Chapter 158: Spouses With Benefits

Professor Li wasn't the perfect woman Qian Meng had thought her to be. She was a partial parent… and she was a flawed parent. At that moment, she felt like de-escalating the situation.

"If you ask the hotel employees, they will let you know the number of times we went on dates or boarded the same plane, or we stayed over at each other's residence. You just ignored the signs," Qian Meng explained softly.

Yize shifted her eyes to Qian Meng and she glared. Until she suddenly remembered Qian Meng sliding into the front seat and talking so seriously with Mo Qingchen that night they destroyed Bai Ye Qing's car. How Qian Meng had called her older brother like she didn't think it was wrong to ask for help from him.

Mo Yize shook her head before sighing. "I'm a little tired. I'll freshen up and come down for dinner." She shook her head slowly and then turned on her heel and walked out of the room.

"She'll come around," Li Li Hua said, putting her hand on Qian Meng's shoulder.

Qian Meng looked at the woman and tried to give her a smile.

"I'm going to fix myself a drink. Does anyone want anything?" Mo Zichen asked.

"I'm alright," Li Li Hua said quietly.

"I'm going to go put my laundry in the utility room." Mo Xiao Chen answered before walking out of the room with his laundry bag.

Mo Qingchen didn't respond but took a sip of his water before looking away.

"I'm okay," Qian Meng said politely and lifted her own drink.

Mo Zichen left towards the kitchen and Li Li Hua took her left hand in hers.

"Mo Qingchen!" she said in an accusatory tone. "You proposed without a ring?"

"I wanted to buy her a ring, mother. What kind of a man do you think I am?" he asked. "But Qian Meng is picky and I want us to wear something personal and special to us. We decided that she would design our rings."

Li Li Hua gasped. "Oh, Mo Qingchen. You turned out to be a romantic! I'm so proud, son."

Mo Qingchen looked at Qian Meng sheepishly and she had to laugh.

"He's romantic without knowing it. He'll say the most mechanic things without realizing that they make my heart flutter," Qian Meng said softly. Calling her picky? He had been the one who spent hours at the store!

Mo Qingchen looked at her with surprise, wondering where Qian Meng was getting these dialogues from. She was a woman on a mission, that was for sure.

"I am dying of curiosity, but I don't think it's good to know about my son's love-life. I don't want to be a prying mother-in-law," she joked.

Qian Meng snickered and didn't say any more.

And then Li Li Hua left the room as well. Mo Qingchen seated himself beside her once again and rubbed circles on her back, a soothing gesture.

Qian Meng looked at him with one brow arched. There was nobody around them and he wasn't a physically affectionate person… at least, the platonic kind.

"What?" he asked with a smirk. "Am I not allowed to touch my fiancé?"

"I didn't say anything," she commented. She had to say, the soothing circles were helping her nerves quite a bit.

He tilted his head to the side and watched her face curiously. "Weren't you the one who asked me to be comfortable around you?" he teased.

"Yes. We'll be spouses with benefits soon," Qian Meng said, joking.

"Exactly," he said, a laugh in his voice, his hand still on the small of her back. "My father doubts us. It won't hurt to show a little affection, what do you think?"

Before she had the chance to answer him, she heard the sound of someone coming through the door. Mo Qingchen also looked up and they saw that it was Li Li Hua. As she took a few steps towards them, she looked between the young couple.

"I just wanted to let you two know that dinner is ready," she told them with a warm smile.

"Good. I'm hungry. I didn't have much to eat today," Mo Qingchen claimed, standing up.

He turned back around to face Yun Qian Meng and extended his hand in an offer to help her up. She took it effortlessly and stood up, but Mo Qingchen didn't release her hand once she was on her feet. Instead, he intertwined their fingers together and held it firmly in his.

Li Li Hua glanced at their linked hands and her smile immediately widened, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she just turned and walked back towards the door with Mo Qingchen and Qian Meng following behind her.

Mo Yize never returned for dinner. Qian Meng had no idea if it was because of her or Li Li Hua asking her not to come down, but nobody mentioned Yize for the rest of the night. Qian Meng then knew for sure that Li Li Hua had asked Yize not to come down.

So, it was Mo Zichen, Li Li Hua, Mo Xiao Chen, Mo Qingchen, and Qian Meng for dinner. It was a strange feeling to be eating with another family.

She had never spent any time with these people and it was really weird at first.

Li Li Hua was nothing if not a warm spirit. Maybe she sensed Qian Meng's nervousness and tried extra hard to make her feel accepted because she certainly did. Without Yize, no one voiced their judgments or intolerance at the news.

Mo Zichen was eerily calm and Mo Qingchen couldn't help but think that he was waiting for the right moment to sow discord.

Other than that, Mo Xiao Chen seemed to be excited about their announcement.

"So, does your family know about your engagement yet?" Mo Zichen asked halfway through dinner.

"No, not yet," Qian Meng answered. "You are the first people we have told. So, I guess my family will be next."

Mo Zichen let out a small smile. "That's good. I'll give you points for telling me before that senile old man." He snorted. "How is Yun Sui Bo doing though? Miserably losing his mind and trying to micromanage?"