In the end, everything worked out.
Zhu Heqing still managed to win Yu Huan over.
On the very first day they started dating, Zhu Heqing wanted to take Yu Huan home. He couldn’t wait for his family to meet her and fall in love with her.
Or rather, he desperately wanted more people to know that Yu Huan belonged to him.
Even someone who normally never posted on social media wanted to make their relationship public the very second Yu Huan agreed to date him.
But Yu Huan refused.
From the very beginning, she had been just as willful and spoiled as ever.
“No. We just started dating. I’m not going to your house yet.”
“And don’t post it on social media. What if we break up after a few days? How embarrassing would that be? What would everyone think of me?”
From the start, Zhu Heqing had always put himself in a very low position when it came to Yu Huan.
He practically did whatever she said.
When Yu Huan told him not to post about their relationship, Zhu Heqing still posted it—but set it so that only he could see it.
When she didn’t want to visit his family, Zhu Heqing agreed.
And so, one delay became another.
Before long, he had already visited Yu Huan’s home several times, yet Yu Huan had never once visited his.
Was this why his little girlfriend felt insecure?
Zhu Heqing remembered what his mother had told him before he left the Zhu family residence:
“Ah He, she’s still young, and young girls tend to be sensitive. I asked Zhiheng, and he said you’ve already been dating for several years. If you haven’t brought her home even after all these years, of course she’ll be unhappy about it.”
“Our Zhu family doesn’t care about family background. As long as you’re genuinely in love with her and want to spend the rest of your life with her, your father and I will agree.”
“Find some time to talk to her properly and bring her home to meet your father and me. Once she does that, we’ll consider the matter settled. When she’s old enough and you two are ready to get married, we’ll hold the wedding.”
Zhu Heqing had mentioned bringing Yu Huan to meet his parents several times, but she had never agreed.
He had always thought that dating was a matter between him and Yu Huan. If she didn’t want to go, then she didn’t have to.
He had never forced her.
But now that he thought about it, he realized that he hadn’t been considerate enough.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to go.
He was simply too dense to understand what his girlfriend was really thinking.
Zhu Heqing quickly finished cleaning the last few prawns and washed his hands.
Then he reached out and gently touched Yu Huan’s warm, delicate cheek.
“It was my oversight.”
His face was filled with apology.
“I should have realized it sooner.”
Yu Huan was confused.
“？？？”
What on earth was he talking about?
She tilted her face up and looked at him.
“Did you catch a cold from riding the electric scooter?”
Zhu Heqing had no idea how the conversation had suddenly taken such a strange turn, but he answered seriously.
“No. Your father drove slowly. There’s no way I would catch a cold from that.”
“Then why are you talking nonsense?” Yu Huan asked suspiciously. “Or did that horror game earlier scare you?”
The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed.
Nobody was perfect.
Even Zhu Heqing might actually be terrified of scary things.
Yu Huan reached out and gently patted his chest in comfort.
“It’s okay. Everyone gets scared sometimes. I won’t laugh at you.”
Feeling the soft patting against his chest, Zhu Heqing’s heart nearly melted.
“Thank you for not despising me, my girlfriend.”
He didn’t deny it. Instead, he asked,
“Baby, there’s a banquet next Wednesday. Yunshu’s grandfather is turning eighty. Do you want to go with me and have some fun?”
Yu Huan frowned.
“A banquet sounds like it’ll be full of trouble. I’m not going.”
Yu Huan had never attended a wealthy family’s banquet before.
However, domineering-CEO novels were extremely popular these days. Quite a few had even been adapted into short dramas that became hugely popular on short-video platforms.
Yu Huan occasionally came across them.
Based on her shallow understanding, banquets in those stories existed mainly so the male and female leads could show off.
Of course, real-life banquets obviously weren’t held for the protagonists.
But most of them consisted of businessmen drinking and exchanging pleasantries, which sounded incredibly boring.
Yu Huan liked interesting things.
If something was dull, she couldn’t be bothered with it.
Zhu Heqing knew that when Yu Huan wasn’t interested in something, there was no point in trying to persuade her no matter how much he said.
He didn’t want to force her to attend something she had no interest in either.
“Okay. I understand.”
“Xiao Zhu, are the prawns ready?”
Zhang Ya walked into the kitchen after finishing unpacking the deliveries.
“They’re ready.”
Zhang Ya took a look.
The prawns had been cleaned perfectly, and even the water around the sink had been wiped dry.
Her impression of Zhu Heqing improved even further.
She put on an apron as well.
“Good. It’s almost dinner time, so we can start cooking. For these braised prawns, I have my own way of seasoning them…”
Zhang Ya carefully explained all the secrets to making the dish.
Yu Huan stood beside them, nodding along and telling Zhu Heqing to pay close attention.
Zhu Heqing was a naturally talented student.
After Zhang Ya taught him, his very first attempt already tasted eighty to ninety percent like hers.
There was hardly anything she could criticize.
She was delighted.
Since they already had plenty of ingredients at home, she went on to teach Zhu Heqing several more of Yu Huan’s favorite dishes.
By the time the final dish was brought to the table, everything except one soup dish prepared by Yu Hezhang had been cooked by Zhu Heqing.
Yu Huan unusually ate an entire extra bowl of rice that evening.
Her stomach was so full that she lay on the bed afterward, groaning in discomfort.
Zhu Heqing sat beside her and gently massaged her stomach with his large hand, applying just a little pressure.
After rubbing it for quite a while, Yu Huan finally felt a little better.
“It’s all your fault. You made so many dishes and now my stomach hurts.”
“Mm, it’s my fault. Do you want some water?” Zhu Heqing asked softly.
“No. My stomach is already too full. Drinking water will only make it worse.”
“Okay. Then you don’t have to drink.”
Yu Huan placed her hand over Zhu Heqing’s and asked,
“Are you going home tonight?”
“Mm. I’ll massage your stomach a little longer, then I’ll leave.”
Yu Huan puffed out her cheeks, looking slightly unhappy.
But she also knew that even if Zhu Heqing wanted to stay, her parents wouldn’t agree.
Looking at Yu Huan’s fair cheeks, Zhu Heqing asked again,
“Baby, when are you free?”
Yu Huan looked at him suspiciously.
“Why?”
She didn’t really have anything to do during summer vacation.
She was free every day.
If she wasn’t available, it usually meant that she simply didn’t feel like going anywhere.
Zhu Heqing explained,
“If you’re free, I’d like to take you to meet my parents.”
“Do I really have to meet them?”
Yu Huan wasn’t particularly willing.
She wasn’t as mature as Zhu Heqing.
To her, dating was something between the two of them. Their relationship hadn’t reached the stage where they needed to meet each other’s parents yet.
Besides, she cared a lot about her image and was afraid of leaving a bad impression on Zhu Heqing’s parents.
“If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”
Zhu Heqing understood her decision.
“But I want you to feel more secure.”
At the very least, he didn’t want her casually imagining that one day he might get angry at her because of another woman.
He wanted Yu Huan to have complete confidence in their relationship—and in him.
Yu Huan remained silent.
After a while, she suddenly asked,
“Will there be anyone I know at that banquet?”
The conversation had somehow circled back to the banquet.
“Yes. He Zhiheng and the others will all be there. I’ll stay by your side the entire time, so you don’t have to worry about being bored.”
Yu Huan struggled with the decision for a long time.
“Fine. I’ll go to the banquet with you. We’ll talk about meeting your parents another time.”
“But, baby…”
Zhu Heqing looked at her affectionately.
“My parents will be attending the banquet too.”