Zhang Luan met her gaze but said nothing. She understood what it meant. Ye Qingli took after her in that regard.
Even in being stubborn. She stomped her foot anxiously. "Grandma, I know all that, but you have to trust me. Xiao Yu is..."
"Let him come to our place for New Year's."
Everyone except Zhang Luan was stunned. No one expected her to say that; they thought they'd misheard. Zhang Luan repeated, "You're my daughter, and I have to be responsible for you. You're not going anywhere. Let him come here."
They didn't care about his family background—that was an adult matter—but she needed to see what kind of person he was and whether he was as good as Ye Qingli claimed.
If he was good, they could keep seeing each other. If not, they'd break up.
Ye Qingli was still young and didn't understand a lot of things. By checking him out now, she could minimize the damage if it really wasn't a good match.
Again, she had to be responsible for her daughter.
This was actually a good idea. Ye Qingli had wanted to invite Xiao Yu over for New Year's from the start. She nodded and went outside to make the call.
Once the door closed, no one inside could hear what was said outside. Ye Yaohui turned to Zhang Luan, his jaw dropping. "You're not acting like yourself today. I thought you were going to argue with her again."
Her anxiety was severe. She always worried excessively about the unknown. In simpler terms, she tended to be paranoid.
He remembered when Ye Qingli was in high school and was asked to meet with a teacher because her grades had dropped. The clueless teacher insisted that Ye Qingli was getting too close to a boy. They even checked the surveillance footage, but Ye Yaohui saw that wasn't the case. The boy had been Ye Qingli's classmate since middle school; they were just good friends. The real reason for her poor performance was that she had a high fever during that exam and hadn't done well.
Once the parents clarified, the teacher backed off, thinking that was the end of it. But then Zhang Luan started making a scene. She insisted that Ye Yaohui was lying to her and that Ye Qingli must have a boyfriend—why else would they call the parents? No matter how much they explained, she wouldn't listen. When Ye Qingli tried to defend her father, she got yelled at.
That was how her anxiety attacks manifested: irrational, refusing to listen, only believing her own thoughts. But today, although she initially overreacted, she had been quite rational afterward and managed to control her emotions. It seemed all those years of medication hadn't been wasted.
"Again? When have I ever argued with her?" She just didn't like admitting what she'd done.
"Forget I said anything."
Ye Yaohui raised his hands and let it go.
...
Xiao Yu was shocked by the content of the phone call.
"You want me to come to your place for New Year's?" He asked again in disbelief. They'd only been dating a few days, and now he was meeting the parents?
"Yeah, my mom said so." Ye Qingli seemed in a good mood, her tone light and cheerful.
Xiao Yu hesitated. "But I haven't bought anything yet."
"You don't need to buy anything! Just come. Our family doesn't care about stuff like that."
Ye Yaohui appeared behind her out of nowhere. Ye Qingli didn't know how long he'd been eavesdropping. She jumped, startled by his sudden presence.
If anyone saw how guilty she looked, they'd think they were talking about something illicit.
Xiao Yu heard the pause. "...Hello, Uncle."
"Hey, hello, hello." Ye Yaohui took the phone from Ye Qingli's hand, put it to his ear naturally, and laughed. "Young man, have you checked if there are any tickets to Gu Cheng? If not, I can drive over to pick you up."
Xiao Yu chuckled. "There are, there are. No need to trouble you, Uncle. Someone just canceled, and I managed to snag a ticket."
"Then you're really lucky, hahaha."
He was so warm that he even praised that. He really knew how to make someone feel good. Both Xiao Yu and Ye Qingli felt a bit awkward at the same time.
Ye Yaohui first exchanged pleasantries with Xiao Yu, then began giving him safety tips. He told him to be careful on the way, not to talk to strangers—there were plenty of bad people these days—and rambled on and on, just like when Ye Qingli had first gone off to college. The same level of worry.
Xiao Yu responded cheerfully on the other end, telling him not to worry. He chatted with Ye Yaohui like they were old friends. They spoke so familiarly, as if they weren't strangers at all. Ye Qingli listened, her heart softening. In an inconspicuous corner, she breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
How nice.
Finally, someone was there to say such things to him.
From now on, things would only get better for him.