Qiao Yin's smile froze and just as she was about to ask for another table, she heard Zheng ZiHao's surprised voice go, "Qiao Yin?" He looked from Qiao Yin to Xiao Yang, even though he was shocked he did not forget to greet Xiao Yang, and with a friendly smile he went, "Xiao Yang."
Zheng ZiHao and Qiao Yin had been together for four years, he often went in and out of her apartment so it was natural that he knew Xiao Yang who lived across the hall from her. Xiao Yang also did not have much of an impression of him, but he remembered that Qiao Yin did have such a boyfriend, so he lightly nodded his head as a reply. He slightly glanced at Xue Qing and remembered two nights ago when Qiao Yin was extremely drunk, he sort of guessed what had happened.
"Ah, what a coincidence." Qiao Yin said reacting quickly with a smile, not forgetting to nod at Zheng ZiHao's parents, "Uncle, Aunty." She then smiled at Xue Qing, "Xue Qing."
**(note: In China, aunty and uncle does not mean they are related. It's something one would call to people older than them as a form of respect. There are also situations where they use 'big sister' or 'big brother.')**
Xue Qing returned her smile with some awkwardness. Mr. Zheng made a light sound in acknowledgment, other than that there was no reaction. While Mrs. Zheng's expression had been a bit weird when she saw Qiao Yin, but she now had on a smile as she went, "Little Qiao? Oh my, what a coincidence! Having a meal with a friend?" She stood up as she called over to them to come to sit, "Come come come, come sit at our table! Uncle and Aunty didn't have time to treat you to a meal in the past, we can make it up today."
Qiao Yin had the understanding that the situation was not good and so she rejected with a smile, "Aunty it's fine, today I'm treating a friend to a meal so it's not ideal."
Mrs. Zheng slapped her thigh and went, "Little Qiao, you just don't want to give me face."
“It's not that, Aunty. Today you and your family are out having a meal, so my friend and I joining you guys is not a good idea, right? How about another day, I'm really thankful Aunty," Qiao Yin finished, maintaining her smile while screaming internally: I shouldn't have said friend, if I had said client, then the opponent wouldn't have had a reason to keep insisting.
As expected, due to her slip up, Mrs. Zheng just wouldn't let them leave.
In the end, Xiao Yang coldly interjected, "Then we will trouble you." He then pat Qiao Yin's shoulder and motioned for her to sit down, "Don't worry about it, sit."
Not understanding his intentions here, but seeing that he did not seem to mind, Qiao Yin couldn't reject anymore so she thanked them and sat down. In the past, when she and Zheng ZiHao were dating, Mrs. Zheng didn't like her. What she disliked the most were the following three points: Qiao Yin grew up in a single-parent household, her job was busy and she earned more than Zheng ZiHao. The elderly woman did not like her daughter-in-law being too able and enjoyed comparing. Now that there was Xue Qing, who was the perfect candidate as a daughter in law, she obviously will utilize this opportunity to show off.
Qiao Yin was not worried, she would never argue with an elderly person about such small matters. Besides, when one grows old, they always have some bad habits they cannot change. Before, she did not retort because of her relationship with Zheng ZiHao, but now that they no longer have a relationship, she definitely did not have to care anymore. She was just worried that Xiao Yang and the Zheng family were not familiar, sitting at the same table would be awkward, thus she planned to engage him more, who knew that Mrs. Zheng would be even more attentive than she was.
Mrs. Zheng's 'main target' turned into Xiao Yang and she did not hold back, with a smile she went from asking about his family to his job, almost as if she wanted to look into his family history, "Police? Not bad. Looks pretty handsome too... Aunty sees that you're probably in your twenties, right? How long have you been a police?"
She glanced at Qiao Yin as she finished as if accusing her of raising a pretty boy.
**(Raising him as in that he is her kept man - as in she is his sugar mommy lol)**
Qiao Yin had yet to get angry, while Zheng ZiHao showed signs of holding his tongue. He had always been good to her, he had a good attitude, he never got angry at her. Sometimes he even blew up at Mrs. Zheng to protect her. With his personality, even though they had broken up, he still saw Qiao Yin as a sort of a friend, he definitely could not stand seeing his mother embarrass her like this.
From the very beginning, Xiao Yang answered each question without much of an expression, which can be considered as dealing with it easily, "I'm thirty-one this year, after graduating from the police academy, I directly enlisted into work at the station, I now work in Criminal Investigations division of the City Criminal Police Brigade."
Seeing his seriousness, Mrs. Zheng's smile almost slipped off, "A policeman? It's not really a good occupation, the job is dangerous and tiring, the salary isn't very high..."
"Mom." Before she could say any more disrespectful words, Zheng ZiHao cut her off. His expression was not good as he stared at his mother with knit brows. Seeing that her son was about to get angry, Mr. Zheng also could not simply continue to watch so he nudged Mrs. Zheng and warned her in a low voice, "Enough."
Mrs. Zheng glared at him, wanting to say more, but was cut off by Xiao Yang, "I apologize, I still have some business to attend to so I will leave first." His expression was calm as he stood up and then called the waiter over and told him, "The people on this table are my friends, tell the old man in the kitchen to serve all of the popular dishes." Then turning towards the table of people, "You guys take your time, I will treat you to this meal."
He then turned his gaze to Qiao Yin and calmly said, "Not coming with me?"
Finally regaining her senses, Qiao Yin quickly stood up and turned and bid farewell to Mr. and Mrs. Zheng, "Then I will take my leave first, uncle and aunty take your time." Then turning to Zheng ZiHao and Xue Qing, Zheng ZiHao's expression was now relaxed, most likely due to Xiao Yang's helping to calm the situation. She smiled and said, "See you next time."
Seeing him so carefree, she knew for sure that now the two of them no longer had any possibilities. Unexpectedly, it was not as hard to accept it as she thought it would.
And so the two neighbors left 'Rich Hometown'. When they returned to the car, Qiao Yin couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer and asked, "So your family opened this restaurant?"
Out of habit, Xiao Yang reached into his pocket for a pack of cigarettes, after thinking he stuffed it back into his pocket and offhandedly responded, "My father's restaurant, he's the head chef."
"But you still said.." She began. remembering his review of the restaurant.
He very calmly responded, "The truth."
Qiao Yin could not help thinking that it looks like even with regards to his family, his words were sharp. As she started the car, she asked, "To the police station?"
"Home." Xiao Yang flatly replied and then unexpectedly continued on to say, "Coincidentally, there is a chicken that's still being kept warm on the stove, I will cook some more dishes, let's eat together."
It was only then that Qiao Yin realized that what he said earlier about having business to handle was just to help her out of the situation. Qiao Yin was very moved and very hungry, even though she thought someone like Xiao Yang who was extremely busy with work probably would not be able to cook something proper, she did not reject and could only nod and say, "Okay, then I will also go home and make a few dishes and bring it over."
Xiao Yang didn't reply.
The two of them arrived back and went to their own apartments. Qiao Yin did not plan on cooking any complex dishes, so she simply took out the cured bacon from the morning and cut it into slices. Then she placed them in a bowl, added some oil and salt, and put them in the pressure cooker to cook. She then cut up the cured fish and put in a pan of hot oil. And as the fish started to turn golden, she added soy sauce, cooking alcohol and threw in cut up ginger and garlic, some cold water and then replaced the lid and left it to simmer.
After about 40 minutes, she turned off the pressure cooker and took off the lid, and inhaled the sweet smell of the cured bacon. The cured fish was also almost done, the pieces of fish were golden floating in the soup. Qiao Yin could not help tossing a few pieces in her mouth and was very pleased with the taste.
With her two dishes in hand, she knocked on Xiao Yang's door. But he was still busy in the kitchen and so could not come to the door but fortunately, he had left the door unlocked for her so she simply let herself in.
Qiao Yin placed her dishes on the table then went into the kitchen to see if she could help. As soon as she opened the kitchen door, her nose was attacked by the smell of many spices and bountiful flavors.
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YukkiMuch: What did you guys think of Mrs. Zheng and Zheng ZiHao's family? Even though Xue Qing, the girlfriend didn't talk, what do you guys think of her? Tell me what you think!!
Now it's a lovely dinner at Xiao Yang's place~~ can't wait hehe~~~
~Thank You for Reading, Please Comment Below~
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