All temporary provocative impulses should not be taken lightly. While waiting for Chen Jinyao to finish work, Yan Cheng lounged lazily on a nearby sofa, legs crossed, lips curved in a slight smile. The atmosphere was peaceful and serene. Unable to bear the silence, he occasionally glanced up to steal looks at Chen Jinyao, who had resumed her work state. It’s true what they say about women being most attractive when they’re focused – her eyes downcast, her long curled eyelashes trembling slightly, the light from the window falling on her profile, softening her neckline.
“…” Men are visual creatures, and in that instant, Yan Cheng felt as if his heart had been gently struck twice by a hammer, causing it to reflexively contract and unconsciously hold his breath.
The longer they spent together, the more clearly Yan Cheng understood the uncontrollable heartbeat he experienced around Chen Jinyao. It wasn’t superficially about her beauty, but rather other naturally occurring emotions at work.
These emotions broke in like bandits through a window, disturbing his calm state of mind. The intruder should have been angry and embarrassed, but amazingly, it was completely spineless, only capable of being dizzy as if drunk on honey.
Fortunately, their relationship was now stable and warming up quickly.
Thinking about their unspoken agreement confirmed with just a glance, Yan Cheng lowered his eyes, secretly delighted.
“It’s hard to book a room today.” His distinct knuckles slid across the phone screen as Yan Cheng realized this impulsive plan came a bit too late.
Hearing this, Chen Jinyao raised her eyebrows and said indifferently: “If we can’t book one, then forget it.”
“That won’t do, Student Chen Jinyao, you can’t leave things half-done.” The words came out almost automatically as the man composed his expression and criticized her seriously. After a pause, he added: “If the affordable ones are hard to book, let’s book the best one.”
There was a hotel in the capital situated on a hillside, with a luxury suite on the top floor. From there, you could overlook the scenery below, taking in most of the capital. The suite was surrounded by glass, including the ceiling – you could see out from inside, but not in from outside. Even so, it still felt thrilling.
“…” Chen Jinyao was speechless.
“Tsk.” Yan Cheng: “It’s rare to be romantic, we shouldn’t shortchange ourselves.”
Before Chen Jinyao could process this and nod in agreement, he had already made the decision, directly contacting the hotel manager to reserve the entire suite.
Chen Jinyao was quiet for several seconds, glanced at the time, then looked at him, licking her lips and slowly saying: “Can I take back my suggestion now?”
“No.” The man’s cool, deep voice rang out, then he raised his hand and casually pointed to his waist, “Think about the waist you’ve been coveting.”
Chen Jinyao’s gaze began to wander: “…”
After a while, she finally let out a breath and reminded him earnestly: “Darling, using looks to serve others won’t last long.”
“That’s not necessarily true.” Yan Cheng turned his head to glance at her.
Ever since they had cleared things up last time, everything had changed, developing visibly in an unspeakable direction. Like uninhibited extensions after untying emotional knots, the topics between husband and wife gradually took on both clean and risqué flavors. After talking long enough, neither felt embarrassed anymore.
Yan Cheng had a pretty clear position about himself. As a man, and particularly one who ran a bar and was used to being indulged, he would occasionally say provocative things when fooling around with his friends. In this aspect, he was basically self-taught with natural talent. At first, he rarely said such things in front of Chen Jinyao, until they became increasingly intimate. Only then would he occasionally joke about these things, still nervously worried about embarrassing her into retreating into her shell. But to his surprise, Chen Jinyao was more unexpected than he imagined – the cool, elegant lady who only transformed when drunk indeed had fighting spirit.
As the sun set, the warm orange light softened Yan Cheng’s expression.
Just for a moment, perhaps an illusion, even the sharp lines of the man’s neck seemed to soften. He narrowed his eyes slightly, a light smile spreading across his face.
The present moment was beautiful, carrying a hint of romance, peaceful and sweet.
However, plans can’t keep up with changes.
Ten minutes before Chen Jinyao finished work, Yan Cheng’s mother called him.
She wanted him to bring Chen Jinyao back to the Yan family home for dinner.
Although they occasionally went to both sets of parents for meals, they clearly visited Chen’s family more frequently than Yan’s. This was mainly because of Yan Cheng – even when single, he didn’t like returning to the Yan family home. He and his father couldn’t even sit down for a proper chat. Before they could talk for long, the two explosive firecrackers would go off by themselves. All the Yan family children were excellent, and after some avoidance, Father Yan became even more “disdainful” and heartbroken over the idle and wayward Yan Cheng. This had been the case since Yan Cheng was very young. Though Father Yan cared about Yan Cheng, his words were always particularly harsh. At that time, Yan Cheng was proud-hearted, and when criticized, he would talk back. Back and forth, it became a case of mutual disgust.
To describe their relationship more precisely, it was like Li Jing and Nezha1.
Especially later when rumors spread about Yan Cheng liking Zhou Xue, Father Yan wanted nothing more than to break his dog legs. Over time, they adapted to this way of life or survival, which became a historical legacy issue.
Of course, Yan Cheng thought these were just surface issues.
He believed it was his personality that made him unwilling to stay long in the restrictive Yan household. The Yan family members were all good people, but they unconsciously created pressure, sometimes making it hard to breathe.
The Yan family had always been prosperous. Yan Cheng was the sixth child, the youngest. He was quite weak when born, so he was well protected. Mother Yan especially spoiled him, holding him in the palm of her hand. Father Yan often said Mother Yan spoiled their youngest son too much. Mother Yan let it go in one ear and out the other, not taking it seriously. Among all her children, only the youngest was sweet-tongued – wasn’t she allowed to spoil him a bit more?
“…” At this statement, Father Yan choked, not knowing what to say.
But Second Young Master Yan, Yan Chen, raised his eyebrows, patted Yan Cheng’s shoulder as he passed by, and said with firm belief: “Mom spoils you too much…”
Before he could finish, the then young and proud Yan Cheng gave him a challenging chin lift, “You must be jealous.”
Yan Chen gave a “heh”: “…”
Looking at his brother again, his eyes were like those caring for an idiot, “Mom spoiling you too much suggests you might face the age-old dilemma of ‘who would you save first if your mother and wife both fell into water?’”
Yan Cheng was in his prime youth, carefree like a little sun, how could he think about such long-term issues? Hearing this, he was instantly confused.
“You know about mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflicts?” Yan Chen smiled.
Yan Cheng: “…”
In fact, Yan Chen’s alarming words had some truth to them.
But unexpected things always happen unintentionally.
This Yan Cheng, while occasionally acting like a harmless, innocent little lamb in front of his brothers and sisters at the Yan family home, would shed his sheep’s skin and reveal his wolf nature once outside. Apart from his often unusual thought processes that created both amusing and exasperating situations, he was actually quite deep-thinking.
The unexpected stemmed from Zhou Xue.
Yan Cheng had put on quite a performance early on, creating a situation where he would accept no one but Zhou Xue, facilitating the beautiful union of Huo Qidong and Zhou Xue – two people he greatly disliked. Then, adhering to the principle of seeing the act through to the end, he continued his performance for a while longer.
Until the arranged marriage with Chen Jinyao, and then their wedding.
At that time, truthfully, Mother Yan had basically no requirements for Yan Cheng’s wife anymore. How could she be picky due to maternal love? She would have to thank any girl willing to marry her son who was both blind and troublesome. Moreover, every aspect of Chen Jinyao’s later behavior made Mother Yan very fond of her.
Mother-in-law and daughter-in-law conflict? Non-existent.
In fact, Chen Jinyao’s position in Mother Yan’s heart now far exceeded that of her own son Yan Cheng. Although Mother Yan spoiled Yan Cheng, she wasn’t blindly indulgent. In other words, she was clear about her son’s worth. Her self-hypnotic blind belief that her youngest son was excellent all went down the drain after meeting her daughter-in-law Chen Jinyao. Mother Yan gradually shifted from wavering to completely changing sides, and after that, her thoughts underwent a complete reversal.
A beautiful flower stuck in cow dung.
This was Mother Yan’s way of describing her daughter-in-law and son.
It was clearly meant to mock her youngest son Yan Cheng.
Sometimes when Yan Cheng brought Chen Jinyao home to visit his mother, the elderly woman would joke like this when she got talkative.
“Mom, that’s not quite right,” Yan Cheng would naturally object.
And whenever this happened, Chen Jinyao, well-versed in mother-in-law relationships, would slightly curve her eyes, laugh along for a while, then resolutely speak up for Yan Cheng.
How could a mother truly mock her son like that? In the end, it was just an unconscious test to see if the daughter-in-law would stand behind her son.
Yan Cheng would be momentarily stunned, then break into a smile, leaning over to kiss Chen Jinyao’s cheek in front of Mother Yan, sighing: “A man’s life is really better with a wife.”
Chen Jinyao would push him away: “…”
The young couple’s flirting would make Mother Yan laugh heartily.
Mother Yan: “You two must stay good together. Little Six, you better treat your wife well, or I’ll have your father break your dog legs.”
Yan Cheng would put his arm around Chen Jinyao’s shoulders, chin raised: “I know.”
So, Yan Cheng’s previous misunderstanding about love and hate with Zhou Xue wasn’t completely stupid from a certain perspective. At least it allowed Mother Yan and Chen Jinyao to get along harmoniously, at least none of the concerns others had ever materialized.
It really was one clever move after another.
“Oh, your father and the others aren’t home, so I can’t ask you and Yao Yao to come home for dinner?” During the call, Mother Yan detected his reluctance from Yan Cheng’s tone. The elderly lady slightly narrowed her eyes, her attitude sufficiently firm, “Don’t make excuses with me, understand that you should come home to see your elderly parents often.”
Yan Cheng felt complicated. After a long while, he nodded, “I understand, I understand.”
Mother Yan softened her tone: “Mainly because your father and the others aren’t home, I’m lonely by myself. I had Aunt Zhao make lots of dishes, to nourish you.”
“Nourish what?” Yan Cheng slightly furrowed his brows.
With his innate keen observation, he instantly sensed that things might not be as simple as imagined.
Hearing this, Mother Yan giggled: “What else could it nourish? Silly son, you and Yao Yao have been married for half a year!!!”
The tone was rhythmic and meaningful.
Yan Cheng looked at Chen Jinyao, who was also looking at him with a questioning face.
Their eyes met, and he heard his mother quietly mumbling on the phone: “When can I have my dear precious grandson?”
Yan Cheng: “…”
Oh, this was an ambush!
- Li Jing and Nezha are characters from Chinese mythology (the latteralso the protagonist of The Investigure of the Gods) who represent a famously contentious father-son relationship. This phrase is now commonly used to represent metaphorically a strained father-son relationship. ↩︎
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