When Yuan Yi saw the man and woman who walked in, he wiped his mouth and said, "Have a seat. I'll go upstairs to wash my face and brush my teeth."
Xu Ya noticed the empty bowl on the table and frowned. Living alone outside had clearly led her son to develop bad habits. However, since it was his birthday today, she decided to hold back from saying anything that might dampen the mood.
"It's fine, we're family; no need to be particular about these things." Xu Ya took a look around the living room. It was her first time in her younger son's own home. "The decor is nice, but the house lacks a bit of warmth."
Yuan Yi smiled nonchalantly and sat back down on the sofa. "Mom, did you and Dad come here just to check out the house?"
"No," Xu Ya smiled, "It's your birthday today, so your father and I prepared a gift." She took out two car keys from her bag. "I remember you used to really like this brand of car."
"Thank you." Yuan Yi accepted the car keys without much emotion. He couldn't tell his parents that while he had indeed liked this type of car when he was eighteen, that was nine years ago.
Seeing him accept the gift, Xu Ya felt relieved. She turned and gave Yuan Yasen a little nudge, signaling him to say something.
"We don't have many children; in the future, Changfeng will be left to you two brothers," Yuan Yasen said in a tone that sounded somewhat stiff. "As long as you break up with that female host, you can return to the Changfeng management team at any time."
"Dad, my brother is managing Changfeng well. I don't need to interfere." Yuan Yi fiddled with the car keys in his hand. "As for my relationship..." Yuan Yi paused for a moment. "These days, people value freedom in marriage and relationships. The law grants me this right, and I intend to respect it."
Yuan Yasen couldn't understand his son. Rebellious and aimless in his youth, he had finally gotten on the right track, yet he didn't develop in the direction his father wanted. Yuan Yi had been an unexpected addition to his life plan even before he was born, and now, father and son still felt like they were from two different worlds.
"Is that female host really so good?"
"As good as Mom is in your eyes, that's how good she is in mine," Yuan Yi said, leaning back on the sofa with his leg crossed. "I'm sure you can understand that feeling."
Yuan Yasen's expression changed several times as he took a deep breath and said, "I've looked into this girlfriend of yours. She's from a single-parent family and even had a boyfriend during college. As a member of the Yuan family, you could have any kind of woman you want, so why choose her?"
"Dad," Yuan Yi's smile faded, and he spoke in a mocking tone, "What's wrong with a single-parent family? As long as parents love their child, it doesn't matter if they're single. If parents see their child as a burden, even two parents wouldn't make much difference."
"Xiao Er, are you still holding a grudge about the past?" Xu Ya's face went pale, and the usually well-maintained woman now looked fearful.
"You're overthinking it," Yuan Yi replied with a shake of his head and a smile. "I'll go change my clothes; you two sit and relax."
Without expectations, there's no room for demands or resentment.
Just as Yan Xi drove out of the villa, she realized she had forgotten to give Yuan Yi his birthday gift. She glanced at the time and called Chen Pei, saying she'd be late to the station, and turned her car around.
Carrying the gift box, Yan Xi saw the front door open and walked up the steps. "Yuan Xiaoyi, I forgot to give you something."
As she stepped inside and noticed the middle-aged couple sitting on the sofa, her pace slowed, and the smile on her face faded slightly. "Hello, Uncle and Auntie."
"Hello." Xu Ya nodded toward her, and Yuan Yasen just grunted, without saying more, making the atmosphere a bit awkward. Xu Ya glanced upstairs and then smiled at Yan Xi, "Miss Yan, please have a seat."
"No need," Yan Xi declined politely. "I'm heading to work soon, so I'll just drop this off and go."
"Miss Yan, is it customary for you to enter other men's homes like this?" Yuan Yasen's tone was blunt. "Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
"Uncle Yuan," Yan Xi didn't get angry at his pointed comment. Instead, she smiled sweetly and asked, "You must not like Yuan Xiaoyi very much, do you?"
Yuan Yasen was stunned, not understanding why Yan Xi would respond this way.
"As parents, if you love your child, even if you're dissatisfied with their partner, you wouldn't show it so bluntly," Yan Xi raised her eyebrows. "Doing so makes you come across as particularly difficult, even unreasonable."
Yuan Yasen's face darkened. "Is this how your family taught you to treat your elders?"
"Uncle Yuan, didn't you also criticize someone else's daughter, whom they worked so hard to raise?" Yan Xi's smile was as bright as a flower. "While I am Yuan Yi's girlfriend, I am not obliged to bear your anger and reproach. Upbringing is indeed important; otherwise, acting unreasonably can be quite unpleasant."
"Miss Yan, my husband spoke out of turn. Please don't take offense," Xu Ya interjected, fearing that if Yuan Yasen lost his temper, things might spiral out of control and push their son further away. "We're just concerned that you and Xiao Er might not get along well, so we overstepped a bit. We meant no harm."
"No problem." Yan Xi looked down with a small smile. "I won't dwell on it. My father always told me that baseless anger doesn't make things better."
"Miss Yan, I'm not interested in bantering with you," Yuan Yasen said with a stern face. "I'm not satisfied with you, and the Yuan family will not accept you as a daughter-in-law."
"That's fine. After all, your true love is Auntie; whether or not you're satisfied with me doesn't matter. As long as Yuan Xiao Er accepts me, that's enough," Yan Xi replied with a forgiving smile. "As for the rest, I'll have to ask for your understanding."
"Are you staying by my son's side for his money or his status?" Yuan Yasen sneered. "For those things, you're willing to throw away your dignity?"
"To you, Yuan Xiao Er must be pretty worthless if you think I'm with him for something other than just him," Yan Xi looked at him. "It's unfortunate you couldn't guess my real intentions."
"No matter how sharp your tongue is, you won't change my mind." Yuan Yasen couldn't believe that this woman named Yan Xi dared to talk back. "As long as I'm here, you can forget about stepping into the Yuan family."
"That's perfectly fine," Yan Xi nodded in understanding. "Then let Yuan Xiao Er join my family; we won't mind him."
Yuan Yasen was stunned for a moment, finally realizing that Yan Xi was suggesting his son could marry into her family.
"Youâ!"
"Alright," Yuan Yi came downstairs and walked over to Yan Xi's side. "When are you planning to let me into your family?"
Yan Xi thought to herself: Why are you joining in on this chaos?
"Yuan Yi!" Seeing that Yuan Yasen was about to lose his temper, Xu Ya quickly held onto his arm. "Don't upset your fatherâapologize to him."
"Oh." Yuan Yi didn't hesitate and simply said, "Sorry."
Although he seemed cooperative, those three words carried no real remorse, as if he was just saying them to get it over with. This kind of casual apology was even more infuriating than saying nothing at all.
If Yan Xi still couldn't see the strained relationship between Yuan Yi and his father, she'd have to be blind.
"Weren't you heading to work?" Yuan Yi, worried that his parents might have said something harsh to Yan Xi, relaxed a bit when he saw her calm expression. "Why did you come back?"
Yan Xi glanced over at Yuan Yi's parents, who looked less than pleased, then dragged him into the kitchen and handed him a gift box. "Here, this is for you."
Yuan Yi opened the box to find a beautiful men's watch, perfect for formal occasions.
Yan Xi took the watch out and placed it on Yuan Yi's wrist. "I forgot to give this to you last night."
"Wearing this means every second, every minute belongs to me," Yan Xi released his hand, admiring her own taste. "It suits you well."
"I really like it." Yuan Yi gently ran his thumb over the face of the watch. "I'll never take it off... Will you..."
Will you stay with me for the rest of my life?
"Drive me to work," Yan Xi said with a smile. "I actually wanted you to get some more sleep." She didn't spell it out, but Yuan Yi understood her meaning.
"Alright."
Yan Xi felt like the evil villain or the conniving seductress in a drama, driving a wedge between her boyfriend and his parents and further fracturing an already fragile family relationship.
Watching their son open the door for Yan Xi and then hold her hand as they walked out, Xu Ya paused and said, "Yasen, let's go home."
"I don't know what's gotten into him," Yuan Yasen snapped angrily. "With all the well-bred young ladies he could choose from, he's fixated on a woman like that, even to the point of saying he'd marry into her family. He must be out of his mind."
Xu Ya stared blankly at the empty room. After a long silence, she asked, "Yasen, could we have been wrong?"
"Don't overthink it," Yuan Yasen put his arm around her shoulders. "Even if the child is being foolish, I'm still here with you."
Xu Ya forced a small smile, her expression dazed as she followed him out the door.
When the car arrived outside the TV building, Yuan Yi looked at Yan Xi, hesitating, then finally kissed her on the forehead. "I'll pick you up at noon."
Yan Xi looked at him, nodding slightly.
"Xiao Yan," Chen Pei greeted her happily as she arrived, pulling her into her office. "You're finally hereâtake a look at last week's ratings for Life Around Us." She handed her a ratings report from the desk.
"A streaming platform is interested in purchasing broadcast rights for our show. The head office is considering rescheduling Life Around Us on Channel 8, so that each episode would air a day after the satellite channel's broadcast," Chen Pei watched Yan Xi's expression as she spoke. "They're still discussing it with Director Jin. What do you think?"
Yan Xi slowly shook her head. "This show was built from scratch on Channel 8, and it's only with the support of the Channel 8 viewers that it has gradually gained a following. Channel 8 doesn't have a large audience, so even airing two hours before the satellite channel wouldn't really affect satellite viewership. Sister Chen, I think rescheduling might not be the best choice."
Chen Pei frowned slightly; young people could be a bit sentimental.
However, the show's success was largely thanks to Yan Xi, so her opinion was still valued.
Meanwhile, an elderly loyal fan of Life Around Us on Channel 8 had already heard rumors about the potential delay in the show's broadcast and was so upset they hadn't eaten breakfast.
4o