"Mom! What are you doing here?!" Xiao Yang exclaimed in horror, seeing his mother in front of the door. It was already seven, so it was only a matter of time before Zheng Hao came back home.
"Is this how you greet your mother?" Mrs. Sun reproached her son as she almost threw him the heavy bag she was holding, "here, I brought your favourite snacks from Chengdu."
"Thank you, mom, but-" Before Xiao Yang managed to complete his sentence, Zheng Hao appeared with a hard-to-read expression.
"Mrs. Sun," Zheng Hao greeted the elder with a tiny nod while Xiao Yang was praying silently for him not saying anything mean to his mother.
"Good evening, Zheng Hao," his mother greeted him back with a serious expression before turning her gaze back to her son again, "I will go now, A'Yang, visit me later, okay?" she said with a hint of sadness and wanted to pass the older man to go to her car, but the latter blocked her path, not allowing her to leave.
"Have a dinner with us, Mrs. Sun, you are already here."
Xiao Yang was shocked. Mrs. Sun was shocked. Also Zheng Hao was shocked. He would never think that one day he would invite Xiao Yang's mother to his family house, but he really did that. Though he still didn't like her, she was the mother of the young man he loved deeply, so he had to be reasonable. When he first arrived, he saw Xiao Yang flail around with panic and he hated to be the reason for it. Now, it was also Xiao Yang's house; therefore, he wanted to prove that to him.
"Ge, you sure?" Xiao Yang broke the awkward silence with a hesitant voice.
Zheng Hao smiled reassuringly, "of course," he said and showed Mrs. Sun the way to the front door to urge her to go in.
"Well, I guess it won't hurt to eat together once," she uttered, trying to keep her cool and walked in elegantly, her black short heels creating a rat-a-tat sound.
As it was her first time being in Zheng Hao's house, Mrs. Sun took some time to look around and although it was pretty small, it was neat and comfy.
"You can sit in the living room while I prepare dinner," Zheng Hao said nicely and wanted to drag Xiao Yang to the kitchen to prepare his mother a cup of tea. However, Mrs. Sun had different ideas.
"Can I sit with you in the kitchen?" she asked, fixing her already-neat bun.
Zheng Hao stiffened for a second, but then he nodded with a micro smile.
"Great!" Xiao Yang exclaimed after exhaling the breath he was holding and pulled his mother to the small kitchen excitedly.
After them, Zheng Hao heaved a sigh and stretched his tensed shoulder muscles, then joined them in the kitchen.
Although Mrs. Sun offered to help, Zheng Hao didn't accept it and made her sit on the kitchen chair with a hot tea in front of her. He also wouldn't want Xiao Yang to help him as he was pretty chaotic, but in order to save his face, he had to swallow his urge to shoo him away.
"You just wash the vegetables." That was the utmost duty that he could give to the younger.
"Okay!" Xiao Yang gave him a military salute and started to open the top cabinets to find a huge bowl.
"The third cabinet from left," Zheng Hao helped him as it was literally the first time he let his husband help him in the kitchen.
"Oh," Xiao Yang opened the mentioned cabinet and took out the big yellow plastic bowl while Mrs. Sun frowned at the scene.
Wasn't Xiao Yang helping his husband in the kitchen? Then, was Zheng Hao cooking for them all the time? Though he didn't like his son? On the other hand, she couldn't sense any hostility in the air, and even she was invited for dinner. What was going on?
"Ge, shall I-"
With a quick reflex, Zheng Hao pulled Xiao Yang back from his hood, preventing him from knocking his head to the open cabinet lid.
"Be careful, will you?" Zheng Hao reprimanded his clumsy husband, "your head could open up like a walnut."
Xiao Yang chuckled at the simile, "what would you do if that happened?" he asked, teasingly.
The older man raised an eyebrow, "what's there to ask? Of course I would just eat the walnut."
In the face of the unexpected comment, the younger man burst into laughter while his mother was too flabbergasted to give a reaction. Though it sounded impossible, those two indeed seemed to get along well as her son claimed earlier on a phone call. A subtle smile formed on the corner of Mrs. Sun's lips, appreciating his silly son for managing to capture the heart of a stone.
"No need no need! You just set the table."
"Geee!"
Though bantering never-endingly, the duo managed to co-exist in the kitchen and after a short amount of time, Zheng Hao placed four different meals on the table.
"Smell nice," Mrs. Sun commented when a bowl of vegetable soup was placed in front of her.
Zheng Hao smiled in appreciation and filled the other two bowls before sitting next to Xiao Yang.
"How is it mother? So good, right?" Xiao Yang asked expectedly with sparkling eyes.
She lowered her spoon, "indeed," she complimented, looking at Zheng Hao, who was busy putting some pepper into her son's soup. She oscillated between asking and not asking for a few painful seconds, then just blurted out "so, everything is okay in between you two now?"
Zheng Hao averted his gaze while a subtle blush formed around his face. Xiao Yang noticed his shy reaction, so he took the lead and grinned at his mother, "more than okay."
With the confirmation, Mrs. Sun heaved a relieved sigh. Finally, her son was happy and got the love he deserved. Now, she didn't have to worry about... She shook her head to dismiss the unpleasant thought. It was a merry night, so it could wait.
Preferably, until forever.
She recovered her smile and the rest of the night passed in a blithely atmosphere. As it was her first time seeing Zheng Hao without his hostile attitude, she understood why her son was so in love with him. He was naturally caring and smart to talk with. He was a down-to-earth person, yet he was amusing. She would never admit it, but she really didn't want to leave those two boys and go back to her cold house.
"You are welcomed whenever you wish to come," Zheng Hao said as if reading her mind.
"Thank you, dear," Mrs. Sun patted his arm appreciatively, then hugged her son.
"See you soon, mom, who knows maybe next time we will come to visit you."
"I would love that," she replied and got into her car.
Who knew that the couple was indeed going to visit Mrs. Sun's house soon, but she wouldn't love that...
***
🌺 🌺 Happy new year, everyone!!!! Wish you tons of happiness and health 🌺 🌺
YOU ARE READING
Utter Defeat
Romance[Completed] A one-sided love... an unwanted marriage... a bunch of misunderstandings... a lot of resistance... "You can resist all you want, but in the end, you will be mine." "Never." Never? That's too bold, isn't it?
