### 205. The Welcome Gift
After lunch, Chen Yao’s parents huddled together on the living room sofa, brainstorming their next devious plan.
Ideally, they’d come up with a way to keep Lin Nan around for a few days. After all, a warm family atmosphere was one of the key criteria for a girl when choosing a marriage partner.
“How about we give her a red envelope?”
Chen Yao’s mom suddenly remembered this bright idea, quickly rummaging through her wallet on the tea table. She muttered to herself, “How could you not mention something so important? You’ve been here for ages and it didn’t occur to you till now!”
“Well, it seems like the girl doesn’t get along well with her family. Chen Yao said they’re a bit biased towards boys…” Chen Yao’s dad pondered for a moment and decided, “Chen Yao thinks he’s still young and there’s no rush. We need to make sure this girl sticks around.”
“Chen Yao! Chen Yao!” Chen Yao’s mom yelled towards the bedroom a few times, and moments later, a visibly exasperated Chen Yao walked out.
Just when he thought he could have a moment alone with Lin Nan, BAM! Mom and Dad had to swoop in like clueless hawks!
“Tell us more about her,” Chen Yao’s mom insisted, forcing him to sit on the sofa. “Why did her dad kick her out?”
Chen Yao paused, contemplating whether to spill Lin Nan’s messy backstory.
After a moment, he realized that while his parents were pretty open-minded, they might not handle her situation well. So, he decided to give her tale a little twist and came up with a fantastical story.
He spun a yarn about how Lin Nan faced school bullying back in middle school until she bravely stood up for herself, then seamlessly transitioned to her parents’ divorce and her dad’s bias toward boys—where the plot twist of her being a girl instead of a boy transformed into her parents fighting over custody, with her dad not giving her the time of day.
He might not be a pro storyteller, but he’d binge-read enough urban novels and been corrupted by Tu Junhui’s endless tall tales to make Lin Nan’s background sound even more tragic than reality.
The story may have been fabricated, but with a good 70% truth and 30% embellishment, combined with the fact that Chen Yao’s mom had also faced unfair treatment due to gender bias, the parents’ anger boiled over.
“No wonder I was so startled when I first met her!” Chen Yao’s mom ranted, “Can you believe the kind of people who dare to have kids?!”
Initially, they were just satisfied with Lin Nan’s character and looks, but now they were filled with sympathy. Chen Yao’s dad couldn’t help but throw out a few curses, which made Chen Yao roll his eyes internally.
“You guys did well! We didn’t raise a loser! Tomorrow, I’m going to her house to demand a betrothal gift!” Chen Yao’s dad was the action type, rolling up his sleeves ready to storm out. “Her dad doesn’t care for her? Then we’ll spoil her! Hell! Maybe I’ll even teach him a lesson! Didn’t you get to punch him last night to blow off some steam?”
Father and son shared similar tempers and were aflame with anger, “And this girl! What’s she thinking?!”
“Please, don’t. I just said we’re not at that level yet!” Chen Yao quickly grabbed his dad’s arm, panic setting in. “She’s fine, her mom cares a lot about her!”
Finally managing to calm down his furious parents, Chen Yao felt completely drained.
“So you’re not at that level and yet you slept with her?” Chen Yao’s mom shot him a look that screamed, “You’re the worst son ever!”
“I did NOT! d*mn it!”
Chen Yao was about to lose it. He had clearly turned into a beast under Lin Nan’s subtle advances last night, and now he was being thrown under the bus!
“You’re blaming me?” Chen Yao’s mom looked incredulous.
“I…”
“Son, you’re not… slow in that department, are you?” Chen Yao’s dad patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay, you can go to the hospital and get it checked. You’ll be fine!”
Wait, do I need to see a doctor for that?!
Chen Yao had barely gotten any sleep last night, and with all this craziness, things just kept getting worse with each passing minute.
“I can’t with you both! You don’t need to meddle in my life!” Chen Yao finally threw up his hands in surrender. “Just keep an eye on her and let me handle the rest, okay?!”
He was so frustrated he stormed back into his bedroom. Chen Yao’s parents could only exchange helpless glances, sighing at how their son was growing up and becoming defiant like this, and how much less fun it was now that they couldn’t hit him.
“What was all that yelling about?”
As Chen Yao stepped inside, he found Lin Nan curled up at the foot of the bed, sunlight pouring in through the window, illuminating half her body, her flawless skin shimmering like a carefully crafted photo sh**t.
He gulped, regretting not being more of a beast last night.
“Did I cause the ruckus?” She looked a bit guilty. “Maybe I should just go hang out at the internet café for a while?”
“It’s fine, they’ve got the screw loose,” Chen Yao sighed as he plopped down at the computer. “No matter how I explain it, it doesn’t make sense.”
“I really shouldn’t have come…”
“I told you it’s nothing. It wasn’t an argument, just a discussion gone wrong. You know, like when you think you’re getting a good trade in a game, but I think it’s a terrible deal,” he explained, being ever-so-articulate.
That metaphor hit home for Lin Nan, who could picture the debate he was describing, as it indeed didn’t seem to count as a full-blown argument.
However, translating that image to her parents was hard; after all, they had rarely been around. She couldn’t even fathom the idea of arguing—she’d never been scolded, let alone had to bicker.
“If we’re not gaming, I might as well catch some Zs.”
Lin Nan quickly hopped up from the bed and swapped spots with Chen Yao.
Clearly feeling on edge in this unfamiliar territory, Lin Nan was tense, afraid of making a single mistake.
Feeling at a loss on how to soothe her, and with his head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton, Chen Yao gave up on that idea, flopped onto the bed, and within minutes, was drifting off to sleep.
But suddenly, Chen Yao’s mom swung open the door and stomped in, holding a stack of cash, cheerfully striding over to shove it into Lin Nan’s arms. “First meeting! Since Auntie was unprepared, just take it!”
Lin Nan was dumbfounded. Even though one would normally be thrilled to see money, accepting this obviously spelled disaster.
If she took it, wouldn’t that lock in her status as Chen Yao’s girlfriend?
In a dazed frenzy, she shook her head wildly, rejecting the cash thrust into her hands. “No! I can’t accept this!”
“If you don’t take it, it means you don’t respect me,” Chen Yao’s mom insisted.
What?! It’s accepting it that causes trouble!
Lin Nan repeatedly declined, but Chen Yao’s mom was a pro at these scenarios. She pretended to take the money, then quickly shoved it into Lin Nan’s pocket before making her getaway.
By the time Lin Nan realized what happened, the cash was already in her pocket, her face a mixture of helplessness and annoyance as she turned to see Chen Yao waking up from his nap.
“Just keep it. Once I leave, you can return it to your mom,” Lin Nan hastily placed the money on Chen Yao’s pillow.
Chen Yao, half asleep and out of it, didn’t answer. He just rolled over with a yawn and slipped back into slumber.
