novelraw Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Chapter 117: If You Like Someone, You Should Say It
Xia Li finished this meal while holding his phone.
He was texting Lucia while eating. The two were separated by more than a hundred kilometers, and they had only been apart for two hours, but the frequency of their messages made it seem like they wished they could hold each other and talk right away.
However, texting Lucia was not as passionate as it was for ordinary couples.
This guy’s typing speed was as slow as a turtle, and he wouldn’t say anything mushy or sweet. He would just say what he wanted to say, and the content of the chat was as stiff as a robot’s.
But Xia Li liked this kind of stiff text.
He would stare at every message Lucia sent for a long time, feeling very happy.
Fang Xia wanted to ask him a few questions several times, but she stopped when she saw the smile on Xia Li’s face.
After the meal, Xia Li felt that his ears were particularly quiet.
He was already home, but Xiao Xia hadn’t used her combo attack on him yet. Just as he was wondering, Xia Li put down his chopsticks and looked up to see Fang Xia looking like she was about to activate a skill.
Fang Xia finally made eye contact with Xia Li and seized the opportunity to start her attack.
“You said before that you wanted to learn something about business from me?”
“… I want to start a business, starting with opening a store.”
Xia Li remembered the ultimate goal of this trip. He didn’t beat around the bush with his family and directly confessed.
“Starting a business right after graduation?” Fang Xia thought for a while, but she didn’t object. “What do you want to do?”
“I’m still exploring, no direction yet.” Xia Li said.
Fang Xia exchanged glances with Xia Yuanjun, who was picking at the eel. Xia Yuanjun had no objections and lowered his head to slurp the eel noodles.
“It’s not a bad thing for you young people to have such ideas… But you have to have a goal, a phased goal,”
Fang Xia said, “First, you have to think about what you want to do, what you can do, and whether you can really do it. After you think about these things, then take action.
You can’t just do whatever you want. Young people nowadays are very impetuous and impatient. They see what others are doing to make money and want to do it themselves, but in reality, they often fall into the traps that others have carefully laid out.”
“Mom, I understand all that you’re saying.” Xia Li nodded.
That’s why he was so cautious and didn’t rush to take this step.
However, what Xia Li wanted to do also largely depended on what Lucia wanted to do.
It would be best to do a job that the two of them could do together, so that they could have plenty of time to be together.
“Find something you’re interested in doing first,” Fang Xia said again, “Otherwise, you can take over the teahouse and I can retire early.”
Mom’s tone was casual, as if she was saying this unintentionally.
However, the speaker had no intention, but the listener did.
Xia Li put down his bowl and stopped eating the last bite of rice.
“Okay, when?”
Fang Xia: “…”
Wait, wasn’t this the same son who was just talking to her about his fighting spirit and great dreams?
How did he suddenly look like a salted fish lying flat?
“Bah, you actually agreed. What am I going to do every day if you run the teahouse… Unless you give me a grandson or granddaughter to hold.” Fang Xia glared at him and said.
This time it was Xia Li’s turn to remain silent.
Silently scooping himself a bowl of tomato and egg soup, Xia Li blew on the hot air and quietly took a sip.
Let’s not even talk about whether it would be a grandson or granddaughter, first of all, it’s not even certain if it would be human or dragon.
Secondly, he was still working hard to chase his girlfriend. Right now, things were still up in the air, and to jump straight to having children… wouldn’t that be a bit much?
Although Xia Li didn’t mind at all.
“Alright,” at this time, the （fake） head of the family finally finished his meal.
Xia Yuanjun took a sip of tea and concluded, “If you have this idea, we, as parents, will support you. When you have a plan, you can communicate with us in a timely manner. I didn’t have a direction in life when I was your age… There’s no hurry, no hurry.”
Xia Yuanjun had always been a casual person. In his words, life was about going with the flow. What was meant to be yours would come to you no matter what, and what wasn’t meant to be yours, you couldn’t grasp it no matter how hard you tried.
Fang Xia, who was sitting across from Xia Li, glared at Xia Yuanjun. “You’re playing the good guy!”
Complaining, Fang Xia turned her gaze back to Xia Li. Xia Li was busy replying to messages on his phone. While typing with his head down, the corners of his mouth were raised like the upturned mouth of the fish that Xia Yuanjun had caught.
This kid was probably already head over heels.
It was nice to be young.
You had plenty of time and energy, and you could love someone without any reservations.
In Fang Xia’s opinion, her son should do whatever he wanted to do. This was the time for him to explore.
Compared to this, Fang Xia was more concerned about Xia Li’s relationship problems.
“Do you like her a lot?” She asked Xia Li, squinting her eyes.
“Mmm…”
Xia Li suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
◈◈◈
His fondness for Lucia was like a little secret hidden deep in his heart. No matter who he revealed this little secret to, it would cause ripples in his heart.
“It’s good that you like her.” Fang Xia sighed.
Since her son liked her, then they, as parents, would accept her no matter what kind of person she was.
Besides, the girl had a good personality. She had received unanimous praise from all the neighbors.
Including Fang Xia’s best friend, Zhao Qin, who had been talking about Xia Li’s girlfriend with great enthusiasm and praise last time. She had spoken so highly of her that Fang Xia herself felt a little embarrassed and couldn’t wait to meet her daughter-in-law.
It was a pity that her son was hiding her so well and wouldn’t let her meet her.
“Have you confessed?”
“No, no…”
“You haven’t even confessed??”
Fang Xia knew that her son had no emotional intelligence.
He was a blockhead.
He was like this when he was a child. When he played with girls, he was as competitive as he was with his brothers. When he grew up, he had no interest in girls at all.
The only girls who could be caught by Xia Li were those who already liked him a lot. The two of them were just separated by a thin layer of paper, and it would be broken with a gentle poke. Otherwise, there was absolutely no chance.
“What about gifts? You haven’t given her any gifts, have you?” Fang Xia asked again.
Xia Li lowered his head to drink tea, not daring to speak.
“I can’t believe you…” Fang Xia was speechless.
Although according to the neighbors, Xiao Lu should be a rural child who hadn’t seen much of the world and had only been to university for four years.
She didn’t have high expectations for Xia Li and was willing to be with him just like that.
But Fang Xia had high expectations!
After a moment of silence, she said, “Some feelings are hard to convey if you don’t say them out loud.”
In the small private room of the restaurant, the spotlight shone on Fang Xia’s gradually serious face.
She had deep nasolabial folds, which were the marks left by time on her face. Even though she had lost her beauty, one could still tell from her general features that Fang Xia had once been a beautiful girl who had experienced her first love.
As someone who had been through it all, Fang Xia also had her own views on love.
She sighed and said, “Actually, you are very lucky to be born in this era. In our earlier era, transportation was slow, letters were far away, and a lifetime was only enough to love one person…
But you are different. You are born in the information age. Even if you are far apart, an ‘I love you’ can be sent out in an instant.”
Fang Xia poured herself a cup of tea and moistened her lips. Seeing that Xia Li was still sitting there like a log after a long while, she was exasperated.
“You are already very lucky. The information age allows you to express your feelings at any time. To play dumb in this situation is not to wait for the right time, but to lose in waiting.”
“Buzz…”
At this moment, Xia Li’s phone, which was placed on the table, rang again.
He peeked at his phone. It was a message from Lucia.
Girlfriend: Ding dong!
Girlfriend: Delicious instant noodles, ate two bowls.
Girlfriend: 『color』『color』
Girlfriend: I made it myself!
Four messages, each separated by nearly a minute. Xia Li waited quietly. After reading all four messages, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curl up.
He glanced at Mrs. Fang across the table.
Mrs. Fang seemed to be a little angry. Her dark eyes were staring at Xia Li, as if she wanted to crack open his wooden head.
Their family was like a traditional Chinese family. They couldn’t say “I love you” to each other in their entire lives. Even when Fang Xia and Xia Yuanjun were dating, Xia Yuanjun was also a blockhead and never good at expressing his feelings.
But because of this, Fang Xia felt that those words were even more precious.
Especially when you were young.
Youth only lasted for a few years and was gone forever. The regrets left behind were lifelong regrets.
“Have you finished eating?”
Fang Xia put on her coat and kicked Xia Li’s stool with her foot, as if urging him to do something.
Xia Li was already full. He didn’t dare to move because his mother was lecturing him.
…Although he didn’t know why he was being lectured, her tone just now was definitely a lecturing tone.
“I’ve finished eating…”
“Then let’s go. Take some things back to your Qingcheng City. Don’t just stand there. I don’t like looking at you.”
“…Mom, didn’t you ask me to come back?”
“It’s different now!” Fang Xia said angrily, “Don’t come back alone next time!”