Chapter 102 - The Gift
Finally noticing that the other two were looking at her, she became more embarrassed.
Xiu Mei cleared her throat and acted as if that conversation did not happen ten minutes ago.
"Let's continue eating, shall we?" Then she quickly picked up her chopsticks and spoon to continue eating while trying to ignore their gazes.
Lu Qiang obediently listened to his mother and resumed eating his dinner while Lu Chen didn't move at all. He looked away but he didn't move any further than that.
God knows how he was trying to control himself after hearing Xiu Mei and Mrs.Kim's conversation. It wasn't loud enough for the other table to hear it but it was loud enough for him to hear.
He even heard Xiu Mei tell Mrs.Kim about their supposedly 'night activities' and even though he knows it's a lie, he couldn't help but get turned on. Then when their conversation continued in that direction with Xiu Mei discussing different positions, he was already at the point of suppressing his desire and questioning Xiu Mei about why the hell she knows that kind of stuff.
Lu Chen ordered a cold drink and quickly chugged it down in an attempt to cool down himself. After a couple more glasses, he finally suppressed the desire that he was trying to control.
Xiu Mei finally noticed that Lu Chen was just continuously chugging down drinks instead of eating. She wondered whether Lu Chen was just too thirsty?
"Chen, are you okay?" Xiu Mei worriedly asked. She nudged him in the elbow to catch his attention.
Lu Chen's body stiffened.
"Hmm? Are you having a fever?" She looked at his face and noticed that he was a little bit red. She reflexively reached out to touch his forehead which Lu Chen vehemently avoided.
"I'm fine." Lu Chen replied whilst trying to avoid her touches.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm really fine."
Xiu Mei's gaze examined him a little longer before nodding.
"If you say so. Do you need more iced water?" She offered.
"No, I'm fine."
"Okay."
And after that, Xiu Mei resumed finishing her bowl. She would sometimes put some of the food in Lu Qiang's bowl and her son would obediently finish eating it.
The three of them finished having their sumptuous meal after half an hour. They just finished paying their bill when the waitress stopped them for a second.
"Excuse me, Ms.Xiu?" The waitress greeted. Xiu Mei wasn't surprised when the waitress called her name because she assumed that she must've seen them in the news a few weeks ago so they probably recognized her.
"Yes?"
"Mrs.Kim wanted me to give this to you."
"Oh, thanks."
After handing a paper bag to her, the waitress returned to her job immediately. Xiu Mei looked at the paper bag with a puzzled expression. She looked inside and saw a medium-sized box inside.
She wondered what did Mrs.Kim give her but she decided to just check it out later.
The three of them exited the restaurant and finally roamed around the different stores in the area.
Xiu Mei quickly pulled the two of them inside a brand name clothing store for kids. Lu Qiang curiously gazed at the unfamiliar clothes in front of him.
"Baby, come here." Xiu Mei called out to Lu Qiang who seemed overwhelmed by the large amount of clothes inside the store. But as soon as he heard his Mom, he quickly ran to her side.
He saw her holding a long sleeve top with a dinosaur print.
"Try this one on, and this one too! Oh, this looks good too." Xiu Mei continued grabbing some clothes on the rack for Lu Qiang to fit on. Seeing the small stack of clothes slowly growing into a mountain, Lu Qiang immediately stopped his Mom from grabbing anymore.
"Mom! I think this is already too much?" He pulled on her clothes while pointing at the almost full basket.
Xiu Mei turned to her son and followed where he was pointing at.
"Oh."
She seemed...to have gotten too much.
"Then Mom, I'll go and try them on for you to see?" Lu Qiang quickly comforted his mother and picked up the basket. Like a filial son, he dutifully fulfilled Xiu Mei's desire to see him on those clothes.
"Am I buying him too much?" Xiu Mei quickly whispered to Lu Chen as soon as Lu Qiang disappeared behind the changing room. She was now sitting on a soft couch just beside her husband who was reading some magazine.
Lu Chen kept his gaze at the magazine while encouraging her. "He's a fast-growing boy so buying that many clothes are fine. Besides, we'll be enrolling him soon in a school so having more options to choose from is good."
Finally remembering that they'll be sending him to school soon, Xiu Mei's worry disappeared. She feared that she might be spoiling him a bit too much and that might affect his behavior growing up but after being encouraged by Lu Chen, she finally put her worry down.
"Speaking of school, we forgot to tell Lu Qiang about this decision ah." Xiu Mei blurted out.
"Did you find a school yet?"
"Yeah, my Mom was the one who found the school actually. She said that one of her friends runs the school and coincidentally, it's located near Lu Corporation so I was planning to visit the school sometime next week."
Since choosing the school is no small matter, she asked for help from her mother who has a lot of connections. Since they're trying to be a little more lowkey about Lu Qiang's background, Xui Mei was going to visit the school discreetly. Her mother didn't even ask for a favor to her friend to welcome her when she'll visit the school so Xiu Mei was going to come there just like a normal parent inquiring some stuff for her son.
"Then I'll come with you."
"You can't!" She immediately declined his offer.
Won't people immediately speculate about their relationship with the kid if he comes with her?
At least, if she goes alone, the people would still wonder what her relationship was with Lu Qiang.
The two of them will still go for family events but since their names are still a little bit hot from the headline a few weeks ago, she's being a bit cautious.
Xiu Mei wanted Lu Qiang to enjoy normal school life and even though the time will come when Lu Qiang's background will be revealed to the public, at least, he'll still be able to continue a normal life though Lu Qiang would have to control himself a little more by that time.
"Then I'll get Lu Shao to come with you."
Xiu Mei angrily slapped him on his arm. "You're overworking him too much!"
"I don't."
"Do you think I don't see the exhaustion in his face every time I see him at work? Besides, he was the one doing my responsibilities when I was on sick leave so now that I'm here and as long as I can do it, just leave him alone for a little longer so he could relax a little."
Lu Chen who was accused of overworking Lu Shao:...
While the two of them waited for Lu Qiang to change his clothes, Lu Chen suddenly received a call from someone.
After looking at the caller ID, he glanced at Xiu Mei before finally standing out to go somewhere before receiving the call.
"Hello?"
"Is my sister with you?" Xiu Mo Ruo asked as soon as the call was picked up.
Lu Chen peeked at Xiu Mei at the corner of his eye before confirming. "Yes, she's with me."
"Don't let her out of your sight from now on."
As soon as Xiu Mo Ruo said that, Lu Chen turned ice cold. He could feel the anxiousness from his brother-in-law's tone.
"Did something happen?"
"I'll talk about it later. For now, she'll surely hear the news about our father. Just assure her first that the things on our side are fine and to call Mom instead."
"I know."
"I know you're in a different city right now. The three of you can still go out and play but make sure to keep your men around you to protect the two of them."
"Don't worry, I'll keep my promise and protect her. Are things really fine on your side?"
"My Dad is already handling it so it will be fine. For now, it's better to be cautious."
After that short conversation, Lu Chen hung up the call. He glanced at Xiu Mei who still didn't notice anything weird and still busy waiting for Lu Qiang to come out of the changing room.
He turned back to his phone and looked up at the news. The moment he opens the news page, he finally understood why his second brother-in-law sounded tense.
It seems that Xiu Mei's father, Xiu Gu Ren, got into an accident.