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Chapter 170 Meeting the Parents?

Xia Xinyan’s cousin’s birthday was in two days.

No matter if Ling Mo was prepared or not, he had to attend this banquet.

So, as the departure approached, Ling Mo felt an unusual nervousness creeping in.

It was akin to the agonizing anticipation before performing on stage back in elementary school.

He hadn’t felt like this in a long time.

After all, he hadn’t really showcased his value yet, and considering his current circumstances compared to Xinyan’s, it was definitely a lie to say he wasn’t nervous about facing her family.

If only he could have a bit more time, until the “game really affects reality” as Xinyan said, then he’d soar to the top of the rankings and wouldn’t feel so insignificant.

Unfortunately, reality didn’t give him any time.

So he spent the last two days preparing for everything he might need to do, researching online all the tips for meeting your girlfriend’s parents, enough to fill a book.

And the more he learned, the more anxious he became.

Xia Xinyan was just as nervous.

Aside from the memories of her parents given to her by the system when she was reborn and the butler she had met before, she didn’t know anyone else.

Not a single one of her cousins or any other random relatives.

She didn’t know their names or what they looked like.

She figured there was a bug in the system.

Even the system admitted to having a bug—

[At the time, it had just finished loading, the core thought hadn’t fully awakened, and memories weren’t completely transferred to the host, so deal with it.]

—Listen to that, is that how a system should act?

If it weren’t for the fact that she couldn’t return it, she’d really want to exchange for a different system.

What she was good at was killing monsters, not socializing with relatives.

Especially those relatives whose names she didn’t even know.

So, when the two of them were driving home the afternoon before the birthday, the atmosphere in the car was a bit gloomy.

Like two poor souls facing the greatest challenge of their lives.

Xia Xinyan’s home was also in Linjiang—she chose Linjiang University mainly because her parents thought it was close enough to visit their precious daughter occasionally.

That kind of family environment was too wholesome.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind of environment she hoped for.

Ling Mo was driving, and although he hadn’t done it often before, he had gotten used to being Xinyan’s chauffeur—perhaps due to his improved physical fitness and reaction time; his driving skills were now those of an old hand.

This was a comforting thought—at least he could still drive in reality.

However, once he drove into the villa area, all the little confidence he had built up vanished.

“Looks like half the houses in the villa area belong to our family,” Xia Xinyan rummaged through her memories of this body and explained, “My brothers all have houses here, but they’re busy most of the year and only come back for a day or two during the New Year… It seems they haven’t gathered for years; they just go abroad to play during New Year.”

Ling Mo: “…Oh.”

He felt the gap between him and Xinyan once more.

Without the Realm of Divine Presence, perhaps he’d work his whole life just to buy a few floor tiles from one of those villas.

But after piling enough pressure on himself, he felt his pride and competitiveness ignited.

His family situation wasn’t great, but he never planned to use that to measure himself against Xinyan. He had his own ways; even if he hadn’t achieved great success yet, he believed he would succeed one day.

So why should he be humble?

All he needed to do was be himself.

Acting overly humble would only make others look down on him. No matter what, he was now Xia Xinyan’s boyfriend; he could forfeit everything else, but he absolutely couldn’t lose his presence.

He needed to show everyone he was worthy of Xinyan.

Xia Xinyan had no idea what psychological transformation had occurred with Ling Mo in such a short time; her attention was on the surroundings—she was both recognizing the place and observing the people.

Since many of the houses were from their family and relatives, surely many people knew her, right? In this case, if she showed any awkwardness, she might raise suspicions.

That was much harder than those role-playing dungeons.

Fortunately, her economical dad was somewhat responsible. After they arrived at the villa area, he came out to greet them directly.

“Park the car.” Her dad was the only person Xia Xinyan recognized now, so she pointed subtly towards the figure at the villa’s entrance and whispered, “That’s my dad.”

Ling Mo nodded, parked the car, and got out with Xia Xinyan.

Her dad didn’t even glance at Ling Mo and immediately approached Xia Xinyan with a broad smile: “Haven’t seen you in so long, my precious daughter just gets prettier and prettier… though, you’ve put on a bit of weight.”

Xia Xinyan: “…”

Had she gained weight?

Ling Mo then took out the prepared gift from the trunk, presenting it with a very appropriate smile: “Hello, Uncle, I’m Ling Mo, Xia Xinyan’s boyfriend.”

The gift didn’t have to be extravagant—he couldn’t afford anything that fancy for Xinyan’s family; as long as it conveyed his sincerity, it was good enough. He had picked this small gift after much consideration.

However, Xinyan’s dad didn’t seem to like his demeanor much. When he turned to him, he retracted all smiles, and a business-like aura surrounded him: “So you’re Ling Mo?”

Ling Mo remained calm: “Hello, Uncle.”

His composure made Xinyan’s dad regard him slightly more favorably—but just slightly: “Hmm, doesn’t look…”

“Hey! Why are you standing out there?” A feminine voice suddenly called out, interrupting him, and soon Xia Xinyan’s approachable mom appeared, warmly welcoming the two into the villa.

She then turned to Xinyan’s dad and changed her expression: “What was with that sour face earlier?”

Xinyan’s dad instantly lost his previously intimidating aura: “I just wanted to see what kind of boyfriend my precious daughter has…”

Although they didn’t plan to interfere with their daughter’s love life, they still felt quite displeased once their daughter actually started dating.

After raising their daughter for so many years, now she was being taken by some random guy.

So, he wanted to see what this pig was like!

“Is that how you look at him? When you meet clients for business, I’ve never seen you make such a face. We invited him to be a guest, not to interrogate a criminal—ever thought that your attitude might embarrass our daughter? I’m telling you, during these days, you better behave; her boyfriend has Jing Cang and the others helping keep an eye on him, don’t go interfering.”

“…But she’s our daughter! Why would we have others look after her?”

“Just because she’s our daughter doesn’t mean she’s not Jing Cang and the others’ sister! They’re not outsiders. What? Do you want to split the family?”

“…Honey, I was wrong.”