"It''s the man that your father doesn''t trust!!"


    Beside Xue Ning, Jingwei raised a surprised eyebrow. He wasn''t shocked by her father''s words, because they made sense, but he was surprised by the way they were spoken.


    So there were fathers that could talk evenly when they wanted to lecture their child. He knew logically that there had to be soft-spoken, calm fathers in the world, but his father, and the fathers of his associates weren''t like that at all.


    When he was a teenager, he honestly thought calm, reasonable fathers were a myth!


    It made him sigh. Why couldn''t his dad just be a bit like Xue Ning''s dad?


    "Who''s that next to you Xue Ning?" Her father asked curiously. "I heard someone sighing."


    The both of them stared at each other, startled. Did Xue Ning''s dad hear her sigh from the phone? How was his hearing so good? Weren''t old people supposed to be hard of hearing?


    Jingwei slowly inched away from Xue Ning, trying his best not to make another sound.


    "Dad, that''s just a person on the bus." Xue Ning hastily said.


    "Your background is too quiet to be on a bus," Her father replied cheerfully. "And knowing you, there''s no way you would be arguing with your mother in public where anyone could hear you, yes?


    Xue Ning fell silent, stumped at her father''s urate inferences.


    "Come on Ah-Ning, try not to lie so obviously to your old dad," Her father cajoled. "You''ve never been good at dishonesty, so just tell Dad the truth. I''ll go and reason things out with your Mom!"


    Jingwei blinked. Was this the famed Good Cop-Bad Cop strategy he was seeing right before his eyes? He recalled experiencing something simr, but it was a long time ago, when his mother was still alive to be the softer counterpart to his father.


    He turned to stare at her portrait once again.


    ''Please Mom. Bless me so Xue Ning''s parents will like me!''


    "Daaaad, I''m telling the truth! Even if I''m not on the bus now, the rest of it is true! We are friends!" Xue Ning said, in a sulky voice.


    Jingwei found it adorable, and he had never seen this side of her before. Xue Ning, since he met her, had beenpetent and impressive, sometimes embarrassed, angry and upset, and more recently tired and smug, but never really sulky and petnt.


    Between the two of them, it was Jingwei who had the monopoly on being sulky and petnt. Until now.


    He stuffed his fist in his mouth to stop himself fromughing. Xue Ning shot him a death re, warning in her eyes. He nodded and showed an appropriately chastised expression, pretending to sob dramatically in silence.


    Augh threatened to bubble out of Xue Ning''s lips when she saw his ridiculousness.


    "Xue Ning, dear, are you still listening to me?"


    "Ah? Yeah Dad I''m still here. Jingwei and I are really just friends!"


    "Then why is the Inte calling you his wife? I''ve never even seen the lettering of the wedding invite - how can he hope to marry you like this?" Her father protested, pointing out his main gripe. Unlike his wife, he knew Xue Ning wasn''t a poor judge of character.


    However, his daughter also had very little positive romantic experiences, and he wouldn''t be surprised if Sun Jingwei managed to convince her into giving him a chance.


    From what he researched online, Sun Jingwei was a handsome, charming man with lots of money, and his daughter did love money, even if she didn''t like who it belonged to.


    Frankly, if it was any other rich man''s son, perhaps he would be less anxious. He might even be vaguely optimistic, that his only daughter might live the easy life of a rich man''s wife.


    But because Sun Jingwei was Sun Haowei''s youngest son, it made it impossible for him to rx. He and his wife knew better than anyone what kind of man Sun Haowei was, and how he treated those he deemed unworthy.


    Hopefully his daughter would never need to meet him, let alone be his daughter-inw! He''d never allow it! His poor precious daughter would be miserable stuck in a family like that, and if Sun Haowei''s temper was just as bad as he remembered it to be, shes would definitely happen with depressing regrity.


    "Dad, I can exin the wife thing. Honestly, it''s because Sun Jingwei opened his big mouth." Xue Ning said, heartlessly throwing Jingwei under the bus after defending him so fervently earlier.


    Jingwei stared at her and mouthed the words ''Oi, why are you only ming me?'' His brother was also there pushing the wife agenda. She should know. She was tired, but she was there when it happened!


    Xue Ning ignored him and continued.


    "Don''t worry Dad, your daughter is getting three houses out of this! I''m an entrepreneur!" She continued enthusiastically.


    Jingwei spluttered. There was a simr sounding from her father''s end of the line.


    "That''s not an entrepreneur!" Jingwei protested.


    "Little Ning, that''s not an entrepreneur." Her father said.


    There was a moment of silence as Xue Ning''s father realised his suspicions were confirmed, that there was a man next to his daughter, listening in to his conversation.


    Jingwei suddenly felt a disturbance in the force. He could onlyugh awkwardly to himself.


    "Didn''t I tell you to shush?" Xue Ning whispered angrily, smacking his arm.


    "Xue Ning, is Sun Jingwei the man I heard just now? His father said pleasantly, in a tone of someonementing on the weather.


    Xue Ning paused, contemting whether or not she should lie. Jingwei made the decision for her, easily snatching the phone out of her distracted hands.


    Xue Ning shouldn''t have the burden of lying to her parents on his behalf - in fact, her parents seem to love and care so much for her! It would weigh on his conscience if their rtionship became strained because of him.


    She had two parents that loved her, while Jingwei wasn''t even sure he was loved by the only one he had. Why ruin things for her?


    "Hello Uncle, nice to meet you! Yes, it''s me, Sun Jingwei."