They arrived at a teahouse where they could talk, and asked for a private room.
The Feng couple sat together. Gong Ze and Feng Yuan sat opposite them, sandwiching a little Panpan cub between them.
After the tea and tea snacks were arranged, the server left the private room. The atmosphere among the five was inevitably somewhat awkward and stiff—not only because unfamiliar elders sat across from them, but also because they now felt somewhat like they had been caught red-handed.
In the space where a pin could be heard dropping, the two younger ones—Gong Ze’s face grew stiffer and stiffer, while Feng Yuan kept his body tense, looking like he was ready for battle, just waiting for the other side to attack so he could instantly enter counterattack mode.
Papa Feng looked dignified, but was actually very nervous too.
Probably only Mama Feng and the child Panpan were relaxed.
And Mama Feng had been staring at Gong Ze from beginning to end. Only after her husband reminded her with a dry cough and a look did she unwillingly, in a gentle and warm tone, say: “Since we’ve all met today, let’s be open with each other. Your Uncle Feng and I don’t oppose you two dating. After all, the A is unmarried and the O is unwed. You’re both willing. Even if we wanted to control it, we couldn’t.”
Hearing this, Gong Ze unexpectedly stared at her blankly. His heart, suspended over the abyss, slowly descended.
Feng Yuan likewise breathed a sigh of relief. His stiff, deep expression relaxed.
But his eyes remained warily and suspiciously fixed on his own mother. “Mom, your next sentence isn’t going to be ‘but,’ is it?”
Mama Feng: “How old are you and I still need to use that trick? Do you look down on yourself or look down on your mom! Besides, look at yourself—an O, yet A enough to make your own parents suspect you’re having an OO romance! Anyone who didn’t know would think I, as your mother, had a genetic mutation, ‘giving birth to an O but raising an A’!”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Gong Ze: “…”
Mama Feng turned her face away full of disdain and muttered while looking at her son: “Never mind what you two will be like later, whether it’ll even last is still uncertain. You finally found an A. Would your mom I still nitpick? Your mom I’m not sick.”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Gong Ze: “…”
“With this IQ, tsk tsk tsk tsk.”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Gong Ze: “…”
Feng Yuan was rendered green and white by his own mother’s retorts. Was this mom even biological? Normally, in front of a ‘son-in-law,’ no matter what, you should say something nice, right?
And Gong Ze thought: I think I can vaguely tell who Feng Yuan’s personality takes after…
His future mother-in-law clearly looked petite and refined, a standard sweet O, but when she spoke she was crisp and sharp, hating nonsense, practically like a northeastern big woman!
And Papa Feng looked strict, but his personality was probably the quiet, somewhat dull type who did not like to talk.
In the Feng family, it was still the mother who handled outside matters.
Feng Yuan, shamed and angered by his own mother’s words, low-roared: “What OO romance? Mom, what nonsense are you saying! What kind of person do you take me for!”
Mama Feng was not intimidated. She scoffed disdainfully at her son’s anger.
Although there were no lines, this one look of “do you have no idea” and this one mocking laugh instantly broke Feng Yuan’s defense. He impotently raged and bickered with his mother.
Gong Ze: Pfft.
No wonder Feng Yuan did not dare go home when dating. Haha, Mama Feng really counters Feng Yuan.
While he was secretly observing with interest the exchange between his future mother-in-law and his wife, a male voice suddenly came from across the table:
“What work do you do?”
Gong Ze: “…”
Papa Feng had not expected this question of his to have a critical-hit effect, nor had he intended to use it to despise Gong Ze and give him a show of authority.
However, Gong Ze—high school graduate, unemployed vagrant, and honestly currently being kept by Feng Yuan: …
The Alpha, who had been nervously listening and sitting up straight, instantly stiffened. Facing Papa Feng’s curious inquiry, he opened his mouth and felt unparalleled shame and inferiority.
He could not bring himself to say he had no job, that he was a useless salted fish and good-for-nothing.
As an Alpha, he currently relied entirely on Feng Yuan to support him.
After adulthood, those who did not study in their youth always eventually had a moment when they began to regret why they had not worked hard in school.
Facing Papa Feng’s question, Gong Ze fell into a choice between lying to preserve a bit of dignity so the Feng couple would agree to him dating Feng Yuan, and answering honestly—though he understood this aspect of himself would make Feng Yuan’s family worried and wary, he was unwilling to deceive them.
After struggling, Gong Ze, pale-faced and ashamed, lowered his head and planned to answer Papa Feng honestly, when Feng Yuan suddenly said: “He runs a shop.”
Gong Ze: …
Gong Ze looked at his side profile in astonishment, but soon his expression turned into a frown and silence. He lowered his head again, his mood plummeting.
Feng Yuan… also feels my work situation is too shameful to mention in front of his parents…
Under the table, Feng Yuan held Gong Ze’s hand. With a dark face, he stared at Gong Ze’s silent, lowered-head appearance. His heart ached sharply, and he pitifully rubbed Gong Ze’s hand.
Of course not.
Feng Yuan said softly to Gong Ze in his heart.
He had known Gong Ze’s family situation from the start. The one who originally kept Gong Ze was him.
If he really thought that way, he would not have dated Gong Ze, so how could he only now feel Gong Ze was presentable?
He said this because he saw Gong Ze was nervous and worried about Gong Ze, and he did not want his parents to look down on Gong Ze, making Gong Ze even more anxious and terrified.
“…The children’s products store we visited today is his. He also opened a café, right on the street below our main company building.”
This was not really lying.
Because although those two stores previously belonged to Jiang Lin’an and Ji Huai, as apology gifts they had been transferred to Gong Ze’s name.
Later, Feng Yuan thought: his brothers had given his partner two shops as gifts, and in the end he himself had given nothing. What was that supposed to mean?
So he handed part of his own assets to Gong Ze to manage. At first, Feng Yuan was just expressing: Gong Ze, your importance in my heart is unmatched.
Expressing his trust in Gong Ze.
Feng Yuan had not even had expectations for Gong Ze’s ability. Those assets were already formed and could run on their own.
Besides.
Even if he managed them poorly, wasn’t he still there?
He could teach Gong Ze!
But what Feng Yuan never expected! Gong Ze actually managed that messy, completely unrelated, fragmentary portion of his assets with remarkable talent!!
Not only was he extremely patient, he also had a unique eye. At a glance he spotted the problems of asset aging, irrationality, and things Feng Yuan had been too lazy to manage because they could still run as they were.
And the methods he proposed were incisive and to the point, not only saving money and effort but increasing efficiency.
Exceptionally gifted.
Apart from these four words, Feng Yuan did not know how to describe Gong Ze’s talent!
Gong Ze was simply a genius of the business world, an undiscovered, buried fine jade!
Meanwhile Gong Ze, whose asset companies in the previous world had nearly expanded to the Atlantic: smiling, raising his hand—not to apologize, but to say you little brothers all need to retrain.
System, you’re so big: [What is called a max-level big shot slaughtering the newbie village. (in that tone)]
Anyway, in the past, in Feng Yuan’s heart, Gong Ze had a good temper, looked exactly to his liking, and although he came from poverty, no one is perfect—he still loved him very much.
But now, in Feng Yuan’s heart, Gong Ze was a rare treasure he had dug up himself!
Perfect, and only he possessed him.
For this, Feng Yuan even specially, elatedly, with brows and eyes full of showing off and pride, bragged about this matter in front of his parents.
“Although Gong Ze’s education is a bit ordinary because his family was poor when he was young, his talent in business details absolutely cannot be underestimated.”
Feng Yuan handed his phone to Papa Feng.
“This is what he revised for me—a before-and-after comparison of part of my asset management methods.”
Papa Feng took it and squinted as he looked carefully. After reading Gong Ze’s annotated handling and improvement plans, his expression grew more and more serious.
“Not bad. Tsk, indeed very good!”
Papa Feng’s eyes brightened.
“Right?”
Feng Yuan curved his lips, extremely proud, as if the one being praised was him.
Gong Ze was a little embarrassed and said quietly to Papa Feng: “They’re all immature ideas. Nothing worth praising…”
“No, no, no, this is very good! This handling method—if you hadn’t said you did it, I’d have thought it was a plan produced by a professional team.”
Papa Feng was not disturbed by the inferior Alpha’s words. As a businessman, he certainly appreciated one of his own with a business mind.
Therefore, in his heart, he gained a few more points of satisfaction with Gong Ze.
Seen this way, Gong Ze’s unsupported background instead became unimportant—even a good thing for Feng Yuan.
An A like this, after marrying his son Feng Yuan in the future, would certainly become a great help to Feng Yuan!
When taking a wife, one should take a virtuous one.
The same went for marrying out.
If Gong Ze only had a pretty face, Papa Feng would instead worry that when Gong Ze grew old in the future, his son would want a divorce again.
If a person has wisdom, no matter where they are, they will be looked upon favorably.
As the father-in-law gradually found the son-in-law pleasing, Mama Feng glanced over the gloomy Alpha who seemed to have something on his mind and raised an eyebrow.
While Papa Feng was chatting with Gong Ze, Mama Feng suddenly said to Gong Ze with a smile: “Leaving other things aside, you’re Gong Ze, right? May Auntie chat with you alone for a bit?”
Gong Ze was slightly stunned upon hearing this.
And Feng Yuan reacted even more strongly than Gong Ze, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumping up: “No! Chat alone for what? Is there something I can’t hear!”
Although Papa Feng also felt why couldn’t he hear it, he subconsciously defended his wife: “Shut up. How do you talk to your mother? Besides, aside from not thinking much of you, who does your mother not think much of?”
Feng Yuan: …
Feng Yuan: …Dad, you’re a stepfather too, right?
Choked until his face turned green, Feng Yuan grabbed the hesitant Gong Ze. “Anyway, no. I—”
But Mama Feng was not afraid of her son’s explosive temper and dark face. She took Gong Ze’s other arm, stood up, and confronted her son head-on.
“You say no and it’s no? Why are you so domineering? Gong Ze didn’t even refuse!”
Feng Yuan roared: “That’s because he’s honest and too embarrassed!”
“Exactly! Gong Ze looks like a good boy at a glance, more polite than you. I’m not asking anything else. You two are dating—can’t I get to know my future son-in-law? Besides, what I want to ask is private. You keep cutting in here, the child doesn’t even dare open his mouth to express his true thoughts!”
Gong Ze looked at her in surprise, not expecting Mama Feng to be so careful and considerate.
She had seen his difficulty and conflict.
Feng Yuan was still arguing with his mother. Gong Ze stood up and said quietly to him: “I want to go.”
Feng Yuan widened his eyes in disbelief, his expression saying: What does that mean? I’m protecting you like this and you betray me?
Gong Ze found it funny: “It’s not what you think. If we’re going to be together in the future, we’ll have to understand each other. Besides, she’s your family, not an enemy. Auntie wants to understand me—isn’t it for your sake, because she worries about you? And I also, for your sake, want to understand you.”
“Chat about what you were like as a child, about some of your stories, about you before we met. I think…”
The clumsy-tongued A thought about how to express it, then said softly and gently to the person beside him: “I’d be very happy.”
Just like that, as if drawing closer to you, closer to your family, your home, your world, there was all the more.
“…”
The air went quiet.
Mama Feng, who was covering her mouth and secretly laughing, and Papa Feng, who was astonished, looked at their son’s instantly reddened face. After a moment of surprise, they both broke into smiles.
Looking at the two young people in a warm, sweet atmosphere, at this moment, Mama Feng and Papa Feng sincerely accepted Gong Ze.
Being able to make their son show such a smile.
Being able to say such words…
That was enough…
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