CH 21

The car trip home was tensed.

Zhen Zhen knew Yue Gu Zai was angry about her running off to work, but he didn’t own her freedom.

‘Who’s that man?’ Yue Gu Zai asked.

‘Oh, he’s Reynold,’ Zhen Zhen said. ‘You met before.’

Yue Gu Zai couldn’t remember someone irrelevant like Reynold.

‘Did you eat dinner with him?’ Yue Gu Zai asked.

It was true Zhen Zhen did eat dinner with Reynold even if he was an irrelevant man. But she didn’t know how to answer Yue Gu Zai’s question without making him angrier.

‘I usually eat dinner with you,’ Zhen Zhen said.

Yue Gu Zai didn’t say anything else and the tension in the car intensified. Only Bai Yu Tian was unaffected.

‘Tomorrow I’ll escort you to see your parents,’ Yue Gu Zai said suddenly.

The hair on Zhen Zhen’s body all rose. ‘No! My parents are ordinary civilians. A boss like you would scare my parents.’

‘I’ve prepared everything to meet your parents,’ Yue Gu Zai said. ‘We’ll leave early in the morning to go to your parents’ house.’

Zhen Zhen pouted her lips and mumbled, ‘toxic man.’

Later that evening, Zhen Zhen was too upset with Yue Gu Zai. She slept on the bed with her back facing Yue Gu Zai the whole night, but he didn’t change his mind.

Early the following morning, Zhen Zhen’s back was sore from sleeping in an awkward position. On the way to her parents’ house, Yue Gu Zai massaged her back but her back was still sore.

At Zhen Zhen’s parents’ house, Zhen Zhen’s mum opened the door and was surprised to see Zhen Zhen.

‘Old man, your daughter’s home,’ Mrs Zhen said.

‘Old woman, there’s no reason for you to be emotional just because she’s home,’ Mr Zhen lied.

Mr Zhen missed his daughter. He hadn’t seen his daughter for a long time, but he spoke calmly, ‘You finally decide to visit. I thought you don’t know how to part with your lab. Where’s my grandson?’

‘Dad, Zhen Wu’s at school,’ Zhen Zhen said.

Zhen Zhen was too happy to see her parents that she forgot about Yue Gu Zai.

‘What’s so good about school?’ Mr Zhen said. ‘My grandson is smart enough to go to college. Missing a day at school isn’t an issue. I think you didn’t let him visit, because you’re scared I’ll monopolise him.’

‘Old man, what are you saying to your daughter?’ Mrs Zhen asked and glared at Mr Zhen.

Mrs Zhen noticed a tall man was standing behind her daughter. ‘Who is this gentleman?’

‘Hello aunty, my name is Yue Gu Zai,’ Yue Gu Zai greeted. ‘I’m Zhen Zhen’s husband.’

‘Husband…’ Mrs Zhen said in a startled tone of voice.

‘Mum, don’t listen to his nonsense… he’s… my boyfriend,’ Zhen Zhen lied.

Zhen Zhen was scared to tell her parents the truth about being married to Yue Gu Zai, but if she said she had no relations with Yue Gu Zai then Yue Gu Zai would be angry.

‘Mum, dad, aren’t you two always nagging me about being in the lab all day long?’ Zhen Zhen asked. ‘Now I’m bringing my boyfriend home to meet mum and dad.’

‘Oh… then come inside,’ Mrs Zhen said.

Inside Mr and Mrs Zhen’s house, Yue Gu Zai presented the gifts he asked Bai Yu Tian to buy.

‘Aunt, these are tickets to see the comedy show at the theatre next Monday evening,’ Yue Gu Zai said. ‘Uncle, I hope you like this vintage painting from France.’

‘You didn’t need to bring any gifts,’ Mrs Zhen said. ‘It’s enough you came to visit us.’

Mrs Zhen thought the little boy Gu Zai was a sincere boy. The tickets he gave her were VIP tickets to the comedy show she wanted to see, but the tickets were sold out.

‘Have the two of you eaten?’ Mrs Zhen asked. ‘Why don’t you two stay for dinner?’

Zhen Zhen couldn’t believe Yue Gu Zai investigated her parents to find out her parents’ interests. She thought Yue Gu Zai used the gifts to buy her parents’ approval.

Mr Zhen silently assessed the little boy Gu Zai. He admitted Gu Zai looked like a good specimen. But he was going to give his future son-in-law a hard time to keep Gu Zai on his toes.

‘Little boy, what do you do for a living?’ Mr Zhen asked.

‘Dad, he owns a business,’ Zhen Zhen said.

Mr Zhen gave his daughter a warning look and she closed her mouth.

Mr Zhen knew Gu Zai was a successful boss if Gu Zai could afford to buy a rare expensive painting to give to him.

‘Little boy, what type of business do you run?’ Mr Zhen asked.

Yue Gu Zai secretly glanced at Zhen Zhen. She gave him a warning look, if he dared to say he sold weapons then she would dump him. But she knew he didn’t want to lie to her parents. Besides, to him there was no difference between selling weapons and selling fruits and vegetables.

‘I own a trading business,’ Yue Gu Zai said diplomatically.

Zhen Zhen let out a tensed breath, luckily Yue Gu Zai didn’t say he sold weapons.

Mr Zhen nodded and accepted Gu Zai’s explanation. ‘Where do you live? Where do your parents work?’

‘My parents are no longer living here,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

Mr Zhen thought Gu Zai meant his parents weren’t alive instead of living overseas. So Mr Zhen was relieved, his daughter wouldn’t be bullied by wicked in-laws if Gu Zai’s parents weren’t alive.

‘Do you know about my grandson?’ Mr Zhen asked.

Mr Zhen saw Gu Zai nodded. He was happy Gu Zai didn’t mind about his daughter’s past. As long as his daughter liked Gu Zai, he wasn’t going to give Gu Zai grief.

‘In the past my daughter was blind and chose the wrong man,’ Mr Zhen said. ‘I regret I didn’t get to teach that bastard a lesson. In the future you better treat my daughter well, understand?’

Yue Gu Zai wanted to ask what Mr Zhen meant by Zhen Zhen being blind and choosing the wrong man.

‘Dad, he understands,’ Zhen Zhen interrupted before Yue Gu Zai could open his mouth.

‘Enough, everyone should eat dinner,’ Mrs Zhen said.

‘Yes, yes, eat dinner,’ Zhen Zhen hastily agreed.

Yue Gu Zai knew Zhen Zhen was hiding a secret from him, but he didn’t voice his suspicions and let Zhen Zhen drag him to the dining table.

‘Gu Zai, you should eat a lot,’ Mrs Zhen said. ‘I hope you’ll excuse my poor cooking skills.’

‘Aunt, the food is delicious,’ Yue Gu Zai praised honestly.

Yue Gu Zai wasn’t someone who forced himself to eat food that wasn’t delicious, but he knew it didn’t hurt to suck up to his mother-in-law.

Mrs Zhen was happy to hear her future son-in-law praise her cooking. She put more food into Gu Zai’s bowl.

Yue Gu Zai hated someone else putting food into his bowl. But Bai Yu Tian advised him it was important to make his wife’s parents happy so he forced himself to eat the food Mrs Zhen put in his bowl.

‘My daughter is impulsive and lacks good judgement,’ Mrs Zhen said. ‘I hope you won’t mind her flaws.’

‘Mum, why are you picking on me?’ Zhen Zhen asked.

‘If you’re not an impulsive person then in the past you wouldn’t have met that bastard who abandoned you after giving birth to Zhen Wu!’ Mr Zhen said. ‘You better not ever let me meet that bastard. If I meet that bastard, I’ll give him a beating!’

Mr Zhen was always upset when he was reminded about Zhen Wu’s irresponsible and heartless father. He could still remember clearly the day his precious daughter ran home crying and telling him she was pregnant but the child’s father ran off. At that time he was both angry and worried for his daughter’s future, he suggested she abort the child. If she didn’t insist on keeping the child then he wouldn’t get to be his precious Zhen Wu’s granddad.

The truth was Zhen Zhen didn’t dare tell her parents that she planned a one night stand to conceive Zhen Wu. If she told her parents the truth, her parents would have beaten her to death. So she lied and said Zhen Wu’s dad abandoned her since it was common for men to abandon their pregnant lovers. In the past she didn’t think she would see Zhen Wu’s dad again. But Yue Gu Zhen found her… he was sitting next to her and looked like he wanted to skin her.

Unexpectedly Yue Gu Zai calmly put his bowl and chopsticks on the dining table.

‘Uncle, aunt, I’m Zhen Wu’s biological father,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

Mr Zhen couldn’t believe what he heard. He looked closely at Gu Zai and realised why Gu Zai looked so familiar to him, Gu Zai looked exactly like his precious Zhen Wu. Gu Zai was the bastard that abandoned his precious daughter and Zhen Wu! What did Gu Zai want? Did Gu Zai want custody of Zhen Wu? Gu Zai shouldn’t even dream about it!

‘You bastard!’ Mr Zhen cursed. ‘Leave! I don’t want to see your face!’

‘Uncle, please listen to my explanation,’ Yue Gu Zai said calmly.

‘I don’t want to listen to your explanation!’ Mr Zhen said. ‘If you want custody of Zhen Wu, I want you know I’ll never let that happen! You abandoned my daughter. I’ll never accept you. Leave!’

Mr Zhen was gasping for air and his old chest pain relapsed.

Yue Gu Zai knew if he stayed any longer, Mr and Mrs Zhen wouldn’t give their blessing for him to be with Zhen Zhen.

‘Uncle, I’ll leave first and I’ll visit you another time,’ Yue Gu Zai said.

‘Leave!’ Mr Zhen yelled. ‘You’re not welcome here! You don’t need to come back here again!’

‘Old man, calm down,’ Mrs Zhen said. ‘You need to take care of your health.’

Zhen Zhen rubbed her dad’s chest. ‘Dad…’

Zhen Zhen was relieved to see Yue Gu Zai leave, but she felt guilty about her parents misunderstanding him.

‘I’m warning you,’ Mr Zhen said to Zhen Zhen. ‘You’re not allowed to see that bastard again!’

Mrs Zhen helped Mr Zhen walked to their bedroom while Zhen Zhen was upset why everything turned into a mess.

***

End of Chapter Twenty-One