Tai Cheng took a deep breath and considered all the options his daughter laid out in front of him, sending a mental prayer to the heavens for patience and wisdom. He had a feeling his ancestors were rolling in their graves right this moment!
<strong>Option 1:</strong> Sending Jingwei to the motel, and Xue Ning sneaks out in the middle of the night for a rendezvous.
<strong>Thought process:</strong> He did not have much faith in him and his wife stopping their highly determined daughter. If they failed, they would meet and canoodle and he also had no faith in them remembering to use protection.
Even if Sun Jingwei was the son of his old friend, their last remaining tie to Bi Yu's memory, that didn't mean he was fine with giving him his daughter!
<strong>Verdict:</strong> Over his dead body!
<strong>Option 2:</strong> Letting them stay here
<strong>Thought process</strong>: He wouldn't owe Sun Jingwei any favours and money, and he and his wife could keep an eye out for and stop any hanky panky behaviour under his roof.
However, where were they going to sleep? Also wouldn't this mean that Jingwei could theoretically creep into his daughter's room at night when they were all sleeping and continue from where they left off? Or they could make plans to sneak off together!
<strong>Verdict</strong>: Bad choice too, but it was better than Option 1.
<strong>Option 3</strong>: Send Jingwei to the motel, and accept his money so his daughter stays safely home, where she belongs.
<strong>Thought process:</strong> A seemingly more palatable option than the first two choices. The restaurant was destroyed on Sun Haowei's orders, so his son was right to offer compensation.
Even though financial support was always welcome and the restaurant needed all the help it could get to rebuild, Tai Cheng knew better than anyone that there was no free lunch in this world, and that made him hesitant.
If he accepted Sun Jingwei's offer, Sun Jingwei could just as easily take back the restaurant in future if he wished, if one day he and his daughter broke up, leaving them in more dire straits.
But then again, they were already in dire straits. Shouldn't they make the best of things now, and get the restaurant running and maybe pocket some of the extra money to tide themselves over before Sun Haowei woke up from his coma?
(And even if his daughter decided to break the agreement and still run off to find him, the money was still theirs!)
<strong>Verdict:</strong> ACCEPTED
"Alright daughter, you've made your case," Tai Cheng said, "While we would love to have Jingwei and his bodyguards stay as guests, our home is simply not big enough to fit three fully grown men on such short notice."
He turned to Jingwei. "Hence, you and your bodyguards have to stay at the motel - without my daughter!"
"So you're taking the money? What happened to not taking handouts and refusing to accept money from the Sun family?" Xue Ning asked, unsure if she should be happy or not. Money was certainly important, but deep down, she wanted to spend more time with Jingwei!
"Yes, I am taking the money," Tai Cheng confirmed, and then looked at Jingwei and rattled off his bank account number with a meaningful look. Jingwei could only shrug and then put in a transfer of a million yuan.
"Uncle, is a million yuan enough? Do you want more?" Jingwei asked.
"For now, this will do," Tai Cheng said, smiling peacefully as he stood up and squeezed Jingwei's shoulder, while Jingwei tried not to cry out. His future father-in-law had ridiculously strong fingers that dug right into his muscles! He could work as a masseuse!
"You're welcome, Uncle. Just tell me if you need more in future!" Jingwei replied, half-wheezing in pain when Xue Ning's father finally freed his poor sore shoulder.
His arm was feeling numb even though Xue Ning's father had never touched it. Incredible, did he have some forgotten knowledge of pressure points like those martial arts pugilists?
Somehow, he didn't want to ask. He had a feeling he wouldn't like the answer. He still remembered the chopsticks embedded in the cupboards.
"Thank you for your kind offer. I'll remember it," Tai Cheng said promisingly. Xue Ning could only look at her father in mild disgust - was he planning to treat Jingwei like an ATM with no withdrawal limit? If so, she'd stop him!
"Dad, you can't just take Jingwei's money for no good reason! That's gold-digging!"
"I have a good reason," Tai Cheng said cheerfully. "What's more, he needs to help with the restaurant renovations first thing in the morning."
"Eh?"
"So it's time for you to check into the motel now," Tai Cheng said, gesturing to the door, an implicit dismissal if Jingwei ever heard one.
"Ah…" The kids looked at each other, unwilling to move.
"It's getting late, and you need to wake up bright and early tomorrow to help us. Us folk in small towns begin work at 4am, you know." Tai Cheng continued cheerfully, loving how panic entered Sun Jingwei's eyes.
(Well, those in the farms certainly did. And he personally woke up early to prepare restaurant ingredients. What Jingwei didn't know wouldn't hurt him.)
"4 am?!" Jingwei exclaimed, turning to Xue Ning for confirmation. Tai Cheng shot his daughter a warning look, and she could only nod in agreement.
"Kind of? But maybe Jingwei can come at 5 am instead?" She asked meekly. "It's not as though we're opening the restaurant…"
"No, no," Tai Cheng said, waving his arm in refusal. "I need him to join in my daily meditation. It's a good habit to improve general wellness."
"At 4 am?!" Jingwei spluttered, disbelievingly.
"Yes, is there a problem?" Tai Cheng asked again. "Are you somehow unwilling?"
"...No," Jingwei said, bowing his head as he swallowed. Clearly this was another test given to him!
"I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning Uncle!" Jingwei declared, trying to punctuate his voice with more enthusiasm. Judging by the amused look in his future father-in-law's eyes, he wasn't doing a good job.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel