On the way back Xu Ye made another stop at the secondhand market.
Inside he turned up a collapsible barbecue grill, not too big and not too small, and folded up it fit the trunk exactly.
They drove the whole way back to Red Leaf Estate.
Wang Manning took in the grounds of the complex and couldn’t help exclaiming, “Tch. This place is far too nice. If I could live in a house this big one day, that would be something.”
“You have quite an imagination. Let me tell you, your job right now is to get your academic grades up.”
“You’re so annoying. Sister-in-law, don’t you find it irritating, the way he’s always talking in that grown-up voice?”
“Er…” Chen Qingqing laughed. “Just ignore him.”
Xu Ye pulled the car into the garage, had Wang Manning and Wang Yuxin unload everything, and the three of them went into the living room together.
Wang Yuxin, at least, had been there many times.
Wang Manning had left again not long after arriving last time. Coming over properly like this, she was a little self-conscious.
“You’re back?”
Jiang Meilin got up with a smile and came over. “Why did you buy so much?”
“There’s more in the trunk. I hadn’t planned on bringing these two, but they insisted on coming along and there was nothing I could do about it.”
Wang Manning found her opening and called out, “Hello, Auntie.”
“It’s fine. The more the merrier.”
Xu Ye gave them another job. “You two go get the grill out of the car.”
Wang Yuxin was about to head out when Chen Qingqing caught hold of her. “It’s far too heavy. How is she supposed to lift that? You go get it.”
“Fine.”
Wang Manning giggled. “Sister-in-law, where’s your bathroom?”
Chen Qingqing pointed, and Wang Manning went straight off in that direction.
Jiang Meilin heard the word sister-in-law and was momentarily brought up short. It wasn’t that she saw anything wrong with it — she was simply curious about why her own daughter had reacted to it with no surprise at all. Could it be… that she had gotten used to being called that already?
Xu Ye set the grill up in the courtyard. Some of the other ingredients still needed preparing, and he seemed by now to be treating the place as his own home: he put an apron on and carried them into the kitchen.
Before long he called out, “Qingqing. Come help me.”
“Coming.”
Chen Qingqing went straight into the kitchen.
Watching this, Jiang Meilin didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
She and Chen Hansong had this one daughter and had indulged her from the day she was born. Never mind cooking — the number of times the girl had even set foot in a kitchen could be counted on one hand.
But look at her now.
One word from Xiao Xu and off she went.
Qingqing, Qingqing. You aren’t married off yet!
……
In the kitchen.
“How do I help?”
“Just wash all this.”
Chen Qingqing decided that was a job she could manage. She put an apron on and got busy at the sink — but the cold air from the central air conditioning was blowing straight at her, sending her hair flying everywhere.
“Dumb pig.”
“What?”
“There’s a hair tie in my pocket. Do my hair for me. My hands are wet.”
Xu Ye put the knife down and wiped his hands, then came around behind her, reached into her pants pocket and fished out the hair tie. In a moment he had her hair gathered into a ponytail.
He looked at the line of her neck, and at her ears, which under the downlights seemed especially delicate, and couldn’t help saying, “You look really lovely today.”
Chen Qingqing laughed. “Don’t start.”
“I mean it.”
“Come on, get on with your work. It’ll be dark before long.”
“There’s plenty of time.”
As he said it, a pair of misbehaving hands went around her slender waist from behind, and Chen Qingqing twisted quickly away and lowered her voice. “Get lost. My mom’s right outside.”
Only then did Xu Ye return to his own post. Prepping the food, he asked, “Qingqing, can I talk something over with you?”
“Go on.”
“Could you stop calling me dumb pig all the time? In private is one thing, but when there are people around it’s embarrassing.”
“What am I supposed to call you, then?”
Xu Ye was delighted. “Let’s just skip straight to it. Call me laogong.”
Chen Qingqing’s hands paused for a moment, and then she pressed her lips together. “You wish. I certainly will not.”
“All right. I’m in no hurry anyway.”
Chen Qingqing came back with a question of her own. “When are you planning to ask my dad over?”
“Once everything’s ready.”
“And what excuse are you planning to use?”
Xu Ye smiled. “Haven’t you noticed there’s one thing we forgot to buy today?”
“What?”
“Drinks.” He went on, “Once we have everything set up, I’ll just call your dad and have him bring a few bottles over. Isn’t that perfectly reasonable?”
“Mm.”
“If I were your dad I’d bring a couple of bottles of liquor while I was at it, get myself blind drunk in the evening, and then I’d get to stay the night. Whatever your mom thinks of him, she can hardly make him sleep in the courtyard. First time’s strange, second time’s familiar — once you’ve had the first night there’s a second, and then remarriage is only a matter of time. But your dad’s dumb about this sort of thing. He’s certainly not as clever as I am.”
“You’re the one who’s dumb.”
“Hey. You worked that out, did you?”
“My dad just cares about his dignity. He can’t bring himself to do it. Not everybody is as shameless as you are.”
Xu Ye said, “It’s one thing when other people say it. How can you say it too? Aren’t you afraid of upsetting me?”
“No.”
“You’re only this bold because you’re counting on the fact that I like you.”
“Tch~”
Xu Ye grabbed a handful of bamboo skewers, came around behind her, put one hand in front of her throat and held them up with the other, then laughed out loud like a bandit. “Missy, I’ve kidnapped you. Say ‘I love you’ and I’ll let you go.”
Xu Ye had assumed she would do as she was told. He hadn’t expected her to refuse to play along at all — she simply put her head down and bit his arm.
He was never going to come off worse. As she bit him, he “bit” her right back, on the neck.
“Get off, or I’ll hit you.”
“Mercy, heroine.”
“Why are you soaking the skewers in water?”
“Soak them and they won’t scorch on the grill. Otherwise the meat cooks through and the skewers burn out from under it.”
“Ohh, I see.”
“Swimming tomorrow afternoon?”
“Sure.”
“There’s no way you’re faster than me now.”
“Of course I am. I’m your master, aren’t I? I taught you everything you know.”
“Green comes from blue and surpasses blue. Haven’t you heard?”
“No.”
“Race me tomorrow, then?”
“Fine, let’s race.”
“Then will you wear one of the swimsuits I picked out for you tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Just once.”
“I won’t.”
“If I got myself drunk tonight, do you think your mom would let me sleep here?”
“Definitely not.”
“And if I stopped calling your mom Auntie and just called her Mom, do you think she’d go for it?”
“Definitely not.”
“I think she would. Want to bet? If I win, you let me kiss you ten times. If you win, I let you kiss me ten times.”
“Not a chance.”
(End of Chapter 278)