DTBS – Chapter 48
Chapter 48: Quite Open-Minded
"Before, it didn't matter if you didn't tell me! It doesn't matter at all," Xia Xianglu fully revived, pulling Tao Qiuyun's hand. "Come, we both have time now, tell Mom all about it!"
"Mom, it's past four in the morning over there," Tao Qiuyun wanted to first remove the embarrassed and scared cat. "Let her rest first, filming is very tiring. I'll tell you slowly."
"Four, four o'clock? Then why are you having her do a remote talk with you!" Xia Xianglu quickly looked at the female star in the video, saying with a smile, "Qingshang, hurry and sleep. Mom will come back with Qiuqiu then, and we can chat in person~"
"...Okay." Qin Qingshang gave two awkward laughs and quickly hung up the video call.
The cat collapsed, staring at the hotel ceiling...
Help! Why couldn't I control this mouth of mine and just blurt it out!
Wuwuwu――
If only life was like a game, with a system interface to load a save and start over.
"Come on, tell me, Qiu Bao ~" Xia Xianglu poked her shoulder with her index finger. "Playing so wild, huh? Secretly married behind our backs? When did you get married?"
"It wasn't a secret marriage, we've been married for almost two months." Tao Qiuyun stood up and walked towards a nearby table. "Grandpa and Zhuohua both know."
"Who's Zhuohua?" Xia Xianglu was startled, then remembered, clapping her hands, "Oh dear, if you didn't mention it, I would have forgotten I have a son! How is he doing now?"
Tao Qiuyun sighed helplessly and poured her a glass of water. "Mom, drink some water first. If Zhuohua knew you forgot him, he'd probably be sad for a while."
"He's a grown man, he should have left his mother and flown solo long ago." Xia Xianglu took the water glass and took a small sip. "Didn't you take him back now? With you taking care of him, Mom and Dad are even more at ease."
"Yes, you were so at ease you forgot." Tao Qiuyun looked at her. "If I hadn't accidentally gotten the news, I wouldn't have known he had to go to construction sites to carry bricks to earn his tuition."
"Ah? That miserable?" Xia Xianglu was shocked.
"Isn't that ridiculous? Jiaxing had a real estate project, and the leading CEO Chen happened to know Zhuohua. When he went to inspect the site back then, he found Zhuohua carrying bricks and told me about it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known he was living so... strapped for cash. He was still in college at the time, Mom. Is this how the Xia family treated him?"
"Weren't you studying abroad at the time? I went traveling around the world with your dad, and didn't pay attention to him for a while." Xia Xianglu felt a bit guilty. "He's not carrying bricks anymore, right?"
"No," Tao Qiuyun exhaled, annoyed by her unreliable parents. "Back then, I told Jiaxing to look after my brother more. Later, Zhuohua figured things out and decided to start his own business, opening a company to venture into the entertainment industry."
Although Fuyao had always been lukewarm until she returned to the country and things improved.
"Well, sigh~" Xia Xianglu sighed, then suddenly remembered something and asked, "Oh right, how old is your brother this year?"
"...Almost 24."
"He's that old already," Xia Xianglu wiped away non-existent tears. "It's all mine and your dad's fault, we let him down. And you, as his older sister, had to take care of him like a mother and father for us, worrying about him even when you were far away abroad. You know, back then I just wanted to have a child to experience the joy of raising a genius baby from those novels. Having you was enough, but who knew your dad and I had another accident of love..."
"Enough." Tao Qiuyun couldn't listen to these words. "Let's not talk about the past. Zhuohua is like you, very open-minded about everything. He didn't take any of this to heart, and he was quite happy carrying bricks."
She felt that her mother's side of the family might have some genetic issues. Described with high emotional intelligence, they are optimists; with low emotional intelligence, they often don't want to use their brains.
Of course, the Tao family's genetics and education also had problems.
"Then let's not talk about his matters," Xia Xianglu immediately put on a gossipy expression. "Come on, tell Mom, how did you meet Qingshang? Do you have a marriage certificate?"
Tao Qiuyun poured herself a glass of water and brought it to her mouth. "What kind of marriage is it without a marriage certificate? Of course we have one."
"Ah... you actually have one," Xia Xianglu looked quite disappointed. "I thought you had a contract marriage~"
"Cough, cough, cough——" Tao Qiuyun choked on the water. "What? Cough, cough, why did you say we had a contract marriage?"
"Your identities are so suitable for a contract marriage, marriage first then love! A female star and a young CEO, what a perfect match! Novels have written this to death!"
Xia Xianglu looked very proud. "Your mother here has read countless books, I've seen this trope many times. Give me a pen, and I can write you a few books on the spot, guaranteeing that your pre-marriage relationships won't be repetitive, letting you go from strangers, sworn enemies, bickering lovers, a one-night stand, and finally become a loving wife-wife couple."
"...She and I are truly married." Seeing her get more and more excited, wishing she could start writing immediately, Tao Qiuyun quickly interrupted her.
"What a pity, such a pity!" Xia Xianglu shook her head, regretting, "If you had a contract marriage, how wonderful that would be! I might be able to watch your push-and-pull romance in real life, she flees, you chase, neither of you can escape! Tsk tsk tsk, you wouldn't understand this, would you? Push and pull is the best way to bring your feelings closer, it's a technical skill! Most people can't do it."
Tao Qiuyun only heard the phrase "bring your feelings closer". She looked at Xia Xianglu, who was full of emotion, her expression showing some hesitation. Finally, she took the initiative to ask, "Mom, could you talk a bit more about that... push and pull, what is it?"
"Idiot!" Xia Xianglu poked her. "You've really been single since birth for twenty-eight years, grown up for nothing, you don't even know push and pull!"
"...Please tell me, Mom."
"This push and pull is," Xia Xianglu grabbed her hand. "Like this, a push, a pull, understand?"
"...Not really."
"I think you're like a simpleton!"
"You think I'm like a simpleton?" Tao Qiuyun's eyes lit up.
"What kind of expression is that? Do you think 'simpleton' is a compliment?"
"Isn't it?"
"A simpleton is a simpleton with no heart! I think you, this girl, are truly lacking common sense. How on earth did you manage to trick that child Qingshang? Or does a smart-looking girl like her have unique taste and just likes silly people? Are you complementary? It couldn't possibly be with money, right!"
...CEO Tao suddenly suffered a critical hit from her own mother.
"Since you're my biological daughter, I'll teach you for free today. Actually, push and pull is divided into... many types. Which kind do you want to learn?"
"How many types are there?"
"Low-level and high-level, two types."
"Weren't there many types?"
"Are you going to learn or not!"
"Yes, I'll... learn the low-level one first."
"The low-level one is simple, basically anyone can do it. The technique is to be hot and cold towards her, sometimes warm, sometimes distant, pushing her away, then pulling her closer. Literal push and pull, understand?"
"Why do you need to do that?"
"You, when you're pursuing someone, don't you need to give the other person some excitement? How can feelings develop from plainness? A slow burn is very difficult! If you want quick results, you need to make her emotions fluctuate because of you. To put it simply, like when you ride a drop tower at an amusement park, going up and down, aren't you excited, your heart pounding, feeling like you're going to die? You need to make her feel that way too, make her unable to resist you!"
"Is this PUA?"
"...Child, what are you saying! I'm KTV! Are these two essentially the same? They're not!"
"No," Tao Qiuyun shook her head. "This isn't suitable for me. What about the high-level one?"
"High-level push and pull is about providing emotional value. This is more difficult, requiring cooperation from both sides. It's about you retreat, I advance; you advance, I retreat, like playing Tai Chi, using softness to overcome hardness."
"During the push and pull process, both your emotions need to constantly fluctuate, but also be interlinked, not too far apart and not too close. It's about balancing urgency and slowness, understand?"
Tao Qiuyun was silent for a while. She recognized every single word, but put together, she couldn't understand. "Mom, if you were in a martial arts world, you'd definitely be a grandmaster."
Not speaking human language.
"You child," Xia Xianglu looked a bit awkward and shy. "Why are you suddenly praising me? You're making me quite embarrassed, it's rather shy."
...I wasn't praising you at all!
"So, do you understand?" Mom was very concerned about her daughter's learning progress.
"No, I don't understand at all." Tao Qiuyun shook her head honestly.
"...It's okay, I didn't expect you to understand right away. After all, you don't seem like someone who knows how to date," Xia Xianglu sighed regretfully. "But Qiu Bao, don't worry, Mom will come back to China with you. Then Mom will teach you slowly."
"Are you really coming back to China with me? You're not looking after Dad?"
"Let your dad fend for himself. He and your grandma seem to have some inspiration lately, saying they want to go to the seaside to paint seagulls. I'll just go back and see Qingshang. Oh dear~ My Qiu Bao is really something, her first relationship is such a great one! You two really hit my spot."
"But it would be even better if the fake wife-wife relationship eventually turned into a real one. I just love the marriage-first-then-love trope."
Tao Qiuyun twitched the corner of her mouth. "I've disappointed Mom, but..."
Her expression was serious. "There's one thing I hope you can do. Mom, she's a celebrity, and the entertainment industry is a place of snobbery. She's worked hard for a long time and finally has some momentum, so she hopes not to publicize our marriage for now. She wants to make it on her own."
"I understand, I understand. Your mother here definitely understands this better than you." Xia Xianglu nodded, a bit excited, "I know all about it. She must be hoping to reach the peak and then confess to you on the spot when she gets the Best Actress award, announcing her marriage publicly, right?"
"Then the whole country will watch, fans will send blessings, hot searches will explode, Weibo will crash, I know all about it."
"I understand all your young people's tropes, and I fully support it. I love watching this, bring more of it! Don't worry! I'll definitely help her keep it a secret."
Xia Xianglu kept talking non-stop, like doing a stand-up comedy routine:
"Oh right, after you announce your marriage, it would be best to go on a wife-wife variety show together and show off your affection to the whole internet. Mom isn't forcing you, I just think it would be better for Qingshang's career. And you're not bad-looking, so even if you show your face, we're not afraid~"
Thank you, Mom, I'm even more scared now.
"Why aren't you talking?" Xia Xianglu poked Tao Qiuyun's shoulder. "Say something."
"Mom, actually there's something else I need to tell you. Please hold onto the table first."
Seeing her hesitant and anxious look, Xia Xianglu suddenly understood again. She straightened her body and comforted her, "Qiu Bao ~ Don't worry, your mother here has read at least eight thousand novels, if not ten thousand. What kind of storms haven't I seen? Even if you say Qingshang isn't human! She can be a cat demon, a snake monster, or even a dog or a fox, I'm not afraid. Mom is quite open-minded, I love non-humans too."
...Thank you, Mom, I really feel comforted by you.
Tao Qiuyun pursed her lips and said, "She and I... have a daughter over four years old... Mom! Mom!"
Xia Xianglu slowly collapsed.
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