At the Lu house, Lu Xuan, Gu Shangyan, Song Xueyun and An Xiulan were sitting at the dining table with the Lu family. Since Lu Zhaolin had invited the kids for dinner, An Xiulan dragged Song Xueyun with her and she was glad that she did. Song Yifei was pleasantly surprised to see her niece.
“Our house is glowing with happiness today, ” Song Yifei said with a huge smile.
“Mom, the glow is brought by my sisters, ” Lu Xun cheekily replied. “Why don’t you send me to Miss An’s house? I will stay there and bask in the glow of happiness forever.”
Lu Xuan snorted. “Chubby, what makes you think my mom wants you there? She even threw me out of the house.”
“Dad, Ge is calling me Chubby again, ” Lu Xun snitched on his older brother.
Lu Zhaolin stared at his youngest son and said, “Xiaobao, how many times did mom and dad ask you to go on a diet? Your weight is unhealthy. But you don’t listen to me. Not just this, you have been eating snacks overnight. Do you know how bad is it to eat snacks at night?”
Lu Xun pouted as he crossed his arms over his chest and said, “Dad, you are body-shaming me. Do you know how crucial it is to develop the idea of body positivism in my head? I listened to so many podcasts. But you just undid the progress I made. Bad daddy!”
Lu Zhaolin gaped at him. “Brat, don’t forget you are talking to your father. And you don’t need podcasts on body positivism. You need to develop healthy eating habits and exercise daily.”
“Grandma, ” Lu Xun cried to his grandmother. “Look at what dad is saying.”
Old Madam Lu sighed and said in a coaxing voice, “Xiaobao, be a good boy and listen to your dad. Do you know what happened to the Wang family’s only son? He was overweight. He developed diabetes. He can’t eat delicious food now. His diet is under strict control. We are scared for you.”
Lu Xun wobbled his lips and had a mouthful of rice and some side dishes. The entire world was planning against him.
“What’s wrong with your grandma?” Song Xueyun asked in An Xiulan’s ear. “She is making sense. How on earth has she changed so much?”
An Xiulan shrugged. “What has this to do with me?”
Song Xueyun paused for a moment and then nodded her head.
An Xiulan looked at her father and then at her gloomy brother. “Dad, Auntie, what Xiaobao needs is not a strict diet. You can hire a nutritionist for him. The nutritionist will make a diet plan according to his health. This way, he will not have to stop eating delicious meals. As for exercise, it’s hard to get children into a strict exercise routine but you can put him in any sports programme.”
Lu Xun raised his head and looked at his sister with twinkling eyes that were brimming with endless love for her. As always, his Jiejie is the best in the whole wide world.
Lu Xuan, who was peacefully eating his meal, rolled his eyes. He could practically read the thoughts glued on his little brother’s face. Sometimes, he felt that those two were twins and he was an outsider.
“Xiaobao, what is your favourite sport?” An Xiulan asked.
“Shooting, ” Lu Xun replied and Song Yifei stifled a laugh.
“Why do you have a lazy choice in sports?” Lu Zhaolin asked.
Lu Xun pursed his lips. “The sportsman needs to be fit to participate in any kind of sports.”
“Fine, I will put you in shooting classes. But I can’t understand why you are interested in this sport, ” Lu Zhaolin said.
“Dad, you know our mutual enemy, ” Lu Xun said and Song Yifei glared at her son.
“You guys have a mutual enemy?” Gu Shangyan who had been silent until now couldn’t help but ask.
“Han Zixin, ” Lu Xuan whispered with a chuckle and Gu Shangyan had a look of realization.
“He won many national-level prizes in shootings. I wanted to see why my Jiejie found him amazing. I saw all of his videos that are available on the internet. And he is really good, “Lu Xun said with pursed lips. “I wanted to be a national-level player and defeat him. I want more fame than him.”
An Xiulan scoffed. “Xiaobao, you should be more original with your goals. Han Zixin is a national talent. Do you know that because of his talent the police department treasures him even more? He is the best shooter in the SWAT team. You can’t defeat him with your attitude.”
“Jiejie, one day you will see. Your brother will defeat your best friend, “Lu Xun said with a huff.
“Fine. Fine. We all are waiting for that day, ” Song Yifei intervened. “Now focus on your meal.”
When the meal was over, the family was waiting for a sweet dish. Old Madam Lu, who was usually quiet throughout the entire meal, couldn’t help but ask, “Song Xueyun, are you dating someone?”
Song Xueyun who was quietly sitting there choked on air. What was wrong with everyone that they were asking her the same question?
Everyone turned their attention to the old lady as they wanted to know what she was thinking right now.
“No, ” Song Xueyun quickly said. “I’m not dating anyone.”
Practically, she was not dating anyone at the moment. She didn’t have a boyfriend. It was a different story that she was married and now had a husband.
“Good, ” The old lady said. She turned her attention to Lu Xuan and added, “Ah Xuan, you are not serious with your relationships. You are not young anymore. You should think about settling down. What do you think about going on a date with Song Xueyun? You have been friends with each other since childhood. She is your stepmother’s niece. I think it will be good if you both date and eventually get married.”
Lu Xuan looked at his grandmother with wide eyes. “Grandma, Xueyun and I are not suitable for each other.”
“I agree, ” Song Xueyun quickly said. Oh god, going on a date with Lu Xuan means cheating on Han Nanxian. She would never do that! She didn’t know why she was so worked up with this idea. Oh, she might have imagined someone setting up Han Nanxian on a date with some other girl and she felt like poking the bitch’s eyes with the chopsticks that she was holding.
An Xiulan stared at her brother and then at Song Xueyun. She felt weird energy coming out of Song Xueyun.
“I still think you will make a great couple. You both are good-looking. Think about the babies you will make, ” The Old Lady said.
Song Xueyun began missing her son. Leo. Yeah, she had been playing the role of mommy to Leo so sincerely that she got too deep into that role.
“Grandma, don’t set us up. It will be awkward for us, ” Lu Xuan sighed.
The Old lady didn’t say anything. She turned to look at Gu Shangyan and said, “I heard you were dating the youngest girl of the Bai family.”
Gu Shangyan cleared his throat and said, “We broke up a few weeks ago.”
“My friend’s granddaughter returned from abroad. How about you meet her and see if you like each other? At your age, you should not be single, ” The old lady said.
“Thank you, Madam Lu, ” Gu Shangyan bowed respectfully. “However, I don’t wish to jump into another relationship for the time being.”
When the Old lady turned her attention to An Xiulan, the latter buried her head in an empty soup bowl and lied, “Grandma, I have a boyfriend.”
“You have a boyfriend?!” The entire family stood up to look at her in shock, happiness, amazement and horror.
Happiness was shared by Song Yifei and Song Xueyun. Lu Xuan and Gu Shangyan were shocked. Lu Zhaolin and Lu Xun were horrified.
“That’s good, ” That was what the old woman said but the entire family didn’t share the same bland emotions as her.
Lu Zhaolin looked like he was ready to shoot whoever this punk was. Lu Xun carried the same expression as his father.
“Jiejie, no puppy love!” Lu Xun said with teary eyes.
Song Yifei flicked his forehead. “Your Jiejie is twenty-five, not five! Also, did you forget about the time when you gave a love letter to Chen Rui from class 8th? And you were in the third standard.”
Lu Xun lowered his head. “That was one embarrassing moment of my life. You can’t use it against me all the time.”
“Then, what about the time you gave another love letter to the girl from sixth grade?” Song Yifei asked. “Do you know how embarrassing it was for us when your principal called us at school?”
Lu Xun didn’t dare to look at his mother’s face.
“How come I was not told about this incident?” An Xiulan couldn’t help but ask.
“You didn’t tell us about your boyfriend either, ” Lu Xun asked bitterly.