My Exclusive Dream World Adventures - Chapter 123

At dawn, five in the morning, Chen Xu woke up as usual, and after changing into his sportswear, he carefully opened the door to avoid waking up the rest of the family.

As soon as the door opened, with a quick flash of his cellphone flashlight, he saw his parents, also tiptoeing around.

“Why are you up so early?” Chen Xu was surprised, although he had heard them mention they had taken up exercising in the mornings for the past two years, jogging and the like. But he hadn’t expected it to be this early.

His mother made a shushing gesture, signaling not to wake up Chen Ziqi.

After the three of them left the house, they walked down the stairs together, and his mother said, “Your dad and I exercise every morning now, and we feel much healthier.”

Chen Xu felt a bit of heartache and said, “But you don’t have to do it this early. It’s so cold out, you could go after six, couldn’t you?”

“We’re used to it by now,” his mother replied, “We can’t sleep past this time anymore.”

Chen Xu fell silent. This visit home made it clear to him that his parents had aged more than before, with increased wrinkles on their faces and occasionally a slowness in their movements.

He knew that in the past two years, they had worried and worked hard to pay off debts, which had aged them faster than before.

Next year, they would be just fifty. In this day and age, that’s not considered old.

He had to clear the debt as soon as possible, so they wouldn’t have to toil so hard.

He thought to himself.

Reaching the ground floor, the family of three headed towards the riverside park. The early morning town was quiet, with few people or cars in sight.

They chatted as they walked, mostly Chen Xu and his mother talking, with his father occasionally chiming in.

Once at the riverside park, they each went their separate ways to run.

Around six, his parents went back first, leaving Chen Xu to run by himself.

At seven o’clock sharp, Chen Xu finished his run and returned home. Chen Ziqi was still sleeping, and his parents were not at home. In the kitchen was a pot of freshly cooked porridge and on the dining table, under a cover nearly one meter in diameter, there were soy milk and fritters, along with a bowl of salted crispy peanuts.

He took a shower first, then changed into clean clothes. He served himself a bowl of porridge and started eating it with the peanuts.

After breakfast, he saw his mother come in with groceries. He went forward to help carry them to the kitchen and asked, “Where’s dad?”

“He went to work,” his mother said, catching her breath.

“Why did you buy so much?” Chen Xu had already told them he would be going out today, so there was no need to prepare his meals.

His mother explained, “Ziqi said she wanted to eat some hometown dishes, so I thought I’d make her a few more.”

So, it wasn’t for him after all.

Chen Xu was speechless, but he was genuinely pleased that his mother and Chen Ziqi were getting along so well.

…

After eight, while Chen Ziqi was still sleeping, Chen Xu thought about waking her, but his mother stopped him, saying it was time for her to grow and she should get more sleep on her rare day off.

Shaking his head, Chen Xu said, “She’s staying here for a month; I wonder what habits you’ll indulge in her.”

His mother glanced at him and countered, “Nonsense, Ziqi is so sensible. When you were her age, you couldn’t compare to her.”

…

Chen Xu wisely closed his mouth, admiring Chen Ziqi’s ability to win over the elders; no wonder she had her father so tightly wrapped around her finger.

It was then that his phone rang. Picking it up, he saw it was Yang Jinxia calling. After answering, he said, “Okay, I’ll come down right away.”

Hanging up, he told his mother, “I’m off then, I won’t be back tonight,” and headed to his room to grab the bag he had already packed, then went downstairs.

“Be careful out there,” his mother reminded him from the doorway.

She circled back to the balcony, looking down, and after a while, she saw her son appear, walking up to a white car. Then, she saw a woman step out of the car, and although the view was not very clear, she seemed quite young.

“Auntie, what are you looking at?”

The window next to the balcony opened, and Chen Ziqi, rubbing her eyes, asked. She had clearly just woken up and, curious to see her second aunt peering from the balcony, opened the window to ask.

“Quick, come out and take a look,” Mrs. Chen waved her over.

Chen Ziqi threw on a coat and ran out, joining her to take a look down below.

Mrs. Chen asked, “The woman driving that white car, is she your brother’s friend? Do you know her?”

“I don’t know her,” Chen Ziqi naturally recognized it as the car of the woman from yesterday, yet she shook her head.

Mrs. Chen muttered, “She looks quite young. I wonder what her relationship is with your brother.”

“Stop looking, the car has left already,” Chen Ziqi took her hand, asking, “Auntie, what are we eating today?”

Mrs. Chen indeed had her attention diverted, replying, “Today I’ll make stuffed tofu and braised pork belly for you.”

“Great, I want to help,” Chen Ziqi drew her back to the living room.

…

“This time has been a trouble for you,”

After getting into the car, Chen Xu said to Yang Jinxia. Last night, he tried to book an online car service, but no one accepted the job. In the end, he had to give her a call.

In fact, he had other options, such as borrowing from his eldest uncle or his younger uncle’s family. Comparatively, his relationship with his eldest uncle and younger uncle was a bit distant. So he chose Yang Jinxia.

“I haven’t had a chance to explore around here since I arrived. It’s nice to get out,” Yang Jinxia started the car, “Is there anywhere fun to go around here?”

Chen Xu replied, “There might not be any famous sights. Fun places… I’m not familiar myself. Back when I was in school, I just focused on studying and didn’t really go out to have fun. After starting university, I’d only come back once a year and didn’t have the time to explore everywhere.”

“Did you grow up here?”

“Not really. Before primary school, I lived with my grandmother in the countryside. Whenever there was a longer holiday, I’d go stay at my granny’s house for a few days.”

“Then you should take me to your grandmother’s house to play for a few days. I’ve never lived in the countryside before, it must be interesting.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’m a bad guy? What if I sold you off? Then you’d have no place even to cry.”

“Would you have the heart to do that?” Yang Jinxia turned her head and gave him a look.

Chen Xu’s heart skipped a beat, he turned his head, looking out the window, and changed the subject.

During the drive, they chatted the time away as if it flew by unusually fast.

Since getting to know each other, it was the first time Chen Xu found himself chatting with her in such a relaxed atmosphere.

The topics of their talk didn’t necessarily have substantial substance; they were just sharing funny incidents from work and life, and grumbling about some ridiculous colleagues.

Without the need for forced flattery, sometimes their topics didn’t even align, one would talk about Zhang San, and the other about Li Si. But it didn’t hinder their enjoyment of the conversation at all.

During the last leg of their trip, they both complained about how narrow, winding, and steep the road was. Yang Jinxia drove tentatively, the road was only ten kilometers long, but it took half an hour to navigate.

In the meantime, Liu Xiaoshang had called a few times to hurry them, saying they were about to leave to pick up the bride.

Eventually, Chen Xu and his companion arrived at the destination just as the car procession was being arranged.

“Why did you come so late?” Liu Xiaoshang had just stepped out of his house, wearing an ostentatiously red suit, complaining, and then catching sight of Yang Jinxia at his side, “And you brought your plus one—Oh my!”

His eyes widened in shock as he recognized Yang Jinxia’s features.

Only then did Chen Xu remember that the first time he had met Yang Jinxia, he was dining with Liu Xiaoshang, who had also seen her.

But that had been more than two months ago, did this guy still remember Yang Jinxia’s face?