Chapter 334 331. Bad News
“Hey, Dad, morning~”
Early in the morning, An Han received a call from her father.
Her parents usually called her once every week or two, and unless she had something important, she would only take the initiative to call them about once a month.
After finally gaining freedom by studying away from home, she had no intention of calling back every day to report on her life.
Lying lazily on the bed, her messy shirt-style pajamas were left with only two buttons fastened, large patches of snow-white skin exposed to the air. But since Su Peng wasn’t home right now, she wasn’t worried about him seeing it and getting carried away.
Besides, with Su Peng, those few seconds might end before he even started.
An Han couldn’t help worrying a little about Su Peng’s mental health. What if he became insecure because of it?
“What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing!”
She had unconsciously laughed out loud, only hurriedly shutting her mouth when her father pointed it out. Then she rolled over, placing a pillow under her thighs, and asked, “Dad, why did you suddenly call me?”
Her father’s tone sounded slightly annoyed. “I’m your father. Can’t I call you?”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“Is Su Peng next to you?”
An Han immediately denied it without hesitation. “How could he be!”
“Don’t forget what I told you.”
Wait! What exactly did you say again?
She froze for a moment, then responded perfunctorily, “Got it, got it.”
Her father sighed lightly and chatted with her about family matters, asking about her life and studies over the past two weeks.
Only at the end did he finally bring up the real reason for calling.
“We bought a house back home, in Rongcheng.”
“Is it for me?” An Han’s eyes lit up as she blurted out the question.
What was the system anyway? It kept dangling house rewards in front of her every day. Meanwhile, look at her dad—he had quietly bought one already.
“For your mom and me to live in after we retire.”
“Oh…”
An Han immediately lost interest.
If she were still a man, the new house would most likely have been prepared as a marital home for her. But now that she was a girl, and her boyfriend was a rich second-generation heir, no matter how she looked at it, she didn’t really need another house.
Feeling a little bored lying in bed, An Han rolled over and got up, taking her phone with her as she left the bedroom.
She turned on speaker mode, placed the phone in the bathroom, and brushed her teeth while casually responding to her father’s questions.
“No, Su Peng doesn’t even know where I live.”
“Mm, yeah, yeah…”
“I have enough clothes, no need to buy me more.”
An Han was brushing her teeth when she suddenly heard her father say, “Next week I’m going abroad.”
“Huh? That soon?”
“Need to make money to pay the mortgage.” From the other side came the faint sound of him making tea as he continued, “I’ll be flying out from Gaoqi Airport near your place. Will you come see me off?”
“Uh… yeah, of course I will.”
If her father came over, he’d definitely take a look around the rental apartment again.
The guest bedroom she had arranged earlier might need to be cleaned up again—just in case her parents noticed any signs that someone else had been living there.
Just as she was lost in thought, a beep-beep sound came from the living room. Then the smart door lock opened, followed by Su Peng’s voice:
“An Han, I brought crispy pork belly, and I bought two little lobsters too!”
An Han froze and looked down at the phone that was still on speaker.
From the phone came no words from her father—only the sound of somewhat heavy breathing.
“Hiss—”
Did that just expose everything?!
She hurriedly turned off speaker mode, picked up the phone, and calmly explained, “My food delivery’s here. I’ll hang up first, okay?”
“You’re already living together with that brat?!”
“What? How could that be…”
While responding, she quickly poked her head out of the bathroom and frantically gestured at Su Peng in the living room—shaking her head and signaling for him to shut up.
“An Han, one of the lobsters died. Hurry and cook it?”
But Su Peng was still inspecting the lobsters he had bought. Without even looking up, he completely missed her signals.
On the other end of the call, her father felt his blood pressure rising.
He had already expected An Han might not fully obey his warnings and might cross the line a little.
But he had never imagined that Su Peng would already be living with her!
They weren’t even married yet! And his daughter was already cohabiting with someone—maybe she had even been completely taken advantage of?!
“Dad, he just brought me some food.”
Realizing that explaining further would only make things worse, An Han quickly changed her approach.
“You can’t possibly forbid him from bringing me breakfast, right?”
“He knows the door lock password?”
“….”
Su Peng had finally heard An Han speaking and realized something was wrong. His face showed confusion and bewilderment.
What was going on? Was his future father-in-law calling?
He looked blankly at An Han. She gave him a helpless smile, but the moment their eyes met, she quickly noticed the injury on his hand.
Her father was still angry on the phone. An Han hesitated—glancing at Su Peng’s injured hand, then at her phone.
“Dad, I’ll hang up first. Something came up.”
“Mm-hmm, calm down first. I’ll call you again later.”
With that, she ended the call, frowning as she hurried over to Su Peng.
“What happened to your hand?”
“Just bumped it by accident.”
Su Peng instinctively tucked that hand into his pocket and tried to change the subject.
“If you hang up now, he’ll just get even angrier…”
An Han looked at Su Peng carefully at close range and immediately noticed something unusual.
Perhaps Su Peng wasn’t the type of man who loved dressing up, but he was always neat and tidy. His hair and clothes were usually well arranged before going out, and whenever he met her, he would always try to present his best side.
But this time, he was still wearing the same outfit he had worn when he left yesterday. After exercising and going shopping yesterday, those clothes should have been changed and washed already.
His hair was messy, several strands stubbornly sticking up. Dark circles hung under his eyes, and even his usual gentle smile couldn’t hide the exhaustion that seeped out from within.
“What happened?”
An Han frowned tightly, looking straight into Su Peng’s eyes.
The task still hadn’t been completed even after Su Peng went home this time…
Su Peng’s faint smile paused for a moment before turning into a helpless sigh. Lowering his head, he answered:
“I had a fight with my parents.”
“And your hand? Did it turn into a physical fight too?”
“Not really. I got pushed and my hand hit the wall.” He complained indifferently, “Guess I’ve been too obedient these past few years. They think I should listen to everything they say.”
“Didn’t I tell you? I was pretty rebellious in middle and high school. Honestly, it was because of this. Damn it, they watched me all the time. Being at home felt like being in prison.”
An Han’s heart tightened.
Previously, she had met Su Peng’s parents. They seemed warm and easy to get along with—nothing like the oppressive image she had imagined wealthy parents would have.
And when they were at the pet hospital entrance, Su Peng and his father had seemed to get along just fine.
An Han asked with concern, “Did you get hurt anywhere else?”
“Just my hand’s a little swollen. It’s nothing.”
“That’s good.”
“It’s just that if I don’t go abroad, they plan to cut off my living expenses.”
“Huh?”
At that moment, Su Peng suddenly laughed out loud, his tone unusually relaxed. Despite his messy appearance, his back remained straight.
“It’s fine. I’ve been hiding some savings.”
“I’ve got five or six pairs of limited sneakers in my dorm that I never wore, some unopened figurines, and a bit of money in funds…”
“All together… about a hundred thousand or so.”
An Han couldn’t help feeling that he had long been preparing for the arrival of this day.
No comments yet
Be the first to share your thoughts!