Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 205 - 202: Why So Cruel

Chapter 205: Chapter 202: Why So Cruel

After a long afternoon of interaction, Qin Guanglin and his prospective father-in-law were on fairly good terms.

"Fairly good terms" meant they could communicate normally.

He’s Daddy, as if he had eaten something too salty at lunch, continuously sipped from a large teacup.

This kid doesn’t have many faults, but somehow he’s just not pleasing to the eye.

Especially when Fang clung to him, it gave He’s Daddy a toothache, always wanting to scold him.

"We’re having fish tonight. Later, I’ll kill the fish, and Qin... Qin can stay and eat with us," He Shan, after taking his son out for a walk, called out to Qin Guanglin.

It’s crucial to observe proper etiquette and not give anyone a chance to say Fang’s family has mistreated him.

If the relationship between the two ended, it wouldn’t matter much, but if it worked out? If things were amiss now, that would jeopardize Fang, and if they ended up marrying, her in-laws could criticize them and she’d be speechless.

They shouldn’t be in the wrong.

"Let’s eat together, it’s settled," Fang said as she watched them finish a game, then she started packing up the chess pieces and turned to order from He Shan, "I want pickled fish."

"Qin bought quite a big fish, let’s make two pots, one pickled fish and one boiled fish."

He Shan agreed and walked into the kitchen. Just as Qin Guanglin was about to enter the kitchen to help and show his eagerness, Fang stopped him.

"Do you know how to kill a fish?"

"No."

"Come here, I haven’t shown you my childhood photos yet." Fang led him toward the room.

"..."

He’s Daddy opened his mouth but didn’t speak, and stood up holding his large water glass. He wandered over to the living room, looking around, then heaved a sigh and wobbled into the kitchen to watch He Shan kill the fish.

"How can you be so cruel?" he asked, seeing He Shan banging on the grass carp’s head with a cleaver, frowning.

"Huh?"

He Shan, wearing a puzzled face, looked at He’s Daddy then back at the fish, "Aren’t you going to eat?"

"Yes."

"Then just sit and wait to eat, why watch me kill the fish?" He Shan banged a few more times, grabbed the fish’s gills with one finger, and held a small spatula with the other hand preparing to scale it. Seeing that He’s Daddy was still standing at the door watching, he stopped and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Nothing’s wrong."

"Then what’s this all about? You spent the whole afternoon talking with Fang’s boyfriend, what bothered you?"

He’s Daddy frowned and mumbled, "Nothing seemed wrong, everything appeared quite good."

"Then what are you doing? Just sit down and wait to eat," He Shan continued scraping the scales, "What’s so interesting about blood and guts? Later you’ll say I am cruel again."

He’s Daddy stood at the doorway, still, while He Shan continued focusing on the fish.

"Do you ever think... Luo City is so far away, what if Fang gets bullied?"

He Shan paused his actions, looked up at He’s Daddy, then glanced outside and whispered with a smile, "See this fish?"

He flipped the fish to the other side and forcefully scraped from the tail towards the head with the small spatula, and the scales cascaded down.

"I dare someone to."

...

"What did you and my dad talk about?" Fang leaned against the desk and asked Qin Guanglin sitting in the chair.

"Just the usual questions about work, whether you have any siblings, what you like to do in your free time... Ah, you had a pretty big forehead as a kid, looked like the Longevity God."

Qin Guanglin said as he picked up the photo to compare it beside He Fang’s face and couldn’t help snickering, "You were so cute when you were little."

"Am I not cute now?"

"You’re even cuter now." He put the photo back, cradled the album, and flipped through it a couple of times before his finger suddenly paused.

It was a family portrait— a couple, a little boy, and an infant being held. The photo had already faded, and the people’s images were somewhat blurry.

"That’s my mom. It’s a pity it’s not clear; otherwise, she would definitely be prettier than me," He Fang said somewhat regrettably.

"Looking at you is enough to know she must have been beautiful."

Qin Guanglin took a closer look, then closed the album and handed it back to He Fang, "It’s such a pity I didn’t meet you when we were kids; it would have been great if we were neighbors."

"Being your neighbor, you would have been beaten up by my brother every day." He Fang squinted her eyes with a smile, "Those days, my neighbor liked to pull my braids, so I told my brother, and then he would beat him up. If someone as cheeky as you were my neighbor... Tsk."

"I’m not cheeky, that’s called affection."

Qin Guanglin watched as He Fang put away the album, reached out to pull her over to sit on his lap and gently hugged her, resting his head on her shoulder, rocking slightly, "Your dad seemed much nicer when chatting with me this afternoon; I feel like this visit went really well."

As long as this first hurdle is crossed, there shouldn’t be any major problems later— if they can’t get past this, and things end badly, even if the couple stays together, things like the dowry and car would definitely become deliberate obstacles.

That would be tough, especially for He Fang, caught in the middle, which worried him the most.

"I told you, he was probably even more nervous than you, just getting to know each other a bit will help. You believe me now, right?" He Fang closed her eyes and leaned lightly into his embrace with a soft laugh, "Relax during dinner, eat as much as you like. You didn’t eat enough at lunch, did you already get hungry?"

"A bit, but I was pretty full after finishing the half bowl of rice you pushed over to me."

"Humph, happy to eat leftovers every day." He Fang touched his face and stood up, "Come on, let’s go have some fruit while we wait for dinner."

"The leftovers from you are different from leftovers from others." Qin Guanglin sat still and pulled her back, "Aren’t you going to give me a kiss?"

"This is my house." He Fang sat on his lap and looked down at him.

"And what about when you’re at my place?"

"..."

After a while, the two walked out of the bedroom. Qin Guanglin headed to the kitchen to see if any help was needed, while He Fang leaned on the doorway for a moment, then, claiming hunger, turned and went to sit in the living room.

"Auntie, why does your face look a bit red?" He Cheng leaned on the couch looking at He Fang, curious.

"Red?" He Fang touched her face, "Hmm... Your dad cooks too slowly, starved your aunt."

"It’s your own fault for not eating properly at lunch, see, I’m not hungry." He Cheng flicked twice, "Hungry enough, aren’t you?"

"Yes, starved."

He Fang showed a mischievous smile, "Hungry enough to eat a child."

"..." He Cheng shrank back a little from the couch, warily watching her.

"Still daring to tease your aunt, remember the treats and forget the beats." Zhao Qing slapped the back of the couch, "Come over here and finish the half apple left."

"I don’t want to eat it anymore."

"Who else will eat your leftovers?! Come and eat!"

He Cheng’s eyes darted around, then pointed at Qin Guanglin coming from the kitchen, "Let my uncle eat it."

"He won’t eat it, he only eats my leftovers." He Fang picked up the apple, took a bite, and then held it to Qin Guanglin’s mouth to take a big bite, raising her eyebrows at He Cheng.

"Enough, tone it down." Zhao Qing gave her a displeased glance and pulled He Cheng over to shove the half-eaten apple into his hand.

He Cheng looked down at the apple, then back at He Fang. Too young to understand what being fed ’dog food’ meant, he got it smeared all over his face instead.