Free Web NovelChapter 376: Chapter 376: Yue Ming 26
Xu Jia pressed his advantage. "Alright then. By that logic, you owe me several meals. You’ll have to treat me to each and every one of them later."
Liuu Yuming studied Xu Jia seriously for a few seconds before smiling. "No problem!"
Although she hadn’t dated in years, she understood the basics. How could she not, working in the wedding industry? If a man wasn’t interested in you, he wouldn’t even try to get close.
Relationships deepened through this kind of back-and-forth. For now, at least, Liuu Yuming didn’t find Xu Jia off-putting. But it would be unrealistic to say she liked him yet; it was simply that she didn’t dislike him.
Xu Jia naturally caught the look in Liuu Yuming’s eyes. He twiddled his fingers, his mood suddenly soaring. To a wily old fox of the business world like him, Liuu Yuming was like a child, her thoughts clear as day.
In the car, after giving the driver her address, Liuu Yuming initially exchanged a few words with Xu Jia. But soon, she couldn’t stay awake any longer. Her head began to nod, little by little, until it eventually came to rest against the car window.
"Mom, wake up." Liuu Yuming was woken by Liuu Min’s cool, clear voice. She blinked, looking at the familiar bed before her, feeling a bit dazed. Her memory stopped at getting into the car yesterday; she couldn’t recall anything after that.
’So how did I get home?’
Liuu Min pressed a warm towel to her face. "Mr. Xu carried you back yesterday. You were sleeping like a log."
Liuu Yuming tried to defend herself. "I’ve just been so tired from work lately. And with the good news I got last night, you can’t blame me for being overjoyed and crashing like that."
"Yes, yes, I don’t blame you," Liuu Min said, feeling for her mother. She smiled. "Hurry up and get out of bed. If you don’t go over soon, Great-Aunt will have interrogated Mr. Xu about his entire family history."
Liuu Yuming shot up. "He hasn’t left yet? How did he run into Great-Aunt?"
A half-smile played on Liuu Min’s lips. "Isn’t that a heartless thing to say? The man brought you home, bustled about taking care of you, and the first thing you want to do is kick him out?"
Liuu Yuming scratched her hair into a bird’s nest. "I’m just worried Great-Aunt will get the wrong idea!"
Liuu Min countered, "If you aren’t overthinking it, why would anyone else?"
"I can’t win against you. He’s at Great-Aunt’s house, right? I’m heading over now!" After a quick wash in the bathroom, Liuu Yuming dashed next door. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Liuu Min wouldn’t have let Xu Jia stay at their house; she would have definitely arranged for him to stay at their great-aunt’s.
Watching Liuu Yuming’s hurried retreat, Liuu Min stuffed her hands in her pockets and followed at a leisurely pace. In hindsight, her meeting with Xu Jia last night could be summed up in one phrase: a meeting of two sharp minds.
Liuu Min knew Xu Jia had designs on Liuu Yuming, and Xu Jia knew that Liuu Min knew. The fact that she didn’t object—and had even arranged for him to stay at Liuu Yuming’s great-aunt’s house—told Xu Jia everything he needed to know.
She wouldn’t object, but she wouldn’t actively help, either. That was good enough. Xu Jia was already very satisfied with the situation. Liuu Yuming’s great-aunt, however, was indeed a little *too* enthusiastic.
When Liuu Yuming walked in, she saw her great-aunt interrogating Xu Jia, eyeing him the way a mother-in-law sizes up a potential son-in-law. A shiver ran down Liuu Yuming’s spine. "Great-Aunt, is there any breakfast? I’m starving to death."
"Don’t say that! It’s bad luck to talk about dying first thing in the morning," her great-aunt chided. "Breakfast is pork buns from Xinli that Little Xu went out to buy. Your favorite kind."
Liuu Yuming looked at her. "Have you guys eaten?"
"We’ve already eaten," her great-aunt said with a wave of her hand. "We were just waiting for you to get up. Have you been working too hard lately? You look like you’ve lost weight. And Jun, too. He said he was going to help you, so how did he manage to let you get thinner?"
"He’s actually been a huge help. Jun has been overseeing the factory and the renovations for the new house. He has to manage the shop’s business on top of that... He works very hard, too."
Liuu Yuming took a sip of soy milk and quickly spoke up for Liuu Jun. He was her first cousin, after all. How could she just stand by and let him be misunderstood? freewёbnoνel.com
Her great-aunt chided affectionately, "You’ve always been so considerate of others. It can’t be easy. Little Min’s results are out. Her principal came by this morning to deliver the news himself. He said you two should go to the school at 8:30."
Liuu Yuming checked the time. "Got it. Let me just have another bite of this bun. How did Little Min do? And you didn’t even wake me when the principal came."
Little Min sat down across from Liuu Yuming. "It wasn’t anything important. The school is already decided; we just have to go sign the agreement. You’re so tired from work, isn’t it better for you to get more rest?"
"Alright, alright. Ah, my wonderful, thoughtful ’son’!" Liuu Yuming grinned at Liuu Min, the flattery rolling right off her tongue. Xu Jia found it amusing; he’d never expected Liuu Yuming to act like this in front of her daughter.
"I was originally thinking of going to S City to sign the agreement myself. It would’ve saved you a trip back. All this running back and forth is too exhausting. Unfortunately, I’m not a legal adult yet."
Liuu Min sighed. "If I’d known, I wouldn’t have skipped all those grades."
Liuu Yuming struggled to swallow her bun. "Little Min, that’s such a humblebrag."
Liuu Min just smiled, her expression unchanging as she watched Xu Jia hand her mother a cup of soy milk. "It’s just a fact. Let’s go to the school once you’re done eating. If we walk, we’ll get there just in time."
"The sooner we finish, the sooner you can head back. Don’t you have class this afternoon?"
Liuu Yuming stood up abruptly. "Give me five minutes. Mr. Xu, if you’re busy, you can head back first. I can get back on my own."
Xu Jia smiled. "I’m not busy. I’ll wait and go back with you. It’s better to see things through to the end."
’If I left now, I’d be a real idiot,’ he thought. Besides, if he went back first, he’d have to find another excuse to see Liuu Yuming again. This was much better—a perfectly natural reason to be with her.
When Liuu Yuming and Liuu Min arrived at the school, the admissions officers from various universities were already there. A few of the other schools, not ready to give up, tried one last time to win her over, but they ultimately couldn’t change Liuu Min’s mind.
Liuu Yuming didn’t mind either way; she would go wherever Liuu Min went. But Liuu Min had her own considerations. The family business was centered around S City. While she could certainly go to the Capital City to develop her career, she wouldn’t be able to help with things back in S City from so far away.
As the mother and daughter were weighing these factors, neither of them gave Xu Jia a thought. After all, he was just a friend at this point, so it was only natural that he wasn’t part of their considerations.
With the enrollment agreement signed, Liuu Yuming’s task for this trip was complete. Walking out of the school, she felt a wave of nostalgia. "Back when I used to come here for your parent-teacher conferences, everyone envied me."
Liuu Min played along. "What did they envy you for?"
Liuu Yuming said with great pride, "They envied me for having a daughter with good grades who was also smart and polite. They envied my successful career..."
"And they probably envied you for being pretty, right?" Liuu Min finished her sentence for her. "Among all the parents in the class, you were the youngest and the most beautiful."
"Well, that’s not a fair comparison. It’s because you kept skipping grades," Liuu Yuming said, still level-headed about it. "Everyone else is just a normal person. We can’t expect every student to skip grades; that wouldn’t be fair to them."
