jiang Jifan glanced at him and smiled secretly.
Before they left, the couple generously stuffed a bunch of snacks into their hands.
After they came out, Jiang Jifan pointed to the snacks in his hand and said, "Thanks to you, this is the first time I've ever enjoyed this kind of treatment."
Tantai Qing was somewhat surprised; the couple from earlier seemed to like her quite a bit.
“It’s not that we haven’t had any before, but there are especially many today,” she explained.
Jiang Jifan nudged his shoulder and laughed, "Looks like I'll have to bring you along to show my face when I buy things from now on."
"Okay," he replied with a smile.
"I need to finish my drink before I get home, otherwise my mom will scold me again..."
"Drink slowly, don't rush."
………
On the quiet town road, the two figures stretched long under the dim streetlights.
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