I turned around and whispered to the waiter who was waiting by the side: "The dishes can be prepared. Please arrange them neatly." The waiter nodded and walked quickly to the kitchen.
Then, I took a deep breath, put on a gentle smile on my face, and walked into the private room.
Xu Tong's mother sat inside, looking a little solemn and expressionless. I walked up to them, bowed slightly, and said sincerely, "Uncle, aunt, I just came from Xu Tong. She is in a much better mood now. She has eaten something and is slowly recovering. Don't worry too much about her. I specially prepared this meal this evening. First, it is my first time meeting you two, and I want to express my respect for you. Second, I really don't care enough about Xu Tong on weekdays. I feel really bad for making you two worry about this matter. I want to take this opportunity to apologize to you."
The two looked at each other, and it was Xu Tong's father who broke the silence first. He said in a kind tone, with a bit of the generosity of an elder: "Hongjun, we are all family, there is no need to be so polite. When encountering such things, we are emotional for a while, and our words and actions may be inappropriate. Don't take it to heart."
However, Xu Tong's mother's tone was still cold, with no sign of softening: "Xiao Guan, don't think that you can easily let this go by inviting us to dinner. Let me be clear with you, our family has never been the kind of snob. No matter if you are an official or rich, if you dare to bully my daughter, I will never let you go."
After hearing what she said, I couldn't help but respect her in my heart. Xu Tong mentioned to me before that when my father-in-law was in a high position, his family always kept their distance and adhered to their principles. It seems that what he said is true.
I quickly responded, "Aunt, don't worry. I have no intention of bullying Xu Tong from the bottom of my heart, and I will never do such a thing in the future. If you trust me, let's eat first and talk while we eat. We can talk about anything."
Before long, carefully prepared dishes were served on the table one after another. I have to say that Liu Yun is really thoughtful. This table of dishes combines Korean, Japanese and Western styles. Each dish is exquisite and unique, perfectly meeting my requirements. It has the mellow charm of Japanese style, the freshness and elegance of Japanese style, and the exotic characteristics of Western style, which makes people shine.
I first filled a glass of wine for Xu Tong's father, moving respectfully and skillfully, then picked up the wine pot and prepared to pour a glass for her mother as well. Her mother waved her hand and declined, "I don't drink."
I smiled and nodded to show my understanding, then picked up the serving chopsticks, carefully picked up a piece of shrimp tempura for her, dipped it in a little matcha salt, put it on her plate, and said, "Auntie, please try this. This shrimp tempura is the signature of this restaurant. It tastes very good." Perhaps my courtesy worked, her expression was obviously much more relaxed, and her expression was no longer as tense as before.
She picked up the piece of tempura, took a bite, chewed it carefully, looked up and said to me: "This is just deep-fried prawns. The prawn meat is really tender and the cooking time is just right."
I smiled and praised, "Aunt, you have a good eye! This is essentially the same as the fried prawns in our restaurant, but the Japanese are very particular about food, so it is made more delicately."
Hearing that I jokingly called the "Japanese" "little devils", the two elders looked at each other and smiled knowingly on their faces. The originally depressing atmosphere in the private room was eased a little. I was busy preparing food for them. Feeling that the atmosphere was almost right, I cleared my throat and said seriously, "Today, in front of you two, I will speak frankly and not hide anything."
Upon hearing what I said, the two of them put down their chopsticks and bowls, turned their eyes to me, and waited quietly for what I would say next.
I took a deep breath and continued, "Xu Tong and I have known each other for a while, introduced by my mother-in-law and mother-in-law. We have a good emotional foundation, but now there is indeed a very thorny and realistic difficulty between us, which has become the fuse for our occasional conflicts. I'm sure you have heard a little bit about it. I have been married twice and have a son and a daughter. According to the current policy, if we are together, we can't have children. But Xu Tong has never been married, which is really unfair to her. This is also the biggest obstacle to the further development of our relationship, so I especially want to hear your thoughts and attitudes on this matter."
My words caused the two of them to fall into silence. Suddenly, the old man broke the silence first, his voice was slightly choked with sobs, full of self-blame and heartache: "Tongtong has been a strong child since she was young. Her mother and I are busy on weekdays, and we care about her too little. Over the years, she has endured too much silently and has not suffered. As her mother, we are full of guilt." As he spoke, his eyes became red and tears burst out and slid down his cheeks.
Seeing the old man's grief-stricken look, my heart was deeply touched. As a parent, the love for one's child is common, and I can completely understand his feelings at the moment.
However, the old lady's face suddenly turned gloomy. She said in a serious and firm manner: "No, we can't let Tongtong do what she wants. She is now obsessed with something. It would be fine if she became a stepmother, because she hasn't married yet. But if she can't even take care of her own children, that's absolutely not possible! When she is old, she won't have anyone to rely on. Who will take care of her? How will she live in the future?" The old lady became more and more excited as she spoke, and her tone was full of unquestionable toughness.
Seeing the old lady’s firm attitude, my tense nerves relaxed instantly and I felt inexplicably relieved. Seeing her clear and firm attitude, I have the opportunity to resolve the problem skillfully. In the future, they will probably not cause any more trouble and will not bring me any unnecessary negative impact.
I calmed myself down, picked up the wine glass, put on a sincere smile, and said respectfully: "Uncle, aunt, I am also a mother, I can empathize with your worries and thoughts, and I understand them very well. However, I already know your attitude. In my opinion, Xu Tong has a strong personality. If we put too much pressure on her, I am really worried that something scary will happen again like today. So, this matter can't be rushed, we have to take it slowly. I plan to find a way to gradually fade the relationship between us and give her some buffer time and space. I wonder what you two elders think of this?"
My suggestion seemed to be somewhat different from the old man's idea. He frowned slightly, with a hint of loss in his eyes. But I can clearly sense that in this family, the old man's words carry relatively little weight, and he listens to his wife's decisions, with a look of powerlessness on his face.
The old lady fell into deep thought. She savored every word I said. After a moment, she slowly said, "Xixi's father, you have to keep your word. I will believe you this time." She stared at me with a look of scrutiny and expectation.
I nodded quickly, saying firmly, "Aunt, don't worry, I will definitely do what I say."
The old lady heard this and shook her head gently, correcting her: "Don't call me aunt all the time. From Qingwan's perspective, you should call me aunt."
When I heard her say this, I immediately understood. The fact that she even corrected the way I addressed her was enough to show how determined she was to break up Xu Tong and me.
I followed her words and responded, "Aunt, since we have settled this matter, you and uncle can enjoy your meal in peace. I'll leave you for a while and go to the back to see Xu Tong and have a good chat with her." After saying that, I stood up politely, bowed slightly, and then turned and walked out of the private room.
As soon as I stepped out of the room, Liu Yun followed me quietly like a ghost, with a concerned look on her face and a very low voice, afraid that the people in the room would hear: "How is it, is there any trouble?"
I raised the corner of my mouth, reached out to touch my ears, scratched my nose, deliberately put on a relaxed and humorous look, and joked: "You look so worried, look, my ears and nose are still well on my face."
Liu Yun rolled her eyes at me, a hint of anger flashing across her face: "It's already this time, and you're still so still not behaved. Follow me." After that, without waiting for my response, she turned around and led the way.
Full of doubts, I hurried after him and asked, "Where are you going? What are you going to do?"
Liu Yun kept me in suspense, pursed her lips, and said nothing, just leading me forward. I had no choice but to follow her suspiciously, and soon we arrived at another private room.
The moment I opened the door, I was stunned for a moment. Then, surprise flooded my heart like a tide - in the private room was Tang Xiaomei, whom I hadn't seen for a long time! As soon as she saw me, her originally quiet eyes suddenly lit up. Without saying a word, she stood up and ran towards me like a happy little deer. But halfway through the run, she suddenly stopped and kept a short distance from me.
I was surprised to find that Xiaomei in front of me had grown taller. She was no longer the innocent little girl who threw herself into my arms without hesitation in my memory. At the age of 14, she has already entered puberty, and her figure has begun to change significantly. The youthful innocence of a girl has gradually revealed a bit of mature charm.
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