Chapter 12: Just a Meal?

Hao Ren stared at the old man, stupefied. Zhao Jiayi and the others, however, suddenly let go of his arm and kept a distance from him.

There were quite a number of students walking by the dorm entrance - some just got back from their classes and the others were leaving for home with their backpacks. They stared at Hao Ren curiously from where they were standing.

Hao Ren was completely embarrassed but he kept silent.

"Please get in the car," Elder Sun said to Hao Ren reverently.

"No!" Hao Ren's stubbornness exploded as he shouted.

"What the hell is this. I didn't even get a notice beforehand." Hao Ren wasn't very pleased.

"Childe Hao, you are already engaged with Zi. It's best to not act too irrationally on these things," said Elder Sun.

Although his words might not have been heard by those who were a bit far, Zhao Jiayi and the other dormmates heard every word of it, "Engaged?" they couldn't help but repeat it out loud.

"Who is Zi?" Zhou Liren asked Zhao Jiayi and Cao Ronghua, confused.

But they simply shook their heads blankly.

"Would you like us to keep waiting here?" Elder Sun asked kindly.

"You win!" Seeing more and more people surrounded them, Hao Ren quickly got into the car after thinking about it.

The black Lincoln Stretch Limousine drove away from the entrance in front of everyone's stare. It was hard for it to be lowkey as much as Hao Ren wished to.

"What is the deal with Hao Ren!" Zhou Liren spoke up abruptly as the black Lincoln drove further away.

The vehicle drove smoothly through the city for a little while before it arrived at a two-story house.

No one would think of it as the house of a rich family by its unpretentious look.

The vehicle stopped, and Elder Sun accompanied Hao Ren off the car. He pressed the doorbell.

"Come in," a beautiful lady in an apron opened the door and said softly.

"I brought him here, madam. I'm heading back now, Please call me if you need anything," Elder Sun said to the woman politely.

"Yes, thank you Elder Sun. I won't keep you from your work. It seems like you are about to break through the ninth level of Purple Light Scroll. I won't waste more of your time," she said softly.

"Thank you, madam," Elder Sun bowed with his hands folded in front, got into the black Lincoln, and left.

Then, the beautiful woman smiled at Hao Ren who was at the door and said, "Come and sit down."

A single smile of hers would overthrow a city. And another one would overthrow a country. (Chinese Idiom describing the beautify of a woman) Her hair was tied up elegantly as if she just walked out of a painting. Seeing her, Hao Ren forgot about all the unpleasantness just now.

"Oh..." he answered dully and walked into the room.

The room was delicately renovated and thoroughly cleaned.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?" she guided Hao Ren as she gently turned and asked.

"No..." he answered dumbly.

He couldn't get mad at this elegant and beautiful woman in front of him.

"I am Zhao Hongyu, Zi's mom. Her dad went to pick her up from school, and they should be back soon. Go ahead and take a seat. I'll go cook." she led Hao Ren to the couch and smiled. Then she walked into the kitchen.

"This must be the precise definition of what an understanding wife and loving mother are like," Hao Ren thought to himself as he stared at her back.

Hao Ren sat down and looked around the house. Even though it appeared to be plain on the outside, the interior design and decoration were very pleasing and resplendent.

A white staircase on the left led to the bedrooms on the second floor. There was a study room on the right. A large dark brown bookshelf inside the study room brought about the essence of a scholarly family.

The fluffy carpet in the living room was stainless. The medieval-styled chandelier above him demonstrated the wealth of the family.

Ka! The door opened as Zhao Guang came in with Zhao Yanzi.

Zhao Yanzi was still in her fresh and light blue school uniform. She gritted her teeth hatefully when she saw Hao Ren. Yet she did not show any signs of surprise. "Her dad must have told her about this when he picked her up," Hao Ren thought to himself.

"You are here," Zhao Guang greeted him lightly.

"Uncle," Hao Ren quickly stood up and greeted him. He didn't really see Zhao Guang as his father-in-law, but he had to be polite since he was a guest here.

He glimpsed at Zhao Yanzi who was pouting over on the side. Hao Ren shivered at the thought of getting engaged and falling in love with a mid-schooler - not to mention their complicated background.

"It's ok, sit down," Zhao Guang said calmly and turned to Zhao Yanzi, "You guys have a chat. I still have some work to do."

Then he walked into the study room and started going through some documents.

Zhao Yanzi stood on the carpet as she stared at Hao Ren. She looked like she wanted to eat him alive.

"Let me warn you. I never agreed to marry you. So if you don't keep your hands to yourself, I am going to cut them off!" she said aggressively.

"The problem is I never wanted to get married to you either, ok? What can I do when they kidnapped me here?" Hao Ren threw Zhao Yanzi an unfriendly look as well.

Then he thought to himself, "Is it really necessary to get mad at a mid-schooler?" But then he realized that the mid-schooler was his fiancee in the current situation.

"I'm going upstairs to play on my computer. Sit by yourself!" Zhao Yanzi glimpsed at Hao Ren and walked towards the stairs.

"Zi!" Zhao Guang's stern voice came from the study room on the right.

Zhao Yanzi gritted her teeth and stopped walking at her dad's words.

She pouted after contemplating seriously for a while, rolled her eyes at Hao Ren, and walked slowly to him as if there were thousands of stones dragging her down.

Bom! She sat on the couch beside Hao Ren reluctantly.

"Watch some TV if you don't want to talk," Hao Ren glimpsed at her reluctantly and turned on the TV with the remote control.

Zhao Yanzi kept on staring at him angrily.

Having ignored her, Hao Ren carried on with scanning through the channels.

"Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf?" Hao Ren turned to her, "That's more like your taste." (The show is a Chinese animated television series for kids in kindergarten and elementary school.)

"Go to hell!" Zhao Yanzi grasped for something from the table to hit him with.

"Zi!" Zhao Guang called out her name again from the study room. He knew exactly what Zhao Yanzi was doing as if he left a pair of eyes in the living room.

Zhao Yanzi put it down reluctantly yet her eyes were still fixated on Hao Ren. "I'm warning you. Do not make me mad!"

Hao Ren smiled lightly. "You hate me that much?"

Zhao Yanzi pouted. "Well, I don't like you at all."

"Me neither. You are always mad, and you are not that pretty. It would be a pity if anyone had to marry you," Hao Ren said lightly.

"You!" Zhao Yanzi's opened her eyes wide.

"Stop fighting, you two. You are going to be husband and wife in the future anyway." Zhao Hongyu walked out of the kitchen with a dish in her hands.

"Mom...he is bullying me," Zhao Yanzi said in a pettishly charming manner.

"I saw it all, and you were the one bullying him," Zhao Hongyu smiled softly and walked back into the kitchen to prepare the second dish.

"Fine, Good for you, stinky uncle. Even my parents are on your side," Zhao Yanzi exposed her "vicious" nature as soon as her mom left. She made a face at Hao Ren.

"Why are you so reluctant? Do you have a boyfriend at school?" he asked as he thought about all the mid-schooler couples on the streets.