An Even Tighter Relationship
Chapter 3/7 of the week! Increase the translation speed, get early access: Patreon =)
After treating his subordinates to a meal, Yang Chen felt like a true leader. He was humming all the way home given his good mood.
When he arrived home, the women had already finished their meals. Guo Xuehua was watching a serial with Wang Ma that aired at eight while Hui Lin laid on the sofa with a small notebook in her hand, muttering something to herself as if trying to memorize it.
"Where's Zhenxiu?" asked Yang Chen when he realized that the youngest one wasn't there.
Guo Xuehua seemed really absorbed in her show. She simply replied, "She's working on her homework. Her high school finals are coming up in three months."
Yang Chen nodded and went to the second floor to knock on Zhenxiu's door.
After a while, she opened it. Upon seeing Yang Chen, she was started slightly before she sweetly asked, "Why are you home so early, Brother Yang?"
Ever since she moved there, Zhenxiu's face looked much more lush and healthier compared to the pale look she had when they first met. Her balanced diet helped her develop the way a teenage girl should. Since she was at home, she had her hair pinned up with a pink hairclip and wore a white, cotton sleeping gown. However, the curves on her chest were rather pronounced.
"I had a meal with my colleagues just now and came back after," said Yang Chen with a smile, "How are your revisions going? Are you confident in acing the tests?"
Zhenxiu pouted and said, "I think I'm fine with the languages, apart from English with regards to listening since I don't get exposed to it much. I still find myself troubled over the analytical subjects and I'll have to work on lots of exercises to get up to speed."
"Analytical subjects can be polished up in a relatively short time. It's great that you're doing well in languages," said Yang Chen. "If you think English is hard, you can get Sister Ruoxi to read it to you. Perhaps I can help you too. However, I haven't studied much personally and I can only feel my way through blindly. That's why I feel Rouxi would make a better coach for you."
"Is that okay though?" said Zhenxiu hesitantly, "Sister Ruoxi is really busy. She always leaves early and returns late."
"She's looking for things to do where there aren't any. Just keep her occupied. Perhaps she'll stay at home more now that she has a reason to," said Yang Chen nonchalantly.
Zhenxiu blinked a number of times before she smirked. "You're really sly, Brother Yang. You're getting me to hold her back because you can't."
However, Yang Chen didn't feel the slightest bit bad despite being exposed. He merely snickered and said, "Well aren't you a sharp one?"
At that moment, Wang Ma's shout could be heard from downstairs.
"Zhenxiu! You have a classmate looking for you!"
Classmate?
Yang Chen looked curiously at Zhen Xiu and didn't think that she would have a classmate coming to look for her so soon. He didn't peg her as the approachable type.
Zhenxiu's expression however changed quickly as if she had thought of something bad. She stomped on the ground and clutched her hair with her hands, making her look rather cute even though she was troubled .
"It can't be that fellow, can it?"
"Who? Which fellow?" asked Yang Chen.
Zhenxiu blushed immediately and dashed into her room. By the time she ran back out, she had already put on her outerwear and rushed downstairs.
Who would have thought that the uninvited guest would’ve started shouting the moment he arrived. "Xu Zhenxiu! I love you, like a cat that loves huge rice grains!"
......
Yang Chen thought that the voice sounded familiar. When he looked at the gate, he was shocked to find that the one shouting was none other than his 'brother-in-law', Liu Minghao!
He was as he seemed that day. His hair was dyed yellow and he was dressed like someone who did hip hop. He also wore some crystal earrings and a few neckties around his neck which didn't match up at all. His average looks were made gangster by all the things he wore!
Behind Liu Minghao were two huge, young men who looked to be around his age. Both of them held up a large red banner with yellow and black wording that proclaimed 'Liu Minghao loves Xu Zhenxiu'.
At that moment, Zhenxiu stood before the gates with her face completely flushed with embarrassment. She was both shy and angry at the same time as she glared at Liu Minghao's beaming face with hate as if she couldn't wait to tear him into little pieces!
Wang Ma and Guo Xuehua came out and Hui Lin was startled by the loud roar. She put the lyrics in her hands down and came out to look in a gossipy fashion.
"Oh, so that boy that likes Zhenxiu is here. Kids these days are truly unpredictable. Imagine if that happened to us back in our day..." said Wang Ma with a giggle. She saw it as kids interacting harmlessly with each other.
Guo Xuehua shook her head and said, "You can't treat Zhenxiu like a little girl forever you know. She's already a grown maiden. It's about time she started falling in love."
Hui Lin watched on like she would a show. "Zhenxiu doesn't seem to like that boy and why is he dressed so weird?"
"Youngsters these days are all about those trends. It's no wonder we don't understand them," said Wang Ma.
Hui Lin clicked her tongue. She was quite troubled that Wang Ma was treating her as one of them -- old people.
At that moment, one of the followers said to Liu minghao, "Boss, I think the lyrics are 'like a rat that likes huge rice grains' instead."
Liu Minghao waved him away and said, "Who cares if it’s cats or rats? I like Zhenxiu and that's all that matters!"
"Boss is so wise!" said the other follower.
Liu Minghao didn't care about them in the slightest and he approached the side of the iron gate. With a smile, he said to Zhenxiu, "My beloved, can't you see that my love is true? I said that I follow you back to your house to confess my love if you won't become my girlfriend, right? Do you believe me now?"
After hearing that, Zhenxiu flared with anger to the point her lips turned white. Her whole body was shivering with rage as she screamed at the top of her voice, "Scram! I don't want to see you!"
Stunned by the sudden sound waves, Liu Minghao took a few steps back in a hurry with a stiff expression on his face.
"Boss, it looks like she rejected you," said one of the huge followers.
"Rejected my ass! My baby is just playing hard to get! I happen to like that sort of play. Didn't you hear that women only get angry at those that they like?" said Liu Minghao seriously.
The huge youth gave it some thought and honestly said, "No I don’t believe I have."
Slap! Liu Minghao clobbered his follower's head and said, "Now you have."
"Boss is so wise!" praised the other huge youth.
Yang Chen felt like bursting out in laughter as he listened on from the yard. He didn't think that his brother-in-law had such a thing for thearetics. However, Zhenxiu didn't reciprocate those feelings at all. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to say that she felt like killing Liu Minghao.
"Zhenxiu, my love, open the gates and let me in. I really want to hug you," said Liu Minghao, lovestruck as he clutched onto the gates and gazed at Zhenxiu.
The girl was no longer able to hold it in. Gritting her teeth, she kicked Liu Minghao's fingers with all the strength she could muster!
"Ouch!"
Liu Minghao retracted his hands from the pain and looked at Zhenxiu resentfully.
"Boss, she just hit you," said the huge youth with shock.
"My ass!" Though Liu Minghao had wanted to refute it, he couldn't think of what else to say, so he only said, "She hit me!"
"Boss is so wise!"
"Wise your ass!" Liu Minghao gave the other huge youth a slap.
Yang Chen couldn't take it anymore and he slowly walked to the gates. He patted Zhenxiu on her shoulder to try to surpress her rage and said to Liu Minghao, "I think it’s time to leave now. Zhenxiu doesn't like this."
Liu Minghao was surprised to see Yang Chen there. "Brother-in-law! Why are you here?"
"Zhenxiu is my sister, so I live with her," said Yang Chen with a laugh, "Won't you go back for my sake? It's already quite late. If you stay, you’re just going to be kicked again"
Zhenxiu was completely shocked when she heard Liu Minghao address Yang Chen as brother-in-law. She forgot her anger and looked at him with confusion.
Liu Minghao on the other hand seemed like he had just heard a startling revelation. His eyeballs spun a few times before he shot Yang Chen an understanding expression. "Oh... hehehe, so that's what it is. It seems that our relationship will grow even tighter in the future! Hehe... Well then, since Brother-in-law has already so kindly asked for it, I’ll leave for now! Haha! Please look after Zhenxiu for me, Brother-in-law! I already have dibs on her!"
"To hell with you! W-who said you had any?!" roared Zhenxiu with anger once more.
Liu Minghao merely laughed without a single care in the world and left with his followers tailing behind.
Even after Liu Minghao left, Zhenxiu was still breathing heavily. It looked like she had a hard time controlling her emotions. Her anger for Liu Minghao must've run deep.
Yang Chen laughed and casually said, "It seems that our Zhenxiu is quite the charming one! Look at how smitten he is with you. How pititful."
"Bro. Ther. Yang! If you continue to bring that up, I'll get mad!" snapped Zhenxiu.
"Alright, fine. I'll zip it," said Yang Chen with a shrug. "Come to think of it, how do you even know that guy? Are you in his class?"
"That's not it," said Zhenxiu, troubled. "He had transferred here from Beijing not long ago. However, with his arrival came the 'Green Dragon Society' delinquent group he formed with his wealth. Many strong delinquents don't dare to mess with him. He's from another class and I don't know why, but he passed me by when we were in the canteen one day and suddenly asked me to be his girlfriend... I hate delinquents the most! You should know that, Brother Yang!"
Yang Chen did know about it. Zhenxiu was referring to the point when she was a delinquent girl herself. That was a time filled with hurt and it was hard for her to accept it. It was no surprise that she came to hate delinquents.
"Since you don't like him, I'll tell him to not harass you the next time I see him," said Yang Chen as he stroked Zhenxiu's head and nodded.
Zhenxiu asked curiously, "Brother Yang, why did he call you brother-in-law? Did you... with his sister..."
Yang Chen cracked a smile and stroked his nose. "Well... you know that I... Hehehe..."
Zhenxiu humphed audibly and glared at Yang Chen. "You big radish."
Yang Chen gave her head a poke and said, "What are you saying? How dare you say that to me? What makes you think I won’t marry you off to someone tomorrow?"
"I don't want to marry anyone. Brother Yang will definitely miss me too much," said Zhenxiu with a giggle as she relaxed.
Yang Chen pouted and said, "It's only normal for man and woman to be wedded together. What's there to miss about?"
Zhenxiu's expression changed at that instant. She quietly asked, "Brother Yang, do you really want me to marry someone else?"
"Huh?" Yang Chen was surprised. He didn't know why Zhenxiu would ask that.
Zhenxiu seemed like she had gotten the confirmation she was looking for. With a pained look, she stomped on the ground and snapped, "Brother Yang is the worst!"
After that, she didn't care about the odd look Yang Chen was giving her and dashed back into the house.
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