Title: My Son Might be a Villain
Translator: Fringe Capybara
Chapter 206 - “This is what you are feeding her?” (2)
Su Ran couldn’t read Lu Shao’s mind and was merely baffled by his sudden change in mood.
Not know what to say, Su Ran decided to change the subject.
“The couch is over here. Have a seat.
“Would you like something to drink?”
“I can do anything.”
“Hmm, okay. Give me a minute.” Having said that, Su Ran turned toward the kitchen.
She might have asked him that, but they didn’t have a lot in terms of beverages in the house.
Su Ran used to have some tea or coffee from time to time in the past but Su Han was still young and she didn’t want him to have any of those. As such, she didn’t even have those inside their apartment.
Emmm… they did have half a bottle of milk in their refrigerator but that didn’t seem like something suitable for a guest either.
On the other hand, Su Han walked right out of his room and started intensely at Lu Shao the second that Su Ran stepped foot inside of the kitchen.
He looked a lot like a very territorial giant cat looking at another who was trying to invade its territory.
***
“Uh. Never mind. Just a glass of water then.” Su Ran finally decided on a glass of water for the guest, after a little bit of struggling.
As soon as Su Ran had grabbed over a glass and poured some water in it and, before she could look for something to decorate it a little bit, the glass was taken away from her.
Su Han walked straight into the living room after taking the glass from Su Ran and “DONG!” slammed it down in front of Lu Shao.
“Hurry up. Drink and leave!” said Su Han, very displeased.
“Who do you think you are to say this to me?” Lu Shao picked up the glass and gave Su Han a cold glare. As though casually, he asked, “Do you think you are the man of this household?”
“Nonsense! Of course I am. Surely it isn’t you!” said Su Han without holding back.
Hearing that, a look of danger crossed the eyes of the housemaster of the Lu family.
***
When Su Ran walked back out from the kitchen, she noticed that the father and son had exchanged something else and were in the middle of a staring contest again.
As for the glass of water in Lu Shao’s hand.
He was slowly sipping at it. Why did it seem like he was almost enjoying it?
Anyone who didn’t know better would think that he was sipping at some fine wine!
Looking from Su Han to Lu Shao, Su Ran decided to let the two deal with each other however they pleased.
“Su Han, we still have half a carton of milk in the refrigerator. Do you want some?” ask Su Ran casually as she noticed that it was almost expiring.
“Okay, Mom. Can you pour it into a glass for me?” said Su Han as he gave Lu Shao a seemingly provoking look.
See? This is the difference in the treatment between you and I. I get milk and you, someone who’s irrelevant, could only get water!
Su Ran had no idea about the childish thought in her son’s mind. She took a look at the two of them again and, figuring that the two probably would not start a fight with each other, turned around to the kitchen to heat up the milk for Su Han.
Outside of the kitchen, as though something had just occurred to him, Su Han frowned all of a sudden.
“Come with me!”
“What do you want to say?” asked Lu Shao as he lowered his eyes and looked at Su Han outside of the door.
“What is the cost of property management fee for 10 years? I’ll pay you back!” said Su Han with a frown after staring at Lu Shao for a few seconds.
Lu Shao was taken a back a little when he heard that and then he chuckled in a deeply.
Seeing the comprehension in his son’s eyes, the housemaster of the Lu family was not surprised that he had picked up on the clues.
How do you plan on doing so?” Lu Shao’s tone toward Su Han was stern.
“I…” The boy stuttered. There were regret and an unyielding stubbornness on his face.
“You let me worry about that! One way or another, I will pay you back!”
Hearing that, a not-so-obvious smile crossed Lu Shao’s face.
“What if I am to tell you that Shengteng Realty needed the Lu family’s approval on anther project and all I had to do was to talk to them for them to change the terms and conditions. How would you repay me then?” asked Lu Shao as he examined Su Han and, at the same time, wanted to see how he’d handle this challenge.
“Then I will repay this favor of yours!” said Su Han as he stared back to Lu Shao after a two-second pause. One way or another, he would not allow this old man to gloat about what his family owed to him!
Su Han’s words made Lu Shao chuckled deeply a couple of times. He didn’t comment on it nor did he carry on with the subject.
“Hey! Stop with the dilly-dallying already. Just say it! How much do I need to pay you back!” asked Su Han again, refusing to give up.
“No need,” said Lu Shao. Then, after a slight pause, he gave Su Han a look and said, “Besides, did you really think that I did all those for you?”
Su Han: “!”
Whatever did this old man mean by that?? What was his intention!!
Su Han felt a strong sense of “threat” all of a sudden.
“Eh? So this is where you two are. But, why are you standing outside the door?” Su Ran noticed that the two of them were gone when she came out of the kitchen and finally found them standing outside of the apartment.
“I came to see how come our delivery is not here yet,” said Su Han.
“Should be always here,” said Su Ran as she looked at her cellphone. Then, turning to Lu Shao, she said, “Then, Lu Shao, you…”
“Oh, are you heading out?” Su Ran finally figured it out that he was on his way out.
Lu Shao: No, that was not his intention.
Before Lu Shao could say anything, they saw a young man walking up the stairs with a bag of delivery in his hand.
“Two orders of fun. Are these yours?” asked the young man with a look of surprise.
The entire time he had been in the delivery business, he had never seen an entire family waiting by the door before.
Was the funat this place really this good? Perhaps he should go try it out himself after work.
That was what went through the delivery man’s mind as he handed the delivery to Su Han.
“So that’s what you are feeding her?”
Came Lu Shao’s voice with obvious accusation and dissatisfaction.
Su Ran felt a bit embarrassed when she heard that.
She knew that too much take-outs were bad but their situation and her ability were not leaving her with too many options.
Normally, they could at least have noodles with a fried egg or steam buns with some stir-fried meat but they didn’t have enough time today so Su Ran placed a take-out order on their way back.
“Ugh, that…” Su Ran started to talk. She was going to reflect upon herself and also expressed how she was going to improve on her own cooking skill but, when she looked up, she noticed that Lu Shao wasn’t looking at her at all. He was looking at Su Han instead.
Su Han, for once, felt that he was on the losing end but he quickly retorted back at Lu Shao. “It will not be like this forever!”
“That’s right. Our situation is not the best right now. We will have more time to cook after we have moved into our new place,” said Su Ran as well.
“Besides,” Su Ran added after a short pause. “The fun from this place is quite good. The owner lives in this area as well and his food is very hygienic.”
And super delicious!
Add Su Ran in her mind.
The smell coming out of the takeout boxes made her hungry.
The problem was that she had only ordered herself and her son. It would be awkward for them to eat when Lu Shao was still here.
As though he could see through Su Ran’s struggle, Lu Shao’s eyes flickered a little.
“Okay, I will take off now. I will visit some other time.”
“Mmm, okay. Be safe,” said Su Ran with a smile.
Su Ran, on the other hand, gave Lu Shao a look: Some other time? In your dreams!
Having said that, Su Ran thought Lu Shao would just take off. Lo and behold, he continued to stand there with no intention of leaving. She was a little baffled.
“I’ll walk you down?”
“Please,” said Lu Shao. Then, after a slight pause, added, “and thanks.”
Su Ran, “… …”
“Then, bye?” said Su Ran after she had went back downstairs with Lu Shao.
“Xiao Ran.”
“Huh?” It took Su Ran a little bit of time to realize that he was referring to her.
Came to think about it, they were not strangers anymore and he was older than her. Him referring to her that way didn’t seem problematic.
Many senior to her in the field referred to her that way as well.
Su Ran did not give this too much thought.
“What is it?”
“Do you have some time?” asked Lu Shao. And, after a slight pause, added, “This won’t take long.”
Su Ran: No! I have no time at all! My fun is waiting for me upstairs!*
“Hmm, what is it?”
This was the first time that Su Ran saw a serious and somewhat anxious look on Lu Shao. She figured he must want to talk to her about something very serious.
Could it have to do with Su Han’s education?
Truth be told, she felt that her son wasn’t half bad when Lu Shao wasn’t around.
Or did he want to talk about custody?
After all, they had never officially talked about the custody of Su Han or child support, etc.
The thought of those made Su Ran nervous.
“You…”
“I want to know you thoughts on me,” said Lu Shao as he enunciated every single word while looked at Su Ran attentively. It was almost as though he wanted to see the answer on her.
Come again? This wasn’t about Su Han’s custody?
Su Ran was dazed and surprised.
And, at the same time, baffled by Lu Shao’s question. She had no idea what to say to that.
Her thoughts? The two of them were not that familiar with each other. Part of her very limited impression of him was that: He seemed reliable. His look sand personality seemed alright. That was about it.
As for others?
Oh boy. If she was to ignore the fact that he was Su Han’s father, then he was a boss through and through. How could she dare to have any opinion about him as a commoner?
“I apologize,” said Lu Shao when he noticed the struggle in Su Ran’s eyes. After a slight pause, he said, “That seemed to have troubled you.
“Let me put it a different way.
“How would you like me to be? Is there any thing that you would like me to change or work on?”
Lu Shao’s voice was very sincere and his look serious. To a point that Su Ran was immediately reminded of the antagonizing relationship between Mr. Lu and Classmate Su Han.
“Emmmm… I think you are quite nice already.” Even though he had missed Su Han’s childhood up to this point but he was very much willing to take on the responsibilities as a father as soon as he had learned about Su Han. On top of that, he even made himself available to participate in his school activity.
Su Ran felt that he hasn’t been a bad father at all.
“Well, if I must say.” Su Ran tried to organize her words. “I think you can be more patient and more tender.”
Truth was, from the perspective of a bystander, Lu Shao’s education style toward Su Han was quite strict.
“Oh, and, I feel that you can smile more.”
Even if he wasn’t smiling, he didn’t have to look so cold and solemn.
As mature as Su Han was, he was still a 13-year-old boy. As a parent, uh, it wouldn’t hurt to be more tender from time to time.
Having heard that, Lu Shao was taken aback a little. Then, he put on a slight smile and nodded at Su Ran. “Okay. I shall.
“Anything else?”
“Uh, for at the moment.”
“Okay. I will try my best to make those improvements,” said Lu Shao. His deep but staid voice allowed others to catch solemn vibe easily.
Su Ran was, nevertheless, baffled by his attitude.
She seemed to have spotted some subtext in his words but she wasn’t certain. An odd sensation flashed past her and Su Ran, as usual, chose to ignore it.
“Go back up.”
“Hmm? And you?”
“I’ll be on my way shortly.”
Lu Shao only drove away after he watched Su Ran went back upstairs.
***
Mr. Lu, who had returned home, seemed to be in a good mood.
Taking the opportunity that his employer was in a good mood, Zhou Fu quickly placed in front of Lu Shao the stack of documents that had stacked up over the last few days.
“Sir, these are the few projects that we have planned to launch recently. Please take a look at them.”
“Leave them here,” said Lu Shao concisely as he started on the documents.
“In addition, what are your thoughts on Shengteng Realty’s proposal on combining their Xinke District into our Nanan Development project?”
“That’s fine,” said Lu Shao as he nodded. Shengteng Realty wasn’t half bad. -
That was the respond that Zhou Fu had anticipated so he wasn’t surprised. After all, Shengteng had done his boss a solid.
In addition, consolidating their project into Nanan project would be profitable for the Lu family as well.
“Then…”
“What is it? Speak,” said Lu Shao as he looked up and raised his brows, noticing the rare occasion when his assistant was struggling for words.
“Uh, nothing. I just want to say that after we have looked into it, Shengteng’s Xinke project isn’t half bad.” Zhou Fu made up an excuse quickly.
What Zhou Fu had really wanted to tell his boss was that they had accepted Unit 1701 but he decided against it.
After all, his boss had declined Shengteng’s offer on giving the entire building to the Lu family to be used as dormitory for their employees.
“One more thing,” said Zhou Fu after some more thoughts.
“Speak.”
“The president of the Song’s had sent us an invitation expression their interest to meet with you,” said Zhou Fu as he produced the invitation from the Song’s.
The Song’s have had some difficult times ever since the Lu’s had swiped the Nanan project from them. That and the Lu’s made no effort in hiding the fact that they were exerting the pressure on the Song’s, President Song must got an idea by now.
They probably asked for a meeting because they had no idea what had brought all these on.
“Song ZeYu?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Okay.” Zhou Fu had expected that as well.
***
The Su family, on the other side.
Ever since Su Ran had been baffled by Lu Shao’s words, she had not pro-actively reached out to Lu Shao again with the exception of occasionally replying to his comment under her friend's circle.
More importantly, she had forgotten all about it.
The remodeling referred by Lu Shao arrived shortly and, as such, Su Ran had been busying herself with matters related to the remodeling.
Nevermind about reaching out to Lu Shao, even Su Ran’s time spent in her friend's circle had dropped sharply.
Su Ran thought it would be a while before she would think about Lu Shao.
Lo and behold, she dialed his number again merely a few days later.
“Mr. Lu, I am wondering if you are available over the National Holidays. I have a favor to ask…”
“Why? What is it?”
Lu Shao’s voice had never been more tender over the phone.
Su Ran was surprised.
She pulled her phone away from her ear so she could see who it was from and only placed her phone back over her ear after she confirmed that it was Lu Shao on the phone.
“Em, I need to travel for a few days early next month. Will you be able to look after Su Han for a few days if you have time?” asked Su Ran with some hesitation. That was a hint of awkwardness in her voice.
What’s the matter?” Lu Shao frowned a little after he heard what Su Ran had said. He asked, concerned, “Did something happen?”
“No, no. Nothing like that.” Su Ran went on to explain. “Early month after next I need to go to attend a piano competition and Su Han’s school will be out as well. I won’t be able to take care of him so I am wondering if you can watch over him for a few days.”
Su Ran had finally received the replied from her application to the competition.
As she had the recommendation from Manager Xu, she could just attend the semi-final toward the tail end. Even so, she would still need to be gone for bit of time.
And the timing was right around the holidays as well.
As for Su Han.
He did have very strong survival instinct and had grown up just fine when the original owner had left him alone. Nevertheless, now that she had been immersed in the role of a mother, Su Ran felt very uncomfortable leaving Su Han home by himself.
Especially when she had noticed something else recently.
Her son’s eyes would light up every time they saw a sign looking for temporary help over the holidays.
She thought she had been giving him sufficient pocket money. So why was it that he was so fixated on these temporary job opportunities?
Su Ran was genuinely worried that Su Han would take on part-time jobs at fast food restaurants or construction sites when she attended her competition.
As such, where to put Su Han became an issue.
The original owner never had a lot of friends in City B. Su Ran flared better than the original owner but, even so, she only had a couple of acquaintances.
Su Ran had considered leaving Su Han over at Du WenTao for a couple of days but, lo and behold, Du WenTao and his family would be gone during that period of time also.
The other person was Xu Xiao from Yu LeLe's Studio.
Su ran had grew close to him over the last few times that they had worked together. He seemed like a reliable person.
The only problem was that his eyes would beam every time he looked at Su Han. That creeped Su Ran out and she worried that he’d end up talking Su Han into debuting in the entertainment circle!
After a lot of consideration, Lu Shao, his real father, was the only remaining option.
Nobody knew how Mr. Lu would feel had he known that Su Ran only thought about him after she had gone through all of the other options.
Apparently though, Lu Shao’s attention wasn’t on Su Han.
“Attending a competition?” There were pondering in Lu Shao’s eyes when he heard that.
“Where are you going?”
“City N. Not too far from here,” replied Su Ran.
“Hmm. How long will you be gone?”
“Ten days or so,” said Su Ran after thinking about it.
That was longer than a normal solo piano competition. She caught wind that the competition would be done in reality television style along with some filming. Hence the timing would be drawn out.
“When are you leaving?” asked Lu Shao again.
“Next Friday. Three days before the start of the vacation.”
“Okay,” replied Lu Shao from the other end of the phone.
Su Ran was taken aback a little from his response.
What did that mean? Did he agree to look after their son?
“Th…” Su Ran was just about to think him when Lu Shao started again.
“I…” I will go with you.
Was what Lu Shao was going to say but, on second thought, felt that it didn’t sound too appropriate so he stopped himself.
“I’ll see you off,” said Lu Shao.
“No, no. That will not be necessary!” Su Ran declined his offer immediately. “Uh, I mean, I don’t want to be a bother. I will be heading over with another music teacher. We have already made plans.
“I will, however, need to trouble you with Su Han,” said Su Ran, trying very hard to loop the subject back to where they were.