Chapter 42 Meeting the Parents: We're not together yet.
Jin Zhao knew that the young lady would come, but he didn't know that she would bring Jiang Fuhuai with her.
When the two of them entered, Jin Zhao was preparing the dishes.
Upon seeing Jiang Fuhuai, Jin Zhao felt that his little schemes were completely exposed.
He knew that Jiang Fuhuai looked down on him, and he also understood that what Jiang Fuhuai meant last time was: "It's okay to have some fun, but it can only be fun."
He knew all of this, and he was enduring it.
Jin Zhao didn't mean anything by it; he really just wanted to cook for Jiang Xiliu.
Because she had mentioned wanting to eat it several times. And when he was at the bottom of the cliff, watching Jiang Xiliu vomit blood and faint from hunger, he had regretted it several times.
—I should have stayed away from her and avoided getting angry.
—If I had known, I would have cooked according to Jiang Xiliu's wishes. These are just trivial matters.
"Uncle." Jin Zhao concealed the extra emotions in his eyes, put down the kitchen knife, supported himself with one hand on the cane under his arm and the other hand on the wall, and hopped two steps towards the door on one foot as a greeting.
His injuries hadn't fully healed, and his movements were noticeably clumsy; he even swayed when he landed.
Jiang Fuhuai was so frightened that he wanted to help him up, feeling as if he was about to fall straight to the ground and try to extort money from him at any moment.
He didn't think as much as Jin Zhao did, but he was somewhat shocked: Jin Zhao could still cook in his condition!?
If Jin Zhao doesn't marry his daughter, then he truly is a chosen one of the Jiang family, and Jiang Fuhuai has high hopes for his work ability.
Jiang Xiliu ignored the two of them and began her routine inspection of the room, while urging the food to hurry up: "Jin Zhao, hurry up, I haven't eaten this morning, I'm starving."
Jiang Fuhuai remembered that she ate a lot that morning.
Perhaps he didn't sleep well, had a poor appetite, and didn't eat much?
Jin Zhao was struggling to cook over there.
The daughter outside wouldn't even step into the small kitchen, and occasionally she would offer her opinions.
Jiang Fuhuai stood by and watched for a while. He noticed that Jin Zhao had to be distracted from time to time to respond to Jiang Xiliu, and he had to be extra careful with his footing when chopping vegetables. His movements became more and more restrained. Finally, he belatedly realized that Jin Zhao was even more restrained when he was around.
He went outside and found his daughter, lowering his voice: "What did you bring me to the hospital for? To see how a patient can cook while using crutches?"
No, that's not it.
Before Jiang Xiliu arrived, she thought Jin Zhao had finished and then called her, but when she arrived, she found out that he hadn't finished yet.
She mimicked Jiang Fuhuai and whispered, "Let me let you try his cooking. It's really delicious, much better than what the cooks at home make... um, it suits my taste better."
Because of Jiang Xiliu's words, Jiang Fuhuai patiently waited until the dishes were ready.
During this time, he also handled some temporary work.
At the dinner table with three people, only the young lady seemed to feel comfortable.
Jiang Fuhuai felt that he must have been driven to mental instability by his daughter who was at home every day.
Otherwise, he simply couldn't understand why he would spend so much time on this ordinary home-cooked meal.
It's not that Jin Zhao's cooking was bad, it's just that the taste was really ordinary. In short, it wasn't as exaggerated as Jiang Xiliu described.
On the way here, Jiang Fuhuai told Xi Zhen about his daughter jokingly mentioning "marriage".
Xi Zhen was also startled; there was absolutely no warning about this.
Before picking up his chopsticks, while Jin Zhao went to get tissues, Jiang Fuhuai took a picture of the dish and sent it to his wife: "This is the dish that Xi Liu praised as being the best in the world."
"My wife is busy, so she rarely texts: 'How did it taste?'"
Jiang Fuhuai thought for a moment and replied, "In short, what surprised me even more was that he could still cook despite his limp."
"My wife is very busy and doesn't text me much: What? How did you do that? Why didn't you send me a video?"
Jiang Fuhuai: ...
Jiang Xiliu had no idea what the two men at the dinner table were having an awkward conversation about. Thinking about her painful interview experience that morning, she didn't want to go to the company with her father in the afternoon.
"I'm full." Jiang Xiliu put down her chopsticks, yawned, and glanced at the two of them with their half-eaten rice bowls. "Dad, you can eat slowly. Jin Zhao, I feel a little dizzy."
The interview had exhausted her, and the feeling of fullness made her drowsy.
Jin Zhao glanced at Jiang Fuhuai, noticing that he was eating slowly and deliberately with his head down, without even lifting his eyelids, before shifting his gaze to Jiang Xiliu and tentatively asking, "Are you leaving?"
"I want to sleep for a while." Jiang Xiliu felt that she had already informed everyone, so she lifted the blanket on the side of Jin Zhao's hospital bed and crawled in.
She even snuggled comfortably against the pillow.
Her movements were so natural that both men were taken aback.
The single room is not as large as the suite on the top floor, and even a small kitchen takes up a lot of space, so there is no additional dining room. They eat at a table not far from the bed.
Fortunately, Jiang Fuhuai was sitting with his back to the bed, so he didn't have to look up to see someone sleeping on the bed. He turned his head and calmly continued to pick up food. Jin Zhao, on the other hand, was facing Jiang Xiliu.
"How is your recovery going?" Jiang Fuhuai cleared his throat and began to politely inquire about his future son-in-law.
Jin Zhao swallowed the food in his mouth, sat up straight, and answered seriously, "The recovery is going very well. At the current rate of recovery, I should be able to walk normally in another month and a half."
Jiang Fuhuai knew how dangerous Jin Zhaogang's condition was when he was first admitted to the hospital. Now, only two months later, he has recovered to this state, which is indeed quite fast.
"Good, you're in good health."
"Hmm, not bad." The two of them didn't dare to speak too loudly, for fear of waking Jiang Xiliu behind them.
Although Jiang Fuhuai had read Jin Zhao's information, he felt that the questions that needed to be asked should still be asked openly.
How many people are in your family?
“My parents died when I was young, and now I only have my grandmother.”
Jiang Fuhuai nodded: Since his parents are both gone, it is indeed very suitable for him to marry into the Jiang family.
"Do you have any close relatives?" Jiang Fuhuai continued to ask.
Jin Zhao shook his head. He wasn't quite sure why Jiang Fuhuai was asking this. He carefully chose his words: "I do have a few relatives, but they are all quite distant. After my parents passed away, we lost contact even more, so our relationship is just so-so."
Jiang Fuhuai mentally gave Jin Zhao a slight boost: Jin Zhao has simple interpersonal relationships, so he shouldn't have any troublesome relatives causing problems for his daughter.
Seeing that Jiang Fuhuai didn't say anything more, Jin Zhao had many thoughts running through his mind.
He knew that his family background was vastly different from that of the young lady. If it weren't for his face that caught her eye, they would never have crossed paths in their lives.
He was aware of these things from the beginning.
Now, he himself doesn't know when he started to become greedy, and when he went from resisting to being immersed in it.
Jin Zhao's parents' last wish was that he could live a peaceful life.
But falling in love with a rich girl meant he was destined to never settle down and never live an ordinary life.
However, Jin Zhao didn't dare to ask for too much; it would be enough for him to stay with the young lady until she got tired of her.
Jin Zhao nervously clenched his hands under the table: "Uncle Jiang."
Jiang Fuhuai looked up: "Hmm?"
"I know I'm not good enough for Jiang Xiliu." Jin Zhao took a deep breath.
Jiang Fuhuai glanced at him and agreed, "Yes."
Although his daughter has been a bit of a handful lately, in his heart, his child is definitely the best, and there is no one in the world who is good enough for her.
Jin Zhao lowered his head, but quickly mustered his courage and continued with a dry and labored voice, "The gap between me and Jiang Xiliu cannot be bridged by my efforts over a few years. I know that being with her is no different from a toad wanting to eat swan meat. So, Uncle, you don't need to worry that I will pester her. When I get old and lose my looks, or when Jiang Xiliu no longer likes my face, I will leave gracefully."
Jiang Fuhuai's eyes widened: "What did you say?"
“…Me.” Jin Zhao raised his head and met the gaze of the gentle and refined man opposite him. “I want to say, before Jiang Xiliu gets tired of me, could you allow me to continue staying by her side?”
Jin Zhao had actually secretly investigated what problems would arise when two people from vastly different family backgrounds got together.
The first highly-rated answer was: "The other party's parents might throw a 5 million dollar check at you and tell you to get lost and never show your face in front of their child again. However, in general, even if the parents break you up, the other party is very likely to continue to think about you."
Jin Zhao knew that the young lady's feelings for him weren't that deep, and even if he left, she wouldn't miss him.
At most, he would angrily curse at someone when they mentioned him.
"Wait a minute." Jiang Fuhuai raised his hand to stop the somewhat chaotic conversation. "You still want to break up with my daughter?"
He got furious when he heard the words "leave with a clear conscience". They were all men, and no matter how nice Jin Zhao's words were before, how could he not understand what Jin's true intentions were?
"Since you've put it that way, then I'll tell you too." Jiang Fuhuai's face remained stern and authoritative. "Entering the Jiang family isn't easy; it's not easy to get in, and it's even harder to leave. If you're just trying to squeeze money out of my daughter, then I can tell you clearly right now: impossible!"
Sitting in his current position, Jiang Fuhuai has always presented a respectable and tolerant image to the outside world, and he rarely shows emotional instability.
He only loses control when it involves his wife and daughter.
"No matter how you got in, if you want to leave, you'll leave with nothing."
Jin Zhao kept shaking his head in denial. He didn't interrupt Jiang Fuhuai rashly. He waited until Jiang Fuhuai finished speaking before he spoke up: "I know that the decision on whether to stay or leave is not mine, but Jiang Xiliu's."
He sat up straight and corrected meticulously and rigorously: "However... given our relationship, even if we separate, it shouldn't be considered a breakup."
"What do you mean?" Jiang Fuhuai asked.
Jin Zhao said, "Don't you know? I'm just someone she's keeping; she's never admitted that I'm her romantic partner."
Jiang Fuhuai remained silent. He raised his hand and rubbed his slightly throbbing temples, wondering if he was out of touch with the dating trends of young people.
"You mean that sugar daddy/sugar baby agreement you signed, which was like a joke?"
"Yes," Jin Zhao admitted.
Jiang Fuhuai was silent for a moment before saying, "I thought this was just a bit of fun between the two of you."
Who keeps a mistress without paying her and leaves her with a mountain of debt? His daughter is definitely not that stingy, so when he found out about it, he didn't take it seriously.
Jin Zhao looked up, slightly confused: "I don't think so, right? We're not together yet."
"What!?" Jiang Fuhuai exclaimed in astonishment, "Aren't you two getting married the month after next?"
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The author says: They are getting married, but haven't officially informed the parties involved yet.
I suddenly realized something was really funny.
Jiang Xiliu thought of the female lead—a promising talent for work.
Jiang Fuhuai thinks the male lead is a good candidate for work.
Forget about being the main character, come work for the Jiang family! [Thumbs up]
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