Yan Lv took the phone back again and continued, âI completely agree with what heâs saying. If you knew anything about culture, you wouldnât have gone and learned singing. This kid is more mature than you. He has more foresight and heâs sophisticated.â
Yan Su couldnât stand it any longer and interrupted him, âDad...â
âI donât what kind of luck you had to find such a good boy like Liuxi,â Yan Lu remarked. âI finally understand why he is such a good film director at such a young ageâheâs got depth and sophistication. Heâs not like those other directors nowadays, too superficial.â
Yan Su held her tongue.
âIâm telling you, donât you dare let him down. I wonât be able to forgive you if you hurt a good boy like him,â Yan Lv said. âTo top it all off, the boyâs cooking is absolutely superb! Everything is so delicious. Your brother has already put on a few pounds since you were last here.â
âSis, can you ask brother-in-law to stay here for a while longer?â Yan Jinâs voice echoed in the background. âIâm eating my brother-in-lawâs chicken wings right now.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Brother-in-law...
Yan Su quietly ended the call; she had a headache.
That night, she called Mo Liuxi, âAmazing... you managed to win over my entire family over in just a couple of days. How did you bribe them?â
âSusu, thatâs not very nice. Iâm just being a good son-in-law to your parents on your behalf. Iâm so exhausted every day.â Mo Liuxi sounded grumpy over the phone. âYou have so many relatives. My hands are filled with calluses from all the cooking Iâve been doing. I have to take care of Yan Yan at night as well. My body is completely drained of life and Iâm just so tired.â
Yan Su could imagine how tiring it would be to take care of all the chores like that. She said, âYou donât have to do all those. You still have to study and make moviesâdonât tire yourself out and get sick.â
âDonât worry, Iâm leaving tomorrow,â Mo Liuxi answered her softly. âI think your parents are having a difficult time as well since youâre not around, and theyâre getting old. They just donât tell you about their struggles nowadays. Iâm just doing all that I can while Iâm here. To be honest, thatâs all I can do. Parents would never ask their children to do more.â
âLiuxi...â Yan Su was moved by his words. She felt ashamed of her attitude and her shortcomings. âThank you. I was being too petty earlier on. You are right, Iâll treat my parents better in the future.â
âYour parents? Thereâs no difference from now onâyour parents are my parents too,â Mo Liuxi said.
Yan Su blushed. She thought about her words earlier when all Mo Liuxi did was to take good care of her parents. She fell silent for a moment before saying, âYouâre right. Thereâs no distinction between us from now on.â
She was embarrassed by what she had said; she shut her eyes.
They werenât even married yet and they were going to treat each otherâs parents as their own already. She was still a little too embarrassed to say it out loud.
âAlright then, I still have chores to do, little sweetie. Be good,â Mo Liuxi chuckled.
Yan Su covered her face. Good thing they were on the phone.
Some time had passed by since then.
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Mo Liuxi said his goodbyes to his darling daughter before leaving.
The Yan elders packed plenty of souvenirs for him to bring back. On his flight back, Mo Liuxi thought about the things that he had to do when he arrived home.
He had to first buy a new house, with a room to be converted into a nursery. It wasnât that he didnât want to live with Yan Suâs parentsâthey were a young newlywed couple, after all, and he wanted time to spend together with Yan Su in private.
At the airport, he got into his car and drove straight over to Tianhu Villa.
Luosang watched as her brother climbed out of his car with all kinds of souvenirs. She was a little surprised after not seeing him for so long. âThereâs so much preserved meatâis your girlfriend from Hunan?â