Everyone enjoyed a lively al together.
The others were fine, but what drew Liu Changqing’s attention was the girl who had suddenly shown up at his house. He had just now finally learned her na:
Zhang Yunjing.
A pretty ordinary na—maybe even a bit old-fashioned.
Although he didn’t know how his son got involved with her, she was, after all, a classmate. As a parent, Liu Changqing couldn’t very well say sothing like, “Please leave.”
After dinner, Lan Yixian and her daughter got ready to head ho. After a brief exchange, Liu Changqing stood by the door with An Yuanyao, watching the mother and daughter leave.
Only when they disappeared from sight did he close the door.
He and his wife exchanged a glance, and both their eyes landed on Zhang Yunjing, who was still sitting on the sofa, along with Liu Xiazhi seated next to her.
Even An Yuanyao seed to sense sothing was off.
She turned her head toward Liu Changqing, trying to give him a look, but clearly, they hadn’t reached that kind of silent-communication level in their marriage yet.
Realizing the look didn’t land, An Yuanyao gave up and walked over to tug Liu Changqing back into the room.
They returned to the bedroom.
An Yuanyao closed the door and leaned in toward him, her expression filled with confusion.
“That girl… I feel like sothing’s not right.”
“You feel that too?”
“Uh-huh!”
Nodding, An Yuanyao fell into thought, trying to recall the girl’s behavior ever since she showed up at their door.
Suddenly, her expression turned serious like she had spotted a clue.
“And did you notice? While we were eating… that girl—Zhang Yunjing—looked at Zhiyue nine tis, looked at five tis, served Xiazhi food three tis, and complinted your cooking twice…”
She paused there, then like she’d just solved a case, lifted her index finger and added:
“And… Shiyan was really cold to her!”
“……”
Silence.
Liu Changqing didn’t respond right away. Instead, he reached out and squished her cheeks with both hands.
That instantly wiped away An Yuanyao’s serious expression.
Her face got all squished, lips pouting outward.
She didn’t bat his hands away—just asked curiously,
“What are you doing~”
“So this is why you left behind a whole bowl of rice at dinner? Not eating properly… just staring at her?”
“I was just curious…”
“Curious about what? Your only mission right now is to eat well, drink plenty of fluids, and get enough sleep!”
“But… if this goes on, I’m going to gain weight. I’ve been feeling it lately—I’m getting chubbier…”
Her tone turned a little glum.
Weight was a common enemy for many won. While so didn’t care much about putting on a few pounds, it was obvious that An Yuanyao was not one of them.
Talking about weight, her face showed visible concern.
Letting Liu Changqing hold her face while she rubbed her stomach, An Yuanyao mumbled on.
“I eat so much every day, then go straight to sleep… I don’t get any exercise, I’m not even allowed to do chores anymore. You even help bathe now… If this keeps up, I’m worried…”
“Worried about what…”
Hearing his question, she hesitated. Her eyes darted away, voice growing softer.
“I’m worried I’ll get fat… and you’ll stop liking …”
“……”
A smile spread across his face. He had been kind of expecting her to say sothing like that, but still—he almost couldn’t hold back his laugh.
He composed himself.
“Don’t go worrying about nonsense. Even if you weighed four hundred pounds—”
He stopped mid-sentence. An Yuanyao gave him a sharp look, clearly waiting for him to finish.
“Four hundred pounds what?”
“Four hundred pounds… well, that might be a bit much…”
“Oh! So now you would dislike !”
That did it.
She instantly got flustered and mad. All she’d wanted was a little sweet talk, and this guy just had to ruin the mood.
She tried to wriggle free of his grip, but the strength difference made it totally pointless—no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t get loose.
Her squirming startled Liu Changqing. Worried she might hurt herself, he quickly added,
“No! Of course not! I’d still love you even at six hundred pounds!”
“I’d never get that fat!”
She stopped.
Hearing his frantic backpedaling, it was obvious she had just been teasing. She let out a giggle in return.
Seeing his slightly worried expression, An Yuanyao’s eyes curved into crescents. A warm, fuzzy feeling spread inside her chest.
She held her breath.
Then, brushing his hands away, she tiptoed up and leaned forward with a kiss.
“Mwah~”
Landing back on her heels, she looked up at Liu Changqing’s dazed expression and said softly,
“I’m holding you to that. You said even if I get fat, you won’t stop liking …”
“Okay, okay, I promise.”
“Mm, that’s more like it!”
“But… once your confinent period’s over, you do need to get back in shape.”
“Oh, you—!”
Their voices weren’t very loud, but since they were near the bedroom door, Liu Zhiyue—who had co to talk with his dad about Zhang Yunjing—heard everything loud and clear.
He had already raised his hand to knock, but now it was just frozen mid-air.
He knew if he knocked now, he’d be seriously interrupting.
So he stood there for a while, hesitant.
Just then, the bedroom door swung open—and standing there was Liu Changqing, who had also been planning to talk to his son about Zhang Yunjing.
The door opened to reveal Liu Zhiyue, hand awkwardly raised.
Both of them stared at each other in brief confusion.
“Ahem… Zhiyue, let’s have a talk.”
The playful look from monts ago vanished, replaced by a more serious, fatherly expression. Liu Changqing stepped out and gently closed the bedroom door behind him.
Without another word, he started walking toward Zhiyue’s room.
Liu Zhiyue followed silently, closing the door behind them once inside.
Then he turned to face his father.
Liu Changqing looked at his son, wearing the stern look of a father ready to lay down the law.
In a firm tone, he asked,
“What’s going on with that girl? Why did she show up here in the middle of the day?”
“Dad, just let explain!”
Liu Zhiyue was clearly baffled too. Everything that had happened that day… he could only describe it as completely absurd.
He laid it all out—from seeing Zhang Yunjing crying, to her saying she had nowhere to go, to him trying to say no, and her shalessly tagging along anyway.
The more Liu Changqing listened, the more serious his face beca.
From the way she had acted during dinner—smiling and chatting—it was really hard to believe she’d actually run away from ho…
Seeing his father stay silent, Liu Zhiyue also stopped talking.
After a long pause, Liu Changqing finally said,
“All right then… I’ll head over to that little convenience store her family owns and see if I can get her parents to take her back.”
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