This invitation was too sudden. Spring Festival tickets are the hardest to get, and Xiao Yu had lied to them—there were actually no tickets back to Gu Cheng, neither high-speed rail nor regular trains.
Since he was notified in the afternoon, arriving that night would be too late. To avoid disturbing them, he planned to take a taxi over on New Year's Eve the next day.
After packing his bags, Xiao Yu called Xu Qingsong.
"Holy crap? What did you say? You're going to Ye Qingli's house for New Year's?" Xu Qingsong was in the bathroom and let out a yelp. They'd only been dating a few days, and already meeting the parents? Back when he and his first love were together for so long, he'd never even seen a photo of her parents.
Xiao Yu was lying on the bed with his legs crossed and frowned at the noise. "What are you yelling about? You're not the one going, so why are you so excited?"
"I can still be excited!" Xu Qingsong stomped his feet wildly and slapped his own thigh. "A Yu, you're meeting the parents. You've got to take it seriously."
"Of course I know," Xiao Yu ran his hand through his hair—it was getting a bit long and needed a trim—and repeated the main purpose of his call. "So can you tell me what I should prepare? We've been talking for ages without a single serious remark."
This was really hard for him. Xu Qingsong made a bitter face and confessed, "Oh, it's not that I don't want to help, bro. It's just that I've never been in that situation before."
He finally admitted it. Xiao Yu was in a great mood and laughed with satisfaction. "Forget it, I can't discuss this with someone who's never been to his girlfriend's house. I'm hanging up."
So that was his game—deliberately provoking him. Xu Qingsong gritted his teeth and called out, "Alright, we're still bros. I'll reluctantly give you some advice. Just buy them what they like."
"Are you crazy? If I knew what they liked, why would I ask you?"
Xiao Yu laughed again, this time out of anger. He finally understood his good buddy. When it came to giving reliable advice, he couldn't produce a single useful thing, but if it was about shooting the breeze, he could outdo eight people.
But Xu Qingsong was still clueless: "Then what's your mouth for? Can't you ask?"
"..." Xiao Yu hung up immediately.
Who would ask a question like that?
Not to mention that her dad explicitly said he shouldn't bring gifts. Even if he hadn't, asking would be inappropriate. Who would be that greedy? Is it really about a few snacks?
Xiao Yu pinched the bridge of his nose. If he kept talking to this idiot, he wouldn't need to go tomorrow—he'd die at home from a heart attack. He had to admire himself for putting up with him this long. He might as well look it up online.
When he looked it up, he found it was usually expensive cigarettes and liquor. Since Xiao Yu didn't know if Ye Yaohui smoked or drank, he simply didn't buy those. Instead, he picked out a box of premium tea leaves and a tea set, plus several boxes of bird's nest and supplements. At least it would make a good impression. The total came to nearly three thousand yuan.
He left the mall with his purchases. The ride-hailing car hadn't arrived yet. While waiting, he noticed a flower shop across the street was still open. Xiao Yu walked in. There were many kinds of flowers, their petals holding crystal-clear dewdrops. Seeing the flowers were fresh, he pointed through the glass at the Roselle flowers in the greenhouse. "Hello, could you wrap a bouquet with these, please?"
"Okay, I'll use eustoma as the accent flower. Is that alright? I've done similar bouquets before. I have pictures on my phone."
The shop owner handed over his phone. Xiao Yu took a look and decided. "Okay, please make it look nice."
"Of course, that's my job." The owner went to get floral foam and wrapping paper. He glanced at the gift boxes at the entrance and smiled. "Looks like you're going to meet your mother-in-law?"
For some reason, hearing "mother-in-law" made him inexplicably happy. He had never imagined this before. Thinking about it, a smile spread across Xiao Yu's lips. "Yeah."
"Then you've got to do your best," the owner said, holding the flowers in one hand and scissors in the other, hesitating to cut. He looked up. "But you chose the wrong flowers. You don't give Roselle to your mother-in-law. That's for your girlfriend."
Xiao Yu: "I am giving them to my girlfriend."
Only then did the owner feel comfortable cutting. "Ah... I thought you were trying to win over your mother-in-law."
"That's the father-in-law's job."
Xiao Yu laughed softly. As he looked at the bouquet taking shape, his eyes were full of deep affection.
His girlfriend had said that flowers should be given to the person you like.
...
After five hours on the highway, he arrived at Ye Qingli's place.
Ye Qingli had been leaning by the window early on, looking downstairs. When she saw the car, she lit up with joy and hopped over to put on her shoes. Zhang Luan sat on the sofa, her eyes clearly saying "shameless girl."
"Your grandma has trouble walking, so I'll stay with her. We won't go down."
Ye Qingli looked at the two of them, didn't suspect anything, said "Oh," and ran out, closing the door behind her.
After she left, the old lady glanced at the woman sitting beside her and said, "Isn't it you who made the excuse not to go down?"
Zhang Luan shrugged, noncommittal. "Back when I brought my boyfriend home, didn't you say the same thing to my grandma?"
"I wasn't as serious as you are now."
"Yeah, you were strict."
"..."
Ye Qingli lived on the eighth floor. Unfortunately, the elevator had just gone down, so she couldn't wait and ran down the stairs. By the time she reached Xiao Yu, she was out of breath and couldn't speak clearly.
She leaned on his arm, panting. "You... how... just got here... took a taxi?"
"I'm not going to set foot in your neighborhood and leave right away. Why are you so anxious? Aren't you afraid of falling?" Xiao Yu frowned, bent his straight back, and wrapped his arms around the girl in front of him.
He was clearly worried, but when he felt her heart racing, he couldn't help but smile.
Thank you for wanting to see me so much.
Ye Qingli gave him a big hug. She was so happy that she forgot Zhang Luan and Grandma were still upstairs. Given their personalities, they were definitely watching from the window. Thinking of this, she quickly pulled away from Xiao Yu's embrace and caught sight of the row of red gift boxes on the ground behind him.
Ye Qingli gasped. "Didn't my dad tell you not to buy anything? How much did you spend on all this..."
She walked around behind him and saw the large bouquet of pink roses.
"Is this... for me?" Ye Qingli suppressed the smile at the corners of her mouth. The flowers were too bright and fresh; they clearly weren't for an elder. They were obviously for her, but she still wanted to ask. She wanted to hear him say it.
Xiao Yu cupped her face and kissed her lips briefly, then pulled away with a smile. "Yeah, to make up for the fact that you didn't get flowers when we first got together."
Ye Qingli paused. If that was the case, she was really disappointed.