Chapter Fifteen (Part 2 of 2)

The following morning at Chen Yu Bai’s house, for breakfast were herbal drinks and custard buns.

Last night little Bai told An Xiao Li that he didn’t eat enough, but he still tortured her to the middle of the night. She couldn’t wake up early to cook breakfast so she used pre-made dishes.

If last night’s dinner was within little Bai’s tolerance then breakfast was beyond his tolerance threshold.

‘I don’t want to drink this,’ Chen Yu Bai said. He was frustrated and pushed the hot herbal drink away from him. ‘Call a restaurant. I want to eat chicken congee.’

‘You’ve grown this big. Don’t you know how to make a call?’ An Xiao Li asked sarcastically.

‘An-Xiao-Li! Is your skin itchy?’ Chen Yu Bai asked coldly.

‘Oh, this is delicious! Little Bai, little by little you’re more childish. Do you want to force me to spoon you breakfast?’ An Xiao Li said.

An Xiao Li picked up little Bai’s herbal drink and a spoon. Then she pretended she was going to feed him the herbal drink spoon by spoon. He took back the herbal drink from her and gulped down the entire herbal drink. He stood, gave her a cold look and strode to his room to change clothes.

An Xiao Li looked at little Bai’s retreating back and shook her head helplessly. Truly… that unruly kid, little by little was harder to teach.

It was the season for curses to come true. An Xiao Li was just joking, but unexpectedly the wind called forth the unruly kid’s mum to his place.

Mrs Chen senior maintained her body meticulously and looked like she was just in her early forties. Her hairstyle was chic and she wore a trendy outfit.

An Xiao Li felt that she was smarter by the day. One look at the beautiful lady who stepped into little Bai’s house with a set of keys and she recognised that the beautiful lady was little Bai’s mum.

As expected, the beautiful lady spoke in a polite manner to An Xiao Li. ‘h.e.l.lo, I’m Chen Yu Bai’s mum. You are?’

An Xiao Li forced herself to swallow the custard bun. ‘h.e.l.lo aunty… I’m An Xiao Li.’

Mrs Chen senior smiled politely and nodded her head. After she a.s.sessed An Xiao Li, her heart was unhappy – what an uncouth girl, how could she smile with food stains on her teeth?

Little Bai didn’t overreact when he saw his mum. ‘Mum. Why are you here?’

‘It’s been a long time since you came home to visit. I came here to visit you,’ Mrs Chen senior explained and smiled warmly at her son. ‘Are you busy today?’

‘Very busy,’ Chen Yu Bai said in a tone that was a little warmer than his usual cold tone. He patted his mum’s shoulder. ‘I’ve been busy these last few days because I’m transferring back to headquarters. I really don’t have free time today. I’ll come home early for dinner. Mum, can you cook me your soup?’

Mrs Chen senior was really happy when she heard her son said that he wanted to eat soup that she cooked. She nodded her head and spoke gently. ‘Then I’ll stay here and wait for you. Make sure you come home early.’

‘Xiao Li, you don’t need to come to work today. Take a day off and stay home with my mum,’ Chen Yu Bai said. He patted Xiao Li’s cheek, but it wasn’t enough for him. He bent down and hugged her. ‘Get my briefcase for me, I’m going to work. Mum, I’m leaving.’

After little Bai left for work, An Xiao Li hid in the bathroom and called Qin Sang.

‘Little Bai’s mum is here. She’s in the kitchen, ten metres from me. Little Bai went to work, he asked me to stay with… his mum!’ An Xiao Li said in a panicked tone.

‘You timid thing,’ Qin Sang mumbled.

An Xiao Li couldn’t hear Qin Sang clearly. ‘What?’

‘It’s nothing. What are you thinking?’ Qin Sang said.

‘Mmm… I still like my Miss Chen’s rough and direct mum style more. I don’t like little Bai’s mum’s elegant and refined style,’ An Xiao Li confessed.

‘Get to the point! I’m outside at the moment, it’s freezing to death!’ Qin Sang said.

‘Huh? Then why aren’t you inside?’ An Xiao Li asked.

‘Wei Ran’s sleeping,’ Qin Sang said.

‘Qin-Sang! You two! You two…’ An Xiao Li said.

‘Yes! Yes… we’ve done it. Hurry up, anything else?’ Qin Sang said.

An Xiao Li was choked and speechless.

‘An-Xiao-Li!’ Qin Sang called.

‘Oh… I’m here,’ An Xiao Li said. She poked her head out of the bathroom door and spied on Mrs Chen senior who was happily prepping in the kitchen. ‘Sang Sang, little Bai’s not coming home until dinner! His mum is preparing dinner. Do you think she’s the type of woman that sees me as a trespa.s.ser?’

‘All mums are like that. You, stay strong and be your true self for her to see!’ Qin Sang said.

‘Why? Isn’t the first thing I need to do is pretend I’m an obedient and ladylike then after I marry into their household I can show my true self?’ An Xiao Li said.

‘Are you certain you can marry into their household?’ Qin Sang asked.

‘As if I want to marry into their household!’ An Xiao Li denied, poked her head out the bathroom again and shook her head.

‘Honestly, An Xiao Li, be yourself. Despite your IQ, you have a lot of loveable traits that over time little Bai’s mum can’t help but love you,’ Qin Sang said and hung up.

Mrs Chen senior finished prepping dinner and tidied up the kitchen. Then she cooked simple dishes for lunch and sat opposite to An Xiao Li at the dining table to eat lunch.

An Xiao Li’s cooking skills stopped at making sure raw food was fully cooked. That was why apart from washing vegetables and simple tasks like chopping she wasn’t a big help to Mrs Chen senior in the kitchen. She knew that was the first strike against her in Mrs Chen senior’s eyes.

Whilst having lunch Mrs Chen senior smiled politely with An Xiao Li. ‘Miss An.’

An Xiao Li gave Mrs Chen senior a friendly smile. ‘Aunty you can call me Xiao Li.’

Mrs Chen senior sipped a spoonful of soup broth. ‘Miss An, how many family members do you have?’

An Xiao Li sighed on the inside – in a blink of an eye Mrs Chen senior forgot that it was ok to call her Xiao Li.

‘I have a dad and a mum. I’m the only child in my family,’ An Xiao Li said honestly.

‘Oh. What do your respectable parents do for a living?’ Mrs Chen senior asked.

‘Aunty you’re too flattering, my parents are both teachers,’ An Xiao Li said.

‘What distinguished parents you have,’ Mrs Chen senior said. She laughed politely. ‘No wonder Miss An has such an aura! Your educated family isn’t like my family. The past generations have all been business minded, Yu Bai since he was a child, his schooling isn’t much to boast about. This time it seems like climbing too high.’

An Xiao Li nodded her head. ‘Aunty don’t worry, my parents are good people. They won’t look down on Yu Bai.’

Mrs Chen senior lifted her chin and smiled politely. After she heard An Xiao Li’s response, her long fingers that held a gla.s.s, trembled a little.

At night Chen Yu Bai arrived home and found his mum cooking and Xiao Li was helping his mum in the kitchen. A fragrant scent floated from the kitchen to the rest of the house and enhanced the warm scene in the kitchen.

Chen Yu Bai stood at the kitchen door and called his mum.

Mrs Chen senior was really happy to see her son was home and she left the kitchen under An Xiao Li’s care. She stepped toward her son and pulled her son outside the kitchen to chat.

Chen Yu Bai exchanged a few words with his mum before finally arriving at the topic he wanted to hear.

‘This girl, are you serious about her?’ Mrs Chen senior asked softly.

Chen Yu Bai looked into the kitchen, smiled and nodded his head. He a.s.sessed his mum’s expression, but the look in her eyes wasn’t as happy as he imagined.

‘I don’t like her,’ Mrs Chen senior said. She sighed. ‘Think about it carefully. We’re not looking for someone from an established family to climb high, but at least it needs to be someone suitable. For now I won’t discuss this matter with your dad.’

‘I’ll inform dad myself!’ Chen Yu Bai said coldly and loud enough to be heard from the kitchen.

After dinner, Mrs Chen senior left and little Bai’s complexion became gloomy. So An Xiao Li quickly tidied the dining room and kitchen then she went into the living room and watched TV to hide from his bad mood.

But little Bai followed An Xiao Li into the living room. He sat quietly on the sofa next to her for a while then grilled her. ‘Were you happy being with my mum today?’

‘It was ok,’ An Xiao Li said and thought for a while. ‘Your mum is a good person. She smiled with me the whole day.’

‘Oh. Anything else?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

‘Mmm… nothing else,’ An Xiao Li said. She thought more about the day and recounted it to little Bai. ‘In the morning after you left, aunty went to buy ingredients to cook and came back to prepare for dinner… in the afternoon we ate lunch together… aunty napped after lunch and I surfed the net… Oh! Aunty asked about my family, how many people and what my parents did for a living. Your mum flattered my family too much and said that you’re climbing high because of me.’

An Xiao Li was smiling happily but little Bai wasn’t happy. ‘Your mum said that you’re not good at studying and that I have distinguished parents. But I said, I won’t look down on you.’

Chen Yu Bai fell into a state of speechlessness. He just sat shoulder to shoulder with Xiao Li on the sofa and they watched TV together.

‘Does that count as meeting your parents?’ An Xiao Li asked sweetly and leaned on little Bai’s shoulder.

Chen Yu Bai laughed coldly and Xiao Li pinched his arm hard. He held her hands to stop her from pinching him. ‘Since I cancelled your debt, it seems little by little you don’t know what fear is.’

An Xiao Li’s whole body was trapped against little Bai’s chest. ‘It’s not from when you cancelled my debt. It started since I realised you sincerely liked me, that’s why little by little I don’t know what fear is.’

Chen Yu Bai was startled. He sighed. ‘An Xiao Li…’ He hugged her tighter. ‘Sometimes I’m suspicious whether you’re a genius or not.’

‘Huh?’ An Xiao Li asked.

‘You were naturally too smart then turned into a dummy,’ Chen Yu Bai explained.

An Xiao Li felt that little Bai was mocking her and called her a dummy. But before she could retaliate, her body was flattened on the sofa and laid underneath his body. He sucked on her lips and sighed. ‘It’s nothing, Miss dummy… I’m here.’

That night little Bai was incredibly overexcited than usual, and tangled with her all night.

Finally An Xiao Li couldn’t take it anymore and despite the heavy pressure on her body she fell asleep.

In the hazy night, Chen Yu Bai sucked Xiao Li’s soft neck and his eyes shone brightly with tenderness.

Even though it’d be a struggle and tedious to battle with his stubborn old man, but because of Miss dummy who was a fresh new flavour… it seemed worthy.

Chen Yu Bai remembered how his parents are always prideful. But his mum was made speechless by Miss dummy, he couldn’t help but laugh. He carefully climbed down from Xiao Li’s sleeping body. He smiled and hugged her. They hugged each other and slept through the good night.

End of Chapter Fifteen (Part 2 of 2)