547. Secret Savings?
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Chen Yao explained his actions clearly, but when he looked at Lin Nan, it seemed his girlfriend had not forgiven him at all. Instead, she was pouting, wearing a face full of dissatisfaction and resentment.
He felt a bit flustered. Getting both magical powers and a girlfriend at home seemed like a double delight, so how did it turn into this?
After a moment of silence, he honestly admitted, “Alright, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have lied to you. I just wanted to give you a surprise.”
“You lie to me all the time…” Lin Nan shifted her gaze to the computer screen with a sigh, looking utterly disappointed in him.
“I don’t always lie, do I?” Chen Yao noticed that Lin Nan was mainly upset about being deceived, but after racking his brain for a while, he couldn’t quite figure out what “always” meant in her context.
Lin Nan wanted to come up with an example, but nothing came to mind. She finally said in a mournful tone, “Lying once feels like lying twice.”
“I really messed up.” Chen Yao raised a hand to the sky, swearing, “I will never lie to you again. If I do, may lightning strike me! Okay?”
Lin Nan quickly got up and looked out the window, but unfortunately, it was bright and sunny outside, so not much chance for any heavenly wrath.
What a shame.
She really wanted to see the guy who just swore being struck down by lightning, just to watch his awkward reaction.
“Do you really want me to get struck by lightning or what?”
She immediately picked up on Chen Yao’s slip of foul language, arching an eyebrow, “You’re still cursing at me?”
This scene felt a bit familiar, didn’t it?
Could Lin Nan be picking up bad habits from my mom?
Chen Yao turned pale, “Did my mom say anything to you this afternoon?”
Clearly, Lin Nan hadn’t been so unreasonable when they parted yesterday.
“She didn’t say much…” Lin Nan settled on the edge of the bed, twisting her hair, muttering, “Just talked about how to manage men.”
“???”
“Auntie said men love to stray. The more you forbid them to do something, the more they want to do it. Like back when Auntie didn’t let you go to the internet cafe, you just had to go. In the future, if I tell you not to cheat, you’ll…”
Chen Yao quickly interrupted her, “I would never cheat in my life, okay?”
“Caged men lack the thrill of the wild.” Lin Nan replied sadly, “I used to be a man, so I resonate with what Auntie said.”
Chen Yao was literally speechless.
“She said there are basically three methods to manage men: cry, throw a fit, or hit them. I figured if I directly hit you, you wouldn’t take it well, and I can’t cry like that.”
What does she mean by “directly hitting would be unbearable”?
Do you believe that if you punch me, you’d be down on your knees crying for me not to d*e?
Chen Yao felt his standing in this relationship was dropping lower by the moment.
“I’m going to take a nap.”
He slumped down onto the bed, and Lin Nan quickly stepped back a few paces, grumbling, “It’s already five! If you sleep now, are you even going to have dinner?”
“Just call me when it’s time.”
Lin Nan sighed, exiting to pour herself a glass of water. When she returned to the room, she found Chen Yao had already fallen asleep, snoring away.
Chen Yao rarely snored unless he was completely exhausted.
The three-hour drive from school to home could wear a person out, so it made sense.
Auntie peeked into the room at that moment, probably hearing Lin Nan come out for water, and asked, “How was it? Did he admit his fault?”
“Mm.” Lin Nan flashed a bright smile at Auntie, “Very effective.”
“Isn’t it?” Auntie proudly dragged Lin Nan out of the room and into the living room, boasting about how she met Uncle way back when.
Lin Nan couldn’t shake the feeling Auntie was showing off her love life.
The restaurant still had to operate, and Uncle wouldn’t be home until around ten. With nothing else to do, Lin Nan chatted with Auntie until dinner time, also seeking her advice on how to make Chen Yao completely devoted to her.
Dinner was takeout Auntie had ordered.
“Takeout should be avoided as much as possible. A lot of places don’t even have a storefront now, so their hygiene is terrible, and you can’t see it.” Auntie opened the takeout boxes one by one, reminding Lin Nan, “When ordering takeout, it’s best to pick from places you’ve eaten at. At least you’ve seen their hygiene standards.”
“When he has some free time at school, Chen Yao cooks for us. We don’t actually eat takeout much,” Lin Nan said, not bothering to call Chen Yao from the bedroom, instead eating all the meat from the takeout boxes with Auntie.
“Better to cook for yourself.”
Auntie glanced at the sky outside and hesitated, “Do you want to go shopping with me tonight?”
She worried Lin Nan might have a psychological scar from that incident the other night, so she continued, “We’ll go to the mall. You guys ran into a nutcase last time, but honestly, the security around here is quite good…”
“What are we shopping for?”
“Two sets of clothes for you. You don’t have your own makeup yet, right? It’s about time you got a kit to try out sometime.”
Mentioning makeup made Lin Nan feel a headache coming on. It wasn’t that she was biased against makeup; she just felt awkward about learning a new skill on her own face.
“Can borrow Chen Yao’s face for practice.”
“Okay!”
Lin Nan happily agreed.
Just then, Chen Yao finally emerged, yawning. He had just been scolded by Auntie yet was back to his usual cheeky self: “Mom? What smells so good?”
“Sichuan boiled meat, sweet and sour fish, lychee pork, and pan-fried ribbonfish.”
“Such a feast tonight?” Chen Yao’s eyes sparkled as he dashed into the living room, eagerly grabbing a pair of chopsticks. He scooped a bit of the boiled meat but only managed to haul up a pile of bean sprouts. Looking at the other boxes, he found nothing but bones.
Seeing his bewildered expression, Lin Nan bit her lip to hold back her laughter and added, “But we finished it all.”
“What do I eat then?”
“Uh, isn’t there still some veggies in the Sichuan boiled meat? Can’t you just pour the soup over some rice?” Auntie clearly still had some fire left; otherwise, she would have saved him a portion, even if he was late.
Chen Yao, famished, didn’t bother arguing. He poured some of the spicy broth over his rice while asking, “What’s on the agenda tonight?”
“Shopping with Nan Nan. You in?”
Ugh~ Shopping with two women?
That’s a nightmare-level mission!
Chen Yao gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and nodded emphatically, “I’m going! I’ll help you carry things! Tonight, I’ll pay!”
At this moment, he had to be extra nice, or his mother might hold a grudge for ages.
Though Lin Nan had already calmed down.
“Isn’t all your money from me?” Auntie wasn’t easily fooled.
“I’ve also earned some money from taking online orders. I’ve been saving it for times like this to splurge for you two.” Chen Yao tried really hard to sweeten his words.
But Lin Nan’s brows knitted together, “Since when did you start making money online?”
Auntie’s spirits lifted instantly, “Secret savings!”
“What?!”
