Chapter 372: The Purpose
“How can you score this badly!”
“Your sister was never like this in middle school!”
“Are you daydreaming in class? Do you even listen during lessons?”
When An Han finished her shower and came downstairs in short sleeves and shorts, her mother’s angry shouting was already echoing through the entire house. As her mother’s anger grew, the atmosphere became even heavier.
Her little sister stayed silent, Su Peng didn’t know what to do, and even An Han felt a little nervous. She pretended not to hear anything and calmly stepped into the living room.
Now was definitely not the time to poke her mother’s anger.
Su Peng clearly never expected to experience something like this. He kept glancing toward the kitchen. When he saw An Han sit next to him, he nervously whispered,
“Your mom… is she always this scary?”
Before today, his impression of An Han’s mother was very good. She sometimes scolded the younger daughter, but her scolding always had reasons, and she never hit anyone.
When going out, she was always elegant, ladylike, gentle and calm. She rarely showed him a bad face.
He always thought her temper was quite good… But after hearing her sharp yelling today, he was a bit panicked.
It was kind of scary…
“You’ll get used to it. Maybe her menopause is coming?”
An Han muttered as she leaned on the sofa, crossing her legs. But her eyes fell on her red, swollen knee.
She paused for a moment. Maybe she should go change into long pants… or wear stockings to cover it.
There was no broken skin, just swelling. But if her mother’s thoughts went in a “dirty” direction, she might misunderstand.
But she did tell her mother yesterday about falling…
“An Han! Su Peng! Come eat!”
“That child! She’s going to drive me crazy!”
When An Han sat at the dining table, her mother couldn’t stop scolding her sister again. An Han sneaked a glance at her sister’s pouting, unhappy face. She wanted to say something, but her mother’s authority made her too scared to speak.
“Um… Mom, maybe we should eat first?”
She chose the “indirect way” to save her sister.
“Yes, Auntie. You can talk after we finish eating.” Su Peng added.
Her mother glared at her little sister, then finally sat down. She sighed, shook her head, and complained helplessly.
“Look at your sister. She’s only in middle school and already doing this badly.”
“What is she going to do in the future? She won’t even get into college. I don’t know if she’ll be able to support herself.”
Her little sister sat beside An Han and whispered, “I can just find a rich boyfriend like sister…”
“……”
The already tense atmosphere instantly froze.
Their mother’s face turned dark, An Han clenched her small fist, and even Su Peng’s expression sank.
Realizing she had said something completely wrong, the little sister quickly picked up her bowl and hid behind it, shoveling rice into her mouth as fast as she could.
Her mother let out a tired sigh, then turned to An Han and Su Peng with a gentle smile.
“Tell me what you want to eat tonight. I’ll go to the market this afternoon.”
“Anything is fine,” An Han said.
Su Peng wasn’t fooled by her sudden gentle face. He sat stiff and upright, eating very properly, only picking food right in front of him. His back was straight, posture perfect.
And then, her mother’s expression froze again for a moment.
Following her gaze down, An Han immediately saw it. Her leg stretched out under the table, her swollen knee clearly showing, with traces of medicine still on it.
“Mom, I fell yesterday.”
She explained helplessly. She knew her mother would notice her knee…
Her mother glanced sharply at Su Peng. Seeing his tired, weak-looking face, her suspicion grew even stronger.
This boy had lived with her daughter for months.
Was he really that honest… and hadn’t touched her daughter at all?
After all, even without makeup, her daughter looked as pretty as those heavily edited “beauties” on TikTok.
That soft, fair face and that perfect figure were extremely rare in real life. Any normal man would be tempted, right?
“Auntie…”
Su Peng couldn’t handle that examining stare anymore. He forced a smile and said, “I promised Uncle… I won’t touch An Han before we get married.”
“Mm.” Her mother nodded lightly.
…Maybe this boy just wasn’t very capable?
Just moments ago she was worried that Su Peng might have “eaten her daughter clean,” but now she started worrying about her daughter’s married life instead.
If Su Peng really “wasn’t capable,” things might not be happy after they got married…
She remembered reading something on a marketing account somewhere, marriages without a good sex life usually ended in divorce.
“Auntie, I brought a small gift. It might not be very valuable…”
Su Peng pulled out a bottle of perfume from his pocket. Blushing, he stood up and placed it in front of her with both hands. “It’s really not expensive.”
That hundred-yuan perfume had made him struggle for so long. His daily intern salary wasn’t even a hundred, and his and An Han’s daily living expenses together were just a few dozen. When he had money, he spent freely.
But once he experienced how hard earning money was, he suddenly became very frugal.
The mother, who had been expressionless just seconds ago, immediately broke into a bright smile. She picked up the perfume and looked at the brand she didn’t recognize.
“Since you gave it to me, I’ll try it this afternoon.”
“Mom, it only costs a bit over a hundred.”
An Han was afraid her mother would take it and show it off to relatives.
“Even if it’s only a hundred, it’s the thought from my son-in-law that matters.”
Son-in-law? Already?
So cheap and she’s already bought off?
Shouldn’t it at least be something that costs thousands?
Su Peng noticed An Han’s strange expression. Feeling excited, he quickly said, “Next time, I’ll bring something better. How about Chanel perfume? It’s really famous.”
“What’s the point of buying something that expensive?”
Her mother waved her hand modestly, refusing, then happily picked a sweet-and-sour rib for Su Peng. After that, she dabbed some perfume on the back of her hand and sniffed it with satisfaction.
Su Peng had worried she would dislike a cheap gift, but she really didn’t mind at all.
“Oh right, tomorrow we’re having a meal with your grandfather.”
“Grandpa?”
An Han froze, then realized her mother was talking to Su Peng.
“Your grandfather, Su Peng. I think I met him a few times more than ten years ago. He used to be your grandfather’s old military friend. But I don’t remember clearly.”
Smiling, her mother finally revealed the purpose for calling the two of them home.
“Your grandfather sent a message saying he’s visiting your grandpa. The plan is for tomorrow at noon. Really quite a coincidence.”
So it was Su Peng’s grandpa visiting his old friend…
All the worries An Han had before coming home disappeared instantly.
“Isn’t Su Peng still fighting with his parents right now? This is a good chance for you to make peace.” Her mother turned to Su Peng. “With your grandpa and An Han’s grandpa there, everything can be talked out.”
“So you knew everything…” An Han muttered. “No wonder you didn’t complain about the perfume.”
Her mother glared at her, as if her own daughter had just called her greedy.
Su Peng finally relaxed and nodded fast enough to be a woodpecker.
“I’ll listen to Auntie.”