Chapter 47: Making It Clear

Xia Jianwu left in a hurry, departing Yuncheng at 6:30 in the morning. After he left, Di Ye checked the suite and found Xia Fangfei sleeping soundly, so he wrote a note, placed it on the nightstand, and left the hotel, intending to go home for breakfast.

"Transportation in the 90s is too inconvenient; I need to buy a car of my own."

Di Ye waited at the hotel entrance for nearly 10 minutes, but couldn't manage to flag down a single taxi, so he had to take the bus instead. As it turned out, when he got off at the stop near his residential complex, he ran right into Zhang Xiuzhi, who was returning from her night shift.

"Xiaoye, if there are any extra spots for that VCD Player giveaway event of yours, save two for me. Some people at the hospital want them."

"Mom's face is worth more than heaven. Never mind two, I can save two hundred. Tally it up when you go to work tomorrow; if more than 10 people at the hospital need them, I'll personally bring the VCD Players over for door-to-door service."

Zhang Xiuzhi was so coaxed by Di Ye that she beamed with joy. She took his hand and said, "Last time you came to the hospital to see me, I introduced you to quite a few girls. Do you actually like any of them? They ask me about you all the time."

Although Di Ye was a philanderer, he was not promiscuous. Having reached an understanding with Di Yan over the past two days and given a promise to Huang Ya, he didn't delay upon hearing this and said, "Mom, why are you always thinking about the girls at your hospital, yet you don't see the girl right at our doorstep? Isn't Huang Ya good?"

Zhang Xiuzhi was slightly stunned and hurriedly asked, "You and Huang Ya are together? Since when?"

"The night of Lunar New Year's Eve, after you guys went to sleep, I kissed her. Don't you remember that we both had dark circles under our eyes the next morning?"

"Oh my! I felt something was off back then. You even lied to your dad about reconciling accounts; who reconciles accounts in the middle of the night on Lunar New Year's Eve?"

Zhang Xiuzhi slapped Di Ye, but her face was blooming with smiles as she complained, "You two are really something! You've already kissed, so why keep it from your father and me?"

Di Ye felt it was better to communicate with Huang Ya first, so he made up an excuse and stalled, "Huang Ya feels her family background isn't good and is afraid you'd look down on her, so she planned to wait until she graduated from university and found a job before telling you."

"Your father and I watched Huang grow up; why would we look down on her? We like her too much to even think of that. I'll go talk to her properly in a bit and tell her not to worry about that."

"Mom, don't stir up trouble. I'll talk to her about this later. Once she's thought it through, we'll make it clear to you."

"That's fine, then we'll wait a bit longer."

Huang Ya had done chores since she was a child, which had fostered a diligent and resilient character. Yesterday, she was responsible for cashiering and picking up goods at the Flagship Store, and her workload was far greater than Xia Fangfei's, yet she still got up very early this morning. When Di Ye and Zhang Xiuzhi returned home, she had already made breakfast and was peeling a salted duck egg for Di Yongchang.

"Xiaoye, look, such a good girl—how could we possibly look down on her? You must treat her well in the future, or your father and I won't forgive you."

"I will."

Zhang Xiuzhi couldn't keep things to herself. During breakfast, her eyes were full of smiles as she kept sizing up Huang Ya. Huang Ya felt a bit uneasy under her gaze, and after finishing her meal in a hurry, she ran back to Lao Wu's house across the way.

Di Ye was the last to finish eating. He cleared the bowls and chopsticks, carried them to the kitchen, and while running hot water into the sink, he whispered, "Mom, you were too obvious just now; you scared her."

"Go on, go on, don't pretend to be diligent here. I'll wash the dishes; you go over and keep Huang company, and have a good talk with her."

Di Ye returned to his bedroom, took out a slightly smaller TRINITY Ring from his suitcase, found a red string, threaded the ring to make a pendant, put it in his pocket, and knocked on the door of Lao Wu's house.

Lao Wu had only returned from his hometown yesterday afternoon. After opening the door, he said, "Di Ye, my son-in-law wants to sign up for that VCD Player giveaway package. Can you help me get a spot?"

"No problem, I'll have my brother-in-law arrange it and get you a winning number this afternoon."

"Isn't the winning number drawn randomly by a computer?"

"The number is drawn randomly, but the list is published by people. It can be rigged; we can secretly change one or two, just like those lotteries."

"Heh! So that's how it is. No wonder I've bought hundreds of lottery tickets and never won once..."

Hearing the two of them talking, Huang Ya opened the bedroom door, called in the fast-talking Di Ye, locked the door behind him, and asked shyly, "Did you tell Auntie Zhi about us?"

"I mentioned it on the way back just now."

Di Ye hadn't been intimate with Huang Ya for several days, so he hugged her and gave her a couple of kisses. Then, sitting on the edge of the bed together, he took the ring tied with the red string out of his pocket and said, "You've reconciled with Xia Fangfei, so there's no need to hide it anymore. I think it's better to make our relationship clear now, to prevent my mom from playing matchmaker randomly in the future."

Huang Ya didn't object to making the relationship clear, but her reaction upon seeing the ring was the same as Xia Fangfei's. She complained, "You bought this kind of ring—aren't you afraid it's like 'there is no silver buried here'?"

"The merchant said these three rings represent love, loyalty, and friendship. Although it's just deceptive advertising, I believe you truly possess all three, which is why I bought this."

Di Ye hung the ring around Huang Ya's neck, then took her hands, which still had some faint scars, and continued, "Next winter, let's go live in the south for a few months to get your health in shape, so you won't get chilblains again."

When Xia Fangfei was moved, her body was exceptionally soft, twisting and turning to actively reciprocate; Huang Ya was the opposite. When moved, her body was exceptionally stiff, letting others do as they pleased without moving a muscle. She looked down at the ring and gave a soft "mm."

"This is Lao Wu's house, not our home. Move over and live with me tonight; the bed in my bedroom is very large and can fit two people."

"Mm."

"Let's go tell Mom and Dad now; we still have to go to the store to work later."

"Mm."

Huang Ya seemed to have lost her self-awareness; she was led home by Di Ye in a daze, and in a daze, she declared her relationship to Di Yongchang and Zhang Xiuzhi, changing her address to call them Mom and Dad.

Di Yongchang and Zhang Xiuzhi were overjoyed, unable to stop smiling. They took a pair of heirloom silver bracelets from the safe, put them on Huang Ya, and accepted her as their daughter-in-law.

"Dad, Mom, Huang Ya and I are going to the Chenghuang Temple side to organize the discs we brought back last night. We're leaving now."

"Go on, go on."

Zhang Xiuzhi saw Di Ye and Huang Ya off to the first-floor stairwell, then returned home, smiling as she boasted, "Old man, I saw they were dating a long time ago. You didn't believe me, but how about now?"

"Your judgment is accurate, happy now?"

Zhang Xiuzhi thought Di Yongchang was unromantic, so she went up and poked his shoulder, saying, "Stop fiddling with that CD Player. Go tidy up Xiaoye's bedroom; I'm going to Old Wu's house to get Huang's things."

Di Yongchang was a bit surprised and looked up, saying, "They haven't even registered or held a wedding yet, and they're going to live together already?"

"You really are an old fossil. It's almost the 21st century; why are there still so many hang-ups? Huang just called us Mom and Dad, so what does it matter if she lives with Xiaoye? It's better than staying at Old Wu's house and letting him gossip everywhere, right?"

"Will Huang agree?"

Zhang Xiuzhi chuckled and revealed, "I just sent them downstairs; Xiaoye asked me to do this, and Huang was listening right there, blushing without objecting."

Di Yongchang was still a bit worried and said, "They haven't even graduated from university yet. What if she gets pregnant?"

"If she's pregnant, she's pregnant. Xiaoye can earn hundreds of thousands in a single winter break; are you afraid he can't afford to raise a child? If Huang is really pregnant, I'll immediately apply for early retirement to stay home and take care of her pregnancy."

Di Yongchang had modified over a thousand CD Players these past few days. Although he hadn't received a single cent yet, he had already earned seven or eight hundred thousand on paper, and his spirits were completely different from before. Hearing this, he tossed his screwdriver aside and said, "You go tidy up at Old Wu's. I'll call Yanzi and have her come over; later, she can accompany you to the Department Store Building to buy some high-end bed sheets and quilts."

"You're the one who's thoughtful, old man. We really should buy some new things."