Chapter 696: Chapter 695: Are You Free? My Parents Want You to Come Over for Dinner

She held her head down, holding back tears for a long time before finally swallowing them back.

Then she smiled and said, "It’s not that exaggerated, the show even gave me a small assistant. And someone really did prepare dinner the day before yesterday, Cheng Zhirang, he..."

"Qiuqiu, what’s borrowed is never truly yours."

Yuan Chun said seriously, "Right now, you’re getting attention and kindness from others due to his connections, but that’s just something you’ve borrowed, riding on his status. If you have nothing to do with him, or if you two break up one day, what then? Would others still treat you the same way?"

Mu Qiu slowly retracts her smile, gently pressing her lips together.

She wasn’t unaware of these truths; it’s just that she wasn’t used to being so openly analyzed in front of them.

"I know all this. That’s why I haven’t relied on him for the house matter, I’m not dating him to leverage his connections. Since we’re together anyway, he gives for me, and I give for him, isn’t that supposed to be part of a relationship?"

"It should be. But the difficulty lies in him being a super star, and many things get misinterpreted. Actually, your mom and dad aren’t against you being together—"

Yuan Chun softened her tone, revisiting this perennial issue between them.

"It’s just that it was uneven from the start, you not being accustomed to his lifestyle will surely lead to conflicts over time. There’s no parent who wishes for their daughter to exchange tears for a relationship that’s uncertain."

If only, if only the relationship between father and daughter, mother and daughter were more relaxed and natural, Mu Qiu would have said that her mom’s ability to make up inspirational stories was far better than hers.

She lowered her head to drink water, unwilling to face these matters under their scrutiny, nor did she want the three of them to start getting impatient and unhappy right after sitting down.

She hated the endless advice and preaching whenever they met.

"Can we not talk about this?" her tone was a bit stiff as she turned to grab her phone, "Have you guys had breakfast? Should I order some food?"

She didn’t like it, so Yuan Chun didn’t continue, holding her hand, "We ate on the plane. Do you usually live on takeout?"

"..." How did it turn into preaching again, she felt a bit flustered, squeezing out a smile, "Just occasionally order, sometimes we still go out to eat."

"So you two order takeout, risk getting photographed by paparazzi when you go out, and still won’t cook at home?" Mu Zhi frowned.

"I just feel lazy."

Mu Zhi glanced at her, "I’ve known that for more than twenty years."

Mu Qiu: "..."

She changed the subject, glancing at the large suitcase in the corner, asking them, "Mom, did you guys take leave to come here? How many days off? I’ll plan a sightseeing route, we can go out and have some fun."

"Just three days, we’re staying for three days, no need to go out."

"Three days?" She glanced again at the large suitcase; staying three days and bringing such a large suitcase, changing outfits every hour?

Yuan Chun noticed her gaze and asked Mu Zhi to pull over the suitcase, patting it, "Half of it is stuff your dad packed. It’s all your favorite food, put them in your kitchen. If you really don’t want to cook later, you can easily microwave something to eat."

Mu Qiu was stunned once more.

They know what she likes that much?

Mu Zhi coughed, seemingly blaming Yuan Chun for saying too much, and then opened the suitcase, taking out items that couldn’t last long one by one.

"Brought you acacia flower honey, you’re not used to other kinds of honey water, just like the acacia honey from West Street. I don’t know where you developed such picky tastes.

And the salted egg yolk pastries sold by the supermarket downstairs at home, didn’t you buy some the last time you came back? These are walnut gelatin slices personally made by Professor Chen’s family at school, you’ve always liked them. Also, vacuum-packed ham slices..."

Yuan Chun picked out the items that needed to be refrigerated, then asked, "I see there’s a supermarket nearby, I’ll go buy some groceries. Give him a call and ask if he’s available to come over for a meal."

This "he" was undoubtedly Cheng Zhirang.

Mu Qiu replied in a muffled tone, then took her phone upstairs to the second floor.

Just turned around and went upstairs; as soon as she did, her eyes welled up with tears, beads hanging on her eyelashes, trembling.

She closed the room door and called Cheng Zhirang.

Everything was fine initially, just shedding tears without making a sound. But as soon as the call connected and Cheng Zhirang’s voice came through, she couldn’t help but start crying aloud.

"Are you, are you free?"

She asked while crying, completely baffling Cheng Zhirang on the other end.

"What’s wrong?" His voice came slightly quicker, and there was a sound of a chair being pulled aside.

"I, I," she was choked with sobs, unable to get out the next words for a long time, "I’m just asking if you’re free."

This situation really worried Cheng Zhirang.

He lowered his voice, speaking steadily, "Don’t cry, come on, tell me, what’s wrong? What do you need from me? Where are you? I’ll come find you right away."

"I’m at home," Mu Qiu found a tissue, wiping her tears, "I just wanted to ask if you were free, my parents came to ask you over for a meal."

"......"

There was a pause, followed by a long sigh on the other end.

"My dear, you gave me a scare."

"So are you free or not?"

"I am. I’ll come over soon, do you need me to bring anything?"

Mu Qiu, choking slightly, thought about it earnestly, "It would be best if you could bring some groceries over, my dad said you always order takeout with me, so you seem like someone who doesn’t know how to live properly."

Cheng Zhirang: "... Okay. Wait for me at home, I should be there in about an hour and a half."

After hanging up, Cheng Zhirang left the hotel lounge, apologizing to the group by saying to put the bill on his tab, before leaving the impromptu morning tea gathering, swinging his suit jacket over his shoulder, unfastening his cufflinks as he walked, his pace noticeably quicker than usual.

This left those sitting in the lobby exchanging puzzled glances.

Jiang Kai raised his eyebrow, chewing on gum, and asked, "What’s going on? Is Super Star Cheng up to something new?"

He pulled out his phone, checking the latest trending searches, "There’s nothing else, the gossip’s still stuck on yesterday’s trip to Disney with a suspected rival."

Wei Ling, enjoying the show, glanced at someone across the room, touched up her lipstick in a small mirror, and said, "What else could it be, his girlfriend’s checking up on him? I didn’t expect it, when I saw that girl she seemed so sweet and gentle, yet she’s got Brother Cheng wrapped so tightly?"

Others didn’t reply, and Jiang Kai acted as if he didn’t hear her snide remarks, only saying, "It’s probably that the girlfriend needs something. It’s rare to see our Brother Cheng like this, that walking speed, just like when Lin Liang found out his wife was pregnant last year. Could it be, his girlfriend’s pregnant too?"

Sitting on the other side, sipping coffee, Lin Huanyue laughed, "Out of wedlock pregnancy isn’t really a pleasant thing to discuss, Cheng Zhirang isn’t someone so lacking in propriety."

"That can’t be certain, when you’ve met someone you like, all the rules and conventions lose their hold."