My Youth Began With Him

Song Yishi smiled. “Mrs. Qin, don’t give him a hard time; he might still have work to do.”

“Work? What kind of work? I bet he’s off to find his…” Mrs. Qin didn’t get to finish saying ‘little vixen bitch’ when Song Yishi stopped her.

Song Yishi immediately interjected, “If you’re not in too much of a hurry, why don’t you have dinner with us? I made Mrs. Qin some butter croissants, they’re really good. Would you like to try some?”

Upon hearing Song Yishi’s sincere invitation, Qin Chu felt a little awkward…

He wanted to refuse, but his mother had already begun ordering the maid, “What are you standing there for? Let’s have dinner, the young master is hungry.”

“Yes, Mrs. Qin.”

Just like that, Qin Chu was forced to eat at home…

Song Yishi had stellar cooking skills; she lived abroad for so long, so she was very good at cooking western food.

“Shi, your parents are coming back soon, right?”

“Yeah, in a couple of days.”

“Let’s have dinner together once they’re back. I really miss your mom,” Mrs. Qin said with a smile on her face.

“Sure, I’ll find a time for our two families to get together.”

“Chu, do you think Yishi looks different than she used to?” Mrs. Qin looked at her son.

Qin Chu wasn’t in the mood to eat; he had his head down and occasionally chit chatted with Huo Mian over WeChat.

Upon hearing his mother’s question, he looked up. “What?”

“What do you mean, ‘what’? I was asking you if you see a difference in Yishi, compared to when she was younger.”

“Of course, it’s been 18 years,” Qin Chu said faintly.

“That’s what I was saying. She’s grown up to be so beautiful. Compared with the plastic-infused women out there with long pointy chins, Yishi is such a natural beauty. She is so much nicer to look at.”

Mrs. Qin really liked Song Yishi, so she kept complimenting her…

Qin Chu didn’t react much…

After dinner, Qin Chu got up to leave, but his mother said, “Since you drove here, drive Yishi home.”

“You’re not staying here?” Qin Chu was surprised that she wasn’t staying to keep his mother company.

“No, I’ve been staying at my uncle’s.” Song Yishi smiled.

Before Qin Chu could say anything, Song Yishi added, “I can drive, but ever since I got back from Italy, I haven’t gotten used to the driving lanes yet and keep making mistakes. My uncle suggested that I should go find a driving school and practice for a while before hitting the road, or else it might be dangerous.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Qin Chu nodded…

Song Yishi followed Qin Chu onto his Maybach…

“I didn’t see you eat much just now, are you not used to the food?”

“No, I wasn’t hungry,” Qin Chu replied.

“Why didn’t Huo Mian come with you?”

“She’s having dinner with friends.”

“Oh… I actually already met Huo Mian at South Side.”

“She told me about it.”

“I’m sorry, you won’t blame me, right? I was just wondering what kind of girl you liked.”

“It’s fine.” Qin Chu belonged to the type where you ask a question and he replies with a sentence, no initiation at all.

“But you’ve got great taste, she’s a really smart girl… She’s also really straightforward, I like her a lot.”

“Thank you,” Qin Chu simply answered.

“Time passes by really fast… It’s been 18 years already. Do you still remember the days when I stayed at your house? I used to cry a lot. Every time I cried, you would run away from me because you had severe OCD and was scared that I would get snot on you. Mr. and Mrs. Qin always laughed when it happened… I was really a klutz back then.”

“I don’t remember much from when we were young…” Qin Chu didn’t have time to reminisce about the past with Song Yishi.

Song Yishi couldn’t help but look disappointed upon hearing Qin Chu say this…

“You haven’t changed much though, you’re exactly the same as you were when you were young… Sometimes when I see your face, I feel like we’re 8 years old again…” Song Yishi smiled.

Before Qin Chu had the chance to react, she added, “The truth is, I used to visit you once a year when you were in the States.”

Surprised, Qin Chu tilted his head to look at Song Yishi. “Why have I never seen you before?”