Chapter 53 - Father and Mother.
Thank you to Ninjagal and Winxer for the Ko-Fi!
Most people around Bai Yao and You Liangxing’s age would usually think to themselves if they were about to be urged to marry upon stumbling on such a sight. While there was indeed a modic.u.m of possibility of that happening to normal people, You Liangxing, who was all too clear about the personalities of his parents, did not think too much into it. Faintly, he asked, “Travel plans?”
Bai Yan smiled, “Nowhere. After travelling year after year, the world can only be so big and there really isn’t much meaning to it.”
You Liangxing did not continue speaking, whereas Bai Yao grinned as she sat next to Bai Yan with great interest. “I’ll help you pick some, let me see…. This won’t do, the style became outdated last year. En, this one is feasible; it’s exquisite and sensual, Mom, you’ll look great in this.”
Bai Yan blinked, “Truly?”
Her face was full of smiles as she uttered that, and the harmonious and joyous pair of mother and daughter giggled to each other. Looking at their appearance, it did not seem like a mother was speaking to her daughter, but that of two sisters instead.
You Liangxing looked straight ahead, and his father followed suit, standing rigidly as he silently perused the photo alb.u.m. Their faces shared an eight-point similarity, and neither of them opened their mouths to speak, opting to remain unmoving as if they wanted to be a part of the backdrop.
In this house, the women from the Bai Family ruled the skies, and the men from the You family all had b-points in their hearts.
The mother and daughter were picking out the dresses happily, and then they turned around to ask: “What do you think of this?”
Before he even admired it, You Liangxing first replied: “It looks good.”
Bai Yan smiled and proceeded to stare at You Ming: “What do you think?”
You Ming said: “It looks good.”
It was the same answer, but only You Liangxing made it through because he was her son. You Ming, however, failed as her husband. Bai Yao was somewhat dissatisfied. “Perfunctory.”
You Ming’s complexion changed abruptly. He had always been good-looking and he had maintained his appearance well over the years. However, by virtue of his personality, he rarely spoke, and as he grew older, the variations in his expressions became scarcer as well, tending towards a long face. But at this moment, the demeanour of an overbearing president that he strictly enforced immediately collapsed, even to the extent where he looked a little fl.u.s.tered.
“Yanyan, I’m not being perfunctory.”
Bai Yan raised an eyebrow, declining to comment. Instantaneously, You Ming twisted his upright posture and held onto his wife’s hand, saying with absolute sincerity: “No matter what you show me, I will always think you will look good in it. In this lifetime, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, and there has never been a moment where you were unsightly.”
You Ming had always been a man of a few words, but it only took a raised eyebrow from his wife before he started spewing romantic prose that was even capable of nauseating idol dramas in less than a second.
Bai Yan frowned, “Are you trying to say that you can’t even pick one in this lifetime?”
You Ming said: “It’s too tiring to pick out specific items; let’s just buy everything from the photo alb.u.m, we can change while we are taking pictures.”
Glaring, Bai Yan scolded, “Buy buy buy – is that the only word you know? How vulgar!”
Although the tone she used made it seem like she was angry, Bai Yan was actually wearing a smiling expression. Placing the photo alb.u.m aside and teeming with satisfaction, she decided, “Fine, we’ll do it like this, other than the ones that Yaoyao was against, we’ll buy the rest. Afterwards, we’ll go through them slowly and take pictures.”
The smell of gunpowder in the air dispersed quietly.
Seated beside You Ming, You Liangxing clearly heard his father, an individual who was usually as stable as the Mount Tai, exhale quietly as if he had escaped to live another day.
The fussing pa.s.sed after a short period of time, and his parents’ schedule was considered settled for the year. You Liangxing’s heart similarly relaxed, congratulating himself for the single fact that he did not have go through mental and physical suffering this year.
Every first of July was of tantamount importance for family gatherings, and the source of the tradition was that it was the wedding anniversary of his mother Bai Yan and his father You Ming.
While the parents of other families were earnestly hoping to spend it alone, You Liangxing’s parents were vastly different; on this particular day, they especially yearned for their children’s presence. And the reason behind it was that other than their children, there were no other who could play witness to their love.
When You Liangxing was younger, he did not quite understand the circ.u.mstances. All he was conscious of was that his parents, who were already diabetes-inducing on a daily basis, would further worsen on the day itself. Later, when he had grown up and found that he could tolerate it no longer, the witnessing of their love affair had already become a family habit and he could not avoid it no matter how hard he tried.
Fortunately, the day only occurred once a year, and he painstakingly convinced himself that it was rare for him to go home to enjoy a meal, and he managed to persevere through it somehow.
You Liangxing was zoning out slightly when Bai Yan tugged on his hand, causing him to gaze into her beautiful and limpid eyes. “Look at my Xiao Liang, hasn’t he become thinner… En, it doesn’t seem like he has thinned.”
After completing her own matters, Bai Yan finally had the time to study her son who was studying outside of their city state. There was nothing worth mentioning regarding domestic trivialities, so she said: “It must be tiring to study outside of Beijing alone. After you graduate and return back to Beijing this year, Mom will help you make…. En, Mom will ask Dad to make food for you to eat every day.”
You Liangxing said: “Mom, I’ll only be in my third year when university restarts.”
Bai Yan: “Huh?”
The atmosphere sank into silence for a moment.
You Ming said in a strict manner: “Your mother has high expectations for you; you should work harder in school and strive to graduate by this year.”
Inured, You Liangxing replied, “Okay.”
Idle gossip was common in a household; however, considering the fact that they hadn’t met for quite some time, it was more difficult to keep up with each other’s lives or explain what had occurred succinctly. While You Liangxing was constantly being beaten down by his older sister, Bai Yao and his mother’s relationship was akin to a minor magician being in the presence of a great one. To put it bluntly, Bai Yao had only inherited about eighty percent of Bai Yan’s headstrong att.i.tude.
Others could never have guessed it, but in spite of being a film empress in both domestic circles and abroad, You Liangxing’s mother was actually a twenty-four-carat gold little princess deep inside. However, she would not die a natural death; she just had to luck out and meet You Ming, who was a solemn, hen-pecked husband of a president. Later, after being bonded in matrimony, they gave birth to a daughter who looked like Bai Yan called Bai Yao, and gave birth to another son who looked like You Ming who they named You Liangxing…
One could imagine the specific statuses each held in their house.
Bai Yan was first and foremost, Bai Yao second, You Ming third and You Liangxing…
Thus, You Liangxing moved out.
Time quickly flew by, and soon enough, it was six o’ clock. The entire family sat at the dining table but before they started, You Ming stood up and played a song for Bai Yan on the violin and gifted her a set of diamond jewellery and a new sports car.
Bai Yan covered her mouth, tears glistening her eyes. As she smiled, she scolded him, “After so many years, why are you still so vulgar and unafraid of our children laughing at us? Tell me, which lady apart from me would be so easily moved by you?”
You Ming nodded his head, emotional, and hurriedly refuted her. The pair hugged and kissed intimately as they waltzed in the living room with the music playing in the background. In the front row, You Liangxing spectated them for an entire hour before he finally heard his mother speak.
“Let’s eat.”
You Liangxing bowed his head to eat, and the meal tired him out more than a morning run ever could.
Seeing his son’s stifled appearance, You Ming inclined his head and sighed with emotion. “You’re still young so you don’t understand anything. When you fall in love, you’ll understand it.”
Without a word, You Liangxing looked at Bai Yan, then he shifted his gaze to Bai Yao who was at his side.
After the meal concluded, You Ming remember something and said: “Yaoyao, do you still have any pocket money left?”
Bai Yao lacked money the least but her expression still changed, turning into one of pity, “None left, Dad.”
You Ming nodded. “En, I’ll give you a few million later. Pay attention to your spending habits; don’t spend too wilfully.”
Smiling with crinkled eyes, Bai Yao giggled, “Thanks Dad.”
Despite his cold appearance, his heart was actually healed by his daughter’s smile. Feeling pleased with himself, his gaze turned towards You Liangxing and he queried: “How much do you have left?”
You Liangxing thought back about it, “Around five thousand.”
You Ming nodded, “Oh, that should be enough.”
Hearing that, Bai Yan’s lips curled, “Why are you always biased against Xiao Liang?”
You Ming said: “You Liangxing is my son and that’s how I will treat him. On the other hand, Yaoyao is a girl, and daughters must be raised richly.”
Bai Yan snorted, not bothering to argue with him. She raised her head to look at You Liangxing instead and said with a gentle expression: “It’s okay, Mom will give you some pocket money.” Saying that, she picked up her phone to transfer some money.
You Liangxing’s WeChat sounded, and when he checked the funds in his account, he saw that Bai Yan had given him a red envelope.
Opening it, it was exactly two hundred.
Calmly, You Liangxing stated: “Thank you, Mom.”
Bai Yan was in a good mood. “Obedient.”
To give his parents time to themselves, You Liangxing and Bai Yao returned to their respective rooms after the meal had ended. Before he closed the door, he heard the waltz music play from the living room again. You Liangxing paused briefly before he stepped into his room.
….. It was like entering a new world of quietness.
Feeling tired, You Liangxing exhaled a breath. Although he had the habit of warming himself up every day at this time before boxing for an hour, he felt like his vigour had suffered a physical blow after returning home, and he could not lift himself up.
He hadn’t lied down on the bed for long when there was the sudden sound of the doork.n.o.b being turned. Out of conditioned reflex, You Liangxing immediately thought it was Bai Yao, and with one large bound, he blocked the door.
The person outside the door tried to twist the door open but it was to no avail even with the application of strength. Perhaps realising that they did not possess the necessary strength to push the door open or that they hadn’t used enough force, the person outside stopped attempting and cough slightly.
It was a male’s voice.
You Liangxing opened the door, and sure enough, You Ming was standing outside, stature tall and gaze condescending. “Why did you block the door?”
You Liangxing replied, “By chance.”
You Liangxing’s gentle voice sounded fine and pleasant, and You Ming could not help but raise his eyebrows when it entered his ears. His son was like him in every aspect, but his voice… Returning back to his original train of thought, he started speaking seriously, “Have you decided on your internships next year?”
If it was an ordinary person, they might think that it was too early to research into it but it was not the case for You Liangxing. He replied, “No, the school has not mentioned it.”
“Do you want to do it yourself?”
You Liangxing stiffened slightly and looked into You Ming’s gaze with some puzzlement. Thus, You Ming handed him a stack of information and said: “Look at this.”
Lowering his head, You Liangxing read through a few consecutive pages, only to realise that while the stack of materials had his family’s branding on it, the contents were regarding an industry that his family had no part in.
— Media Live Broadcasting.
You Liangxing asked: “What is this?”
You Ming summarised it in a succinct manner: “It’s the new cake of our time, and I’ve been considering it recently. If you have the time, this project will be given to you.”
Regarding their family business, You Ming never had any expectations for You Liangxing; whether it was entering A University or applying for the Economic Management Faculty, it had all been You Liangxing’s choice. Not once had he set any prerequisites on what he had to learn in order to inherit the family business.
Although You Ming had made the proposal, it was still You Liangxing’s decision in the end.
You Liangxing paused for a moment before he replied, “I’ll look through it first.”
You Ming did not pursue it further, understanding that his son was going to put it under consideration. He turned his head to leave, and You Liangxing walked with him to the edge of the stairs. Gazing into the living room, he saw that the entire place had become a sea of flowers, and his mother Bai Yan was happily lighting candles and pouring wine.
You Liangxing jerked away, regretting the fact that he had taken an extra glance.
Once he returned back to his room, he flipped through the entirety of the material once. Despite having read it thoroughly, he could not fully comprehend it and he felt the sudden urge to re-examine it.
Live broadcasting…. Live broadcasting industry.
You Liangxing hadn’t watched many broadcasts, and most of his impressions stemmed from KK.