Chapter 235: Home
Even though they hadn’t been back in years, the house was still clean and tidy, just like it was before.
Mom took a ladder out of the storage room and personally took down the memorial photo that had been hanging above the TV.
Xiao Jing was talking excitedly beside her mom, sharing funny stories about her time with her sister.
Li Mu wanted to clean the house since no one had stayed there for a few days. But just as she picked up the broom, her mom gave her a sharp look and said, “Put that down! I’m here, so why would you be sweeping?”
So, she could only sit on the sofa with Yu Fan, both of them spacing out and playing on their phones.
“It feels like they can accept me,” Yu Fan leaned slightly toward Li Mu and said. “Now that they’ve accepted you, it’s time for you to meet my parents.”
“Huh?”
“And then maybe our parents can arrange an engagement for us.”
Li Mu still looked a little dazed, clearly not used to this relaxed and lazy lifestyle. She nodded and then picked up a cleaning cloth from the table.
“Put that down, put that down!” Her mom rushed over and took the cloth from her hands.
Yu Fan immediately sat up straight and acted serious like a good boy.
A moment later, her dad came back carrying a big bag of groceries.
“How about a seafood feast tonight?” he said with a warm smile. But when he saw Yu Fan, the smile quickly disappeared. Without saying a word, he walked straight into the kitchen.
“I think your dad doesn’t like me,” Yu Fan whispered while leaning toward Li Mu again.
“Maybe?”
Li Mu really didn’t understand why. She thought that if her dad could accept her becoming a girl, he should also be able to accept her having a boyfriend.
But it seemed like her dad just didn’t like Yu Fan personally.
“Sister! Brother-in-law!” Xiao Jing ran over happily.
But before she could say more, her dad’s voice came from the kitchen. “Don’t shout nonsense! What brother-in-law? You’ll embarrass Xiao Mu if people hear that!”
Yu Fan slumped with a hopeless look. “Li Mu, maybe we should just elope?”
Li Mu turned her head to glance at him, then helplessly reached out and gently ruffled his hair.
“Dad! They’re going to elope!”
The next second, her dad rushed out of the kitchen holding a kitchen knife.
Yu Fan quickly raised both hands in surrender. “Wait! That’s illegal!”
Dad glanced at the knife in his hand, then awkwardly put it down. He had been chopping vegetables and accidentally brought the knife out.
He gave Yu Fan a fierce look and snorted loudly before going back into the kitchen.
“He’s so scary…” Yu Fan sighed and lightly smacked Xiao Jing on the head. “Don’t say stuff like that.”
“Mom! He hit me!”
Their mom peeked out from Li Mu’s bedroom with a broom in her hand.
Yu Fan immediately sat up very straight, staring at the TV without moving his eyes.
“Xiao Mu, you’re a grown-up now. Don’t bully Xiao Jing,” Mom said, clearly thinking it was Li Mu’s fault.
Li Mu didn’t say anything and just nodded calmly.
Her parents really were good at accepting things. Most parents, if their son came back after years and was now a daughter, would probably panic. But not them.
Maybe it was because their jobs were a bit unusual to begin with.
Soon, lunch was ready.
The dining table, which was originally against the wall, had been moved to the center of the room by her dad so that all five people could sit around it comfortably.
Li Mu still felt a little shy. She was happy her parents had come back, but it was also a bit awkward seeing her bowl slowly fill with more and more food.
“Eat more meat. Look how skinny you are.”
“Eat more vegetables too.”
“This crab is really plump, try it.”
Li Mu barely ate a couple of bites of rice, basically eating only the dishes, and yet the dishes didn't seem to decrease at all.
Yu Fan looked even more nervous. His usual sunny smile was completely gone, and he looked very serious as he ate.
“Xiao Mu, how did you and Yu Fan meet…?” At the table, her mom suddenly asked with curiosity.
Li Mu paused, not sure how to answer.
“Auntie, let me tell the story.” Yu Fan offered to explain and began talking about how Li Mu once brought a ghost to visit his grandfather, and they met by chance.
Of course, he didn’t mention anything about forcing Li Mu to dress like a girl. Instead, he made it sound like Li Mu came to him for help, and he was the one being asked for support.
Talking about the past, he couldn’t avoid mentioning how withdrawn Li Mu used to be.
Even though it had only been a few months, Yu Fan described everything in great detail. As he spoke, Li Mu’s mother started looking at her daughter with more guilt in her eyes. Her father just listened quietly, sometimes asking about small details.
Li Mu kept a straight face and continued eating. Thanks to Yu Fan’s story, at least her bowl didn’t keep filling up with more food.
“I’m full,” she said.
Even though her bowl was very small, Li Mu felt so stuffed that she could barely move.
“You’re already full? Want another bowl?”
“No, I’m good.”
She quickly stood up and gave Xiao Jing a look before holding her stomach and walking out of the dining room.
Xiao Jing hurried to follow her, while Yu Fan stayed behind telling stories to her parents.
Inside her bedroom, Li Mu seriously told Xiao Jing, “Go find out what Mom and Dad think about Yu Fan.”
“I'm going right now!”
“Wait until Yu Fan finishes telling his story.” She grabbed Xiao Jing's collar.
Honestly, listening to Yu Fan tell the story of how they got together made her feel really awkward at the table. She didn’t even know how he could say all that with a straight face.
Earlier, her mom had cleaned the bedroom, so now the whole room looked spotless.
Li Mu opened the small window in the room and sat on the windowsill. The warm winter sunlight shone on her body, making her already happy mood feel even better.
Her parents were back. Although that also meant more trouble, but at least the house would feel more lively during the New Year.
She hadn’t spent time with her parents for so long. She had gotten used to her freedom, so it might feel a bit restricting at first, but she’d get used to it.
Still, the emotional bond between them had faded a little over time.
“Li Mu!” Yu Fan suddenly knocked on the door. Xiao Jing ran over and opened it.
He came in full of excitement. “Your parents said after the New Year, they’ll take you to visit my family!”
“Really?”
“Yep!” Yu Fan’s smile was as bright as a flower, and he looked super proud. “I’m so handsome, of course they’d want me as their son-in-law, right?”
Weren’t you super nervous just a little while ago?
“You don’t have to worry about my family. My dad is easy to talk to, and you’ve already met my younger brother.”
He plopped down on the computer chair and was still proudly talking, but then he suddenly saw Li Mu’s dad silently standing outside the door.
All that excitement was gone in an instant, like a bucket of cold water had been poured on him.
“Even if you two are dating, you can’t be in the same room together,” Li Mu’s mom peeked out from behind her husband, smiling as she walked in and tugged on Yu Fan’s sleeve to pull him out. “If people find out, it wouldn’t look good for our Xiao Mu.”
“Uh…”
Li Mu couldn’t help but lower her head and laugh at Yu Fan’s panicked look.
“We’re having dinner with the neighbors tonight. They’ve helped take care of you a lot,” Her dad told Li Mu about the evening plans, then turned to leave.
But suddenly, he came back, looking nervous.
“Yu Fan… what do you think of him as a person?”
Li Mu really wanted to say something bad about Yu Fan, just for fun.
But when she saw how serious her dad looked, she could only smile and nod.
“He’s really good to me.”
Li Mu tried to speak seriously, but a faint blush crept up her cheeks, like a lovestruck girl. She quickly looked away, hoping her dad hadn’t noticed.
“He’s always there, especially when things get hard. He could’ve left me so many times, but he never did. He just… stays. Even when I don’t talk. Even when I act like I don’t care. He understands me.”