Chapter 171 - MEETING SHI FAMILY AND YANG FAMILY (2)

"Aish, why are we meeting them here? This place is too expensive!" My mom complained as she sat on the chair. Her eyes looked around bewilderedly, looking both worried and awed at the decoration.

Mom touched the diamond flower as a decoration on the table, "Aish, this one must be so expensive. Maybe a thousand yuan? A hundred thousand?"

…

"I think that's around one million yuan. Meng Bao told me before that it was made with a real diamond."

"ONE MILLION YUAN?!" Mom gawked and raised her hands immediately, not wanting to touch a one million yuan decoration. 

I chuckled at her reaction. To be honest, when Meng Bao told me the price, I also had the same reaction as my mom. Because it was just simply illogical. 

But for Meng Bao, he thought it was a nice price for good decoration, especially when It involved the meeting between their parents. 

"Relax, Mom. This place is owned by Yang Menghuo. So if you break one thing or two, he wouldn't mind it," I winked mischievously at her. But she was still scared.

"Are you sure you're marrying the right person? I feel like Yang Menghuo is too much for us. He is too rich!" Mom said.

"Agreed," Dad added. "Our wealth disparity is out of this world."

I sighed. My parents were already saying something like this even before we met with Mister and Madam Yang. I really hope that nothing bad will happen in this family introduction. 

We waited for about twenty minutes until the door was opened and Meng Bao came with Mister and Madam Yang. 

Mr. Yang was as formal as ever. With his serious face, he wore a suit. While Madam Yang wore a formal white dress, with her high and mighty face, she looked at me and… actually had a smile on her face!

Okay, that got me even more nervous.

Meng Bao pulled the chair for his parents and sat side by side with me. The seating positions were my parents facing Meng Bao's parents, while Meng Bao and I were sitting in front of them. 

Mom looked uncomfortable immediately after seeing Madam Yang, which was understandable since their last encounter was in my house when Madam Yang mocked my family so ruthlessly. 

After a long silence, I elbowed Meng Bao, signalling him to start the meeting before it got even more awkward. 

"Ah—Ehm… thank you for Father and Mother Shi's willingness to attend this family introduction."

"Thank you to Mister and Madam Yang for attending this family introduction," I added to make it less one-sided. 

But it still felt very awkward, mainly because my parents were trying to avoid eye contact, while Madam Yang was so intimidating for whatever reason. Even though I had a feeling that she didn't mean to be intimidating here. 

Not long after, Meng Bao ordered the waiter to serve tea for everyone in the room. 

Things calmed down slightly after they sipped their tea, and Mr. Yang was the first one to open his mouth, "Did you arrange this family meeting only to introduce us like this?"

"This is quite boring, don't you know that I'm such a busy person?" Madam Yang added.

Those statements stunned Meng Bao and me at the same time. I didn't expect them to be so upfront about it. Meanwhile, my mom and dad kept their silence, but Mom's expression turned a bit ugly.

I had to fix this before it turned into a full-blown misunderstanding and fight. 

"Mister, Madam Yang, I wanted to introduce my family because I will get married to Meng Bao—I mean, Yang Menghuo soon. I don't want to cause misunderstanding and fight between my family and Yang Menghuo's family."

"A fight? Do you think we're that barbaric?" Madam Yang chuckled, still acting high and mighty.

Meng Bao was the first one to interrupt, "Mom, don't sound too condescending!" 

"Condescending? I am a busy woman, Yang Menghuo. This is already great respect for me to come and sit here to hear you talk! Show more respect to your parents!" 

Meng Bao was about to argue, but I held him and told him to calm down. 

I bowed my head politely, "Madam Yang, it is a great honour to have you here. I've been quite wondering whether you will attend this family introduction or not."

Madam Yang chuckled full of smut towards Meng Bao, "See? Even your future wife understands that hosting me in a meeting like this is quite a big task."

Meng Bao just looked away, throwing a small tantrum that got me exhaled deeply. I think I had to be the one who took charge of this. Meng Bao was far too emotional.

"Madam Yang, Mister Yang, please meet my parents. This is my Mom, Shi Yiliang. And my Dad, Shi Fu. As you see, we're a humble family of farmers in a village. My parents came here with the expectation to meet you two."

Mom and Dad bowed their heads respectfully, and Mr. Yang was the one who followed with a bow. 

Meanwhile, Madam Yang was still observing my parents and shrugged, "Yeah, I can see that."

My dad took the initiative first and directed his gratitude towards Mr. Yang.

"Sir, thank you for hiring my daughter as your secretary for seven years. She is the backbone of our family after my health starts to deteriorate. The salary she got from working with you has been used to maintain our small farm, helping with her sisters' student loan, and also helping us in tough times. I really can't thank you enough."

Mr. Yang, who had been looking formal and flat for the whole time, finally showed a bit of a sincere smile and replied, "Shi Ying has great working ethics as a secretary. The reason why I agreed upon Shi Ying and Yang Menghuo's marriage is because I understand Shi Ying's working ethics, and it would definitely balance out my lazy, good for nothing son."

"Dad!" Meng Bao tried to interrupt. His ears reddened out of shame. I chuckled and bowed my head at Mr. Yang. 

Meanwhile, Madam Yang was still as uninterested as before. She just scoffed when she heard her husband praised me. 

"I'm here because I respect my son's choice. Because apparently, he likes Shi Ying so much to the point that he would ignore everything I said just to be with her. So I will respect his choice, but that doesn't mean that I support them completely. At least not until Shi Ying proved her worth." 

I zipped my mouth instantly. I knew that Madam Yang was still thinking about marrying Meng Bao to someone that she deemed fit. 

But my mom was the first one to voice her argument, "Excuse me, Madam. But I also never agreed to let my daughter marry your son in the first place. Because I think my daughter needs someone older and more experience in life than her."

"But I allow them to be together because they were childhood sweetheart fifteen years ago. They're bound by fate to meet again, so I have no saying in this!"

"Just like you, Madam. You have no saying in this because it's them who fell in love, and it's them to decide whether they'd marry or not. It's not my right, especially after my daughter worked tirelessly to be the family's breadwinner. I don't want to give her the burden of a nagging mother!"

Madam Yang was surprised by my Mom's sudden outburst. But she suddenly darted her eyes at me and asked, "You're my son's childhood sweetheart?!"

I nodded lightly and lowered my head, feeling embarrassed, "I was the one who accompanied Meng Bao when he was young. When he lived with his grandmother in the village."

Madam Yang shifted her attention at Meng Bao, "You never told me about this. So Shi Ying is—"

"Yes, Mom, she is the same girl that accompanied me when I was younger. She was the one that gave me warmth when you and dad were too busy working, leaving me alone with late Grandma."

"Without her, I would not turn to be a functioning man right now. You don't understand how much her presence gives me assurance and teach me how to be a human."

"I didn't even care about anything when I was young. I didn't care about all the guards and servants you gave me. I didn't care about all the money you had as well."

"I feel empty, and Ying Jie is the one who helps me out of that emptiness. She is the one that pulled me out of the hopelessness I felt when I was a kid."

"And where were you two back then? Working."

"You don't care about my wellbeing as a human. You see me as something that will be okay as long as you feed me well."

"At some point, those expensive foods tasted like nothing to me. Because I was too heartbroken and empty to even eat."

"And who was the one who personally spoon-fed me when I don't feel like eating? Ying Jie."

"Who chatted with me for hours when I was heartbroken since you two were too busy working to even talk to me on the phone? Ying Jie."

"Who hugged me when my heartfelt too cold and lonely without you two? Ying Jie."

"She was the one who told me that my parents loved me, despite me having no hope towards my parents."

"So please understand that she is very important in my heart. She is the reason why I can be with you two right now. Even without your blessing, I will still marry Ying Jie."