The 99th Divorce

That greeting hit Ye Youyou like a bolt of lightning.

Dad? Li Jinnan called him… Dad?

Ye Youyou froze in shock. She marched up to Li Jinnan and turned him around, demanding, “Are you crazy? Whom are you calling Dad?”

Li Jinnan glanced at her and replied, “I’m calling your dad. Isn’t he your dad?”

“Yes…”

“That’s fine, then.” Li Jinnan smiled and said, “I didn’t get the wrong person.”

Ye Youyou held him back and asked, “Is that even the main point? Why are you calling my dad ‘Dad?’”

“Um… I didn’t say ‘My Dad-dad.’ I just called him ‘Dad.. You must have heard wrong,” Li Jinnan clarified as he deliberately had misunderstood her.

Ye Youyou was exasperated. She dragged him off to a corner and demanded in a whisper, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to look for you,” Li Jinnan replied cheerily. “And , at the same time, meet your elders.”

His hands were filled with bags of health supplements. In addition to various sorts of valuable tonics, there was medication for senile dementia. One look at the packaging and it was obvious that these products were expensive.

When Ye Youyou saw the heap of products, she grimaced and asked, “How did you…”

“What’s wrong?” Li Jinnan pretended not to get it. Just as Ye Youyou was about to say something, he looked toward Ye Zhenhua and said, “I brought some things for you. Please take a look and see if there’s anything that would be useful.”

Ye Zhenhua evaluated the young man in front of him. Approval was clear in his eyes as he asked, “And you are Youyou’s…”

“Her boyfriend, for now,” Li Jinnan acknowledged shamelessly, “but we can get married any time.”

Ye Zhenhua nodded his head and said, “That’s good. That’s good. Come in and have a seat. Have you eaten yet?”

“No, I haven’t.” Li Jinnan didn’t stand on ceremony either as he walked in with Ye Zhenhua. “I drove for over two hours. I’m famished!”

The lad was straightforward. Ye Zhenhua grinned widely in appreciation of that fact. He looked at his daughter and said, “Youyou, get an extra set of eating utensils for your boyfriend.” With that, he took the bags from Li Jinnan’s hands and said, “It’s good enough that you came. You shouldn’t have brought all these gifts!”

Li Jinnan smiled. “I wanted to.” He looked at Ye Youyou as he spoke. His eyes turned into two thin crescents as he said, “Thank you.”

Ye Youyou was at a loss of words. She turned and made her way grudgingly into the kitchen to wash her hands and scoop a bowl of rice for Li Jinnan.

Ye Zhenhua picked up his chopsticks and began picking food for Li Jinnan, saying, “We eat simply at home. It’s not very formal. Please just make do.”

Li Jinnan looked at the spread on the table and replied, “This is a sumptuous spread, and it looks delicious.”

He picked up his chopsticks and ate the food that Ye Zhenhua had picked for him. “This is so flavorful! It’s delicious!” he remarked upon tasting the breaded pork cutlet.

Ye Zhenhua laughed happily and replied, “I’m glad you like it. Youyou is a better cook than I am. It’s a good thing I didn’t prepare the meal today.”

Li Jinnan was surprised and asked, “You prepared this? I thought you could only cook noodles.”

Ye Youyou glanced at him in disdain and retorted, “Says whom?”

When she lived with the Shen Family, Old Mrs. Shen had demanded that she do the chores. The chores had included cooking, cleaning, and everything else in between. If there had been any shortcoming on her part, she would be scolded horribly.

Li Jinnan nodded his head and said, “We won’t need to hire a housekeeper in the future. Your cooking is even better than Liu Sao’s.”

“Who is Liu Sao?” Ye Zhenhua asked.

“She’s my family’s housekeeper. She’s been with us for many years,” Li Jinnan said.

Ye Zhenhua nodded his head and asked, “What’s your name, lad?”

“Li Jinnan.”

Ye Zhenhua’s brows creased together in deep thought when he heard that. “That name sounds familiar. What is your father’s name?”