Mo Fang watched Li Ming’s expression, looking a bit thoughtful himself. He took another sip of his drink, pushing the glass over to Yao Chen for another refill. While the new drink was being mixed, he turned back to Li Ming. "I didn’t say anything wrong, did I?"

Li Ming shook his head. "No, of course not. I mean it’s your relationship anyway. That’s nothing I should comment on."

Mo Fang propped his elbows up on the counter, cupped his cheeks, and gave Li Ming a look from half-lidded eyes. "Actually, I wouldn’t mind if you said something about it. It’s alright. I guess the worst things that could be said about it have already been said by my dad."

Li Ming glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the door to make sure that the others weren’t there yet and then leaned closer. "I know it’s not always easy coming out to your family. If he said something hurtful back then, then I’m sure it was just out of fear that something might happen to you. After all, that must’ve been quite the surprise. I’m pretty sure that he still loves you. You’re not any less in his eyes."

Mo Fang pursed his lips. "I guess it should be true. Normally, he is quite good to me. He just gets super angry when I introduce my boyfriends to him. You know, from the moment he saw Lan Heng, he immediately told me that he didn’t like him. How are my relationships supposed to work out if he’s always like this?"

Li Ming gave a wry smile. Judging from what he had seen from that Lan Heng, he was pretty sure that maybe Boss Mo had used his ability to judge people that he had gained from his experiences in life and figured out that this guy was a scumbag just from one encounter. Naturally, Mo Fang wouldn’t be able to see that when he was in love. "Maybe he’s just overprotective."

Mo Fang scoffed. "Sure he is! He’s overprotective to an unreasonable degree."

Li Ming gave a slight smile at that. "How is it unreasonable to be worried if your child brings back a partner you’re not sure you can approve of? Maybe he saw something in your ex that made him worried."

Mo Fang leaned closer, narrowing his eyes. "You know, if this was just about that first boyfriend of mine or maybe Lan Heng, I would totally understand. But you’ve seen Si Tao just now. What’s wrong with him?"

"I … I don’t really know him."

"Ah, but my father didn’t know him either. And he totally disapproved of him as well. You should have heard how he talked about him as soon as he went home! He didn’t have to say a single good word about him!"

Li Ming silently nodded. He really wished that they would be able to drop the subject soon. Especially since it probably wouldn’t be too long until the others got here. He didn’t want to be seen discussing his boss’s family affairs.

Unfortunately for him, Mo Fang was far from satisfied with the result of their discussion. When Yao Chen put down his new drink in front of him, he picked up the glass and took a big gulp before he turned back to Li Ming. "Actually, among all my ex-boyfriends, I’m pretty sure that Si Tao was the best one. Remember how I told you about my ex before Lan Heng who would always support me regardless of what was happening?"

Li Ming nodded. "Yes. Was that Si Tao?" It certainly seemed that way. At the very least, that Si Tao had made quite the friendly impression before.

Mo Fang shook his head, not remembering at all that he hadn’t wanted to bring up the truth. "No, Si Tao was the one before that. That guy was also good. But you know, compared to Si Tao, he just wasn’t that great. While he was really nice to me, I always felt that he wasn’t paying me enough attention. Si Tao was different. He also did things for me but the most important is that we really spent a lot of time together. Don’t you also think that if you’re in a relationship, then you should be together for as much as you can? Otherwise, why are you even dating? You might as well be single."

Li Ming gave a wry smile at that. He felt that he could understand that very well. In fact, this had been one of the problems in one of his own past relationships. Because he liked to help out others, his boyfriend had felt neglected. It wasn’t that he never spent time with him but it was considerably cut short because he cared about others after all the work he was already doing at the railroad station. That didn’t leave them much time together. "Well, I guess it’s true. Anyway, Si Tao did seem like a nice person."

"See! But my father was still complaining about him. And it’s not just that he’s giving me enough attention. Honestly, Si Tao is great however you look at him. If you leave out the fact that he isn’t a woman — which my father would probably prefer —, what’s wrong with him? He’s tall, handsome, and rich. You know he doesn’t own just this restaurant. And he didn’t just own this restaurant back when we were dating either. What else does my father want?"

Li Ming didn’t know what to say to that and could only shake his head.

"Precisely! He probably doesn’t know either. In fact, he probably just wants me to date some girl. I should just do it for a short while and get her pregnant or something. I bet he’d be happy then!"

Li Ming glanced at the half-emptied drink that was standing in front of Mo Fang and then watched him pick it up and down the rest. Considering how different Mo Fang was currently behaving from usually, he was pretty sure that he was getting drunk or rather, maybe he already was drunk. Having drinks with the others later on probably wouldn’t be the best idea. He might regret that afterward.