By six in the evening, after having dinner at Zhang Li and Zhao Yue's place, Tang Su finally took a taxi to her parents' house.
Before going back to her parents', she stopped at a fruit shop to buy two durians for her mother and a box of grapes for her father, plus a box of high-quality tea leaves.
She encountered a traffic jam on the way, and by the time she arrived at her parents', it was already seven o'clock.
All the way there, Tang Feng and Su Ruoan did not rush her, fearing that Tang Su and Sichen would drive hastily and unsafely.
Little did they know, Tang Su didn't drive at all.
Doctor Lu's medical skills were superb. After taking his medicine last night, the buzzing sound had disappeared before she fell asleep, and she could hear more clearly when she woke up the following day.
However, she still strictly followed the doctor's orders, insisting on taking the medication for three days, even though the buzzing sound had vanished.
This morning, the redness and swelling on her face had significantly reduced, and although the fingerprint marks had not completely faded, Tang Su applied makeup to cover them up.
Her parents' house was in Hua City Central Hospital's funded apartment, located behind the outpatient building, and it was there that Tang Su had grown up.
When she arrived, many of her parents' colleagues had already finished dinner and were out for a walk. Upon seeing Tang Su, they greeted her warmly and asked why she didn't bring her boyfriend Ye Sichen to dinner.
In the past, whenever Ye Sichen had time, Tang Su would bring him to her parents' for a home-cooked meal.
This was far better than dining out.
As a result, many of the aunts and uncles knew Ye Sichen well.
The only concern Tang Su had about breaking up with Ye Sichen was the fear of embarrassing her parents; otherwise, she didn't mind much.
Tang Su casually brushed off their inquiries, saying Ye Sichen was on a business trip, and smoothly made her way home.
Waiting anxiously, Tang Shengyi had opened the front door wide by six-thirty, so they wouldn't have to knock when they arrived.
However, when Tang Shengyi saw Tang Su coming in alone carrying so much stuff, he quickly got up to greet her, taking the two hefty durians from her hands.
"What are you doing, Tang Bao? Bringing so much fruit when you're just coming to eat? What, after getting married with Sichen, you don't plan to be a daughter of the Tang family anymore?"
"Dad—"
Tang Su disapproved of her father speaking so loudly, not wanting the next-door neighbors to overhear and ask for wedding candies, something she definitely couldn't provide in the short term. How awkward it would be when they found out the truth.
"Can't we discuss things after closing the door? Tang Bao hasn't said anything, and you're already so loud? What, are you so eager to let the whole hospital know?" Su Ruoan walked over and chastised her husband sternly.
Tang Shengyi was good in many ways, but he had a loud voice and a quick temper.
Thankfully, their daughter Tang Bao took after her mother.
"Take your time, Tang Bao; you're just being shy. Right, why is Sichen taking so long to park?" Tang Shengyi kept peering down the staircase.
Tang Su: "..."
She wanted to tell her dad that she really wasn't just being shy.
"He had a sudden business trip, so I came by myself today," Tang Su told the same lie.
She had to lie—it wasn't like she could just blurt out that she had broken up with Ye Sichen before even stepping in the door, could she?
"His company pays well, OK, but he goes on business trips way too often," Tang Shengyi sighed slightly. They had just gotten their marriage certificate, and he was already off on a business trip.
In the long run, it was going to be tough on his precious daughter.
"Since he isn't here, let's close the door, wash our hands, and eat. Your beloved daughter's stomach is grumbling and you, being her father, are deaf to it, aren't you?" With Ye Sichen not there, Su Ruoan was not as disappointed as her husband.
"You must be starving, right? Tang Bao, come on, let's eat. Dad will get you a bowl of chicken soup first. Your aunt sent over some red mushrooms, and your mom has used them to stew a chicken tonight. The soup's so bright and red—you loved it when you were little."
"Thank you, Mom."
"Since you call me Mom, no need to be polite," Su Ruoan said with a smile as she patted Tang Su, urging her to go wash her hands.
The trio sat down for dinner, and Tang Su first drank two bowls of soup, ate a chicken leg, a chicken wing, gnawed on a chicken foot, swallowed two pieces of chicken neck, and then her hunger subsided significantly.
Seeing Tang Su had let out a satisfied belch and was no longer hungry, Su Ruoan then gently asked, "Did you really get a marriage certificate with Sichen?"
Su Ruoan's questioning was not because, as Tang Shengyi misunderstood, she couldn't bear the thought of her daughter getting married.
On the contrary, she was willing.
Tang Bao was already twenty-four years old. According to her grandmother, at this age in the past, many women would already have become mothers, their kids able to go to the streets to buy soy sauce.
It was just that young people nowadays enjoyed comfort and ease, and more and more of them didn't want to get married or have children.
Life pressure was great, economic conditions were poor.
Their family, however, didn't have much financial pressure.
Su Ruoan initially had a rather good impression of Ye Sichen, Tang Feng's college roommate who introduced him to Tang Bao.
The two had known each other for two years now.
Su Ruoan had enjoyed her husband's affection all her life.
Whether a man loves a woman can be seen in his eyes; they don't lie.
If a man loves the woman beside him, there will be a light in his eyes when he looks at her.
But Ye Sichen—he—
Didn't have it!
So, a year ago, Su Ruoan was actually not very satisfied with Ye Sichen, but she hadn't spoken out and wanted to observe a bit more.
What if she was wrong?
"..."
Seeing that Tang Su wasn't speaking, Su Ruoan explained, "Mom just feels that Sichen seems really busy, with all his business trips for work, and how he has to visit relatives out of town every month. You two might have known each other for two years, but the amount of time you really spend together isn't that much."
"So, I was wondering, does he really have time to go get the certificate with you?"
Tang Su had been worrying about not having an excuse to explain why she hadn't gotten the certificate with Ye Sichen—now her mom had handed her the perfect reason.
"Yeah, he's very busy. We were supposed to go on Friday, but that day, a big client came into their company, and with his expertise being one of the best there, he was called in to explain things to the client at the last minute, so we didn't get our certificate."
Tang Su agreed; with the family atmosphere being so harmonious, she couldn't bear to spoil it.
"Ah? Then when are you two going to get your certificate, and when can your mom and I hold our little Tang Bao?" Tang Shengyi was slightly disappointed.
"Dad, we don't necessarily need a little Tang Bao. I can also act spoiled. If you think that's okay, I can come home for dinner every night and act cute with you two. How about that?"
"Better not," Tang Shengyi refused with a pout.
Tang Su: "..."
Could this fatherly love not collapse like a landslide?
Why should he dislike her? Just because she was a twenty-four-year-old Tang Bao rather than the little Tang Bao he was hoping for?
Having smoothly gotten through that ordeal, Tang Su sat in her parents' living room, waiting to have some fruit after dinner, when she saw an unopened box of flaky candy on the coffee table.
That was the kind of candy she loved to eat as a child, though as an adult, she didn't really care for it anymore.
Tang Su suddenly remembered that Lu Han's WeChat name was "Want to Eat Flaky Candy."
"Mom, can I take this flaky candy home to eat later?"
"Take it; your dad also packed two big boxes of dumplings for you. Take them home. They're good for breakfast or a late-night snack, more nutritious than the takeout you order."
"Okay, then I won't be polite. Thank you, Mom."
"Silly girl."