Mrs. Tang was so angry that she wanted to go after her but then, she had to see her son walking toward them, and that was enough reason to pull away.
"You are ready?" Zhang Xiaoling smiled while reaching out to take his arm.
"Yes," Tang Enlai replied with a smile before looking last her shoulder.
"Mum, we will be out for a while. Don't keep dinner for us." Looking back to Zhang Xiaoling, he led her toward the entrance as his mother watched in fury.
Outside, Tang Enlai asked, "Did she say anything to you?"
"No," Zhang Xiaoling replied as they made their way toward the car.
Hearing that there was no problem, Tang Enlai ended the discussion as they got into the car.
Half an hour later, they arrived at an event centre to attend a birthday party of Tang Enlai's friend.
From the first event, the after party moved to a club where the celebration continued.
"If you are tired, we can leave." Tang Enlai whispered to Zhang Xiaoling in the middle of the party.
Being in a noisy environment could be uncomfortable at times plus, thru couldn't hear each other very well.
"No, it's fine." Zhang Xiaoling replied.
This was the first time he was every taking her out for an event like this. Besides, she wasn't uncomfortable.
She would rather stay out than stay at home and have that mother-in-law of a woman disturb her peaceful life.
Seeing that she was fine, he nodded just before the birthday celebrant called him up to join in the dance.
"Enlai since you came, you have been sitting at a spot with your wife, come and join us."
"No, I'm fine here. Go ahead." Tang Enlai said, trying to wave him off, but this friend of his was very stubborn.
Glancing at Zhang Xiaoling who was sitting beside him, he asked as he shifted his gaze back to him.
"Is it because of your wife?"
Saying that, he didn't wait for his response before transferring his attention to Zhang Xiaoling.
"Permit me to steal your husband for a few minutes. Is that fine?" He asked with a small smile.
Zhang Xiaoling looked a little confused. Since when did Tang Enlai need her permission to do what he wanted.
Though having such thoughts, she still replied to the man who was earnestly waiting for her reply.
"Sure, you can."
"Enlai, your wife has given you the permission, now you cant escape!"
With that, Tang Enlai got dragged away.
"I will be back soon. You can order what you want." He managed to say to her before he was far away.
Sitting by herself on the two-sitter sofa with some other men and women in the room, Zhang Xiaoling kept her gaze moving about while drinking by herself.
As she didn't know anyone in the room as this was her second time seeing most of them apart from her wedding day, she could only sit at a place and watch their interaction with each other.
As she did not know how to interact with them, she could only smile each time any of them said something to her.
Tang Enlai was gone for almost twenty minutes, but when he returned, he made sure to bring a plate of chops with him.
Going straight to her, he placed the plate in front of her. Picking up a piece of grilled lamb with a toothpick and passed it to her.
"Eat something more."
Taking the meat from him, she reminded with a small smile, "But I'm fine. I already ate a lot at the first party."
"I know." Leaning in to her side, Tang Enlai added, "If you drink too much, you can get hungry easily."
Watching his facial expression when he leaned away from her, Zhang Xiaoling proceeded to take a bite from the piece of meat in her hand.
"It's good." She said after chewing and swallowing it.
"I agree with you, because I tasted a piece before coming here." He nodded as he spread his arms and leaned his back into the backrest of the sofa.
"Then we should eat together because I can't finish this." Suggesting that, she pushed the plate till it was in the centre of the stool.
Looking at him, he met her gaze which was for the best. "Eat." She added.
"Yes, Ma'am."
Smiling, Tang Enlai decided to listen to her. Picking up a piece of lamb form the plate, he sent the whole piece into his mouth.
And while chewing on it, he picked up another piece and wrapped it inside a fresh cabbage nicely before moving it to her lips.
"This is how you eat it. Here. Ah!"
Widening his lips, he urged her to open her mouth.
Watching her take bits of bite from the piece of meat in her hand, didn't dwell well with him. Now, he was going to teach her how to eat it properly without bothering about the glances reaching them.
Seeing the stuff in front of her eyes, Zhang Xiaoling raised the remaining piece in her hand to his eye level just in case he had forgotten she was in the middle of eating.
"I still have..."
She was still in the process of reminding him about the nest she still had in hand when she felt a wet cool sensation on her fingers.
Apparently, Tang Enlai had eaten off the meat from her fingers and without dwelling on the situation and circumstance, he continued to insist that she ate the one he was giving it to her.
Seeing as he did not think of his action as anything wrong, Zhang Xiaoling cleared her throat before opening her mouth to receive the meat wrapped in a piece of cabbage.
Covering her mouth withy her palm, she hid her lips from being watched by the others. Besides, the stuff was too big for her mouth.
"That's good." Giving her a thumbs up after taking the meat from him obediently, Tang Enlai proceeded to wrap a piece for himself before sending it into his mouth.
Nodding his head with his eyes closed, he let out a deep breath of relief. He made it seem like he was having the best food in the whole world.
Watching him, Zhang Xiaoling couldn't help chuckling softly with a hand over her mouth. The smile reached her eyes, making him return the gesture.
He seemed happy to have made her smile.
As they two of them were left in their own world, they remained that way until the party came to an end and together, thru left for the Tang Residence.
*******
With song Jujing leaving for Paris, Zhang Renshu had no choice but to schedule a meeting with the Fang family.
On his own, he contacted Fang Bingwen for it. He only left a simple sentence for him.
"I'm coming to see your family."
Normally, the pride Zhang Renshu would have made him be the middle man between him and his fang family, but it seems like he had grown up and decided to act like a man.
Visiting the Fang Family for the second time since his entire existence, Zhang Renshu found a lot of things to have changed, but he didn't let his curiosity get the better of him.
At last when he sat face to face with them all, he didn't best around the bush to talk about the marriage of their children that would be taking place soon.
"I came to access the family my daughter would be marrying into." Saying that, his gaze swept pass the two couples in the sitting room.
One old, and one a little younger.
"Isn't it too late?" Fang Huiqing asked as he folded his hands below his chest. His gaze, never leaving his sight.
"What?" Zhang Renshu did not expect to hear that question. What exactly did he mean by that?
In summary, Fang Huiqing was telling him that his presence did not mean anything as Zhang Liling and Fang Bingwen had decided to get married.
And even if he said 'No' now, nothing would change.
Although understanding his words, Zhang Renshu pretended like stopped there was something wrong with his hearing capabilities.
Fang Huiqing was going to repeat that question, but his mother stopped him by changing the topic.
"You finally let us see your face after so many years. Who knew that Liling would be the one to let this happen."
Instantly, Zhang Renshu turned his gaze away as he was reminded of the past and how he hurt Song Jujing.
As he was still feeling guilty, he did not have the mind to retort.
Fortunately, the Fang family didn't have in mind to tackle him on this day, and just went ahead to proceed with the talk about Zhang Liling and Fang Bingwen's wedding.
As the wedding ceremony date had been fixed, they chatted a bit about it before Zhang Renshu left.
There was nothing much to talk about since their relationship was still awkward. But at least, he has done one dutiful task as Zhang Liling's father, and they was fine with everyone.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢