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When Tang Xizhou’s mother arrived, things became unbearably dull. After managing to play two rounds of the game, Jiang Beibei gave up. She couldn’t swear or put her leg on the coffee table; her soul was restrained by Tang Xizhou’s mother’s stern gaze and tense face. However, not playing games made the situation even more awkward in Tang Xizhou’s house.
Jiang Beibei grew restless. She glanced at the door, contemplating the likelihood of hopping home on one leg versus breaking the other leg while doing so.
Grandma wasn’t at home; she had gone out to join a sunset red choir with her former colleagues.
Jiang Beibei began to consider if it was feasible to have Mother Chu come down and carry her.
It felt a bit outrageous… after forcing marriage under false pretenses, asking her future mother-in-law to come down and carry her shortly after seemed like a death wish.
Would her future mother-in-law dare to be so bold?
Tang Xizhou noticed her intention and asked, “Going home?”
“Yes, the filming crew is coming this afternoon. I need to go home and prepare.”
Jiang Beibei stood up and hopped to the door, deciding to hold onto the railing with both hands as she went up.
Tang Xizhou came out and crouched, saying, “Come on.”
“Uh... I can hop up.”
Tang Xizhou, cigarette dangling from his mouth, spoke without opening it, his voice muffled as if humming through his nose, “Stop talking nonsense, get on!”
Who was Tang Xizhou? A veteran detective with ten years of experience, originally from the armed police. His mood could change faster than flipping pages. Usually, he spoke kindly and acted casually, always ready with jokes, chatting easily with people from all walks of life like an old hand. But when he used a commanding tone, he could instantly intimidate a group of timid people, such as Jiang Beibei.
After protesting for a second, Jiang Beibei relented.
At the doorstep, Jiang Beibei instructed, “When the film crew comes, tell them to go upstairs. I just gave them your address.”
“Mm.”
“Second Brother, smoke less!”
Tang Xizhou gestured toward his house, implying that seeing his mom stressed him out, so he smoked to relieve stress.
Returning home, Tang Xizhou saw his mom scrolling through her WeChat Moments.
“What’s there to see? Every day, it’s just forwarding rumors.” Tang Xizhou lit a cigarette and said, “Is Dad’s anger subsiding?”
Tang Xizhou’s mother rolled her eyes.
She was looking at Tang Xizhou’s previous WeChat posts, photos of Jiang Beibei feeding him after he got injured.
She couldn’t see the teasing comments from those young cops, but she could see Tang Xizhou’s replies.
“Envious? Jealous? You don’t have this, right?”
“Of course, this is my sister. Who else would it be?”
“Xizhou,” Mom lowered her voice and asked, “Why aren’t Beibei and Xiao Yao getting engaged again? Is she unwilling?”
“Nonsense.” Tang Xizhou exhaled a puff of smoke. “The date is set; they just haven’t announced it yet because they haven’t gone through the formalities.”
“Beibei is willing?”
“Aren’t you stating the obvious? Beibei has her eyes on Xiao Yao. Why wouldn’t she be willing?” Smoking too much made Tang Xizhou’s eyes redden. He shook his hand and picked up the controller to play single-player mode in a plane battle game. The other track was grayed out, the player name being Super Youth Old Yan.
Just before, Jiang Beibei had used this account to play with him. That girl immediately understood it was Yan Qingming’s account and exclaimed for half a day, “You guys are so childish, still playing against each other.”
“Or should we play couple mode? Who carries who? With his level...”
Tang Xizhou’s mom didn’t pay attention to these details and kept questioning, “How did Beibei fall for Xiao Yao?”
“How couldn’t she? Yao’er is so good—handsome, elegant, doesn’t smoke or drink, inherited his father’s mild temperament. Such a fine young man—if not for his profession, there would be a whole platoon chasing him.”
“He does that job, and Beibei isn’t afraid...”
“What’s there to be afraid of? People die quietly lying in bed, even more scared of stray bullets. My job is the one that really scares people. If someone marries me, one minute they’re married, the next minute they might be widowed.”
Tang Xizhou’s mother angrily hit her son, “If you can’t talk properly, shut up! It’s still the first month of the lunar year, what are you saying!”
“I’m afraid you’ll scheme something. I’ll say it again: no blind dates, dead or alive I won’t go. If you force me to find a girl and get married, I’ll jump off the thirtieth floor of Tianze Building right away, burn my ashes and scatter them in the sea. Even if you want to arrange a ghost marriage, you won’t find my bones!”
Tang Xizhou’s mom was furious, cursing herself and pulling his collar, trembling with anger.
Tang Xizhou laughed heartily, put out the cigarette, and said, “Don’t scheme anything about my sister, Mom. Come to your senses. Don’t make things difficult for me. We’ve been neighbors for so many years; if you make the younger siblings resentful, I’ll truly have no way to live.”
Tang Xizhou’s mother was short-tempered and blurted out in anger, “Which one of us will die, you tell me!”
“Let’s live well.” Tang Xizhou softened his tone after joking around and said, “Mom, when you started having me, was it just to hold grandchildren? Surely not... Do you remember what my third grandpa said when I joined the Armed Department? A good young man serves the country as serving his family. Life and death can be forsaken, but the heart of a child cannot be lost. In my life, I’ve never considered marriage and children as goals. Look at it this way. For unnecessary options like these, living would be truly meaningless and purposeless.”
“Bullshit!”
A dog barked in the corridor.
Tang Xizhou burst out laughing: “It even comes with sound effects!”
As soon as the door opened, Song Dami quickly turned and came over to visit.
Song’s parents were back. Seeing Tang Xizhou’s mother, they warmly invited her to sit for a while. Out of politeness, Tang Xizhou’s mother went across the hall.
Tang Xizhou clasped his hands together in gratitude to the heavens.
Turning around, the film crew had arrived, and looking up, he saw Jiang Beibei holding an ice cream at the stairwell corner, watching him.
“You kid, how mischievous can you be!”
“I was afraid Auntie would confront you; I wanted to be ready to rescue you at any time, my second royal brother.”
“Oh, upgraded already.” Tang Xizhou bounded up three steps and carried her down, “The camera is so heavy; don’t climb stairs. Let’s record at my place.”
The cameraman gratefully diverted to Tang Xizhou’s house.
Tang Xizhou’s mother heard the commotion and glanced over. Seeing the camera, she paused and quietly pulled her head back in.
A young man took out a recording pen, a mischievous smile on his face, and said to Jiang Beibei: “Little Jiang, get ready. The questions will be quite tricky.”
Jiang Beibei: “Hongyu, what kind of questions did Editor Huang prepare? Can you give me a heads-up?”
“Nope, but I can tell you, the questions are pretty wild.”
“Cut it out. Do you have the Socialist Core Values manual? Let me recite a couple of passages to calm your mind?”
“Don’t dismiss it.” The host said, “We ask the questions, we broadcast them, and when we broadcast, we cut this part. We’ll give you the full version on DVD later. Do you want the one with your boyfriend and Fourth Brother?”
“Wow, yes, yes, yes! Are all the wild questions asked?”
“Not really, only close-ups.” The host shook his head, “I can let the post-production team edit a version for you to drool over, and for Fourth Brother, we’ll make a funny version.”
The cameraman laughed: “That cat show is hilarious. I almost lost my professionalism, nearly couldn’t maintain my composure.”
“Hahaha, really?” Jiang Beibei was not surprised. Song Lang always spoke humorously, which was one of the reasons his business thrived. She asked, “Was filming my little brother boring?”
“Where, Chu Yao was also humorous.” The host said, “Different styles, dry humor, dry humor.”
Tang Xizhou cut the fruit and brought it out to entertain them. The host enthusiastically shook hands with him: “Editor Huang mentioned that you’re her second brother.”
“Mm, just promoted to second royal brother.”
“Hey hey, greetings, second royal brother.” The host got the joke and sat down, saying, “Princess Six, then I’ll start working!”
“Hongyu, you sure know how to talk!”
“Overpraised, overpraised.” The host clapped his hands, and together with the cameraman, they chanted ‘good luck,’ starting the interview recording work.
When Chu Yao returned, the first floor was still filled with laughter and singing.
He carefully pushed open a crack in the door. Songs and guitar sounds came out. Jiang Beibei sang a few lines and said, “Hey, it’s been a long time since I’ve touched a guitar. My fingers don’t have calluses, pressing the strings hurts a lot. Let me off, shall we showcase another talent instead?”
“Reporter Jiang, answer my question. I’m really curious.” The interview host asked, “What type of partner did you fantasize about during your teenage years? Was it provocative?”
“Well, well, I surrender.” Jiang Beibei raised her hand, “No more talent shows, I’m out of tricks. I’ll answer. During my teenage years, I fantasized about a partner who was 188 cm tall, always making an entrance like Tuxedo Mask, with a red rose in his mouth, descending from the sky to save me from trouble, then helping me onto a horse, walking towards a castle full of roses. That’s it, you can laugh now.”
“Hahaha...” Tang Xizhou led the laughter.
The host sighed: “I didn’t expect such a tough girl to have such soft fantasies.”
Jiang Beibei: “No no no, what you see at work is all an act. If I don’t transform into a hardworking superhero, what happens if our station chief fires me? Without skills, if fired, I’d have to sing on the streets for pennies... At home, I’m very timid, really.”
“When you interviewed the black workshop in Jiangling, you weren’t timid at all.”
“Hahaha, how can I be timid towards unscrupulous people? I am very righteous; righteousness is the best courage.” Jiang Beibei said.
“Before coming, Editor Huang mentioned that you wouldn’t mind talking about your father and mother.”
“Of course not, why should I mind?” Jiang Beibei said, “My parents are heroes, and I am the daughter of heroes. The sense of responsibility, mission, and honor they taught me with their lives shouldn’t be hidden. I must proudly speak out. Although I can’t become a hero like my parents, I can stand tall and upright as a good person, fighting life’s difficulties with belief and confidence. I am proud.”
Tang Xizhou’s mother came out to check if the film crew had left. Opening the door, she saw Chu Yao quietly leaning against her doorway, exhausted yet smiling.
Like everyone in love, no matter how tired, you could see the contented smile of happiness on them.
Tang Xizhou’s mother stood there for a long time, gently closing the door.
Before finishing work, Huang Yuanbao received a call from an unlisted number.
“Hello, hello, I am Huang Yuanbao, editor-in-chief of the program ‘People Around Us.’ Who is this?”
“...It’s really you.” From the other end, a male voice replied.
Huang Yuanbao was shocked: “Holy crap!! Who the hell are you? Qin Yuan? No way? How did you get my number?”
“Guess.” Qin Yuan sighed, “You won’t guess even if you break your head where I got your phone number.”
“...Not from a blind date, right?”
“Heh, smart.” Qin Yuan said, “Embarrassed? Guess who introduced you to me?”
“My... my dad?”
“Bingo!” Qin Yuan forced a bitter smile, “Sister-in-law, what fate! I went to see a few retired old leaders and didn’t expect your dad to be Director Huang of the Disciplinary Committee... You come from quite a background.”
“No way! You look so unsafe, flirting eyes and fickle heart—how could my dad pick you?”
“Hey, don’t talk about your dad first; I need to say something about you. Sister-in-law, you’re not being fair. Dating Fourth Brother, why haven’t you told your family?”
“Damn, does your family go home and tell parents within ten days of dating?!”
“Yeah, I do.” Qin Yuan nodded.
“That’s because you average less than ten days per breakup, right?” Huang Yuanbao rolled her eyes, “Listen, don’t take it to heart. Ever since my sister showed off her kid at my place during New Year, my dad has been anxious. Recently, he might settle for anyone. Picking you isn’t impossible; he might be casting a wide net.”
“...” Qin Yuan, “All those retired leaders in public security, prosecution, and judiciary with daughters are sick. They keep introducing me to girls with boyfriends.”
“Hahaha, holy crap, you’ve got stories? Were you third-wheeled?”
“...” Qin Yuan, “I’ll hang up. I’ll report back to Fourth Brother later.”
“Hey, no need to report this.”
“Editor Huang, bring Fourth Brother home sometime. Compared to last time, Director Huang’s hair has thinned considerably. If you don’t bring a guy home soon, your dad might go bald.”
Huang Yuanbao cursed with a laugh: “To hell with you.”
But after hanging up, she seriously considered bringing Song Lang home someday.
After hanging up, Qin Yuan saw an intern from the firm playing tarot cards.
“Can you predict love?”
The intern, as if discovering hot celebrity gossip, ran over hugging the tarot cards: “Qin Shuai wants to predict love? With whom?”
“Just for me.” Qin Yuan grumbled, “This year I seem to be plagued by bad romantic luck. The ones I like are taken by others, and those introduced to me are all married women. It’s strange.”
“Wow!” The intern wasn’t tactful, “Then I can’t help. Your situation might require a master to perform a costly ritual to ward off disasters, at least 18,888 yuan to burn incense!”
Qin Yuan: “...Then I’d rather use that money to treat my mom.”
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