Thinking back, it had been quite a while since he last saw Old Master Qiao. Thus, Xiao Yufan followed Qiao Chuxi and once again arrived at the Qiao residence…
This time, however, things were different from before. Since Xiao Yufan had accepted Qiao Chuxi, he couldn’t just pretend nothing had happened, could he? After all, this was the family home of his woman.
Qiao Chuxi herself felt a bit uneasy. She wasn’t worried her family wouldn’t accept Xiao Yufan, but rather that everything was moving too quickly. After all, she had only just confessed her feelings to the man today, and they had only just taken that first step together.
“Could it be our Chuxi is already having second thoughts? Now that you’ve fallen into my trap, do you really think I’d let you go so easily?”
Perhaps sensing Qiao Chuxi’s unease, Xiao Yufan wrapped his arms around her delicate frame, leaning close to her ear as he whispered softly…
Her body trembled slightly, and Qiao Chuxi’s face flushed red. This rogue, didn’t he know a woman’s ear was one of her most sensitive spots? With his warm breath tickling her, she felt a strange warmth spreading through her body.
“I’m just worried that Mom, Dad, and Grandpa might think we’re moving too fast…”
Thinking about how she had brought him home so soon after confessing her feelings, Qiao Chuxi felt a bit uneasy. But then again, was it really too fast? She knew many people nowadays got intimate on their very first meeting. Compared to that, they were actually quite slow.
If two people truly loved each other, did it really matter how fast or slow things went?
“Your parents?” Xiao Yufan’s eyes widened. He had never met Qiao Chuxi’s parents before and hadn’t even thought to ask about them, mistakenly assuming they were simply not around. But now it seemed the only reason he hadn’t met them was because they had been away.
“That’s right. Before, my parents and I didn’t want to get involved in the family business conflicts with Uncle, so we went abroad for a while. Now we’re finally back, so today you’ll be meeting not only Grandpa, but also my parents!”
Knowing Xiao Yufan must be confused, Qiao Chuxi explained.
“Meeting the in-laws again? Ugh, this is going to be a headache.”
Xiao Yufan groaned inwardly. With so many women in his life, meeting all their parents was already enough to drive him crazy. Although his women were all understanding and reasonable, he couldn’t be sure their parents would be just as accepting of the fact that he had more than one lover.
“Don’t worry, my parents are very open-minded. They’re definitely not old-fashioned, and they already know about you. They know I’ve fallen for you!”
A faint blush rose to her cheeks as Qiao Chuxi smiled sweetly, her nervousness slowly melting away. Taking the man she loved to meet her closest family gave her a small but deep sense of happiness.
“Hehe, didn’t expect my future in-laws to be such reasonable elders either…”
Xiao Yufan relaxed a bit. Now that he had accepted Qiao Chuxi, he naturally wanted to treat her the same way he treated the others. His only concern had been whether her elders would be as understanding.
“Who said anything about in-laws? We’re not even at that stage yet!”
Hearing Xiao Yufan’s words, Qiao Chuxi pouted, though by the end of her sentence her voice had dropped to a whisper. Bringing up such things in front of this big pervert was practically throwing herself into the lion’s den.
“Oh? What stage are you talking about? I don’t remember us reaching any such point,” Xiao Yufan teased, his eyes twinkling with mischief. As expected, her face turned even redder at his words. Though Qiao Chuxi was a powerful businesswoman, at heart she was still an innocent young woman untouched by the world.
“You’re so embarrassing! Don’t say anything else, or I really won’t talk to you anymore…”
She shook her fist playfully, pouting, though Xiao Yufan knew full well that such threats had absolutely no effect on him. If anything, they only made his thoughts even more wicked.
As they approached the Qiao family estate, Xiao Yufan immediately spotted Old Master Qiao practicing his morning exercises on the lawn. They slowly walked toward him, though Qiao Chuxi’s face still hadn’t fully recovered from its earlier blush. All of this was that rogue’s fault—he simply couldn’t stop teasing her.
Of course, if Xiao Yufan had known how unfairly he was being blamed, he would surely have cried out in protest. After all, he hadn’t done anything wrong—so how had he ended up being the one teasing her? If he really wanted to tease her, he could easily leave her unable to get out of bed for days…
“Tai Chi moves from Wuji into motion, soft yet firm. I didn’t expect Old Master Qiao to be such a master of Tai Chi!”
Watching Old Master Qiao’s movements, Xiao Yufan couldn’t help but smile. He hadn’t realized before that Old Master Qiao was also an expert in internal martial arts, and his mastery of Tai Chi was no less than anyone else’s.
“Oh, it’s Yufan! Now Chuxi’s finally gotten her wish. From what you just said, it seems you know quite a bit about Tai Chi too!”
Old Master Qiao had been fully focused on his practice and hadn’t noticed their approach. Not that he had entered a state of complete meditation—he simply hadn’t sensed Xiao Yufan, who had already reached the peak of condensing his internal energy. At the level of condensing qi, naturally he couldn’t sense someone so much stronger than himself.
“I guess I understand a little bit.”
When Xiao Yufan was young, Master Situ had trained his body using various traditional martial arts, Tai Chi among them. Thus, his understanding of Tai Chi was second to none. Saying he only understood a little was merely being modest.
No matter how strong one is, arrogance should never be allowed—this was a principle Xiao Yufan always followed, especially when dealing with elders like Old Master Qiao.
“In your generation, and at your age, being even slightly familiar with Tai Chi is already quite impressive. It seems Yufan not only excels in business, but also in self-cultivation and refinement!”
Nodding approvingly, Old Master Qiao found himself growing more and more fond of Xiao Yufan. Setting aside the Situ family’s status in China, Xiao Yufan’s character alone was enough to earn his admiration. If such a man could be with Chuxi, he would be more than happy.
Although he was a bit surprised to see Xiao Yufan here with his granddaughter today, he hadn’t yet figured out the full meaning behind their visit…
“Your praise is too much for me to bear, Master Qiao.”
“You’ve been gone so long, when did you become so humble? This isn’t the same ambitious young man I remember…”
Old Master Qiao slowly stopped his movements, exhaling slowly before finally turning his gaze toward Qiao Chuxi’s delicate profile. When he saw the rosy blush still lingering on her face, he finally understood why the two of them had come today…
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage