Chapter Seventeen

At night, An Xiao Li was doomed.

An Xiao Li sneezed and got a bad feeling. She sneakily checked her phone.

Just before bed, Chu Hao Ran called An Xiao Li to wish her a good night. Then it was like little Bai received an electric shock and tortured An Xiao Li to the middle of the night. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore, she cried and begged for mercy. After she took the initiative and promised little Bai she wouldn’t take Chu Hao Ran’s calls anymore, little Bai reluctantly released her.

What An Xiao Li feared most in the world wasn’t little Bai grilling her why she sneaked around to stay in contact with another man – it was little Bai not saying anything, but forced her to admit her mistake and promise him that she wouldn’t dare to make the same mistake again.

Chen Yu Bai left Xiao Li’s room and went back to his room. His phone rang, it was Li Wei Ran. Li Wei Ran admitted to him that Li Wei Ran took Qin Sang to her hometown to discuss marriage with Qin Sang’s mum.

Chen Yu Bai was listening to Li Wei Ran talking when Qin Sang interrupted them.

‘Chen Yu Bai, perhaps you need to clear your schedule for two days to come here,’ Qin Sang said.

Chen Yu Bai was certain that those two said something about Xiao Li and him to Xiao Li’s parents. ‘What is it?’

‘Xiao Li… perhaps, in a few days her dad will summon her home,’ Qin Sang said.

‘Ok, I know. Xiao Li and I will see you and Li Wei Ran tomorrow or the day after,’ Chen Yu Bai said. He looked through his work schedule, crossed out some appointments and rescheduled them for different days. ‘Give the phone back to your Wei Ran.’

Chen Yu Bai heard Qin Sang laughed at his sticky situation having to meet Xiao Li’s parents before Qin Sang gave the phone back to Li Wei Ran. ‘If you want to be transferred back to headquarters in spring then tell your Qin Sang to know her place.’

Li Wei Ran laughed joyfully at the hint of anxiety in Chen Yu Bai’s tone. ‘Third brother, did you know that your future father-in-law and your old man share the same interest? They both like reading teachings from their other half’s book. You’re truly blessed!’

Chen Yu Bai laughed coldly. ‘Fifth brother, did you know that your future father-in-law and your old man are similar too? They both struggle to hang onto their faces.’

Li Wei Ran immediately backed far away from Qin Sang and spoke in a soft voice. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It just means what it sounds like on face value,’ Chen Yu Bai said and hung up.

Li Wei Ran heard the dead connection and got a bad feeling.

The following night, in the living room An Xiao Li sat on the sofa and felt an electric shock flowed throughout her body after she received her dad’s summon.

An Xiao Li’s dad was An Bu San. An Bu San was a renowned history teacher. He was head hunted by many famous schools and colleges, but he wasn’t even interested in the slightest and easily rejected all their offers. An Xiao Li never knew why her dad chose to spend his life teaching in a small town high school.

In relation to An Bu San’s educating his only child, An Xiao Li. He was a traditional stern dad but he was also gentle. His expectations of his daughter’s level of common knowledge was quite high. He balanced out criticisms and encouragement to ensure his daughter was adequately educated. He strictly instilled in his daughter the importance of having a sense of duty and to be a trust worthy person.

Naturally, all the requirements An Bu San set for his daughter were endorsed by Miss Chen – in other words, An Bu San feared his wife.

So after An Xiao Li was lectured by her dad that echoed his wife’s sentiments for more than half an hour, she strongly requested to speak directly with Miss Chen.

‘Don’t dream about me helping you. You better obediently get your b.u.t.t here by tomorrow morning. Then you’ll see how I’ll deal with you,’ Miss Chen said fiercely.

An Xiao Li laughed sweetly. ‘Miss Chen, why is it that I feel my mum speaking in such a scary tone in front of her husband isn’t a good thing?’

Chen Yu Bai who was looking at his work papers next to Xiao Li on the sofa, looked up and laughed when he heard her dared to tease her mum.

Miss Chen was indeed choked and was speechless for a while. ‘Do you have a lover already?’

An Xiao Li glared at little Bai before answering Miss Chen. ‘Mmm… yes.’

‘What stage are you at?’ Miss Chen asked.

‘Huh?’ An Xiao Li asked.

‘Have you met the parents?’ Miss Chen asked.

‘Mmm… yes,’ An Xiao Li said.

‘Bring him home for New Year,’ Miss Chen ordered.

‘Mmm… yes…’ An Xiao Li said.

‘Did you hear me?’ Miss Chen asked.

‘Yes!’ An Xiao Li said.

The lioness roar beneath Miss Chen’s tone was felt by An Xiao Li who was at a far distance away from her hometown. It threatened her to death. She sat upright on the sofa, little Bai was startled by her sudden movement and he looked up from his work papers and stared at her.

An Xiao Li hung up and awkwardly laughed with little Bai.

Before bed time, unexpectedly little Bai didn’t sneak into her room. She waited for a long time, she was sleepy to the point it was a struggle to keep her eyes opened but he still didn’t come into her room. She was forced to go outside and check for herself. There was no light from his study room so she went to check his room. She gently opened the door of his room and saw him sleeping on his bed.

An Xiao Li thought for a while then slowly crept the door closed to go back to her room. She decided she’d find an opportunity tomorrow to talk to little Bai about visiting her parents with her.

Under the darkness of Chen Yu Bai’s room, he sat up on his bed. ‘What is it?’

An Xiao Li felt like she was intentionally stalking little Bai so she stood at the door and didn’t make a sound. She hoped that his room was too dark and he’d think that it was Seven Up pa.s.sing by his room.

Unexpectedly, little Bai turned on the bedside table light. An Xiao Li didn’t have time to hide and was forced to laugh awkwardly with him who wrinkled his forehead.

‘You’re not asleep yet?’ An Xiao Li reluctantly asked.

Chen Yu Bai looked at his bed then stared at Xiao Li. ‘What do you think?’

An Xiao Li’s throat was choked and she couldn’t say anything and decided to leave. ‘Hehe… good night!’

An Xiao Li felt embarra.s.sed for being caught checking on him and turned around to escape.

‘Xiao Li,’ Chen Yu Bai called. Xiao Li stiffly turned around and she a.s.sessed his smile. ‘Come here.’

An Xiao Li quietly entered little Bai’s room, closed his door, got on his bed and laid under the bed sheet. She also quietly leaned her head against his shoulder. She could smell little Bai’s usual cool mint scent that she was familiar with. Even though it was winter, when the cool mint scent was inhaled into her nose, it gave her a sense of warmth. He turned off the light, laid down on the bed and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her against his chest.

In the past little Bai didn’t sleep well, he’d pull all the window curtains closed so there wouldn’t be a single spot of light in his room. It was so dark in the room that An Xiao couldn’t see whether his eyes were closed or opened. She could only feel his warm breath lightly exhaled on top of her head, his breath was gentle as a b.u.t.terfly flapping its wings.

Little Bai only hugged An Xiao Li, breathed gently and it seemed like he was asleep. Her heart wanted her to ask him to rea.s.sure its deepest insecurities but she didn’t dare open her mouth. A long time later she couldn’t take her heart pestering her and rolled away from him. The moment she moved, he mumbled to her. ‘What’s wrong?’

An Xiao Li thought she was bothering little Bai’s sleep so she mumbled ‘it’s nothing’ and inched further away from him.

Little Bai turned the light on and pulled An Xiao Li back against his chest. He lifted her chin and it seemed like his eyes were laughing. ‘Usually after you lay down for three minutes you’ll be snoring, and you say it’s nothing?’

An Xiao Li bent her head and bit little Bai’s index finger. He laughed and he moved his index finger to play with her tongue.

‘Little Bai, right now, what are we to each other?’ An Xiao Li asked softly but her heart pounded loudly.

‘What do you think?’ Chen Yu Bai asked.

‘Giving living together a try?’ An Xiao Li asked.

Little Bai narrowed his eyes and gently rested his chin on An Xiao Li’s forehead. ‘Um.’

‘My parents said that for New Year I should take my boyfriend home,’ An Xiao Li said.

An Xiao Li curled her body and rested her head on little Bai’s chest. She heard his heart pounded rapidly and she waited for his answer that was important to her.

Little Bai adjusted the bed sheet on An Xiao Li’s back and spoke in his usual cold tone. ‘Work is closed for New Year starting on the 28th, in the afternoon on the 30th we’ll go together to your hometown to celebrate New Year with your family. On the 2nd we’ll go visit my family.’

An Xiao Li’s body was tensed for a little while but sleep slowly beckoned her. She thought little Bai’s plan sounded good so she mumbled ‘ok,’ and sleep prevailed over her.

Chen Yu Bai waited until Xiao Li’s breathing was steady before he lifted the bed sheet and pulled her body into his chest and hugged her. He felt that in the world there wasn’t a female who was more of a dummy than her. Didn’t she want him to give her a status? He was waiting for her next question, he wanted to… tell her what she wanted to hear long ago, but he couldn’t believe she fell asleep.

‘An Xiao Li, after next year, I’ll marry you,’ Chen Yu Bai softly whispered in An Xiao Li’s ear.

Little Bai and An Xiao Li arrived at her hometown as planned. Li Wei Ran and Qin Sang picked them up at the terminal. An Xiao Li was jealous when she saw Li Wei Ran and Qin Sang’s jackets were the same style, one wore black and the other one wore red. What made An Xiao Li more jealous was the lovey dovey way they were holding hands and walking together at a snail paste.

So when little Bai and An Xiao Li got into the car before Li Wei Ran and Qin Sang, she asked him to step on the accelerator to leave the eyesore lovebirds behind – if they loved each other that dearly, then the two of them could walk slowly home together!

Chen Yu Bai didn’t understand what mood Xiao Li was in but he still listened to her. He didn’t know what would happen later when he met Miss Chen with Xiao Li, how Xiao Li would bare her fangs and claws.

Xiao Li’s family home was on the fifth floor of a building accommodation provided by the school that her parents taught at, but there was no elevator installed in the building. So he carried the New Year gifts and walked upstairs whilst she followed from behind and he could hear her breathing was heavier as they walked pa.s.sed each floor.

After An Xiao Li arrived at her parents’ home, she lifted her exhausted arm and knocked on the front door. The front door opened one second after her knock. It was Miss Chen who opened the front door and she thought that Miss Chen must have heard footsteps earlier and waited behind the door.

Miss Chen stretched out her chubby hands from under her thick sweater sleeve and smiled enough for the wrinkles of her eyes to be clearly seen. ‘This rotten girl, you’re finally home – Yu Bai?’

An Xiao Li was confused at the scene in front of her. Inside Miss Chen’s arms were outstretched in mid-air, mouth wide opened and looked too surprised. Outside An Xiao Li looked at little Bai who was smiling and made her more confused when he greeted Miss Chen. ‘Aunt, long time no see.’

End of Chapter Seventeen