Xia Nuannuan had lived in the old residential community they were moving back to from birth until before starting at Sizhong High School.
On the fifth floor of one of the buildings were two apartments with almost identical layouts.
After exiting the elevator, the apartment to the left, 501, was where Xia Nuannuan and her parents used to live. Across the hall, 502, was where her grandparents lived.
Both doors were already open. The elderly couple knew they were moving back today and had tidied up their home in advance.
“Grandpa, Grandma, we’re back!”
Xia Nuannuan called out into apartment 502, dragging her suitcase filled with clothes.
“Oh my, my darling granddaughter!”
Xia Nuannuan’s grandfather’s excited voice immediately echoed from inside.
Soon, the two kind-faced elderly people appeared at the doorway.
“Dad, Mom!”
Su Xia greeted them with a gentle smile.
“Welcome back, welcome back!”
The old man nodded repeatedly with a beaming smile.
Beside him, Xia Nuannuan’s grandmother also smiled broadly and chided Xia Nuannuan, “Nuannuan, why have you lost more weight?”
As they weren’t too far apart, it had only been about ten days to two weeks since they last saw each other.
“Grandma, no way! I’ve been staying home every day lately, I’ve actually gained a bit!”
Xia Nuannuan’s smile was as bright as a flower, and her playfully spoiled demeanor was very endearing.
After the initial greetings, the elderly couple’s gaze fell upon Qin Tian, who was standing behind them.
“Hello, Grandpa, Grandma!”
Qin Tian quickly stepped forward to greet them.
“This is?”
The two elderly people looked at their son in astonishment.
Then, a scene unfolded that left Qin Tian dumbfounded.
The old man raised his hand and, without a word, smacked the back of Xia Zhengping’s head.
“You good-for-nothing brat, tell me clearly, what’s going on? Where did you get this son?”
The old man shouted angrily.
Everyone present was stunned.
“Dad, what are you talking about!”
Xia Zhengping, after realizing what happened, touched the back of his head where he had been hit and explained with a wry face, “I don’t have a son… bah, that’s not quite right, he’s Nuannuan’s…”
He trailed off, unable to utter the remaining three words.
“Pfft!”
Xia Nuannuan couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“Dad, this is Nuannuan’s boyfriend, Qin Tian!”
Su Xia, unable to suppress her amusement, made the introduction.
“What? Bo… boyfriend?”
The old man’s eyes widened, and he looked at Qin Tian in shock.
Qin Tian smiled shyly.
“Nuannuan, you’ve already got a boyfriend?”
Grandma looked at her beloved granddaughter with surprise.
Xia Nuannuan nodded, her cheeks flushed with shyness.
After confirming Qin Tian’s identity, the elderly couple scrutinized him.
Qin Tian immediately stood straighter, feeling a little nervous.
“Grandpa, Grandma, we’ll go pack our things first!”
Xia Nuannuan spoke up to ease the tension.
Upon hearing this, the elderly couple didn’t press further for the moment and urged them to move their belongings into the apartment.
Qin Tian let out a sigh of relief and followed Xia Nuannuan into apartment 501.
“Dad, don’t just lash out without understanding things first! Give me some face, okay!”
Xia Zhengping said in a low voice to the old man.
Being hit so unexpectedly, especially in front of Qin Tian, made him feel quite embarrassed.
The old man knew he had made a mistake and felt a little guilty, but he maintained a stern face and glared.
“It’s only natural for a father to hit his son, so I hit him. What are you going to do about it?”
“Dad, please be reasonable!”
Old Xia was almost in tears.
The old mother next to him, feeling sorry for her son, explained, “It’s just that in the TV show we were watching, there was a rich man who was having an affair, and his mistress brought a son home, causing chaos in the household.”
Old Xia’s mouth twitched violently, and he cursed with a dark expression, “What kind of ridiculous TV show is that? I hope I never meet that scriptwriter and director.”
Su Xia was amused and said to the elderly couple with a smile, “Dad, Mom, don’t take those TV shows too seriously. Xia is not that kind of person.”
“Ahem…”
The old man cleared his throat awkwardly and said solemnly, “Art originates from life, and the plots in TV shows do happen in reality. I did that deliberately, just to give him a warning, so he doesn’t think he can misbehave just because he’s rich.”
“Dad! You really are…”
Old Xia was speechless.
…
…
By the time everything was moved into the apartment, it was past one o’clock.
Su Xia asked Qin Tian to rest in the living room, then went with Xia Nuannuan’s grandmother to the kitchen to prepare lunch.
Xia Nuannuan was organizing her things in her room. For the time being, only Qin Tian, his future father-in-law, and his future father-in-law’s father were in the living room.
Young Qin felt considerable pressure.
“Xiao Qin, come, have an apple. I bought it this morning, it’s fresh!”
The old man took an apple from the coffee table and handed it to him with a smile.
“Thank you, Grandpa!”
Qin Tian quickly reached out to take it and thanked him politely with a smile.
The old man’s smile widened, and he casually asked, “When did you and our Nuannuan start dating?”
“We got together after the college entrance exams. We were classmates, and also desk mates!”
Qin Tian replied promptly.
“Is that so! Good, classmates are good!”
The old man praised repeatedly and glared at his son next to him, saying, “You two too. Nuannuan got a boyfriend, such an important event, why didn’t you tell me beforehand? Otherwise, we wouldn’t have made such a joke earlier.”
Dark lines appeared on Xia Zhengping’s forehead, and he forced a smile, saying, “It hasn’t been that long. I’ve been busy with things in Jiangcheng, I didn’t have time to tell you.”
“No time, no time? Not even enough time for a phone call?”
“I…”
“Su Xia too. When we went for dinner before, she didn’t mention this either.”
“Grandpa, it’s probably because Nuannuan was too embarrassed to say!”
Qin Tian said with a smile.
The old man nodded. “This girl, she’s good in every way, but she’s too shy. She’s seventeen or eighteen now, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about having a boyfriend.”
Qin Tian took a bite of the apple in his hand and silently gave a thumbs-up to the open-minded old man in his heart.
“Back in my day, people were already getting married at this age, and if they didn’t have a partner, they’d be considered unambitious.”
The old man rambled on, then asked Qin Tian about other things.
Such as his family background, whether he had siblings, his college entrance exam score, which university he planned to attend, and so on.
Qin Tian answered truthfully with a smile, neither humble nor arrogant.
The old man was surprised to learn that he was raised by his mother alone, but otherwise, he became more satisfied the more he heard.
Especially when he learned that Qin Tian was the top scorer with a perfect score, the old man’s face lit up as if a flower had bloomed.
He had already begun planning how to casually bring up this matter when playing chess or fishing with his old friends.