Chapter 1574
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Chapter 1574 Parents
“Is this it?”
“Yes, this is it.”
After some time, An Qingyu and Jiang Er arrived in front of a house.
This house was very close to Erhai Lake, but it wasn’t a villa or anything like that. It was a renovated rural house with a small yard, not much different from other houses in the area.
An Qingyu walked to the gate of the yard and was about to knock when his hand suddenly froze in mid-air.
After hesitating for a moment, he awkwardly asked:
“What should I say when I meet your parents?”
“That’s a good question.” Jiang Er frowned, thinking seriously. “The key issue is that I can’t appear in front of them looking like this. If you show up alone, they’ll definitely think you’re a scammer…”
The two fell into deep thought in front of the house.
“I think they’re about to come out,” An Qingyu said a moment later, as if sensing something.
“Quick, quick, I need to hide!” Jiang Er exclaimed, immediately hiding underground. If her parents saw their daughter as a ghost, they would probably faint on the spot.
Squeak—!
Almost simultaneously, the yard gate opened, and a middle-aged man in his fifties sitting in a wheelchair was about to leave when he noticed An Qingyu standing awkwardly at the door and paused briefly.
A woman who had been hanging clothes in the yard saw him and immediately became alert. She quickly walked over and examined An Qingyu carefully.
“Who are you? What are you doing at our house?” she asked with a frown, her tone somewhat harsh.
An Qingyu looked at the couple, opened his mouth, then swallowed the excuse he had just thought of. With courage from who knows where, he suddenly bowed deeply.
“Hello, Uncle and Auntie. I am Jiang Er’s fiancé. I’ve come to ask for her hand in marriage.”
The sea breeze swept across the silent shore as Jiang Er’s parents froze at the doorway.
After several seconds, Jiang Er’s father suddenly widened his eyes, pushed his wheelchair forward, grabbed a broom from behind the door, and began cursing:
“These days, there are all kinds of scammers… asking for her hand? She doesn’t even have time to date while serving in the military, what marriage are you talking about? Besides, she’s only twenty! She’s not old enough to get married yet!
You little punk, I’ll beat you to death!!”
As he cursed, he swung the broom at An Qingyu’s feet. An Qingyu didn’t dodge, just stood there silently until Jiang Er’s mother couldn’t bear it anymore and hurriedly stopped her husband:
“Hey, you can just talk, why hit him? This young man doesn’t look like a bad person, just let him go…”
“Not a bad person? Look at those injuries on his face, obviously from fighting with others, and that eye, what’s he wearing? Contact lenses, right? Hmph, just like those street punks and good-for-nothings!”
Despite his aggressive words, he put down the broom and glared at An Qingyu.
“Go, go, go. Let me tell you, it’s fine if you like our little Er, but it’s too early to talk about marriage. When you’re both actually at that age, and if you still have those intentions, come have a meal with us first, understand?”
An Qingyu smiled helplessly without saying anything, just silently bowed to them again.
The yard gate slowly closed with a dull thud, leaving An Qingyu standing alone outside. He sighed:
“I’m sorry… we won’t make it to that age.”
“You… you really dared to say that? Even knowing they’d think you were a scammer?” Jiang Er’s form floated up from the ground.
“If they think I’m a scammer, so be it.” An Qingyu shrugged and smiled at her. “At least I’ve managed to pay my respects to my future in-laws.”
Hearing this, Jiang Er was momentarily stunned. A hint of blush appeared on her already somewhat blurry face.
“Well, well, so that was your plan all along!”
“How do you plan to tell your parents… about your departure?”
“While you were talking to them, I left something in the house. They’ll be at ease.”
An Qingyu nodded, then seemed to remember something. “Oh right, I’ve also given the bride price.”
“Bride price? What did you give?”
An Qingyu smiled mysteriously and turned to walk toward Erhai Lake.
“Tell me, what bride price did you give?”
“Not telling you.”
“Come on, tell me… An Qingyu! Just tell me… what exactly did you give my parents? I didn’t see anything…”
“Not telling you.”
“…”
In the sunset of dusk, this pair of dying lovers gradually walked away amid laughter.
…
Jiang Er’s father pushed his wheelchair back into the house. Her mother in the yard looked at him and asked curiously,
“Weren’t you going to play mahjong? Why are you back?”
“What mahjong… I want to call our daughter.” Her father muttered, “I have a bad feeling…”
“She’s in the military, she won’t answer your call.”
“I’ll try several times. How will we know if we don’t try?”
Just as Jiang Er’s father picked up the phone, a call came in. He was slightly startled but quickly answered.
“Hello… it’s little Er! I was just about to call you… Oh, I see…”
Jiang Er’s father nodded as he spoke, then sighed helplessly, “Take care of yourself then.”
“What is it?”
“Little Er said her unit is moving to the mountains where there’s no signal, so she probably won’t be able to receive our calls… but she said during holidays, she’ll ask someone to send us videos.” Jiang Er’s father handed over the phone.
“Look, she just sent this.”
Jiang Er’s mother took the phone and saw an energetic Jiang Er in military uniform, smiling and waving to them from a high mountain. She looked in excellent health.
“Can’t receive calls, only have others send videos? Do military units have such rules nowadays?” she asked suspiciously.
“Come on, little Er is in a special unit, you know that.” Jiang Er’s father naturally stood up, picked up the hot water from the table, and gently blew on it. “Let’s just relax. Little Er has always been independent since she was a child. She’ll do fine in the mountains.”
Jiang Er’s mother’s eyes grew wider and wider as she stared at her husband as if she had seen a ghost.
“You, you, you…”
“What’s wrong with me?” Jiang Er’s father seemed to realize something and looked down, seeing that he was standing on the ground without the wheelchair. His eyes filled with disbelief.
“My legs… they’re healed? Strange, my back doesn’t hurt anymore… how is this possible?”
“I feel light as a feather too… I just finished hanging clothes and don’t feel tired at all?”
“Wife, you look so much younger!”
Jiang Er’s mother immediately picked up her phone. Her reflection on the screen had completely changed – her previously sallow complexion had become clear and bright, making her look at least ten years younger.
“It wasn’t like this just a few minutes ago…”
The two looked at each other, seemingly realizing something, and suddenly rushed out of the yard.
Outside the yard, by Erhai Lake, there was nothing but emptiness.
