When Xue Ning praised Jingwei for his dish-washing skills, his first emotion was happiness, because Xue Ning had never explicitly mentioned she thought he was great at chores. She only tried to eyefuck him as she spied on him from a corner, and while that was also flattering, Jingwei was a man that valued words.
He needed praise! Especially praise from Xue Ning! (Yes, he realised that made him sound like a dog, but so be it! He'd rather be her dog than someone else's human!)
Then he remembered where they were and who they were with, and he immediately shot Xue Ning with a panicked look! Unfortunately, Xue Ning's words came out faster than he could stop them, and now they were out in the world, making her family members incredibly suspicious.
"Oh? He can do housework? That's a surprise." Yue Niang asked calmly, looking at Sun Jingwei from head to toe. That man seemed strangely twitchy. Clearly he was hiding something. Either that, or he had a guilty conscience from his father's actions.
But it was her daughter that she paid more attention to. Her daughter who was never flustered, who never bothered with praising men, had reddened ears as she refused to meet anyone's eyes!
"Hahahaha…" Jingwei laughed awkwardly. "I have many talents? Washing dishes is just one of them! I'm pretty good at cleaning toilets too!"
"Perhaps, but I'm more interested in how Xue Ning knows this. Did you wash the bowls in front of her when you cooked for her?" Yue Niang asked.
"Well -"
"Hey Tai Cheng and Yue Niang!!" A loud voice yelled from the other end of the road. Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice. It came from a middle aged woman with her hair coiffed into a perm, and she was surrounded by other women with similar hair styles.
Was this the trend in small towns? Jingwei wondered. But then, Xue Ning's mom didn't have that hairstyle, so maybe not.
Meanwhile, Yue Niang let out a muffled swear as she saw the Neighbourhood Association women walking closer to them.
If the heavens loved her, they would have ignored her or gotten knocked down when crossing the road, but they made it safely across to their side.
"Misfortune never comes singly. Why are they here?" She cursed quietly to her husband.
"Smile, wife. Try not to look too murderous," Tai Cheng advised, already pasing his customer service smile on his face.
"Hi lovely ladies! What a coincidence! Are you all out on your stroll now?"
"It's a neighbourhood patrol! We're keeping the neighbourhood safe!" One of the women corrected pompously, drawing herself up to her full height.
It was a measly 150cm, but the bright pink tracksuit that she wore more than made up for it.
It threatened to burn the retinas of anyone who stared at it for longer than a few seconds. Jingwei already felt his eyesight failing when he watched her walk across the road.
"Of course Mrs Poh, of course," Tai Cheng replied genially, seemingly not offended in the slightest. "Thank you for all your hard work."
Jingwei mentally applauded him for his diplomacy and his lying skills.
Meanwhile Xue Ning could only snort. Neighbourhood patrol? More like busybody aunties poking their noses where they didn't belong! If they were actually any good at keeping the town safe, her parents' restaurant wouldn't be trashed!
Yue Niang also slapped a smile on her face, but it didn't reach her eyes. She wasn't as good as her husband when it came to concealing disdain, and it was hard to smile when this flock of clucking hens decided to peck around at her wrecked restaurant, making useless comments.
"Aiyo, what is this mess? Has it not been cleaned up yet?" One of them tutted, looking disapprovingly at the entrance. "This isn't good for business, you know!"
"And it's bad luck too," another one chimed in. "Your family doesn't need any more of that!"
Yue Niang's eyebrow twitched. Who asked them?
"Yes, Uncle Min saw you going to the clinic. Is everything alright? Will you recover? It would be a shame if you couldn't cook for us. Your noodles are the best," another woman commented.
"Don't worry! I'll make a full recovery!" Her father promised, still smiling cheerfully. "When our restaurant is repaired, you guys can definitely visit!"
"I'll hold you to that! I love your cooking!"
One would think that at least her words were innocently meant, but then Xue Ning saw that she was leering, shooting covetous looks at her father while her mother was still right there next to him!
Oh my god! So disgusting! This woman was hitting on her father right in front of his entire family!
Xue Ning gagged, and unfortunately that attracted the attention of the Neighbourhood Association aunties.
There was a glint in their eyes, as they stumbled onto someone new that they could criticise in the guise of giving 'helpful advice'. They had never stopped sinking their claws into the Li family's youngest child, partly because they couldn't do anything to Yue Niang, a woman that was so lovely she easily attracted the eyes of their own husbands.
While Tai Xuan had grown up to be an exemplary man with stellar good looks and good enough grades, his youngest sister had always been a sullen, sulky girl that preferred to use her fists more than her words. An utter waste of her cute looks. It was no wonder that she had few friends!
And what's more, instead of deciding to stay and help her parents manage the restaurant, she decided to leave for the big city instead! What nonsense! Didn't she know that women were meant to stay at home?
Why did she even bother leaving for the big city - it wasn't as though she would be able to find a rich husband with her rude grouchy attitude!
As such, the Neighbourhood Association wholeheartedly believed that they were right to offer criticism of her attitude and behaviour. This was all for her own good in future! If Xue Ning didn't change her behaviour and her dressing, she would be left on the shelf forever!
"Xue Ning! Oh you're back from Shanghai!" They exclaimed.
"Hi Aunties," Xue Ning replied, trying to smile. Jingwei had seen happier people during funerals. "Nice to meet you."
The hens began clucking disapprovingly, eyeing her outfit with barely concealed looks of derision. Xue Ning once again was dressed in a simple T-shirt and shorts.
"Are you still dressed like this? With no makeup?"
"Aiyo - didn't you buy some nice clothes from the big city? All the Shanghai girls are very fashionable, you should learn from them!"
"Aren't you already 25? You should learn to act like a proper lady! If not, no man will want to marry you!"
"Ahem," Yue Niang coughed out loud, reminding these busybodies of her presence.
"Of course! Not saying that you're bad at raising your daughter, Yue Niang. You've been so busy looking after the family and the restaurant," Mrs Poh hastily added, backtracking. "It's just that sometimes, everyone needs a little help!"
Right. Help. Their help came in the form of insidious gossip and knives flung at her when her back was turned. Xue Ning would rather get help from Zhou Yu!
"But Yue Niang, you should be happy! Look, your daughter has brought home not just one man, but three men! She's too capable, if only my daughter can learn from her!"
"It's not good to lead men on though!"
Tai Xuan growled. These women were implying that his sister was a slut! Meanwhile Xue Ning wondered if she could get away with roundhouse-kicking everyone in the face.
The party's attention was now directed to the three new fresh faces. One looked so handsome that just looking at him made them blush - he was definitely some bigshot movie star! They could vaguely recall seeing him from somewhere. One looked stern, while the last one was a cute young man.
Surely the last one must be Xue Ning's boyfriend!
"Is one of these men your boyfriend? " Another woman asked to clarify. "Like the one hanging at the back? Not bad, not bad! And you even brought him and his friends home to help!"
Jingwei turned around in surprise; the woman was referring to Wei Yan! What on earth! How was he not the first choice for Xue Ning's boyfriend? Were they all blind? Did she not watch the video of the press conference? A muscle twitched in his jaw.
"Yes I am! Nice to meet you Aunties! You have a good eye!" Wei Yan suddenly declared with a beaming smile.
Huh? Xue Ning blinked in confusion, catching Wei Yan's eye. But he merely smiled at her and walked closer until he was standing next to her, putting an easy arm around her shoulder.
"Huh? Are you crazy?" Xue Ning exclaimed at Wei Yan with widened eyes. She then turned to look at Ming Guang for more information. Did he know what his colleague was doing?
Ming Guang could only shrug. He didn't know, and he didn't want to know! He was only there to protect Sun Jingwei, who looked this close to bursting a blood vessel!
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶