For some unknown reason, this was the first time Lin Nan had slept so peacefully while in an unfamiliar environment.

There was no intense anxiety, no fear of the outside world. Lying there, looking at Chen Yao's profile as he sat on the floor playing with his phone, listening to the sounds of Chen Yao's mom secretly returning to the living room, her heart felt extraordinarily peaceful.

She was beginning to suspect herself. Had she fallen for her best friend?

Lin Nan turned over to face the wall, but after just a few minutes, she restlessly turned back, her gaze settling on Chen Yao.

She suspected she might have fallen for her best friend.

Maybe it was an illusion brought on by being overly cared for during a low point?

She recalled what Chen Yao had said to her earlier:

"If you don't mind, you can treat my house as your house too. They like you anyway..."

Those words sounded no different from a confession.

She didn't know if she was overthinking it, but even if it were true, Lin Nan was completely unable to respond to Chen Yao's feelings.

She still felt unable to accept marrying a man...

Letting out a long sigh, her hungover, throbbing, and painful brain couldn't handle thinking about so much. After lying there for just ten minutes or so, Lin Nan felt her consciousness beginning to fall into darkness.

When she regained consciousness again, there was a knocking sound at the bedroom door.

Chen Yao's mom was calling softly from outside: "Children, time to get up for lunch."

Lin Nan was startled for a moment, looked down at Chen Yao sleeping on his floor mat, then got up to open the door.

Chen Yao's mom peeked her head in to look at the situation inside the room, then was left speechless by Chen Yao's behavior. This child really did sleep on a floor mat!

"Time for lunch." But facing Lin Nan, she still put on the appearance of a kind elder, looking at this shy and bashful girl with complete satisfaction. "You go to the dining room first. I'll wake up this little rascal."

"Mm." Lin Nan kept her head down, always feeling unable to relax in front of her. She left the bedroom and came to the dining room, where she found a middle-aged man who looked similar to Chen Yao already seated and waiting.

Must be Chen Yao's dad?

Chen Yao's dad heard the commotion and looked up at Lin Nan. His eyes immediately lit up, feeling that his wife was absolutely right - that boy Chen Yao really had brought back a nice girl.

"Sit quickly, treat this as your own home, don't be nervous." He hurriedly stood up to pull out a chair for Lin Nan, gesturing for her to sit down, but he himself was extremely nervous, unable to stop the smile on his face.

Lin Nan was flattered and completely didn't know how to handle such an enthusiastic uncle. She could only sit down stiffly, hands clasped between her thighs, anxiously looking down at the table.

"How did you and Chen Yao meet?" Chen Yao's dad tried to make conversation to dispel Lin Nan's restraint. "I think I've heard him mention your name before. Lin Nan, right? I thought it was one of his buddies back then."

Lin Nan didn't know how to answer, but Chen Yao's dad enthusiastically served her several pieces of meat in her bowl and continued: "That boy is mischievous, please be more tolerant with him..."

Lin Nan wasn't in the mood to listen to him talk, only feeling anxiety and embarrassment that left her at a loss.

Soon Chen Yao also came out of the bedroom yawning, and was about to sit down when his father glared at him: "Go! Wash your hands!"

Only then did Lin Nan realize she hadn't washed her hands either. She hurriedly started to get up to follow, but was pressed back down by the aunt who had just arrived.

"It's fine if you don't have this habit. You can develop it slowly in the future. No need to rush today."

The overly enthusiastic couple left her completely unable to refuse, and she could only smile awkwardly.

"Eat quickly."

Before Chen Yao had even returned from washing his hands, the uncle and aunt had already sat down and began constantly serving food into Lin Nan's bowl. The dishes completely covered the rice underneath. For every piece of meat she ate, they added two more pieces. The more she ate, the more they added. She hadn't even gotten a single grain of rice in her mouth, and Lin Nan was suffering unbearably.

The two began curiously asking about Lin Nan's family situation, clearly already treating her as a daughter-in-law candidate.

"I heard you have nowhere to stay? It's fine, you can live here as long as you want."

"No, my mom is picking me up to go to grandfather's this afternoon."

"How are your grades usually? Must be much better than Chen Yao's, right?"

"Just average..."

"Does Chen Yao usually make you angry? This kid just knows how to play games all day."

"I like games too..." Lin Nan could only grit her teeth and answer all the questions, afraid of being disliked by Chen Yao's parents.

"That's good. It's nice for girls to play games to relax and exercise their brains."

Chen Yao was displeased. This was clearly a double standard! When boys play games it's not relaxation? If you had applied this theory to me earlier, I wouldn't have been dragged out of internet cafes and beaten as a kid!

Chen Yao suddenly felt like he was the guest, while Lin Nan was their daughter.

He felt sorry for himself.

The meal left Chen Yao heartbroken. Almost all the meat from the plates went into Lin Nan's stomach. Lin Nan ate until her cheeks were bulging with meat, making the uncle and aunt beam with joy, finding her more and more adorable.

When Lin Nan really couldn't eat anymore and protested, the two finally let her go. But as soon as Lin Nan returned to the room, their target immediately shifted to Chen Yao.

"You little brat! You're quite capable! Bringing your girlfriend home!" His father's face darkened as he gave Chen Yao a thorough scolding that left him unable to lift his head. "Couldn't you have given us advance notice! I wasn't prepared at all!"

He turned to look at Chen Yao's mom and asked: "How did I do? Was I too enthusiastic? I need to go online and ask how to get along with a daughter-in-law."

"Exactly. Fortunately we decided to close today, otherwise we wouldn't have met her." Chen Yao's mom crossed her arms and nodded. "Go ask quickly. It was too sudden, we had no preparation at all. Seems like we scared that girl a bit?"

I never intended for you to meet her in the first place.

Chen Yao smiled bitterly. He had only wanted Lin Nan to stay at his house during the gap before going to the countryside. He hadn't expected to run into his parents being home.

Things were getting more and more wrong. These two elders clearly treated Lin Nan as a daughter-in-law.

"Lin Nan and I haven't even gotten started yet. Can you not be so serious?" Chen Yao replied helplessly. "You've scared her."

"Not even gotten started? You're just one step away from breaking through, right?" His mother was in her forties after all, and running a restaurant meant she'd seen all kinds of people. She teased her son: "Look at how she acts. When she gets nervous she looks at you. She definitely has feelings for you."

"And we've met lots of people. We can tell at a glance she's not a girl with bad intentions. Treasure her well, don't let some other pig steal her away."

How did I become a pig? Chen Yao was completely bewildered.

Although he did have feelings for Lin Nan, that barrier might as well be made of iron. He could break his fingers and still not poke through it.

He should have just spent more money to stay at the hotel for the afternoon instead of trying to save money.

"Before graduation and marriage, make sure to take safety measures, otherwise how embarrassing would it be for the girl?"

"I keep telling you it's not like that..."

Chen Yao was teased and squeezed until he had no chance to argue back, and could only get up and flee in defeat.

Who knows how things ended up developing like this.

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