Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 251 - 247: I Can Do This!

Chapter 251: Chapter 247: I Can Do This!

Ever since Qin Guanglin bought a car, He Fang’s bicycle had become useless.

Originally, it could still be used to keep an eye on Qin Guanglin when it was inconvenient to run, but now even running had stopped, replaced by sweating it out in the gym for more than an hour every day.

After going through a lot of hassle, the bicycle didn’t sell and eventually ended up in Qin’s Mom’s possession. She cherished it like a treasure and had Qin Guanglin reinforce the basket. She rode it every day to buy groceries.

The farther market was bigger and had fresher produce.

"Don’t ride this heap of junk anymore. I’ll swap it for an electric bike for you one of these days."

Qin Guanglin watched her fuss with the beaten-up bike and felt a twinge of discomfort. Even though the bike, secondhand from the start, had never broken down on him, it just didn’t look right.

He drove every day, and the thought of his mom pedaling the worn-out bike was unsettling.

"Go on, that electric bike needs charging. I have time to kill, don’t you start messing with it."

Qin’s Mom swatted away Qin Guanglin’s hand as he reached for the bike, clearly displeased with him calling it a heap of junk. "I’m keeping fit and healthy with this, you know. What’s so great about that electric bike? It needs charging every day. This..." she patted the seat contentedly, "just hop on and off you go. So convenient. Stay out of this and stop thinking about selling it."

Ding-a-ling.

She pressed the bell twice and began to wipe down the bike with a rag, her vigorous scrubbing not unlike the way Qin Guanglin cleaned his Audi.

"You’re just bored..."

Qin Guanglin clicked his tongue and decided, out of sight, out of mind, retreating to his studio to tidy up.

"Yeah, I’m bored to death. Didn’t you say you were going to marry He Fang this year? Where is she?"

As each year passed, Qin’s Mom’s thoughts evolved. Earlier last year, she worried the two were moving too fast and might do something premature; now, she couldn’t wait for them to marry on the spot.

"Your cousin is just a year older than you. I heard over the New Year that your cousin’s wife is already pregnant. Count the months, in a few more..."

"Hey, hey, hey, I’m not even rushed, why are you?"

Qin Guanglin stretched his neck and interrupted from the studio.

"I’m your mother. You ask why I’m in a rush?"

"In a hurry to hold a grandchild? No way, aren’t you rushing this? I’m still so young..."

"You’re nearly pushing thirty," Qin’s Mom nagged as she wiped down the bike.

Qin Guanglin laughed off her comment, "Last year, you said He Fang and I were still young. Now suddenly I’m almost thirty? Have I missed a few years?"

"There’s a big difference before and after twenty-five, time flies, and before you know it... you’re almost thirty. You better take care of what needs to be done; otherwise, the two of you living together like this without being married... it’s not proper."

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of knocking interrupted Qin’s Mom mid-sentence. Qin Guanglin’s spirits lifted, and he hurried to open the door.

"I was just talking to my mom about you—how you hadn’t come back yet... And speaking of the devil, here you are." He beamed as he pulled He Fang inside, closed the door, and winked at Qin’s Mom, "Mom, please continue."

"..." Qin’s Mom gave him a peeved look and put away the rag, parking the bicycle properly.

"What were you guys talking about?" He Fang looked at Qin Guanglin, feeling something was off.

"Talking about how we’re fast approaching thirty. Time’s flying, and in the blink of an eye..."

"Cough..." Qin’s Mom coughed lightly, cutting off Qin Guanglin’s words, "Aren’t you going to cook?!"

"Oh." Qin Guanglin shrugged and went to steam the rice in the kitchen.

He Fang had already sensed the subtext in his words—barely graduated and already pushing thirty... Was this a push toward marriage?

"Don’t listen to his nonsense, you both are still young. What rush to turn thirty." When Qin’s Mom saw Qin Guanglin enter the kitchen, she smiled and pulled He Fang to sit and chat leisurely.

"Right, he’s been fiddling with a drawing. Have you seen it on Weixun? It seems to get a lot of attention, so many comments..." She took out her phone, scrolled to Qin Guanglin’s public account’s comment section, and showed He Fang the comments mixed between envy and nudges about marriage, "Look, isn’t it a lot?"

He Fang nodded resignedly, "It is a lot. The painting is quite popular... I was thinking of encouraging him to do more. If it catches on, he might even publish a book."

"Eh? Publishing a book?" Qin’s Mom was taken aback, glanced at the drawings on the phone, and asked, "Publishing this little picture book?"

"That’s called a manga, not a little picture book..."

He Fang quickly steered Qin’s Mom away from her matchmaking ways and explained in detail why manga isn’t just for kids, and if it becomes popular, blah blah blah. Watching her listen more intently, He Fang laughed, stood up, and clapped her hands.

"I’ll go help him cook; you take your time looking."

"..."

Qin’s Mom was still pondering how Qin Guanglin’s lousy drawings could become popular when He Fang suggested that if they really took off, she would be somewhat of a celebrity too for her occasional appearances?

Tch, that’s not right.

She originally wanted He Fang to look at the comments, the ones wishing them an early marriage...

"Did my mom just pressure you to get married?"

Qin Guanglin stepped aside as soon as He Fang came in, leaving the work to her and started to nibble on half a carrot, the crunchiness crisp and juicy, snapping with each bite.

"No, she didn’t."

"Then what have you two been talking about for so long?" Qin Guanglin expressed his skepticism.

"Just about your drawings... Your manga’s quite good, isn’t it? A lot of people are watching; do you have ten thousand fans yet?"

"It’s close but still short, though the view counts are in tens of thousands... Oh yeah, someone approached me a few days ago wanting to promote an advertisement; it actually could make money. Eight hundred for the first spot, hehe, but I turned it down."

He Fang had no idea about this and asked curiously, "Why refuse?"

"It’s sort of disgusting, that Pleasure Ring advertisement, the one..."

Qin Guanglin leaned in and whispered, causing He Fang to spit, "You and your indecency always attract these mess of ads."

"What does it have to do with me? I turned it down, didn’t I?" Qin Guanglin nonchalantly took another bite of his carrot, muttering, "I think manga’s good. When I get more fans, the ad rates will definitely go higher. It’s much better than taking commissions at home, more relaxing and convenient..."

Although He Fang no longer brought up the idea of him quitting his job frequently, he still wanted to prove that choosing manga was the right decision—a really smart and correct choice.

What about art? That was long thrown to the wayside.

...

"Aren’t you inviting me up for a sit?"

After dinner, Xiao Yu walked Zhou Nan back to her single apartment building, eager to follow her upstairs.

"What’s there to sit for?" Zhou Nan looked at him warily—the moment they were alone in a room, this guy would likely be up to no good.

"Uh...just for a glass of water, a chat, it’s boring to go back so early. I want to spend a bit more time with you."

Xiao Yu had a fair reason, wearing a harmless expression, "Anyway, I can’t beat you, so what’s there to be afraid of?"

"...Come on up."

Zhou Nan led him upstairs, took out her keys to open the door, and turned on the room’s lights. She instinctively raised her hand and then let it drop.

Normally, she’d relax by taking off her jacket as soon as she got home, but having someone over made it inconvenient. What a bother.

She turned around and scrunched her nose at Xiao Yu, who scratched his head, clueless about what was going on.

"Come here." Zhou Nan beckoned Xiao Yu to join her on the sofa.

"What is it?"

"Get closer, look at me, and don’t blink." Zhou Nan faced him, eye to eye, wanting to test the method He Fang told her about.

If they kissed within twenty seconds... she could be a bit more open to granting privileges, as long as it wasn’t too much...

"I’m good at this!" Xiao Yu got excited; he had never lost at this before, "Whoever blinks first is the dog!"