Chapter 687 - 333: Why Is Someone Hitting on Me Even Here?
Chapter 687: Chapter 333: Why Is Someone Hitting on Me Even Here?
The sun gradually set in the west, draping the entire world in a thin, hazy veil.
Qin Yuenan sat in the passenger seat, binge-watching a show on her tablet while occasionally sneaking glances at Lin Shen beside her. Whenever he showed signs of fatigue or yawned, she would immediately offer to take over the wheel for a stretch. But Lin Shen was exceptionally full of Spirit, even chatting and laughing with her about the plot of her TV show.
This forced Qin Yuenan to reevaluate her understanding of the sheer depth of Lin Shen’s Spirit. After all, during their intense nighttime battles, she was always the first to feel utterly exhausted, her Spirit completely drained. Lin Shen, on the other hand, always remained as energetic as ever. He was even the one doing most of the work, while she merely took it. Yet she still ended up so tired. She wondered if Lin Shen’s energy was truly limitless.
Greatly puzzled, Qin Yuenan softly asked him, "Are you tired? Do you want me to drive for a bit?"
"No need," Lin Shen said with a light chuckle, glancing at the remaining distance on the GPS. "There’s less than two hundred kilometers left, and we’re about to enter Shan Province. Just leave the rest to me. Focus on your show and relax."
"All right. Tell me if you get tired, I can swap in at any time."
Since Lin Shen said so and wasn’t showing any signs of fatigue, Qin Yuenan felt much more at ease. Of course, she didn’t skimp on supporting him either. She fed him snacks, held a straw to his lips when he wanted water, and did the same with his Red Bull. Noticing that his neck was completely unsupported, she even took off her own neck pillow and placed it around his neck, ensuring the driver was as comfortable as possible.
This actually moved Lin Shen quite a bit. "Thank you, Nan."
"No need to thank me. You’re working hard driving, so it’s the least I can do."
Although Qin Yuenan’s tone remained cool and aloof, it carried an inexplicable warmth. This made the corners of Lin Shen’s mouth curl up. He joked with a smile, "Nan, you can’t use this tone with my parents later, or they might just kick you out of the house."
"Hmph, your parents will definitely like me more. You might be the one getting kicked out."
Qin Yuenan uncharacteristically argued back with a long sentence. After speaking, however, a wave of worry washed over her. She thought that perhaps she really should adjust her way of speaking. She couldn’t afford to be this aloof when talking to Lin Shen’s parents. She needed to smile and make herself seem more amiable. Qin Yuenan silently pondered this in her heart.
6:00 p.m.
Chengze Home, Building 5, Apartment 201.
The sizzling sounds of cooking echoed from the kitchen. Lin Qinghai was cooking with a cigarette dangling from his lips. As a chef with over a decade of cooking experience, he had long mastered the art of not letting a single speck of ash fall into the wok. However, when Zhao Nuannuan stormed in, she still unleashed a ferocious torrent of scolding right at his face.
"Old Lin!! What are you doing? Smoking while cooking again? Didn’t I tell you not to smoke! Do you not get it? Our son is bringing his new girlfriend home this time. What if you drop ash in the food? Put it out right now!
"And another thing! Hide all your cigarettes and lighters later. You are absolutely forbidden from smoking in front of our son’s girlfriend, you hear me?"
"All right, all right, I get it." Lin Qinghai hurriedly stubbed out the cigarette, tossed it into the trash, and quickly changed the subject to avoid further scolding. "By the way, where is Shen now?"
"He’ll be here soon."
At the mention of her precious son, Zhao Nuannuan walked over to Lin Qinghai with her phone in hand, happily showing him her chat history with Lin Shen.
8:23 a.m.
[Precious Son: Mom, Nan and I are getting ready to head out. It should be about an eight-hour drive, so expect us home sometime after six this evening.]
[Zhao Nuannuan: Sounds good, son. Mom will have your father cook up a lavish dinner. We’ll be waiting for you and Nan. (Smile)]
12:32 p.m.
[Zhao Nuannuan: Son, where are you guys? Where did you eat lunch?]
[Precious Son: Nan and I ate at a rest stop. We’ve already driven out of Modu. Here, this was our lunch.]
[Precious Son: Image.jpg]
[Zhao Nuannuan: That doesn’t look very hearty.]
[Precious Son: Eh, it’s just a rest stop, we’re making do. We’ll get to have a feast when we get back tonight anyway.]
[Zhao Nuannuan: That’s right, son. Your dad and I are going to the supermarket in a bit. Is there anything specific you want to order? Like something Nan likes to eat?]
[Precious Son: Nan really likes chicken. How about you ask my dad to make his spicy diced chicken? I remember he’s pretty good at making that.]
[Zhao Nuannuan: Got it, son. Anything else?]
[Precious Son: Just figure the rest out as you go, whatever works. But don’t make it too salty. Nan is from the south, so she’s not used to our heavy northern flavors. You can tone down the spiciness a bit, too.]
[Zhao Nuannuan: Okay,]
"There, those are the orders your son gave you." Zhao Nuannuan pointed at the dishes Lin Shen had requested and showed them to Lin Qinghai.
He immediately responded, "I know. Look, those are the ingredients I prepped for the spicy diced chicken. If I stir-fry it last, it won’t get cold so quickly."
Zhao Nuannuan glanced back at the massive spread of ingredients covering the prep table, and her brow furrowed slightly. "Isn’t this a bit too little?"
"Too little?" Lin Qinghai was genuinely flabbergasted. Although he was subjected to Zhao Nuannuan’s daily complaints, he wasn’t about to take this completely unwarranted criticism lying down. He pointed at the ingredients and complained bitterly, "It’s six dishes and one soup, what more do you want? Plus the spicy diced chicken I’m about to make, that’s seven dishes and one soup. Is that really not enough? Keep in mind there are only four of us. That’s two dishes per person. We probably won’t even be able to finish it all."
"If we can’t finish it, we’ll just leave it and the two of us can eat leftovers tomorrow," Zhao Nuannuan insisted. "But this is Nan’s first time visiting our home. I still feel like eight dishes are a bit sparse. Add one more."
"Fine, fine." Left without any other option, Lin Qinghai had no choice but to follow his wife’s orders. He then asked curiously, "Oh, by the way, do you know what this Nan looks like?"
"I don’t." Zhao Nuannuan shook her head. "Our son has never revealed a thing to me. Even though I’ve asked him countless times, he hasn’t sent me a single photo of Nan."
"That’s strange. If he found a pretty girlfriend, wouldn’t he want to show her off?" Lin Qinghai analyzed. "Could it be that this Nan is really ugly? Or maybe she has a facial deformity?"
"With a mouth like that, if you can’t say anything nice, keep it clamped shut!" Zhao Nuannuan viciously pinched Lin Qinghai’s mouth, causing him to bare his teeth in pain.
He finally said innocently, "I was just joking. Since Shen broke up with Tingting, it means his current girlfriend is definitely prettier than Tingting."
"Don’t talk about our son like he’s some sort of scumbag, okay?" Zhao Nuannuan shot Lin Qinghai another fierce glare. "He broke up with Tingting simply because Tingting didn’t want to date anymore. It wasn’t because our son saw a prettier girl and fell for someone else!"
"Is that so? What a shame." Lin Qinghai couldn’t help but sigh softly. "I actually had a pretty good impression of Tingting. The last time she came over, she specifically brought me cigarettes and alcohol."
"You had better finish saying everything you have to say about Tingting right now!" Zhao Nuannuan warned. "If you so much as mention one word about Tingting in front of our son later, I will tear your mouth right off your face!"
"Okay, okay, okay, I won’t mention her." Lin Qinghai hurriedly pushed Zhao Nuannuan out of the kitchen and urged her, "Get in touch with your son. It’s past six now. Ask them where they are."
"All right."
Zhao Nuannuan also really wanted to know when Lin Shen would be back. After all, they hadn’t seen each other for over half a year, and the mother was counting the seconds as she yearned for her son. But considering that Lin Shen might be driving, she decided to send him a WeChat message first.
[Zhao Nuannuan: Son, where are you guys now?]
About half a minute after the message was sent, her phone received a reply.
[Lin Shen: Auntie, we’ve already gotten off the highway and are heading home. There’s a bit of a traffic jam because of the evening rush hour, though, so it should take about another twenty minutes.]
Eh?
When she saw the word "Auntie," Zhao Nuannuan’s eyes suddenly lit up. She wondered if Nan was messaging her using her son’s phone!