Xu Musen accompanied Yao Mingyue to her house to fetch the pajamas for her and her daughter.
Once outside, the sound of firecrackers was incessant, bright and sparkling, lighting up the road even without streetlamps.
The cold wind outside instantly cleared one's thoughts.
Yao Mingyue paused, wiping her reddened eyes.
"My mom... she drank too much today. Don't take her words to heart."
"Drunk words are sober thoughts. For someone as strong-willed as her to say those things only when drunk, she must have been wanting to stand up for her only precious daughter."
Xu Musen shook his head, smiling lightly at Yao Mingyue.
"Of course, it's about being harassed by this jerk without a proper status."
Xu Musen pointed at himself.
"So you admit it, you scumbag." Yao Mingyue, despite her reddened eyes, couldn't help but curve into a smile; she took a deep breath and gave him a light kick.
"But I don't need any status. If anyone is clinging, it's me clinging to you, and if anyone is to dump, I'd dump you first…"
Just as she finished speaking, Xu Musen lightly flicked her forehead, "You know, your mom said there's nothing wrong with you, clearly not meaning what you say, always so proud and contrary."
Yao Mingyue bit her lip, "At this point, whether I mean what I say or not, you're going to meet your Nuannuan tomorrow anyway."
Xu Musen saw her looking down and raised his head to watch the continuously bursting fireworks.
"Just now, what my parents said, you heard it too. It's not just up to me now, they also don't want to see their tenderly raised 'vegetable' slip through their fingers, better to leave it for their own pig to dig in."
Xu Musen smiled, tilting his head down gently touching her cool cheek with sincerity in his eyes, "And your mom agreed to give me this 'big vegetable.' Now I am obliged by my parents, following the orders as a jerk, respecting their wishes, you should also consider me; I can't be branded unfilial, right?"
Yao Mingyue's eyes widened, her originally sour mood turning bland by his spectacle.
How can he twist words so shamelessly!
And what… obliged to be a jerk?
Clearly just a scoundrel, yet framing it so nobly.
Could anyone have a thicker face than him?
But of course, Yao Mingyue also remembered what Father Xu said just now, she knew it wasn't just politeness.
It was genuine acceptance.
It was no longer just from the perspective of a daughter-in-law or a daughter but that of real kin, a bond that nothing could change.
She certainly understood that her mom getting drunk for the first time today was to hear that affirmation.
After all, they were already a family.
Warmth surged in Yao Mingyue's chest, spreading throughout her body, eventually falling warmly from the corner of her eyes.
"There, seeing you so sentimental already crying, if you actually marry me in the future, you'd probably faint from happiness."
Xu Musen smiled and reached out to wipe her tears.
Looking at his annoyingly smug face, Yao Mingyue also reached out to hold his cheeks, pinching his nose into the shape of a pig's snout.
"You boar! This beauty… pah! This beauty doesn't fancy your diggings, at most… I'll give you some leaves to munch on."
Xu Musen imitated a pig's grunt, and in Zhu Bajie's tone, turned around and squatted down: "My dear, let this old pig carry you back home to the bridal room~"
Yao Mingyue couldn't help but laugh out aloud, the tears in her eyes reflecting the brilliant lights of the fireworks.
She gently leaned on Xu Musen's broad and warm back, wrapping her arms lightly around his neck.
"Hold tight, let's go!"
Xu Musen slowly stood up, feeling the familiar touch and scent on his back, it was just a few meters to the door, yet he swayed and took a long time walking.
Being carried, for a girl, must be the most secure feeling.
From being carried by dad since she was little, and then him always carrying her, this one carry is for a lifetime.
No, two lifetimes would be better…