Chapter 258 - Randomly Becoming a Stepfather
Translator: Lav
Editor: Seliniaki Ilikia
Zhang Meimei’s foot seemed to be severely injured. She was unable to leave the car even after a long period of time had passed by.
“Do you want me to take you to the hospital?” Shi Lei could only ask.
Zhang Meimei had already examined her ankle in the car. She only seemed to have rolled it and it would be fine after she put some safflower oil on and had some rest, since the hospital would just tell her to do the same.
“It’s fine. I’ll just wait for the pain to lessen in the car. Teacher Shi, you can go back first.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll stay with you for a while longer. Or I’ll call Er’jie and we can help you up, if you’d like?”
“That girl doesn’t have the strength to do that. I’m scared that I won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow if she helped me.”
Shi Lei hesitated for a while and didn’t dare say what he wanted to say, but they couldn’t just stay like this with one person inside the car and one outside. It was inappropriate for him to get back in, since the space was too small and it would feel too dubious.
“Lawyer Zhang, I have a suggestion. Please don’t misunderstand…” Shi Lei eventually spoke after hesitating for some time.
Zhang Meimei looked at him and suddenly stretched out her arms. “Come on.”
Shi Lei ended up being the one who jumped in fright. “‘Come on?’ What?”
“Weren’t you going to say that you’ll carry me up? Come on.” Shi Lei exhaled deeply. He’d almost misunderstood her, and it scared him to death.
But that was indeed what he had meant. She didn’t live that high up and shouldn’t weigh more than fifty kilograms, so it won’t be a problem for him to carry her up. However, he’d never imagined that Zhang Meimei had already seen through his intentions before he could even open his mouth.
How smart is this woman?!
Shi Lei lingered a little and asked nervously, “Then I’m really going to do it?”
“Brat, are you scared that I’m going to misunderstand?” Zhang Meimei asked. “I can almost pass as your mother at this age and I’m not that much younger than your mother, so just treat me as your aunt.”
Shi Lei then took a deep breath. He put his right hand behind Zhang Meimei’s neck and his left arm under her knees, and lifted her out of the car with a slight exertion of strength.
Zhang Meimei was much more relaxed than Shi Lei as she put her arms around his neck to help him save some strength. But Shi Lei’s heartbeat increased instantly, jumping from seventy beats per minute to more than one hundred thirty. He could almost hear the sound of his beating heart. He thought that it would really jump out of his mouth if he kept going.
Although Zhang Meimei told him to treat her as his aunt, with such a charming woman in his arms, Shi Lei couldn’t help but feel awkward.
Luckily, he composed himself as he closed the car’s door with his foot and walked toward the building with Zhang Meimei in his arms.
It seemed like the longest distance he had ever walked in his life. Every single step he took was a challenge to his deepest state of mind. At the same time, he was talking to himself inside his head. Dear God, I’m really not a pervert who’s into older women. I have absolutely no perverted intentions toward Zhang Meimei. It’s just a reaction that any normal, healthy man would have. Even if an old monk was in my situation right now, his heart would probably be racing as well. Perhaps he might even have a stroke and faint.
Maybe because she had heard footsteps on the stairs, Zhang Liangliang opened the door when Shi Lei and Zhang Meimei were about two steps away.
The first thing Zhang Liangliang saw was that her mother had been carried upstairs by a man. Because Shi Lei’s head was completely blocked by Zhang Meimei, Zhang Liangliang couldn’t help but to comment, albeit shocked, “Aren’t you a bit too romantic? Are you rubbing the fact that I’m still single in my face? Damn, Zhang Meimei, I didn’t know that you’d show off this well. Is this the stepfather you’ve arranged for me?”
Zhang Meimei didn’t think that there was something wrong, since it was done for a proper reason and she indeed viewed Shi Lei as a junior. But on the way there, she could obviously feel his racing heart. She thought of it as the natural reaction of a normal man, since it was inevitable for a man to have some fluctuations in his emotions, so it could be explained logically.
But when her daughter ran out to tease her and even called Shi Lei her stepfather, Zhang Meimei couldn’t help but to blush.
Shi Lei really wanted to throw Zhang Meimei to Zhang Liangliang, but he couldn’t. First, he was worried that Zhang Meimei would be injured. Then he was worried that Zhang Liangliang would also be injured. And most importantly, he was so tired that he didn’t have the energy to throw Zhang Meimei.
“Move move move!” Shi Lei called panickedly. Zhang Liangliang froze. She thought that the voice was familiar, but Shi Lei didn’t come to mind.
But she still moved away, allowing Shi Lei to successfully carry Zhang Meimei inside. He couldn’t be bothered to care so much as he kicked Zhang Meimei’s room open, put her on the bed, and escaped to the living room.
His forehead was covered with sweat as he finally relaxed despite still having a taste of the experience. Zhang Liangliang was still frozen in front of the door. After seeing his back, she had recognized the unknown man to be the uncle whom she liked.
She was struggling. It was impossible for her young soul to comprehend how Shi Lei and her mother got together. They were showing off so obviously without hiding it, not putting her in their eyes at all.
Shi Lei took a tissue and wiped his forehead. He knew that he couldn’t leave immediately after seeing Zhang Liangliang’s expression. He had to explain it to her clearly.
“Er’jie! Er’jie!” Shi Lei called out, but Zhang Liangliang was still frozen.
Shi Lei didn’t have a choice but to go to the front door and close it. He dragged Zhang Liangliang to the couch and sat her down. “Don’t talk nonsense. That’s your mother,” he said. “This here, this is what happened. When I just finished dinner, your mother called me asking if I had finished my family business and could tutor you again. I had some questions about law I wanted to ask her, so we arranged to meet. I was home at the time, so I let your mother come up.”
He briefly recounted what had happened to Zhang Liangliang. Although she still had some doubts, she still basically believed him.
She walked to Zhang Meimei’s room and poked her head inside. “How’s your foot?”
Zhang Meimei had changed out of her work attire and into casual clothes. “Didn’t Teacher Shi explain it to you? Don’t be so noisy next time. This time was fine because Teacher Shi won’t misunderstand anything, but what if it was someone else? Go and get the safflower oil in the closet for me.”
Zhang Liangliang pursed her lips. “Oh, if it was someone else, you wouldn’t have held onto him so tightly and I wouldn’t have had that kind of thought in the first place,” she mumbled in dissatisfaction.
Zhang Meimei rolled her eyes and almost died at her daughter’s words. But she pondered for a while and realized that Zhang Liangliang wasn’t wrong, since both mother and daughter trusted Shi Lei very much. Hence, she could put her arms around him without worrying about anything. If it was someone else, she definitely wouldn’t have done something like that, so much so that she wouldn’t even allow another person to carry her upstairs.
“Lawyer Zhang, are you alright now? If you’re fine, then I’ll go home first.” Shi Lei seized the opportunity and butted into their conversation.
“I’m fine,” Zhang Meimei called from inside her room. “I’ll put some medicine on and massage it myself. I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble.”
Just as Shi Lei was about to leave, Zhang Liangliang pulled him back. “Why are you leaving? Don’t be in a rush to leave if you’re already here. You have to chat with me for however long you chatted with my mom.”
“We were talking business,” Shi Lei said, wishing that he hadn’t been born.