Having Dinner with Dad, Playing Hard to Get

"Little Master, it's okay if we don't meet up at noon today."

"Can we have lunch together tomorrow?"

"My treat! I promise I'll arrange everything perfectly!"

"Hehehe, give me a chance to host you personally, please?"

Xia Yiwei's laughter was very bright, but to Lin Yu's ears, it had a completely different flavor.

The events of yesterday were still vivid in his mind.

How could Lin Yu trust Xia Yiwei so easily again?

Even through the phone, Lin Yu could practically hear the sound of Xia Yiwei calculating her little schemes.

Lin Yu cut straight to the chase:

"Weiwei, answer me honestly first. Is it just the two of us eating this time?"

"You'd better think carefully before you answer. I was very cooperative with you last time."

"If you lie to me this time..."

"There absolutely won't be a repeat of yesterday's good deeds!"

Before Xia Yiwei could answer, Lin Yu issued a warning.

He knew full well that Xia Yiwei was up to no good and was plotting something.

But since Lin Yu already had half a foot in the door and had a private agreement with Xia Yiwei.

No matter how troublesome Xia Yiwei's request might be, as long as it wasn't too outrageous, Lin Yu would still agree to it.

But then again.

Guessing it and having Xia Yiwei admit it herself were two completely different things.

Lin Yu really wanted to see if Xia Yiwei could be honest with him.

If, at this point, Xia Yiwei still intended to laugh it off and fool him.

That would be too hurtful.

It seemed that Xia Yiwei on the other end of the line also sensed Lin Yu's displeasure.

After a bit of an internal struggle, she chose to tell Lin Yu the truth.

"Little Master, don't you know me by now?"

"You trusted me so much yesterday, how could I hide anything from you today?"

"It's not just the two of us this time. My older sister will be there, and... my dad!"

Hearing this news, Lin Yu didn't feel surprised at all.

On the contrary.

The situation was exactly as he had imagined.

The time had finally come to meet Old Man Xia!

Their encounter in the dream world had left a deep impression on Lin Yu.

He wondered if the Old Man Xia in reality was really that exaggerated.

Previously, in Xia Yiwei's dream world, her impression of Young Master Lei wasn't entirely realistic.

It was perfectly normal for there to be some element of exaggeration.

Although Lin Yu had guessed that they would be having a meal with Xia Yiwei's dad.

He couldn't show it directly during the phone call with Xia Yiwei.

Therefore.

Lin Yu feigned shock and said,

"What?!"

"Having a meal with your dad? Me?"

"Isn't that a bit too presumptuous!"

"I've never even met your uncle, and we're jumping straight into a meal?"

"Weiwei, you never said that playing your boyfriend meant I had to play the part in front of your father!"

"What if we act too well and your father actually believes it? How are we going to explain ourselves later?"

"No, no, this is completely different from what I originally had in mind."

From a moral standpoint, Lin Yu naturally had to speak with righteous indignation.

In his heart, however, he didn't feel any real resistance to the matter.

It was all just an act for Xia Yiwei.

And also to see what kind of compromises Xia Yiwei would make.

Without a reasonable arrangement, Lin Yu couldn't agree easily.

Otherwise, even a little thought would make the whole thing feel highly unreasonable.

Xia Yiwei didn't notice anything amiss and hurriedly tried to coax Lin Yu over the phone.

"Oh, Little Master, you're really overthinking this."

"Playing a couple in front of Lei Siren is basically the same as playing one in front of my dad."

"Just think about it..."

"Isn't it normal for couples to break up?"

"We might be a couple today, but couldn't we break up tomorrow?"

"All I want is a... a you-know-what, you know."

"How could I really make you marry into our family as a live-in son-in-law?"

Lin Yu caught the key point in her words and started roasting her wildly again:

"Marry in as a live-in son-in-law? Your family is so domineering!"

"Xia Yiwei, let me make this clear to you."

"In all my years, I've never once thought about marrying into anyone's family as a live-in son-in-law."

"If you're trying to trick me into marrying into your family, I absolutely will not help you!"

Xia Yiwei realized she had said too much.

She hurriedly tried to backtrack, saying,

"No, no, I absolutely didn't mean that!"

"Look at my clumsy mouth. I know you definitely wouldn't want that, Little Master."

"It's all my dad's fault. He's always talking about getting a live-in son-in-law, so I got used to saying it."

"Little Master, please don't rush to refuse me."

"If you're willing to help me this once, in the future I'll..."

"..."

Over the next five minutes.

Xia Yiwei did her best to list all kinds of benefits.

Like helping Lin Yu clean his room;

Like acting as a laborer when Lin Yu had filming assignments;

Like running errands for daily grocery shopping at his apartment, and so on and so forth...

Xia Yiwei had racked her brains to come up with all sorts of ways to treat Lin Yu well.

When making her promises, she didn't forget to swear solemnly.

Deeply afraid that Lin Yu wouldn't believe her resolve.

Even if he hadn't mentally prepared himself beforehand to help Xia Yiwei.

After her whole spiel, Lin Yu would have been persuaded anyway.

The nurse sister really understood men; every little thing she mentioned perfectly resolved an aspect of Lin Yu's daily life chores.

It sounded like there were no major, important tasks.

But what major tasks could a college boy in his youth possibly have?

Xia Yiwei's ability to easily grasp this point was quite an impressive strategy.

On the phone.

Just as Xia Yiwei finished listing her terms, Lin Yu also finished collecting his tickets.

Seeing that the timing was about right.

Lin Yu finally relented and agreed:

"Alright, I have to say, Weiwei, you really understand a guy's mind."

"We have a deal. It's just pretending to be a couple. If your dad is too satisfied with me, you have to find an excuse to tell him we broke up."

"If you can't cover for it, don't blame me for selling you out right in front of him."

"Sister Xiaxia should be there during the meal too, right?"

Xia Yiwei replied,

"Of course she'll be there. If she's not, there'll be no one to help me share my dad's firepower."

"And one more thing, Little Master..."

"Lei Siren might also be present during the meal."

"As for whether his cousin will come, I have no idea."

"But don't worry, Little Master, just eat generously and casually."

"If Lei Siren dares to try any little tricks, I'll just bring out the recording!"

"Hehe, when the time comes, we won't even need to lift a finger."

"My dad will deal with Lei Siren directly!"

"I'm just asking for your permission in advance to use the recording, Little Master?"

After all.

If the recording was exposed, it would mean exposing Lin Yu's abilities.

The incident of beating up Lei Siren in the underground garage that day would take on a different story.

It might bring a certain amount of trouble for Lin Yu.

Unless it was an absolute last resort, Xia Yiwei definitely wouldn't reveal the existence of the recording.