“Nuan Nuan, you’re back?”
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Su Xia, who was sitting in the living room watching TV, called out loudly.
Beside her, Xia Zhengping, who had been sulking with his arms crossed because their daughter was late, also quickly looked towards the entrance.
“Mm, I’m back.”
Xia Nuan Nuan responded, changed her shoes, and walked quickly towards her room with her eyes downcast.
Seeing this, the couple exchanged puzzled glances, as if they had instantly sensed something.
Su Xia’s eyes lit up, her curiosity piqued. Old Xia beside her frowned, his gaze filled with killing intent.
Of course, this killing intent was directed at that pig-headed boy.
“Nuan Nuan, come here, come talk to Mom.”
Su Xia called out.
“Mom, I’m a bit tired and want to sleep. We can talk tomorrow!”
Xia Nuan Nuan spoke a little too quickly and didn’t look in their direction while speaking.
This made the couple even more certain that something must have happened.
“Alright, then wash up and sleep early. Mom won’t call you tomorrow, you can sleep in.”
Su Xia said with a smile.
“Mm, thank you, Mom!”
Xia Nuan Nuan thanked her and hurried into her room.
After closing the door and locking it, Xia Nuan Nuan raised her hands to cup her slightly hot face and let out a sigh of relief.
She walked to the bed in a daze, flopped straight onto the soft mattress, and kicked her legs backward.
Then, she reached out an arm, grabbed a pillow, and covered her head, burying her face in the covers.
After a moment, in the darkened room, the girl’s strangely odd laughter could be heard.
At the doorway outside the room, a couple had their ears pressed against the door. Hearing the laughter from inside, they looked at each other in astonishment.
Old Xia, with a dark expression, moved to grab the doorknob, but Su Xia quickly blocked him.
“What are you doing?”
“Going in to ask!”
“Ask what?”
The couple, married for nearly twenty years, communicated silently and tacitly with their eyes.
Su Xia pointed towards the living room, then made a shushing gesture and a two-fingered walking gesture. Finally, she shot Old Xia a warning glance.
Old Xia understood completely and nodded reluctantly.
Thus, the couple tiptoed back to the living room and sat down silently.
Su Xia first took the remote control and turned up the TV volume slightly, then gestured to Old Xia that he could speak.
“Wife, this situation is not right. That brat must have done something. We need to clarify!”
Old Xia said with a serious expression.
“What brat?”
Su Xia frowned, gestured towards their daughter’s room, and said, “Didn’t you hear that it’s laughter? She’s not crying. What’s there to ask? Also, what brat? Which brat are you talking about?”
Black lines ran down Old Xia’s forehead. He said sternly, “Is that laughter? When has our daughter ever laughed like that? It’s too strange!”
“What’s strange about it? Girls in love are like this. What do you men know!”
Su Xia rolled her eyes dismissively.
“In love?”
Old Xia was dumbfounded, completely stunned.
Su Xia grabbed a small handful of sunflower seeds from the coffee table, a look of “I’ve seen through it all” on her face, and nodded slightly. “If I’m not mistaken, our daughter has confirmed her relationship with Xiao Qin and started dating.”
Old Xia raised his hand and clutched his chest, feeling as if he had been stabbed.
“Old Xia, let me tell you clearly, Nuan Nuan has finished her college entrance exams and is an adult now. It’s normal for her to be in a relationship. Don’t you go causing any trouble.”
Su Xia cracked two sunflower seeds, her expression serious.
Old Xia was silent for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I still can’t accept it. This is too fast. That pig… cough, that boy is too impatient. It’s only just after the college entrance exams today!”
“That’s exactly why I admire Xiao Qin. Since they like each other and the time is right, it’s annoying when a boy is hesitant and not proactive!”
“What time is right? Wife, are you alright? What are you thinking?”
“Are *you* alright? Our daughter has grown up. She should have her own life. Why are you still interfering? What, you don’t want your daughter to date in college either, and then delay for two years after graduation, turning into an older single woman?”
“Ptooey, ptooey, what older single woman? How could our daughter be like that!”
“How could she not be? Do you think it’s easy to find an excellent boy like Xiao Qin? In our old neighborhood, Sister Chen’s daughter is thirty and hasn’t dated yet. Do you know why?”
“Thirty and hasn’t dated, really?”
Old Xia looked bewildered, half-believing.
“What’s there to lie to you about?”
Su Xia rolled her eyes and continued, “It’s because Sister Chen managed her too tightly. She forbade her from dating during school, and then made her daughter study for a master’s after college. By the time she graduated, she was twenty-six. Then she worked hard for a few more years and didn’t have the energy to find a partner. Now, it’s hard to even find someone for blind dates. Every Chinese New Year when her daughter comes back, the mother and daughter argue about this every other day.”
“No way?”
Old Xia scratched his head.
“Why no way? Do you know why there are more and more older single women? It’s because we parents overreact to our children dating. Plus, this generation faces immense pressure from studying and life. Many children just drag on, and their psychology becomes problematic. They feel it’s better to be single, and then it’s truly troublesome.”
“You have a point, but… but I just feel uneasy. We raised our daughter so carefully, always wanting to cherish her in our palms. Now…”
“Husband, I understand you, but you have to listen to me. Xiao Qin is a good boy. Even if you don’t support it now, don’t oppose it too strongly. Just let nature take its course.”
“Sigh, fine, I’ll listen to you. I’ll try to keep my eyes off it and my mind at ease!”
…
…
Qin Tian didn’t know that his future mother-in-law had given him another perfect assist.
At this moment, he was excitedly checking the system page.
Just now, the system had finally popped up after a long absence.
[Mission time ended, mission performance rating 95, reward: four basic attribute values increased to 100 points, system points +5888!]
He still had two unfinished tasks: one was to win the top spot in the college entrance examination, and the other was the task of rising above the rest with Xia Nuan Nuan before the college entrance examination ended.
The good news that had just arrived was naturally about the latter, the "rise above the rest" task.
The rewards were extremely generous, with all four basic attributes directly increased to the human limit, and a large sum of points awarded.
Including the previous remaining thousand points, he now had 6888 points, essentially becoming rich overnight.