Chapter 1002: Chapter 686: Dad, Do You Dislike Me? (3)
"When picking up Shuang’er and Huang’er, I ran into Little Ma. Shuang’er insisted on dragging Si Yuan home, saying she wanted to teach him English... So I just invited Mayor Ma over for dinner."
"Shuang’er is teaching Ma Siyuan English..."
Su Xiaomeng chewed on these words and felt a bit overwhelmed. She looked towards the direction of the sound coming from the side hall.
Shuang’er was sitting cross-legged on the floor mat, holding an English picture book, and Ma Siyuan was sitting next to her, looking very serious.
One teaching seriously, the other learning seriously.
Her dad, whom they hadn’t seen for a few days, had come back, but Shuangshuang didn’t even glance at him.
Prince Huang was originally in the kitchen, wanting to find something to eat. Upon hearing the door open, he ran out, saw Su Xiaomeng and Yin Shixiu come back, and immediately approached them, stuffing watermelon rind into Yin Shixiu’s mouth.
Yin Shixiu was a bit dazed from being stuffed,
"Huang’er, why are you eating watermelon rind?"
"Grandma said it can be eaten."
Prince Huang said while stuffing it into his own mouth.
Bai Sixian saw this and explained,
"Huang Huang was hungry, started looking for things to eat as soon as he went into the kitchen. Bought a watermelon from the market in the afternoon, the rind was particularly thick. It seemed a waste to throw away, so I thought of stir-frying the watermelon rind that evening."
Prince Huang held a piece of watermelon rind, already peeled of its outer green layer, in each of his small hands, blinking his big black eyes. While Bai Sixian explained, the little guy was busy stuffing it into his mouth, enjoying it.
Stir-fried watermelon rind is indeed a dish, although you generally find it only in rural areas at times.
Yin Shixiu had never really eaten stir-fried watermelon rind...
Upon hearing Bai Sixian, he looked surprised but couldn’t show it too explicitly, making for a rather awkward expression.
Su Xiaomeng watched from the side and couldn’t help but laugh quietly, muttering,
"Never eaten it?"
"...No."
"Huang’er, let Dad have a bite to taste."
"Ahem... Maybe, maybe not?"
"Your own son, why be so polite, Huang’er?"
"Oh!"
Prince Huang responded promptly, hurrying to offer the watermelon rind up to Yin Shixiu’s mouth...
The watermelon rind was harmless and edible, but being held by Prince Huang like that made juice drip everywhere, all over his hand...
The piece offered to Yin Shixiu had been gnawed by young teeth to the point it lost any recognizable shape...
This makes it a bit hard to open his mouth.
"Disgusted by your son, huh?"
Su Xiaomeng was cheerful and unafraid of a scene, spotting Yin Shixiu’s awkwardness and reluctance, quickly pushing him forward with a remark.
Upon hearing Su Xiaomeng, Prince Huang’s expression changed as he looked at Yin Shixiu...
Dad, disgusted with me?
Yin Shixiu couldn’t resist his son’s gaze like that, so he opened his mouth and took a bite of the watermelon rind.
Oh, the taste...
Prince Huang immediately smiled,
"Dad, does it taste good?"
"It’s okay..."
Couldn’t quite bring himself to say "delicious" without sincerity.
"Eat a little less, we’ll have dinner soon."
Yin Shixiu told Prince Huang.
Prince Huang promptly replied, "Oh!"
The next second, the little guy stared at the slightly sized piece of watermelon rind in his hand for a while.
Knowing one’s child as the father does, Yin Shixiu instantly sensed something unfavorably.
Sure enough, Prince Huang handed the watermelon rind to Yin Shixiu’s mouth and said,
"Dad, I’m not eating it anymore, we’re gonna have dinner; this is for you."
"..."
Su Xiaomeng was laughing so hard from the side that her stomach was about to cramp.
Yin Shixiu’s face was pale, longing for nothing but to return to the hospital and the old TV with Xiao Anhe.
"Alright, alright, raw indeed lacks flavor. I’ll cut some shredded meat later and stir fry it with some spice, you’ll surely manage several bowls of rice."
Bai Sixian said, casually taking the piece of watermelon rind from Prince Huang’s hand.
He glanced at Yin Shixiu,
"Then we’ll see if you dislike it!"
"Mom, I’m not disinclined..."
"Don’t go against your heart."
Bai Sixian advised, then led Prince Huang to wash his hands.
Ma Xingchang sat on the sofa watching, wearing a faint smile on his face.
Su Xiaomeng nudged Yin Shixiu forward,
"You guys chat, I’ll go to the room to change clothes."
She greeted them briefly and went into the bedroom.
"Sorry if Mayor Ma was shown a laughable scene."
"No, your home is very warm and full of human touch."
Ma Xingchang said this sincerely.
"Mayor Ma’s little boy is so well-behaved, your wife must also like it very much, your home should be lively too, right?"
Ma Xingchang just showed a somewhat official smile, without intending to discuss his family matters,
"By the way, Mr. Yin, you really dropped a bomb before the stock market closed today. Quite unexpected for everyone."
"Is it? I thought this bomb was something everyone expected."
"Expected, but no one anticipated you’d be so fast and decisive."
"If everyone was ready, then throwing the bomb, tell me, who would it still catch off guard? What’s the point of the bomb then?"
Ma Xingchang nodded,
"True enough."
"How about my previous proposal, how has Mayor Ma been considering it?"
"I came today to discuss this with you."
"Oh?"
"Regarding the government angle, Mr. Yin needn’t worry too much. I don’t believe Yin Family would destabilize the Capital’s economy for its own sake."
"Naturally."
"The Yin Group’s acquisition of the Rong Family won’t trouble the government."
"Mayor Ma is a man of foresight."
Ma Xingchang picked up the tea in front of him, taking a sip.
Yin Shixiu was someone adept at reading people, it seemed these few words didn’t warrant a special visit from Ma Xingchang today. His silence wasn’t because he couldn’t discern it.
"I’ve heard Mayor Ma recently goes on undercover visits across districts to understand public sentiment, must be busy and tough these days?"
"Holding a high position, it’s impossible not to be hard, right? Like Mr. Yin, as President of Yin Group, isn’t that hard too? Running between detention centers and the corporate buildings..."
Yin Shixiu suddenly chuckled softly,
"Oh come... Is Mayor Ma’s comment hinting something? Did someone come to you for some influence?"
"Regardless of whether someone came to me or not, Mr. Yin, you indeed frequently go to the detention center, isn’t that true?"
"Not true."
Yin Shixiu turned his gaze towards Ma Xingchang, firmly stating.
"..."
"After returning home, I visited the police station, saw Wu Rong, then visited Rong Jing at the police station once more. Does this frequency count as often?"
Suddenly, the sharp eyes held an icy gaze, even implying some displeasure.
The atmosphere changed at once.
Ma Xingchang quickly said,
"Mr. Yin, don’t misunderstand, I didn’t mean any accusation."
"No accusations?"
Yin Shixiu snorted lightly,
"Let me guess, who has the clout to make Mayor Ma interested in my two cases..."
Ma Xingchang’s eyes sank.
"Yin Shiqing’s Party Secretary?"
Ma Xingchang didn’t deny it, merely responding softly,
"The matters between brothers are honestly beyond my interference. Only, as Secretary Yin holds office in Central, his advice wouldn’t go unnoticed by the city’s judiciary."
"..."
"Secretary Yin didn’t come to me personally, I simply happened to hear someone mention about President Yin’s two cases."
"I suppose Mayor Ma looked into these cases beforehand, any opinions you have?"
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