Chapter 70

“Marriage?”

Xiao’s father paused for a long time, then his whole body shook as his brows furrowed. “A man? Is it the same one from five years ago?”

“Which one from five years ago? Speak clearly!”

Xiao Yin nodded, his expression and tone completely natural, as if he were merely commenting on the weather.

The room fell silent, and the dining table was enveloped in a heavy hush.

Leiya looked on with a gleeful expression, still eating, while the remaining eight or nine people exchanged glances in silence.

Xiao Yin’s sexual orientation was still a taboo topic within the Xiao Family.

The incident from five years ago had made the news, and his face was clearly photographed.

Xiao Yin never understood why he didn’t choose to manage the situation or withdraw the heat at the time. Once the incident fully fermented, others brought it to Xiao’s father’s attention, and he was, of course, furious, demanding that Xiao Yin return home immediately.

However, Xiao Yin was involved in a tournament at the time and didn’t respond to his father’s anger at all. Only the other family members discussed the matter and tried to mediate.

Moreover, the Xiao family eventually learned that Xiao Yin had already broken up with Rong Yi, and they persuaded Xiao’s father that Xiao Yin was just having a fling and would get over it.

They weren’t unaware of how some playboys in their circle behaved, being with both men and women. Although the Xiao Family had strict traditions, it wasn’t unreasonable to think that Xiao Yin was merely exploring temporarily.

Xiao’s father was a very traditional man. Although he lived abroad, his heart was tied to his homeland, and he allowed his children to return to China to pursue their careers. Regardless of everything else, his view that they must start their own families had never been challenged.

Coming out was a direct trigger for his wrath.

“Say that again?”

Xiao’s father was already visibly furious.

Xiao Yin’s expression remained calm and untroubled.

“I didn’t come to seek your approval. I’m here to inform everyone. I believe speaking face-to-face makes things clearer and demonstrates my seriousness.”

“If you and Mom find it hard to accept in the short term, that’s completely normal. I understand and won’t force you to accept it.”

“You are my most important family, and my boyfriend is my most important love. These two facts are unchangeable.”

Xiao Yin said, “My plan is to propose to him within this year. If you can accept it better than I expected, maybe I can bring him home during the New Year.”

Xiao Yin interlaced his fingers and looked up at his parents, his expression calm.

Xiao’s mother looked utterly shocked, while Xiao’s father’s expression had gone beyond twisted.

It took a full ten seconds before Xiao’s father roared out his own voice.

“Are you trying to rebel against the family?”

…

The next day, Rong Yi got up right on time at noon.

He had no intention of having breakfast with the Li Family, and of course, the Li Family didn’t save him any breakfast either.

He opened the door, and everyone in the living room turned to look at him, the atmosphere awkward and tense.

Rong Yi casually and calmly said, “Good morning. I’m heading out.”

“Not eating?” Li Family’s grandmother looked at him with obvious disapproval, her tone harsh. “What kind of behavior is that, running out without breakfast? And getting up at noon? It’s really inappropriate. Even though your mom isn’t around to raise you, at least…”

“I’m going out to eat.” Rong Yi didn’t even finish listening. By the time he said this, he was already out the door, happily humming a tune as he closed it behind him.

When he sat down again at the small stir-fry restaurant, Rong Yi checked his phone.

Xiao Yin hadn’t sent him any messages or called him yet.

But maybe he was still dealing with jet lag.

Rong Yi took a picture of the food at the small stir-fry restaurant and sent it.

After eating, he got up and bought some fruits and snacks that elderly people liked from the street. He carried them to his grandmother’s house.

His grandmother lived alone, and in recent years had shown noticeable symptoms of Alzheimer’s, so a caregiver was hired to take care of her.

The previous caregiver wasn’t good, and after Rong Yi visited once, he paid out of his own pocket to hire a new one. Everyone else knew about this, but no one ever brought it up.

Rong Yi carried the fruits into his grandmother’s house.

His grandmother had already taken his call yesterday and knew he was coming today, so she had been in a good mood since she woke up.

Rong Yi had a simple method for keeping his grandmother company: sitting down to chat and sharing his experiences. Even though his life was hard for her to understand, his grandmother was still very interested, asking questions one by one.

“Playing games, do you have to do it every day?”

“You say, times are really different now. Playing games can be a profession and earn so much money.”

“Every time I call you, you’re busy. It’s so exhausting. “

Seeing the worried look on his grandmother’s face, Rong Yi changed the topic.

“Grandmother, my teammates are all really nice. I’m their captain. Let me show you their photos.”

Rong Yi pulled out his phone and found a group photo of the other four teammates that the operations team had sent.

Sure enough, his grandmother became interested.

The first person she noticed was Xiao Yin.

“This one, you said he’s the boss? He’s very handsome. He must have a girlfriend, right?”

Suppressing a laugh, Rong Yi replied, “Yeah, he does. He’s very popular. Isn’t he good-looking?”

His grandmother clearly missed the point. She looked at Rong Yi with a smile, “But you’re better looking. When will you find a girlfriend?”

Rong Yi blushed a little.

Looking at his grandmother’s gentle and kind eyes, Rong Yi, as if driven by some impulse, whispered, “I already have one.”

“What?” His grandmother’s eyes lit up immediately. “Where is she from? How did you meet? What does she look like? Do you have a photo?”

The usual questions from an elder made Rong Yi feel warm inside, like a surge of warmth spreading through him.

“We just started dating, not for long. I don’t know how it will develop yet.”

Rong Yi carefully made up a lie to cover it, then smiled and held his grandmother’s hand. “She… she’s very good-looking, even better looking than me.”

“Her personality is a bit cold, but she’s very gentle with me.”

His grandmother remarked, “A girl like that isn’t cold, she’s just reserved and quiet. You can’t describe her that way.”

“Okay, reserved and quiet.”

Rong Yi imagined Xiao Yin being described as “reserved and quiet” and couldn’t help but laugh. He added, “She’s very impressive, the best in her field.”

“A strong woman,” his grandmother said, curious but also slightly worried. “Would that be unstable? What if she doesn’t want to get married?”

“Yeah, it might be difficult.”

Rong Yi thought for a moment, then lowered his eyes slightly and spoke softly, “She… her family is very wealthy and influential. They might not agree with us being together. But we’ll take it one step at a time.”

“How can that be?” his grandmother began, “Our Ah Yi is not lacking in any way.”

She continued, “You’re good-looking, wealthy, kind-hearted, and filial. If her family thinks you’re not good enough, then they’re the ones with the problem. But they haven’t said that, so don’t think that way yourself.”

“If you do think that way, you should talk to her clearly, so it doesn’t cause any delays, right?”

“Yes, I understand,” Rong Yi nodded. “Grandmother is right.”

“I’ll go back and talk to her.”

Rong Yi instinctively touched his phone.

It was getting late, and Xiao Yin still hadn’t sent him any messages or replied to his texts from the morning.

Rong Yi placed his phone face down on the table and continued chatting with his grandmother. After a while, his grandmother smiled and said, “You’re distracted, aren’t you? You want to call your little girlfriend, right?”

Even though she was occasionally confused, his grandmother still had the sharp intuition of an elder.

Rong Yi felt embarrassed, “It’s fine, I can call later.”

“Go call her now, don’t keep her waiting,” his grandmother said, still smiling.

Rong Yi’s face turned red for a few seconds before he grabbed his phone and walked to the balcony.

He dialed Xiao Yin’s number.

The call went through, but there was no answer.

Rong Yi checked the time.

It was close to 8 PM, which meant it was 8 AM for Xiao Yin.

According to Xiao Yin’s routine, he should have been up by now.

Calling and texting were secondary; Rong Yi just wanted to confirm he was safe.

Even though his worry might seem ridiculous, love often makes people overthink.

Rong Yi didn’t get through, so he checked the time again.

If he counted from their last video call yesterday afternoon, it had been almost twenty hours since he last heard from Xiao Yin.