Chapter 62

Just as the car pulled out of the side alley, Xu Er received a message from Little He.
There were no words at all, just a long string of pure question marks.
"What's wrong?"
Noticing Xu Er's broad smile, Song Ruichi asked.
Xu Er lowered his phone slightly, intending to speak, but realizing that he and Song Ruichi were not the only two people in the car, he closed his mouth and simply said, "A message from Little He."
Song Ruichi understood him and did not pursue the matter further.
On his phone, Xu Er replied to Little He.
He didn't hide it and wrote: 「To be honest with you, President Luo and Director Lin are my partner's mother and aunt.」
After reading it, Little He sent even more question marks.
Xu Er smiled and explained further: 「I just found out myself」
Little He: 「！！！💙」
Little He: 「Oh man」
Little He: 「I knew it, I knew it」
Little He: 「Was I right or was I right? That was definitely a mother-in-law looking at her son-in-law look!」
Xu Er thought "uh" to himself; that wasn't entirely accurate.
Just as Xu Er was wondering how to tell Little He, Little He asked on his own.
Little He: 「But from what I saw, the person who picked you up is a guy, right?」
Xu Er: 「To be honest with you, my partner is a man」
Little He: 「？？？」
Little He: 「！！！💙」
Xu Er: 「Yes」
Little He: 「Hahaha, you hide things pretty deep」
Little He: 「I couldn't tell at all」
Little He: 「Sometimes I can be a bit straight-laced」
Little He: 「What do you mean 'sometimes'? You look completely straight.」
Xu Er was slightly choked up.
Although he didn't desperately want to prove that he was gay, it didn't seem like such a great thing that everyone thought he was straight at first glance.
Finally, Xu Er told Little He: 「I'm only telling you this」
Little He: 「Understood! My lips are sealed!」
Little He: 「I'll treat you to milk tea on Monday」
Little He: 「Thank you, Designer Xu」
Little He: 「I want cherry flavor!」
Little He: 「Consider it done」
"Son," Song Ruichi's mother suddenly spoke from the back.
Xu Er hurriedly put away his phone and maintained a well-behaved posture.
Song Ruichi's mother: "Stop by the fruit shop entrance in a bit, I want to buy some bananas."
Song Ruichi: "Mm."
Song Ruichi's mother suddenly patted the back of Xu Er's seat: "Don't be nervous, sweetheart."
Xu Er had only been a tiny bit nervous, but at Song Ruichi's mother calling him "sweetheart," his entire body stiffened.
Song Ruichi chuckled: "You don't need to call him sweetheart."
Song Ruichi's mother teased: "Can't I call him sweetheart?"
Song Ruichi said: "No."
Song Ruichi's mother smiled: "Is he your exclusive sweetheart?"
Song Ruichi: "What do you think?"
Xu Er felt his scalp tingle slightly.

Xu Er knew that Song Ruichi and his family had a very relaxed dynamic. From the details he had overheard, he could feel that Song Ruichi's mother was spoiled by his father like a little girl, and the atmosphere in their family was very relaxed.
However, Xu Er's upbringing was not like that. For as long as he could remember, the only person who was clingy and affectionate with him was Song Ruichi, and he could only accept that clinginess from Song Ruichi.
Even for affectionate forms of address toward Song Ruichi, he needed to deliberate repeatedly before he could muster the courage to say them out loud.
"Then what should I call him?" In the back, Song Ruichi's mother looked somewhat troubled: "Calling him Little Xu sounds a bit distant."
Song Ruichi enunciated clearly: "Xu, Er."
Song Ruichi's mother dismissed it with mild dissatisfaction: "That's too formal."
Xu Er turned his head slightly: "Aunty, you can call me Xiao Er. Everyone in my family calls me Xiao Er."
Song Ruichi's mother nodded: "Good, Xiao Er. Then I'll call you Xiao Er."
Xu Er pursed his lips nervously, and the next second, Song Ruichi reached over and held his hand.
It lasted only a few seconds before letting go.
This unspoken comfort instantly relaxed Xu Er significantly, and he knew that Song Ruichi's words earlier had also been helping him out of an awkward spot.
They arrived at the aunt's place very quickly, stopping briefly to buy some bananas at the fruit shop by the entrance of the residential compound.
Not long after, they arrived home.
Mother had bought a lot of things in the afternoon, and upon arrival, the family's housekeeper came out to welcome them first. Mother and the housekeeper walked in ahead.
Xu Er felt awkward again and grabbed Song Ruichi: "I came empty-handed. What should I do?"
He had been thinking about this on the way, but with the two elders in the back, Xu Er hadn't found it appropriate to ask.
Song Ruichi held Xu Er's hand: "It's fine, it happened suddenly."
Xu Er shook his head: "It wasn't that sudden. Why don't you drive me to a nearby mall to buy something?"
Song Ruichi still said: "It really doesn't matter."
Xu Er: "It does matter."
Song Ruichi chuckled: "Don't be nervous, sweetheart."
Xu Er couldn't even process that Song Ruichi was repeating his mother's words; his mind was entirely fixed on the fact that coming home empty-handed on his very first visit was practically terrifying.
As they were deadlocked, Song Ruichi's mother walked back out: "What's wrong? Why aren't you coming inside?"
Song Ruichi: "We're going to buy something."
Song Ruichi's mother asked, puzzled: "Buy what?"
Song Ruichi: "Buy things."
Song Ruichi's mother understood immediately: "There's no need, hurry up and come inside." She glanced sideways at Song Ruichi: "Why are you so clueless, dragging him out to buy things."
Song Ruichi put on an aggrieved expression toward Xu Er: "I got scolded."
Xu Er naturally stopped fussing.
Once inside, Xu Er saw Song Ruichi's father.
He looked somewhat similar to Song Ruichi, appeared very young, and didn't look old enough to have a son as old as Song Ruichi.
"Hello, Uncle," Xu Er greeted.
Song Ruichi's father: "Ah, you're here."
Since the housekeeper had already prepared dinner by the time they arrived, they exchanged a few casual pleasantries and began to eat.
Presumably, Song Ruichi's parents had already learned a lot about Xu Er, so the overall atmosphere wasn't as stiff as Xu Er had worried. Before the meal, Song Ruichi's mother had also brought up the plan to make mille-feuille and milkshakes in the afternoon, telling Xu Er and Song Ruichi not to leave too quickly after eating, but to go for a stroll downstairs and come back up.
For the rest of the time, Xu Er maintained his usual silence. Unless he was directly addressed, he simply buried his head in his food.
Of course, not being addressed was impossible.
For some reason, the conversation had been about the aunt's son the second before, and the next second, Song Ruichi's mother suddenly said: "I like Xiao Er so much."
She said this just as Xu Er was wrestling with a crab leg, nearly causing him to lose his grip and splatter sauce everywhere.
Xu Er hurriedly swallowed the crab meat in his mouth, looked up, and smiled at the mother: "Thank you, Aunty."
Song Ruichi's mother smiled back, looking at Song Ruichi: "Why aren't you asking me why?"
Song Ruichi: "Isn't that the most natural thing."
Xu Er pinched Song Ruichi under the table.
Song Ruichi asked anyway: "Why is that, Mom?"
Mother very cooperatively delivered her speech: "I think Xiao Er is very sincere." She turned to look at Song Ruichi's father, her tone very gentle: "Darling, I really like sincere children."

Xu Er's heart was drumming, and he didn't dare to speak.
Mother went on to talk about some things that happened in the afternoon, saying that she and the aunt had actually just gone over to look around and knew nothing about it at all, yet Xu Er hadn't seemed annoyed and answered whatever they asked.
"And as for terms he thought we might not understand, he would definitely explain them in plain language," Mother added, comparing him favorably to others: "Unlike that colleague of yours, not a single word he said could I understand. It was obvious he just wanted to brush us off; I was about to fall asleep listening to him."
Xu Er felt that Mother had a slight misunderstanding of Jiang Tao; he figured Jiang Tao just wanted to showcase his professionalism.
However, Mother wouldn't let anyone else chime in at that moment, rattling off one detail after another from the afternoon in a rapid-fire manner.
Xu Er didn't dare to eat any more crab because he couldn't even remember half of what she was talking about.
After dinner, Song Ruichi and Xu Er obediently went downstairs for a walk.
"Not awkward anymore?" Once downstairs, Song Ruichi asked Xu Er.
Xu Er shook his head: "It's alright," he touched his temple: "Just a bit dizzy from being praised so much by your mom."
Song Ruichi laughed: "Are you happy?"
"Of course I'm happy," Xu Er also asked: "Does your mom always love praising people like this?"
"Of course she doesn't," Song Ruichi said, looking at Xu Er: "Please ask Mr. Xu to look for the reason within himself."
Mr. Xu pursed his lips and smiled.
Yet Xu Er still wondered: "But I feel like I'm not that great. The way I talked to her this afternoon was just because she's from a partner company, and she's a major client who brought people along. Of course I would treat her well," Xu Er said: "I think your mom has a bit of a misunderstanding about me."
Song Ruichi smiled: "It's not a misunderstanding," Song Ruichi said: "My mom just used this afternoon as an example, but your sincerity isn't limited to just one afternoon."
Song Ruichi added: "Xiao Er, have you noticed that you're being very sincere right now?"
Xu Er paused for a second: "Is that so?"
Song Ruichi: "Don't sell yourself short."
Xu Er smiled softly.
"Actually, sometimes," Xu Er suddenly had something on his mind: "I wonder, what is it that Song Ruichi likes about me?"
Song Ruichi's pace slowed down slightly.
Xu Er added: "Only sometimes."
Song Ruichi: "How do you talk yourself through it?"
Xu Er thought about it: "I don't know if this counts as talking myself through it, but firstly, I think to myself that plenty of people like me, so it's only natural that Song Ruichi likes me too."
Song Ruichi: "And secondly?"
Xu Er: "Secondly, I can sense that you are very happy when you're with me."
Song Ruichi: "Have you ever been troubled by this?"
Xu Er shook his head: "Not really, I don't overthink things much."
Song Ruichi: "So you haven't completely figured out why I like you."
Xu Er nodded: "Right, not thinking about it deeply doesn't mean I've figured it out."
Song Ruichi placed Xu Er's hand into his own pocket: "Baby, you haven't noticed your own shining qualities."
Xu Er pondered: "I suppose so."
Song Ruichi: "Do you think you have no strengths?"
Xu Er shook his head: "I have strengths. My height is a strength, my grades are strengths, and my appearance is a strength too. My learning ability is good, and my work capability is strong. There should be a few other things as well."
Having said that, he chuckled lightly at Song Ruichi.
This completely fell into the category of blatant self-praise; if the person beside him hadn't been Song Ruichi, Xu Er certainly wouldn't have been able to utter a single word of it.
Song Ruichi: "But you feel that while these strengths are good, they aren't unique to you."
Xu Er nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, you understand me so well."
Song Ruichi: "Alright, my turn to speak."
Xu Er made a polite gesture of invitation.
Song Ruichi smiled: "You've grown up alongside yourself, and all your thoughts and values have grown up with you too, so you take your perspective on the world for granted. But in reality, Xu Er, those qualities are very precious."
Xu Er thought for a moment: "You can sense my uniqueness?"
Song Ruichi: "Of course I can."