Chapter 54: The Friendly Mother Wei
—————-
The Saturday morning that Su Le wished would never come eventually arrived.
She looked at all the different tops, dress, and skirts lying on her bed, but Su Le felt that none of them was appropriate. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, the truth was that Su Le felt nervous.
After this and that, she had decided on a light colored, long dress. The style was simple but it gave off a feeling of a virtuous woman. An 80-year-old elder would probably prefer a refined lady, right?
Just as she had finished getting ready, she got a call from Wei Chu. Su Le carried both big and small bags holding gift downstairs. She blushed when she saw the other party’s mischievous face, “What are you looking at?”
“I’m looking at a beautiful lady,” Wei Chu opened the car door for her and put all the bags Su Le was carrying at the back. He smiled brightly, “It’s an honor to help such a beauty.” He was relieved on the inside as he realized that Su Le treated this visit importantly. Wei Chu was not afraid that Su Le would be nervous about the visit; he was more afraid of Su Le not caring about how his elders viewed her.
“Have you had your breakfast?” Wei Chu asked.
“I’m not hungry,” Su Le felt so nervous that it seemed as if her stomach was knotting together. How could she possibly feel hungry?
“You don’t need to worry. Both of my parents like you a lot and they wanted to invite you for a meal ages ago. My grandfather is a benevolent person. He’s very easy to get along with.” While he spoke, Wei Chu reached over to put the seatbelt on for Su Le, “Let’s go and have breakfast first and before setting off.”
“Who’s worrying about it? Don’t think that you know everything,” Su Le harrumphed. After listening to Wei Chu, Su Le became less nervous but she did feel slightly hungry. When they arrived at a breakfast store, she forcibly ate something. Even though her nervousness hadn’t disappeared, her stomach no longer felt like it was knotted up.
On the way, Su Le purposely pretended to be relaxed. Wei Chu was delighted when he saw this, so while he was driving, he told her all sorts of stories to try and amuse Su Le and make her laugh. Su Le responded indifferently and suddenly remembered that she wasn’t this nervous when she had met Zhuang Wei’s parents, but it was possible that she was too young then to understand the importance of meeting the parents. She also didn’t know that the man who said he loved her would suddenly have a change of heart.
At that time, Zhuang Wei really did treat her well. He was also very considerate and made many promises, but now, they were just like strangers. Even when they met, there was nothing for them to say to each other. Would she and Wei Chu reach this stage as well in the future?
“What are you thinking about? We have almost arrived,” Wei Chu’s cheerful voice traveled to her ears. Su Le turned and saw the happiness and expectation in his eyes. Her heart warmed and her nervousness dwindled. When she looked up, she saw the car turn into another street before parking next to a large tree that was outside the courtyard house. Su Le noticed that there were already a few cars parked nearby and they were all of the expensive brands.
“Luckily we have arrived early today. Last year, I came a little late and there were no spaces left to park in,” Wei Chu felt glad that he managed to get a good parking space. After he opened the car door for Su Le when he got out, he turned back to get the gifts that Su Le had brought for his elders.
He hadn’t noticed it earlier but Su Le had brought quite a lot and all the gifts were all beneficial to the elderly’s health. Wei Chu’s smile became brighter and he led Su Le the way with one hand holding hers. “Let’s go in.”
Once they entered the main courtyard, they already saw a few children running around and playing together. There were also many men and women who were dressed tastefully seated under the trees drinking tea or playing mahjong. Wei Chu’s mother was one of them. The entire courtyard looked very lively. A few women wearing aprons rushed out of the house with bowls and trays.
“Xiao Chu has arrived?” A rather plump woman who looked about 60 nudged Mother Wei, who was next to her, when she saw Wei Chu. “2nd little sister, your family’s Wei Chu has returned?”
Soon, Su Le who was stood next to Wei Chu was noticed and everyone’s gazes fell on them. Su Le suddenly felt that the pressure weighing on her had increased tremendously.
“Ai, Su Le has also come?” When Mother Wei saw them both, she did not greet Wei Chu. Instead, she quickly walked up to them and nudged Wei Chu to one side and beamed at Su Le while asking in a friendly tone, “You seem thinner since the last time I saw you a few months ago. Is Xiao Chu not looking after you properly? Since you have arrived so early, have you eaten breakfast yet? Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?”
“Auntie, I’m alright. Wei Chu has looked after me very well during the journey,” Su Le was so shocked by Mother Wei’s friendliness that she choked. She quickly looked down to hide her embarrassment.
“Mother, you have forgotten that your son is over here too,” Wei Chu rescued her when he saw Su Le in this predicament, but his mother did not seem like she wanted to play along. She rolled her eyes at Wei Chu, “You can go wherever you like.”
So, Wei Chu smiled foolishly as he stood to one side carrying many bags, watching his mother ask about his girlfriend’s wellbeing passionately. It was like Su Le was her own daughter.
“Is this Xiao Chu’s girlfriend?” The wife of Wei Chu’s eldest uncle came by. She stared at Su Le for a while before she said, “You’re a beautiful girl but you look rather familiar.”
Mother Wei laughed, “Have you forgotten? Xiao Le was also at Xiao Yao’s wedding reception.
“Right, right, I remember now.” The eldest uncle’s wife walked up to Su Le and started to speak to Mother Wei. Very soon, Wei Chu’s 7th paternal aunt and 8th maternal aunt came and pulled Su Le to their side. Mother Wei happily introduced her to a number of Wei Chu’s maternal and paternal aunts. She also told Su Le who each child belonged to, completely forgetting about her own son who was still carrying the gifts. “Mother, all these things are gifts that Xiao Le got for you, father, and grandfather. I’ll put them in the house,” Wei Chu sighed as he could only resign and accept his fate.
“I know it was Xiao Le who bought them without you telling me. From the last few times you returned, when have you ever brought things home? You only came to learn to cook this and that.” She flicked her hand, signaling for him to go away.
Su Le was surprised when she heard this. She turned to look at Wei Chu but she only saw him touch his nose sheepishly as he walked away.
Seeing Su Le staring at Wei Chu, Mother Wei carried on, “From young, that child never liked doing such things. He’ll eat out whenever he can but 2 years ago, he suddenly said that he wanted to learn to make Sichuan dishes. He even almost burned down most of the kitchen. I thought he wanted to become a chef but, who knew, he stopped learning after some time. He had such a disappointed expression that it made me and his father simply unable to look at him.”
“Two years ago?” Su Le remembered that she had started dating Zhuang Wei at that time. She felt a mixture of both sweetness and sourness in her heart. It was a feeling that was hard to explain.
“Have you have tried Xiao Chu’s cooking before?” Mother Wei saw the change in Su Le’s expression in response and assumed that she had eaten Wei Chu’s cooking before and asked, “How does it taste?”
“Very good,” Su Le had to admit Wei Chu’s cooking was outstanding.
“It’s only good now,” Mother Wei was very interested in exposing her son’s weak points. “I don’t know what happened 6 months ago but he suddenly started to learn how to make Sichuan food again. Even the pickled pepper chicken claw dish. I don’t know how many kilos he wasted. I’m not sure where he suddenly got the passion from. Not only did he learn from his grandmother, but he also learned from a chef of a Sichuan restaurant. He was so enthusiastic that I thought he was going to open a restaurant but, who knows, there is still no action from him though.”
Su Le felt touched and her feelings this time was much stronger than when she saw her name engraved onto the rock. She always assumed that the feelings Wei Chu had for her were not that deep. But she now discovered that Wei Chu had already done many things for her that she did not know about or even imagined.
The image of an elite in business and someone who was in the kitchen or restaurant learning how to cook did not match at all, but it made Su Le feel very blessed that she was loved by someone like that.
The rest of his aunties and aunts also followed and talked about all sorts of embarrassing stories of a young Wei Chu. They even mentioned about him wetting his bed when he was 2 years old. Su Le wanted to laugh but she felt like she shouldn’t so she restrained herself until her face became red.
“Mother, what are you all saying to Su Le?” Wei Chu happened to walk by. Surrounded by a group of females, he was extremely eye-catching.
“I’m telling her about that time you were chased by a dog when you were young.” The wife of the eldest uncle passed a slice of apple to Su Le, “We are letting Xiao Le learn more about you.”
As Wei Chu saw Su Le’s face going red by restraining her laughter, he could only sigh. “Then thank you very much.” It appeared that pretty much all his embarrassing stories had already been shared.
“Xiao Chu ah, since Xiao Le has come to visit, you should show her around,” Mother Wei beamed, “Taking a tour around the area to look at the scenery here is not a bad idea.” The open-minded mother Wei helped give the couple some private time together. All the other elders agreed and shooed Su Le and Wei Chu out of the main entrance of the house.
“I heard that your cooking skills used to be very bad?” The warm sunlight shining on Su Le made her feel very comfortable as she walked side by side with Wei Chu.
“I didn’t get to learn it when I was younger,” Wei Chu smiled as he held Su Le’s hand. “Did my mother tell you many of my stupid actions from the past?”
“No,” Su Le shook her head, “There were interesting.” Walking along the lane, she felt like she was returning to her past as the area gave her an ancient feeling. She saw a few children playing together, “You must have had many playmates when you were young.”
“Of course, I used to be the leader as well,” Wei Chu told her some interesting things about his younger days. When they walked to the end of the land, he suddenly said, “I didn’t have you in my life in the past but I hope that you’ll be present for every matter in the rest of my days.”
“Vroom vroom!” The sound of the vehicles on the path became especially clear.
Su Le lifted her head as she looked at Wei Chu. She smiled after some time, “That will depend on your performance”
Spending the rest of her life with someone like him didn’t seem like a bad thing.
