Best to Have Met You - Chapter 14.5

Chapter 14.5: To Understand, To Love and To Promise Ourselves to One Another

Several of the elders have pretty good first impression of Xu Mo Ting. One can see that he was an outstanding young man, rigorous, refined and decent. When An Ning came out from the kitchen, elder aunt was already asking: “Mo Ting, do you still have any brother?”

“……”

Xu Mo Ting smiled, “I am the only child.”

When mama Li saw her daughter was about to go back into the kitchen after serving the tea, she pulled her to her side to sit down, “Ning Ning, sit down and join us in our conversation, no need to get busy in the kitchen.”

Elder aunt said: “Our Ning Ning is getting more beautiful.”

Cousin who has just sat on the armrest of her mother’s sofa, smiled and said: “Has been moisturized.”

“Ahem!”

Xu Mo Ting glanced at his girlfriend who choked until the face was flushed, his heart felt a little down. When he lowered his head, his facial features looked tender.

Thus, the gossipy relatives continued to talk endlessly for a long time in the living room. Leader Xu’s attitude was respectful, answering every questions. The more mama Li looked at Xu Mo Ting, she felt even more satisfied until she considered him completely as her son-in-law, “Mo Ting, what is your plan after graduation?”

Xu Mo Ting’s voice was gentle, “Depend on what is Ning Ning’s plan.”

……

Elder aunt laughed out loud: “Okay, get engaged la. Both of you can get engaged at the beginning of the year. Then get married on National Day or Valentine’s Day, a day which the youngster like! As for the wedding banquet, booking more than ten tables should be enough, right!?”

Second aunt said: “For the engagement, it is enough for both families to sit down and eat together. But I am afraid more than ten tables is not enough.”

Cousin said: “I want to be the bridesmaid.”

Mama Li still retained some rationality and softly asked Mo Ting, “What did your parents say? How about meeting up and eating a meal together someday?”

Mo Ting smiled and said: “My parents approved.”

At this moment, Meow Meow has already been pushed to the corner ……

On that day, when An Ning followed order to send leader Xu down, she secretly pinched him.

Xu Mo Ting chuckled and held her hand. Then he pulled it up, took a bite, then another bite but very gentle, more like licking. An Ning’s heart tingled and glared at him in the dark. Suddenly she felt that he has quickened his pace. Until she was pulled into the car, only then An Ning panted and asked what was going on. His arm had already encircled her and he gave a soft sigh of contentment.

His embrace was very warm, so An Ning liked it very much and did not move. This relationship was her first love. At the beginning, she was hopelessly muddled. Gradually it became clear and she realized that she likes him. Thus she followed her heart’s desire, then as it went further, it also got deeper.

“An Ning, do you want to know what I’ve written in the letter that I gave you previously?”

An Ning blinked, ‘yes’. She has been very curious.

“Okay.” Xu Mo Ting moved his head, kissed her cheek and said softly: “After we got married, I’ll read every word for my wifey.”

“……”

Too, too hateful!

When An Ning was walking up the stairs, the relatives in her house were still talking.

“This young man is really good. I will not talk about his good look, his character is also good, down to earth and earnest.”

“Really very hard to come by.”

“Ning Ning really found a boyfriend this time.”

“With her age, she ought to settle down.”

“Yes, if it were not for studying too much, she would have got married and have a baby long ago.”

An Ning has no strength to reply, so she quietly went to her room.

On that night, when she was lying in bed with her mother, mama Li stroked her daughter’s hair and asked: Do you like him?

An Ning nodded, likes him very much.

As long as the sun was out, mother will put her quilt and bed sheet out in the sun. Wrapped in bedding with fresh smell and sunny feel, An Ning slept until noon. She woke up, brushed her teeth and washed her face, feeling refreshing.

When she called her father yesterday, after much thought, she still told him the truth. There was a long pause over the line, then he said: “I’ll pick you up on Lunar New Year’s Eve. You ―― accompany your mother longer, for two days.”

She was surprised and thanked her father sincerely for the first time.

An Ning looked at the mirror and patted her face lightly, which was still wet with water, “Well, rosy in the midst of white, stand out from the masses.”

Mama Li who was standing at the doorway of the bathroom, to call her daughter to eat, laughed out, “Daughter, rosy in the midst of white also have to eat.”

An Ning giggled.

She accompanied her mother to go to the market today and bought some food. Then she also celebrated new year with her mother.

When she was basking in the sun with her mother on the balcony in the afternoon, a phone call with a familiar number came in, “Sister-in-law, where are you? Are you in X city?”

An Ning recognised it was Lao San’s voice, “Yes, I am in X city. What’s the matter?”

“Very good.” Lao San was rather excited: “Sister-in-law, come out la. We are at the outdoor sports ground of the city stadium. The leader is also here playing basketball. Ha ha, come la, come la.”

“You play la. I won’t be coming.”

“Come la! Come la, come la. Cheng Yu is also here.” Then Lao San lowered his voice to say, “Sister-in-law, if you don’t come, the leader may slaughter us again.”

An Ning was speechless, turned around and was about to ask her mother. But mama Li was already waving at her with a smile, “Go la, go la.”

“……”

An Ning went to her room to change into an overcoat, jeans and sports shoes. Then she put some skin care cream on her face before going out. When she was leaving, she told her mother to take a nap.

The stadium was quite close to her home, so An Ning went there with her bike. Although it was winter, the sun was shining brightly. Thus it felt quite nice and warm to cycle.

After about ten minutes and passing through two streets, from a distance, she can see a few guys playing in the basketball court at the west side of the stadium. They were wearing only one or two pieces of clothing. Some even took off everything, leaving only the thermal underwear and sweating profusely under the sun.

An Ning cycled slowly until outside the fencing. While pedaling with one foot, she was watching the match. That outstanding figure was obvious at a glance.

Cheng Yu who was sitting on the chair, immediately saw her so she got up and came over, “Hi, you’ve come.”

“Yep.”

Cheng Yu also leaned against the fencing to look at the court, smiled and said: “Three Vs three, the score now is 40 to 52. Cousin brother’s mood is pretty good today, so he is showing some mercy.”

At this moment, two of the guys who were resting at the side also came over. One of them was Lao San, “Sister-in-law, long time no see!”

An Ning smiled, “Long time no see.”

“How come you cycled over? Your home is nearby?”

“Yep.”

Lao San froze for a moment, then shook his head, “No wonder the leader chose to play here, practice favoritism ah.”

“All right.” Cheng Yu smilingly interrupted him and asked An Ning, “Do you want to park your bike and come in?”

Lao San said: “Sister-in-law, there is a bike shed inside. When you enter, turn left and you’ll see it.”

“Okay.” An Ning glanced at that side again, only then she got on the bike. He should have seen her.

Xu Mo Ting took the ball, his teammate picked up from outside the court and smiled, “Let’s continue.”

An Ning parked the bike in the shed and locked up. When she walked into the stadium, a person whistled at her. Then Zhang Qi who was in the court, blurted out, “Why are you whistling, that is our leader’s wife?”

The other person was surprised and promptly said: “Sorry sorry, don’t mean to offend.”

The people in the court were also surprised and stood still for two seconds, until a cold voice said: “Do you still want to play?”

“Of course will play!”

Cheng Yu waited for An Ning to come over. Then she picked up a coat from the right side of the chair, “Sit here la. This is cousin brother’s coat so sister-in-law, please hold it for him.”

An Ning looked around, there were only three chairs. Another chair was piled with clothes, so she cannot help but think, that person was really a little obsessed with cleanliness.

Lao San came over and handed her a bottle of water, “Sister-in-law, do you want to go and play for a while after they’ve finished playing?”

“I don’t know how to play basketball.”

“Never mind, let the leader guides you.”

Cheng Yu said: “My cousin brother will not be willing to let An Ning go and play ball with X men like you. Hey, you’ve taken a long break, go and substitute my cousin brother.”

“The leader has an important position, so how can he be substituted at this crucial moment.”

Cheng Yu looked at him and shook her head weakly, “I always feel that there is a generation gap between us.”

Lao San pretended to be angry, “Cheng Yu, your words are too poisonous. I am only a year older than you!”

“One year separates mountains.”

“Hey, the age difference between the leader and sister-in-law is also a year.”

Cheng Yu was surprised, turned around and asked An Ning, “Are you a year younger than my cousin brother?”

An Ning nodded, the thick coat covering her arms, very warm.

“Didn’t both of you attend the same senior high school? Moreover I saw your senior high school graduation group photo in his study ―― ” Suddenly she stopped talking and giggled, “Nothing, nothing.”

An Ning smiled and did not mind. She turned around and continued to watch the match in the court, slightly interested.

Lao San seized the opportunity to explain to sister-in-law: “Unless it is one on one, otherwise the leader rarely throws the ball to score. He’ll pass all of them to the teammate, commonly referred to as the point guard, heehee.”

“Oh.” An Ning recalled senior brother Lao San’s several phone calls in the past few days, so she moved her head to ask him, “Senior brother, you gambled on your last basketball game ――”

“Never mind, it is all right now. The leader had already deposited back the money at an earlier time, but old Zhang and I don’t have the habit of checking our accounts. Aiya, the leader just likes to torment us mentally but so sorry to you, sister-in-law.” Lao San was ashamed, “for disturbing you so many times.”

An Ning smiled and said: “It doesn’t matter as long as everything is all right.”

“Heehee, when I called last time, you were on a date with the leader, right?”

An Ning recalled the two days that person was in G city, she touched her forehead and said vaguely, “Well”.

Someone came over and patted Lao San’s shoulder from behind. In a deep voice and a little out of breath, “Go out and play for a while.”

The person who came over was Xu Mo Ting. The hair on his forehead was slightly damp. His beige close-fitting cotton knitwear outlined his slender figure, which was moving at this moment. With the cuffs rolled up and a bright expression, he looked even more macho.

Cheng Yu tactfully got up and said with a smile: “Brother, give me some money to buy a few cups of fruit juice. An Ning, do you want one? Fruit juice or milk tea?”

“No need, thank you.” There was still a bottle of water in her hand.

Xu Mo Ting sat down but did not take the coat from An Ning’s lap. Instead he leaned over and directly took out his wallet from his coat pocket and handed it to Xu Cheng Yu. After taking the wallet, she happily said, “Since the wallet is in my hand, then I’ll buy more!”

After Cheng Yu left, only the two of them left on this side of heaven and earth. When An Ning saw him taking off the wrister, she unconsciously took it. Then she handed her water bottle to him. Mo Ting smiled faintly and very naturally drank it. After drinking a few mouthful, he looked at her and said gently: “Initially, I wanted to call you, but afraid that you are not free.”

An Ning said in a low voice: “I slept until more than ten o’clock in the morning and accompanied my mother to celebrate the lunar new year in the afternoon.”

“Okay.” Xu Mo Ting’s black eyes concealed a touch of tenderness. Holding her hand, he asked softly: “Do you want to go and see the kitty?”

An Ning’s eyes sparkled and happily nodded: “Okay.”