Belated Romance (Mu Tongrui)

The Lu family dining room was a bustle of activity as everyone sat down for a full-course meal. Mr. and

Mrs. Lu gazed at Xinghe raptly; the more they looked at this prospective son-in-law, the more attractive

he seemed. Furthermore, he was easy on the eyes!

Jiahe had not been home for over a month, but tonight, her parents were not paying attention to her at

all. They were too busy playing Xinghe with food during dinner. She sat there speechless and feeling

left out.

Mrs. Lu asked enthusiastically, "Chi, what do you think of my cooking?"

Xinghe's table manners were excellent to the point of elegance, which only enhanced his standing in

Mr. and Mrs. Lu's eyes.

"You're an amazing cook, Mrs. Lu. I really love the food."

Mrs. Lu found it hard to conceal her pleasure at Xinghe's compliment. "Well, in that case, you should

eat more then. Don't stand during the ceremony! Here, have some more of these ribs. Young people

like you should eat more so you can have energy for all that hard work."

"Thank you, Mrs. Lu."

"My goodness, we're practically family. There's no need to thank me! You'll have to look after Honey for

us in the future, after all."

Jiahe eyed her mother narrowly. "Mother, am I your daughter, or am I not? Why are you trying to pawn

me off?"

Mrs. Lu laughed and gave her a look. "Silly girl, what nonsense is this? Come, come, let's eat."

After a while, Mr. Lu asked, "Chi, we've heard Honey mention you a lot, but…I don't believe we know

what you do yet."

Their Honey was a graduate of North City Medical University, an extremely prestigious institution.

Currently, she was interning at the hospital, but she would eventually be on staff. Mr. Lu did not require

any prospective son-in-law to earn a lot of money, but he had to be at least someone of good character

who would be a worthy match for Jiahe. This way, both of them would have more common ground.

Xinghe's expression was calm and earnest. Putting down his chopsticks, he looked straight at Mr. and

Mrs. Lu and replied, "I'm a doctor like Jiahe."

Mr. Lu was pleased. Both of them were doctors; that was a good thing!

"Are you and Honey in the same department?"

Xinghe nodded.

Jiahe pursed her lips and thought to herself, He's my team leader.

Her mother and father strongly approved of doctors, teachers, lawyers, and programmers for whatever

reason. Perhaps it was because their mentality was more conservative since they were from a small

town and had not been exposed to much of the world, but they invariably considered these secure jobs.

When Jiahe had chosen the universities she wanted to attend and the courses she wished to take, her

choices had largely been influenced by her parents.

However, Jiahe had also felt that being a doctor was a much cooler job; after all, she would be able to

cure diseases and help people. Only after she was admitted to North City Medical College did she

discover that medicine was not the glamorous field everyone made it out to be; in fact, it was an

extremely punishing course. Not only that, she had to perform autopsies and dissect corpses. Initially,

she was so nauseated that she didn't eat for several days. She even had to spend time in the morgue!

Now that she thought about it, she would certainly not choose to study medicine if given a second

chance.

The other students from other departments were able to go to karaoke lounges and participate in

sports after their classes, but the medical students had to go and dissect white mice after school.

Medicine was an exhausting field; one had to be up at the crack of dawn and go to bed at ungodly

hours.

"Wonderful! Both of you are doctors, which means there will be two doctors in the family. We won't

need to worry if we ever get sick in future, dear!"

Mr. Lu immediately protested, "Touch wood! Don't jinx us all!"

Xinghe found Jiahe's parents very amusing. He glanced at the young woman sitting beside him. Her

countenance was gentle, and there was warmth in her gaze. Perhaps her positivity and motivation was

the result of being raised in a warm and loving family like this.

After dinner, Mrs. Lu cut up some fruits, and Jiahe took the plate into her bedroom.

Xinghe sat on the office chair beside her computer table, and Jiahe handed him a fork. "Here, have

some."

Even when Xinghe was seated, he was still very tall. Jiahe was short and petite, so Xinghe did not

need to crane his neck too far to look up at her. As he studied her, he smiled and accepted the

proffered fork.

"When are you going home?" Jiahe asked as she helped herself to some of the fruits.

Xinghe's brows shot up. "I haven't even finished eating yet, and you're already chasing me out?"

Jiahe glanced at the time. "It's 9 o'clock. When we've finished eating, you probably should hurry up and

find a hotel to stay. Our small town isn't like the city; we don't have many hotels, and we certainly

haven't got any five-star places."

The amusement in Xinghe's eyes deepened. Half-jokingly, he asked, "Won't your parents allow me to

stay the night here?"

Jiahe snorted. "We only have two rooms in this house. Where are you going to sleep? On the couch, or

the wall?"

Xinghe sent the office chair rolling forward until he reached the bed. Patting the mattress, he replied,

"Right here."

Jiahe didn't catch the hint of teasing in his eyes or the playfulness there. Instead, she retorted

brusquely, "Lovely! If you sleep there, where am I going to sleep? I'm the host here, you know. You're

the guest! Since when do guests sleep on their host's bed?"

"What I meant was…I'll be sleeping with you."

Jiahe was staggered. You wish!

Somehow she found the guts to ball up a fist and punch Xinghe on the nose.

Xinghe had certainly not expected her to suddenly hit him either.

"Lu Jiahe, what the hell are you playing at?"

Blinking, Jiahe stared at her fist. Even she did not know where that burst of courage had come from.

For whatever reason, her mind went to popular singer Fish Leong's hit song, "Courage." Had she been

subconsciously channeling that?

The belated realization that she had just punched Mr. Hades Jiang on the nose sent Jiahe scrambling

for cover, but Xinghe hauled her back and tossed her onto the bed.

"Jiang Xinghe!" Jiahe warned. "Gentlemen don't fight with ladies!"

Xinghe loosened his tie. "When did I ever say I was a gentleman?"

He was truly shameless! Looming over Jiahe, he got onto the bed as well. His body pressed down on

hers, causing the mattress to sag under their combined weight.

Jiahe beat her small fists against his chest, her face bright red. Her limpid, doe-like eyes stared up at

him, guileless, innocent, and far too tempting to resist.

Damn it! Xinghe tilted her chin up, then kissed her right on the lips.

"Mmf…" Jiahe's eyes widened in shock. She raised her fists to punch him, but this time Xinghe was

ready for her. Catching hold of her slender wrists, he secured them over her head. She could not move,

even if she tried.

Abruptly, the door opened with a creak. "Honey, tonight is Chi…"

It was Mrs. Lu. She stood in the doorway as if turned to stone, staring at the pair on the bed in shock.

Jiahe hastily pushed Xinghe off her and wiped the back of her hand forcefully across her burning lips.

Her face was so red she looked as if she might burst into flames. "Mother, don't…don't take things the

wrong way!"

"You…the two of you…" Mrs. Lu looked as if she was in a panic as well. "I didn't see anything!" With a

gulp, she immediately closed the door. However, a moment later, the door opened, and she looked into

the room, fixing Jiahe with a hard stare. "Come out here, girl!"

Jiahe felt her scalp prickle with apprehension. Her mother would kill her! Jiang Xinghe had really gotten

her into hot water this time!