Yan Lv took the phone back again and continued, “I completely agree with what he’s saying. If you knew anything about culture, you wouldn’t have gone and learned singing. This kid is more mature than you. He has more foresight and he’s sophisticated.”
Yan Su couldn’t stand it any longer and interrupted him, “Dad…”
“I don’t what kind of luck you had to find such a good boy like Liuxi,” Yan Lu remarked. “I finally understand why he is such a good film director at such a young age—he’s got depth and sophistication. He’s not like those other directors nowadays, too superficial.”
Yan Su held her tongue.
“I’m telling you, don’t you dare let him down. I won’t be able to forgive you if you hurt a good boy like him,” Yan Lv said. “To top it all off, the boy’s cooking is absolutely superb! Everything is so delicious. Your brother has already put on a few pounds since you were last here.”
“Sis, can you ask brother-in-law to stay here for a while longer?” Yan Jin’s voice echoed in the background. “I’m eating my brother-in-law’s chicken wings right now.”
Brother-in-law…
Yan Su quietly ended the call; she had a headache.
That night, she called Mo Liuxi, “Amazing… you managed to win over my entire family over in just a couple of days. How did you bribe them?”
“Susu, that’s not very nice. I’m just being a good son-in-law to your parents on your behalf. I’m so exhausted every day.” Mo Liuxi sounded grumpy over the phone. “You have so many relatives. My hands are filled with calluses from all the cooking I’ve been doing. I have to take care of Yan Yan at night as well. My body is completely drained of life and I’m just so tired.”
Yan Su could imagine how tiring it would be to take care of all the chores like that. She said, “You don’t have to do all those. You still have to study and make movies—don’t tire yourself out and get sick.”
“Don’t worry, I’m leaving tomorrow,” Mo Liuxi answered her softly. “I think your parents are having a difficult time as well since you’re not around, and they’re getting old. They just don’t tell you about their struggles nowadays. I’m just doing all that I can while I’m here. To be honest, that’s all I can do. Parents would never ask their children to do more.”
“Liuxi…” Yan Su was moved by his words. She felt ashamed of her attitude and her shortcomings. “Thank you. I was being too petty earlier on. You are right, I’ll treat my parents better in the future.”
“Your parents? There’s no difference from now on—your parents are my parents too,” Mo Liuxi said.
Yan Su blushed. She thought about her words earlier when all Mo Liuxi did was to take good care of her parents. She fell silent for a moment before saying, “You’re right. There’s no distinction between us from now on.”
She was embarrassed by what she had said; she shut her eyes.
They weren’t even married yet and they were going to treat each other’s parents as their own already. She was still a little too embarrassed to say it out loud.
“Alright then, I still have chores to do, little sweetie. Be good,” Mo Liuxi chuckled.
Yan Su covered her face. Good thing they were on the phone.
Some time had passed by since then.
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Mo Liuxi said his goodbyes to his darling daughter before leaving.
The Yan elders packed plenty of souvenirs for him to bring back. On his flight back, Mo Liuxi thought about the things that he had to do when he arrived home.
He had to first buy a new house, with a room to be converted into a nursery. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to live with Yan Su’s parents—they were a young newlywed couple, after all, and he wanted time to spend together with Yan Su in private.
At the airport, he got into his car and drove straight over to Tianhu Villa.
Luosang watched as her brother climbed out of his car with all kinds of souvenirs. She was a little surprised after not seeing him for so long. “There’s so much preserved meat—is your girlfriend from Hunan?”