426: I’m Your Daughter’s Boyfriend

I’m Your Daughter’s Boyfriend

Looking at Nie Qiuping's photo, Yue Tingfeng finally realized where Yan Qingsi's beautiful looks came from.2

The photo was a simple black-and-white picture. In an era where food and cosmetics were scarce, where there were no beautiful photographs, photo editing, or even plastic surgery, there was no diminishing of Nie Qiuping's beauty at all.

At that time though, being too beautiful might not necessarily be something to rejoice about.

Yue Tingfeng immediately realized that the son of a b*tch—Yan Songnan—did not cherish her properly. He was fortunate to have died the way he did.

To think that he left someone like Nie Qiuping for a piece of trash like Ye Lingzhi.

His brain had probably been f*cking drenched in the blood of a black dog[1].

Yan Qingsi took a clean handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped off the rainwater from the photograph. She then said, "Say hi to Mom."

Yue Tingfeng became flustered. "Then… how should I address her?"

"Depends on you."

Yue Tingfeng let slip. "Is Mom okay?"

Yan Qingsi looked up and shot him a look. Yue Tingfeng cleared his throat and rubbed his hair. "Auntie, I'm Yue Tingfeng, your daughter's boyfriend. Qingsi's boyfriend. I'm twenty-eight this year. I have no criminal record, no vices, and I'm good at earning money."

The corner of her lips tensed up a bit. "Why must you add those last five words?"

Yue Tingfeng explained hurriedly, "Being good at earning money means I won't let you go through hardships. Aren't mothers-in-law always worried that their daughter will go through hardship?"

Yan Qingsi rubbed her temples. How could she forget his tendency to act stupidly sometimes?

She gave him a beating and said, "Be proper!"

Yue Tingfeng straightened his body before bowing. "Auntie… this is the first time I'm meeting you and I wasn't prepared. Please don't hold it against me. I'll visit you with Qingsi often in the future…"

Once he opened his mouth, he rambled on and on. Yan Qingsi's lips curled up. When she smiled, she and the picture looked incredibly alike.

When Yue Tingfeng's garrulousness finally came to an end, he asked Yan Qingsi, "Is there anything I left out?"

Yan Qingsi tried hard to hold in her laugh. "I think… no."

"Why didn't you tell me in advance? At least I could prepare and dress better. I just wore whatever I could get my hands on and came here…"

"Very handsome though."

Yue Tingfeng cocked his chin. "Of course! The elders like me quite a lot."

Yan Qingsi unwrapped the bunch of baby's breath[2] that she brought and laid it out on before the gravestone.

"My mom doesn't like baby's breath. She prefers dandelions. She says that she's like a dandelion seed—rootless, with its final destination shrouded in mystery… But I can't find any dandelions at this time, so I got baby's breath as a last resort."

Yue Tingfeng crouched down beside her and held her in his arms. "I'll get them for you next time. It's just dandelions, right? You can get as much as you want."

Yan Qingsi did not reply Yue Tingfeng. She stared at the picture on the tombstone and wanted to cry—she just could not. Her eyes were dry and no tears flowed out. She lamented, "Mom, he's dead. He died at a time when he shouldn't… I thought of so many ways to kill him but I never did it. I wanted him to clear your name of that injustice before I kill him, but now… If I knew this would happen, I would've killed him earlier."

She looked to the sky in desolation and asked Yue Tingfeng, "I hate Yan Songnan and I hate that I can't kill him myself. He's dead now… and I still feel sad. Can you tell me why?"

Yue Tingfeng kissed her eyes and pulled her up. He faced the tombstone and said, "Mom, I'll call you Mom in advance, since I'm going to call you that sooner or later…"

__________________

Mama Yue: "My son, you did well. Now quickly bring our lucky charm home!"

[1] 脑子他妈被黑狗血淋了吧– this entire sentence was translated very literally as above. Ancient Chinese culture supposedly says that spraying dog's blood—specifically from a black male dog—over one's head, is the antidote to cure someone who has been affected by black magic. The author's sentence, however, clearly suggests spraying dog's blood is what creates the spell, not dispel it. This is evidenced by the apparent causation between that and the preceding sentence. Readers are advised to be aware of this apparent contradiction between what is implied by the author and what is being stated on the web.

[2] 满天星– baby's breath, known scientifically as Gypsophila, is a genus of flowering plants closely related to carnations. All plants of the genus are known vernacularly as baby's breath, and as is convention with most vernacular names in botany, the name is not capitalized.

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