Chapter 102: Coming out of the closet

Not only did Mother Chu receive a shock, so did Zhong Yibin. He was stunned for a moment and immediately gripped Chu Qin's hand.

"Auntie, my family has already agreed. We hope to first obtain permission from both of you. Then, I'll bring Chu Qin to the United States to register our marriage," Zhong Yibin said steadfastly while un.o.btrusively blocking Chu Qin with his body.

"No!" Mother Chu replied without hesitation. "I don't agree!" She was already mentally prepared for it but the impact of hearing it for the first time was still quite large, causing her to experience a split second of dizziness.

"Mother, let's sit down and talk," Chu Qin went forward and helped his slightly dizzy mother to the sofa.

"You're back?" Father Chu, who had been cutting fruits in the kitchen, walked out. He hadn't heard their conversation just now, so he was still all smiles.

"Uncle," Zhong Yibin went forward and took the plate of fruits, inviting Father Chu to sit down.

"What's this?" Father Chu asked upon noticing that the mood between his wife and son wasn't quite right.

"Uncle, auntie, can you first let me speak a little about my family situation…" Zhong Yibin sat near Chu Qin, cleared his throat and started speaking with a grave expression on his face. "My name is Zhong Yibin, I'm 1.86 meters tall. I'm healthy and have no bad habits. My family owns Shengs.h.i.+ group, which primarily engages in real estate, automobiles, daily household items and entertainment. There is also a television station. I have an elder brother who is older than me by five years - our relations.h.i.+p is harmonious. At the moment, I am holding the position of director for Shengs.h.i.+ TV and Shengs.h.i.+ Entertainment. My annual salary is eight figures. There are three properties under my name - a small apartment, a villa in the suburbs of Beijing and a duplex house at Shengs.h.i.+ Tang Dynasty Park. I have two cars - a cross country vehicle and sport car…"

Chu Qin turned to glance at Zhong Yibin, who was reciting his personal and family background in great detail. The corner of his mouth twitched a little. This guy, was he here on a blind date?

"Truly young and promising," For some unknown reason, Father Chu even praised him. In his heart, he thought that the family whose daughter was marrying into Zhong Yibin's house would live very comfortably.

"If Chu Qin marries me, I will transfer half of Shengs.h.i.+ Entertainment's stocks under my name to him," Zhong Yibin seriously stated an enticing condition.

"Oh, there isn't such a need!" Father Chu hurriedly waved his hands in refusal. Then, he stared blankly. "What? Marriage?"

"Dad, Mum, I'm not doing this on impulse. The two of us have already been together for five-six years. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I hope you will consent," When Chu Qin uttered these words, the rims of his eyes were a little sore. Although he had long since become independent and was fully capable of deciding his own life, he still wished for his parents' blessings.

"You can like anyone but why must you like a man? This isn't normal, do you know that?" Mother Chu's brows creased, and she inhaled deeply. The thing she had constantly worried about now became reality, causing her to have some difficulty breathing.

Father Chu's eyes widened, and he stared blankly for a long time before finally figuring it out. With saying a word, he pulled out the drawer under the coffee table and took out a packet of cigarettes, silently lighting it.

"Why don't you like women? Mother remembers you being very normal when you were young!" Mother Chu still found it difficult to accept.

"Mother, it's not that I don't like women and it's not that I like men. I just like Zhong Yibin," Chu Qin said faintly. He liked Zhong Yibin and Zhong Yibin just happened to be a man - that was all.

The entire living room sunk into silence, leaving only the flickering of Father Chu's cigarette.

"Even if I marry a woman, I won't necessarily be happy. Mum, it's impossible for me to find another person who will carry me to the hospital when I'm sick, push me aside and rush up himself when I run into danger, and instantly appear before me with just a phone call when I need him…" Chu Qin slowly spoke. These words had long been prepared by him. He was truly happy being together with Zhong Yibin and every day was a blissful time. If his parents could understand his feelings, they should also be able to understand him. "Also, I'll say something that may not be so nice to hear. None of those girls you think are suitable have better qualifications than Zhong Yibin. Marrying him, even if I can no longer make money in the future, I will still be able to live a lifetime in comfort.

This statement seemed to have been said in very poor taste. However, this was exactly what moved his parents. They constantly spoke of having children, a family, someone to care for him and a safeguard for his life. Then, someone as wealthy as Zhong Yibin could naturally be Chu Qin's life guarantor.

Mother Chu visibly loosened up. In reality, no mother would dislike their child living in happiness. She looked Zhong Yibin up and down again and couldn't resist sighing once more. If the child she gave birth to had been a girl, she would instantly approve of both hands and feet. Such a good son-in-law was extremely difficult to find. However, the child she gave birth to had been a son…

 Chu Qin glanced carefully at his mother's expression. Seeing that she was no longer angry, he intended to persist. But to his surprise, Father Chu, who had been smoking at a corner, suddenly spoke.

"Have you really resolved to do this? Do you know what you will be facing?" Father Chu raised his head amidst the smoke and stared directly at his son.

Chu Qin's heart gave a thump. His father was an old-fas.h.i.+oned intellectual, had been teaching for so many years and came from a good family - it was definitely difficult for him to accept it. Chu Qin was already prepared to have his legs broken by his father. "I've decided and already made preparations. Even if this were to be exposed by all the media in the country, I will not be scared."

Zhong Yibin drew Chu Qin towards himself stealthily, in case Father Chu were to flare up at any time and hit him.

Another period of silence ensued. Mother Chu was afraid that her husband would hit their son and spoke up to lighten the atmosphere. "This matter is too sudden. Me and your father…"

"Since you've already made the decision, father will support you," Father Chu stubbed the cigarette b.u.t.t and suddenly made this statement.

Chu Qin's eyes slowly widened, and he looked incredulously at his father. Mother Chu opened her mouth. "His dad, why are you suddenly so understanding?"

"Marx said before that the economic foundation would decide the superstructure. Both of them have money and living is completely not an issue. In fact, they can live very well," Father Chu said seriously. "Lenin also said before that any thing has two sides to it. Our son has found a man - you can't only see the disadvantages, there are also clear benefits."

Chu Qin blinked. Marxism-Leninism could be used in such a way?

Mother Chu and Chu Qin looked at each other in dismay. Evidently, the two people who best understood Father Chu found it somewhat hard to adapt to this abrupt change. Where had that overly conservative fogey gone? He couldn't have amnesia just like Zhong Yibin right?

Father Chu felt uncomfortable under the two people's stares. He coughed dryly. To tell the truth, he was genuinely very shocked when he first heard of it. He had also hoped for it not to be real. But when he heard Chu Qin describing their daily lives word by word and thought about Zhong Yibin's performance ever since he entered their doors on the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month, he realized that the best daughter-in-law would not be able to surpa.s.s him…

"If this was the past, I would definitely not agree. But an incident happened in our school this year…" Father Chu spoke and couldn't resist lighting yet another cigarette.

Father Chu was a teacher in the best local senior high school. At the same time, he was also the head of the political education office and was in charge of disciplining the students who had violated the school rules.

Not long after school started this term, a not-very-small bullying incident happened in school. A male student called Zhao Yang with very good grades was suddenly surrounded by a group of boys and bullied. Father Chu happened to see the incident.

"What are you doing!" Father Chu bellowed. Those boys instantly scattered in all directions - his hands grabbed onto one, another was berated till he didn't dare to run, and the rest ran off.

The boy who shrunk into a corner was beaten till he bled from the nose. He raised his head and timidly looked at the Head.

"Teacher, he's called Zhao Yang. He's h.o.m.os.e.xual and hara.s.sed us cla.s.smates. We wanted to warn him off," The boy in Father Chu's hands said with his neck stretching out stiffly.

Zhao Yang heard these words and couldn't stop himself from retorting. "I didn't hara.s.s him. I just told him I liked boys and then he went around proclaiming that I liked him. Now the entire cla.s.s won't talk to me…"

He realized that he liked boys and was alarmed. He couldn't resist telling his good brothers and, in the end, with a turn of their heads, those brothers made it known to everyone. They said that Zhao Yang liked boys and had even confessed to him - they were very vicious.

Father Chu was shocked at that time. The malice of an ignorant youngster was the scariest.

"In the end?" Mother Chu listened and became somewhat angry. When Chu Qin was young, he was pet.i.te and was constantly bullied by several larger-built boys. She hated to see these sorts of children who bullied their cla.s.smates.

After that, Father Chu found all those students who had beaten the boy up - those who partic.i.p.ated were all given a major demerit while the one who took the lead, and had also spread that Zhao Yang liked boys, was expelled from school and made to remain at the school during vacation for observation.

"The school rules didn't state that boys aren't allowed to like boys, but it did state that hitting others is not allowed!" When faced with the dissatisfied parents, Father Chu was bold and confident. The headmaster was also very supportive of Father Chu's way of handling things.

"If our school's students are prejudiced, start rumors and bully their cla.s.smates, then I am letting down society and letting down the trust that parents have in me!" The headmaster said so during the parents' meeting. "Others' choices are not reasons to bully them!"

"This path is a tough one, child. You will definitely face a lot of pressure. Father doesn't wish for family to become your greatest burden. A father should be someone who protects you, not harms you," Father Chu sighed.

Mother Chu had already shed tears. Which parent did not wish for their child to live well? Them opposing their son being with a man was also because this route was too hard. But since her husband, who had always been old-fas.h.i.+oned, already thought in such a way, what more did she have to say.

"Father…" The rims of Chu Qin's eyes were very red. He couldn't speak, as if something was obstructing his throat.

"Father, thank you! I will treat Chu Qin well for a lifetime!" Zhong Yibin was the first to regain his senses and he immediately made a pledge. Fearing that Father Chu would regret it, he dragged Chu Qin to stand up and give the two elders a salute.

Chu Qin dragged Zhong Yibin to kneel and kowtowed to the two elders.

Chu Qin was still crying even after they were sent back to their room to sleep by parents. Zhong Yibin's heart was immeasurably pained and he enveloped the person in his embrace, showering kisses on his face. "Baby, don't cry. Dad and mum both agreed."

"I didn't even say all the lines I prepared! Boo hoo…" Chu Qin sobbed. He pulled out a bag from the luggage bag which contained the items he had prepared yet never used.

Zhong Yibin took the bag and looked through it. The bag contained the 'infertility diagnostic book' by the hospital under Yu Tang's family, proof of property, as well as a box of plasters for blood circulation.

"What are these blood circulation plasters for?" Zhong Yibin was very curious.

"To put on after I was beaten up by dad," Chu Qin was a little embarra.s.sed.

Zhong Yibin, "…"

The author has something to say:

Small theater:

Er Bing: Father-in-law hits people with style

Qin Qin: My dad uses his hand to hit you

Er Bing: The first move, old man slapping biscuit

Qin Qin: My dad uses his leg to kick you

Er Bing: The second move, treading on biscuit and crossing water

Qin Qin: My dad throws you out

Er Bing: The third move, old man tosses the iron biscuit

Qin Qin: ……