New Times, New Hell

Chapter 139 - Extra: Meeting the In-Laws (Beginning)

“Dad, Mom, we’re back,” Yu Zhengdu yelled through the front door.

It was time for the Qingming Festival, which happened once every year. He was once again bringing Shang Que and Peppa back to Jintan Village to celebrate. This time, aside from celebrating the holiday, there was another very important matter to take care of.

Very quickly, Mother Yu rushed over to open the door. Upon seeing Shang Que, her expression was one of delight. “You’re quite early today. Hurry and come in.”

“We drove over ourselves this time,” Shang Que appropriately responded. He paused for a moment, then emphasized, “I’ve already received my driver’s license and bought a car.”

“Yo, you bought a car ah. Congratulations, congratulations,” Father Yu added from behind. “In my opinion, no matter what, Xiao Shang is a CEO. He should’ve had his own car a long time ago.”

“Un.” Seemingly nonchalantly, Shang Que casually mentioned, “I bought a normal MPV this time. If there’s a need in the future, I can also switch to something better.”

Father Yu was a bit confused by Shang Que’s attitude. He kept feeling like the other was specially reporting to him, but temporarily couldn’t formulate his suspicions clearly. Thus, he only replied with, “Anything’s fine, anything’s fine.”

After the small talk, a little girl in a princess dress who looked to be about four or five cutely called out from off to the side, “Grandpa, Grandma, hello.”

Yu Zhengdu tugged the little girl forward and introduced her to his parents. “This is Xiao Shang’s adopted daughter, Peppa.”

“Ah, adopted by Xiao Shang?” Father and Mother Yu’s first reaction was one of slight shock, mainly because Shang Que honestly looked very young. He didn’t look to be the age of someone who would want to adopt a daughter.

But when they turned to observe the little girl, both their eyes lit up. They instantly tossed all of their questions to the back of their minds. Mother Yu couldn’t stop herself from reaching out to stroke Peppa’s head. “She’s too cute!”

“Her name is Peppa too?” Father Yu was a bit confused. He thought to himself, how much must Shang Que like the name Peppa? His pet goose is named Peppa. His adopted child is named Peppa too.

However, not only was Peppa cute in appearance, she wasn’t shy at all either. She unabashedly called the Yu parents “Grandpa” and “Grandma”; it seemed that she had a strange familiarity and intimacy with Father and Mother Yu. This caused the two of them to feel like their hearts were about to melt.

“Come in first.” Father Yu hurriedly opened the door a bit wider and led them inside.

Mother Yu didn’t forget to ask, “Oh right, where’s our Peppa?”

“I’m here, Grandma.” Peppa raised her little head and blinked her round eyes.

“I’m talking about the other Peppa,” Mother Yu explained. “She’s a goose. Her name is Peppa too.”

“I’ll explain to you later,” Yu Zhengdu offhandedly replied.

Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que’s hands were full of big and little bags. Shang Que said, “These are for you guys.”

Father Yu immediately accepted some of them. “How many times have we said this? You just need to come back. There’s no need to bring anything. What don’t we have at home right now?”

“You really don’t have this stuff at home,” Yu Zhengdu answered with a smile. He casually pulled a few boxes out from a bag. “This is our company’s newest product, the fleshed lingzhi soup base gift box. It’s currently only available in limited quantities. Without a good Internet connection and skills, you won’t be able to get any.”

“Fleshed lingzhi soup base? This is your company’s product?” Mother Yu had actually heard of this product before. Upon hearing Yu Zhengdu’s introduction, she hurriedly grabbed a box and took a look at it. Her entire person instantly became excited. “It really is.”

It turned out that this fleshed lingzhi soup base had long since become famous. It was the top choice for young people when they were buying gifts for their parents and elders. It was even more welcomed in the middle-aged and old-aged markets. Giving the soup base as a gift was much more impressive than giving health supplements, cigarettes, alcohol, or tea.

“I hear lots of people talking about this when I go out dancing in the evening. They said that it’s really great for making soup. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also healthy. Many wanted to ask their kids to help them buy some online, but the kids weren’t able to buy any,” Mother Yu said. “Because of this, Lao Liu’s family previously thought that it was all because their son Xiao Liu couldn’t bear to spend the money.”

Yu Zhengdu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “That’s a bit over the top.”

“It is over the top. But everyone says that you can buy anything online, right? So Lao Liu thought that maybe it was because the soup base was too expensive.” Mother Yu finished with, “However, after everyone talked about it later, he learned that it really was quite difficult to buy.”

The more Mother Yu looked at Shang Que, the more she liked him. Ever since Yu Zhengdu had entered Shang Que’s company, the Yu parents’ lives had become more interesting and tasteful as well.

Without mentioning Yu Zhengdu’s salary – which was much higher than that of many people the same age as him – and work benefits, firstly, last year’s Qingming incident and the rabbit fur black glaze tea cups that Shang Que had given them had caused Father Yu’s status to skyrocket in Jintan Village. He also had more authority in the Yu Clan.

Later on, because of Shang Que, this elderly couple’s fan journey in old age had been quite smooth. Not only had they gotten tickets to varying public performances by Sagittarius Band, they had also met their idols in private and gotten pictures together. Asking for autographs wasn’t a big deal either. Just this point alone was enough for them to become the most dazzling stars in the middle-to-old aged population’s social circles.

Unexpectedly, the fleshed lingzhi soup base that was supposedly impossible to buy even if you had money was actually produced by Shang Que’s company too. And, he had casually gifted them several big gift boxes.

The more Mother Yu thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt. She could only repeatedly say, “You’re too polite for giving us so many at once.”

“No matter how much I give you guys, it’s deserved,” Shang Que sincerely responded.

They casually chatted for a bit before Mother Yu glanced at the time. “It’s time to cook. Is there anything you guys want to eat?”

“I can cook.” Shang Que suddenly stood up.

Mother Yu jumped in fright. “There’s no need. How could I make a guest cook?”

“I know how to cook.” Shang Que was answering a nonexistent question. Gaze resolute, he stared at Mother Yu. “I seriously learned how to cook. I know how to make all the basic dishes.”

Yu Zhengdu added from off to the side, “Mom, let Xiao Shang cook. He especially learned.”

“Ah?” Mother Yu looked completely lost. Since the conversation had already gotten to this point, it seemed a bit wrong to not let Shang Que cook. The problem was, though, that Shang Que was a guest at their house. Why had he especially learned to cook?

As the Ghost King, Shang Que normally didn’t need to eat, which meant that it was all the more impossible for him to cook. When eating with Yu Zhengdu, he always ordered takeout. Yu Zhengdu could also occasionally make some noodles and simple dishes on his own.

However, after deciding that he would also be coming back to the Yu house for Qingming this year, Shang Que had started downloading and poring over various recipes a while ago. Additionally, he had started his daily routine of fighting with the pots, pans, bowls, and ladles.

The reason was very simple too. “If I know how to cook, I think that’ll probably get me more points in the in-laws’ eyes,” Shang Que had said.

“Dad’s cooking is yummy!” Peppa spoke up on Shang Que’s behalf from off to the side while squeezing her hands into tiny fists.

As soon as Peppa spoke up, Father and Mother Yu were instantly completely enchanted. They nodded on the spot and agreed.

“I’ll help him,” Yu Zhengdu said. He walked into the kitchen with Shang Que.

However, cooking skills couldn’t be automatically learned because of magic. Though Shang Que was quite talented, he ultimately didn’t have enough experience. Currently, he could only follow the recipes from the mortal realm step by step.

From time to time, he would still reveal certain behaviors that only the Ghost King would have.

For example, while cutting the peppers.

Yu Zhengdu watched the knife that was automatically dicing the peppers. He side-eyed Shang Que. “At least hold the knife with your hand? It’ll be hard to explain otherwise if my parents walk in now and see this.”

“The pepper juice will get onto my hand,” Shang Que reluctantly said. “Last time I accidentally got it into my eyes. I need to be more careful.”

Yu Zhengdu burst into laughter. “If you get it into your eyes, I’ll blow on them for you.”

Shang Que thought about it. “Okay then.”

One minute later, Shang Que: “Ah, I got chili powder in my eyes.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

“Come here, I’ll blow on them for you.” Yu Zhengdu could only act like he didn’t know the truth. Speechless, he held onto Shang Que’s head and really did blow into the other’s eyes a few times.

Shang Que had been learning how to cook for too short of a time period for his cooking to be exceptional. However, he still cooked this meal with the sincerest intentions: there was meat, vegetables, and soup.

At the dinner table, Father and Mother Yu were full of praise for Shang Que.

“There aren’t many young people who know how to cook anymore, unlike Xiao Shang.” Father Yu filled his bowl up with fleshed lingzhi pork rib soup. This was already his third bowl of soup. The soup base was honestly great. It didn’t require the chef to be amazing at cooking and tasted delicious with even just some ribs and water. Additionally, it made people’s entire bodies feel great upon drinking it; the comfort was immense. No wonder so many old people were fighting to have their kids buy it.

“Isn’t that so.” Mother Yu also scooped out another bowl of soup. The pot was already almost empty. “Xiao Shang is both handsome and successful in his career. And, he’s willing to cook. Whoever gets married to him in the future is going to be very fortunate.”

Peppa praised from off to the side, “Dad is the best!”

As soon as Peppa spoke up, Mother Yu’s attention instantly became attracted to her. She hurriedly picked up a piece of duck meat with her chopsticks for the other. “Here, Peppa, eat more meat.”

Peppa revealed a troubled expression. “I don’t eat duckies.”

“Then eat fish.” Mother Yu placed the duck meat back and picked up a piece of fish instead.

Yu Zhengdu and Shang Que made eye contact. By now, they had basically reached the end of their meal. Yu Zhengdu felt that the time was about right, so set down his chopsticks and coughed softly. Expression solemn, he started, “Dad, Mom, I have something I want to tell you guys.”

Father Yu wasn’t really paying attention to Yu Zhengdu’s expressions. While drinking soup, he asked, “What?”

Yu Zhengdu: “I’m in a relationship.”

“Really?” Mother Yu instantly had no more energy to keep playing with little Peppa. Her head turned around. “What kind of girl is she? How long have you two been in a relationship?”

Father Yu set down his soup bowl too. “If you’re serious about the relationship, find the chance to bring her home for us to see.”

Yu Zhengdu inhaled deeply. “It’s not a girl.”

Shang Que continued from off the side, “It’s me.”

After the two of them finished speaking, a momentary silence fell over the dinner table. Father and Mother Yu temporarily couldn’t react. A long time later, Father Yu finally asked in confusion first, “What do you mean?”

Yu Zhengdu slowly and carefully said, “I’m in a relationship with Xiao Shang.”

Shang Que gazed at the two Yu parents and sincerely added, “Father-in-Law, Mother-in-Law, I’ve already prepared a house and car. My career is in the midst of getting better. And I know how to cook…… I’ll take good care of Zhengdu.”

Yu Zhengdu almost choked. Boss copied these lines out of a TV drama right?! Boss always learns from the weirdest sources……

The Yu parents: “……”

Only now did they belatedly understand everything. No wonder Shang Que had reported to them that he had bought a car and learned to cook. It turned out that this was all part of a scheme!

Wait no. Who had allowed him to already call them father-in-law and mother-in-law?!