Pushing away his black cap, Su Shen fixed her hair before glaring at him sternly. "Then, I'll tell my dad that you deliberately made us late!"
Hearing this, Xie Yan smiled as he held her hand. "Is it my fault that you spent half an hour doing your makeup?"
Su Shen: "...."
Feeling a bit embarrassed, she coughed lightly and then turned to the nearby server. "Could you please show us the way?"
"Of course!" Eating a pile of dog food in front of her, the server suppressed her excitement and courteously guided them. It was just that her expression remained tense, fearing that she might inadvertently reveal any unusual reactions.
As soon as the two of them left, several servers at the reception desk gathered together and stared in the direction of Xie Yan in disbelief. "OMG! Am I seeing things? Is that… Xie Yan and Su Shen?"
"AHHHHHH!" exclaimed a short-statured server, gripping their phone tightly in excitement.
"So handsome! Too suave! I can't, my blood vessels are about to burst!" exclaimed a server, clutching their chest with an exhilarated expression.
"I'm going to post on Weibo!" A rather tanned server immediately started typing away on their phone with excitement.
Upon entering the room, only Xie Yan's parents had arrived. Xie Quan was dressed in a Mandarin Collar jacket and sat there drinking tea while Xie Yan's mom wore a cyan qipao and had a shawl draped over her shoulders. The surroundings were adorned with antique decor, refined and elegant. Seeing the two of them, Mama Xie immediately got up and smiled, pulling out a chair for her. "Shen Shen, you're here. Come sit!"
"Auntie, no need to be so polite. I can do it myself." Su Shen immediately smiled and took a seat.
Due to trying to shake off the paparazzi at first, they were a bit late. Seeing Xie Yan's dad, she nodded politely and said, "Hello, Uncle."
Sitting there, Xie Quan took a sip of tea and smiled kindly when he saw the two of them. "It's good that you two went public. It's not good for youngsters to hide their relationships all the time."
Hearing this, Su Shen couldn't help but look down in embarrassment. Her dad had mentioned that he had arrived in the parking lot. With that in mind, she got up and looked toward the door. "My family has arrived. I'll go and get them first."
"No need, just have Xie Yan go!" Mama Xie held her hand as she looked at Xie Yan.
He got up and quickly left the private room. Without Xie Yan around, Su Shen felt a bit uneasy and sat there, pouring herself a cup of tea.
Mama Xie looked at her with a smile, seemingly more and more satisfied as she looked. When she noticed the ring on Su Shen's ring finger, a hint of understanding crossed her eyes. "Shen Shen, what are your plans for the future?"
Su Shen paused as she was about to pour herself some tea. Seeing Mama Xie smiling at her, she pretended to be calm and placed the teapot down. "As for plans, it's mostly up to Xie Yan. I usually follow his lead."
She knew that Xie Yan would certainly take her current situation into consideration when making future plans.
"En, but that's just him. I mainly want to ask, have you considered when you and Xie Yan will have children after getting married?" Mama Xie stared at her intently and added, "Xie Yan doesn't tell us anything. But people in your guys' line of work often prioritize their careers, so we're a bit concerned. After all, time flies by quickly."
She didn't expect her to be worried about this. Actually, Xie Yan's mom had already expressed it very euphemistically. Su Shen explained somewhat apologetically, "This… Auntie, there's no need to worry. Xie Yan and I believe in letting things happen naturally."
"Great!" Mama Xie immediately held her hand with delight, her still attractive face filled with appreciation. "With your words, both his dad and I are reassured."
Speaking of this, Xie Quan over there looked somewhat displeasedly at her. "What are you discussing with such a young girl? A sensible child-like Su Su would surely have her own plans. She's still young, so don't have this aged thinking."
Hearing this, Mama Xie immediately glared at him in dissatisfaction. "I wonder who's the one always nagging about having grandchildren? And now you're saying this to me?!"
Su Shen sat there feeling awkward, wishing she could find a hole to hide in. Blushing, she sat there sipping her tea quietly.
Suddenly, the door was pushed open and several figures entered. Seeing them, Xie Quan immediately got up and walked over with a smile, "In-laws!"
Upon seeing Xie Quan, Papa Su didn't expect the other party to be so enthusiastic. He shook his hand with a smile and exchanged pleasantries. "Ahaha, look at this child, feeling all embarrassed now."
Su Shen blushed and remained silent, enduring the gaze of everyone in the room.
"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. With a sensible child-like Su Su, it's our family's good fortune that Xie Yan found her!"
During their lively conversation, Su Shen looked at Xie Yan sitting beside her puzzledly and stared at the two dolls in his hand. "Where did you get those?"
Hearing this, he handed the items to her helplessly. "Just now, someone gave them to me."
Su Shen: "...."
Taking the two dolls, she lowered her voice and said, "Quickly tell He Hua to bring two bodyguards over. There will probably be a lot of people waiting outside later."
They had already been recognized, and word spread quickly. There would definitely be a lot of people waiting outside later. If they don't have bodyguards, it would be difficult to leave.
"I already told him," said Xie Yan as he picked up the teapot and filled her teacup naturally.
While the others were busy ordering dishes, they had mostly overlooked Xie Yan and Su Shen. They engaged in conversations about current social topics and shared amusing tidbits from Su Shen's childhood, creating a harmonious and joyful atmosphere.
Su Shen hadn't told her parents about her accepting Xie Yan's proposal yet. However, she felt that her parents wouldn't say much about it, except perhaps discussing when the wedding would take place.
After ordering the food, the server glanced at Xie Yan fervently. Su Shen squeezed the two cute dolls and suddenly felt that this matter would definitely be spread online again today.
"As you can see, they have been together for quite a while now. They're both grown up, and I think it's best for them to settle down," said Xie Quan with a smile as he looked at Papa Su beside him.
The latter smiled and said nothing, turning his gaze toward Su Shen. She had been keeping her head down and whispering to Xie Yan. It could be seen that they had a great relationship.
"This… It's best for the youngsters to decide. Nowadays, arranged marriages are not in fashion anymore." Papa Su threw the ball to Su Shen.
Su Shen looked up and stared at her dad in a daze. Just at this moment, her hand was grabbed by Mama Xie again, and she said with a smile, "Shen Shen, the style of this ring isn't very nice, is it? Let Xie Yan buy you another one another day."
Su Shen: "....."
Across from them, Mama Su suddenly noticed the sparkling ring on Su Shen's hand. Surprised and a bit reproachful, she felt that this brat should have mentioned it earlier. How could she accept someone's proposal without even saying a word?!
"Ahahaha, this matter isn't urgent. They're both quite busy, and their schedules are full, aren't they? Moreover, we need to choose an auspicious day. Such matters require to be considered at length," Papa Su laughed once again.
Just at this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and two servers walked in, carrying dishes. Their gaze inadvertently swept over Xie Yan and Su Shen, but they quickly placed the dishes on the table and left.
"Uncle's right. I have time anytime, but such matters do require careful consideration," Xie Yan suddenly said.
Su Shen, beside him, pursed her lips and said nothing, feeling that Xie Yan was making a retreat to advance.
Papa Su, sitting across from them, felt somewhat helpless. The other party came well-prepared. Although Xie Yan seemed decent, he still didn't want to easily marry off his daughter like this.
"Right, right, right. This is not a small matter. I'll find a fortune teller to calculate you guys' compatibility based on your birth charts and see if this year is suitable for marriage. Anyway, there's no rush. Let's take our time," Papa Su said, pointing at the dishes in front of them. "Let's eat!"
Seeing this, Xie Quan raised a glass of wine in front of him in rapport. "Come, let's have a drink!"
The sensitive topic seemed to have passed, and Su Shen still sat there awkwardly without saying a word. Xie Yan would occasionally pick up some of the dishes and place it in her bowl. The dinner became unusually complicated. It was clearly a matter of sooner or later, yet they had to probe each other.
When He Hua arrived, they still hadn't finished their dinner yet. He waited outside for a while and said that there were already many people waiting outside. It seemed that they couldn't leave through the main entrance. There was no choice but to let their parents go first since those fans wouldn't recognize them.
They could only go through the back door, but there were quite a few people waiting there as well. When they saw her and Xie Yan, they immediately started screaming, "AHHHH! XIE YAN!"
"AHHHH, SU SU, CAN YOU GIVE ME AN AUTOGRAPH?!"
A group of fans immediately started taking photos with their phones. The bodyguards tried to prevent them from getting too close and were also afraid of hurting them, but the fans were fearless. The car was already parked beside the road. The fans' screams attracted the attention of passersby, who turned to look and started taking photos with their phones as well.
The fans were so wild that the bodyguards were momentarily unable to block them. A fan's pen even accidentally poked Su Shen's arm. Just at this moment, her shoulder was grabbed by Xie Yan and he pulled her into his arms, practically half-carrying her into the car.
The car quickly sped away, and it wasn't until they couldn't see the group of fans behind them that He Hua finally breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, you guys informed me in advance. Else, there would've been no way for you guys to come out from there today."
He Hua's statement wasn't an exaggeration. Nowadays, the behavior of fans was crazy, and some fans were even capable of doing extreme things such as forcibly kissing celebrities. Moreover, they were surrounded by so many people, even the noise was deafening.
"By the way, don't just simply announce your wedding date. At most a week in advance, okay?" He Hua immediately added.
Sitting in the rear, Su Shen didn't know what to say. The wedding date hadn't even been decided yet, and she still needed to probe her parents' thoughts on the matter.
"Do you prefer a Chinese-style wedding or a Western-style wedding?" Xie Yan suddenly turned to look at her.
Su Shen: "...."
She wanted to laugh, but she glanced at him in all earnesty, "There's no rush. The date hasn't been set yet. Although I agreed to your proposal, our parents haven't decided on a date. It could be next year or the year after. Nothing's set yet."
He Hua in front was a bit speechless. It turned out that despite all the efforts, Xie Yan still hadn't won over his future in-laws?
Seeing her earnest expression, Xie Yan leaned over and whispered, "How about we make a bet?"
Su Shen: "....."
"I'm not betting with you. You can wait patiently," Su Shen replied, looking down to scroll through her phone. Beside her, Xie Yan simply looked at her with a smile before closing his eyes and leaned back without saying a word.
However, as soon as Su Shen opened Weibo, she saw a post that caught her attention. It was an explosive allegation made by a marketing account, claiming that she was a third party in a relationship. According to the post, Xie Yan was originally with Cen Qing, but her interference led to their breakup!
Seeing that she was scrolling through her phone, He Hua at the front said unhurriedly, "These are all tactics employed by marketing accounts to generate buzz. The company is already working on getting them to apologize and delete the post."
Su Shen knew that He Hua was referring to this because the hashtag #Xie Yan & Cen Qing# was trending as No.3 on Hot Search, which wasn't there in the morning. It must've just emerged. Fans from different sides were engaged in heated arguments. Yao Yin must've done some PR as some influential Weibo accounts hadn't reposted the post. However, there were still some people accusing her of being a mistress in the comments.
Netizen A: Rumors nowadays require no cost at all. Didn't Xie Yan clarify that there was nothing between him and Cen Qing ages ago? Why do these diehard fans insist on believing and spreading such rumors? Do they need a slap in the face to learn their lesson? [smiley face]
Netizen B: The kiss scenes with that b***h were all positioning, okay? If they were really together, did they need to???
Netizen C: You could tell that Su White Lotus isn't a decent person with just one look. She has the face of a mistress. [vomit]
Netizen D: It must've been that b***h seducing Xie Yan. After all, he can help pave the way for her. [smiley face]
Netizen E: Cen Qing, that b***h's diehard fans are really willing to throw themselves under the bus. Just wait for my Yan ge to clarify. [smiley face]
Netizen F: The kiss scenes between Xie Yan and Cen Qing were staged, but with Su Shen, it's the real deal. Do the diehard fans not know what's real and what's fake?
For the past few days, they had been the subject of talk, so it was expected that someone would try to stir up trouble. However, Su Shen didn't expect it to happen so soon. These marketing accounts love spreading rumors for the sake of clout. But if she were to get labeled as a mistress, it would be a permanent stain on her reputation, much harder to wash up than having poor acting.
Feeling upset for no apparent reason, Su Shen suddenly handed her phone to Xie Yan and said unhappily, "I'm a mistress?"
Hearing this, Xie Yan, who had his eyes closed, immediately opened them and seemed somewhat displeased when he saw the content on the screen. He frowned and asked, "When did this happen?"