Meet parents
After enough kneading, He Yuan looked at the time and then lifted the little cub out of the basin. A wave of spiritual power flowed over her, transforming the originally matted fur of the cub into a fluffy and neat appearance, with distinct black and white colors.
Seeing her return to her original fluffy and soft look, He Yuan put her on the ground, patted her bottom, gesturing for her to leave, and then got up to tidy things up.
“Oh, by the way, remember to come again tomorrow for a soak.”
Halfway through her walk, Jing Dan nearly tripped and turned back incredulously to He Yuan, “Another soak?”
Hasn’t one soak been enough to resolve it?
He Yuan turned back to look at the cub with a bewildered expression in her eyes, lightly curling her lips as she said, “You think Soul Deficiency is so easily resolved?”
“At least five more days of soaking.”
Jing Dan: “…”
“Oh, by the way, did you not tell He Ying over there?”
He Yuan raised an eyebrow lightly, “Don’t you want her to know?”
Jing Dan quickly shook her head; she wasn’t ready for He Ying to find out just yet!
He Yuan withdrew her gaze and turned around, saying, “You can rest assured, I won’t say anything.”
What He Yuan said was the truth. After all, it was He Ying who had told her before she had checked her body.
Feeling completely reassured, Jing Dan believed that He Ying’s mother wouldn’t deceive her. But the thought of needing to come back for at least five more days to soak and transform back into her panda form made her pace slow down. She walked sluggishly out of the room and reached the study area, transforming back into her human form, looking somewhat disheartened.
As she opened the door to leave, when she reached the staircase on the second floor, she saw He Ying glancing up with a hint of concern, rising to walk towards the staircase.
Jing Dan went downstairs and coincidentally met He Ying coming her way. He Ying asked, “How did it go? Did my mom say anything?”
Confronted with He Ying’s worried expression, Jing Dan felt a slight twinge of guilt in her heart. She had lied to her, but she couldn’t reveal that He Ying’s mother was actually treating her. So, she could only say, “We just chatted casually. She still wants to talk to me later.”
Disheartened, knowing that she still had five more days of this.
Hearing this, He Ying glanced at Jing Dan’s slightly disheartened expression, smiled, and didn’t press further.
“What about Hu Tu?” Jing Dan didn’t see her.
“She went back to her room to change, and she’ll come out later so that we can go shopping together to buy all the things we need for the New Year’s Eve.”
“Oh,” Jing Dan nodded, then asked with some concern, “But it’s afternoon already, will we still be able to buy good things if we go now?”
After all, she had soaked in the bath for almost an hour, and she heard that humans usually went out early to shop for items for Chinese New Year.
He Yuan chuckled lightly, “It’s okay. The weather here is colder, so many things stay fresh even if you buy them the night before.”
Upon hearing this, Jing Dan didn’t say anything further.
After Hu Tu also changed into fresh clothes and came out, the three of them headed out and saw a black SUV parked in the courtyard, its rigid lines and massive size making it look like a black beast in the snowy winter.
He Ying sat in the driver’s seat, Jing Dan followed her and took the passenger seat, leaving Hu Tu alone to sit in the back.
Hu Tu looked at Jing Dan, who seemed completely oblivious to what she had done: “…”
Shouldn’t you be sitting with her in the back, chatting together at this time!
She glared at Jing Dan, but the person in front seemed to have no reaction to her gaze. She watched He Ying drive, listened as she earnestly introduced all the fun and delicious things to do and eat around here.
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I might as well just ignore her!
Hu Tu, feeling frustrated, muttered to herself, Why did she have to follow along in the first place? If she hadn’t come, would she be so annoyed now?
In the end, the three of them arrived at the market. Since they didn’t want to go too far, they didn’t visit the large supermarkets in the city. However, Jing Dan had yet to experience the bustling scenes of humans shopping in the market. Suddenly seeing so many people carrying bags and parcels, walking through the streets and alleys, she found it quite fascinating.
Seeing Jing Dan’s curious expression, He Ying reached out to her, lightly winked, and said, “Hold on tight. There are too many people now. Don’t get separated.”
Jing Dan looked at the bustling crowd, nodded in agreement, and placed her hand on He Ying’s delicate hand, gripping it tightly.
He Ying pursed her lips, giving a light chuckle. She turned her head and met Hu Tu’s resentful gaze: “…”
“Aren’t you afraid I might get lost too? I want to hold hands too!” Hu Tu said, extending her own hand.
He Ying lowered her head, looked at Hu Tu’s hand, and asked, “Afraid of getting lost?”
Hu Tu nodded!
He Ying smiled faintly and said, “Alright.”
As she spoke, He Ying took out a rope from the bag she was carrying and handed it to Hu Tu, gesturing for her to tie it around her wrist.
Hu Tu’s face turned green when she saw the rope.
“Not going to tie it?” He Ying asked, knowingly.
Meanwhile, Jing Dan, standing beside them, looked on curiously, completely unaware of intervening in the situation!
Damn it! He Ying, you really have it coming! Just wait, I will make sure you have a hard time at your wedding!
In the end, He Ying led Jing Dan in front, with Hu Tu trailing behind them, her gaze almost piercing a hole through the two in front.
Along the way, every novel thing Jing Dan spotted, He Ying would buy for her. Soon, people came across a woman with a cold and dignified demeanor, holding hands with another woman, and casually eating a string of candied haws that didn’t quite match her aura.
Hu Tu, walking behind them, couldn’t bear to watch. She even felt tempted to pretend she didn’t know them. Just a moment ago, she noticed someone taking out a phone to snap their picture. Clearly, the two of them had been recognized.
The online fervor surrounding the CP was constantly high, largely due to their lack of reservations! It gave shippers plenty of sugar to indulge in!
Just wait, it won’t be long before these two are back in the top search rankings.
And indeed, as she had anticipated, once these photos were posted online, they immediately sparked a wave of discussions.
It was widely known that Jing Dan was from the south, while He Ying was from the north. To be seen in the northern region during the peak Lunar New Year period, captured by others at the market – what else could it signify other than accompanying He Ying back home for the New Year? And going back home for the New Year usually meant meeting the parents!
—Ahhh, is this the pace leading up to the official announcement of my ship?!
—If they’ve met the parents, isn’t the official announcement imminent? Isn’t marriage on the horizon?!
—It’s not far off! Let’s start beating the drums and lighting the firecrackers!
—Ahhh, I’ve finally found a real CP to ship, it would be hard for them not to end up getting married!
—They were even holding hands! Oh my, is this some kind of idol drama?! And President Jing is still munching on candied haws!
Unaware of the escalating heat accompanying the release of the photos, the trio continued their shopping. The trending topics related to “Chun and Jing Ming Meeting the Parents” only continued to soar. It wasn’t until someone from the company called Jing Dan that she realized she was back in the top search rankings.
Seeing the search terms, she couldn’t help but feel it was fitting. After all, she had just met the parents, and this “meeting the parents” involved smoothing out her silly hair!
However, when Hu Tu saw it, she raised an eyebrow, feeling a sense of inevitability. With their unabashed and high-profile actions, it would indeed be strange if they didn’t attract attention!
However, she couldn’t help but marvel at the high attractiveness of the two in such a crowded market. Even the pixelated image quality couldn’t hide their good looks, but instead added a touch of misty allure to them.
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Casting a glance at the pair, Hu Tu decided to do a good deed. After all, they hadn’t reached any definite conclusion yet, and it seemed inappropriate for the online discussions to leap to the topic of marriage so quickly.
She directly retweeted the news from that marketing account and then posted a picture. The image showed a corner from the photo, with a section circled in bright red by her, accompanied by the caption: “Meeting the parents and bringing a friend along?”
As soon as this Weibo post went live, netizens burst into laughter. They all joked that if it wasn’t for Hu Tu circling the image, they wouldn’t have even noticed she was also in the photo!
The overlooked Hu Tu: “…”
Damn, it’s all the fault of the person taking the photo! She’s clearly so good-looking herself, yet she squeezed herself into the corner!
—Vice President Hu! If it’s not meeting the parents, why were they holding hands?!
—Yeah! They were holding hands! How do we explain that?!
Hu Tu walked up to Jing Dan, who was holding the candied hawthorn, and took a picture of their linked hands before posting it online: “Can’t you see how crowded it is here? What if they get separated if they don’t hold hands?”
Netizens: You make a good point, but why do we feel a bit skeptical?
Just as the online heat was escalating, He Ying’s phone rang. She checked it and realized it was Xu Yu calling.
Raising an eyebrow, isn’t this guy usually asleep at this time? Why would she suddenly call her now?
Jing Dan, who happened to catch a glimpse of her phone screen showing Xu Yu’s name, let out a small sigh, clearly remembering how He Ying had promised to cook something delicious for her but ended up going out to eat with that guy.
And she even wanted to feed He Ying, the photo made it quite clear!
Jing Dan let out a soft hum, turning her head away from He Ying, but her two ears perked up high.
He Ying noticed her situation, not understanding why she suddenly seemed a little upset.
Answering the call, “Hello? Xu Yu.”
“He Ying,” Xu Yu’s soft and gentle voice came from the other end, “Have you returned home?”
He Ying glanced at Jing Dan, helping her tidy up her hair that was tousled by the wind, and replied as she did, “Yes, I’m back to have a look.”
“Did you bring a friend back with you?”
“Mm.” He Ying guessed that perhaps Jing Dan had seen the news online, so she said, “It’s quite fun here in winter. Bring them over to have some fun.”
On the other end, Xu Yu fell silent for a moment and then chuckled, “Sure, when you’re back, how about we schedule a meal? It’s been a while since we had a meal together, right?”
“Alright.” He Ying casually agreed, seeing that Jing Dan’s hair was now neat, she withdrew her hand and said, “You can choose the place then.”
“Okay, have a good time with your friends.” Xu Yu said before hanging up.
He Ying put her phone away and looked closely at Jing Dan’s expression, asking, “What’s wrong? Why are you suddenly not happy?”
Others might not see it, but He Ying could still clearly see it. Jing Dan’s current sulky appearance hinted that she might be pondering something deep in her heart.
Jing Dan: “…No!”
Did she expect her to say, “I remembered that you went out to eat with that person but didn’t cook for me”? After all, He Ying had explained to her earlier that they were not in the same place. Thinking back now, Jing Dan still felt a bit sulky, but it wasn’t to the point of anger.
He Ying silently watched her, but Jing Dan didn’t care at all. She dragged He Ying to a small stall selling spicy skewers. Looking at the vegetable balls in the pot, she felt a little curious.
It seems she had never tried this kind before.
Seeing her current expression, He Ying smiled and said, “The vermicelli in the spicy skewer here is delicious.” She then went up and ordered three bowls.
Hu Tu followed behind and glanced over, shaking her head as she said, “What’s so delicious about these? Eating them won’t be good for your stomach.”
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He Ying smiled, “Sometimes, many delicacies are hidden in places you overlook.”
Hu Tu shrugged, “Alright.”
She found a small red plastic stool to sit on, watching Jing Dan who seemed lost standing there. She dragged over another stool and patted it, saying, “Sit down! Why are you standing there like a fool?”
Jing Dan lowered her head, looking at the small plastic stool: “…”
She then turned to glance at He Ying and noticed that she was still talking to the vendor, occasionally pointing at the things in the pot. Helplessly, Jing Dan finally sat down.
The tall and elegant woman now looked somewhat awkward as she squeezed onto the small stool. No matter how you looked at it, it was funny. Hu Tu couldn’t help but chuckle, even though she herself looked a bit comical, she still chose to mock Jing Dan.
Jing Dan kept a straight face while Hu Tu laughed, but little did she know that after laughing, Hu Tu leaned in and whispered to her ear, “I overheard He Ying’s phone call earlier. Was it Xu Yu who called?”
Jing Dan glanced at her and nodded.
Hu Tu chuckled, but there seemed to be a hint of malice in her laughter. She continued to whisper, “Do you know what her intentions are towards He Ying?”
“Guess why she called during that kind of moment just now?”
The author has something to say:
Luanluan: “Tutu, you’re causing trouble!”