Chapter 21 part 3

Lin’s parents were completely bewildered by the situation and turned in unison to look at Lin Li.

Meanwhile, Zhou Han stepped forward to take the items from his mother’s hands, asking, "Mom, what brings you here today?"

Mother Zhou rolled her eyes at her son with a touch of exasperation. "I missed my grandson—can't I come over to see him?" She grumbled, "You and Xiao Li never bring the child home for your father and me to see. I missed him terribly; since you wouldn't come, I had to come myself. After all, he is my precious grandson."

As she spoke, she smiled and waved at the little one standing beside Lin Li. Then, looking up at Lin Li with a slight frown, she asked, "Xiao Li, have you lost weight again?"

Lin Li glanced at her own parents, then offered a sheepish, awkward smile to Mother Zhou and shook her head. "No... no, I haven't."

Mother Zhou didn't take her word for it; instead, she turned to scold Zhou Han: "How are you taking care of her? Look at the state you've let your wife get into!"

Zhou Han glanced at Lin Li and sheepishly rubbed his nose.

"Zhou Han, you have to realize that Xiao Li lives far away from her parents. If you don't cherish and look after her properly, how can you justify the trust her parents placed in you when they handed over their precious daughter? And another thing..." 

Mother Zhou was about to continue lecturing her son on his failure to care for or cherish his wife when she was interrupted by Father Lin, who had finally grasped the gist of the situation. 

"W-wait a minute—'in-laws'? 'Wife'?" Father Lin interrupted Mother Zhou, looking utterly bewildered. He then turned to Lin Li with a puzzled, somewhat stern expression and demanded, "Lin Li, what on earth is going on here? You need to explain this clearly to me!"

----- please read the translation from https://irisatdusk.blogspot.com/

Only then did Mother Zhou notice Lin Li's parents standing nearby. She turned to Zhou Han with a puzzled look of her own and asked, "Zhou Han, who are these two?"

"Ahem..." Zhou Han rubbed his nose and gave a soft cough. Glancing sideways at Lin Li, he said, "Well, Mom... these are Lin Li's parents."

Mother Zhou was stunned; it took her a good while to process the information.

"Lin Li, what is going on here?!" Father Lin glared at his daughter. Even if he had been confused before, he understood now. All this talk of "wife" and "in-laws"—it turned out this girl had gone behind her parents' backs and gotten herself married off. And to make matters worse, it looked like she’d married a man who already had a six- or seven-year-old child!

If one idiom could describe Lin Li's state of mind right now, it would be "wanting to cry but having no tears left"; if one word could sum up her feelings, it would be "despair"—she felt like dying. She felt completely unable to defend herself; there was simply no way to clear her name.

Just as Lin Li felt so distressed she could almost cry, Mother Zhou snapped out of her initial shock.

Beaming, she stepped forward and took the hand of Mother Lin —who was still somewhat dazed—and said warmly, "My dear in-law, it is so wonderful to finally meet you and your husband. Zhou Han’s father and I have long wanted to meet you both. Lin Li told us you were back in your hometown; we had intended to visit you ourselves, but my husband has been incredibly busy at work lately and couldn't get away. We were planning to have the young couple take us to visit you next month once things settled down for him. To think you’ve already come here yourselves—this is just wonderful, truly wonderful."

Mother Zhou spoke with such genuine sincerity that Mother Lin was momentarily at a loss for how to respond; she could only turn to look helplessly at her husband and then her daughter, unable to find the words.

----- please read the translation from https://irisatdusk.blogspot.com/

Everything had happened so suddenly—Lin Li couldn't quite process how things had reached this point. She had absolutely no mental preparation for the situation, let alone a plan for how to explain it all clearly. She could only turn helplessly toward Zhou Han.

Seeing her pitiful, wide-eyed look, Zhou Han suppressed a smile. He stepped forward, gently placing his arm around his mother’s shoulders to ease her grip on Lin’s mother’s hand, and said with a smile, "Mom, they’ve only just arrived; they haven't even had a chance to sit down yet."

Hearing this, Mother Zhou hurriedly gestured for them to take their seats: "Please, sit down, sit down. You’ve come such a long way; the journey must have been exhausting."

Lin Li could only offer an awkward smile as she echoed Mother Zhou's words: "Mom, Dad... let's, let's sit down first." At this stage, she realized that no amount of explaining would likely clear up the confusion.

Father Lin glanced at her and sat back down; seeing him do so, Mother Lin naturally sat down as well. Looking at Lin’s parents and then at Lin Li standing beside them, Mother Zhou spoke apologetically: "In-laws, Zhou Han’s father and I have been wanting to get together with you for a meal. Zhou Han and Lin Li only registered their marriage—we never held a wedding ceremony for them, and that was certainly our family’s fault. So..."

Before Mother Zhou could finish, Father Lin cut her off, his tone stern: "What in-laws? What marriage registration? What wedding? What on earth is going on here?" 

The more he listened, the more confused he became—what wedding? What in-laws? His own daughter had gotten married, yet he hadn't known a thing about it! To have someone suddenly appear claiming to be his in-law—what kind of situation was this?

Upon hearing this, Mother Zhou was taken aback; she stared blankly at Father and Mother Lin across from her, then turned to look at Zhou Han, who was standing beside her, and asked in bewilderment, "Ah-Han, what... what is going on here? Is there some kind of misunderstanding on the part of the in-laws?"

"Don't call me that; I am not your in-law!" The more he thought about it, the angrier Father Lin became. He turned to glare at his daughter and said, "Lin Li, you need to explain this clearly—what wedding? When did you get married?" He pointed at Mother Zhou as he spoke: "And why is this woman calling us 'in-laws'? I had no idea I had in-laws, nor did I know my daughter had gotten married!" As he spoke, Father Lin grew increasingly agitated and angry; the strain caused him to start coughing—"Cough, cough—cough, cough—"

Seeing him cough, Mother Lin grew anxious as well; she hurriedly patted his back to help him catch his breath, saying, "Oh dear, Old Lin, don't get so worked up—calm down!"

Lin Li panicked too, looking so distressed she was on the verge of tears. "Dad, please don't get upset—I'll explain, I'll explain everything to you..." If she caused her father to fall ill from the shock, she would truly be unforgivable!

"Ah-Han, what... what is actually going on here?" Mother Zhou was flustered now, too; listening to Lin Li's father, it sounded as though he had absolutely no idea his daughter was married!

Zhou Han turned to Xiao Bin, who was standing beside him, and said, "Go back to your room for now."

The little boy looked at him and nodded; as he turned to leave, he glanced back at Lin Li.

----- please read the translation from https://irisatdusk.blogspot.com/

After Xiao Bin had gone into the room, Father Lin drank some water and finally managed to stop coughing, though he was still breathing heavily, with Mother Lin continuing to soothe him by his side. Seeing this, Mother Zhou sat back down on the sofa. 

Having gathered the gist of the situation from what Father Lin had said, her expression turned serious as she looked at Zhou Han and demanded, "Zhou Han, you tell me—what exactly is going on here?" Her tone and demeanor carried an air of undeniable authority—a presence honed over years of accompanying Father Zhou to various official functions.

At her words, both Father Lin and Mother Lin turned their gaze toward Zhou Han in unison; they, too, were waiting for an explanation.

Zhou Han glanced at Lin Li, then rubbed his nose and gave a small, clearing-his-throat cough before saying, "Well... the thing is, Lin Li and I got married before we had a chance to let you know, so... you didn't know we were married."

Upon hearing this, Mother Zhou slapped the armrest of the sofa and exclaimed sternly, "This is absurd! What you two have done is simply absurd!"

----- please read the translation from https://irisatdusk.blogspot.com/