Chapter Ninety-Nine: Meeting the Parents

“Really...?” Chen Naikang looked from Gao Litong to Li Wen, not quite believing what Su Tong had said. Were they really that close? And both of them at once? What, were they making a movie?

In front of a boy she did not like, a girl would usually be cold and dismissive. Even though Li Wen was rather bold, she could not be bothered to explain.

Besides, she had been pursuing Su Tong all along. If she denied his words now, what would be the point of chasing him at all? Since this chance had finally fallen into her hands, would she really hand it over to Gao Litong?

As for her best friend Gao Litong, Li Wen felt completely at ease. Gao Litong’s nature was such that she would never take the initiative to pursue a boy; she would simply bottle it up forever.

Though she could see that Gao Litong also liked Su Tong, Li Wen was not too worried. She simply believed the world ought to revolve around her. She was better than anyone, more outstanding than anyone.

Her temper was a little bad, but that was hardly anything serious. If a boyfriend and girlfriend spent all day being polite and harmonious, treating each other with exquisite courtesy, what would be the fun in that? A daily battle would be much more lively.

Gao Litong and Li Wen remained silent, and Chen Naikang and Zhang Bin were nearly driven mad.

Li Wen changed boyfriends often, so even if she ended up with Su Tong, the two of them would not be particularly surprised. But Gao Litong was different.

She was famous for her pure, innocent appearance. In front of others she was the image of a refined young lady, though behind closed doors she could be a bit of a wild one. But who had only one side to their personality? Many people were restrained around strangers or casual acquaintances, yet wildly different with those they knew well.

“Gao Litong, have you been hit by something?” Zhang Bin asked carefully. Gao Litong kept a low profile, but her father was a real estate tycoon, rich and powerful, stronger by many times than the combined strength of Zhang Bin’s family and Chen Naikang’s family.

“You’re overthinking it,” Gao Litong said with a brief explanation, then opened the car door and let Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao get in.

A thick wave of jealousy surged in Chen Naikang’s eyes. He had never expected to win Gao Litong over anyway, but seeing a poor boy like Su Tong appear close to succeeding made him wonder why he could not do the same.

Forcing a smile, he said to Su Tong, “Su Tong, it’s almost dinner time. We haven’t seen each other for more than a year, so let’s have a meal together. The Jinhua Grand Hotel is on me.”

Su Tong was no longer an ordinary person, so he naturally saw through the little schemes Chen Naikang and Zhang Bin were playing. But unlike in the movies, nobody here was acting in such a vulgar way, sharpening their words and competing for the girls’ attention. At least on the surface, everyone was being very polite, and no one was throwing out cheap jabs to stir up hostility.

“Ask the two of them. I’m just a hanger-on. The car is Li Wen’s, after all,” Su Tong said modestly.

Ask what? Chen Naikang was furious, but he could not vent it. The two women were clearly following Su Tong’s lead; who could not see that?

“To our two gorgeous ladies,” Chen Naikang said with a smile, turning to Gao Litong and Li Wen.

Li Wen was blunt. She refused on the spot. “Another day. We’ve been out all day, and we’re exhausted.” Hmph. Su Tong had said he was going to cook for her and Gao Litong. Even if the President personally invited her to Zhongnanhai for dinner, she would not care.

Chen Naikang’s expression darkened. So you really give no face at all? Your father runs entertainment venues and thinks he’s something special? As if that made him a good person.

Worried that Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao might get too hot in the car, Su Tong took the car key from Li Wen, started the engine, and turned on the air conditioning.

“I’m a little tired too,” Gao Litong said, refusing as well.

Chen Naikang and Zhang Bin were almost internally injured, but they still rushed to flatter her and pressed on. “Gao Litong, your family has moved to the Development Zone now, right? Li Wen’s family is here in our Jinzhou District. We can drive you back to the Development Zone.”

Su Tong was getting impatient. Were they trying to poach someone right in front of him? Before Gao Litong could refuse, he cut in, “Mm, there are quite a few people in our car, so it’s a little crowded. You can take Tongtong back if you want, but just bring her to my place.”

Chen Naikang and Zhang Bin’s faces changed. Damn it, she’s already staying at the man’s house? And she’s only a sophomore?

“Not crowded, not crowded. Su Tong, you sit in the front. I’ll sit in the back with Xiaoyu and Xiaoxiao,” Gao Litong said, thinking Su Tong was serious. She did not want to sit in Chen Naikang’s car, so she hurried to suggest it.

“Fine.” Su Tong got into the driver’s seat before Li Wen could.

Now it was not only Gao Litong who was stunned; even Li Wen jumped. What did Su Tong mean? He was going to drive?

“You two chat properly,” Su Tong said as he closed the door. “I’m shutting the doors and windows, or else all the cold air will escape.”

“Then that’s it for today. We’ll all get together another day,” Li Wen said, running to the front passenger door, pulling it open, and sliding in.

Gao Litong also opened the rear door and got in.

Chen Naikang and Zhang Bin were churning with frustration inside, but they still forced their faces into expressions of indifference. Their looks were priceless.

Inside the car.

“Su Tong, you know how to drive?” Li Wen asked.

Gao Litong also looked at Su Tong nervously, thinking he was only trying to save face and had deliberately taken the driver’s seat so Chen Naikang and Zhang Bin would not look down on him.

“If you can, why can’t I?” Su Tong’s movements were practiced. He stepped on the clutch, shifted gears smoothly, turned on the indicator, then released the handbrake... and the car slowly rolled out of the parking space.

At the parking spot, Chen Naikang and Zhang Bin stood there dumbly. Were they dreaming? They knew perfectly well what kind of person Su Tong was. It was still within reason for him to trick a woman like Li Wen, who changed boyfriends often, but Gao Litong looked as if she were his girlfriend too.

When had the world become this insane?

“Su Tong, do you have a driver’s license?” Once the car was moving, Li Wen fastened her seat belt and still could not relax, gripping the handle nervously.

Gao Litong in the back also hugged Xiaoxiao tightly with one hand and clutched the handle with the other.

“No,” Su Tong said, and he too began to feel a little nervous. “The traffic police won’t just stop people to check licenses for no reason, will they?”

His words made Li Wen and Gao Litong even more nervous.

“N-no... they won’t...” Li Wen was willful, but that did not mean she was unafraid of death.

Su Tong laughed. “Then it’s fine. Let me tell you, I have eight years of driving experience. I learned to drive eight years ago.”

He was making things up again, charming gullible girls.

But in the system space, he had learned not only to drive a car, but also to handle trains, ships, and airplanes.

How could he possibly miss such a good chance? At worst there would be a crash, a sinking, or a plane wreck. In reality, he would not die.

The Maserati weaved in and out of the traffic, driving more steadily and properly than Li Wen herself. Only then did the two women finally relax.

When they got home, and Su Tong finished cooking a full table of dishes, both Gao Litong and Li Wen’s eyes shone with delight.

“Su Tong, how is it that you can do everything?” The happiest of all was Li Wen. Su Tong was practically the perfect man, exactly the kind of boy she had her eye on.

Su Tong said modestly, “Oh, it’s nothing. I just can’t have babies.”

Gao Litong’s pretty face turned slightly red, and Li Wen was no different. If another boy had dared to speak to them like that, they would have turned on their heels and left.

After Su Tong finished cooking, Su’s father came back from work, covered in dust, his hands and face filthy.

Seeing him, Gao Litong and Li Wen, for all their thick skins, still felt terribly embarrassed.

Fortunately, they had come together. If either of them had come alone, they definitely would not have been able to keep a straight face, and would never have dared come to Su Tong’s house for dinner. Otherwise, what would that have looked like? Meeting the parents?

“You two eat first. No need to wait for me. I need to wash up first,” Su’s father said. When he had seen Li Wen’s Maserati in the yard, he had already been puzzled; now that he saw Gao Litong and Li Wen too, he was overjoyed. His son had finally awakened to romance.

What mattered most to Su’s father now was not his son’s studies or work, but whether he could find a wife.

In the old days, people said that if you studied hard, you could marry a good wife in the future.

Now, people studied hard and still had no wife in the future.