Chapter 256 - Dinner Surprise
"I’m home~" Xiu Mei greeted as soon as she got home. It wasn’t actually her habit to do that but somehow, she just felt like doing it today.
Unfortunately, though, she couldn’t see the shadow of her son and her husband at all. She roamed her sight around the room and only saw the helpers.
Where were they? Did they go out?
But their shoes are here ah.
Xiu Mei was on her way upstairs to change her clothes when she suddenly saw something strange outside.
She was halfway upstairs when she saw the backs of the two people she was looking for a second ago.
So they were outside all this time?
She walked over to the window to see what the father and son were doing but since their position is a bit hidden from where she’s looking from, she couldn’t see Lu Chen’s romantic dinner preparation.
Her footsteps paused when she suddenly saw Lu Qiang appear in front of her.
"Welcome home, mommy!" Lu Qiang happily greeted her as he immediately jumped into her arms.
"I’m home, baby." She hugged her son and kissed him on the cheek as usual.
Xiu Mei didn’t seem to notice anything strange as she cuddled with her son. Unbeknownst to her, Lu Qiang was sent by Lu Chen to temporarily stop his mother from finding out his surprise yet. Behind them, Lu Chen stealthily sneaked upstairs and changed into a better attire. He was nimble and was immediately back downstairs again.
Lu Qiang was immediately relieved of his position as Lu Chen’s temporary assistant. Even though he often fights with his father, just remembering how pale and stressed her mother was this morning, he was very generous and let his father spend more time with her.
Isn’t he a very filial son ah?
"Mom, can you close your eyes for a bit?"
"Hm?"
Xiu Mei was puzzled by her son’s weird request, but she still listened to him anyway and closed her eyes. Lu Qiang’s small hand held his mother’s, and carefully pulled her to the garden.
"Where are we going?" Xiu Mei was very curious about what they were suddenly doing. Was this some kind of new game he was playing?
"Don’t open your eyes mom. Not yet." Lu Qiang repeated. He slowly walked to make sure that her mother won’t bump into or something or trip. He opened the door to the garden and pulled her to where his father set the table.
After finishing his final job, Lu Qiang released his mother’s hand and ran back to the house.
"Baby?" Xiu Mei was stunned when she sensed that her son let go of her hand. She was about to open her eyes when she sensed another presence in front of her.
She didn’t feel scared, because she knew she was within the safety of her home, and she smelled the familiar scent that she always liked to hug every night.
"Chenchen?" She uttered softly. She heard a light chuckle then felt something warm on her forehead.
After pressing a kiss on her forehead, she heard him whisper softly.
"Open your eyes."
Xiu Mei’s eyelashes quivered, then she slowly opened her eyes. It was already a bit dark, and only the garden lights were lit up. But strangely, it had some kind of filter effect when she saw Lu Chen holding a bouquet of camellia.
The garden lights served as some kind of backdrop that made the atmosphere different.
Xiu Mei was taken aback when she saw her husband surprising her like this. He was smiling at her so gently, looking at her as if she was the only one in his eyes in this world. She didn’t miss the twinkle and gentleness in his eyes as he stared only at her.
Even though he was only holding her by her shoulders, it was as if she was being embraced by him through his gaze. She felt her heart race and the butterflies in her stomach.
"For you, my one and only Mrs.Lu." Lu Chen sweetly uttered as he gave the flowers to her. Xiu Mei gladly accepted it, hugged the bouquet, and raised her head to look at her husband again.
His smile reflected hers as the two looked at each other’s eyes.
"What’s this so suddenly?"
Xiu Mei was honesty touched by Lu Chen’s surprise. But she also fell into a slight panic because she thought that today was something special for Lu Chen to suddenly prepare like this. It wasn’t her birthday nor his. Their anniversary isn’t until next year, and it’s not even a national holiday of some sort.
Lu Chen stroked her hair and answered her truthfully, "I wanted to apologize for not doing a great job as your husband."
"Huh?"
"I didn’t contact you at all since yesterday. That was my failure. I’m sorry, my wife."
Lu Chen c.a.r.e.s.sed her cheeks while he continued to apologize.
"Forgive me?"
Xiu Mei blinked in confusion.
...did he probably think that she was angry?
But she wasn’t ah.
....well, okay maybe a little bit.
But she knew that his other work is more complicated than being a president of a big company so she only sulked for a little but got over it quickly. She was very understanding and forgiving when it comes to that kind of thing since she has a lot of relatives from her mother’s side that she rarely gets to meet because they all have their own missions in the military that forces them to be away for months or years.
She only sulked a little bit though because Lu Chen didn’t give her a heads up that he won’t return at all yesterday. She only knew that he would go meet someone in the military but she wasn’t sure about the specifics.
Anyways, she’s straying from the topic again.
"I’m not angry."
Xiu Mei covered Lu Chen’s hand that was cupping her cheeks with hers and leaned on it comfortably.
She wasn’t really angry. Rather, she was more worried because she knew that Lu Chen was pushing himself more and getting himself in even more danger than he already is because of her family situation.
Now that she knew that everything that was happening was because it’s a grudge against her family, she felt guilty getting Lu Chen entangled with her problems. Ever since they got together, it was as if everything took a turn for the worst with all kinds of problems suddenly popping out of nowhere.
She’s the one who was supposed to be sorry ah. Not him.
Lu Chen looked at his wife closely to see if she was really not angry with him. Realizing that his wife wasn’t really angry, he let out a sigh of relief.
He cupped her face again with both his hands and lowered his head.
Xiu Mei knew what he was planning to do the moment Lu Chen’s face magnified in front of her. She closed her eyes and accepted his kiss. It was a different kiss than usual.
He kissed her light and slow. He didn’t pull her into a deep kiss, but he was more careful and attentive this time. This kiss of his made her feel warm and sweet which she enjoyed very much.
The two didn’t kiss that long and Lu Chen immediately showed her the romantic dinner he carefully prepared.
He held her hand while they walked to the table, then like a gentleman, pulled her chair and helped her sit on the chair. He took the bouquet from her hands and placed it on a different table before sitting across her.
Xiu Mei was pretty amazed at the setup. There was even a couple of candles on the side that somehow made it more romantic and another stem of camellia in the middle.
"Let’s eat." Lu Chen said.
Xiu Mei was already slightly hungry so she immediately picked up the fork and twirled it on the pasta. After putting it on her mouth, she hasn’t chewed the pasta yet when she tasted the slight saltiness on her tastebuds.
She stiffened at first with the strange flavor but she didn’t stop and chewed it carefully.
Xiu Mei: Mhm.... the pasta was a bit overcooked but I guess that’s better than eating it uncooked.
Xiu Mei: The sauce tastes a bit salty and the cream tastes a little burnt...
Xiu Mei whose hobby is cooking subconsciously evaluated the food she was eating. But she made sure not to voice out her thoughts as she continued eating it happily.
The instant she tasted it, she immediately knew who cooked this. It was the fruit of the labor of her husband, of course, it was definitely yummy.
And unlike how she easily revealed her thoughts back when she ate his egg with shells in it, she flashed a big smile as she happily ate it as if it’s the most delicious thing in the world.
Lu Chen watched his wife enjoy the food he made and instantly felt happy.
"Did you like it?"
"I love it!" She wasn’t lying.
Loving the food doesn’t mean it always has to taste good. And ignoring the technicalities aside, she definitely finds this pasta delicious.
"You’ll have to cook this more often for me, mm?"