Hearing You Say Love chapter 21
Twins
Before 8 a.m. the next day, Su Mo drove to the entrance of the community and asked Su Ming to come down.
Su Ming, still not fully awake, got in the car and slept all the way, ignoring the breakfast Su Mo had bought for him.
They arrived in Yishi at 11:20 a.m., and Su Ming was woken up by a phone call from their mother.
“Xiao Mo,” their mother’s voice came through the car’s speaker, sounding gentle, “Where are you now?”
Su Mo glanced at Su Ming, who was now awake, and handed him a bottle of mineral water. After Su Ming took it, Su Mo responded to the call, “We just got off the highway, almost there.”
“Take your brother to Ginkgo Restaurant, private room No. 8.”
Su Mo: “Aren’t we going to the hospital first?”
“Of course, we need to eat first.”
Su Mo glanced at Su Ming again, who showed no reaction. He hung up the phone and asked Su Ming, “Shall we eat first, Ge?”
Su Ming opened the window and lit a cigarette.
He couldn’t even remember the last time he had eaten with his parents.
After parking, the two brothers walked into the restaurant together.
Seeing two extremely handsome men who looked alike in real life was quite rare, and they attracted a lot of attention as they walked.
When they opened the door to private room No. 8, the first person Su Ming saw was a long-haired girl sitting in a wheelchair. The girl was quite pretty, and when she saw them enter, she looked a little shy.
Aside from their parents, there was also a middle-aged man and woman at the round table, who seemed to be the girl’s parents.
Their mother enthusiastically stood up and introduced her two sons to the girl’s family. After some compliments, Su Mo and Su Ming sat down in the empty seats, with Su Ming sitting next to the girl.
The atmosphere was a bit strange. Su Ming signed to Su Mo: What’s going on?
Su Mo, also unsure, quietly asked their mother, “Who are they?”
Their mother smiled broadly, “Don’t you remember? When you two were kids, you used to play at Uncle Qu’s house, the one who runs a tea company in Mingshan.”
Su Ming remembered. That was one of the few family outings he had as a child.
So, the girl next to him was Qu Li’s daughter?
Su Ming’s gaze fell on the girl’s wheelchair. He remembered she used to be a great dancer.
Their mother noticed his gaze and explained, “Yenxi was in a car accident a few years ago and can’t walk anymore.”
The middle-aged woman sitting next to Qu Yenxi said, “You know our family’s situation. Even though Yenxi’s legs aren’t good, she’s our only daughter, and everything will be hers in the future. If she gets married, the couple wouldn’t need to work—they can just enjoy life together.”
“Mom!” Qu Yenxi blushed and quietly said, “Please stop.”
Su Ming signed to Su Mo: Are they setting you up for a blind date?
Su Mo, equally confused, signed back: I don’t know. Mom never mentioned this to me.
At this point, their father, who had been silent, finally spoke up: “Su Mo, stop signing. Are you mute? We can’t understand you. Can’t you just speak directly?”
Su Mo’s heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at Su Ming. As expected, Su Ming’s face had gone cold.
The familiar bond he had just begun to rebuild with his brother was shattered by their father’s words.
There was an awkward pause, but their mother quickly resumed chatting enthusiastically with the other family.
Su Ming detached himself from the situation, avoiding eye contact with anyone and slowly eating his food.
But the conversation soon turned to him.
“Our older son bought his own house in Rong City without taking a penny from us,” their mother said proudly, as if she had offered to help pay, “He graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and is incredibly talented in painting. He’s been winning awards since he was young. He’s an artist now!”
Their mother didn’t actually know what Su Ming painted; she only knew from Su Mo that he made a living from his art.
The woman across the table smiled and praised Su Ming, saying he had seemed clever even as a child.
Su Ming finally understood. This whole setup had been for him.
He felt a wave of nausea and put down his chopsticks, staring coldly at them.
Their father continued, “Yes, Yenxi also loves art. You two should have a lot to talk about.”
Qu’s mother nodded, smiling at Su Ming, “Why don’t you two exchange WeChat contacts?”
Qu Yenxi, who had been blushing all along, now lowered her head without saying a word. She seemed like she wanted to take out her phone but hesitated out of embarrassment.
At that moment, Su Ming found the whole thing absurd.
The purpose of this blind date was so blatantly self-serving that it was revolting. His parents were obviously eyeing the girl’s family wealth.
After all these years of not caring about him, how dare they suddenly drag him into this arranged marriage?
Am I, the little tree that grew up on its own, now supposed to add fuel to your family’s fire?
Su Ming stood up abruptly, mentally apologizing to the girl, and walked out without looking back.
“Ge!”
Su Mo called out from behind him, but he didn’t hesitate as he opened the door and walked out quickly.
“Ge, wait a minute!” Su Mo chased after him, grabbing his arm in the hallway. “Listen to me, I really didn’t know it would turn out like this.”
Su Ming hadn’t planned to confront him, just wanted to leave as quickly as possible. He turned around and looked at his brother coldly, signaling for him to let go.
“Wait a minute,” Su Mo held onto his hand tightly, “After we finish eating, I’ll take you home.”
At this moment, their father and mother also came out. Their father, with an angry expression, scolded Su Ming in a low voice in the hallway: “How can you be so ungrateful? We specially invited a guest for you, and this is your attitude?”
Su Ming almost laughed out of frustration. He forcefully signed: Your abacus beads are flying in my face, and you call it inviting a guest for me.
Their father didn’t understand the sign language and pointed his chin at Su Mo, signaling him to translate.
Su Mo didn’t dare to translate word for word and simply said, “Ge says you don’t need to worry about his matters.”
“Don’t you understand?” Their father was furious. “If you marry Qu Yanxi, you’ll be set for life. Where else can you find such a well-off family? How can you not understand our good intentions?”
Su Ming gave his father a mocking smile, pushed Su Mo away, and strode toward the stairs.
He pushed so hard that Su Mo stumbled and crashed into the dining cart behind him, making a loud noise.
But Su Ming didn’t look back, almost running down the stairs.
He rarely had thoughts like “I wish I could speak,” but at this moment, he deeply hated that he couldn’t.
If he could, he would have had a big argument with them.
This pent-up anger made his eyes redden.
As he stepped out of the restaurant into the scorching midday sun, he nearly teared up from the harsh light.
He could still make it to the station in time for the next train back to Rong City.
At lunchtime, the streets were deserted, and the heat waves rose from the sunbaked pavement.
The sun was blinding, and after a few minutes with no taxi in sight, he moved into the shade of a tree and took out his phone to order a ride.
That’s when he saw the message from Zou Beiyuan, sent ten minutes ago.
He suppressed the urge to ask for help and opened the ride-hailing app. His hands trembled a bit as he entered the destination.
No available cars nearby.
Annoyed and feeling wronged, Su Ming scolded himself: “Idiot, you brought this on yourself.”
At that moment, Su Mo ran out of the restaurant, calling his brother’s name as he chased him.
Su Ming was about to leave but turned around and saw that Su Mo’s white polo shirt had a large stain from spilled food. His heart softened, and he stood still under the tree.
Su Mo, worried his brother would leave if he ran too slow, was in such a hurry that he even tripped and fell on the road.
Su Ming frowned, watching as Su Mo limped over, panting and explaining that he truly didn’t know their parents had arranged a blind date dinner.
Su Ming looked at Su Mo’s leg and signed: Are you hurt?
Su Mo rubbed his knee and said, “I’m okay, maybe just a minor scrape.”
Su Ming bent down to lift his brother’s pant leg, but Su Mo grabbed his hand. “I’m fine, really fine. Don’t be mad at me, Ge.”
As they tugged at each other, they didn’t notice a bright green car pull up beside them.
Zou Beiyuan lowered the window and called out, “Su Ming!”
Both Su Mo and Su Ming turned their heads at the same time, their faces identical. There was a brief moment of blankness on Zou Beiyuan’s face before he quickly reacted, “You’re twins?”
Su Ming was also surprised, as if he were dreaming. He had just been thinking about asking Zou Beiyuan for help, and here he was.
“Who is that?” Su Mo asked.
Su Ming let go of Su Mo’s hand and quickly signed: A friend. I’ll leave now.
Su Ming opened the car door and got into the front passenger seat. Su Mo immediately opened the door and sat in the back.
Zou Beiyuan looked back and forth between the two of them, saying, “You two look exactly the same.”
“Yeah,” Su Mo said with a slightly proud expression, “He’s my older brother.”
Zou Beiyuan, intrigued, asked Su Ming, “How come you never told me you had a twin brother?”
Su Ming didn’t answer. Su Mo leaned forward, pulling on his brother’s arm, pleading, “Please don’t be mad at me. I really didn’t know they arranged a blind date dinner. If I had known, I wouldn’t have invited you.”
Zou Beiyuan quickly caught the key point and asked Su Ming, “You came for a blind date?!”
Su Ming took out his phone and typed something for Zou Beiyuan to read.
After reading it, Zou Beiyuan couldn’t help but laugh. He turned the phone screen to Su Mo and said, “Do me a favor, Ge.”
Su Mo looked at the screen and saw: [Kick him out.]