Chapter 118 An Yi: Don't be angry

"Don't be nervous." Xiao He reached out and squeezed Jin Miao's wrist. "My parents and my sister are all very nice people. They won't make things difficult for you."

Holding a bouquet of flowers, Jin Miao stood nervously at the entrance of the building, her palms sweating. Before her brother met his parents, he needed to meet them first. This was something she and Xiao He had agreed on. Jin Miao had to find out the attitudes of his parents beforehand before she could let her brother meet them with peace of mind.

If the other person really doesn't like her... then it doesn't matter.

"Hello, Uncle and Aunt." Jin Miao entered the house and handed the bouquet to the aunt. "I heard from He Yi that you like tulips, so I took the liberty of buying you a bouquet. I hope you like it."

"Oh, thank you so much, little girl." Mrs. Xiao said with a smile, holding the bouquet of flowers. "This little girl is pretty and has a sweet tongue. Please sit down and have a taste of the food our housekeeper cooks."

Jin Miao smiled and saw Xiao's father nod in greeting: "Hello, Uncle."

"Hello, please have a seat."

Xiao He pulled the nervous Xiao Miao down to sit. Xiao's mother sat next to Xiao Miao, took her hand, and asked, "Oh my, look how well this girl has been raised. She's so well-mannered. It seems like her family is quite well-off."

Jin Miao shook her head: "The conditions here are definitely not as good as here. Fortunately, my elders at home are very caring, so they have never let me down over the years."

"Really? What do your parents do?"

"My father passed away early, and my mother remarried. My older brother raised me from a young age."

"You were able to get into Shanghai University under these circumstances! You're really amazing. You're a very smart and ambitious girl."

"Thank you, Auntie, but I can't say I'm smart. I wasn't a particularly good student when I was in school. It was my brother who went to great lengths to transfer me to Qingyu School and enroll me in training institutions and tutoring classes so that I could have a better learning environment. That's how my grades improved," Jin Miao said in detail.

"Oh, your brother is really good too! Which school does he go to?"

Jin Miao fell silent for a moment.

“Mom…” Xiao He stopped her, “Why are you asking this? Oh, have some fruit, Xiao Miao, have a grape.”

"Ah, it's not convenient to talk about it..."

Jin Miao had long known that highly educated families also valued the educational background of their partners, but she came here today specifically to see their attitude.

“My brother dropped out of high school,” Jin Miao said. “At that time, an elder in the family was sick, and my brother dropped out of school to work in order to pay for her medical expenses. But my brother had very good grades when he was in school, much better than me. You may have seen my brother on TV. His name is Jin He.”

Jin He?!

Although Xiao's mother was old, she wasn't completely offline, and she had heard of Jin He: "Oh my, your brother is so famous, and he's your only relative. Is he not in good health?"

“Yes…” Jin Miao felt sad whenever this was mentioned. “He worked too hard before, and his heart was damaged. His health has always been very poor.”

Xiao's mother didn't say anything more and listened quietly to what Xiao Miao had to say.

“My brother’s illness was entirely caused by overwork. He was very healthy before, with no problems except for a bad stomach. He never gave up his job so that I could go to school.”

As Jin Miao finished speaking, she seemed to have made up her mind: "Auntie, I know that you are very concerned about my family's situation, but I care more about my brother. He has really sacrificed a lot for me."

“After he found out I was in a relationship, he suggested that he meet with you, but I felt I should plan things out first,” Jin Miao said. “My brother dropped out of high school and is currently a relatively unknown celebrity. He may not meet your standards of a scholarly family, but he is my brother.”

“I wouldn’t have gone to university without him.” Jin Miao stood up and bowed. “So I hope that you… even if you can’t accept it, you can tell me now, and I will leave.”

Xiao's mother was so shocked by Jin Miao's words that she couldn't speak until Xiao Heyi, standing to the side, exclaimed angrily, "Oh! Oh! Our family isn't obsessed with academic qualifications! So what if she dropped out of high school? What's the big deal? Mom, don't you agree? Mom!"

"Ah...oh! Oh!" Xiao's mother quickly stepped forward to help Jin Miao up: "Oh dear, you know, child, I never said I didn't like your brother. From what you've said, your brother is really amazing!"

Upon hearing this, Jin Miao nodded vigorously.

Her brother is the most amazing!

"Oh my, you two siblings have it tough. How about we have a meal together sometime? I'll cook for you. I really want to get to know him."

"Then you..."

“He’s amazing, and you’re very grateful… Your brother is so outstanding, he must treat you very well.”

"Yes!" Jin Miao nodded. "He told me that I must study hard, find a good job, and be able to support myself in the future. He is a much better student than me. If he hadn't given up his opportunity to go to school for me, he would be a top student now!"

"That's amazing!"

“Yes! He… he was actually eager to see you, probably because he was about to have surgery, a very dangerous one.” Jin Miao’s eyes reddened as she said this. “He was afraid he wouldn’t make it off the operating table, so he was anxious to see you.”

Meanwhile, Jin He, on the other side, was unaware of what was happening and was still struggling with the nougat in the pot!

After the 13th failure, Jin He ran out of money again and fell into deep thought as he looked at the empty bag.

Jin He: "..."

Why? !

"Or... should we just forget about it?"

"No way!" Jin He raised her eyebrows. "If you give up, all that stuff I did before won't have been for nothing. I have to make a delicious batch of nougat for the weekend. Once I've used it up, you can buy me some more."

"They might not need it either."

"Whether he needs it or not is his business, whether I do it or not is my business." Because the burnt pot was really too difficult to clean, An Yi took on the job very consciously and worked hard without complaint, while Jin He's job was just to clean the burnt pot.

Sometimes he successfully poured the cookies and dried strawberries into the pot, but it was still quite laborious when he needed to stir them. This kind of laborious work was naturally done by An Yi.

All Jin He needed to do was add things to the pot.

"That's a bit too wasteful," Jin He said.

An Yi: "..."

Well, it is indeed a waste, but Jin He has spoken, so how could he dare not listen?

"How about we try something different? How about baking some cookies?"

"You're wasting flour."

"Where's the cake?"

"You're wasting eggs."

"Make a daifuku?"

"You're wasting glutinous rice flour."

Jin He: "..."

An Yi watched as Jin He slowly pouted, sensing that he was about to get angry.

Sure enough, the next second Jin He threw the pot down: "I'm just not cut out for the kitchen. All I can do is cook noodles. I can't possibly cook a pot of plain noodles and give it to him!"

An Yi comforted him, "Don't be angry."

"I'm not angry!" Jin He crossed her arms and turned to leave. "I'm going back to my room now. I need to come up with something presentable for him!"