Chapter 39
After leaving the jewelry store, Ji Mingfei suggested going to the nearby underground supermarket. Chu Yue knew she was still thinking about buying a gift, so she didn't ask any questions and obediently played the role of a baby carrier.
Ji Mingfei pushed the shopping cart through the aisles, while Chu Yue followed behind, carrying her child, looking around leisurely.
"Ultraman, transform!"
Chu Yue was startled by the sudden sound. She had simply noticed a raised button on a toy on the shelf and pressed it out of curiosity.
In June, she waved her little hands, babbling and clearly interested in the thing that made a sound.
"It's too early for you to play with this. Let's go look at pacifiers and teething toys!" When Chu Yue looked ahead again, Ji Mingfei was nowhere to be found.
"We played for too long and lost our mother."
Chu Yue searched through several shelves, almost missing Ji Mingfei who was picking out gift boxes with his back to her. She immediately took two steps back and said to June, "Found it."
Chu Yue stood behind Ji Mingfei and followed her gaze. The advertisement image, etched into her DNA, flashed before her eyes: "Brain Gold?"
"Is this what people give as gifts to the elderly these days?" Ji Mingfei asked Chu Yue awkwardly for her opinion.
"No, no, no, you must have some misunderstanding about elderly people! You might as well buy her two roasted pig's trotters; she'll be happier with those."
"Really? That's too casual." Ji Mingfei pointed to the gold gift box next to him, "What about bird's nest? That's very nutritious too."
"..." Chu Yue slowly moved over, using her body to block the consumer traps on the shelf, and smiled, "Let's go take a look at the milk! That should be more nutritious than this."
Unable to make up her mind, Ji Mingfei pointed in the opposite direction and said, "The milk should be over there. I think I saw it when I came over just now."
They then went to the milk section. Impatient as ever, Chu Yue casually picked up two cartons of the latest milk and put them in her shopping cart, saying with satisfaction, "That's enough."
Ji Mingfei asked uncertainly, "Is this enough? Isn't it too little?"
“I’ll hold the baby, and you can carry one in each hand. You can’t carry more than that! You really don’t need to be polite to them. They’ll be the ones who need to be polite later.”
Under Chu Yue's sweet talk, Ji Mingfei finally agreed to visit his future in-laws with only two boxes of milk, as Chu Yue, who knew his parents best, suggested.
As soon as the door to the Chu family's house opened, Ji Mingfei, who was standing behind Chu Yue, immediately felt his heart race. Chu Yue lazily called out "Mom," and handed in the milk she was holding. With her free hand, she reached behind her back and pulled Ji Mingfei into the house.
The cool room was filled with the aroma of food, just like the home Ji Mingfei remembered it to be. But it wasn't the home she knew, so it felt a bit strange. It was like smelling the aroma of food outside the door, but when she opened it, there was only a cold stove and empty pots.
"Here, Xiao Ji, this is for you." A heavy red envelope was handed over. The person giving the red envelope was the kind aunt who had visited Chu Yue's house last time.
Ji Mingfei hesitated for a moment. Because she no longer had a mother to tell her about the etiquette of visiting her boyfriend's house for the first time, she didn't know whether she should accept the red envelope.
"Mom, you can give this to me! I'm in charge of the accounts in our family." Chu Yue patted her chest proudly and reached out to take the red envelope for Ji Mingfei.
*Smack*
With lightning speed, Chu's mother slapped Chu Yue's hand away as she reached for the red envelope, saying, "You take all kinds of money! Do you want to be a landlord at home? This is for your wife. After you take it, you'll have to call me 'Mom.' Xiao Ji, do you want it?"
Hearing Chu's mother's explanation, Ji Mingfei breathed a sigh of relief; she hadn't realized there was such a custom. She smiled and took the gift, calling out "Mom" somewhat awkwardly.
"This is for June." Mother Chu took out another large red envelope and waved it in front of June. "June's red envelope is for Mother to keep."
In June, she happily reached out to grab it, but her mother took it away as soon as she touched the edge of the red envelope.
"Da-bu!"
With a serious expression, Chu Yue pulled the little girl's hand back and, as someone who had been through it all, taught her her first life lesson, saying, "This is your first time receiving a red envelope, so you may not know that red envelopes are meant to be given to your mother."
"Puff puff puff..."
Chu Yue stroked June's silky hair and continued, "Mom will hold this for you and use it to pay your tuition later."
Ji Mingfei turned around and looked at Chu Yue with deep emotion. Same world, same mother.
At first meetings, especially at the dinner table, politeness and restraint are always the main themes for the new bride and her in-laws. Chu Yue had already finished her bowl of rice, while Ji Mingfei was still gnawing on the spare rib that Chu Yue had put in her bowl.
Chu Yue wiped her mouth, leaned close to Ji Mingfei's ear and whispered, "Eat whatever you want. My mom is a thrifty person. She sees that you eat so little, so next time you come, we'll have to cut the food in half."
Ji Mingfei suddenly realized, "No wonder you're eating so much! Anyone who didn't know better would think I was abusing you at home!"
Chu Yue picked up the serving chopsticks on the table and put every dish into Ji Mingfei's bowl, stacking her bowl high.
Amidst the worried looks of Chu Yue's parents, Chu Yue smiled knowingly at Ji Mingfei. "I know her appetite; this is nothing."
Ji Mingfei stared at the bowl on the table, trying to recall if Chu Yue had rejected him during her period.
It's edible, but it's not shameful.
After dinner, Chu's mother took Ji Mingfei and the children to the bedroom to chat, while Chu Yue and her father cleaned up the kitchen.
Mr. Chu, who rarely goes into the kitchen, only helps his daughter with the cooking, so he has more time to talk at length.
"Ever since I found out you had an illegitimate daughter, I've been thinking every day about what kind of omega would sleep with you first and then get a wife. I never expected it to be such a shy girl! She's exactly like your mother when she first came to your grandma's house."
"My mom? Are you sure you haven't mistaken her for another ex-girlfriend? If my mom hears this, you might as well stay in the guest room tonight!" Chu Yue was like an emotionless dishwasher, washing and wiping everything herself, because her dad next to her was just for show.
"Oh, you don't understand. Your mother was so gentle when she was young. She's only like this now that she's going through menopause!"
“My mom’s menopause came really early! She was already like this when I was in school.”
"..."
"In short, you should treat him better. At your age, you still have such a good omega who is willing to be with you. You should be grateful. Don't just play around all day and end up driving him away!"
"When did I ever think about playing..." Before Chu Yue could explain herself, her father had already thrown down the rag and left with his hands behind his back.
"There's not much to do in the kitchen, you can clean up the rest by yourself. The TV series I've been watching is about to start."
Chu Yue looked at the messy stove. This is what they call having nothing to do? Seriously… a man who wouldn't even pick up a fallen soy sauce bottle at home? That's her own father!
When Chu Yue finished her work, Ji Mingfei also came out of the bedroom. Seeing his wife adorned with jewels and even Liu Yue wearing a longevity lock around her neck, he felt that today's trip was worthwhile!
After giving away the money, Chu's mother said to Chu Yue and her husband, "It's getting late. If you're not staying at home, hurry back. The child shouldn't go out after dark, so go straight home and don't wander around outside!"
"They're indulging in feudal superstition again." Chu Yue didn't take it seriously, but Ji Mingfei tensed up.
On the drive back, Ji Mingfei nervously told Chu Yue about an experience that his professor, Ma Yuan, had told him during their university years.
"When our teacher was young, she wouldn't listen to her elders. She would take her child home at nine o'clock at night, and then the next morning the child would say she saw someone in the house..."
Chu Yue gripped the steering wheel tighter, forcing a smile as she said, "It must be your teacher telling you a story to scare you! Isn't she Professor Ma Yuan? How can you believe this! Hahaha."
"If it were just this one incident, it certainly wouldn't be enough to shake the firm beliefs of a materialist. Later, before the school allocated housing, the teacher and her husband temporarily rented an apartment in the staff housing complex. Her husband often worked the night shift, leaving the teacher alone at home at night. The teacher said she always felt someone was beside her bed. At first, her husband didn't believe it, until one day when the teacher went back to her parents' home, and her husband dreamed that an old man was sitting beside his bed..."
Chu Yue slammed on the brakes.
"Red...red light!"
Ji Mingfei looked up and saw that the light was indeed red. Suddenly interrupted by Chu Yue, Ji Mingfei didn't know whether to continue speaking.
"And then...did your teacher's lover believe it? And in the end...did they move, or did they go ghost hunting?"
"The teacher's mother told her to put an open pair of scissors under her pillow, and someone suggested she get a dog. The dog barked every night, but after a while it stopped, and the teacher didn't feel anyone near her bed anymore, so the matter was considered closed. Until the day she moved out, while cleaning her room, she found a white hospital basin tucked into a gap behind a cabinet. Out of curiosity, she asked her neighbors and learned that the elderly person in the family had passed away two months before they moved in..."
Chu Yue slammed on the gas, and the car shot forward with a whoosh. The strong push-back sensation brought Ji Mingfei back down, and the story ended there.
…
That evening, after putting the children to sleep, Ji Mingfei took a shower and came out to find Chu Yue sleeping in her spot. All the bedroom lights were on, except for June's crib, which had been covered with a towel as a makeshift "tent" to block out the light.
Why didn't you turn off the lights? And why are you sleeping in my spot?
“I… I need to take care of June. I’m afraid she’ll wake up and cry if she can’t see anyone! Honey, let’s switch tonight. I’ll sleep in the middle and watch the baby, and you can get some sleep.”
"You're not... afraid of ghosts, are you?" Ji Mingfei asked with some skepticism.
"How could someone this old be afraid of ghosts? I've seen all kinds of ghost movies—Hong Kong, Thai, Japanese, you name it. I loved watching ghost movies when I was a kid!" Chu Yue said casually, but unexpectedly, memories of movies she had watched twenty years ago instantly resurfaced, as vivid as if she had just watched them yesterday.
"Honey...can I hold you while we sleep tonight?"
Ji Mingfei saw through her but didn't say anything. He smiled and agreed to her feigned strength request, and hugged her from behind as Chu Yue asked. As for the front, it was June, which she could see as soon as she opened her eyes.
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