Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Xuanhua.

It was in the evening when Zhou Yichen came whistling back home with Jun. "Who is ready for some spicy hot pot~?"

But instead of only Ai, there was another person accompanying her in the living room who threw a crisp stare at him.

His mouth twitched. "Has the sun risen from the west today? Because I see someone else who is not really supposed to be here. What are you doing here, my ex-wife?"

Xie Nuying gave him an expressionless look. "I came to know that you are secretly throwing a hotpot party with Ai and Jun. The dinner is at my house. Since I know you so well, I thought of coming here and taking them back."

Jun wondered what was going on here.

"Mom," Ai intervened.

"Don't interrupt, Ai."

Zhou Yichen was dumbfounded. "Okay first of all, it's not some secret party. I don't need to hide anything! And second of all, Ai-chan and Jun-cute will have dinner at my place."

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't try to hog them."

He grimaced. "Excuse me, but Ai-chan is also my daughter and Jun-cute is my future son-in-law too."

"And I don't want my future son-in-law to learn anything untoward from you. He is decent as he is," she retorted. "It's better that he stays away from your interesting life."

"..." Jun eyed Ai, who looked totally helpless.

He glared at her. "Well at least it's interesting and colorful, unlike a certain professor's company where you feel you will be thrown out of the class at any moment."

Her brow twitched. "At least my life is stable, unlike someone who jumps from one job to another and uses gambling money and flirting with young women to pass his days."

"That's not gambling and flirting. That's called enjoying life," Zhou Yichen's gaze darkened.

"Enjoying life which causes nothing but trouble," Xie Nuying didn't back off either.

"Well at least it's better than teaching the same syllabus every freaking year," he snorted.

"Which gives a stable income."

"Which is boring nevertheless."

Jun cleared his throat to put a brake on their arguments, but that didn't have any effect. 

"You will always say that because you are too noisy."

"Home is not a classroom where I should stay quiet!"

"Forget home. Just look at your clothes. Do you think it's appropriate to look so flashy at this age?"

"That's being cool, not flashy. But I don't blame you because you are not up with the trends!"

"Your whole life is an up and down trend, and you think you can give career consultation to young students? Don't you need that yourself?"

"I don't need any career consultation, but you definitely need an orientation to know what fun feels like."

She calmly bounced back. "First you learn how to organize a house before you talk about the need for my consultation."

"You don't live here, so why do you have a problem with my organization!?"

"Okay, stop already," Ai used a firmer and stricter tone this time, and the mother-father fighting duo finally calmed down.

Zhou Yichen harrumphed. "You tell her. Jun-cute and I already bought all the ingredients for a hotpot. So, we will be having a hotpot! And they already had apple pie at your place so shoo. I am amazed that they are even alive after eating your pie." 

"..."

Jun choked.

Ai pursed her lips. "Don't fight today."

Xie Nuying slowly nodded. She glanced at Jun. "I sincerely apologize. You came to meet us for the first time today, but we showed you such a sight.

Zhou Yichen looked embarrassed too. "Sorry Jun-cute."

He quickly smiled. "No, no. You don't have to. Also, there is no need to argue over dinner. How about we all have dinner together?"

Silence.

Lightning crackled between Zhou Yichen and Xie Nuying but for the sake of their daughter and her boyfriend, they formed a truce just for today.

pAɴᴅᴀɴ[0ᴠ)ᴇʟ "Fine," both agreed.

Ai nodded in satisfaction. "Good."

Fifteen minutes later, a delicious hotpot was simmering on the portable stove, and the delicious fragrance of the spices wafted in the air.

"Yummy yum yum!" Zhou Yichen grinned. "Let's dig in!"

Jun promptly put the good parts of the meat on Ai's plate. "Eat all up."

Ai stared at the mountain of the meat pieces. "It's too much."

"Eat all up."

"..."

Zhou Yichen laughed. "Jun-cute is right, Ai-chan. Since you are living together, you need to eat a lot of food~"

Ai caught onto his meaning and flushed.

Xie Nuying pointed out. "No dignity at all."

He scowled.

It was a good and fulfilling dinner except for the parts where Zhou Yichen and Xie Nuying didn't leave any chance to throw shades at each other.

Jun stared at them and thought hard about something. Finally coming to a decision, he faced them and said, "I want to say something to you."

They turned their attention towards him. "Yes, dear," Xie Nuying softly smiled.

Ai noticed him acting odd and frowned.

Amidst his heart thudding faster with nervousness, he confessed. "I don't want to keep you in the dark. Before Ai, I had a childhood friend who I loved a lot and wanted to marry her."

Ai's eyes widened, and she looked stunned. "Jun…"

"No, Ai. Let me tell them. I don't want to hide anything. Even if they do not like me for it, I still don't want to give them a false image of mine."

He looked at them and continued. "Her name is Han Shui, and our families have been close for years. I promised to marry her, and we spent our childhood together. I was obsessed with her. We dated for four years but broke up three months back because we realized we were not compatible. It was around that time I met Ai, and I slowly fell in love with her."

He clenched his fists. "I know that in front of my years of friendship with her and our relationship, my feelings for Ai would seem shallow to you, or you might think that I will waver for Shui in the future. But I won't. I don't feel anything for Shui anymore. She doesn't have a place in my life other than just a friend. The only woman my heart wants is Ai. I…I know it's difficult to trust me now that you know this. But I really mean it."

He bowed a full one-eighty degree and touched the floor with his forehead. "I want Ai with all my heart. My past would look questionable to you, but I have already determined my future with her. There is nothing that I want more than spending the rest of my life with her. That's why I humbly ask you to trust me. I promise that I will die, but I won't let Ai suffer any grievance!"