Rock Sugar And Pear Stew

Chapter 93 - Pig brains and couple watches (Translated and edited by Xing)

After they finished the stick of ice cream, Tang Xue finally received her mother"s call.

When she picked up, Tang Xue groused softly, "Mom, it"s not that I"m scolding you… It"s just that, how do you discipline your husband. He went crazy upon seeing Li Yubing and gave me a terrible fright."

"You really can"t blame your dad this time."

"What"s wrong?"

"We"ll talk about the issue of you opening a room with Li Yubing when you come back. First, can you tell me why you kept the room receipt? As memory? You"re even more brainless than your dad."

"No… wait, I didn"t open a room with Li Yubing?"

"No guts to admit your actions? 30 August, one double room at Rain City Airport Rest Room, signed by Li Yubing. So it wasn"t you and him who opened that room? It was him and someone else?"

When Tang Xue heard the words "airport rest room", her mind went blank. She immediately said, "That, I can explain…"

"Oh, how are you going to explain it? The two of you opened a rest room purely to chat? Are you sure that nothing happened at all?"

That… Tang Xue was unable to give her word on it. After all, it was not the case that they did nothing either. After all, they did kiss and hug and raise up high…[1]

Mama Tang immediately read the situation from her silence. She continued grumbling, "I still don"t understand. Why would you keep that stupid receipt?"

"Ah, I didn"t know that the receipt was there." Tang Xue was a little aggrieved as well. "I"ve never seen it before."

"Oh, so the receipt ran into your bag by itself?"

"No…" Tang Xue looked at the sky. Suddenly, her brows twitched slightly. Her eyes darted and landed on Li Yubing.

Li Yubing pursed his lips and dodged her gaze.

Tang Xue finally remembered what happened. The receipt was stuffed in by Li Yubing. She was not paying attention at that time and did not look at it afterwards as well. Thus, she simply forgot about it.

Why didn"t she see it?

It must be because Li Yubing stuffed the receipt into the inner slip pocket. She did not have a habit of using the inner slip pockets in her bags as it was too troublesome. She would usually toss everything into her bag and only separate her sanitary pads from other items.

Unfortunately, she did not use that bag during her period.

And that was how the tiny receipt stayed hidden in her bag for a month before meeting her father.

Tang Xue quickly said a few more words to her mother before hanging up. Then, she crossed her arms and stared at Li Yubing with an expressionless face.

"I thought you already threw it away," Li Yubing replied feebly.

"It"s just a piece of waste paper. Why did you stuff it into my bag?"

"I don"t know… Didn"t think too much at that time."

Tang Xue dug through her memory. It seemed like Li Yubing really loved stuffing things into her bag? She had kept for him receipts, his meal card, keys, his handphone… good grief! Boyfriends out there usually help their girlfriends to carry their bags. As for her dog boyfriend, he would stuff even an empty tin can he picked off the streets into her bag.

She was puzzled—how in the world did this nutcase manage to get himself a girlfriend?

Tang Xue used her index finger to jab Li Yubing"s temple. She asked, "Li Yubing, do you know what"s in here?"

Li Yubing"s face was docile. "Pig brains."

Tang Xue, "…"

Can you have some pride? How can you be so spineless as a public figure, making it impossible for me to get mad at you!

Tang Xue was unable to vent the frustration in her chest. Finally, she pointed at him and said, "You"re an idiot."

Li Yubing was silent for a while. Then, he whispered, "I"m only an idiot when I"m with you."

After hanging up the call with her daughter, Mama Tang came back from the balcony and looked at Princ.i.p.al Tang who sat on the sofa. After looking at him for a while, she suddenly burst into a soft chuckle. Translated by Xing for only teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

Princ.i.p.al Tang stared at her. "You"re still able to laugh?"

"What else can I do? Will crying help?" Mama Tang walked over and sat down next to her husband. "Things have already happened."

"Say, how do you have such a big heart?"

Mama Tang gave a sigh. "Do you know how many children there are in the hospital aged from five to eight? They can"t be cured and their parents can only watch in vain as they pa.s.s away. They"re only around five, six, seven and eight. That"s the span of their entire life."

"Can you think of more positive things."

"It"s pretty good… that"s what I often think: everything is well as long as she"s alive. If she"s healthy and safe, that"s already our blessing."

Princ.i.p.al Tang could not help but scoff, "With this enlightenment of yours, you can be a head nun at a temple."

He was not in a good mood. Mama Tang did not retort and merely said, "What has been done has been done. Your reaction will only distance you from Tang Xue. Aren"t you familiar with her temper as her dad? We"ll have a good talk with her when she comes back… Don"t fight."

Before Tang Xue went home, she went to the mall with Li Yubing and bought two Tudor watches of the same style, one in the men"s version and one in the ladies" version. When paying for it, Tang Xue used the edge of the bank card to poke Li Yubing"s chest. "Li Yubing, does it hurt?"

"Mm?" Li Yubing tilted his head

Tang Xue elaborated, "Does your heart hurt? It"s more 40 thousand yuan."

"Nope." Li Yubing shook his head.

"Actually, I haven"t spent a single cent from this card of yours. I only helped you to buy some savings plans… But this time, you need to pay the price for being stupid."

Li Yubing said, "How about… we get Rolex instead?"

"Don"t, it"s my heart that will hurt if we get Rolex."

Li Yubing quirked his lips and looked at her. "I"ll follow you back to beg for punishment."

"You"re indeed an idiot. Your idiocy is enough to contaminate the air for miles… Why would you send yourself up for a beating?"

After making payment and receiving the goods, Li Yubing piped up, "I want to wear a couple watch with you as well."

Tang Xue was once scoffed by Liao Zhenyu for not having a heart befitting a teenage girl. Now, she could face this issue head-on and retort, "So what. My boyfriend has it."

Tang Xue did not think that her hand was worthy of a watch that cost more than three figures. Thus, they went to the fifth floor and found a relatively remote shop selling inexpensive accessories. Using 268 yuan, they bought a pair of discounted couple quartz watches

Though the watches were cheap, it did not affect the delight they felt when wearing it. The two of them held hands and snapped away at the couple watches. This chapter is a labour of love that should not be found outside of teafragrance[dot]wordpress[dot]com.

Tang Xue brought the watches back. When she entered the house, she saw her parents. Without waiting for them to say a word, she struck first. "Tada! Look what I bought for you two!"

Princ.i.p.al Tang gave a loud "humph" and did not say a word.

Mama Tang asked curiously, "What is it?"

"Here, try it and see if it fits." Tang Xue maximized her charm and fished out the watches. She helped her parents to put it on before putting their wrists side by side. She complimented, "What. A. Match. Do you like it?"

Though the watches were nice, Mama Tang"s focus was elsewhere. She asked, "Where did you get the money from?"

"I swiped Li Yubing"s card."

When Princ.i.p.al Tang heard this, he immediately tugged off the watch and tossed it back to her. "Outrageous! Do you think we"re selling our daughter?"

"Ah?" Tang Xue startled before shaking her head. "Dad, what are you thinking, Li Yubing"s bank card is in my hands. I can swipe it however I like."

Mama Tang asked, "What are you doing with Li Yubing"s bank card?"

"He gave it to me willingly, not because I forced him to."

"Then what about his expenses?"

"He claims it from me."

Mama Tang felt her head hurting. "How is it that the two of you are already acting like a married couple…"

Princ.i.p.al Tang rapped the coffee table. "Don"t try to divert our attention. Let"s talk about the "good" thing that you"ve done."

"Dad, I"m already 20."

"That"s your Chinese age."

"Fine, fine, fine, 19. I"m already 19. In ancient times, people would already be having their second child. In contemporary times, I"m also already an adult. What"s wrong with an adult doing adult things? It"s not like the two of you have never dated before."

Princ.i.p.al Tang scowled at her. "When we were 19, we definitely weren"t like you two."

"That"s because times have changed, dad. When you were 19, it was the norm to copy song lyrics by hand. We didn"t mock you all for doing that, did we? Everyone needs to be a little more open-minded."

"What nonsense! How can hand-copying song lyrics be the same as opening a room?"

"Dad, my point is that my generation"s view is more liberal. I hope that you can understand. Opening a room with Li Yubing was of my own accord and I was not forced. I know what I"m doing."

"I"m just worried—"

"I know, I know." Tang Xue hugged Princ.i.p.al Tang"s arms and rested her head on his shoulder. "I know that you two are concerned about me. But don"t worry, Li Yubing is very obedient. If I point to the east, he won"t dare to venture west. His bank card is with me and all his finance is in my hands. You probably don"t know that he earns way more than drug traffickers these days."

Mama Tang scoffed, "What in the world is this comparison of yours…"

Princ.i.p.al Tang said, "Both of you are still young and the future might change greatly. Though you"re on good terms now, what if things change?"

"Everyone will ultimately die. Despite so, aren"t everyone still living life optimistically? It"s most important to enjoy the process. Even if we do break up one day, the beautiful memories will still remain. Besides, a relationship is maintained through effort, just like you and mom. The wonderful relationship between you two didn"t simply fall from the sky. It"s the result of your dedication and effort together… isn"t that right, mom?"

Holding back her urge to laugh, Mama Tang looked at her. "You"re very eloquent today."

Princ.i.p.al Tang"s expression had just relaxed. When he heard this, he huffed, "Don"t tell me that Li Yubing taught you to say this?"

"This was something I discussed with him but it also represents my own personal thoughts. Also, what I am going to say wasn"t taught to me by anyone." Tang Xue steeled her expression. "My opinion on chast.i.ty might differ from you and perhaps numerous other people. I don"t think that protecting her chast.i.ty is a matter of great importance for a girl. That"s only something that guys emphasize. What"s most important to a girl is the same as what"s most important for a guy, which is to take good control of her own life. On this point, I have confidence that I can do it."

Translator"s Notes:

[1] 亲亲抱抱举高高 (Qīn qīn bào bào jǔ gāo gāo): It"s a popular online phrase that literally means "kiss, hug and raise up high". People usually use it to be cute like a kid begging for a compliment. E.g. Imagine a kid stretching out his/her hands and saying "I want kisses, hugs and to be raised up high into the air!" In this case, Tang Xue is using the "raise up high" to refer to well…

I thought Tang Xue was going to slither her way out of this as she does most of the time. Instead, she just had the most mature talk on s.e.x with her parents that I"ve ever seen any character had.