Novel Full Ruan Yang glanced at him. This fellow’s words were as sweet as honey.
When he saw her inside, Li Shaobin reminded her time and again, “If you’re not back after seven days, I’ll go over to look for you.”
“Alright, stop being so paranoid.” Ruan Yang didn’t believe that he would really look for her since he wouldn’t be able to get his visa in seven days.
The moment Ruan Yang left, Li Shaobin turned into a wilted plant. He couldn’t seem to lift his mood up no matter what he did.
He Mingshan forced her son to join a wine party and he just sat there alone, playing on his phone.
“Mrs. Li, your son is getting increasingly handsome.” Mrs. Fan kept staring at Li Shaobin while chatting with He Mingshan. “Look, he looks just like a model in that overcoat.”
“You’re too polite. You’re the only one who would praise him for his ghastly looks.” He Mingshan might’ve sounded humble but she was already smiling very broadly. After all, Li Shaobin was her youngest son. She had put almost all her love and care into him.
“That’s not true,” Mrs. Shu said with a smile. “My daughter was praising Shaobin just now and keeps staring at him. Aye, Mingshan, has Shaobin had a girlfriend?”
He Mingshan was delighted when she heard that. Mrs. Shu was usually very close to her and she had watched her daughter, Shu Lin, grow up. She did think about matchmaking Li Shaobin and Shu Lin, but every time she raised the subject to the Shu Family, Mrs. Shu would always say that her daughter didn’t want to be with someone she knew from childhood as her boyfriend. Now that Mrs. Shu brought the subject up, it seemed like there was a little hope. She quickly nodded. “He hasn’t had a girlfriend. You know that too. Our Shaobin might be a troublemaker but he never messes around when it comes to relationships and he doesn’t even have any scandals.”
“He is scandal-free but isn’t it a little abnormal for a man who’s almost 30 to have never had a girlfriend before?” someone said in a strange tone. He Mingshan frowned and looked over. When she saw that it was Wang Yuting, her face fell.
He Mingshan immediately scoffed. “Don’t tell me it’s only considered normal to be like your son, going out to look for female celebrities despite having a fiance and making everyone find out about it then kicking her aside after getting sick of her?”
“My son might play around but after he got married, he has stopped all that,” Wang Yuting retorted. “Unlike your son who would even hit a woman. Mrs. Shu, you have no idea. A few days ago, my daughter-in-law saw your son and Ruan Yang together so she just commented on it but your son just got rough. He hit my daughter-in-law so hard that she almost went deaf. She had to lie at home for more than a week before she could go out again.”
Upon hearing that, Mrs. Shu started to hesitate. She quickly said, “Stop quarreling. I didn’t have any intentions either; I just casually commented that Shaobin looks very handsome today.”
“He is handsome. After all, his taste in clothes last time…” Wang Yuting said while clicking her tongue. “My daughter-in-law and son told me several times; I’m almost embarrassed to tell Mrs. Li about it in case she loses face.”
“What’s the meaning of that? Wang Yuting, explain yourself.” He Mingshan was embarrassed and angry.
“What’s the point of getting angry? Look, this is why I always wanted to tell you but didn’t. I was afraid that Mrs. Li would get angry due to losing face.” Wang Yuting laughed while covering her mouth.
“I’m the one afraid you would lose face.” He Mingshan scoffed. “Who doesn’t know that your daughter-in-law is an illegitimate daughter? She’s been married for almost a year already, right? We haven’t even heard any news about it. Is there a problem with your daughter-in-law or your son? I heard that you’ve been seeking medicine for your daughter-in-law privately, right?”
…
Li Shaobin sat by the window, smoking silently. Suddenly, he heard a commotion. He turned his head back and saw his mom and Xin Ziao’s mom lashing out at each other. The two looked as though they were about to get rough. Luckily, the other women at the side were holding them back.
He quickly pressed his cigarette butt in an ashtray and rushed over when he happened to hear Wang Yuting scolding, “I think your son is the one with a problem. I even heard that he’s infertile. I reckon he won’t even have a chance of getting a wife.”
Li Shaobin said with a grin, “Hey auntie, do you need me to tell you whether I’m infertile or not? Or do you want to try it out? Even if your husband is agreeable, I don’t think I would be able to bring myself to do it. After all, you’re already so old.”
“Li Shaobin, you’re a ruffian, a gangster. Aren’t you disgusting?” Wang Yuting could already hear people snickering. Her face flushed bright red from anger. “Your entire family is uncultured. I can’t be bothered to argue with you. I’m not attending this wine party anymore. I’m leaving.”
“Mrs. Xin, don’t go.” The other women put on a pretense to make her stay.
“Mom, I’m leaving too. Being at this kind of place is meaningless.’ Li Shaobin turned around to leave.
“Aye, son, wait for me.” He Mingshan rushed over with her bag as she caught up with him. After she got into the sports car, she was still scolding them angrily: “It’s all that b*tch’s fault. Your Auntie Shu wanted to introduce Shu Lin to you at first.”
“Shu Lin?” Li Shaobin rolled his eyes. “I really can’t stand you women. I don’t even like her. She’s so fake and pretentious.”
“How is she fake? That’s called being educated and understanding. Forget it. It’s all gone down the drain anyway.” He Mingshan was furious. “No matter what, it’s all your fault for being so slow to look for a girlfriend. Otherwise, would I have lost face?”
Li Shaobin couldn’t be bothered to listen to her nagging. He dropped her off at home and drove to the basketball court to play with Zhan Mingwei and Song Chuyi.
Zhan Mingwei and Song Chuyi had already played for a while. When they saw him, Zhan Mingwei asked with a smile, “Didn’t you attend that party with your mom? Why did you come?”
“Don’t even mention it. That gang of obasan (1. Refers to older women in Japanese) are like mad women. On top of that, my mom ran into Xin Ziao’s mom again and they almost got into a fight.” Li Shaobin pouted. He pulled out a cigarette to put it into his mouth as he talked. Before he could even put it into his mouth, Song Chuyi snatched it away. He was stunned. “What are you doing? I thought you didn’t smoke.”
“In a bad mood,” Song Chuyi said.
Li Shaobin said smugly: “Did you get into a fight with Changqing?”
Zhan Mingwei said lightly, “The hospital is sending Chuyi to the States to further his studies for half a year.”
“Huh?” Li Shaobin opened his mouth wide. “Old Song, if you have to be gone for half a year, I will definitely miss you a lot.”
“Who cares about you?” Song Chuyi snatched his lighter to light the cigarette. “If I were to go, what would happen to Changqing and Yan Wo?”
“Then don’t go,” Li Shaobin said with a pout. “Anyway, you studied in the States before you came back.”
“It’s not the same.” Song Chuyi shook his head and sighed. “That was also five to six years ago. Medicine is improving at a very drastic rate. What I can learn in this country is very limited and whatever I can learn from watching the surgery tutorials my friends send me is also very limited. Besides, this time, the medical school I’ll be going to is another good school in San Francisco.”
Li Shaobin could tell that Song Chuyi really wanted to go. “Then does Changqing know about it?”
“She does. She also hopes he can go.” Zhan Mingwei sighed. “However, while she might say that she agrees to it, she’s actually very reluctant to send him off. After all, they’ll be so far apart for half a year. With her and the child at home, Old Song also doesn’t feel reassured.”
Song Chuyi laughed bitterly. She’s so muddle-headed. How could I feel reassured?
“Then what are you going to do?” Li Shaobin scratched his head with annoyance. “Why don’t you just go? I’ll definitely make sure I’ll keep a good watch on Changqing and Yan Wo. I won’t let them come to a single bit of harm.”
Song Chuyi didn’t speak and only smoked silently.
Li Shaobin felt that he could really understand what Song Chuyi was feeling. It was just like Ruan Yang being on the other half of the earth. It wasn’t just ten thousand miles away, but they would only be apart for a week while Song Chuyi and Changqing would have to be apart for half a year. If he was in Song Chuyi’s position, he would definitely go mad.
…
After a game of basketball, he went back to the Li Household full of perspiration. Li Congyang was quarreling with He Mingshan. When they saw him returning, Li Congyang said angrily, “The two of you went to a wine party and got into such a huge argument that everyone knows about it. Don’t you find that embarrassing?”
“It was Wang Yuting who criticized my son first,” He Mingshan retorted.
“You even dare to talk about it,” Li Congyang chided. “Shaobin humiliated Wang Yuting like that in public and blew up this matter. Which young lady would want to marry him in the future? Why didn’t you think about your son?”
He Mingshan was startled when she heard that. It did seem to make some sense.
“You guys don’t have to worry about me,” Li Shaobin said without a care. “What’s the big deal with rich young ladies?”
He Mingshan agreed. “That’s right, we don’t have to make sure that our family backgrounds match. It’ll work as long as she’s a woman.”
She had already thought things through. Her son was already in this state. It would be way better than finding a man.
Li Congyang put his hand over his chest. Thank god he didn’t have any heart disease. Otherwise, this mother and son duo would drive him to his grave sooner or later.
—————-
Song Chuyi had just returned to the Yan Household. When he walked into the bedroom, he saw Changqing leaning over the cot as she watched Yan Wo sleeping. When she saw that he had returned, she glanced at him and quickly lowered her head to look at Yan Wo again.
Even though it was just a glance, Song Chuyi could see that her eyes were slightly red. She must’ve been crying.
His heart hurt as though it was tugged. He walked over and sat gently by her side to look at Yan Wo with her. The little fellow was smiling very sweetly, maybe because of a sweet dream that he was having.
“Why don’t… I reject the offer,” Song Chuyi said hesitantly.