Special Effects Pheromone - Chap 27

Yu Zhao was somewhat surprised, standing by the iron gate, and said to Qu Jing, “You—you, what is this?”

Qu Jing said, “Today is a day off, want to go for an outing together?”

Yu Zhao collected his thoughts and said, “I…” he wanted to say that he already had plans. However, the other party was a major client, and he couldn’t immediately refuse.

Seeing Yu Zhao’s hesitation, Qu Jing said, “Actually, I’ve been wanting to pay respects at your father’s grave ever since you told me about him. I thought today is a public holiday, and we both have time so I thought today would be convenient…”

Yu Zhao was somewhat surprised. He didn’t expect Qu Jing to be so thoughtful—today was the anniversary of Ying Nong’s death. Qu Jing must have known what day it was before coming and bought chrysanthemums accordingly. However, if Qu Jing directly said, “Today is the anniversary of your father’s death, let’s go together to visit the grave,” it would seem abrupt.

Qu Jing didn’t explicitly mention it, fearing that Yu Zhao might find it inconvenient and didn’t want to cause embarrassment after a refusal.

“okay,” Yu Zhao said, feeling somewhat moved—after all, even Yu Hai didn’t remember this day.

Yu Zhao drove Qu Jing to the cemetery on the hill, and they remained silent throughout the journey.

Qu Jing could sense the heaviness in Yu Zhao’s mood but didn’t know how to comfort him.

He leaned back in the chair, opened a cheerful song, hoping to lighten the stiff atmosphere in the car. Yu Zhao remained silent, not only due to the special significance of the day but also because of other complex emotions.

He moved his lips and glanced at Qu Jing, finally couldn’t help asking, “How did you know?”

Qu Jing was momentarily stunned before saying, “Ah… Well, I inquired from someone.”

“Why inquire about this?” Yu Zhao asked, with no emotion in his tone.

Qu Jing clearly felt Yu Zhao’s displeasure, so he regretfully said, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have been so curious. I just…”

“Just what?” Yu Zhao asked.

“I just noticed that you never took me to meet your family. I wondered if you still weren’t keen on getting married,” Qu Jing said with a soothing tone.

Yu Zhao was stunned.

Upon careful consideration, he realized that he hadn’t prioritized taking Qu Jing to meet his family. After all, Qu Jing had already taken him to meet his parents and even visited them at home. Yet, he himself hadn’t been proactive.

Feeling apologetic, Yu Zhao quickly showed a regretful expression. “Sorry, I’ve been busy recently… I forgot for a moment.”

“I think so too,” Qu Jing said in a comforting tone. “Since you promised me, you should be able to follow through.”

The car stopped in the cemetery’s parking lot, and Yu Zhao and Qu Jing got out, walking towards the deeper parts of the cemetery. This section was relatively deserted, and Ying Nong’s tombstone was tucked away in a corner.

Qu Jing walked and said, “This cemetery seems quite deserted, not like it’s well managed.”

“At the time, I was financially tight and couldn’t afford a better grave. Even though I have money now—there’s no need to make a fuss,” Yu Zhao said casually, but his tone carried a hint of sorrow.

Qu Jing fell silent.

He could imagine that the situation at that time must have been very difficult.

When Ying Nong died, Yu Zhao was still a fifteen-year-old teenager. Naturally, he couldn’t come up with the money to handle Ying Nong’s affairs. He had to beg Yu Hai to handle his father’s funeral. Yu Hai had a lot of money at the time, but he still cared a lot about Duan Keyi. He said, “Our family unexpectedly gained another son, which has already made Duan Keyi uncomfortable. If we make a big deal out of Ying Nong’s funeral, it wouldn’t give him and the Duan family face.” So, they arranged Ying Nong’s funeral according to the minimum standards.

At that time, Yu Zhao, a young teenager, sat in front of the desolate grave. He didn’t shed many tears, and what he was thinking was unexpected: “If only I had money…”

Qu Jing and Yu Zhao stood in front of Ying Nong’s grave and offered flowers however, Yu Zhao seemed calm, showing little emotion.

Qu Jing addressed Ying Nong’s photo, saying, “Hello, Father-in-law, I will take good care of Yu Zhao in the future.”

He said only this sentence.

Initially composed, Yu Zhao suddenly felt a twinge in his nose and a lump in his throat.

Seeing Yu Zhao’s eyes reddening, Qu Jing hugged him and Yu Zhao leaned on Qu Jing’s shoulder, tightly closed his eyes, afraid of shedding tears in front of Qu Jing.

Over the years, he had always been alone, appearing lonely but never shedding tears in sorrow. Today, for some reason, he seemed to lose control without any apparent reason.

After spending some time at the cemetery, Qu Jing asked Yu Zhao, “Do you want to come to my place?”

Yu Zhao found it strange and thought, “Is he implying something?”

Does someone drop hints in front of someone else’s father’s grave?

Yu Zhao’s thoughts were quite complex, and he felt that Qu Jing wouldn’t do something like that. However, after some consideration, they hadn’t seen each other for two weeks, and it was normal for Qu Jing to have needs.

After some contemplation, Yu Zhao only said, “Let’s go.”

Yu Zhao drove to Qu Jing’s house. Upon entering, he was greeted by Jiang Huixi with a smiling face, who said, “Zhao, you’re here? I made crab.”

“Oh, thank you, Mrs. Qu,” Yu Zhao nodded, feeling somewhat embarrassed: What was I thinking just now?

Qu Jing smiled and said, “My mom went to the market early in the morning, and it’s fresh. Made specifically for you. Eat more.”

Yu Zhao followed Qu Jing into the dining room and saw Qu’s father sitting there. Yu Zhao greeted, “Mr. Qu, hello.”

Qu’s father snorted from his nose, a sound that could be considered an acknowledgment.

Jiang Huixi arranged the food on the table and said, “Don’t mind that old man. Kids, have a seat.”

Qu’s father grumbled, “Who’s the old man?”

Jiang Huixi pointed to the old cat on the windowsill, saying, “Ah Ji! I told the kids not to mind Ah Ji, and don’t feed him crab meat. Isn’t that right?”

Qu’s father had nothing to say.

The old cat was lazily sleeping, completely unaware of being mentioned.

Jiang Huixi continued while holding a steamed egg custard, “Zhao, I heard you don’t like egg yolk, right? I steamed them separately for you.”

Yu Zhao was taken aback, “How did you know that I don’t like egg yolk?”

When Yu Zhao was very young, he indeed didn’t like eating egg yolks, and every time Ying Nong would eat them for him, leaving only the egg whites. After Ying Nong’s death, Yu Zhao moved to the Yu family, and unintentionally mentioned this habit. Duan Keyi found out and joked, “They say you lived a hard life when you were young, but it seems like you were quite a young master.” Since then, Yu Zhao changed this habit, eating both the yolk and the egg white.

Jiang Huixi learned about this during the recent banquet held by Duan Keyi. Duan Keyi pretended to be calm and said a few negative things about Yu Zhao, including this one, claiming that Yu Zhao was particular even when he was poor, only eating egg whites and not the yolks.

Jiang Huixi remembered this and specially steamed the eggs separately into yolk custard and egg white custard.