Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts Chapter 412: Is This Melon Ripe Yet?

i Fang picked up Xia Yuan, who had done a “simple” round of dressing up, and the two of them set off by car to have dinner at Uncle i Lixiong’s house.

i Fang called in advance to inform his mother, Xiang Xiaoxia. After listening, Xiang Xiaoxia felt a bit surprised, but still welcod Yuan Yuan’s arrival.

This child… really doesn’t treat our A-Fang like an outsider, huh?

Looks like there’s still hope!

Actually, that night when they had discussed things to the extent of borrowing him to give birth to a child, even though Xiang Xiaoxia thought the plan might be feasible, she still felt a bit uncomfortable with it.

After all, that would an her own child would beco a sort of tool, as if Yuan Yuan and You Xi didn’t have any actual feelings for i Fang.

Thinking about it that way, if he were to embrace both the palm and the back of the hand at once (two-timing), it wouldn’t really be such an unacceptable thing anymore.

At least, as long as they didn’t openly do that kind of thing, sentintally and rationally, it should still be alright…

After the ancestral ho of Uncle i Lixiong’s family was torn down, they had moved into a newly-built resettlent ho for demolition compensation. But they hadn’t lived there long before i Yue already started making arrangents to buy a new large flat. The whole family’s days were getting better and better, blazing forward with good fortune—completely different from the breakdown their daughter had in the previous life.

“Here we are, here we are… Uncle, Auntie, long ti no see!”

“Ah, you’ve co, i Fang. Co, co on in,” Auntie Tan Xiu quickly ca bustling out, enthusiastically inviting i Fang inside.

“Do I need to change my shoes?”

“No need, just co on in directly.”

“Mm… Hello Uncle, Auntie! Do you still rember ?”

From behind i Fang sprang out the beautiful young girl Xia Yuan, smiling brightly as she greeted the two elders. Uncle i Lixiong quickly waved them in and said:

“Aiya ya, this must be Yuan Yuan, right? We t before when we ca to Baii County. I rember you were i Fang’s girlfriend back then—”

Tan Xiu, who had heard from Xiang Xiaoxia about i Fang’s relationship history, quickly tugged at i Lixiong and furrowed her brows, shaking her head as a reminder. i Fang also promptly looped his arm through Xia Yuan’s and smoothed things over:

“It’s fine, it’s fine. You can just consider us still boyfriend and girlfriend.”

Xia Yuan, with her arm held by her ex-boyfriend i Fang, didn’t seem to mind at all. Instead, she giggled and smiled at Uncle and Auntie, “Auntie, is Yueyue-jie at ho right now?”

“She’s still sleeping. Speaking of her, she’s really driving , her mother, crazy.”

At the ntion of her daughter, Auntie Tan Xiu’s face imdiately filled with worry. She pulled i Fang aside and said:

“i Fang, Auntie wants to talk to you… Our family is just an ordinary household. It wasn’t easy for soone like your dad, and now you too, to achieve sothing—our whole family is proud. But as for money, as long as it’s enough, that’s good enough. A career is important, but so is having a family. Don’t you think so?”

“Yes… yes, Auntie, you’re absolutely right!”

“Take your Yueyue-jie for instance. These days, she’s only focused on her career and doesn’t care about the family at all. So many people are lining up to propose matches, and yet our Yueyue won’t even give them a look. Look at her, a girl nearly thirty, and still no partner. Tell , isn’t that sothing to worry about… Your company has hundreds of people now, right? What about your cousin sister in the company… isn’t there anyone she has a bit of a thing for?”

“Um…” i Fang scratched his head. After rescuing Yueyue-jie, he hadn’t really been following up on her love life. “This kind of thing is better left to fate. Yueyue-jie has to like the person herself. She probably won’t listen even if you talk to her.”

“She doesn’t listen to us, but she’ll listen to you. You two were so close when you were kids. Plus, you’re her boss. If you talk to her more, she definitely—”

“Mom, what are you going on about over there? So annoying!”

At that mont, i Yue walked out, her hair in a bun and a facial mask slapped on her face. She was only wearing cartoon-print pajamas and looked totally casual and nonchalant. Auntie Tan Xiu was strongly dissatisfied:

“Look at you, almost 30 already, and you still don’t care about your image. Go wash your hair already. Look at Yuan Yuan, all prettied up, just like a celebrity.”

“We’re all family. What’s there to care about image for?”

i Yue said while grabbing Xia Yuan’s hand, “Also, let formally remind you, dear mother, that this classmate Xia Yuan here is currently one of the most popular idol singers and internet strears. Calling her a celebrity is totally accurate.”

“Then look at yourself, how do you compare?”

“Forget it… not gonna argue. Co on, Yuan Yuan, sit. What do you two want to drink? I’ll get it for you.”

“No need, no need, I’ll just pour myself so hot water.”

Obedient little Yuan Bao didn’t want to cause trouble for her cousin sister.

“Alright then, I’m off to wash my hair. My mom’s always pressuring . It’s so damn annoying.”

“Sa here, sa here. All families are like that.”

Actually, i Yue was only five years older than i Fang, around 26 this year—pri ti for finding a partner. But right now, she was totally absorbed in her career, with no intention of dating at all. If she started dating now, in two years it would be ti to talk marriage. Of course her family was anxious.

After i Yue got up and left, Xia Yuan leaned closer to i Fang and whispered, “Yueyue-jie’s under a lot of pressure at ho, huh. They really push this hard just because she doesn’t have a partner? I really don’t get it… if living alone makes you happy, isn’t that fine too?”

“Really?”

i Fang said while flicking Xia Yuan’s nose, “Then think carefully—back in the year when I publicly announced my relationship with Youxi, just how sad were you?”

“Sad? W-what sadness? I wasn’t sad at all… Just put on an act outside, but in private wasn’t it still—”

Suddenly, a scene flashed through Xia Yuan’s mind: back at school, watching helplessly as You Xi and A-Fang cuddled up sweetly. A wave of sourness welled up in her chest. She imdiately balled her fists and lightly punched i Fang in the chest: “You’re the worst! Why are you bringing up my painful mories?!”

“What do you an painful! That was barely the beginning!”

i Fang sighed. He really had protected Yuan Yuan too well. She couldn’t even handle this tiny bit of heartache without getting all pouty.

Before long, i Lijun and Xiang Xiaoxia arrived at Uncle’s house, bringing i Ya along. Xiang Xiaoxia went into the kitchen to help out, i Lijun chatted with his big brother, and i Ya imdiately dove into Yuan Yuan-jie’s arms upon arrival.

“Yuan Yuan-jie!”

After so hugging and snuggling, i Ya looked up at Xia Yuan with wide-eyed admiration.

“What is it?”

i Ya leaned over and whispered sothing to Xia Yuan, making her cover her face with both hands, squirming in embarrassnt.

i Fang, watching his wife act so bashful, got curious and asked his sister: “What did you say to Yuan Yuan?”

“I said, Yuan Yuan-jie’s already coming to eat with our relatives, she totally looks like the young daughter-in-law of the i family now!”

“Hey hey hey! What young daughter-in-law—show so respect! Who told you to say that?”

As he spoke, i Fang gave his sister i Ya a hard flick on the head. “What should you be calling her?”

“Call… sao sao? Yuan Yuan-sao, Sao-sao Yuan?”

(TL: sao sao = sister in law)

“Mm… never mind, forget it. That just sounds awful.”

i Fang had barely finished scolding i Ya when he got scolded himself by Xia Yuan: “What do you an awful? You think my na sounds bad or you just don’t want to hear Xiao Ya call sao sao? What’s your problem? You itching for a beating?”

“Ah no, it’s just… doesn’t it sound kind of old-fashioned—”

The two of them were whisper-quarreling and bickering playfully when i Lijun walked up grandly. The two lovebirds imdiately fell silent, each fiddling with their own things.

i Lijun then sat down next to his son, glancing at the beautifully-dressed Xia Yuan beside him, and couldn’t help but feel a surge of pride.

“Yuan Yuan, you look really beautiful today.”

“Hehe, thank you Uncle i for the complint!”

“Later at dinner, don’t feel shy—just treat this like your own ho, okay?”

“Mm-hm!”

i Yue ca out with her hair washed and dried, greeting i Lijun, “Hi, Second Uncle.”

“Hey, Yue Yue.”

i Lijun nodded and said, “Yue Yue, just woke up? Still in pajamas?”

“Well it’s New Year’s holiday. I’m enjoying my ti off at ho. No big deal.”

“But you’re not that young anymore—you really should start paying attention—”

“Uncle, you have no idea how hard I’ve been working. I’ve been busting my butt for our cousin all year long, working overti late into the night every day. Not like Xiao Fang, always out there either flirting or playing around, living it up—”

“Flirting?”

“Totally. Look at how clingy Yuan Yuan and Youxi are with him…”

i Lijun thought: Seems like this cousin sister is one version behind… she doesn’t know the current situation at all—

“Don’t you think you should at least dress up a little for dinner? Sitting down like this doesn’t look great.”

“What’s the big deal, there’s no outsiders here.”

i Yue smiled and said, “Do you consider Yuan Yuan an outsider?”

“Wha—I didn’t say that!” i Lijun quickly waved his hands, and i Yue smiled again, “Well, then there’s your answer.”

As everyone was talking, Xia Yuan’s phone suddenly rang.

She picked up the call, “Hello, Dad?”

“What is it?”

“Mom went to Teacher Zhang’s for a dinner party. ? I… I’m eating at A-Fang’s uncle’s house.”

“What, I can’t go?”

Xia Yuan glanced at i Fang, then smiled at him, “Don’t worry about . You go find your own place to eat.”

“Hey, Yuan Yuan, it’s New Year’s. Don’t say stuff like that.”

i Lijun called out beside her, “If Lao Xia has nowhere to eat, just invite him over. More people, more lively.”

Obviously, Xia Xun heard i Lijun’s invitation on the other end of the line. Xia Yuan hesitated a mont while holding the phone.

“Then… do you want to co?”

“Mm, okay.”

After hanging up, i Yue imdiately looked nervous and asked, “Yuan Yuan, your dad is coming over for dinner too?”

“Ah… yeah. Why?”

“In that case, I-I need to go fix up my hair and makeup.”

Watching i Yue rush to her room, Xia Yuan pouted unhappily and said, “Yue Yue-jie is treating my dad like an outsider.”

“Well he is an outsider… what else would he be?”

“Hmm, true I guess…”

i Fang sighed again, “If it’s just treating him like an outsider, that’d be fine…”

“What do you an just? What else could it be?”

“Just afraid… your Yue Yue-jie doesn’t want to treat your dad like an outsider.”

“Huh?”

Xia Yuan was still confused on the side, but i Ya’s jaw had already dropped in shock. She clutched at i Fang’s sleeve and tugged repeatedly:

“Bro… is this lon ripe or what?!”