NOVEL NEXT Chapter 69 - Owed Him A Favor
Chapter 69: Owed Him A Favor
Qianmo blinked her eyes at Little Aunt when Black wasn’t paying attention.
There were only two types of men: the first cared about you, while the second couldn’t care less about you. It had absolutely nothing to do with education.
“Do they always bully you like this?” Yu Changmo asked her. Qianmo was like a chameleon in front of him; she could change her expression from mischievous to shy instantly.
Even chameleons were nothing compared to her. If she, Chen Qianmo, really wanted to do this, she would definitely be the best chameleon ever!
“You don’t have to get angry. I’m already used to it…”
It became even worse when she tried to “explain” herself. Yu Changmo felt as if his heart was going to explode while thinking about how his girlfriend (his one-sided acknowledgment) was vilified behind their backs.
Qianmo did all this purely for fun, not expecting that Black would cause a big commotion later in order to “make it up” to her. She would have slapped herself now for saying all this nonsense. It was instant retribution for her, just because of a silly joke she made. Of course, all these happened much later.
The son-in-law kept pleading to Chen Baichuan. Qianmo found something to gag him up so that her father wouldn’t relent.
Chen Baichuan was flustered while waiting for the first aunt’s family to come. He was pacing around in the house when he suddenly discovered what was wrong…
“Why is this kid here?”
Qianmo stood up straight, crossed her arms, and said, “If it wasn’t for him, we still wouldn’t know where your wife was. How do you think we managed to find her so quickly?”
Chen Baichuan was “defeated” in an instant, his anger deflating like a balloon. He did owe him a great favor this time, it seemed.
Yu Changmo stared at Qianmo. He felt as if his whole heart was lit up by the glowing light emitted by her body.
Was she helping him gain approval from his father-in-law?
“Then, we will treat… Xiao Yu to dinner when we have a chance in the future.” Chen Baichuan was hinting that he would like to send him on his way now.
Yu Changmo pretended not to understand his subtle hint, though. He dug around in his pocket and retrieved a box of cigarettes to offer to his future father-in-law. “I wouldn’t bother you to treat me. Instead, let me invite you to dinner during my next break.”
His subordinates’ jaws would drop if they saw him now. When was their boss ever this humble before?
Chen Baichuan was wholly tempted to swipe the cigarettes aside. Hmph… He tried to win him over with a just pack of cigarettes, and it was a pack of measly Liqun to boot. This pack just cost over ten dollars. Wait a minute, the packaging looks a bit different. When he glanced at it from the corner of his eyes and noticed the differences, he was awestruck.
“Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains…?”
There were different types of Liqun cigarettes, with the common ones starting from ten dollars. But the pack that Yu Changmo took out was priceless.
Rumors had it that this cigarette tasted very pure and light on the palette. The market price for a carton currently was 8000, but because it was only supplied to the elite, ordinary folks couldn’t buy it even if they had money. Thus, the black market price for each carton was about 20 thousand now.
Chen Baichuan had only heard about it when his buddies boasted to him about the special, elites’ cigarettes. Now that he had seen it with his own eyes, it was only natural that he would be curious about it.
Nevertheless, he was still hesitating because of his ego since he didn’t want to give the kid face by taking the cigarette…
Yu Changmo personally took out one cigarette from the pack and offered it to him. Qianmo raised her eyebrows at the side as she swore she had never seen Black serve someone like this before in her previous life. Oops, she was not included in the observation, of course.
“This is not the best, so please make do with it.” He even took out a lighter and lit it up for him.
Since his junior was so respectful, Chen Baichuan decided to lower himself and accept the offer. He took a deep breath and then looked at the cigarette and said, “It’s not bad.”
Qianmo was smiling as she thought, ‘This old man was trying so hard to protect his ego just a few moments ago.’
“I’ll bring you something better next time.” Yu Changmo had heaps of cigarettes and liquors at home. And, with nobody drinking and smoking at home, all these were given out as gifts.
“This…” Chen Baichuan relaxed his facial muscles as he hesitated. Qianmo cleared her throat, and both men began to perk up and sat up straight unconsciously.
“Are you trying to corrupt my dad’s pure proletariat soul with these harmful cigarettes and alcohol? Do you think they are good for him?
Ah, I’m very willing to be corrupted… Chen Baichuan couldn’t lay down his ego, so he could only scream out in his heart.
“Of course, we should definitely quit smoking. However, it’s also not good for the body to quit it out of the blue. We should do it gradually, so I have only picked those cigarettes with relatively healthier tobacco and tar levels. As for the alcohol…”
Black displayed his amazing observation skills once again. It was apparent to him what his (future) father-in-law liked, from this room full of empty liquor bottles.
“It’s good not to drink too much alcohol, but it is still alright to drink a little of the good ones. I couldn’t help but notice that the brands Uncle prefers are all older and made from grains, so they also taste much smoother. Thus, I guessed Uncle must be like the alcohol he likes: a kind, wise, and understanding gentleman. It must be due to your excellent family education and influence that Qianmo turned out to be so understanding.”
Qianmo would have thought it was someone else standing in front of her, had he not looked exactly the same.
Did he have any pride left? Any at all? He discarded his ego just to suck up to her dad? Please call a drunkard a drunkard. When did one become kind, wise, and understanding by drinking? Her understanding character had nothing to do with her father’s drinking at all!
It was evident that this old drunkard was trying to drown his sorrows. How on earth did Black make these unhealthy vices sound so good?
It was so obvious that even someone who was not very observant like Little Aunt noticed it. She elbowed Qianmo gently and said in a low voice, “Is he trying to… suck up to your dad?”
Even Mu Mianmian could feel this guy’s sincerity. He really wanted to date Qianmo with all his heart.
Chen Baichuan’s facial muscles relaxed instantly, and there was a hint of approval as he looked at Yu Changmo. “You, kid, do know your stuff. Do you drink too?”
This was a catch-22 question. If he said yes, he would leave a drunkard impression in her father’s books. If he said no, people would think he had taken them for a ride.
However, he wasn’t the university debate champion for nothing. Black put on his perfect meet-the-in-laws expression and said sincerely, “Our unit had this rule that we cannot drink while we are on duty. Therefore, I only drink a little during my days off. Owing to that, I developed a habit of drinking a cup or two, no more. Thus, I admire people like Uncle, who can appreciate their alcohol.”
The flattering made Chen Baichuan feel wonderful. This kid really knew how to carry a conversation.
Qianmo couldn’t listen to their conversation any longer. She mumbled quietly, “Ass-kissing…”
“Uncle, I see that you have drunk quite a bit today. I do have a family concoction that alleviates hangover; should I make it for you?” He was a natural when it came to curry favor with his father-in-law.
He knew he didn’t leave a good impression on Chen Baichuan previously; therefore, he was doing everything he could to rectify that mistake.
“Sigh, he refused to drink it. He found the ones I made before too yucky.” Little Aunt showed a great interest in this topic.
Thus, Yu Changmo took out a bag of stuff from his pocket. A bag of stuff!
Qianmo had to give it to him. When did he prepare this? Did he have the same pocket as Doraemon? Let’s call him DoraeBlack in the future…
“I happened to buy them from the supermarket earlier. My maternal great-grandmother was a physician. The formula she used doesn’t taste too bad, and it’s great for protecting our livers and stomachs when we drink.”
As long as he didn’t act up in front of Qianmo, Yu Changmo could be a fine, affable gentleman. He had already gained plenty of brownie points since he entered the house 10 minutes ago.
Little Aunt smiled sweetly as she pointed out the kitchen to him. Chen Baichuan already found it hard to dislike him, so he tried to gain some foothold by saying something while he had the chance.