Chapter 103
Chapter 103: Still Keeping It from Me?
Panda Novel
It was already nine o’clock when Hao Ren returned home. His grandma was very happy since she didn’t expect him to be back on a Tuesday.
Yue Yang was busy working in the room when she heard Hao Ren’s voice. She came out of the room and asked, “Why are you back today?”
“I went to Zi’s Parent-Teacher Meeting on behalf of her parents. So, I decided to come back directly,” Hao Ren looked around and asked, “Where’s Dad?”
“He took a flight to the States earlier today, so he’s probably still on the plane,” Yue Yang said.
“Ah…” Hao Ren sighed secretly and thought, “Sure enough, no one could stop him from going abroad.”
“How come you went for Zi’s parents to the meeting?” Grandma immediately asked when she heard the keyword ‘Zi’.
“It was for the midterm report, and her parents are too busy. Therefore, I went instead.”
“Oh, how did Zi do this time?” Yue Yang asked in concern as well.
“Not bad, she is ranked 17th in her class and 43rd in her grade,” Hao Ren said.
Yue Yang nodded and replied, “Yes, LingZhao Middle School is one of the best Middle Schools in East Ocean City. It’s pretty impressive to get a ranking like that.”
“Zi is sweet and smart, and I’ve always known that she must be a good student,” Grandma said proudly as if Zi was her own granddaughter.
Hao Ren was surprised at how great of a show Zhao Yanzi had been putting up for Grandma. She was such a playful girl with bad grades who didn’t like studying much.
“I think she is brilliant, so her grades can’t be too bad. Zi is definitely a good kid, and I’m sure she is a better student than Ren when Ren was in middle school,” Yue Yang said.
Hao Ren was utterly speechless. He ignored their assumptions and praises and opened the fridge to look for something to eat.
“I’ll give you a ride to school tomorrow?” Yue Yang walked over and asked Hao Ren.
“Um…early in the morning because I’ve been practicing basketball lately,” Hao Ren said after taking a sip of milk.
“You are practicing basketball?” Yue Yang looked at Hao Ren suspiciously.
“I might be playing in a game next week. It’s East Ocean University against Jinghua University.” Hao Ren took a piece of bread out of the fridge and took a bite.
“I’ve heard about Jinghua University’s Basketball Team; they are fairly famous. I was invited to see one of their games when I visited there before, and they can play pretty well,” Yue Yang looked at him with even more suspicion as she asked, “You can play against them? I’ve never seen you play basketball before.”
“Yeah, just for fun.” Hao Ren waved impatiently
Yue Yang realized she had been neglecting her son lately. She thought for a bit and said, “The game is next week…how about I ask your dad to try and come back earlier for the game?”
“Forget about it,” Hao Ren put the rest of the bread and milk into the fridge and said, “My school would go crazy if the two of you showed up.”
Yue Yang curled her lips and said in an upset tone, “How could you say that… Mom means no harm at all. I have never seen you play so I thought it would be nice to see it next week. I’ll make sure that the school won’t advertise it.”
“I might not even get to play. Also, it’s going to be a waste of time since something might come up in your schedule again.” Hao Ren closed the fridge and went back into the living room.
“Why is this kid resisting us so much… Sigh… We have neglected him too much…” Yue Yang thought to herself as she followed Hao Ren back to the living room.
“Ren, I miss little Zi a lot these days. Invite her to the beach sometime, and she can spend some time here with me,” Grandma said to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren thought, “Zhao Yanzi’s hometown is in the ocean… So she probably won’t care much about the beach. However, Grandma does miss her…”
He answered, “I am going over to her house for dinner tomorrow. I could call and ask if we can all go together?”
“Wouldn’t it be too much trouble if our entire family showed up?” Yue Yang asked.
However, Grandma shouted, “It’s fine! Go ahead and ask!”
Then, Hao Ren took out his phone and told Zhao Hongyu about this idea. She agreed to it immediately and welcomed Hao Ren’s family over.
Hao Ren gave the phone to his grandma so that she could chat for a bit with Zhao Hongyu; they had missed each other since they haven’t seen each other for a few days.
Yue Yang was still thinking about the basketball game in a week; she had decided to make time for it no matter what. She had been pretty loose on Hao Ren since he was little. However, after she and Hao Zhonghua got scolded at Zhao Yanzi’s house by Grandma last time, there had been some changes in her thoughts. She realized that they needed to pay more attention to Hao Ren as parents.
“I’ll go with Zhonghua without notifying the school… It’s just a basketball game; we shouldn’t get much attention…” she thought to herself.
Hao Ren went back to his room after Grandma had gotten off the phone with Zhao Hongyu. He came back hoping to spend some time with his parents today, but his dad had gone to the States without a word, which made him a bit upset.
Hao Ren never felt anything special because of his great parents; there were too many busy parents in the world as it was the same for Zhao Yanzi’s parents.
However, although Yue Yang and Hao Zhonghua were dedicated to their science career and had won a lot of prizes, they haven’t made a lot of money, not even as much as a business owner in a medium-sized city. They only sold their place downtown at a good price to purchase this house by the beach when the economy was not doing well.
The good thing was that their jobs were somewhat stable despite the low pay; it was just enough to support this family.
Hao Ren returned to his room and opened the window facing the beach. He cultivated the Spirit Concentration Scroll for two hours under the moonlight as he absorbed the relatively heavy water elements nearby. He was able to smooth out his meridians with Su Han’s instruction and speed up his absorption rate.
The night went by quietly accompanied by the sound of the waves. Yue Yang drove Hao Ren to school at five in the morning when it was barely bright outside.
She was driving Hao Zhonghua’s white Ford which fit her very well.
Even so, she was still driving timidly under 60 km/h. When making turns, she would cut her speed in half.
The speed she was going at was even slower than the ladies on their motorbikes who were going grocery shopping.
Hao Ren got impatient seeing it was already almost six o’clock and said, “Let me drive, Mom!”
“It’s ok…I’m driving safer…” Yue Yang found herself an excuse.
“Safe from what? There aren’t any other cars on the streets at this hour. Alright, just pull over.” Hao Ren said.
Yue Yang pulled over to the roadside slowly. A world-class scientist like herself wouldn’t even dare to drive over 60 km/h.
Hao Ren got out of the passenger seat and went in the driver seat while Yue Yang switched over to the passenger seat.
Ka, ka! Hao Ren shifted the gear smoothly and stepped on the gas peddle, and the car accelerated immediately. It reached 80 km/h in no time on the empty morning street.
The engine made a deep and powerful sound.
“Ren…” Yue Yang thought for a few seconds and offered, “Should Mom buy you a car? I got some money from this award I just won…”
“Nah, Nah. Why do I need a car? It wasn’t easy for you to win that award. Researches like that would take you three to six years,” Hao Ren rejected her offer immediately.
“Grandma and I will go straight to Zi’s house for dinner today. You can come after your classes,” Yue Yang said.
“Okay,” Hao Ren nodded while driving.
Yue Yang suddenly realized that her son had grown up as she watched him drive calmly in the morning sunshine.
“But Mom still thinks Zi is too young to be a daughter-in-law,” she looked at her son and said, “The Class President who came for my signature, however, looked pretty good.”
“Ah…” Hao Ren almost stepped on the break at her remark.
“Honestly, I think that girl was really gentle. Looks aside, Mom thinks she makes people feel comfortable…” Yue Yang continued.
“That was not…” Hao Ren immediately explained.
“I’m just saying. You are the one who knows if she is a good fit. I will keep it a secret on Zi’s side. But Mom has good eyes, and that girl could be a really good match for you,” Yue Yang said.
“Good eyes…You also said a bad student like Zhao Yanzi is a top student,” Hao Ren thought to himself.
The car arrived at the front gate of East Ocean University. Hao Ren drove straight in since he knew there wouldn’t be too many students on campus at such an early hour. He headed towards the basketball court in Zone B along the campus road.
The car drove steadily in the quiet campus, and Hao Ren stopped the vehicle in a corner that was about 100 meters away from the court.
“We are stopping here?” Yue Yang asked.
“Um, here is fine. Drive safe on the way back, Mom. I’m going to go for training,” Hao Ren said as he opened the door and hopped out.
Of course, he parked a bit far from the court. If Xie Yujia were to see her “idol” Yue Yang dropping him off, she would be astonished to death!
One saw the other as her idol, and one thought the other as the potential daughter-in-law… Who knew what would happen if these two were to meet in person?
He headed to the basketball court while Yue Yang switched back into the driver seat and slowly made a U-turn. She kept going back and forth on that 2-meter-wide street; a simple U-turn took her over a minute!
Hao Ren stepped into the basketball court in Zone B, and Xie Yujia waved at him in her white sportswear, “Hao Ren! You are two minutes late today!”
Hao Ren smiled in embarrassment. He jogged over and said, “I’m sorry, Class President. I got up late today.”
“It’s ok, but there can’t be a second time. Did you have breakfast?” She asked.
Her white tennis gear was not as lively as yesterday’s outfit. However, it made her look more professional. Her healthy and fit body could still be seen in the sportswear.
In the distance, a white Ford secretly approached the basketball court under the shades of the trees. Through the window, Yue Yang saw Xie Yujia and Hao Ren chatting. She pushed up her glasses and smiled.
“This boy, keeping it from me…”
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Let the misunderstandings cause conflicts
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The mother-in-law/daughter-in-law VS grandma-in-law/daughter-in-law
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Chapter 104: Goodperson Card?!
Panda Novel
The white Ford slowly backed up as Hao Ren was under Xie Yujia’s care; he was listening to her speech about how important it was to be punctual as he ate the baozi she bought for him.
After eating, Xie Yujia’s lecture came to an end. She stretched her body and picked up the basketball from the ground.
“We have practiced dribbling quite a bit yesterday. Today, we are focusing on passing.”
“Yes! Yes!” Hao Ren wiped his mouth and nodded.
“The key to passing is the judgment of direction and the usage of your fingers. A standard pass is made by your fingers, not of your palm. Your wrist must be quick and flexible during this process…”
Xie Yujia demonstrated with the ball in her hand as she spoke.
She looked even more energetic and beautiful than yesterday in her white tennis gear. As she demonstrated passing, her body moved back and forth. Her hair was blown up by the wind, and it looked as refreshing as the wind.
Her petite body under the refreshing tennis sportswear was a pleasant view as the trees behind her were the background.
Xie Yujia stopped her demonstration when she noticed Hao Ren’s stare. She waved the ball in front of Hao Ren and asked, “Did you see how I passed the ball? Did you keep it in mind?”
“Oh, oh…” Hao Ren looked up from Xie Yujia’s smooth neck and said, “I need to use my fingers. I think I got the most of it.”
“Ok, give it a try then,” Xie Yujia put the basketball into Hao Ren’s hand and backed up a few steps while saying, “Pass it to me.”
Hao Ren threw the ball to her and she caught is successful. She passed it back to him after a couple of dribbles.
“There are techniques to catching as well. You only need to learn how to catch it with both hands because we don’t have enough time for other variations. In fact, when it’s your ball during a game, it’s usually better to catch it behind your back since it’s harder to predict,” Xie Yujia explained as she practiced passing with Hao Ren.
Hao Ren could tell that she was 100% focused on the basketball. He blamed himself for getting distracted and started to pay attention as well.
“And there is the bounce pass, meaning that the ball will be passed to your teammate after a bounce. This isn’t hard at all as long as you keep in mind not to pass it straightforwardly.
Xie Yujia looked exactly like a little coach, instructing Hao Ren carefully.
“Then there is the cross-shoulder pass, which is for longer distances. I won’t teach you about the hop step and jump stop since they are more complicated, and you probably won’t be able to grasp it in such a short time…”
Xie Yujia demonstrated each move a few times for Hao Ren and practiced them with him for about ten minutes.
It was quite energy consuming, and she began to sweat after a little while. This was even more tiring than the day before.
Seeing how sweaty her forehead and t-shirt was, Hao Ren caught the basketball and said, “Class President, let’s take a break.”
“It’s ok, let’s continue!” she said as she waved at him and shook the sweat off of her head.
Hao Ren hesitated and bounce passed to her. Xie Yujia caught it with ease and passed it back to him.
“The Class President is pretty competitive,” seeing how hard Xie Yujia was pushing herself, Hao Ren thought to himself.
They passed the ball so many times that Hao Ren got a bit tired with the Mount Tai bracelets on his wrists, and Xie Yujia was also sweating like crazy.
However, she didn’t ask for a break during their entire training session, and she even turned Hao Ren down when he offered that they rest.
Hao Ren suddenly thought, “Does Mom like her because of the persistence in her genes? They are both capable women; no wonder Xie Yujia is such a big fan of Mom. But…maybe Xie Yujia would be a more caring wife and loving mother…”
After a while, they had to take a two-minute break.
Afterward, Xie Yujia stood up and said, “Alright, we are going to put the dribbling from yesterday and passing from today together. Let’s get a game in. Your ball and I’ll defend; your passing target will be the backboard this time.”
Hao Ren admired how thorough she was. “No wonder she was the Class President,” he thought.
He didn’t want to keep resting when Xie Yujia was already ready for the next exercise. Hao Ren stood up reluctantly and dribbled the ball between his palms.
Xie Yujia opened up her arms in a defensive stance with her eyes glued to Hao Ren.
Hao Ren didn’t want to knock her over, but she had stolen the ball when his mind slipped away.
“The ball is in my hand. You are defending now!” Xie Yujia said cheerfully.
Hao Ren immediately ran to the inside and stretched out his arms.
Xie Yujia raised the basketball up with both hands as if she was passing it, and Hao Ren immediately waved his arms up to block her. However, she was only faking it. She quickly turned around, moved behind Hao Ren, and threw the ball into the air!
The basketball fell into the basket after leaving a beautiful arch in the air, making a pleasant sound.
Hao Ren turned around only to see it go down the basket. He said to himself secretly, “That was awesome…”
The preciseness of her aim was just as good as Zhao Jiayi. On top of that, her quick reaction and smooth movement also lingered in Hao Ren’s head.
“It is such a loss since she didn’t join the female basketball team…but her passion isn’t in basketball after all…” he thought.
Xie Yujia clapped her hands cheerfully and threw the ball back to Hao Ren as she said, “One more time!”
“Sigh… wasn’t once enough to humiliate me…” Hao Ren thought to himself bitterly, “Thank god there isn’t anyone on the street nearby this early in the morning. Otherwise, it’s too shameful to be defeated by a girl like this on the basketball court…”
He got himself ready again, and Xie Yujia wasn’t able to steal the ball from him this time. He also raised up his arms to make a passing move. Xie Yujia wasn’t as tall as Hao Ren, so she quickly lifted up her arms too. Hao Ren, on the other hand, suddenly bent over, turned around, dribbled and shot the ball!
Hao Ren copied her moves, and the ball knocked onto the backboard. Although he didn’t score, it was still a successful pass.
Xie Yujia turned around and nudged Hao Ren’s back. “Hey, that was pretty good!” she said.
Hao Ren laughed as he looked at this lively girl who had a bright smile on her face. He suddenly understood the ‘comfortable feeling’ that his mom mentioned about her.
“But don’t let it get to your head. Let’s try again!” she ran over to pick up the ball and threw it at him.
Hao Ren was still thinking about what happened; he felt like he saw her white belly under the shirt when she lifted her arms to block him.
“Catch!” Xie Yujia reminded him.
Hao Ren quickly reached out to catch the ball right before it hit his head.
“You can’t get distracted like this during the game! Go ahead!” Xie Yujia said and was ready to defend.
Hao Ren moved around as he dribbled, but Xie Yujia suddenly cut him off again. He tried to take the ball back without touching her hand, and he reached forward when he knew where the ball was going. However, Xie Yujia suddenly changed her path, and Hao Ren’s hand didn’t get to touch the ball. Instead, it almost landed on her plump chest. He quickly adjusted his body, trying to avoid the situation. However, this change of position made him hug onto Xie Yujia, who was dribbling with her body lowered, when he lost his balance.
Bom, bom, bom…the ball rolled to the side.
Xie Yujia was completely flushed in Hao Ren’s arms.
“Ah…” Hao Ren gasped and quickly let go as he stepped back a few steps. “Class… Class President, I didn’t do that on purpose!” he said.
Xie Yujia nodded, biting her lip. “I know.”
With that being said, her face was still as red as a ripe apple.
Hao Ren felt embarrassed and suggested, “Should we…call it a day?”
Xie Yujia walked over to pick up the ball with her head down; she didn’t say anything.
When Hao Ren was ready to leave, thinking that today’s practice had finished, Xie Yujia threw the basketball at him again and said, “Let’s continue!”
“Ah?” Hao Ren was surprised.
Xie Yujia jogged over to the basket and said, “Your ball, I will defend!”
Hao Ren was stupefied, and then he understood Xie Yujia’s thoughts; she just wanted him to get better quickly.
Zhao Jiayi ran into the stadium with Xie Wanjun. He saw that Hao Ren kept having physical contact with Xie Yujia and cursed in his heart, “So sneaky, so shameless…”
The training came to an end after two hours. Xie Yujia and Hao Ren went to the cafeteria for breakfast just like the day before.
Hao Ren was still paying, but Xie Yujia was standing in line with him. She was still like a magnet for the other guys in her white tennis sportswear.
Hao Ren thought about how hard she worked during their practice and how he ‘took advantage’, so he bought her a hearty breakfast.
He was actually quite touched by how patient she was when teaching him.
“Class President, there’s something I don’t know if it’s ok to say,” Hao Ren said to her as he sat opposite to her.
“Go ahead,” Xie Yujia looked at him with her bright eyes and replied,
“Um…the girls are saying that you are only close to me because of my family background,” Hao Ren said.
Xie Yujia blinked in surprise; she probably never thought he would mention something like this. Then, she smiled with her head down and replied, “Some of the girls like to gossip. But thank you for reminding me.”
“Um…I’m not sure what is going on between the girls. But since they are passing this gossip on, I thought you should know,” Hao Ren said as he bit into an egg tart.
It was undeniable that Hao Ren had been pretty fond of Xie Yujia all along, and he was a bit upset when the girls gossiped about the Class President. However, he decided to give her a heads-up instead of going there and arguing with them.
“Let them talk all they want. I know you come from an ordinary family, and I don’t like gossiping about other girls. However, you have to be careful if you are looking for a girlfriend.” Xie Yujia took a sip of her milk tea.
“Why aren’t you getting a boyfriend?” Hao Ren asked hesitantly after a few seconds.
“Me? Hehe,” she wiped her mouth with a napkin and said, “I have got my own plan to focus on studying during my freshman and sophomore year and not think about those things. That will have to wait till after I’m in my third year.”
Hao Ren knew that she wasn’t joking by her serious look. She had always struck him as a stubborn yet organized person.
However, Hao Ren felt a little disappointed. “Does this mean she is giving me half of a goodperson card?” he asked himself.
They each went back to their dorm to change after breakfast. The two of them smiled at each other when they met at their ten o’clock class.
Zhao Jiayi didn’t have any classes that morning, so his training lasted until noon. Under the intensive training that Xie Wanjun had been giving him, Zhao Jiayi was even too exhausted to talk.
“The Basketball Team is torturing you, Zhao Jiayi. Quit already and come to play World of Warcraft with us later instead of training!” Zhou Liren instigated him.
“Go to hell! I have a dream now!” Zhou Jiayi knocked on Zhou Liren’s forehead.
“Dream…” Hao Ren looked over at Xie Yujia who was busy taking notes. He pinched the tip of his pen and thought, “I should train hard and perform well even if it’s only for Zhao Jiayi’s and Xie Yujia’s sake.”
“Plus…my mom, who always ‘play outside of the rules’…might actually drag Dad to come to see me at the game…”
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