Chapter 274 271. Father and Grandpa
Does this mean that, just as her father didn't like Su Peng, Grandpa didn't like her father either?
Thinking back carefully, every time her father returned from abroad to visit Grandpa for the New Year, he really did act all quiet and well-behaved. He hardly dared to speak a few words. During the visits, he would either stay completely under the radar with zero presence, or scramble to do chores, desperately trying to prove his worth.
But having known so little about her father in the past, An Han had never even considered this possibility...
Still, her parents had been married for over twenty years. Just how much must Grandpa dislike her father for their relationship to remain this tense after all this time?
An Han walked into the house, scanned the living room, and spotted several cousins. Her more familiar cousin, Wu Hao, was among them.
This put her mind at ease. As long as Wu Hao was around, the relatives' gossip would rarely land on her.
However, having turned into a girl, facing these male cousins of roughly the same age for the first time still made An Han feel a bit uncomfortable. She found a corner to lean against the wall and played on her phone, trying to keep her presence as low as possible.
Unfortunately, the moment she stepped into the room, several of her cousins had already fixed their gazes on her.
They whispered amongst themselves. The less-informed ones were even trying to find out which relative this girl who had suddenly walked in was, or if she was the daughter of one of Grandpa's neighbors.
Ever since wearing that cheongsam at the anime convention, An Han had gradually gotten used to being the center of attention wherever she went. But the people in front of her were, after all, relatives and friends she had grown up with, and an awkward blush still crept up her cheeks.
Crossing her legs slightly uneasily and lowering her head, she tried to ignore everyone's stares. However, her sensitive nature made her exceptionally acute to their gazes; she could even vaguely sense the emotions hidden within them.
Most of it was curiosity, a small portion was rather fervent, and they were f**king staring at my chest non-stop!
She secretly peeked up, only to find that the one staring at her chest was a younger female cousin.
Never mind then. This cousin was already seventeen, yet her chest was even flatter than her younger sister's.
She took another look at that cousin's figure, confirming that there were still no signs of development even after not seeing her for a year.
With that pair of A-cups, it was no wonder she was staring at her chest with such fervent eyes...
Just as she was awkwardly enduring her cousins' stares, the sound of an electric scooter suddenly came from the doorway.
An Han poked her head out to look at the gate, just in time to see her father parking the scooter and taking out several bottles of liquor from the compartment under the seat.
This is... he went to buy gifts for Grandpa?
She looked at her father's tense, serious expression, and then looked curiously at the alcohol in his hands.
Moutai, red wine... The alcohol Su Peng had given to her father was now in her father's hands, being prepared to be given to Grandpa...
"Where's your grandpa?" Her father walked into the house carrying the bottles, scanned the living room, and felt a little relieved inward.
"Playing with Sis in the backyard, I think?"
An Han pushed off the wall, straightened up, and followed behind her father to watch the show.
Unable to suppress her gossipy curiosity, she quickened her pace to walk beside him and asked, "Dad, regifting to score some brownie points, are we?"
No wonder she rarely saw her father drink, yet he was still quite happy when he saw Su Peng's gifts.
"This is filial piety! Good things must naturally be given to your grandpa to drink," her father replied with a straight face.
"Oh~"
An Han almost burst out laughing.
Crossing the hallway and the kitchen, the door leading to the backyard was indeed wide open. However, when her father reached the door, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and gestured to An Han: "You go check if your grandpa is in a good mood first."
"Is Grandpa really that scary..."
Grandpa was clearly very kind.
An Han muttered as she walked into the backyard, immediately spotting Grandpa playing badminton with her younger sister using the clothes rack as a makeshift net.
Grandpa was around seventy years old, yet he was more vigorous than a young man when he moved. Smashing the shuttlecock one after another, he beat her sister so badly she was completely defenseless and routed.
An Han turned her head and shouted towards the house: "Dad, Grandpa is in a great mood. He's totally noob-stomping right now."
"What do you mean, noob-stomping?"
Although her father didn't understand An Han's slang, he still carried the liquor into the backyard.
The moment he saw Grandpa, his serious, rigid face instantly transformed. His straight back seemed to hunch slightly, and he took quick, small steps, trotting eagerly over to Grandpa.
"Dad! Look at what good stuff I brought you!"
That demeanor, it was even more flattering and fawning than when Su Peng was trying to suck up to her mother.
An Han felt like her father's majestic and dignified image in her heart had completely collapsed.
Grandpa delivered another smash before turning his head to look at her totally sycophantic father. He glanced at the high-end liquor in his hands and said expressionlessly, "Step aside, don't get in the way."
"Dad, this is Moutai. You usually can't even get your hands on it if you try."
"This wine is from the Château Latour in France. It costs several thousand yuan. I went all the way out to buy it for you, you gotta have a couple of glasses at dinner tonight."
This tone, this scene... An Han felt a sense of déjà vu, as if she had just witnessed it yesterday.
Watching from a distance, she almost burst out laughing.
A moment later, her father was shooed away. He walked towards An Han, his expression noticeably more relaxed: "Not bad, your grandpa is indeed in a pretty good mood."
"Dad, what kind of grudge does Grandpa have against you?"
"How should I know? He just looks down on me in every way."
Her father's tone was incredibly indignant as he brushed past An Han.
"Dad, maybe the reason you don't like Su Peng is the exact same reason Grandpa doesn't like you?" An Han hurried to keep up with his pace.
"Who's like that little brat?"
Her father walked into the kitchen, hid the liquor in the cupboard to prevent mischievous kids from knocking it over, then opened the fridge. He stroked his chin while looking at the ingredients prepared inside.
"I can cook, can he? He can't even wash a dish or crack an egg! How is he anything like me?"
Having roughly planned out the dinner prep in his head, her father spread his arms to stretch his chest, turned his head, and asked, "Want to be my sous-chef?"
"I never see you cook at home... besides, it's only a little past 1 PM, what's there to cook right now?"
"There are a lot of people tonight, gotta make a lavish spread."
"More like to suck up to Grandpa, I bet."
Her father's face immediately stiffened, and he defended himself, exasperated: "What do you mean 'suck up'? This is filial piety! What does a kid like you know!"
An Han rolled her eyes.
She strongly suspected that her father was taking the pressure Grandpa had put on him and passing it all onto Su Peng, even venting his inner resentment on the poor guy. That was probably why he found Su Peng so grating no matter what he did.
So the hero finally becomes the dragon?
Since you're cut from the same cloth, why make things so hard for each other~
With nothing else to do and unwilling to go back to the living room to endure her cousins' stares, An Han went along with her father's idea and stayed by his side to help cook.
It wasn't long before Grandpa walked into the house.
Just a moment ago, her father had been moving lazily and handing off part of the ingredient prep to An Han, but now he suddenly perked up. Even his vegetable chopping became a lot more deft and speedy.
"An Han, I'm taking your sister out to the fields to roast sweet potatoes. Do you want to come?"
"Yes!"
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