Dragon King's Son-In-Law

by Dragon King

  119 I Already Have Someone I like

  “Have a seat! Have some drinks too!” Wearing a t-shirt and shorts, Xie Wanjun said to Hao Ren straightforwardly. Then, he picked up a bottle of beer from the corner and cracked it open.

  “Yujia can have some too.”

  “Em, just a little bit,” picking up a cup, Xie Yujia said in a soft voice.

  Xie Wanjun didn’t want to force his sister; he only poured a little for her. Then, he took out two empty cups and filled them up.

  Hao Ren didn’t feel comfortable turning Xie Wanjun down since this man was too passionate, and he was Xie Yujia’s brother. Therefore, he took the cup and had a sip.

  “I have figured out the things that happened before.” Xie Wanjun raised his cup. “I apologize for the previous misunderstanding.”

  Hao Ren picked up his cup and lightly collided the cup with Xie Wanjun’s. “Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal.”

  “Yeah, and I was thinking.” Xie Wanjun got to the point immediately. “Those idiots on the Basketball Team always caused trouble, so I am not planning to let them play the match against Jinghua University this time. Instead, I dismissed them so that they can learn their lesson.”

  Hao Ren felt like he hadn’t finished yet, so he was waiting for him to continue.

  As he expected, Xie Wanjun kept talking, “However, those guys have no specialty other than playing basketball. It would be the end of their career if they couldn’t play basketball anymore. Therefore, I will take them back once the match between East Ocean and Jinghua is finished. What do you think of that?”

  Receiving no response from Hao Ren, Xie Wanjun continued, “They have promised me that they will distance themselves from that bastard Huang Xujie and only concentrate on playing basketball. They won’t meddle with anything else.”

  Seeing how sincere this man was, Hao Ren had no reason to stop him. He replied, “If that’s the case, then ask them to come back.”

  “However,” Hao Ren said immediately, “Zhao Jiayi has to be the lead player, that can’t change.”

  “Zhao Jiayi’s performance is pretty good so far, but whether he can become the lead depends on his match next week.” Xie Wanjun took a sip of his beer. “You might have also noticed that his height could be a barrier for him; but if he is able to turn this disadvantages into an advantage, he will still have a chance at being the core of the team. Moreover, if he ever shows the characters of a leader, I can give him the Captain position.”

  Xie Wanjun’s words definitely had set Hao Ren’s mind at rest. The visit today didn’t end up being a waste simply because of the promises Xie Wanjun made.

  While listening to their discussion about basketball, Xie Yujia was simply sitting beside them and sipping her beer. Shortly, a blush appeared on each side of her fair and soft cheeks.

  Xie Wanjun was enjoying his meal and beer while talking about basketball. All of a sudden, he switched the topic. “Now we have to talk about Yujia.”

  He looked at Hao Ren and said, “I have nothing against you if you want to pursue Yujia, but there are a few things I would like you to know.”

  Xie Yujia, who was having her meal and sipping her beer, suddenly raised her head in shock. She hurried to interrupt Xie Wanjun, “Brother! What are you talking about!”

  “I didn’t say anything!” pretending to be innocent, Xie Wanjun looked at Xie Yujia naively.

  “This is what you called nothing?!” Xie Yujia bit her lips and pouted.

  “Hey, you were the one telling me that there is a nice guy called Hao Ren in your class,” Xie Wanjun said purposely.

  Xie Yujia’s face turned as red as a ripe apple. She stared at Xie Wanjun for a moment before turning to Hao Ren and saying, “Don’t listen to his nonsense.”

  On the contrary, the more she tried to justify, the more she exposed herself.

  Xie Wanjun continued, “Don’t tell me that you haven’t forgotten the one from the past.”

  “Brother! You’ve gone too far!” Xie Yujia stood up suddenly, dragged Hao Ren off his seat, opened the security door, and rushed out.

  “Yujia,” Xie Wanjun shouted from the room.

  “You can drink by yourself!” Dragging Hao Ren to the stairs, Xie Yujia slammed the security door with a huge bang.

  Hao Ren didn’t think things would end up like this; Xie Yujia actually got so mad.

  Walking out of the building, Xie Yujia slowly calmed down. She turned around to Hao Ren and asked, “You didn’t forget anything in there, did you?”

  “No.” Hao Ren shook his head before looking up at the apartment, “Is it ok to be like this?”

  “He drank too much. You don’t have to worry about him!” Xie Yujia said angrily.

  Afterward, Xie Yujia looked at the sky and said, “It’s getting late, maybe you should go home now; I can walk you to the bus stop.”

  “Ok.” Hao Ren nodded.

  Therefore, Xie Yujia walked out of the old neighborhood with him. Facing the bright setting sun, they headed to the bus stop.

  During the walk, Xie Yujia suddenly pouted and said, “Please don’t take what my brother said today seriously. We are classmates, and we have also become good friends recently; he overthought our relationship. Moreover, I might be too careless sometime because I have been living with my brother for too long. So please don’t get me wrong.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Hao Ren answered while walking and looking at the tips of his own shoes.

  “To be honest with you, I already have someone I like,” Xie Yujia said unexpectedly after thinking for a while.

  Hao Ren’s steps paused for a moment; the sentence ‘I already have someone I like’ had hit his heart quite hard.

  “But I guess it is just an unrequited love. Will you laugh at me?” Xie Yujia asked.

  “Hehe, the person that the Class President likes, is he very brilliant?” Hao Ren asked.

  “Yes, he is no longer at East Ocean City, but I believe he will come back in the future,” Xie Yujia said.

  “The reason Xie Yujia studies so hard is probably to keep up with the person she likes,” Hao Ren wondered.

  The conversation stopped abruptly; Hao Ren didn’t ask about anything else, and Xie Yujia didn’t say anything either.

  Soon, Xie Yujia watched Hao Ren get on the bus. Then, she waved at him and left. Hao Ren, who was sitting on the bus and staring at Xie Yujia’s lonely shadow, suddenly felt a bit upset.

  “Xie Yujia is waiting for that guy. That is why she is so hard-working and not interested in relationships before the third year.”

  The bus drove slowly. Hao Ren leaned against the bus window and fell asleep unconsciously.

  He walked to his room and went to sleep as soon as he got back to his home on the beach. On the weekend, he hired someone to install a simple basketball stand in the backyard, and he then spent all his energy playing basketball.

  “Is Ren alright? He has been playing basketball so hard these days.” Grandma asked Yue Yang with great concern as they looked at the backyard from the room on the second floor.

  “Don’t worry; there will be a basketball match next week, and that’s why he is practicing so hard,” Yue Yang replied with a smile on her face.

  “I didn’t know that our Ren knew how to play basketball.” Grandma started smiling. “Can I go watch the basketball match next week?”

  “Mom, you know nothing about basketball.”

  “Who said that? At least I know when Ren scores!” Grandma said stubbornly.

  “Fine, I’ll bring you to the game next week.” Yue Yang had no other choice but to nod in agreement.

  Grandma was the boss of the family; nobody would ever go against her wish.

  Time went by fast. Soon, it was Monday again. Hao Ren was driven to the university by Yue Yang while bringing a huge bag of snacks prepared by his Grandma.

  “Ren, the match is on Thursday evening, right?” Yue Yang asked while she was driving.

  “Yes, it starts at seven o’clock.
You sure you want to come?” Hao Ren asked.

  “Not only me but also your grandma. In addition, I called your father yesterday and gave him the final command. Therefore, he will come back early to watch your match with us,” Yue Yang said.

  In Hao Ren’s mind, he was wondering if he might have dragged too many people to the match since he wasn’t even the lead player. However, he had to play hard and serious in the match since even his grandma who knew nothing about basketball was coming to watch him play.

  “You have to go to Zi’s home to help her with homework tonight, don’t you?” Yue Yang asked again.

  “Yes, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing really, it’s just that your grandma misses Zi a lot, and she wants to invite her family over for dinner,” Yue Yang explained.

  “Ok, I’ll try.” Hao Ren nodded.

  Hao Ren knew that his grandma always wanted to have a pretty granddaughter, and the appearance of Zi made her wish come true.

  Concerning the bigger wish that Grandma had, it might be too……

  It was only six o’clock when he got to the university; there was still time for Yue Yang to drive back to work. Hao Ren walked in through the south dorm area outside the campus while carrying a huge bag of snacks. Then, he walked towards Dorm Building No. 7.

  “Zzzt, zzzt.” The phone in his pocket started to vibrate.

  “Who’s calling so early?” he thought.

  Hao Ren took out the phone and saw his dad’s number on the screen.

  “Hello.” Hao Ren picked up the call, wondering why his dad called since he was in the United States for a conference at the moment. But after figuring out the time difference, Hao Ren realized that it was probably dusk there.

  “Ren!” Hao Zhonghua’s voice was full of excitement. Based on past experience, he would only have this kind of voice when he just had a breakthrough on a tough scientific research.

  “Guess who I met today?!” from the other side of the phone, Hao Zhonghua asked excitedly.

  “Who?” Hao Ren asked languidly.

  “Little Carrot’s dad! Do you still remember Little Carrot?” Hao Zhonghua was incredibly excited.

  “Oh, it was him?” Hao Ren became interested. “How is Uncle doing?”

  “He started a factory in the States. He is usually very busy, but I heard that he can make over 300,000 dollars a year. He is pretty well-off,” Hao Zhonghua said.

  “Then, how is Little Carrot? She should be studying at a university there, right?” Hao Ren asked.

  He was quite excited in his mind. After all, she was the little girl whom he spent a lot of time with back in his childhood. Although he only had a vague impression of her, they still had a good friendship.

  “We are about the same age, so she must have grown up from a little girl to a lady now. Is she still as pretty as before and like to cry as before?” Hao Ren thought.

  “I was about to tell you!” Hao Zhonghua kept talking excitedly, “It turned out that Little Carrot is still in China and is also studying at East Ocean University!”

  “Ah?” Hao Ren was shocked. “Little Carrot didn’t go abroad and is my schoolmate?”

  “It is because when they moved abroad, her parents found that the studying environment in the States is too casual, and they preferred the education style back in China. Therefore, they sent her back. Forget it; I’m not going to waste time here. How about you look for Little Carrot since both of you are studying at East Ocean University?”

  “What is her name?” Hao Ren asked excitedly as well.

  He only remembered the nickname of Little Carrot ever since his childhood but never knew her real name. Even Hao Zhonghua was so used to calling her Little Carrot that he forgot her real name as well.

  “It could be exciting to meet an old friend from the past. Not sure what Little Carrot looks like now…” Hao Ren thought.

  “Her name is, Xie Yujia.” Hao Zhonghua’s voice echoed through the phone as he was on the other side of the ocean.

  120 It Is a Small World

  Pata!

  The bag full of snacks dropped onto the ground.

  “What’s her name?” Hao Ren asked again.

  “Xie Yujia. She is the only daughter of your Uncle Xie, and he hopes that once you have contacted her, you guys can take care of each other at the university. Alright, alright. I still have some things to work on; you can figure out a way to get in touch with her since it won’t be hard now as you know her name.”

  When he finished, Hao Zhonghua hung up the phone.

  Hao Ren was still standing in the same spot, holding his phone, absent-minded.

  “Are you playing jokes on me, God? The Class President is my childhood sweetheart?”

  At the moment, Hao Ren felt like he was thrown into the water and pulled out again and again.

  Thus, Hao Ren had stood still and let the cold wind blow on him for a few minutes. Then, he suddenly called Vice-Principal Lu Qing’s number.

  “Oh, it is you, Gongzi Hao. What are you calling me for?” Lu Qing’s voice came through the phone.

  “Principal Lu, you probably have the files of all the students at the university. Can you please help me to look up how many girls at the university are named Xie Yujia?” Hao Ren asked on the phone.

  He thought for a while then added, “Please also look for names with the same sound but different characters.” His voice started trembling.

  “Are you in a rush? I’m not at the university yet,” Lu Qing asked.

  “No rush, but please let me know once you have the results, thank you so much.”

  “Fine, I’ll look it up for you as soon as I get to school. Other than that, I heard that Gongzi Hao has successfully advanced to the third level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll?” Lu Qing asked.

  “Yes, it was a few days ago. Please help me out with the name search.” Hao Ren hung up the phone.

  He was so absent-minded that he hung up the phone as soon as he finished his request; he didn’t even notice that Lu Qing was still trying to talk to him on the phone. Hanging up on the Vice-Principal; Hao Ren really had the guts.

  After picking up the snacks from the ground, Hao Ren walked into the dorm building and started climbing. Soon, he went to room 302 dazedly,

  Zhao Jiayi had already left the dorm to practice basketball. Zhou Liren and Cao Ronghua were still sleeping, but they woke up instantly and started to take Hao Ren’s snacks as soon as they noticed that he was back.

  “Ren, why do you look so dull? What happened? Going through a breakup?” Seeing Hao Ren sitting on the chair and staring outside blankly, Zhou Liren asked after taking a few bags of chips.

  “Nothing.” Hao Ren waved his hand blankly.

  “Ok, I’m going to brush my teeth now. Later, we’ll go to class together.” Zhou Liren took a look at Hao Ren with concern before picking up his toothbrush and washbasin.

  Half an hour later, Hao Ren went to the cafeteria for breakfast with Zhou Liren and Cao Ronghua. Then, they went to class together.

  At this time, almost half of the students were already waiting for the class to start and chatting with each other. Hao Ren noticed that Xie Yujia was in the classroom as well, sitting in the second row and talking to the girls around her.

  Xie Yujia avoided eye contact with Hao Ren when she saw him come in; she probably felt awkward because of the conversation they had on Friday as it exposed her secret, or maybe she was trying to keep some distance from Hao Ren because they have been too close to each other recently and she didn’t want other students to gossip about them.

  Hao Ren was stunned for a moment when he saw Xie Yujia. Then, he found a seat at the back and sat down.

  Afterward, Zhao Jiayi came into the classroom sweating all over. He noticed Hao Ren’s blank expression and felt something was wrong. “Ren, did you suffer a breakup?” He took a look at Xie Yujia, who was sitting in the front, purposely as he said this.

  “Did Hao Ren finally have the encourage to express his admiratio
n towards Xie Yujia but got rejected?” he thought.

  “Zzt, zzz, zzt,” Hao Ren’s phone started to vibrate.

  He grabbed his phone instantly and saw Lu Qing’s number, so he hurriedly picked it up.

  “I just came to the university and looked it up; among all the students at the university. No matter if it is the same pronunciation and characters or the same pronunciation but different characters, there is only one student named Xie Yujia, which is your Class President. However, there was a Xie Yujia who graduated three years ago, but only the pronunciation is the same,” Lu Qing said through the phone.

  “Ok, thanks a lot,” Hao Ren said; he had nothing else to say other than that.

  “There is another thing I want to mention, which is,”

  Lu Qing was about to continue over the phone, but Hao Ren had already put down the phone blankly and hung it up at convenience. He was the first person in history to hang up the Vice-Principal’s call twice in a day.

  Xie Yujia was Little Carrot……

  “Is she the Little Carrot in my hazy memory who pulled on the corner of my clothes, had snot hanging from her nose, and followed me around in her bare feet?! The little girl who used to be hard to get rid of has now turned into a beautiful girl!?”

  A dozen years seemed to have slipped by too fast!

  Hao Ren felt like the call of ‘Little Older Brother’ was still ringing in his ears.

  Looking at Xie Yujia, who had perfectly smooth skin and was sitting in the front rows carefully listening while taking notes, Hao Ren felt like it was impossible to match her with the little girl in his hazy memory!

  Cao Ronghua lifted his right hand and waved it in front of Hao Ren’s eyes when he saw Hao Ren was so out of it.

  Not until then did Hao Ren come back to his senses and uttered a sigh of relief.

  “Did you become dumb?” Cao Ronghua asked him.

  “Em, nothing,” although Hao Ren said that, he couldn’t calm himself down.