The two of them continued to chat for the next few hours. Li Ming slowly opened up about some of the things he had never dared to bring up in front of his mother. He told her about his relationship with Mo Fang, about his crusher on Su Yan before and how he had seen him again yesterday, and even about some of his relationships before that.

She listened intently the whole time, sometimes interjecting something about her relationships from the past as well. There were quite a few things that Li Ming had never heard about just like that story about how she and his father had broken up once long before getting married.

It made him realize that when it came to these matters, he really hadn’t known his mother all that well. Well, maybe this was normal. He didn’t know if people usually talked about these things with their parents. But he was glad that he was finally able to open up about it and that she responded in the same way. It made him feel that there was nothing strange about it and that this was how things should be.

Finally, just a while before lunchtime, there was the sound of the door, and Li Ming couldn’t help but tense. He looked at his mother, his expression a bit stiff as well. "Actually … what are dad’s thoughts on the matter?"

His mother looked at him and patted his hand before getting up to slowly finish the lunch she had been preparing while they talked. "What do you think? Even if your father had had a problem with it, I already would have set him straight. You don’t worry about it!"

Li Ming nodded but he still couldn’t help but be a little worried. After all, with his mother, he had had that call the other day and two days to prepare himself. Now, they had also talked for several hours, so he was definitely reassured. But he wasn’t sure about how his father would react.

Actually, thinking about his experiences in general, a lot of women were more open than men about him being gay. And with this sort of thing, from everything he had heard from others, it only tended to be magnified in your family. So yes, he could not help but worry. No matter what his mother told him.

Before his father even arrived, he called out from the entrance while changing his shoes. "Is he here yet?"

His mother laughed and called it back. "Hurry up and come over and you’ll find out."

His father’s hurried steps sounded and he appeared in the kitchen, and then, he smiled brightly when Li Ming turned around. "You’re finally showing your face again around here! Took you long enough."

Li Ming couldn’t help but smile when that was his father’s greeting and his nerves settled down. "Well, I’ve been a bit busy."

"Sure, sure. That’s what happens when you become a working adult. I guess we can’t blame you for that." He patted his shoulder and then sat down after greeting his wife as well. "Anyway, it’s good that you came by. In the future, when you have some time, come over more often. Your mother and I missed you."

Li Ming nodded. "Mom already said so. In the next few weeks, I’ll probably have some more time so I could come over more often. After that, I’ll have to see. I’m looking for a new job right now so it could be that I will be more busy than usual." Especially when it came to a new job, he felt that he had to make sure that he didn’t make a blunder. Thus, at that time, he might need to spend even more time. Not to mention that he would have to get to know everyone first so he’d be busy with that as well.

His father nodded but didn’t know what else to say so there was a lull in the conversation. Finally, he decided to just ask about what he had missed. "Well, you’ve been here for a while?"

Li Ming nodded. "I came here early."

"Oh, then what did I miss? You’ve probably already told your mother all the news. I’m the only one being kept out of the loop!"

Li Ming couldn’t help but laugh at that. "Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much. It was just some idle gossip. Actually, there isn’t too much going on. I … Well, I did quit my job and I’m working on gaining some new skills now. I … also broke up with my boyfriend." At that, his gaze couldn’t help but wander around, unable to look his father in the eye. No matter what his mother had said and how he had calmed down before, bringing up this topic, he still felt awkward.

His father just sighed though and nodded slowly, once again reaching out to pat his shoulder. "I know, your mother said that you mentioned it in the call the other day. I’m sorry about that." For a moment, he looked a bit sad but finally just shook his head. "Anyway, he probably wasn’t that good either way! You can find somebody better. Even if it’s not somebody better, there is somebody out there for you. You don’t need to find somebody very smart or really good-looking. As long as it’s a nice man, that’ll be alright."

Li Ming couldn’t help but stare at him in a daze, not having expected that. "Somebody …" Just nice? That sounded like his father had no problem accepting that he was gay but didn’t have much hope in his dating game. Thinking of that, he couldn’t help but laugh again. "Actually, did you know that your son was dating a model?"

At that, his father’s eyes went wide. "A model? You?" Not to dump on his son but he wouldn’t have thought he was the type who was able to get that type of person. Come to think of it, Li Ming was probably just tooting his own horn here. How could this be? His son and a model, not in this life! "No, I don’t believe it! You’re trying to pull my leg. Show me proof or I won’t believe it."

Li Ming couldn’t help but laugh again, genuinely happy but also somewhat relieved. If his father could even ask to see photos, then he really wasn’t having a problem with it. Well, in that case, he should comply.