Overnight Hit: Vicious Stepmother and Genius Son
Chapter 597 - 593 When is the wedding?

Chapter 597: Chapter 593 When is the wedding?

Following behind Song Jinze were Xiao Yi’s family and Bai Lingshan.

Song Yuchen’s chubby little face beamed with an adorable smile, greeting everyone who entered.

Xiao Yi lifted Song Yuchen, "Little guy, did you miss Uncle?"

"Of course I did..."

As the two conversed, Watermelon darted over, wagging its tail—a fluffy white ball. Xiao Yi’s expression changed abruptly, and his legs instinctively moved half a step back.

Song Yuchen turned his head and gestured to Watermelon, "Watermelon, come here, I’ll introduce you to Uncle Xiao Yi."

This was Watermelon’s first meeting with Uncle Xiao Yi, so he had to introduce him properly.

"Uncle Xiao Yi, this is my best friend, Watermelon."

"..."

Xiao Yi watched the big fluffy white creature approach him, his expression changing repeatedly, as he forced a faint smile, "Nice..."

He was afraid of large dogs, especially those belonging to the Song family.

Song Jinze bent down to pat Watermelon’s head and glanced sideways at Song Yuchen, "Xiao Chen, what’s this on Watermelon’s collar?"

Because of his touch, Watermelon didn’t move any closer to Xiao Yi.

"What is it?"

The little guy cared a lot about Watermelon. He quickly slid off Xiao Yi’s body, "Let me see."

Xiao Yi sighed in relief and exchanged a knowing look with Song Jinze before quickly heading over to Old Master Song with Bai Lingshan.

Ye Zhenzhen had a faint smile on her lips. She might not have understood the stories about Song Jinze and Xiao Yi as children told by the old master, but now, seeing Xiao Yi like this, she instantly understood.

At this moment, except for the family of three, including Song Jinze, the attention of everyone from the Song and Xiao families was on Xiao Yi and Bai Lingshan.

Ever since Xiao Yi had stubbornly struggled in the entertainment industry a few years earlier and almost never reunited with his family, this gathering was their first in a while. Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning his past and only talked about recent events and future plans.

Dinner went smoothly, and during the meal, three senior members of the Song family and Xiao Yi’s parents gave Ye Zhenzhen, Bai Lingshan, and Song Yuchen New Year’s red envelopes.

Bai Lingshan was somewhat embarrassed, "It’s our first meeting, and I haven’t prepared anything..."

Professor Xiao laughed, "We are happy that you could come. It was presumptuous of us to hastily ask to meet you like this, please don’t mind."

"Not at all, I’m happy to meet everyone."

Xiao Yi frowned, "Why don’t I have a red envelope? Never mind Song Jinze, but isn’t this the first time I meet everybody in these recent years? Surely, I should get a gift too?"

Father Xiao scolded, "You shameless brat, everyone is saving face by not bringing this up, and here you are, shamelessly talking about it yourself, you..."

"Ease up a bit, it’s good that the child has come back," Song Wenbai pulled out his own prepared red envelope, "Here, Uncle Song has something for you!"

Xiao Yi accepted the red envelope, "Thank you Uncle Song!"

In Xiao Yi’s memory, when he was younger, Song Wenbai was always kind to them and loved children.

Old Master Song and Madam Song as well took out the red envelopes they had prepared in advance for Xiao Yi.

Xiao Yi was pleasantly surprised, "There really is one for me?"

Madam Song smiled, "Silly child, you should come home more often."

Song Yuchen asked with his bright, twinkling eyes, "So we all have red envelopes, is only my daddy left out?"

Song Jinze’s gaze drifted towards the little guy, replying in a light tone, "Daddy is married and an adult, he doesn’t need it."

The smile on Xiao Yi’s lips vanished instantly. Just a second ago, he thought Song Yuchen was speaking up for him—now, with Song Jinze’s comment, was he implying that he was a child!

Old Master Song added with a cold huff, "Since you’re married, when is the wedding?"

Everyone present was family, so Old Master Song spoke frankly. After tonight’s New Year’s Eve, the Spring Festival was less than a month away, and he had yet to hear any plans from Xiao Yi concerning his wedding.

They had said they’d get married half a year after getting their marriage certificate, but now, even after their relationship had gone public, he hadn’t heard a peep about any wedding plans.

Just as Song Jinze was about to answer, Ye Zhenzhen cut in first, "Grandpa, there’s no rush. I’ve been on set recently and really haven’t had the time."

Under the table, Song Jinze’s hand tightened slightly around hers as he smiled warmly at Old Master Song, "Indeed, we should start scheduling it."

Wedding preparations were bound to be extensive, even though he had already been preparing for quite some time.

Now that Great Grandfather had brought it up, he felt it was necessary to let Zhenzhen in on the plans as well and gather some of her thoughts, to avoid any regrets later on.

Father Xiao chimed in, "When are you planning the wedding? I wonder if our family can catch up and have it together?"

"Xiao Yi, what do you think?"

"?" Xiao Yi was caught off guard and confused.

How had the topic shifted to him again? Even if he was getting married, he wouldn’t do it alongside that dog, Song Jinze.

Professor Xiao immediately stepped in to smooth things over, "Is arranging a wedding something you can just bring up casually? Doesn’t it require time and planning?"

"Jinze might be married without a ceremony, but our son hasn’t even met his future mother-in-law yet. It’s uncertain whether they’d agree to marry their daughter to your son, so what’s all this fuss about?"

Turning toward Bai Lingshan, Professor Xiao comforted her, "Shanshan, your Uncle Xiao just speaks his mind like this, don’t be frightened, okay? You and Xiao Yi can plan however you want; we won’t interfere."

The dinner with the girl had been sudden enough tonight, and now they were talking about marriage. Professor Xiao was truly afraid of scaring Bai Lingshan, making her think the Xiao family took these matters too lightly.

Bai Lingshan’s cheeks turned slightly red as she nodded, not saying anything.

Professor Xiao added more food to Bai Lingshan’s bowl, "Child, eat up, don’t be shy."

"Okay, thank you, Auntie."

With such a warm and welcoming family, her initial nervousness dissipated completely.

Song Yuchen had been eager to introduce Xiao Yi to Watermelon, so after the dinner ended, he brought Watermelon over to Xiao Yi’s side.

"Uncle Xiao Yi, Watermelon is my friend. I want you to meet. You should pat it..."

It.

The little guy hadn’t even finished his sentence when Xiao Yi shifted his body halfway to the side, keeping a meter’s distance, trying hard to maintain a composed expression, but reaching out to touch Watermelon was simply beyond him.

The expressions on everyone’s faces varied. As a child, Xiao Yi had been knocked over by a large dog and even had his pants pulled down. Still, nobody had realized he was this afraid of dogs!

Song Yuchen, always quick on the uptake and having just heard Great Grandfather talk about Uncle Xiao Yi and Dad’s past exploits, quickly put things together.

His little child’s voice blurted out, "Uncle Xiao Yi, don’t worry, Watermelon is very well-behaved; it definitely won’t bite you or pull down your pants!"

"..."

Xiao Yi glared at Song Jinze with a stern face, suspecting that this dog of a man Song Jinze might have been the one to spread the story.

However, Song Jinze wasn’t even looking at Xiao Yi.

He had already tried to divert the awkwardness once, but it didn’t seem to have much effect. Some things had to be faced sooner or later.

Bai Lingshan asked curiously, "Are you afraid of dogs?"

She casually petted Watermelon, "Samoyeds are very gentle and usually don’t bite people. Plus, it has a cute smile."

Song Yuchen nodded vigorously, "Yeah, yeah, Sister Shanshan is right; Watermelon looks so pretty when it smiles!"

"Uncle, trust me, really. Watermelon is also one of your fans. Whenever I watch your movies, it comes to watch with me."

Watermelon seemed to understand the little owner’s words, wagging its tail vigorously, both ears moving down in sync, its face full of a pleasing smile.

Ultimately, under the strong endorsement of its young owner, Watermelon got to know Xiao Yi, the big star, and Xiao Yi, faced with Watermelon’s ongoing smiles, let his guard down and stroked its snowy white fur.

He wasn’t afraid of dogs; it was the incident from his childhood that had left him with a shadow over large dogs, but tonight, he seemed to have developed a new understanding of them.