Chapter 158: How Self-absorbed Could He Be To Articulate These Things So Confidently?
Song Yu conveyed Yu Qianying and Song Donglin’s message to Qi Chengzhi.
Qi Chengzhi frowned and said, “It’s fine even if we go back. If I’m there, I can also deal with Yu Zixiu once and for all. If mum doesn’t mind, I can make them suffer some losses to stop them from bothering you guys any further. It is not possible to destroy the whole Yu family just like that, even though they’re not a powerful family, they still have their own reserve. Moreover, they own a mega-company, it’s not an easy task to bring them down.”
Song Yu was fine with his idea. She said, “I don’t mind at all and I think my mother would be on the same page too. But for today, I think we should follow mum and dad’s will and not go home. To be honest, I don’t really want to see those people. Furthermore, we should respect mum and dad’s opinion since they told us to. If we go home and Yu Zixiu saw you, he probably won’t feel anything regardless of what kind of expression you give him, but my parents may not feel comfortable on the inside.”
Qi Chengzhi nodded his head and did not press the issue further. However, Song Yu felt rather downhearted because of it.
He held her hand gently while he used his thumb to caress the space between her thumb and her index finger. Even his thumb seemed to be longer than normal.
“Where do you want to go now?” he asked.
Song Yu thought for a while and finally went to the Qi family’s old mansion together with Qi Chengzhi.
…
…
Grandmother Qi was filming in the set and Grandfather Qi brought Qi Youxuan out, leaving only Aunt Liu at home.
When they arrived, Aunt Liu was just starting to prepare Grandmother Qi’s lunchbox since she was not fond of the food prepared by the film crew.
“What does grandmother like to eat usually?” Song Yu asked Aunt Liu.
Before Aunt Liu could answer, the house phone rang. Aunt Liu hurried over to pick up the phone call, “Madam Qi!”
“…”
“Young Master and Miss Song dropped by.”
“…”
“I’m about to prepare your lunchbox.”
“…”
“No, I haven’t started yet.”
“…”
“Okay.”
Aunt Liu hung up and returned to the kitchen and told Song Yu, “Madam Qi wants to eat mushroom with choy sum and soy sauce romaine lettuce for lunch today.”
Grandmother Qi’s order could be considered ordinary, perhaps she was craving for home-cooked food.
Since Grandmother Qi was getting old, she became more health-conscious. She had reduced the consumption of meat and only ate a certain amount of it, never exceeding the fixed portion.
Song Yu gave a thought before saying, “Aunt Liu, do you mind if I cook for grandmother? I’ll send it to her later too.”
“It’s…” Aunt Liu did not mind at all for Song Yu to do this, “I don’t really mind if you want to do it, but since it’s my job, I feel a little embarrassed.”
“It’s fine,” Song Yu said. Aunt Liu thought about it and felt that Madam Qi probably would not mind as well, so she agreed to her request.
However, she did not just leave everything to Song Yu. She still stayed back and helped out with the groundwork such as washing vegetables.
The dishes that Grandmother Qi ordered were not that difficult to make. Song Yu used to cook for herself back in the days if she got off from work on time, thus she was quite familiar with the whole process.
Aunt Liu brought a vacuum flask over after organizing the rice and vegetables in the lunchbox.
Grandmother Qi was not the one who requested the soup, but her diet had always revolved around health and beauty rejuvenation. Aunt Liu had started to boil a fish maw soup this morning, a whole pot of soup reduced to a thick, fragrant essence, just right to be served.
She poured the soup into the vacuum flask and handed all of it to Song Yu.
Qi Chengzhi saw Song Yu appearing from the kitchen with the lunchbox in hand. She explained, “Since we’re already here, we can’t just stay here and do nothing. Why not pay grandma a visit.”
Qi Chengzhi stood up without saying a thing. He took her hand silently and lead her out of the door.
Song Yu lowered her head and saw their interlaced hands, before looking up to see the focused gaze on his charming face. She could not resist leaning against him, pressing into his arms closely, the corner of her mouth could not help but curve upwards into a blissful smile.
“The real reason that you suddenly decide to send the lunchbox to Grandmother Qi is just to protest against Shu Li right?” Qi Chengzhi who remained quiet throughout the journey spoke all of a sudden, his mellow voice had a hint of mockery.
Song Yu blushed in guilt as his guess of her intentions was on point.
Other than wanting to have a peep of the set, her initiative to deliver Grandmother Qi’s meal was partially motivated by her wanting to show some colors to Shu Li.
How self-absorbed could he be to articulate these things so confidently?
Even though he guessed it correctly, Song Yu did not want to let this man brag right to her face. She said, “I told you, Shu Li was never my concern. Why should I demonstrate anything? I just wanted to visit grandmother, that’s all.”
“Tch!” Qi Chengzhi scoffed and squeezed her hand, “No one will mock you for being protective of me.”
Song Yu’s mouth twitched but she did not retort back. Instead, she looked at him embarrassed with a flushed face.
Qi Chengzhi looked at her shy expression, an indescribable tenderness without any affectation. Even though she became more alluring, she still exuded an elegant aura.
He could not resist squeezing her delicate hands, the more he did that, he became more enthralled with her.
She agreed in silence since she did not argue with him any further. He was not angered by her intentions. Instead, he was very glad about it, perhaps more than he expected. It was as if his heart was about to jump out of his body.
He did not even realize how happy he was. Was it even necessary?
After that, before he was able to clear things out, he lowered his head suddenly and kissed Song Yu’s lips deeply.
In fact, he made quite a loud sound by kissing her.
Song Yu’s lips got seared by his sudden kiss. Even though he released her shortly after before deepening the kiss like he usually would, her face was already burning up.
“What are you doing! We’re in public, someone on the street saw us,” Song Yu said in a lowered voice. Her face was scorching hot as if it was on the verge of exploding. Her lips were still tingling when they grazed against each other while she spoke.
“When did you start to care about being seen by others? You used to kiss me in public rather often,” he arched his eyebrow and teased her,
Song Yu felt as if he was insinuating that she was quite thick-skinned and said, “I won’t do that in the future.”
All of a sudden, Qi Chengzhi stopped walking. She did not notice at first and continued walking, but she got pulled back by his sudden stop.
Only then, she stopped and turned around. She tugged his hand, but it was as if he was deeply rooted to the ground and remained motionless.
“Why did you stop walking?”
Then, Qi Chengzhi pulled Song Yu towards him and she fell right into his arms.
His chest was muscular and sturdy, Song Yu’s nose felt a little sore when she collided with it.
“You won’t kiss me in public from now onwards?” Qi Chengzhi put up a stern face. His expression looked very fierce when he made a serious face.
“The way you said it made me seem very thick-skinned,” Song Yu mumbled softly, she lowered her head until the only thing he could see was the top of her head.
“Are you going to kiss me in public in the future?” Song Yu heard his voice sounded from above her head. His mellow tone caused a prickling sensation that swept over her scalp.
When she did not answer, Qi Chengzhi squeezed her hand and urged, “Kiss me and I’ll walk.”
“…” Song Yu lifted her head. She did not expect him to take it so seriously and even tried reasoning with her there and then. Therefore, she came up with an excuse, “If we keep delaying, grandmother’s lunchbox will turn cold.”
Qi Chengzhi arched his eyebrow and gave a mocking laugh. His laughter and the curvature of the corner of his mouth made her skin boil, “That’s why you should hurry up.”
“…” Song Yu was speechless. If she would not kiss him, he would refuse to leave, causing the lunchbox to lose its warmth.
Qi Chengzhi stopped urging her and eventually, he stopped talking and just stared at her with his dark and deep-set eyes.
Song Yu had no choice but to say softly, “Lower your head then.”
With his height, she could only reach his chin even when she tiptoed.
Qi Chengzhi lowered his head cooperatively. Song Yu lifted her heels off the ground and gave a quick peck on his lips.
Only then, Qi Chengzhi was satisfied and took her hand to continue walking forward. He even said, “So daring, kissing me on the street like that.”
Song Yu, “…”
…
…
This time around, the working crew on set recognized Qi Chengzhi. Even though the director did not reveal Grandmother Qi’s identity, he mentioned to them that she was a person of importance and ordered them to treat her respectfully.
This was also the reason why no one blocked Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu when they entered.
The shooting of Grandmother Qi’s scenes was arranged right before and after lunchtime. After the lunch break, she needed to film one more scene and she would be done for the day.
By the time they arrived, the crew was giving out lunch. Even though Shu Li was the female lead, she still ate the same thing as the crew. She let her assistant collect the meal for her while Grandmother Qi waited for Aunt Liu to deliver her lunch.
“Grandmother,” Song Yu called.
Grandmother Qi searched for the voice and saw her grandson and granddaughter-in-law had come to send her lunchbox over. Instantly, she raised her voice as if she was worried that others might not be able to hear, “Aiya, why are you two here?”
Qi Chengzhi pursed his lips and thought, ‘Didn’t Grandmother Qi had enough of acting after two full days of filming?’
“Aunt Liu received your call when we came home,” Song Yu said while she placed the lunchbox on the table, “I cooked these two dishes. You’re used to Aunt Liu’s cooking, not sure if you’ll like mine.”
“Aiyo, such a good girl,” Grandmother Qi was smiling from ear to ear. Coincidentally, Shu Li was walking over with a lunchbox in her hand. Grandmother Qi said with a louder voice, “Two of you deliberately drop by to send a lunchbox for an old lady to eat. Xiao Shu, look at them, don’t you think they have such a loving relationship!”
Shu Li forced a stiff smile and greeted, “Young Master Cheng, Miss Song.”
Grandmother Qi opened the lunchbox and said, “Judging from the presentation, it’s already better than Xiao Liu’s cooking. My eldest grandson has such good taste in women. You should find a wife like her, not necessarily have to be famous. To be able to live together is the most important aspect of marriage. When you’re busy entertaining the whole day outside, you’ll hope to come home to a warm meal prepared for you. Home-cooked food may look simple, but it has the taste of home. The food cooked personally by your wife definitely tastes different from those prepared by the housemaid. Dynasty’s food is rather delicious, right? It’s still not as good as it lacks the taste of home.
“Like our Song Yu, a natural beauty, talented and has a great job. She makes us feel proud when we go out together. One does not necessarily have to expose themselves to the public in order to be presentable. Instead, those who were always in the limelight would not be around. How can such a person be a good wife?”
Shu Li was walking over in their direction. When she heard what Grandmother Qi said, she halted halfway, not sure whether she should turn back or proceed forward.
“If you’re looking for a wife, you’ll want a dutiful one. Am I right, Xiao Shu?” Shu Li remained stationary, but Grandmother Qi actively engaged the conversation with her. “Look at all those celebrities. They gain fame by kissing from one actor to the other when they shoot intimate scenes. How awkward must their husband feel knowing that they had been touched by umpteen men? Do they even have privacy? Our family tradition dictates that your wife should be only yours, nobody can take advantage of her. Not even a tiny bit.
“Aiya, Xiao Shu, I’m not referring to you. I’m just giving an example, please don’t take it to heart,” Grandmother Qi said laughingly. “I’m a very straightforward person. I just speak anything that’s on my mind, it’s definitely not about you. I know that you are a good girl, you know the boundaries even though you also have several kissing scenes.”
Shu Li had no idea how to respond to that. Her expression was so awkward that she wished so badly to just turn around and leave. It was obvious that she was made fun of and Song Yu was probably enjoying all of it.
Luckily, the director came over. When he heard that Qi Chengzhi arrived, he threw his lunchbox aside and rushed over.
“Madam Qi, Young Master Cheng,” the director greeted. His gaze fell on Song Yu and asked Grandmother Qi puzzledly, “Is this your daughter?”
“He he he, director, you’re such a joker. I can be her grandmother already!” Grandmother Qi replied, her face was gleaming with joy. “This is my granddaughter-in-law, Song Yu.”
Grandmother Qi directly omitted the word “future”. Inside her heart, she was making a note to herself to remind Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu to sign their marriage certificate once they go home. That would then allow her the right to introduce Song Yu to others as her granddaughter-in-law.
“Oh, you must Young Master’s wife!” The director addressed her respectfully. He’s a rather famous director in the local film industry. He had quite the reputation out there, but he dare not put on airs in front of Qi Chengzhi.
Song Yu laughed politely and said, “You don’t have to be so polite, just call me by my name.”
The director chuckled and saw the lunchbox on the table, “Yo, Madam Qi, did your granddaughter-in-law sent you this?”
“Yeah!” Grandmother Qi laughed non-stop and casually said, “My granddaughter-in-law cooked this herself. It’s so rare to find a youngster who can cook these days.”
“Director.” A young man ran over, the corner of his mouth stained with the oil residue from his meal. “There’s a lady out there saying that she came to send Madam Qi lunch.”
“Hmm?” The director looked at Grandmother Qi, “Madam Qi, you asked another person to send you lunch?”
“No I didn’t!” Grandmother Qi shook her head, “Why would I order someone else when I know that my granddaughter-in-law is coming to send me lunch.”
Furthermore, the only person in the house is Aunt Liu, not the young lady that the man described.
“How old is the lady outside?” Grandmother Qi asked.
“In her early twenties,” the young man replied. “She looks rather pretty.”
“Can it be Chengyue?” Grandmother Qi guessed.
“Let her in then?” the director asked.
Grandmother Qi nodded and said, “It could be my granddaughter.”
After some time, the young man lead the young lady over. When Grandmother Qi took a closer look at the lady, her warm expression turned a little dark.
“Madam Qi,” Yu Keyao was holding a brown-colored wooden box in her hand. There were delicate carvings of beautiful designs on it.
She was wearing a dress with heels and a cream color jacket over it. Her long strands of hair were braided neatly. She walked over at a moderate pace. She was much more elegant than Shu Li since she was from a renowned family.
“Young Master… Cheng,” Yu Keyao was unsure whether Qi Chengzhi would tolerate her presence. She still remembered Qi Chengzhi’s threat and dare not address him as “Brother Chengzhi” anymore.
This time around, she even nodded politely at Song Yu and greeted her smilingly, “Sister.”
Song Yu ignored her and turned around while she arched her eyebrows teasingly at Qi Chengzhi.
She was insinuating that there was already one secret admirer in the set that dare not confess to him, the other one came all the way here and had not given up on him yet.
Qi Chengzhi returned her with an ambiguous smile and pinched her waist secretly.
All of them could see the intimate interaction between them. After seeing that, Shu Li decided to bury her feelings away.
Qi Chengzhi was like a steel wall, nothing works on him regardless of what strategy she planned to make on him. Also, Madam Qi kept making sarcastic remarks whenever she had the chance, hinting her to give up on Qi Chengzhi. She would never succeed and the Qi family would not accept her. She should never think of leaching on the Qi family with her status as an actress.
The Qi family would accept Song Yu as a commoner, but never an actress like Shu Li.
She had quite a strong sense of self-esteem and thought rather highly of herself, but her status could never compare to Song Yu in the eyes of the Qi family.
Shu Li pursed her lips self-mockingly and shook her head. She did not want to chase after Qi Chengzhi anymore. It was never going to happen, not even the slightest possibility that she could have been his mistress. This man had never once looked her in the eye, no matter what she did, it was all pointless.
Even though Shu Li wanted to make advances on Qi Chengzhi, she was aware of her status and knew how to stay in her place. This was also the reason why she could survive in this industry. She knew when to strive for something and when to back down.
If she knew that she was not supposed to do it, she would stop and not create trouble.
And now there was another woman. Even though she did not know who was it, from the way it looks, she seemed to be coming for the sake of Qi Chengzhi.
Although Shu Li had given up on any intentions of being with Qi Chengzhi, it did not mean that she stopped liking him.
Since there was a woman here to disturb Qi Chengzhi and Song Yu, she happily stood aside and watched.
“Madam Qi, I heard that you were filming here, so I brought some food to visit you,” Yu Keyao smiled and said softly. Then, she walked over slowly and placed the refined lunchbox onto the table.
“I have been learning how to cook. It took me quite a while to practice these two dishes. I think that they are rather decent. Please have a taste if you don’t mind my skills.” Yu Keyao opened her lunchbox, revealing the rather tasty looking dishes.
The color combination of the dishes was on point, bacon kai-lan and shrimp with green peas.
Grandmother Qi glanced at it offishly and scrunched her eyebrows together while she said hesitantly, “Uhm, this… Miss Yu, thank you for your kind offerings but I should be cutting down on my meat intake due to my age. I can’t eat something so high in fat. Also, my granddaughter-in-law brought me some of my favorite vegetables. I really appreciate your effort.”
Yu Keyao looked at the other lunchbox that was most probably from Song Yu. Judging by its looks, they were common home-cooking. Not that it was not presentable, but they were much duller in comparison to hers.
A glimpse of disgust shot through her gaze, but she maintained her gentle smile when she lifted her head. “Young Master Cheng, sister, you guys probably haven’t eaten anything since you came over at this hour. If you all don’t mind, you can have this.”
They were uncertain if Yu Keyao had learned her lesson. She did not pester Qi Chengzhi and declared how much she likes him. Instead, she greeted them politely as if she had accepted them as her sister and brother-in-law. This placed Song Yu in an awkward position where she could not say anything insulting even though she was not happy.
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