Chapter 86 reveals, "Everything about our relationship is true."...
Around 5 or 6 p.m., a Cayenne drove into the residential area and parked discreetly in the parking lot.
The car came to a stop, and Zhang Minglang unbuckled his seatbelt. Seeing that Tang Yi was still standing in the passenger seat, he simply leaned over and fumbled for her seatbelt buckle.
Since those news reports came out, Chen Lian had actually called her countless times and sent her WeChat messages, pushing her to the point where she could no longer tolerate it.
However, Tang Yi was busy with the launch ceremony a few days ago and hadn't been able to find the time or the right mindset to deal with what might happen to Chen Lian.
She must have seen their public news again today, which is why she called her so frantically again after only a few days.
Tang Yi knew she could hardly escape this time, and running away was just delaying the storm.
She snapped out of her reverie and saw Zhang Minglang bending down to help her unbuckle her seatbelt.
The glaring light of the underground passage was blocked by his broad shoulders and chest, and Tang Yi suddenly felt a strong sense of security.
So she reached out, stepped forward, and gently embraced the man in front of her.
The seatbelt snapped open with a crisp sound in the quiet car.
Zhang Minglang paused for a few seconds, then deliberately tried to liven up the atmosphere: "So proactive?"
He heard Tang Yi, who was against his chest, laugh softly, and his heart was temporarily relieved.
"My mom probably won't give you a good look later. You can still joke around now, but don't let her scold you until you cry."
Zhang Minglang snorted twice: "I've never met anyone better at roasting people than me."
He paused, then took back his words: "No. You should count as one."
Tang Yi sighed, "I can out-argue you, but I can't out-argue my mom. You two are no match for her today."
“You can’t argue with her because she’s your mother,” Zhang Minglang said casually, tilting his head back. “Thinking about it that way, I guess I can’t argue with her either.”
"After all, today is my first time meeting your parents. If I want to marry you, I'll need their approval."
Hearing this, she turned her head to one side and chuckled softly, "Are you ignorant of the law? You don't need a household registration book to get married now."
Zhang Minglang paused upon hearing this, then narrowed his eyes at her: "Are you starting to argue with me again?"
"Just telling the truth."
The two chatted and laughed for a while before finally opening the car door and getting out. Zhang Minglang took out the fruit and wine he had prepared from the trunk and walked into the building.
Zhang Minglang suddenly became serious, and when Tang Yi reached out to knock on the door, he stopped her.
She turned her head: "What?"
He took a deep breath and tightened his grip on her hand: "I'm a little nervous."
Tang Yi raised her eyebrows and smiled at him: "So you can get nervous too?"
Zhang Minglang closed his eyes tightly and then opened them again. Tang Yi reached out and knocked on the door.
It was Tang's father who opened the door. He wasn't particularly surprised to see his daughter. However, the next second, a tall male figure emerged from behind Tang Yi and solemnly extended his hand to him: "Dad."
Tang Yi: "???"
She stared wide-eyed at him, while her father's outstretched hand froze in mid-air, his entire body stiff. Realizing a possibility, he mechanically turned around and asked Tang Yi incredulously, "Yi Yi, you and your mother got your marriage certificate behind my back?!"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Zhang Minglang realized what he had just said. He denied it repeatedly, stepped forward, grabbed Tang's father's hand, and shook it up and down a few times. "We are still in love, Uncle."
After this little misunderstanding, Zhang Minglang kept his mouth shut even more. He turned around, took the gift from behind the door, and handed it to Tang's father.
After changing her shoes, Tang Yi opened the shoe cabinet to find Zhang Minglang a pair of men's slippers, and then asked her father in a calm tone, "Where's my mother? Hasn't she finished class yet?"
Mr. Tang grabbed her elbow and gestured toward the living room behind the entrance hall.
Tang Yixin understood immediately. She craned her neck to look inside and saw Chen Lian sitting in the center of the sofa, arms crossed, staring straight ahead as if she hadn't heard the three people in the entryway. Her face was very sour.
Tang Yi looked away and suddenly felt that it was rather boring.
I scold her every day for being too busy with work to come home, and when she finally does come home, I never see her give me a kind look.
She took off her shoes and pulled him to sit on the sofa to the side. Zhang Minglang had barely touched the sofa when he bounced up again, took a step forward to Chen Lian, and bowed slightly: "Hello, Auntie."
Chen Lian didn't say anything, but glanced at him sideways, clearly speaking sarcastically to Tang Yi: "Such a busy man, finally remembered you have a mother and are willing to come home? You've been causing all this trouble outside, and you don't even bother to say hello when you come back!"
Hearing the harsh tone, Zhang Minglang frowned and opened his mouth to say something, but he felt Tang Yi reach out and grab his clothes from behind, forcibly pulling him back.
Tang Yi looked up at Chen Lian and replied in a flat voice, "If you don't want to see me, I can leave now."
Upon hearing this, Chen Lian reacted as if someone had stepped on her, quickly turning to look at her with a mocking tone: "Tang Yi, have you no shame? Have you ever listened to me? How many times have I told you to quit, quit, and you still slept with the boss! I knew it..."
"Auntie!" Zhang Minglang interrupted incredulously, "Aren't you going a bit too far with what you're saying? If we're talking about knowing each other, it was you who arranged our blind date and we met for the first time. How can you slander our relationship like this!"
Chen Lian was speechless for a moment, then became furious: "Xiao Zhang, I introduced you two because your job was decent, and I wanted to give her more opportunities. If I had known you were in the same company, I would never have let you meet!"
"Leave her another way out?" Zhang Minglang's tone was sharp. "Tang Yi's outstanding work ability is enough to give her a bright future. Haven't you ever thought that your daughter doesn't need to rely on any man at all and is fully capable of supporting her own future?"
Chen Lian sneered: "You better understand who you're talking to! I'm her mother! If it weren't for me, you might not even have a chance to meet, let alone embarrass yourselves online, playing childish games and putting your family scandals out in the open for everyone to judge!"
Zhang Minglang wanted to continue refuting, but he heard a cold, questioning voice beside him: "Am I still your daughter?"
Even Tang's father, who never got involved in their arguments, frowned. He reached out and tugged at Tang Yi's arm: "What are you saying, Yi Yi!"
Tang Yi shook off his hand, turned to look at him, her eyes filled with coldness, but her voice carried a smile: "What did I say? You might as well ask her what she said. I really can't imagine how a mother could come up with so many vicious words to slander her own daughter."
Tang Yi shifted her gaze to Chen Lian in the center of the sofa. She was clearly somewhat stunned, but her eyes remained fixed on Tang Yi with a hook-like gaze.
She turned her head and looked at her father, who was blocking her way: "And you, Dad. Every time I come home, it's only because of you that I'm willing to come back, and what have you done? You insisted that I come back to eat your cooking, but you ended up conspiring with my mother to trick me into meeting Bai Zeyu!"
Tang Yi's gaze lingered between the two of them, and her voice suddenly trembled: "Dad, when I argued with her, you ignored it and then jumped out to blame everyone in your own self-righteous way. Do you know that silence is also a form of violence?"
Tang Yi thought that in the past, she might have tried to avoid trouble and softened her stance to change the subject, thinking "don't want to ruin things."
But this time, Zhang Minglang sat next to her.
When she inevitably doubted herself time and time again, he was always the one who stood up for her, using every word he could think of to tell her, "You deserve it."
It was he who, facing her biological mother with whom she had a strained relationship, never uttered a word of reconciliation, and even dared to argue vehemently, trying to prove that Tang Yi was not the worthless daughter Chen Lian described.
She was really tired.
She didn't want to pretend anymore, didn't want to be that fool who sacrificed her own emotions and desperately tried to maintain the already shattered harmony.
So she looked up at her furious mother and asked the question that she had been holding back for so long: "You want me to quit my job. After thinking about it for so many years, is it for my own good, or to satisfy your pathetic and twisted desire for control?"
Chen Lian took a few deep breaths, quite angered by her words: "I control you? Ridiculous! I'm a university professor, I..."
"Professor, and then what?" Tang Yi nodded, interrupting her again, "Does the professor's daughter have to obediently go abroad to study, obediently follow you to do academic work, and be displayed by you like a commodity, becoming your capital to show off in the circle?"
Tang Yi's hands, which were resting on her knees, were trembling, but she tried her best to transfer all her strength to her hands so that they wouldn't tremble too much.
Her voice remained steady and calm, and she didn't seem to be arguing about the topic that had troubled her for years.
“I am a human being, and I have my own thoughts. You may think my job is less prestigious or noble than yours, and I cannot change your mind, but please stop imposing your narrow-minded prejudices on me and forcing me to obey!”
Chen Lian raised her arm shakily and pointed at her, speechless for a moment. Enraged, she picked up an empty cup from the table and threw it at Tang Yi.
Tang Yi couldn't dodge in time, nor did she have the will to. However, the glass she expected didn't hit her.
She heard a muffled groan, and suddenly opened her eyes to see Zhang Minglang standing in front of her, clutching his forehead, but not uttering a sound.
The cup fell to the ground and shattered into pieces on the floor with a loud thud.
Mr. Tang exclaimed in surprise, stamped his foot hurriedly to accuse Chen Lian of being arbitrary, and then reached out to pull Zhang Minglang's hand that was covering his forehead.
Tang Yi's heart skipped a beat, and her voice trembled so much that it was barely audible: "How are you?"
Despite being hit and still feeling a slight pain in her forehead, Zhang Minglang pretended to be relaxed, raised his head, and smiled at her, saying that it was nothing.
Upon receiving a low, negative reply, Mr. Tang dashed to the bathroom to grab a broom and then went to the living room to clean up the broken glass.
The debris was swept up by the broom, dragging on the floor with a long, thin sound.
They both knew that their mother-daughter relationship was like this cup; once broken, it could never be put back together.
"I insulted you, and you hit my boyfriend. We're even now."
Tang Yi stood up, pulled Zhang Minglang up, and said to Chen Lian, word by word, "If nothing unexpected happens, today will be the last time I stand here and talk to you. I will block all your contact information, so you won't have to feel annoyed when you see me anymore, and you won't have to rack your brains to coax and trick me into going on blind dates."
As she turned to leave, holding his hand, she suddenly remembered something and turned back to look at him.
"Whether you believe it or not, Zhang Minglang and I are in a serious relationship. Listen carefully, he and I will not break up, never."
After she finished speaking, she took Zhang Minglang's hand, changed her shoes without hesitation, opened the door, and left.
The heavy door closed behind me.
The stairwell was dark, with the only light source being a small window on the right-hand side of the stairs, blocked by security bars. The dim sunlight struggled to squeeze in from outside, and was fragmented by the steps.
She stood there unconsciously for a long time, until her eyes started to hurt, when she heard Zhang Minglang calling her.
She turned her head, and he had already let go of his hand that was covering his forehead. He let a few stray hairs fall down to cover his face, and with his palm blocking the door, he smiled at her: "The elevator has arrived."
Tang Yi forced a smile and stepped inside.
It wasn't late. Tang Yi sat in the passenger seat, pushed up her sleeves, and her wristwatch showed just over six o'clock.
I get off work at 5:30, go home before 6:00, and leave a little after 6:00.
Tang Yi lowered her head and smiled.
She never imagined that it would only take her half an hour to say the words that had troubled and suppressed her for so many years.
She turned her head and waved to Zhang Minglang in the driver's seat.
He blinked, looking bewildered.
"Come here," Tang Yi said softly.
Zhang Minglang obediently leaned closer to her.
Tang Yi raised her hand and gently brushed away a strand of hair that she had deliberately pulled from his forehead. Zhang Minglang's forehead was visibly red, and when she reached out and gently pressed it, Zhang Minglang immediately pulled back.
"I'm sorry, I made you come all this way and you got nothing but scolding and beatings."
Tang Yi lowered her eyelashes and helplessly let her hands fall.
Zhang Minglang reached out and enveloped her hand in his palm. He smiled and comforted her, "How could I, a grown man, not suffer a little while dating you? After all, you were quite proactive when you were pursuing me, and you didn't make me suffer much."
Tang Yi was indeed swayed by him: "What nonsense are you talking about? It was clearly you who took the initiative."
"Me, take the initiative? Who pretended to be drunk and kissed me on purpose? Who called me 'boyfriend' first?"
Tang Yi reached out to scratch him: "Are you going to talk about this for the rest of your life? Every single day, every single day, do you believe I'll...?"
"Why can't I say it every day? I'll say it! Tang Yi pretended to be drunk and kissed me. It was Tang Yi who initiated it, it was..."
Tang Yi's hand had already reached out, and Zhang Minglang dodged left and right to prevent her from scratching him. The movement was so large that the car's chassis vibrated up and down.
The two laughed so hard they were doubled over, finally finding a moment to catch their breath. As they laughed, their eyes suddenly met, and they realized the car was vibrating and their breaths were mingling.
Something seems off.
Tang Yi noticed that Zhang Minglang's gaze had suddenly changed. She looked away first, and only when she stepped back did she realize that her hand was actually pressing on his thigh.
She recoiled as if she'd touched something burning hot, smoothed her disheveled hair, and cleared her throat: "Let's go, I'll apply the medicine for you when we get home."
There was no movement, no response.
Tang Yi turned to him and urged, "Let's go."
Zhang Minglang then slowly withdrew his gaze.
The two of them drove home feeling relaxed, leaving all the messy rumors and annoying interpersonal relationships behind, disappearing into the air along with the car exhaust.
They spent a weekend they hadn't been able to truly relax in a long time, barely leaving the house and staying cozy until Monday morning.
Tang Yi stood in front of the dressing mirror, adjusting the scarf around her neck. Looking at Zhang Minglang, who was also adjusting his tie in the mirror, she suddenly felt that their relationship seemed to have changed again.
They became like an old married couple, intimate and intimately familiar with each other.
The moment the thought popped into her head, she immediately loosened her scarf and tried to move away from the mirror, but the man behind her grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
Tang Yi's slippers clashed, and she uncontrollably fell into his arms.
Zhang Minglang didn't move, catching her steadily, turning her to face him, and said with his head down, "I can't tie my tie well, can you help me?"
Tang Yi, of course, wasn't fooled: "Come on, I haven't seen you in class before, are you alright?"
Zhang Minglang drew out an "ah," lowered his upper body, and brought his forehead closer to hers: "My forehead is injured, so I can't tie my tie."
This person has gone to extreme lengths for even the smallest tricks, completely disregarding any logical issues.
Tang Yi took a step back: "You usually tie your tie with your forehead? I think you've lost your mind."
She bent down and slipped out from under his arm that was supporting him by the mirror. Just as Zhang Minglang was about to act up again, Tang Yi stood in the doorway and pointed a finger at him: "First, tie your clothes on right now and get out, you're going to be late. Second, wipe the mirror clean, so I don't see your fingerprints when I come back."
After saying this, she turned her head away without any hesitation.
Zhang Minglang sighed, turned around, took out a tissue to wipe the mirror, making a creaking sound, his mind wandering to other things.
When is the weekend?
Damn workdays, give me back my gentle and loving wife.
For Zhang Minglang, one of the biggest benefits of going public with their relationship was that he could finally walk into the company with her openly in the morning.
There's no need to deliberately be a couple of steps later or earlier to avoid her, nor to be ruthlessly thrown out of the car by her just a few dozen meters from the parking lot.
As the two walked side by side into the 16th-floor work area, more than a dozen pairs of eyes turned to them.
Tang Jiaxin and Fang Zhen stood together, both wearing identical maternal smiles.
Assistant Zhou was also at his workstation, diligently working on the results of his entire weekend's work, but it all became worthless the moment he saw them walk in together.
However, Zhang Minglang lowered his voice and said in a serious tone, "Recently, there have been some rumors about me and Secretary Tang, and I need to explain them here."
Tang Yi lowered her head and subtly raised her eyebrows.
She wanted to see what tricks this man was up to this time.
The colleagues who had initially turned to look at them exchanged bewildered glances, their eyes conveying the same message:
What's going on? Do we have to keep issuing denials all the time?
However, the next second, Zhang Minglang suddenly reached out and grabbed her, squeezing his fingers between hers. He raised their intertwined hands above their heads.
Like a triumphant child, Zhang Minglang's lips, which had been deliberately drooping just moments before, instantly lit up, and his voice rose, full of joy: "It's all true about our relationship. We're together!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Da jumped up from his seat and began to cheer. His colleagues erupted in cheers and deafening applause, as if they had witnessed a momentous occasion.
Just as Tang Yi had secretly imagined, he took her hand, tilted his head, and smiled at her. All she could hear was the applause and congratulations from her colleagues.
At this moment, their eyes could only see each other.
Zhang Minglang promised that if Tang Yi was willing to marry him, he would definitely give everyone a bonus and a holiday.
Upon hearing this, the cheers grew even louder. Tang Jiaxin and Fang Zhen exchanged glances, and Tang Jiaxin took advantage of the chaos to raise her hand and jokingly asked, "When are you two planning to get married?"
Tang Yi's eyes flickered, but Zhang Minglang generously raised his head and replied, "I'll give you wedding candy once we've discussed it!"
This remark was met with another round of applause.
The secretariat was noisy for a long time, but Tang Yi couldn't stand it anymore. She raised her hand and gestured for them to be quiet, telling them to go back to their duties and work diligently. Only then was the situation finally brought under control.
Tang Yi secretly nudged Zhang Minglang and urged, "You too, stop being so whiny. Zhao Li's matter hasn't been resolved yet, has it? Hurry up and go!"
Urged on by her, Zhang Minglang reluctantly let go of her hand, whispered "Wait for lunch with me," and then floated into the president's office.
After a morning of commotion, Tang Yi felt that applause was still ringing in her ears all morning.
The morning's work was completed in this state. When the colleagues went out for lunch, they left in a scattered manner, but they still made a detour to come over and wink at Tang Yi, whispering their congratulations.
Tang Yi's lips remained frozen on her face all morning, but she was finally able to relax a little when most of the people had left.
She reached out and gently rubbed her cheek. She heard Tang Jiaxin, who was not far away, get up and stretch. Tang Jiaxin then habitually raised her voice and asked, "Secretary Tang, are we going to the cafeteria? Me, you, and Li Da, shall we go together?"
Tang Yi opened her mouth, glanced at the president's office, then looked back at her face. Just as she was about to respond, the door to the president's office was suddenly pushed open.
Zhang Minglang strolled over to Tang Yi, casually put his hand on her shoulder, and turned to Tang Jiaxin, saying, "Sorry, I made a reservation for Tang Yi for lunch today. If you want to have lunch together, you'll probably have to wait until tomorrow."
Li Da, who was behind Tang Jiaxin, sprang to his feet and grabbed her clothes, pulling her back. Tang Jiaxin then realized what was happening and clasped her hands together, saying repeatedly, "I'm so sorry, so sorry, I'm so sorry to bother you. I'm not used to this yet. Mr. Zhang, Ms. Tang, please continue, hahaha, may you have a long and happy marriage, and enjoy your meal!"
After she finished speaking in her tongue, she turned around, grabbed Li Da, and ran outside.
For a moment, only the two of them remained in the work area.
Tang Yi glanced up at him: "Did I give you a chance to show off?"
Zhang Minglang simply shrugged: "So what? I didn't say anything wrong. She's just blind."
Tang Yi scoffed, got up and walked out, and Zhang Minglang quickly followed her out.
Author's Note: Countdown to the end of the main story: two chapters remaining [shy]
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