CHAPTER 298: CHAPTER 295: CINDERELLA’S COMEBACK 40

After dinner, Anning said to Mr. Gu, "I’m going to go for a walk to aid digestion."

Xiao Yuan got up to clean up the dishes, but Mrs. Gu quickly stopped him, "Quickly put that down, how can we let you wash the dishes? I’ll do it, I’ll do it."

Xiao Yuan didn’t insist on washing. After washing his hands, he smiled and said, "I’ve brought some gifts for you from Shanghai, I’ll bring them over in a moment."

"That really was unnecessary of you."

Mrs. Gu politely exchanged a few words with Xiao Yuan.

Xiao Yuan left the house together with Anning.

After they left, Mr. Gu hurried into the kitchen to speak with Mrs. Gu, "Why did you accept his gifts?"

While washing the dishes, Mrs. Gu replied, "He already bought them, where would we put his face if we said no? We just accept the gifts, and when we go out later, we can also bring him some gifts, can’t we?"

That made sense.

Mr. Gu took the clean dishes from Mrs. Gu and stored them in the kitchen cabinet.

"Look," Mrs. Gu said, wiping the counter with a dishcloth, "don’t you think Xiao Yuan and our Ningning are getting a bit too close?"

Mr. Gu frowned, "I also feel that they seem a bit too close. But that’s not possible, our Ningning is still so young, and Dr. Xiao is much older, the age gap isn’t suitable; maybe he sees Ningning as a younger sister."

Mrs. Gu thought for a while and found Mr. Gu’s words reasonable, "Yes, there’s more than a ten-year gap. But Dr. Xiao really is a good person, handsome, has a good job, and a good temper. If he were a few years younger, he would match our Ningning well."

"What nonsense."

Mr. Gu’s face darkened immediately, "Even if he were a few years younger it wouldn’t be okay. Our Ningning is still a student, she shouldn’t be thinking about these things. Right now, her studies are the most important, high school is a critical time, we cannot allow any slip-ups."

As Mr. Gu said this, thoughts of Anning dating and getting married after graduating inevitably surfaced, which left a bitter taste in his heart.

"I won’t allow Ningning to date too early. She must be successful in her career before she can marry. We must keep an eye on her when she dates, we can’t let her be with someone of bad character."

Mrs. Gu knew what Mr. Gu was thinking.

Any father with a daughter is reluctant to marry her off too early.

Regardless of how excellent the man is, a father will always find faults and make it difficult for him, opposing the marriage.

Mrs. Gu smiled, "Actually, having Ningning find a live-in son-in-law wouldn’t be bad. With us looking out for her, she won’t suffer."

"Hmm."

Mr. Gu nodded, "Even if not a live-in son-in-law, she should at least marry someone local from Qing City. I definitely won’t let her marry far away."

Talking about this, Mr. Gu and Mrs. Gu delved into a conversation, "You know, I had a classmate in the past who didn’t listen to her family and married far away. As a result, when she got there, she was bullied by her in-laws, the whole family picked on her, and her life was miserable. Once during a visit home, she met some classmates and cried while talking, she was so heartbroken."

Mrs. Gu also started worrying, "Our Ningning has a gentle temperament, not aggressive, she needs to stay with us. When you mentioned your classmate, it made me feel awful. If Ningning marries far away, we can’t look after her in the future. Even if something tragic happens in her in-laws’ house, by the time we get there, it would be too late. Won’t we just have to accept whatever they say?"

Oh, that made Mr. Gu feel even worse.

The two parents discussed Anning’s dating issues in the room.

Anning and Xiao Yuan went downstairs.

The residential area they lived in was quite large, containing over twenty buildings, and the landscaping was excellent, featuring an artificial lake, green spaces, and a small community park.

Anning and Xiao Yuan walked quietly along the path beside the artificial lake.

After walking for a while, Xiao Yuan took Anning’s hand.

Neither of them spoke, simply walking slowly, but just holding hands while walking together felt particularly joyful.

After walking for more than ten minutes, Anning said to Xiao Yuan, "I, I should go back now, or else my dad will come down looking for me."

Xiao Yuan nodded, reluctantly holding Anning’s hand as they walked back.

As they were about to reach the downstairs, Anning suddenly stopped walking.

"What’s wrong?"

Xiao Yuan asked.

Anning pointed at the figure downstairs: "It’s my dad."

Following the direction Anning pointed, Xiao Yuan saw Mr. Gu carrying a big bag of garbage downstairs to throw away.

"He must have come down looking for me and took the chance to throw out the trash."

Anning immediately let go of Xiao Yuan’s hand: "I’ll go over first, you wait a bit before you come down."

As soon as this was said, Anning’s phone started ringing.

Then, both of them saw Mr. Gu walking in this direction.

Anning anxiously waved her hands at Xiao Yuan, signaling him to stay farther away.

Mr. Gu’s footsteps were getting closer, and it seemed like it might be too late for Xiao Yuan to run.

Moreover, if he ran, Mr. Gu would definitely see him.

He often goes to Anning’s house to eat, and Mr. Gu is already very familiar with him. Even though it is night, the street light is enough for Mr. Gu to recognize his figure.

What should he do?

Xiao Yuan hurriedly hid in a nearby bush.

Although the trees are no longer green and the plants are all dry branches and fallen leaves, they could still hide Xiao Yuan’s figure.

Xiao Yuan’s tall figure was cramped behind the bushes, hugging his knees and bowing his head to curl up, lest Mr. Gu discover him.

Anning quickly walked a few steps to meet Mr. Gu: "Dad, why did you come down? I was just saying I was going back."

Mr. Gu had a cotton jacket over his arm: "You were dressed too thinly. Your mom was afraid you’d get cold, so she sent me down to bring you a jacket."

"Oh."

Anning took the jacket and put it on, warming up quite a bit.

Mr. Gu looked around.

Anning tugged at him: "Dad, what are you looking at?"

Mr. Gu was puzzled: "Just now, I saw you standing with someone. Who was that? Why can’t I see him now?"

"That, that..."

Anning smiled: "It was just the security guard patrolling the neighborhood. I happened to run into him and chatted for a bit. He said there’s been a thief around lately, something about someone’s electric bike being stolen, and told us to be careful."

Mr. Gu believed it: "Oh, a security guard? Which one? He looked quite tall..."

"How would I know? All I know is that he’s a security guard."

Anning quickly pulled Mr. Gu to go back: "I’m freezing to death, let’s hurry home."

After Anning and Mr. Gu left, Xiao Yuan finally came out from the bushes.

He heaved a big sigh of relief, patted his chest, and then couldn’t help but laugh.

He was already so old, who knew dating would still involve hiding and sneaking around.

You might understand hiding from parents during school days, but he was almost thirty, having been urged by his family to get married countless times, yet he still had to hide from his parents.

Alas, who can blame it when Anning is so young.

Xiao Yuan watched Anning and Mr. Gu enter the building, then he quickly headed home.