Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Zhang Lisheng was entirely fascinated by the show, the door of the living room not far behind from him was pushed open. The Lavin family’s father carried two huge kraft paper bags in his arms and walked in surrounded by his children whose hands were also loaded with items after their shoppings.
“Lili, the frozen foods are on sale in the supermarket so I couldn’t help but buy 0 pounds of beef and lots of eggs and fruits. Hadn’t you always wanted to try to make new dishes? You can show your skills now.” As soon as Sullo entered, he said loudly with a smile.
The traditional American family party was actually very simple. If the guests were all minors, then it would be already good enough to provide some baked cookies and drinks. It would be considered as perfect if some exquisite homemade cakes could be thrown in as well.
If the guests were adults, they only needed to prepare alcohol in addition to the drinks. However, since Lili had good cooking skills, Lavin’s parties would tend to be much more sumptuous.
In peacetime, this kind of behavior that reflected the sincerity of the host would just be a tad bit of slightly more work but in this era where ingredients were lacking, it had become a heavy burden. The way the Lavin family’s father acted was apparently trying to pay for most of the food for his eldest daughter’s party but at the same time, he was afraid of offending his child as well.
The way a ‘rough’ police officer showed his delicate care for his daughter who had already grown up and stepped into society was particularly touching.
The girl’s sensitivity and meticulousness immediately allowed Riley to notice the deep love of her father hidden behind his plain words. Her body turned stiff immediately as a gush of emotions rushed out of her heart. Unable to suppress it, she threw herself in her father’s arms and murmured, as though she had gone back to when she was young, “Oh Dad! Thank you! Thank you! I love you…”
Sullo opened his arms in shock. Raising the two bags of food in his hands, he looked at the tall girl hugging himself tightly and finally realized what was going on a few seconds later.
His eyes fluttered for a second. As though traveling through time and space, an image of a two-to-three-year-old cute girl who still walked in a wobbly manner hugging his trouser while raising her chubby little face to look up at him babbling, “Daddy… Daddy… Daddy…” appeared in his mind.
Love instantly filled his eyes as tears began to brim but the firm and resolute old police officer replied like this instead, “You’re already the assistant producer of NBC so how can you still act so childishly like a child? Can’t you see the paper bags in my hand? C’mon, let go of me now. It’s already afternoon and we still have plenty of party preparations to do. ”
Upon hearing her father’s words, Riley calmed down and let go of her hands embarrassedly. However, even Randy who loved to joke the most did not ridicule his sister but frowning forcefully to stop his tears that were threatening to fall.
This kind of overflowing affection among family members that flowed out unintentionally appeared to be bland but was actually the most touching emotion in the world. It could touch the softest part of everyone’s heart but of course, this feeling did not appeal to gods at all.
When Zhang Lisheng’s mother saw that the Lavin family members entered the kitchen with warm smiled on their faces, she also had a touched smile on her face. Zhang Lisheng, on the other hand, merely thanked his own good stars that he had more helpers now and no longer needed to deal with the pile of onions covered in soils after finished washing the lettuce.
More people would result in greater strength. With the lead of a capable hostess who was proficient in cooking and dessert making, after three to four hours later, the preparatory work for a sumptuous family party had finally been completed in the evening.
When Lili placed the last plate of cut fruits on the borrowed long table covered in white tablecloth in the living room, she breathed a long sigh and said with a clap of her hands, “Alright, kids. Everything is ready now. I wish all of you a pleasant evening!”
“As for us.” Sullo, who was standing next to his wife, announced loudly right after, “We’ll soon leave the house and go enjoy a candlelight dinner at a restaurant outside. We’ll watch a romantic night-time movie and will probably come back after 1 am in the morning. But…”
He glanced around and looked at the excited expression on the children’s face. His face turned stern and he raised a finger as he warned, “Don’t think that you can do whatever you want. You can drink alcohol but don’t go over the limit, especially you, Randy! Don’t forget that you’re now a police officer and you’re no longer the reckless center halfback of your college football team. And Riley, I know this is your moment tonight, but you must not be complacent… ”
“Oh my dear, the kids are already in their twenties. If it wasn’t for the fact that the rent of the apartment in New Washington A is just too expensive, they’d have moved out and stayed by themselves long ago. If you still continue to be so strict, I’m afraid they’ll risk having their bank accounts in deficit and move out at the end of this month. Just rest assured, they’re all sensible good children and they’ll never do things that they should not do.” Lili who was next to him stopped her spouse’s strict warning in a timely manner and said softly.
No matter what country or civilization it was, the simplest and most effective way for parents to teach their children was by applying a tactic of one coaxed while the other coerced.
Upon hearing his wife’s words, Sullo nodded tacitly and showed the children a ‘I trust all of you, so don’t let me down’ expression before turning to the stairs.
Lili followed her spouse and wanted to return to the bedroom to change her clothes as well but she inadvertently saw Zhang Lisheng’s calm expression that was different from the other, surrounding Lavin family’s children. At once, she came to a halt.
After pondering for a while, she walked up to the young man and stretched out her hand before saying, “Baby, give me your room key, car key, cell phone, and wallet.”
“What?” Zhang Lisheng was stunned and asked with his eyes wide with puzzlement.
“Give me your room key, car key, cell phone and wallet, baby.” Lili repeated.
Looking at his mother’s serious expression, despite his puzzlement, Zhang Lisheng still pulled these four things out of his pocket and handed them over to her. “What do you want them for, mom?”
“I’m going to lock them all in your room so that you can’t go anywhere tonight and you can only stay obediently at home for the party. You need to get in touch more with people of your age, baby. Even the great scientist Einstein and the American business magnate Rockefeller had a few good friends in their lives! There shouldn’t be only work and research in your life.” Lili took away the keys, wallet, and cell phone from her son’s hand and said seriously.
“I didn’t have any plan to leave anyway, mom.” The young man shrugged and said, “But the life that only consists of work and research that you just criticized makes me feel happy.”
“But unhealthy, baby, both from a psychological and physical perspective.” The mother shook her head at the son and turned to the stairs.
“Lisheng looks like Aunt Lili really hopes that you can find a girlfriend and settle down in New Washington A. It would be a good opportunity tonight. There are several beautiful reporters from the NBC News Department and they’ve agreed to come to the party tonight. By that time, you can slowly take your pick, oh my dear brother…” Looking at Lili’s disappearing back, Riley chuckled half-jokingly. Without warning, the door bell ‘ding dong…’ resonated behind them.
“So early? It must be Cathy and Jules.” The girl jumped up in a pleasant surprise and rushed up to the door to open it.
Standing outside the door were two girls who had almost the same height of about 170 centimeters. One had a healthy tanned skin while the other had a slightly fair chocolate skin. When both of the girls who had make up on and were wearing sexy dress saw Riley, they immediately opened their arms and shouted, “Congratulations once again for becoming an assistant producer, oh Riley dear!”
At once, they hugged the eldest daughter of the Lavin’s family.
“Muaks muaks…” Riley pressed her face against the cheeks of the two girls and smooched loudly before saying in an equally loud voice, “Welcome to my promotion party, oh sisters!”
Then, she looked at a young white man with dashing brows, big eyes, and cyan stubbles on his chin who was wearing a light brown casual outfit that gave off an elegant and natural poise before smiling. “Welcome to my party too, Pierre. Hurry up and come in.”
“It should be me thanking you for your invitation instead, Riley. Here’s a present for you, I hope you like it.” The white man handed a wine—that was not quite aged—tied with a blue ribbon to the enthusiastic party host.
The girls also hurriedly presented their friend with gifts to celebrate her promotion—it was two realistic drawings of wheat fields planted in spring and harvested in summer, that contained beautiful blessings.
“Oh Pierre, I was just worrying that I didn’t prepare enough wine. Your gift is really timely. Cathy, Jules, these two landscape paintings are so beautiful! I’ll hang them above my bed and look at them before I sleep everyday.” Riley hugged her friends’ presents, that could not be said as precious but contained their feelings, in her arms and thanked them as she brought her colleagues into the living room.
When they reached the sofa, the girl pointed at her older brother and the youngest twin siblings. “You know my older brother Randy, my younger brother Harry, and younger sister Gill…”
Then, she pointed at Michelle and Zhang Lisheng before introducing them, “These is my younger sister Michelle and younger brother Zhang Lisheng who have just arrived from New Washington A not long ago.”
American family often adopted Asian orphans and adding on to the fact that the female host of the Lavin family had Chinese ancestry, Riley’s friends were not surprised by the appearance of an Asian face who shared a different last name among her siblings.
The beautiful tanned Cathy even remarked in a slight envious tone, “You’re really lucky, Riley! You actually have so many family members of yours who escaped to the Noah World. Only my mom and I from my entire family who managed to… Oh, I’m sorry for saying such killjoy things before your party. The reason Jules and I came here early is because we wanted to see if you need any help and we just so happened to run into Pierre on the way. Just let us know if there’s anything else to do. Even though I’m wearing a dress, I can still do pretty much anything.”
“Believe me, since you’ve started all over again, everything will be okay, Cathy.” Riley hugged her friend who was forcing a laughter with strength and comforted her from her heart before smiling. “There’s nothing to prepare anymore. We just only have to wait for the party to begin. Oh, that’s right, our family has to go upstairs to change clothes. There are biscuits, fruit, and juice on the table so just feel free to indulge in them. I’ll come down soon.”
