Chapter 101: Forthcoming

His grandmother's family also followed along and attempted to persuade Chu Qin to meet her. It was fine even if he didn't take a fancy to her; being friends was also good. After all, both of them worked in government bodies - another familiar person meant having more routes.

Zhong Yibin raised a brow slightly and silently maintained a cold expression. One of the reasons why he accompanied Chu Qin home was to prevent his family from making Chu Qin go on a blind date. Just thinking about his wife chatting with another woman about marriage matters a thousand miles away from him was enough to make him furious. Now that he was beside Chu Qin, his heart didn't actually hold that much anger. He just wasn't very happy about it.

"I'm in the middle of making advancements in my career. If the media found out that I had a girlfriend, my career would receive a devastating hit," Chu Qin allowed his two aunts and grandmother to speak first before stating dully.

This was indeed the case. It was undeniable that his good looks had something to do with how smooth his career as a host had been - a portion of his fans were purely fans of his face. He was now only twenty-plus years old. If news got out now that he had a girlfriend and that they were even talking about marriage, a large proportion of his fans would lose interest in him.

Of course, if they knew that he had a boyfriend, he would probably lose even more fans… But this point was selectively ignored by Chu Qin.

Mother Chu remained unmoved upon hearing these words. Her goal was not to necessarily ensure Chu Qin had a girlfriend but to test Chu Qin's reaction.

"How are there such unreasonable fans," His aunt curled her lips and refused to believe him. "That celebrity is also a person. A person needs to get married and have children."

Chu Qin felt a headache coming on just from hearing this argument. His relatives who lived in this small city had always felt that marriage was the main major event that happened in one's life. Even if one was successful at their career and had an annual salary of eight figures, even if one received a Novel prize and went down in history, none of it was important. The most important thing was that it was abnormal not to marry.

"Okay, okay. Stop it. I'll see her," Chu Qin was already somewhat angry. He stood up and dragged Zhong Yibin out the door.

"Ai, this child. It's only nine o'clock now…" His aunt's voice was left far behind him; the two people had already walked past the corridors.

His aunt had arranged with the girl to meet at five o'clock in the afternoon. They had only just finished lunch and it wasn't two o'clock yet. Chu Qin stood downstairs silently with his head hanging for a long time. Zhong Yibin stood beside him and quietly waited.

"I'm sorry…" Chu Qin slowly pressed his head against Zhong Yibin's shoulder and said hoa.r.s.ely. Even when faced with his relatives, he still was not able to voice that he liked men and could only deal with it in such a manner. If he were to put himself in Zhong Yibin's shoes, and Zhong Yibin agreed to go on a blind date, he would definitely be deeply hurt.

Zhong Yibin allowed him to lean against him. He paused for a while before slowly embracing him. "You're really going to see that woman?"

"No," Chu Qin said resolutely. "I'll bring you to eat nice things."

Hearing these words, Zhong Yibin's complexion cleared up a little. He dragged Chu Qin into his arms and patted him on the back. "Go see her. Standing a girl up isn't polite."

Chu Qin raised his head and blinked. "I'll make things clear with my mum tonight."

It was still early, so the two people blindly roamed around the city. It was Chinese New Year and the shops along the street were all closed. Only a few empty restaurants and supermarkets were still open. The afternoon was originally a quiet time and they could hear the echo of their voices as they walked along the roads.

"Up ahead – that's my elementary school. When I was young, my family stayed along that street and I would walk to go to school," The good thing about having less people on the road was that they could walk along the streets while holding hands. Chu Qin was full of zest as he introduced his hometown to Zhong Yibin.

Zhong Yibin was very interested and he dragged Chu Qin along as he strolled leisurely. The feeling of tender, satiny skin enveloped the hollow of his palm. Not allowing Chu Qin to do the dishes had caused his hands to become considerably more tender and it was especially comfortable stroking them.

Just like that year after his confession when he wandered around with Chu Qin in the park.

"Can I hold your hand?" The young and inexperienced Zhong Yibin asked the similarly young and inexperienced Chu Qin in a tiny voice.

"Ye… Yes…" The Chu Qin at that time was particularly adorable. His eyes looked towards the side yet his hand honestly stretched over and was grabbed by Zhong Yibin.

Both their hands were sweaty. When their palms intertwined, a sense of numbness spread throughout their entire body. Thus, the two people walked round after round around that not-very-big park at the corner of the street.

After wandering around for more than an hour in the city, the two people reached an unknown area. Chu Qin asked if Zhong Yibin was tired.

"Walking around and holding hands like this for a day doesn't feel tiring at all," Zhong Yibin raised his other hand and adjusted Chu Qin's scarf. The wind during winter was rather penetrating; Chu Qin's nose was already red from the cold, looking quite cute. Zhong Yibin couldn't resist drifting over and pecking the slightly cool tip of his nose.

"Oh…" Chu Qin touched the nose that had just been kissed and felt somewhat embarra.s.sed.

"When we move into the big house, let's hire a housekeeper," Zhong Yibin suddenly spouted such a statement.

"Why the sudden thought?" Chu Qin c.o.c.ked his head.

"Both of us need to take care of our hands. Like that, holding hands will feel good," Zhong Yibin shook their interlaced hands. They were currently living in Chu Qin's apartment and its small size made it inconvenient to invite a housekeeper. In the future when they moved to Shengs.h.i.+'s Tang Dynasty Park, they could invite a housekeeper to stay at the house.

"Hire a part-time housekeeper then, it isn't convenient for the person to stay in the house," Chu Qin thought it over and could be considered to have agreed to it. For the past half a year, he had been raised by Zhong Yibin till he became lazy and didn't want to do housework.

The two people wanted to find a coffee shop to drink a cup of tea but failed to find one even after walking around for a very long time. Thus, they could only buy two drink cans at the supermarket. Just then, Chu Qin's handphone suddenly rang. It was an unfamiliar number, but he still picked it up.

Some variety shows would play games that involved suddenly calling someone and it was possible that someone had called him, so he still needed to pick up the call.

"h.e.l.lo, are you Chu Qin?" On the other end was a lady with a sweet-sounding voice.

"I am. Who are you?" Chu Qin maintained a gentle and courteous tone of voice.

"Oh. I, I am Li Jiayi… Hiccup, that blind date that your relatives introduced you to…" After confirming that he was indeed Chu Qin, that lady unexpectedly became even more nervous.

"…" Chu Qin was silent for a moment before saying gently. "My sincere apologies. I already have someone I like, so I can't go on a blind date."

The other side was silent for a while before replying. "Ah, I never bore any hopes for it to succeed from the start. But, but, will you do me the honor of having a meal. I'm your fan, aoaoao!"

When it was time for dinner, Chu Qin and Zhong Yibin sat side-by-side in a booth at a Western restaurant as they shared a basket of light refreshments the restaurant had served. A lady dressed in a white down-filled garment rushed over hastily. "Sorry, sorry, I'm late."

That girl nearly shrieked loudly upon getting a close look at the person beside Chu Qin. "Zhong… Director Zhong!"

"h.e.l.lo," Zhong Yibin nodded slightly, stretched out a hand and polished off the last potato chip in the basket.

"You two…" That lady was visibly more excited, thought it was fortunate that her words still contained logic. "I was forced by my family. I didn't have a choice, so I came out for a blind date. I was originally unwilling, but I heard that it's Chu Qin and was so excited that I didn't eat lunch. My G.o.d, can I post it on Moments[1]?"

Chu Qin pursed his lips in laughter and nodded to signify agreement.

This lady called Li Jiayi did indeed work at the office of a broadcasting station. She was even older than Chu Qin by two years. As a master degree holder from abroad who was both pretty and had a good job, her family was completely unable to comprehend why she still didn't have a partner. They could only chalk it up to having a busy job and lacking the time to search for one, thus they thought up all sorts of ideas to help her search for a partner.

"I feel that marriage is up to the person to decide. Why does my worth have to be measured by whether I marry and give birth to children?" When the topic was raised, Li Jiayi was somewhat indignant.

"If I can't marry the person I truly like, then I would rather grow old alone," Chu Qin lowered his head and sliced a piece of steak.

A carefully orchestrated blind date transformed into a fan meetup; a meeting for a double roasting of elders without holding back at all.

When they arrived home at night, Mother Chu merrily asked Chu Qin about the results of the blind date.

Chu Qin stood in the living room fixedly and pursed his lips. "Mother, don't arrange blind dates for me anymore. I already have someone I like."

"Who?" Mother Chu wasn't very curious but on the contrary, was extremely nervous.

Chu Qin slowly raised a hand and grabbed Zhong Yibin's. "Him."

The author has something to say:

Small theater:

Mother Chu: I don't agree!

Qin Qin: Why not, he has a car, a house, and an annual salary of eight figures

Mother Chu: Does having money mean you will be happy?

Qin Qin: He can also go seven times a night without repeating

Mother Chu: ……

[1] A social networking function on the messenger and social media app WeChat.

Translator's corner: All hail the cliff!