Chen Ruo Yu felt Zhou Zhe did not know about the matter of his parents inviting her out to dinner because he did not attend the dinner and neither did he inform her.  But Chen Ruo Yu’s mother knew about this because her mother had called her to inform her that Zhou Zhe’s parents had left for A-city and told her to entertain them.

Heavens!  Why did she have to entertain Zhou Zhe’s parents?  What has it got to do with her?  Before Chen Ruo Yu could protest, the doorbell rang.  The elderly couple who had nothing to do with her was standing outside her door.

Zhou Zhe’s parents were very polite and told her Zhou Zhe had gone out to settle some business and since they did not have friends here, they thought of Chen Ruo Yu who was also staying here.  So they came over to seek her company and also requested her to accompany them around A-city and have a meal. 

Chen Ruo Yu’s scalp began to go numb.  She really wanted to tell them that they, the elderly were at the same level as her parents but does not share a common level with her. It would be difficult for them to be friends and difficult for them to communicate well. 

However, since the elderly couple had made a request, Chen Ruo Yu did not dare to decline.  So she gritted her teeth, trembling with fear, she accompanied the two old people around visiting the famous commercial streets in A-city.  Then they found a restaurant with good ambiance and sat down. 

Zhou Father and Zhou Mother were both nice and friendly but Chen Ruo Yu still felt a bit nervous.  Normally, parents who go out for a meal with a junior have a purpose and it would not be something simple.  As expected, the two elderly asked Chen Ruo Yu about her life in A-city and they talked about the differences between A-city and C-city.  Then they talked about the weather and finally after all the courteous words had been said, Zhou Mother directly broached on the main topic. 

“Xiao Yu, have you had a serious talk with Ah Zhe recently?  I have been looking forward to the two of you develop your relationship.” 

It’s coming, it’s coming……   Chen Ruo Yu straightened her back and answered carefully.

“I am very good friends with Zhou Zhe and we do meet occasionally in the district.”  Zhou Mother would be able to understand what she meant, right?

Zhou Father did not say anything and picked up his cup to sip the tea.  Zhou Mother smiled and said.  “Xiao Yu, ah…….  Initially, Ah Zhe had planned to return home at the beginning of the month but now it has been more than half a month and he had still not shown any signs of returning.   We had asked him but he was very vague.  He told us his work is going smoothly and everything is fine but when we talked about him returning home, he only told us to wait because he still had to attend to some other matters.  The Spring Festival is fast approaching and if he does not move back now, he will be stuck during the Spring Festival.  He will have problems transporting his stuff and baggage and it will not be easy to handle many other things.  I and his father had thought over this.  Since everything else is fine, then the reason for his delay must be emotional problems.”

Chen Ruo Yu did not know what to say and she was thinking that his parents were very sharp.

“Xiao Yu, is it because you don’t want to move back to C-city?”

“Ah?”  She was dumbstruck.  Her son did not go home as planned had nothing to do with her, ah......  However, Zhou Zhe did not tell his parents this and Lu Bao Ni’s battle results were still not clear.  As their friend, of course, she could not betray them.

“Auntie, I am just an ordinary friend with Zhou Zhe.  My work and friends are here and I don’t intend to move back to C-city.  But regarding the delay in Zhou Zhe’s plan to return home, it certainly is not because of me.  Maybe he still has matters to settle?”

“What other matters does he have?  In such a short time and he was already prepared to return home.  Could it be because of another girl?”

Chen Ruo Yu was taken aback.  She did not say that it was because of another girl!  This is terrible!   She really can’t ward them off.

She felt her palms starting to sweat.

“I,……I’m also not clear why Zhou Zhe had postponed his plans.” Her words sounded particularly guilty and she felt that her expression was also not too convincing because Zhou Father and Zhou Mother both showed their disbelief and disapproval.

This time, it was not Chen Ruo Yu’s palms that were only sweating.  Zhou Mother stared at her but she did not continue to interrogate her further.  She poured some tea for Chen Ruo Yu and changed the topic.  She asked Chen Ruo Yu whether it was difficult for her to work alone in A-city and what young people in A-city generally do for leisure activities and so on.

When she asked a word, Chen Ruo Yu replied with a word.  All the while, her mind was empty and she did not know how to deal with the matter. 

She really, really cannot communicate with the elderly.

After a while, Zhou Father told Zhou Mother to call Zhou Zhe to ask whether he was still busy.  If not, they could all have a meal together.

Chen Ruo Yu’s face turned pale.  Oh dear!   If she could get Zhou Zhe to come over, will this be considered as a blind date again?

Her relationship with Meng Gu had just started and now she was having a meal with another man and his parents.  What does one call this kind of situation?  If Meng Gu knew about this, it would be most terrifying as Mr. Peach Blossom Forest would change into Mr. Tyrannosaurus.

Chen Ruo Yu quickly found an excuse to go to the toilet and left.  She quickly seized the opportunity to call Meng Gu to confess everything.

“Dr. Meng, I have something to tell you.”

“What is the matter?  Where are you?”

Chen Ruo Yu told him the name of the restaurant and the address.  Meng Gu smiled.  “Miss Chen, have you finally figured out and now you want to confirm your spending ability and decided to present me with a big beautiful bill?”

“No, no…..Dr. Meng.  I am having an attack of Elderly Parental Phobia and I am seeking encouragement from you.”

“Whose parents?”

“Zhou Zhe’s.”  Chen Ruo Yu told him the whole story about what had happened.  “Now they have called Zhou Zhe to come over and I can’t leave.  I’m starting to get a stomachache and I can’t breathe.”

“Chen Ruo Yu, are you looking for death?  You still pretend to be sick when you dare to be the apricot tree that is secretly leaning over the wall*?”

(An apricot tree that leans over the wall means a wife having an illicit affair.)

Who is leaning over what wall?  And it is in secret as well?  He can really twist the facts!

“Don’t be so fierce.  I am serious.”

“I am also seriously unhappy.  This kind of thing is very easily settled.  Why are you so nervous?  Go out now and tell them you have nothing to do with their son.  You already have a boyfriend.  Then tell them you don’t feel well and say goodbye to them.  Hurry up, come to the hospital and keep your boyfriend company while he is on duty.  I have to keep you under watch more closely.”

“Don’t stir up trouble.  Now I still can’t tell them about you yet or else, they will go back and definitely tell my parents.  I have not decided how to tell my parents about you yet.”

“Chen Ruo Yu, recently my image had changed greatly.  Am I too gentle?”

“Don’t cause trouble.”  When he spoke those words, she actually felt her heart had become more stable and felt she was able to handle the two elderly.

“Hurry up and come over to the hospital to accompany me while I am on duty.  Tomorrow, I want to eat braised pork, the day after tomorrow, I want to eat sweet and sour pork and the day after………”

“Okay, okay…..”  Chen Ruo Yu interrupted him.

“I still want to eat something else but you will not be agreeable.”

Meng Gu’s words made Chen Ruo Yu ponder for a while and then she finally understood.  Her face began to turn red again.  “Dr. Meng, don’t talk about*** the whole day!”

“I didn’t talk about ***.  The words are from my heart.”

“Do you still want to keep on saying it?!”  Chen Ruo Yu blushed and scolded him.  “Is there anyone beside you?”  Isn’t it embarrassing if other people were to hear him talking in such a way?

“What if there is someone?  I am teasing my girlfriend, so who dares to control me?”

“There is really nobody listening in, is there?”  She really wanted to give him two punches.

“Okay, there is no one here in my office except me.”  Meng Gu’s tone was quite pleasant.  Apparently, he felt very happy that she was jumping with anxiety and he added.  “Chen Ruo Yu, our tacit understanding is getting better and better.  It is time to meet our parents.”

“From where do you see that our tacit understanding is getting better and better?”

“You are able to catch each and every one of my *** jokes and that means you understand, which is tacit understanding and it shows our relationship had matured.” 

“Pei!”  She planned to go out and could not help but ask.  “Did you take a proper meal today?  Is your stomach still painful?”

“You already said ‘Pei’ to me, so why are you so concerned?”   Mr. Tyrannosaurus was playing roguish again.

“I will not be concerned about you.  I’m going out and when this is over, I’ll call you again.”

“Hey…….”  Before Meng Gu was able to complete his sentence, Chen Ruo Yu had hung up the call.  As expected, after talking to her family’s Dr. Meng, she felt a lot better.  She felt fully charged with energy and her mood was good.

As Chen Ruo Yu walked out, she was thinking of how to get away.  She was not afraid of anything except the matters of Zhou Zhe being pursued by another girl and she already has a boyfriend would be leaked out.  Then it is afraid the situation would not be good for the two of them. 

Her hunch was correct.  The next round of talks of the two elderly was concentrated on the delay of Zhou Zhe’s plan to return home and Chen Ruo Yu and Zhou Zhe’s relationship development.  They probably thought that it was really Chen Ruo Yu’s refusal to return to C-city that had affected Zhou Zhe’s plans. 

Zhou Mother said that Chen Ruo Yu was introduced to her by Chen Family’s neighbor, Auntie Li.  She and Auntie Li were friends for the last 20 years and had only heard Auntie Li seriously praised a girl for the first time. 

Chen Ruo Yu was a little embarrassed and had to nod her head.  She knew Auntie Li who lived downstairs her parent’s home and Auntie Li could be considered as had watched her grow up.  In front of her, Auntie Li had praised her for being honest, diligent, filial and takes care of her family and regretted that she also has a daughter, or else she would have wanted Chen Ruo Yu for her own daughter-in-law.  Chen Ruo Yu had not expected that even though she could not become Auntie Li’s daughter-in-law, she would put so much effort to introduce her to other families. 

“I have heard a lot about you and I feel you are a very good girl.  So I energetically arranged for the two of you young people to meet.  The two of you are really fated and over here, the two of you also stay in the same district.  Isn’t this all arranged by God?  That day, I saw both of you getting along fine and you also returned to A-city together.  I thought everything was alright between you two but I did not expect that after so long, nothing had progressed.  We, the old people feel very anxious about this.”

Chen Ruo Yu smiled politely.  Nodding her head was not right and shaking her head was also not right.  She wanted to say something like this.  “Auntie, God has too many arrangements to manage and he did not arrange this.”  But she was too embarrassed to talk back to the elderly, so she could only smile foolishly.

“Actually, if you don’t want to return home now, we can also understand.  Compared to C-city, A-city is so much bigger, livelier and its economy is better and staying back is also good.  But after all, your parents are in C-city and a few years later, you still have to go back.  So we don’t feel worried.  Since the two places are not too far apart, and when the time comes, we will still get to see you often.”

Chen Ruo Yu smiled foolishly and poured some tea for Zhou Mother.  “Auntie, please drink some tea.  I am really not the reason why Zhou Zhe had postponed his plans.  Let’s wait for him to come and then we can ask him.  Don’t worry.”

Chen Ruo Yu told the elderly not to worry but she was the one who was really worried.  Why was Zhou Zhe taking so long to appear?  He should come quickly to take over the questions of his parents.  She was really unable to handle them any longer.  She waved at the waiter with the intention to ask for more hot tea but as she raised her hand, she saw Meng Gu’s mother holding a few shopping bags standing at a table not too far away, smiling at her.  She looked as if she had just finished her shopping and came in.  What a coincidence to bump into her!

Chen Ruo Yu nearly wanted to bang her head on the table.  At this time, even if she had wanted to run into the toilet to hide, there would not be time, right?  If she pretended not to see her, it could not be done, right?  Okay, okay……calm down.  She could just tell her she is just having a meal with the elderly from her hometown.  Nothing is going to happen.

After doing a good job preparing herself psychologically, she saw Zhou Zhe walking in and looking around.  When he saw them, he walked towards them.

It’s over, it’s over…….this time, even if she jumps into the Yellow River*, it will not be enough!

(Jump into the Yellow River – the Yellow River is thus named because of the muddy waters of the river and if a person is to jump into the river, the person will definitely not be able to clean himself in the muddy water.  So Jumping into the Yellow River means that one is unable to rid oneself from the suspicion of doing something wrong.)