I Found A Planet

Seeing that it was not the rush hour yet, Chen Jin drove a little faster. He wanted to get to the high-speed rail station on the western outskirts of the city before the traffic jam started. Beside him, Su Yun gently reminded, “Drive a little slower; pay more attention to safety. My family will only arrive on the train at 6 pm.”

Chen Jin nodded and slightly slowed down his car. After about 30 minutes, they reached the high-speed rail station. He found a place nearby to park his car. The two of them walked into the rail station and stood to wait at the exit.

Su Yun made a call. “Dad, Mom, you’ve arrived? There are still some minutes left… Oh, Ok, ok… I’m waiting for you at the exit.” From time to time, she would stand on her tiptoes and cast her expectant gaze at the movements on the other side of the gate. She could not help scanning the man beside her from the corner of her eyes. Her heartbeat sped up. When her family exited the gate, would they ask her what his relationship was with her? How should she explain? A friend? A colleague? She was feeling so anxious, yet the man was calmly playing a game on his mobile phone, with occasional glances at the gate.

Suddenly, as he thought of something, Chen Jin put down his phone and walked towards the nearby vending machine. “I’ll get some beverages.”

“Ah! No need for that now.” Su Yun turned around with a yelp. A hubbub was building up behind her. There were passengers exiting the gate. She could not help but cast her gaze back to the crowd exiting the gate as she tried to find the faces of her family. After waiting for another 10 minutes, she heard the familiar cries.

“Yun Yun!”

“Sis!”

“Sis!”

“My Yun Yun!”

Finally, four familiar figures appeared at the gate. Their faces were filled with excitement. There was a middle-aged lady amongst them. From her features, one could faintly see the beauty that she had in her youth. Her appearance now was rather old, as laugh lines had been deeply etched onto her face. But, she had dressed meticulously in a modern qipao. Upon seeing her eldest daughter, her smile became wider and she positively glowed. Carrying a small black suitcase, a middle-aged man walked along with her. He had a fair appearance and seemed to be well-maintained. He looked to be only in his 40s. However, his back was slightly stooped and he moved awkwardly. He wore a white shirt that brightened his appearance, with a pair of western-style pants.

Beside him was a young girl with features that were 60% similar to Su Yun’s. She looked lovable and cute, wearing a pair of wide-legged jeans with suspenders, complemented with a pink shoulder bag and a pair of white running shoes. She looked extremely youthful and beautiful.

At the outermost edge of the group was a teenager. Not only was he carrying a bucket backpack, but he was also hauling a ginormous suitcase behind him. The main burden of this family’s vacation was carried entirely by him.

Su Yun waved energetically at them. “Dad, Mom, Tiantian, Xiaopeng, I’m here!” The family rejoiced as they were united.

Father Su asked with a strange expression, “Yun Yun, why are fetching us in this outfit?”

“Time was too tight. I came here without changing.”

“Sis, you have such an impressive air about you in this outfit; so pretty!” said her younger sister, Su Tiantian

“Not bad, not bad at all”. Mother Su took a silent measure of her daughter and said with satisfaction, “My Yun Yun, you’ve made something of yourself!”

“Sis, I can carry this on my own. You don’t have to help…Ok, thanks sis.” Her brother, Su Zipeng, was the youngest in the family. He expressed thanks as Su Yun took the rolling luggage from his hands.

Chen Jin, who had been standing at the side, walked over to Su Yun and passed a bag filled with beverages to her, saying, “I’ll get the luggage, give these drinks to your parents.”

He pressed the bag of beverages into her hands and took the luggage from her. Very quickly, all eyes from the Su family focused on him.

Mother Su was the first to recover. With a surprised yet happy expression on her face, she looked at her eldest daughter. “Yun Yun, he… Could he be your boyfriend? You’re almost 27. I’ve urged you more than ten times, yet you’ve never taken any action. I never thought that you would find someone on your own. Good! Good! Su Yun, you’re so sensible.” She clapped her hands and laughed in delight.

Father Su nodded repeatedly. “This fellow is quite handsome. He’s tall too. Daughter, you have good taste.”

“Sis, you’ve sneakily brought me a brother-in-law without even introducing him. Aren’t you too disloyal?” Su Tiantian rolled her eyes. Her sister was too much. She found a boyfriend but was acting like an adulterer by keeping quiet about him.

The teenager, Su Zipeng, also rested his gaze on Chen Jin in silent measurement.

“I… I…”

It’s not what you’re imagining!

Su Yun was at a loss. A blush spread over her face. She wanted to explain, but nothing came out.

Her daughter’s behavior only caused the smile on Mother Su’s face to grow wider. She became more certain of the guess in her mind.

Su Yun wanted to stamp her feet. Looking at the back of the man, she felt shy. Yet her feelings were more complicated than that. She also felt a heavy dose of inferiority, so much so that she could not gather the courage to pull him back and explain the situation to her parents on the spot.

I’ll wait until he leaves, then I’ll explain the situation to Dad and Mom… it’s really not what they think!

However, Su Yun realized that even though she wanted to explain, there was no chance to do so. Chen Jin’s behavior was beyond her expectations. First, he drove all of them to the dorm. They put down their luggage and Su Yun changed into her everyday clothes.

Chen Jin said, “Uncle, Auntie, I’ve booked a meal for us from my mobile phone. It’s at a nearby seafood restaurant. The reviews are good. I’ve ordered eight courses for us. You can add on the dishes you like later… Let’s go for a meal first.”

“Ok, let’s go for dinner. I’m really quite hungry.”

Su Tiantian, who had been calling him “Brother Chen” since they met, said straightforwardly, “Thank you, brother-in-law, for treating us to this meal!”

They arrived at the restaurant and finished the feast of delicious seafood.

Chen Jin took out his phone and said, “Uncle, Auntie, the family room at Su Yun’s dorm is too lacking. I’ve found a nearby lodge and booked three guestrooms. You can stay there for a few days.”

Mother Su said, “Little Chen, you’re too extravagant! It’s better to quickly ask for a refund and spend less; we can stay in the family-sized room in the dorm”

“The rooms can’t be returned once they’re booked. Just put up with it for a couple of days.”

“Ok.”

When they saw the so-called lodge…

Oh my god. What kind of lodge is that? It is clearly a 5-star grand hotel!

A standard hotel room in the hotel cost $8,888 for one night. Xiao Chen had booked three luxurious suites for them! Moreover, they were booked for three days.

Mother Su told him to quickly ask for a refund; it was really too extravagant! If it could not be refunded, could he discuss with the front desk about changing the three rooms to only one room? Booking three rooms was too excessive!

“I really can’t ask for a return. Auntie, just be at ease and stay here. I really didn’t spend much at all.”

Mother Su could not out-stubborn him; she could only sigh. “Young fellow, I know that you want to leave a good impression on us, but you can’t be so extravagant. The future after this is long and there are many areas which require huge expenses. Let’s take the example of a house. Have you bought one?”

Chen Jin said after some thought, “Um, I have about three or four.”

Her eyes widened and she was momentarily struck speechless. She let go of the burdens in her thoughts and happily stayed in the luxurious suite room of the 5-star hotel.

For the following few days, every morning, Chen Jin would arrive at the lobby of the hotel at 8 am sharp. Then he would bring the Su family for breakfast before driving them around everywhere to have fun. For example, they went to the Bund to watch the sea,, and took photos as a memento. And then they went to the Pearl of the Orient, with a viewing platform more than 300 meters above the ground. There, they enjoyed the beautiful night scenery of Shang Hai and took in the bustle of the city. The next venue in their itinerary was an aquarium where they watched dolphins perform. In the underwater world, they enjoyed the sights of various marine creatures. They also went to Disneyland, the zoo, the museum…

In these few days, the lot of them had visited all of the fun and interesting places that they could. Although the entire process was very tiring, Su Yun’s family never felt that the time was wasted. Instead, they thought that they had received ample rewards. However, the one thing that left the deepest impression on the Su family was not Shang Hai’s scenery but Chen Jin’s generosity. He was generous to a shocking degree.

Whenever they had to spend money, Chen Jin would rush to foot the bill. There were almost no occasions where they had to pay a single cent. He even brought them to the malls for shopping. They bought clothes, supplements, and tonics, as well as a bunch of other stuff.

Mother Su asked her husband in private, “Old Su, the money that Little Chen spent in this few days exceeded $30,000 for sure, right?”

Father Su shook his head. “$30,000? It’s way more than $50,000! The cost of the latest Hua Yao phone for Tiantian was at least $10,000! The Jordan shoes that Xiaopeng bought was cost than $3,000. The clothes and tonics that he bought for us were no cheap imitations either.”

Mother Su was shocked. “Ah! This… This is too generous. Return the money, we have to quickly return the money to him!”

“What do we return? How would we return it? We’ve met such a generous son-in-law. What would he think if you return the items to him? Where in the world would our daughter meet a partner with such excellent qualities?”

“Yes, yes. Old Su, you’re right. The qualities of that fellow aren’t bad. He’s tall, well-mannered, and sensible. His background is good too. He totally matches up to our Yun Yun. So, we won’t be returning this stuff. But, we have to let him know that he can’t spend so extravagantly the next time we come again. If not, we won’t come any more.”

“Yeah, we’re about to become one family. I would have to give him a good talking to if he continues to spend money so carelessly!”

In the Su parents’ discussions about their expectant “son-in-law,” Chen Jin, they came away feeling extremely pleased with him.