Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu-Chapter 1242: Hmph!

A tray with cups of coffee and snacks was placed at the center of the table. On one side of the couch was the Han family, everybody but one jolly and happy with Lin’s presence.

"Try the fruit tart, Lin!" Nuo chirped. "I made it especially for you today~ Do you like it? Do you like it?"

"It’s delicious. Fresh and just the right amount of sweetness."

"Hehe, it’s one of the most popular desserts in Natakashi~"

The toddler Muyang was reaching out to grab the tart with his chubby hands but was promptly pulled back by his father.

"You can have the icing."

"Baaaaa!" He hopped and danced in Siying’s lap, eyes bright like pure sunshine.

"Don’t forget to taste the other snacks too," Xinyi clapped once in delight. "We have prepared lots of dishes for you!"

Lin stared at the table filled right up to its very edges with plates and trays.

"It does look like a feast. You didn’t have to take so much trouble."

She waved her hand. "Aish, don’t act like such a stranger. It’s our fault that we..." her narrowed gaze pointedly landed at Zhiyuan, "insisted this meeting on a short notice. We are very sorry for that."

Zhiyuan shifted uncomfortably in his seat, nervous about his wife’s unforgiving glare.

"Please don’t apologize. I had planned to meet you myself in the coming days."

The audacity of this brat-

He threateningly leaned forward as if he was stepping in a boxing ring to do some serious damage. But the deadly beam from Xinyi’s eyes blocked his violent intentions.

Xinyi took her seat and asked, "How have things been since..."

He slowly nodded. "It’s still hard, but...everything is slowly returning to normalcy. Cai is also doing fine."

"Good, good. Don’t hesitate to come to us if you need anything."

"Thank you, Mrs. Han."

Han Tian then asked, "You met Zhong Sihan recently?"

"Yes."

"No wonder he is being so agonizing more than ever. You agreed to let him adopt you."

"Yes, but I wouldn’t change my last name."

He smiled. "I thought so. Finally that grumpy face is happy. I didn’t even know he could make those sorts of expressions."

Zhiyuan pursed his lips. "Can we talk about the main point here?"

Lin straightened up. "Indeed. I am-"

"Shui is my precious daughter!"

He blinked. "I know, Mr. Han."

"How dare you seduce her!"

"Dad!" Shui exclaimed. "You promised you won’t talk like this."

Zhiyuan toned down with his daughter’s reminder. "I-Isn’t it true?"

"Zhiyuan," Xinyi narrowed his eyes. "We had discussed this."

He cleared his throat, folding his arms. "I know. I won’t accuse you of anything reckless," he said stiffly, "but I want to hear it clearly from you."

Lin didn’t hesitate. "I didn’t approach Shui lightly, and I didn’t intend to hide anything either. At first, I wanted to keep my distance from her," thinking about the past made him solemn.

"I didn’t understand when but despite us keeping our distance, we somehow crossed paths often," the solemn look brightened into light and hope.

"The more we spent time together, the more I couldn’t help but look at her. I got used to her usual seat in the cafe. I would feel disappointed if she couldn’t visit someday. I think...the little things kept piling up between us until I realized I have a crush on her. I was overjoyed when she accepted and along the way in the past months, I knew for certain that I loved her and wished to spend my life with her. Yet again, I was overjoyed that she felt the same."

The doting blur in his eyes dissipated slowly as he looked at the family, only to be taken aback.

"My heart...I cannot take it anymore," Nuo sniffled as she wiped her tears with a tissue.

Xinyi nodded. "That’s so sweet. Your sincerity is so touching."

Han Tian nodded and his wife, Han Liqin, "Aish, I can see it in your eyes. You dote on her so much."

He nodded.

Shui coughed but inwardly, she was trying to control the ache she felt at the corner of her eyes too. His warm gaze and soft words evoked such sincerity and love that her heart seemed to rapidly skip its beats. He was smiling at her with his golden sunshine smile and tears threatened to flow out like a dam would break at any moment.

"Zhiyuan, you have nothing to say?" Xinyi nudged an elbow at him.

He studied Lin for a long moment, his sharp eyes stripping away any courtesy and searching for cracks. "Yes, those are some very sweet words, but will you really promise you would never hurt her?"

His gaze narrowed to half-glare, half-warning. "I don’t wish to dig out the past anymore than is necessary and ruin everyone’s mood. But we cannot ignore that Shui has been hurt in the past and she was miserable for a long time," his palm clenched at the couch’s armrest. "Her heart was broken and it took her a long time to stand where she is now. And heavens no that I want to see her that miserable again!"

The room quieted. Though nobody wished to make it difficult for Lin, everyone equally knew about Shui’s suffering and pain - which none wanted it to repeat.

Lin’s countenance remained calm as it was before.

"I don’t make promises I can’t keep, Mr. Han. But what I can say is that I won’t treat her feelings carelessly. We may argue or have a clash of opinions because things get hard at times. It’s life, after all, but I won’t ever put her in a position where she has to guess my intentions. I love her and that will always be a fact no matter what differences come between us. Even if they do come, we will solve them together. I will keep her happy to the best of my abilities."

Another long silence stretched which only narrowed Zhiyuan’s eyes. Time ticked by and absolutely no word was exchanged for the next several minutes.

"Hmph!" That’s all Zhiyuan said, immediately turning his head away.

"...Mr. Han?" Lin was left puzzled by his odd reaction.

Siying waved his hand. "Don’t worry. That’s his way of giving you two his approval and blessings. That’s as far as he would go. Don’t expect a hug BUT congratulations! You have the full permission to call him Uncle now~"