Chapter 24: All Yours

Seeing this, Mrs. Fang quickly signaled with her eyes, urging Li Sheng to bring out the things they had brought. Inside the lunchbox were dumplings she had prepared early that morning.

Afraid that Tang Xin wouldn't like the taste, Mrs. Fang had made four different fillings.

Li Sheng sat quietly beside them, while Mrs. Fang and Tang Xin, future mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, exchanged warm smiles and pleasantries.

Mrs. Fang said, "Ah, my son is good in every way, except he's not much of a talker. He can't say sweet things—even if he wants to treat you well, he just can't express it. He spends all his days like a silent gourd. Tang Xin, you'll need to teach him properly. You can't live life this way."

Tang Xin cast a sidelong glance at Li Sheng but smiled at Mrs. Fang, "Auntie, please, there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Tang Xin. I think Li Sheng is a very good man—I like him just the way he is. Men who only know how to talk all day aren't really good, either."

"Exactly, exactly," Mrs. Fang nodded eagerly.

She was merely being courteous, for in her heart, her eldest son was, of course, the best.

Li Sheng listened to them, not mother and daughter but closer than kin, chatting so warmly, and he felt touched. Years of hardship had taught his mother to wear a mask in life, always greeting people with a polite smile.

But Li Sheng knew that only in front of Tang Xin did his mother’s smile become truly heartfelt.

Even when she was with his older sister or younger sisters