The meal took some time to finish. Throughout the duration, Su Chengning refused Tang Mo’s fawning attempts to put food in his bowl, choosing to eat only a few simple dishes.
He felt he had been too indulgent with the other man lately, to the point where Tang Mo was acting so unscrupulously even in a place like this.
His waist felt sore and uncomfortable. Enduring the physical malaise, Su Chengning set down his chopsticks; Tang Mo followed suit immediately.
“Brother, you’ll be hungry if you eat so little.”
Tang Mo hadn’t eaten much himself. He had been constantly monitoring the changes in Su Chengning’s expression. Every time he wanted to serve him food, he was stopped by a cold, indifferent gaze. He felt restless and uneasy, finding the food tasteless. Seeing Su Chengning stop, he didn’t dare eat any more.
Cautiously leaning closer, Tang Mo tried to grab his hand. Su Chengning looked up and swept a glance over him, causing Tang Mo’s hand to freeze in mid-air.
Twitching the corners of his mouth, Tang Mo tried his best to put on an obedient smile, but it wasn’t bought.
“I’m full,” Su Chengning said faintly. He rose from his seat, his weak waist causing his figure to sway slightly. For a moment, the veins on his forehead pulsed.
He shot a fierce glare at the younger man who was supporting his waist, but this time, he didn’t push him away.
Steaning himself with Tang Mo’s support, Su Chengning said in a detached tone, “I need to go home.”
“Ah?” Tang Mo didn’t react to the meaning of those words for a moment.
Su Chengning glanced at him and offered an explanation anyway: “My mom and the others are back from their trip. I have to go home and see them.”
“Oh, alright.” Tang Mo tried to hide the flash of disappointment in his heart.
“You—” How could Su Chengning not see his emotions? Seeing him with his head drooping and the corners of his mouth turned down, looking exactly like an abandoned puppy, he found it somewhat amusing.
“You go back first. I’ll look for you when I’m free.”
After saying this, Su Chengning felt the words had a strange ring to them. Pondering it for a second, he felt a bit embarrassed. Especially since Tang Mo’s hand was still resting on his waist; anyone seeing them like this would surely cast an ambiguous, knowing look.
Su Chengning pushed aside the sudden sense of guilt that he was treating Tang Mo like an object to be used and discarded, and calmly pushed him away.
Looking at his empty hand, Tang Mo felt dejected, but he still hesitated and said, “Brother, was it because I didn’t do well just now? Tell me, and I’ll definitely change next time.”
Seeing that he intended to bring up what happened earlier, Su Chengning immediately retracted the guilt that had just surfaced. Gritting his teeth, he said, “You did very well. Don’t do it again next time.”
Tang Mo looked at him blankly for a moment, until he noticed the way Su Chengning was massaging his lower back. Suddenly, he had a moment of epiphany.
“Brother, are you praising me for making progress?” A hint of joy entered his voice, and he instantly tossed his previous dejection to the back of his mind.
“Stop being so full of yourself,” Su Chengning said with a wooden face.
“I’m not,” Tang Mo replied.
Lowering his voice, he continued with a look of bashfulness on his face, “I’ve watched some tutorials… it says to satisfy the other party, one must learn to use more erotic settings and positions…”
The rest of his words were swallowed back under Su Chengning’s glare.
“Do you spend all day thinking about these things?” Su Chengning frowned slightly, appearing displeased.
Tang Mo felt a bit embarrassed. “Not all day.”
Su Chengning was rendered speechless by his expression. He wanted to hit him, yet felt a bit reluctant to do so. Finally, he could only admonish, “Study hard and stop thinking about these useless things.”
When the two of them left the private booth, Tang Mo followed obediently behind, his eyes drifting toward Su Chengning’s body from time to time.
Su Chengning walked a bit slowly. The blatant gaze behind him gave him a sense of powerlessness, as if his lecture to Tang Mo just now had been a total waste of effort.
In a moment of distraction, he was suddenly bumped into by someone.
As his body leaned backward, the ever-watchful Tang Mo anxiously caught him.
Su Chengning only felt his waist aching painfully. His furrowed brows tightened even further when he saw clearly who had bumped into him. He felt it was purely bad luck.
“A-Wen, are you okay?” Hearing the noise, Su Binghai came out and saw the woman fallen on the ground. He immediately went to help her up with a pained expression.
Jiang Wen’s face was pale. She gripped Su Binghai’s wrist so tightly that even he noticed her abnormality.
Forcing herself to remain calm, she whispered, “I’m fine, let’s just go.”
She thought that by keeping her head down and her voice low she could reduce her presence, unaware that Su Chengning had recognized the two of them at first glance.
“Your son knows to apologize to me when he bumps into me; as a mother, you’re not even as polite as your son.”
Supported by Tang Mo, Su Chengning stood up. His voice was so cold that the entire hallway felt as though it were covered in a layer of frost.
Jiang Wen’s movements stiffened.
Su Binghai immediately shook off the hand he was using to support her.
He was surprised to see Su Chengning there, but he spoke with a normal expression, “A-Ning, so it’s you.”
“Your Auntie Jiang didn’t do it on purpose. It’s not right to make an elder apologize to a junior.”
Su Binghai gave Tang Mo a subtle glance, seemingly reminding Su Chengning not to make things look too ugly.
Unfortunately, Su Chengning didn’t give him any face at all. “Since when did I have an aunt?”
“Should I ask my mother when she got herself a sister?”
Seeing Su Chengning take out his phone as if to make a call, Su Binghai stepped forward and pressed down on his hand.
At the same time, another hand grabbed Su Binghai.
“Uncle Su, if you use that much force, Brother Chengning will be in pain.” Tang Mo stared at Su Binghai’s hand with a somewhat sinister gaze, forcefully wrenching his hand away.
“Look, Brother Chengning’s wrist is already red.” He blew on Su Chengning’s wrist with heartache, his movements gentle a total contrast to the coldness he showed when he had just pulled Su Binghai away.
Su Binghai’s wrist, hidden behind his back, was flushed deep red. He said somewhat apologetically, “It’s all my fault. I just didn’t want you to disturb your mother.”
“Your mother said she was a bit tired and wanted to rest early today.”
“Oh—” Su Chengning looked at Su Binghai with a mocking smile. “No wonder you have the leisure to come out, Dad…”
His gaze bypassed Su Binghai and landed directly on Jiang Wen, who kept her head lowered. The meaning was self-evident.
Tang Mo looked at Su Binghai with contempt, his heart filled with nothing but sympathy for Su Chengning. His broad palm supported Su Chengning’s lower back, offering him silent comfort and support.
Su Chengning gave him a brief glance.
Su Binghai didn’t notice their small gestures and merely explained, “I just came out to catch up with a friend.”
“I understand, a ‘special’ friend,” Su Chengning replied coldly. “Speaking of which, I should blame myself for interrupting your reunion. I suppose you haven’t finished your meal yet.”
He caught a glimpse of the dishes on the table that had barely been touched. They were far more numerous and lavish than the dishes the two of them had just eaten.
Su Chengning felt disgusted, and his tone became even more frigid. “Then you two continue eating. I’m going home to accompany Mom.”
His mood grew darker. He had no desire to speak further with these two disgusting people. He bypassed them and walked straight ahead.
Tang Mo followed. As he walked past, he made sure to give Jiang Wen a look. Then, he politely said to Su Binghai, “Uncle Su, enjoy your meal. We’ll be going now.”
Su Binghai, not daring to overthink, chased after them. “Since you’re going back to see your mother, I’ll go back with you. Lest she worries about me…”
“Worries about whether you’re having fun outside?” Su Chengning stopped in his tracks, his gaze chilling. “Would a man who loves to indulge in debauchery ever care about the wife and child at home?”
Su Binghai’s brow furrowed instantly. “A-Ning, I am your father. Is this how you speak to your own father?”
“How do you want me to speak to you?” Su Chengning let out a cold laugh. “Surely you don’t expect me to pretend I didn’t see anything, or that I don’t know anything?”
Seeing him standing there with a cold face and saying nothing, Su Chengning continued, “Instead of worrying about me, you should think about what Mom will think when she finds out.”
He was suddenly curious. One was reckless and indulgent, the other was full of lies. If everything was brought into the open one day, would it be a spectacular scene?
At this moment, Su Chengning’s thoughts were frighteningly dark, his eyes filled with thick malice.
Meeting such a gaze, Su Binghai subconsciously shivered.
“How about this…” Su Chengning said with a grim smile, “For the sake of you being my father, I’ll give you a chance.”
“Go home right now and explain everything to Mom. As long as she doesn’t pursue it, I’ll act as if I never ran into you today.”