CH 82

Playing Mahjong

Looking at her mom’s face full of suspicions, Su Shen blinked and plucked up the courage to say, “He… He’s my boyfriend.”

As soon as her words fell, Mama Su’s eyes opened wide, and she immediately looked toward the sofa. She could only see his side profile, but his appearance did not seem bad. As she was about to walk a bit forward, she walked a few steps back as she thought of something and angrily dragged Su Shen to the kitchen with a scowl. 

As soon as the kitchen door closed, she looked outside with a frown. “When did you suddenly get a boyfriend? You’re not lying to us, right?”

Isn’t it often seen on TV that the female lead would find someone to pretend as her boyfriend to deceive her parents?

Su Shen was shocked by her mom’s imagination, so she could only answer honestly, “His name is Xie Yan, and he’s also in the entertainment industry. But, he’s different from others. He doesn’t even film kiss scenes. He’s absolutely different from the people in the entertainment industry you thought of.”

Xie Yan?

The name sounded familiar to her. Frowning, Mama Su stared at her. She suddenly remembered that on Chinese New Year’s Eve, this Xie Yan had called Su Shen. So these two had kept it a secret until now!

“Hmph! He’s great just because you said so? You naive girls are the best to deceive!” Mama Su snorted. Knowing that she still had two dishes to make, she glanced at Su Shen again and said, “Get out quickly! I’ll go and take a look at your sudden boyfriend later!”

Seeing how angry her mom was, Su Shen was a little scared, so she slowly opened the kitchen door and walked out. When she walked towards the sofa with hot tea, she saw that her dad, Xie Yan, and several relatives were playing mahjong!

It seemed like they were playing big just by the lofty amount of cash on the table. Her uncle was frowning, and it seemed that he had lost a lot, while her dad was just smiling and couldn’t tell whether he lost or won.

Su Shen walked over and placed the tea cups on the stool beside everyone. She then pulled a stool and sat next to Xie Yan. Looking at his hand, he was one tile away from winning, but there already appeared two tiles of one dots*, and it wasn’t certain that there would be more in the wall*. 

dots – in Chinese or Japanese mahjong, the standard set of tiles for Mahjong has 36 Dots/Circle, 36 Bamboos, and 36 Characters, numbered from 1 – 9

wall – in Mahjong, the wall is the stack of tiles stacked in front of every player, usually in two rolls on top of each other, waiting to be drawn by each player to create a winning hand

“This tile can’t be thrown. If I throw it, you guys will win.” Her uncle deliberately showed everyone a glimpse of his tile and then proceeded to see if the other three’s expressions changed or not. 

It was a one of bamboos and hadn’t appeared on the table before. No wonder her uncle didn’t dare to throw it. However, the other three people’s expressions remained unchanged, and sat there without saying anything. Seeing this, her uncle pressed his luck and threw the tile out!

“Pong*!”

Pong – three identical tiles, if you have two of the same tiles and another player throws away the same tile onto the table, you can pong it, which helps you get closer to winning

Her brother-in-law immediately turned over two one of bamboos, and her uncle also breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that no one ron* him.

ron – the call when the winning tile is discarded by another player

However, when it was her brother-in-law’s turn to throw out a tile, he also hesitated for a bit before suddenly throwing out a one of dots. 

Just as Su Shen wanted to say something, she saw her dad turning over his hand suddenly. “Ron!”

According to the order, it should be Xie Yan who won, and her dad wouldn’t be able to. However, Su Shen didn’t say anything, and Xie Yan also just calmly mixed and shuffled his tiles with the other tiles on the table, as if nothing had happened. 

Her brother-in-law was just playing along to make her dad happy, giving him a large wad of cash without blinking an eye. 

In Su Shen’s opinion, Xie Yan’s acting was so good that he didn’t even blink an eye when he saw his winning tile. He threw away the game so naturally, poor him. 

“Do you want some tea?” asked Su Shen softly. 

This was an automatic mahjong table, so everyone was already taking their tile. Xie Yan turned his head to look at her and nodded slightly. Su Shen then immediately took the teacup on the side and fed it to his mouth. The tea shouldn’t be scalding hot by now. 

Seeing this scene, Lin Yuanjin drew his tile while smiling, “Shen Shen, when will you invite uncle to drink your wedding liquor?” 

Hearing this, Su Shen’s hand trembled and the tea almost spilled out. She placed the teacup down blushingly. Just as she was about to say something, her dad began his daily scolding ramble, “Look at her, she’s still a child and doesn’t understand anything. It’s hard for anyone to want her.” 

“Why wouldn’t anyone want me?” Su Shen couldn’t help retorting. 

Xie Yan smiled and looked at her tenderly, “There is someone.”

As their eyes met, Su Shen couldn’t help but blush and suddenly got up. She didn’t want to watch them playing at all. In the end, only her dad won from this kind of deceptive playing, and both Xie Yan and her brother-in-law were just giving money away.  

Far away from the mahjong table, Su Shen was sitting on the sofa and watching cartoons with the group of children. Her little nephew naughtily asked her to hold him again. 

It was finally dinner time after a long wait. The mahjong table was also dismissed, and the dinner table was full of people. After Su Shen sat down, Xie Yan sat next to her as expected. Facing the pairs of eyes looking at her, she felt restless and nervous. 

Finally, after her mom sat down at the table, she looked at Xie Yan with a smile and said, “You’re Xiao Xie, right? Auntie didn’t cook much today, please make do, ahaha.”

There were at least a dozen dishes on the table. But, Su Shen knew that her mom was also a smiling tiger. She looked polite on the surface, but no one would know what she was thinking.

“Auntie’s too courteous. If this is considered make do then I might’ve not made do before,” said Xie Yan politely. 

Hearing this, Mama Su waved her hand with a smile and said, “You’re too kind.”

For these sorts of dinners, drinking was inevitable. Su Shen didn’t drink, but for the men, they have to drink. However, as Xie Yan had to drive, he couldn’t drink. Her dad began to probe as soon as he drank. 

“Xiao Xie, what are your plans for the future with Shen Shen?” Papa Su took a sip of wine and said unhurriedly.

Sitting there, Su Shen felt as if she was sitting on pins and needles, so she just focused on eating. Frankly, she hadn’t even thought about any plans, just letting nature take its course. 

“Su Shen’s still in the midst of developing her career, so it depends on when she wants to get married. However, after marriage, I will transition to working behind the scenes and won’t take on many projects, so we won’t be separated for too long,” said Xie Yan earnestly.   

Hearing this, Papa Su nodded with satisfaction. Although he didn’t know if Xie Yan would continue to be so good to Su Shen in the future, this could still be observed for a while longer.

“As for marriage, this matter doesn’t need to be rushed. Su Shen’s still in the midst of developing her career right now. It’s good for you youngsters to get to know more about each other, in case you can’t bear some of this girl’s shortcomings,” said Papa Su with a smile.

Su Shen naturally knew that her dad was testing Xie Yan. Although her parents often told her to find a boyfriend, they would be very strict if she really found one. 

Xie Yan nodded slightly and said, “Uncle is right. These matters can be planned slowly.”

At this, Papa Su smiled and said nothing, continuing to drink. After eating a little, Su Shen held her little nephew to go play. 

She was actually somewhat moved. It was the first time that she had seen Xie Yan be so respectful and polite. Unlike before, when they first met, he seemed to not even bother to say an extra word. Now, he was not as aloof as before. 

After dinner, her dad, brother-in-law, and several others sat on the sofa and chatted. Meanwhile, Su Shen and her mom were washing the dishes in the kitchen. But this time, her mom was not so aggravated. 

“Xie Yan’s not bad. There was no artful talk, and he was polite and reasonable. Moreover, he treats you well. Unlike your brother-in-law, who is a shrewd businessman. If he hadn’t treated your sister so well, I wouldn’t have agreed to their marriage!” Mama Su said as she washed the dishes while frowning. 

Su Shen was washing the dishes, and when she heard that, she just smiled and said nothing. It was just that Xie Yan was good at acting. He was not so easygoing in private, else he would’ve been oppressed by He Hua over the years.

“As for marriage, he still needs to be observed for a while. Time reveals a person’s heart. Whether he will always be good to you or not depends on whether he will show his true colors in the future,” said Mama Su seriously. 

Hearing this, Su Shen nodded without saying anything. She just didn’t expect that her mom would let him off so easily. 

When she walked out of the kitchen, most of her relatives had already left. Her brother-in-law was talking to Xie Yan about something, with a smile of a businessman on his face. When Su Shen walked over, the two shook hands again. Then, her brother-in-law and her sister walked towards the front door. 

Su Shen didn’t know where her dad had gone to, so she came to Xie Yan’s side, and after looking around, she looked at him and whispered, “What did you talk about with my brother-in-law?” 

Seeing her, Xie Yan couldn’t help but put his arm around her shoulder, lowered his head, and said softly, “Did you miss me these past two days?”

Su Shen: “…….”

Blushing, she didn’t say anything. However, even without asking, Su Shen could guess what it was about. They were all part of the entertainment industry, so there were many opportunities for the two of them to work together. A businessman like her brother-in-law would definitely not miss a chance to collaborate. 

“Who missed you? You brought a present for my dad yet didn’t bring one for me. When my brother-in-law chased after my sister, he sent her breakfast every day and picked her up and off from work. I received nothing.” Su Shen frowned and suddenly felt that she was too easy to chase after. 

Hearing her words, Xie Yan almost laughed from anger. He caressed her head and said helplessly, “You’re the most heartless person I’ve ever seen. You really think I’m lacking money to act in an idol drama?”

Su Shen: “…….”

Thinking was one thing, but him saying it aloud was another. Su Shen subconsciously blushed and looked down before coughing, “I… I didn’t know you would do that.”

When she thought about it now, Xie Yan was actually quite crazy. In order to chase her, he specially went to act in an idol drama. At that time, many people in the industry were confused, with many concluding that he must’ve been lacking money.

“Cough cough!”

Hearing this, Su Shen trembled all over and immediately took two steps back. Her dad, wearing a pair of glasses, came over with a pot of tea in hand. When he saw the two of them, he walked over to the sofa and sat down with a smile. “It’s a good thing when youngsters are in love. Don’t feel embarrassed.”  

Facing her dad’s teasing eyes, Su Shen coughed and immediately said solemnly, “Dad, it’s late. I have to go back to set later, I’m gonna go first.”

At this, Papa Su nodded. “Go, go. Be careful on the road. Bring Xiao Xie back more often in the future.”

Su Shen nodded blushingly. She then immediately turned around and went back to her room to grab her purse. When she came out, her mom nagged her to eat more. Su Shen then left the mansion with Xie Yan. 

As soon as she walked out of the mansion, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief. She went through a rollercoaster of emotions for the latter half of the day, but fortunately, nothing happened.  

After getting in the car, Su Shen looked at Xie Yan and asked, “How’s the discussion with your next project?”

That Hollywood project had been repeated by He Hua endlessly. 

“Not bad,” said Xie Yan, turning the steering wheel and backing the car. 

As the car gradually drove away from the mansion, Su Shen leaned against the seat and rested exhaustedly. She couldn’t help but ask, “How much did you lose today?”

Speaking of this, Xie Yan couldn’t help but turn to glance at her. His handsome face had a hint of tenderness. “Are you worrying about my money?”