Act with Impunity – Chapter 55

At eleven o’clock on Monday night, Tan Xingwei was in the living room when she heard a noise at the door and immediately ran over.

After a few beeps, the door opened. Tan Xingwei stood at the entrance with her arms wide open.

But Su Xu, at the door, merely gave Tan Xingwei a faint glance, entered, closed the door, and changed her shoes.

“You’re back!” Tan Xingwei said, trying to make her presence known.

Only then did Su Xu go over and hug Tan Xingwei.

With a happy “heh,” Tan Xingwei hugged Su Xu tightly.

“Still smiling?” Su Xu let go of Tan Xingwei and pinched her cheek.

Not only did Tan Xingwei smile, but she also asked, “You changed your flight from tomorrow to come back tonight. Did you miss me?”

Su Xu drew out her words, her tone strange, “Yes, I missed you very much.”

Tan Xingwei: “I knew it.”

How nice. As soon as she finished speaking, her cheek was pinched again.

So why did this big sister change her flight? The story has to start from yesterday.

What happened yesterday?

Last week, because Su Xu was on a business trip, Tan Xingwei went home alone.

This was actually very normal, nothing worth mentioning specifically. It was just that at ten in the morning, Tan Xingwei, in her room, received a message from Tan Yinqing, who was a hundred kilometers away: “What are you doing?”

Tan Xingwei: 【Smile】

What was Tan Xingwei doing? Tan Xingwei had come out.

Tan Yinqing, who was only off for the weekend and hadn’t planned on coming home, rushed back immediately. Su Xu also dropped her work in the distant I-City and called.

All because Tan Xingwei had said to her mother at breakfast, “You still can’t tell? Big Sister Ah Xu and I are a couple too.”

Last week, Tan Xingwei and Su Xu had just celebrated their second anniversary. In these two years, they were just like before, with almost no major changes. If one had to point out some changes, it would be a brief mention of the relationship between Su Xu and Tan Xingwei’s parents.

Tan Xingwei was no longer the Tan Xingwei who spent weekends at Su Xu’s house when they first started dating. She was now the Tan Xingwei who would bring Su Xu back to her own home on weekends.

It’s unclear when it started, but this state of affairs had gradually become the default. Nowadays, Tan Xingwei’s mother was familiar with the tastes and dietary restrictions of her three daughters. She was no longer as polite to Su Xu as before, not treating her as a guest. When her two daughters were busy, she would even ask Su Xu to run errands.

Tan Xingwei’s relationship with Su Xu’s parents was also exceptionally good. When Su Xu was busy at home and her parents called, Su Xu would just hand the phone directly to Tan Xingwei.

In short, they had already become one integrated unit.

The only fly in the ointment was that Tan Xingwei was seen as the daughter’s girlfriend, while Su Xu was seen as the daughters’ friend.

Su Xu didn’t mind this. She had always maintained that Tan Xingwei coming out wasn’t a necessity. After all, their current life was very good, so why risk potential chaos?

And why did Su Xu hold this view? Of course, it was because Tan Xingwei had tested the waters on the edge several times.

So, on their second anniversary, when they unintentionally brought up the topic again, Su Xu once more told Tan Xingwei that there was no need to take the risk.

The weekend was less than five days after their second anniversary.

“Tan Xingxing,” Su Xu said, playing with Tan Xingwei’s face by pinching and then rubbing it. “You’ve been a little naughty.”

Tan Xingwei opened her arms again. “But I’m here, safe and sound.”

It would have been better if she hadn’t said anything. After she spoke, her face was pinched again.

Let’s continue talking about yesterday.

Yesterday, after the “battle” ended, her mother found it a bit hard to accept and returned to her bedroom. Tan Xingwei, finding it boring in the living room by herself, also went back to her room.

Actually, when Tan Xingwei said that sentence, her mother didn’t believe it. But Tan Xingwei felt that since she’d already started, and since it was bound to happen one day, why not today?

So, with a very strong offensive, she stated the fact that Su Xu was her girlfriend—properly, word by word, seriously, and earnestly—to her mother.

But this is what Tan Xingwei would say to Su Xu: “You can’t entirely blame me for yesterday. It was my mom who brought up her friend’s daughter. She said she ran into them and their IVF baby a few days ago, who was very cute and beautiful, and she mentioned that it seemed quite nice for two girls to raise a baby together.” Tan Xingwei even knew to lower her voice. “I saw she was softening her stance on the matter, so I just mentioned it in passing.”

After hearing this, Su Xu said, “In passing?”

Tan Xingwei let out a “heh.” “Aiya, don’t be angry.”

Su Xu took a light breath. “I’m not angry.” She paused for a moment. “It’s just that I wasn’t by your side.”

Tan Xingwei exclaimed, “Aiya, you’re here now, it’s the same. And everything’s fine.”

Tan Xingwei naturally felt that such a small matter didn’t require Su Xu. She even savored the memory of the conversation with her mother, thinking she was quite impressive, had performed well, been flawless, and said everything that needed to be said.

So what happened later yesterday?

Later, Tan Xingwei energetically cooked a whole table of food, giving her mother and Tan Yinqing a huge fright.

The ice was broken during this lunch. At first, everyone was quiet, until Tan Xingwei said, “Mom, the waist massager Big Sister Ah Xu bought has arrived. It’s on the coffee table. You can try it out later.”

As she finished speaking, Tan Yinqing didn’t move. She first glanced at Tan Xingwei, then turned to observe their mother.

After hearing this, their mother seemed to have a thousand words to say, but in the end, they all condensed into a single “Mm.” She seemed to have lost her appetite and put down her bowl and chopsticks.

Tan Xingwei and Tan Yinqing exchanged a look.

“Mom,” Tan Yinqing stopped their mother from standing up. “Do you remember Tan Xingwei’s tenth birthday?”

Their mother was confused. She asked, “What about it?”

Tan Yinqing: “That day, Tan Xingwei was about to make a wish, but she had just closed her eyes when she opened them again. She said that Mom had already fulfilled all her wishes, so this year she wanted Mom to make a wish instead.”

Their mother seemed to fall into a memory.

Tan Yinqing continued, “You said back then that Xingxing was so good and sensible, and that Mom didn’t have any wishes. If she had to make one, it would be for Xingxing to be healthy and happy her whole life, and to be able to live the life she wants when she grows up.”

Hearing this, their mother frowned, but her expression quickly relaxed.

Their mother still didn’t finish the meal. In the end, she went back to her room by herself, but both sisters could see that things were developing in a good direction.

“Is that story true?”

Su Xu, having heard up to this point, asked Tan Xingwei.

Tan Xingwei’s eyes darted around. “You guess.”

Su Xu guessed instantly, “You made it up.”

Tan Xingwei burst out laughing. “You know me so well.”

Su Xu added, “And I know Yinqing well, too.”

Tan Xingwei: “She said she was nervous as hell. After Mom went back to her room, she grumbled at me.”

Su Xu looked at the seemingly wronged Tan Xingwei and started to laugh, but she quickly said, “You scared me to death.”

Tan Xingwei said softly, “Aiya, it’s fine, it’s fine.”

After saying all this, Tan Xingwei became clingy again.

Su Xu also hugged Tan Xingwei tightly.

Having been together for so long, their mutual understanding had reached a point where they didn’t need to say much to know what the other wanted to do.

Tan Xingwei was in a good mood. She could be made to feel even better.

A few days later, it was the weekend again. The fearless Tan Xingwei brought Su Xu home.

But she wasn’t completely fearless. She had a backup plan: if she sensed things were going badly, she would immediately grab Su Xu and run.

However, the actual situation was that the first day passed smoothly, as if nothing had happened last week. In fact, on Saturday afternoon, their mother even asked Su Xu to go grocery shopping with her, and they studied the massager together when they got back.

The signs were very good. Not to mention, when they played mahjong at night, Su Xu would occasionally let her mother win. The signs were even better.

The uneventful weekend passed in a flash. In the evening, after dinner, the three daughters said goodbye to their mother as usual and got into their respective cars.

As soon as the car door closed, Tan Xingwei took a red box out of her bag.

“Ta-da-da-da,” Tan Xingwei said, holding it with both hands and presenting it to Su Xu.

Su Xu fastened her seatbelt. “What is it?”

Tan Xingwei: “My mom secretly gave this to me just now. She said it’s for the two of us.”

Su Xu raised an eyebrow.

“Ta-da-da-da,” Tan Xingwei continued her sound effects while opening the box.

A matching pair of gold necklaces, a matching pair of gold bracelets, and a matching pair of gold rings.

Su Xu was a little surprised. “A gift for us?”

Tan Xingwei: “Uh-huh.”

Su Xu: “Why?”

Tan Xingwei: “We’re family now, Big Sister.”

Su Xu started to laugh, and she seemed to relax. “Okay.”

Tan Xingwei clicked her tongue. “My mom truly loves you. The price of gold is so high right now, she’s so generous.”

Su Xu laughed. “I’ve lost. I’m calling my mom right now.”

“Hahaha,” Tan Xingwei burst out laughing. “Then we’ll have two sets.”

Su Xu held out her hand in front of Tan Xingwei.

Tan Xingwei understood immediately. She picked up a gold ring from the box, slipped it onto Su Xu’s finger, and said, “I do.”

Su Xu smiled. “I do, too.”