Papa Gao and the others went to see a movie after having dinner in Fengyuan. After coming out, they ate supper again. They didn’t come back until 11 o’clock in the evening.
Although they were a little tired, their spirits were high.
As a result, as soon as they entered the door, they saw Gao Lang sitting alone on the sofa, drinking wine by himself.
Papa Gao frowned. He turned to Mama Gao and said, “You go wash up first! It’s too late today.”
Mama Gao nodded. “I don’t know if Huaiqing has made it home or not.”
As she was talking, a call came. Mama Gao happily picked up. “Hello, Huaiqing, are you home? Okay, then rest early! We’re not tired, we’re happy. Alright, ok, I see, we’ll rest soon, you guys go to bed early too. Don’t forget your promise to have morning tea together with us tomorrow.”
Papa Gao interjected, “When did you make an appointment to have morning tea? What about me?”
“Aren’t you going to have a meeting tomorrow morning? You think you have time for morning tea? Do it another day!” Mama Gao replied perfunctorily.
Papa Gao snorted.
Gao Lang suddenly let out a sneer, making him seem very harsh.
As Papa Gao was about to speak, Mama Gao pulled on him. “It’s getting late, go wash up. Leave him alone!” There was no need to ask, she also knew why he looked like this. What could it be, other than the shares? They belonged to her—she could give them to whomever she liked. Since when did it depend on her son’s opinion?
Papa Gao snorted and went upstairs.
Mama Gao also went upstairs straight away.
Gao Lang became even more angry when the two of them ignored him to such an extent. He threw his wine glass with a crash, stood up, and went crazy: “Who, exactly, is your biological child? The transfer of shares is such a big matter. You didn’t discuss it with me beforehand—will you not even explain it after the fact? Make no mistake! I am your son, and I am the one who will provide for you when you grow old!”
“My shares, my decision to give it to whomever I want. When has it depended on your opinion?” Mama Gao stopped an angry Papa Gao, turned around, and said, “If you weren’t my own child, do you think I’d still be able to tolerate you to this day, with your bad temper?”
Mama Gao stopped Papa Gao from losing his temper—instead, she herself became more and more angry. “I know you’ve always said that I’m partial to the Li sisters, but what makes them closer to me than you? Huaiqing cares about me. She knows what medicine I take every day, the amount I take every day, and how much is left. Even after she moved out, she’d send messages to remind me to take medicine on time and go to the hospital for an examination on time. Did you know this?”
Gao Lang was speechless. Indeed, he didn’t know this. But he was a big man, why would he pay attention to these things? Huaiqing would handle these things, he didn’t need to know.
“Mom, I admit it, but I’m a man and have many things to do. Besides, men aren’t as caring as women. Huaiqing is very good, but she’s an outsider. You have sons and a daughter-in-law; don’t bother her for these things in the future.”
Gao Lang was a little incoherent, but after speaking out, he remembered the dispute between him and Duoduo, although Duoduo had been unwilling to do what he said.
“No need. My son is good and my daughter-in-law is good, I just don’t have a daughter. I used to see Huaiqing as a daughter-in-law, but my son was blind and mistakenly picked fish eyes for pearls. But it doesn’t matter anymore. In the future, I will regard Huaiqing and Huairou as my daughters. You don’t need to speak—think about it like this: I am open-minded, and you, your eyes are too small to be worthy of Huaiqing. You just wait, my future son-in-law will be better than you!” Mama Gao clapped her hands. “Go, go back to sleep.”
[Meaning regard waste as treasure]
Then she pushed Papa Gao back into their room.
Leaving a stupefied Gao Lang.
The housekeeper poked her head out from the kitchen, hesitated again and again, then finally came out. “Ahem, that, young master, did you still want to drink? If you don’t want to drink anymore, I will clean up. This, it’s too late.”
Gao Lang nodded stiffly, then looked up at the housekeeper. “Auntie, between Li Huaiqing and me, who do you think is more filial?”
The housekeeper replied, “You’re asking me? How would I know this!” The point was that, even though she knew, she didn’t dare to say it!
“Speak honestly, I won’t blame you,” Gao Lang said with a dark face.
The aunt was anxious and thought in her heart, I’ve been in your house for more than ten years and I still don’t understand you. Just like what the madam said, narrow-minded. But if she told him the truth today, she couldn’t be sure how he’d treat her afterwards.
“It’s not easy for me to say this. However, young master, you are often away from home and busy with company affairs. Madam is at home alone—it’s too lonely. Fortunately, there’s miss Huaiqing and Huairou to accompany madam. However, it’s also normal for men to manage external affairs and women to manage internal affairs. After you get married and have a child, madam will have a grandson, and it’ll definitely be different!” the housekeeper listed out as she cleaned up.
Gao Lang’s heart moved. Yes, if they had a child, Duoduo wouldn’t have to feel wronged, and his parents would also change their views on her.
Gao Lang smiled, then turned back to his room.
The housekeeper looked at him blankly. ‘What was he laughing at? Was it something she said?’
The next morning, Gao Lang got up very early. “Good morning, dad, mom.”
Papa Gao and Mama Gao were a little surprised. Did he take the wrong medicine early in the morning? Was he feeling that good?
“Mom, didn’t you make an appointment with Li Huaiqing for breakfast? Do you want me to take you there?” Gao Lang asked.
Mama Gao looked at him suspiciously. “No need, I’ll have Xiao Chen drive me there.”
Gao Lang said, “How about you, dad—are you having breakfast at home or at the company? Would you like to take my car?”
Papa Gao glanced at him, then turned his head and said to Mama Gao, “What kind of medicine is he selling in this gourd?”
[Chinese idiom mean What he got up his sleeve? / What’s going on?]
“Who knows!” Mama Gao whispered.
But if Gao Lang could correct his bad habits, it’d be pretty good.
After dealing with the matter at hand, Gao Lang took out his cellphone and called Bai Duoduo.
Bai Duoduo was a little relieved when she received the call. She was in a mess last night, but she kept live streaming as usual. After the stream, she didn’t sleep much—she’d been thinking about what happened last night.
Gao Lang’s face was ugly last night. Although she didn’t think she’d done something wrong, she was still a little worried. After all, she really liked Gao Lang and didn’t want to affect their relationship due to these little things. But some things also had to be stated clearly.
“Hello.”
“Are you up? How about we eat together in the afternoon? I’ll pick you up.” Gao Lang’s voice on the phone was gentle, like in the past.
Bai Duoduo also smiled. “Okay, I’ll get ready right away.”
Twenty minutes later, Bai Duoduo received Gao Lang’s WeChat message: “I’m here, come down quickly!”
[A popular Chinese messaging app]
“Okay, I’ll go down right away,” Bai Duoduo replied on WeChat and picked up her bag and cellphone, ready to go out. Before leaving the house, she turned back, turned in front of the mirror, looked up and down, and nodded in satisfaction. Then she changed her shoes and went out.
“What is this?” Bai Duoduo asked when she found a big box on the passenger seat.
“I almost forgot. These two, Australian lobster and king crab, are for you. Quickly take it and put it in the refrigerator. Didn’t the fans on your live stream say they wanted to see you eat lobster and king crab?” Gao Lang said.
Bai Duoduo grinned. “Okay, wait for me for a while.” She carried the big box and strided back.
Ten minutes later, Bai Duoduo came back, got on the passenger seat, fastened her seat belt, and said with a smile, “Let’s go!”
“Where are we going to eat?” Bai Duoduo asked while searching for Australian lobster and king crab recipes on her cellphone.
“Xicheng has opened a Michelin restaurant. It’s popular and has tasty food. You need to make an appointment a few days in advance—however, the person in charge there is an alumnus from my university and reserved a seat for me. They don’t allow live streaming, but you can take pictures,” Gao Lang explained.
Bai Duoduo nodded with a smile.
For a meal, the two ate very happily, forgetting the unhappy things from last night.
Gao Lang wiped his mouth. “Duoduo, have you ever thought about changing jobs?”
Bai Duoduo stopped. “What did you mean?” She had thought that Gao Lang bought her lobster and crab, and also brought her to eat some delicious food, thinking he’d finally caved in. But Gao Lang actually said such words.
“Duoduo, don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean anything else. Don’t you think that, sooner or later, we’re going to get married and have a child? You’re like this, with every meal time shifting around, day and night reversed. After a long time, it won’t be good for your health—for example, your overeating sickness. I mean, couldn’t you change the content of the live stream, such as singing or chatting? Or learning from other streamers and taking on a student and letting her eat instead, and then you can simply sell merchandise. In this way, you can make money and take care of your health,” Gao Lang explained quickly.
In fact, he wanted Bai Duoduo to stop working, but he loved her and was unwilling to make her sad. So, he could only choose to respect Bai Duoduo. But out of consideration for the future, he still hoped that Duoduo could think about it.
Speaking of marriage and children, Bai Duoduo hesitated. She liked her current job, but she also knew the drawbacks of this job. Although she was a food blogger and not a big eater, it was true like Gao Lang said: her three meals were inconsistent and her day and night were reversed.
Gao Lang saw that Bai Duoduo’s attitude had softened. He quickly grabbed her hand and pleaded, “Duoduo, I don’t mean to interfere with you. I’m also thinking about our future. Don’t you want to marry me and have children?”
Bai Duoduo was shaken. “Let me think about it!”
“Okay, I won’t force you, you can think slowly. Or you can open a store if you don’t do live streams. I’ll support you in everything you do on the condition that it doesn’t harm your health,” Gao Lang continued.
Bai Duoduo was moved deep down; she could see the affection in Gao Lang’s eyes, and this made her unable to refute him.
After Gao Lang sent Bai Duoduo back, he drove back to the company by himself.
Bai Duoduo was lying on the sofa, not in the mood to prepare what she needed for the live broadcast this night. She called her mother, who was at her hometown.
Ten minutes later, Bai Duoduo put down her phone. Her mother felt that Gao Lang was right. Although her mother had always taught her that girls had to be self-reliant, have their own jobs, and could not be attached to men, her mother also felt that being a food live streamer wasn’t good for health. She agreed to change jobs.
Bai Duoduo turned on the computer and began to think about what she could do if she stopped being a food livestreamer.
