Chapter 267 264. A Kind Family
"We already asked the kid to stay for a meal. If we turn around and kick him out right after, how ugly would that sound if word got out?"
Mother frowned, reprimanding Father with a slightly stern tone. Then, she looked up at Su Peng, her face blooming into a full, amiable smile as she threw an arm around his shoulder. "Come inside and sit down first. Tell Auntie what you’d like to eat, it's just about time for lunch."
Su Peng froze for a second, overjoyed. Stifling a loud laugh, he offered a polite, restrained smile, nodded, and followed Mother indoors.
An Han and her father stood frozen in place simultaneously. The father and daughter exchanged a look, both seeing the helpless bewilderment in each other's eyes.
"This..." She recovered quickly, however, and happily darted into the house after them.
Father, on the other hand, was still dumbfounded. He scratched his head in disbelief and looked down at the younger sister beside him. "What on earth is going through your mother's head?"
His younger sister answered without a second of hesitation, "Mom got bribed!"
"With just two bottles of cosmetics?" Father gasped.
"Exactly! It should have been a whole box at least! And where's my gift!"
"Stop talking nonsense."
The sister ignored her father and hurried inside, shouting, "Brother-in-law! Gift!"
Almost in the exact next second, both parents slapped the back of the sister's head at the same time: "Stop shouting nonsense!"
"Oh~"
Unlike the scenario she had imagined—where Su Peng would get his legs broken and be tossed out the door the moment he entered—the harmonious scene unfolding before her made An Han wonder if she was still dreaming.
Looking at her mother's kind smile, and then at Su Peng's chuckling demeanor, they looked as thick as thieves, like a real family. She should have been happy, but An Han couldn't help feeling a profound sense of betrayal.
Did this mean she was only worth two bottles of skincare in her mother's eyes?
A burst of inexplicable sourness welled up in her heart for a split second. But this also meant that the task #留ling 児亻#尔III⒋~疤罢师 wasn't nearly as difficult as she'd imagined.
The requirement for Task Two was simply for Su Peng to clearly explain their relationship to her parents; it didn't strictly require getting their approval. Logically speaking, even if Su Peng got his legs broken in the process, it would count as a success as long as he laid out the facts of their relationship.
But looking at how things were going now, were they about to overachieve?
Su Peng was invited to the sofa in the living room. Mother considerately brought out a bottle of sugar-free cola that Father had bought specifically for An Han. "Have some cola first. Auntie is going to start cooking right now. Just tell me if there's anything you're craving."
"Mhm." Su Peng nodded with a polite and carefully controlled smile.
He was terrified he might accidentally laugh out loud.
He had assumed this trip would be incredibly tough to navigate, but he never expected to draw a perfect winning hand right off the bat.
Mother kindly patted his shoulder, but as she left the living room, she pulled Father aside with her.
An Han walked into the living room with a grin, glancing at her parents who were whispering off to the side. Father was clearly getting a lecture from Mother, his head bobbing in non-stop agreement.
"This is pretty easy to handle," Su Peng took a calm sip of his cola. "I don't know what you were so worried about."
"How was I supposed to know my mom would be so easily bought?"
An Han rolled her eyes at him. Just as she was about to sit down on the sofa, she saw her father suddenly dart out from the side and plop his butt right down next to Su Peng.
She looked at her father in bewilderment. Turning her head, An Han found that her sister had also ditched their mother, darting forward to completely occupy the remaining space on the sofa.
An Han could have fit if they squeezed together, but the three people on the sofa were intentionally keeping a deliberate distance from one another.
A bit lost and unable to figure out what was going on, she had no choice but to sit down in front of the computer desk instead.
"It's Su Peng, right?" Father pulled out a tea set and some tea leaves from under the coffee table. As he started brewing tea, he casually asked, "That Moutai liquor of yours..."
"Right here, Uncle." Su Peng placed the two bottles of liquor he had kept beside him onto the coffee table.
Only then did Father nod in satisfaction.
"What about mine?" The younger sister's face was plastered with anticipation.
Su Peng, however, had completely forgotten to get a gift for the sister. His smile froze. After a moment of awkwardness, he smiled and coaxed, "Later, big brother will take you to the street to buy whatever you want, okay?"
"Okay!"
With this, every obstacle seemed completely cleared.
Su Peng shot An Han a "don't worry, I got this" look.
However, the atmosphere in the living room gradually began to stiffen. While Su Peng was still trying to read the room, Father simply sat there like an old monk, calmly brewing and sipping his tea without uttering a single word. Meanwhile, the sister had grabbed Su Peng's folding screen phone and was happily playing with it.
"Um, Uncle?" Su Peng felt he should take the initiative.
He began carefully, "An Han and I..."
"You're classmates, right? I know about you."
"Mhm, yes. We've been college classmates for almost three years and have always gotten along really well." Su Peng hurriedly followed Father's conversational lead. "Our dorm buildings are also right next to each other. We usually play games together and go to classes to study together..."
Father's expression grew increasingly gloomy, making Su Peng tremble inwardly.
An Han quickly shot him a look, silently telling him to play it by ear and not rush for success.
Fortunately, at that exact moment, Mother finished preparing the rest of the meal. "Everyone, come eat!"
The group in the living room made their way to the dining room one after another, and it was then that An Han noticed something even more unusual.
Father seemed to be actively blocking her from making any contact with Su Peng.
First he had monopolized the sofa, and now he was deliberately walking right between her and Su Peng.
When they sat down around the dining table, An Han naturally wanted to sit next to Su Peng. But Su Peng was grabbed by the shoulder by Father and forcefully pressed into the seat directly beside him. Consequently, Su Peng found himself securely flanked on both sides by her parents.
Now even Su Peng realized something was very wrong.
With a stiff neck, he panicked and scanned his surroundings. No five hundred axe-wielding assassins hiding in wait... He took another look at the younger sister who was already digging into her food; no poison in the food either...
But no matter how he looked at it, this felt like a trap disguised as a feast!
Mother enthusiastically placed various dishes into Su Peng's bowl, asking about his family background with an incredibly amiable smile.
"What does your family do for a living?"
"We run a company..."
"How many people are in your family?"
"Just the three of us, my parents and me."
"Oh~ You're such a handsome young man, you must have a girlfriend by now, right?"
Su Peng nodded tentatively. "I have... I think I have?"
He couldn't shake the feeling of a cold, sinister gaze piercing the back of his neck, giving him full-body goosebumps. Yet, when he looked up at An Han's parents on either side of him, he only saw two perfectly amiable faces.
He was a gamer who had Linked the Fire, rescued Princess Zelda, and slashed his way through the Sword Saint of Ashina! Yet right now, he was shivering like a lamb waiting for the slaughter.
Su Peng couldn't take the suspense anymore. Figuring that his future parents-in-law had already accepted his gifts and probably wouldn't make things too difficult for him, he decided to just get straight to the point: "An Han and I are boyfriend and girlfriend now, and we want to ask for your..."
Clack!
Father abruptly slammed his chopsticks down onto the table, looking at him with an intensely radiating "kindness."
Mother was still smiling amiably. "That's a no."
"Mom..." An Han called out in dissatisfaction, only to be completely ignored by both parents.
"Coming over for a meal is one thing, but you also want to snatch An Han away?" Father asked, his face darkening.
"The things you gifted have already been put back by Siqi."
Mother dropped her approachable, friendly disguise and glanced over at the younger sister. The little sister nodded her head rapidly. "I threw them right back through the car window!"
Su Peng hurriedly pulled out the dialogue scripts he had frantically searched up online beforehand for dealing with strict parents-in-law: "I promise I will never let An Han suffer any grievances! Moreover, my family really likes An Han..."
Both parents instantly shifted their gazes to An Han in near-perfect synchronization.
Wait, so behind her family's back these past two days, she went and met Su Peng's parents?!
An Han's scalp went completely numb. She couldn't utter a single syllable, immediately dropping her head and furiously shoveling rice into her mouth.
Mom really was just afraid of losing face in front of the neighbors!
And here she thought her parents had actually been bribed by Su Peng!
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