Dragon King's Son-In-Law

by Dragon King

  “You! Are you a bad-*ss?” the biggest guy with the crew cut suddenly pointed at Hao Ren who was held back by Xie Yujia.

  Xie Yujia stared at that guy in astonishment and realized they were here to cause trouble for Hao Ren. She searched her brain and abruptly remembered that this guy was Bai Zhixiong, a fourth-year student and the Deputy Captain of the university’s basketball team. He was also one of Huang Xujie’s good friends.

  “Are you here to mess with Ren?” while Xie Yujia racked her brains for a solution, Zhao Jiayi saw the real intention as he asked that guy directly.

  Although the guys in the Mechatronics Engineering Department were a group of otakus, they stuck with each other when needed. They always teased Hao Ren, but they would never allow anyone to bully him. Never!

  “Zhao Jiayi, they are here for me.” when Xie Yujia’s grip on his arm slackened a bit, Hao Ren escaped her grasp and strode over.

  He didn’t want Zhao Jiayi and his other buddies to get hurt because of him. Since they came for him, he had no reasons to hide.

  The big guy had planned to intimidate Hao Ren and didn’t expect the ordinary-looking Hao Ren to have the guts to face him. The speech he had prepared for this occasion was now useless. He stared at Hao Ren blankly, trying to find a way out.

  At his silence, Hao Ren walked up to him and said, “If you think we are younger than you and would be good targets for bullying, you are mistaken. As seniors, you have nothing to be proud of. Huang Xujie does excel in some areas, but he is too full of himself! He overestimated himself, and that is why he lost to me.”

  “You are indeed arrogant,” Bai Zhixiong looked down at Hao Ren and said.

  Hao Ren shook his head and sighed, “This is not arrogance. I’m trying to reason with you. You don’t like me, just like how I don’t like you. However, I didn’t randomly mess with you, but you think you can mess with us just because you are seniors.”

  “There’s no use reasoning with them. They messed with us; let’s fight with them!” Zhao Jiayi shouted from the side. He had never liked these self-important guys who preyed on the weak. He was especially displeased with them since they had repeatedly taken the basketball court away from him and his friends.

  Swoosh…

  Suddenly, a brown basketball flew in from the outside.

  The ball swept over Zhao Jiayi’s head and smashed into Bai Zhixiong’s face.

  As strong as Bai Zhixiong was, he couldn’t withstand the sneak-attack of the basketball, and blood flowed from his nose.

  “Who the f*ck told you to come out? Get your *sses back to the gym!” a thundering shout exploded from the outside of the door.

  Hao Ren turned and saw a huge figure block the entire doorway.

  “Brother…” an inaudible word jumped out of Xie Yujia’s mouth.

  41 Big Trouble

  The six feet four inches tall Bai Zhixiong didn’t show any signs of fury on his dark face after he got hit. Instead, he shivered at the voice from the outside and looked very obedient.

  Likewise, the other members of the basketball team all looked nervous.

  With their heads lowered, they filed out of the restaurant silently. Each of them was slapped on the back of the head by the man waiting at the door. He struck Bai Zhixiong with greater force and sent him stumbling several steps forward. However, the six feet four inches tall Bai Zhixiong dared not to utter a word of complaint.

  Looking at the magnificent and big body standing at the door, Hao Ren and his buddies couldn’t help but wonder about the man’s great strength. Especially since he could hold this group of big guys in the basketball team in check.

  “Get your *sses back to training!” With another shout, the mysterious man escorted the basketball team members to the university, giving the people in the restaurant a magnificent broad back to look at. This man was even half a head taller than Bai Zhixiong!

  “He should be Xie Wanjun, the captain of the basketball team. Only he can keep those guys on the basketball team in control,” Yu Rong, who was familiar with the situation at school, said.

  From the start to the end of the incident, Hao Ren had never gotten a glimpse of Xie Wanjun’s face; this man was taller than the door when he was standing on the outside, and Hao Ren only got a glimpse of his back when he left.

  “Ok, ok! Let’s get back to our dinner!” Hao Ren cleared his head and called out to the others.

  With an awkward smile on her face, Xie Yujia joined his efforts.

  However, their spirits were dampened by the interruption.

  “Your victory over Huang Xujie disgraced him. His friends will probably make more trouble for you. Be careful.”

  At Hao Ren’s silence, Xie Yujia continued, “But you don’t have to worry. At most, they will just do something to make you uncomfortable. They won’t do anything outrageous.”

  “I’m not worried. They are making trouble out of nothing. And it’s not the first time the seniors bullied juniors in the school. They took basketball courts from Zhao Jiayi and his friends several times, and he had been wanting to summon some of his buddies to fight them,” Hao Ren said.

  Xie Yujia sighed, “You’d better not fight, or the school would punish you.”

  She thought about talking to her older brother and asking him to tighten his control on the guys on the basketball team. However, she knew it would be little use since it couldn’t eliminate bullying in the school as it was almost a part of the norms in the school. Besides, Huang Xujie, son of the deputy mayor of the city, set up the popular Rock Climbing Club and was close to the other sports clubs in the school. He was especially close with the players on the basketball team, who were the unrivaled tough guys in school.

  The basketball team of East Ocean University was well-known all over the country, and it was last year’s champion of National College League, bringing great honor to East Ocean University. That was why the school treasured them despite their terrible academic performances. They triumphed over all the other ordinary students in strength, and more importantly, they had the school behind their backs as long as they didn’t do things that were outrages.

  Due to his close relationship with them, Hua Xujie could almost do whatever he wanted.

  Anyway, Hao Ren humiliated Huang Xujie by winning the race, and the latter would make trouble for him. Xie Yujia was a bit concerned about this.

  While Xie Yujia was troubled with all these concerns, Hao Ren was thinking about something else. He wasn’t too concerned about Huang Xujie’s retaliation, even though the latter was the son of the deputy mayor.

  What concerned him was the deep resentment between the so-called celebrity students and the regular students in the junior years. Zhao Jiayi and his buddies were repeatedly driven away from the basketball court by the members of the Rock Climbing Club and some players of the basketball team. This was just one example of the bullying happening on campus. If the situation continued, a huge fight would break out sooner or later.

  If a fight broke out, no one would be the winner, especially the weaker ones like Zhao Jiayi. Hao Ren knew Zhao Jiayi had been contacting his buddies and was prepared to fight with those seniors from the Rock Climbing Club and the basketball team if they kept up the bullying.

  Hao Ren wondered if it was time for him to dig out Lu Qing’s card and have a pleasant conversation with the vice president of the university.

  The party ended in low spirits half another later. Zhao Jiayi returned to the dorm in a bad mood. If Hao Ren didn’t persuade him, he would have summoned his buddies to go after those guys tonight.

  “Ren, if they dare to make trouble for you, give me a call!” Zhao Jiayi patted his chest and said.

  Hao Ren smiled and replied, “I will be fine. They were just bluffing. They won’t do anything serious.”

  In this dorm, Zhao Jiayi was the big brother. Zhao Jiayi had many friends from all circles, so he felt like he should look after his roommates.

  However, he would never have guessed that Hao Re
n had the school’s vice president Lu Qing behind him. In fact, in the so-called Dragon Tribe, Lu Qing must respect Hao Ren and refer to him as ” Fuma 1 “.

  Even without Lu Qing behind him, Hao Ren wasn’t afraid of Huang Xujie. He had always kept a low-profile because he didn’t like to attract attention to himself, but he wasn’t scared by trouble.

  The eventful day ended. The next day, everything returned to normal at school while some people still talked about what happened the day before.

  In class, Hao Ren immersed himself in preparing middle school English practice questions. Knowing Hao Ren was tutoring the little girl in the evening, Zhou Liren left him alone.

  The glory of the long-distance race champion was now just a memory. Hao Ren put the 1,000 yuan prize money into the shared fund’s box of the dorm room; it would be used for Room 302’s future entertainment activities.

  To Hao Ren, only those self-important guys would care about such vanities and the girls’ screams. He did his best in the race because he entered his name into it and wanted to repay Xie Yujia for her encouragement.

  The sky turned dark in the evening. Hao Ren rode Bus 767 and arrived on time at Zhao Yanzi’s home, a two-story house.

  For some unknown reason, after having eaten food cooked by Zi’s mother, Hao Ren’s mouth would water each time he was on his way to Zi’s home to tutor her. Since yesterday was Monday and he didn’t come to tutor Zhao Yanzi, he was suddenly struck by a longing for the delicious dishes cooked by Zhao Hongyu when he was standing at the door.

  With papers in hand, Hao Ren pressed on the doorbell.

  Suddenly, thunder resonated in the sky, and a storm came instantly.

  A downpour commenced. Standing at the door, Hao Ren was half soaked in the blink of an eye.

  “Well, hurry in!” hearing the doorbell ring, Zhao Hongyu hurried over to answer it. Seeing Hao Ren getting soaked in the rain, she drew him in immediately.

  Boom! Boom… With another string of thunder, dashes of lightning flashed across the sky outside the windows.

  Very soon, the high buildings in the distance were engulfed by the white downpour.

  Hao Ren put down his papers while he shook his head to get rid of the water in his hair. Zhao Hongyu handed him a white towel and told him in a light tone, “You can stay here tonight. Today, Elder Sun is responsible for the rainfall, and it shall last the entire night.” The Chinese title for addressing a king’s or an emperor’s son-in-law.

  42 It All Depends on You…

  Just when Hao Ren was struggling to answer, the sound of the doorknob being twisted interrupted him - it was Zhao Guang bringing Zhao Yanzi back.

  They didn’t get wet at all since they were in the car. Although Zhao Guang seemed like a stern father, he showed how much he loved his daughter by going in person to pick her up from school on such a rainy day when he was a busy man.

  Zhao Hongyu walked over after her husband entered. “Since there’s a storm today, I think Ren should stay over instead of going back in the rain,” she said.

  “Ok, it should be Elder Sun’s rain so it will probably last all night. It will be difficult even to drive him back. It’s best for him to stay here,” Zhao Guang nodded without hesitation.

  Hao Ren was too shy to express his opinion after both of them told him to stay. He wouldn’t want to insist on leaving as they were both persistent in keeping him there. Zhao Guang would for sure give him a ride back if he insisted. However, Hao Ren didn’t want to cause him so much trouble on a stormy night like this.

  Zhao Hongyu smiled pleasantly as she saw no objections from Hao Ren. “Alright, let’s have dinner first since it is ready. Zhao Guang, grab some dry clothes for Ren. He got all soaked on the way here to tutor Zi. And go wash your hands, Zi!” she said.

  “Ok.” Zhao Guang nodded calmly and went upstairs to get some clothes.

  Zhao Yanzi stared at Hao Ren grudgingly from where she was standing as if she wasn’t happy about her own turf being invaded. She still hadn’t gotten used to the fact that her parents were treating Hao Ren as a part of the family. She could still endure it when they took him on the family trip, but now keeping him for the night? Who would know what was going to happen next time?

  Little girls were pretty territorial at this age as they even drew lines across the shared desks at school to mark their territories.

  Hao Ren completely ignored her stare. He never regarded her as his fiancée. On the other hand, he only hoped for her English grade to pick up; if that happened, he wouldn’t disappoint her parents who had been treating him so nicely.

  Soon, Zhao Guang walked downstairs with a set of grey plaid pajamas and handed it over to Hao Ren. “Go get out of your wet jacket first,” he said.

  “Thank you!” Hao Ren took the pajamas and put it on after taking off his own jacket.

  It was a bit large for Hao Ren, but it somehow fit.

  The four of them washed their hands and sat down for dinner. Hao Ren forgot about all the unpleasantness when he saw the delicious dishes on the table. Thinking back, it had been several days since Hao Ren enjoyed Zhao Hongyu’s cooking.

  “How lucky is Zhao Yanzi to have such a wonderful mother who was loving, caring, intelligent, and beautiful,” he thought.

  “Ren, has Zi shown any improvements in her English tests lately?” Zhao Hongyu suddenly asked about Zhao Yanzi’s school work while they were having dinner.

  Zhao Yanzi looked up at Hao Ren nervously when she heard the question.

  “There are some improvements. It seems like she is doing better than before,” Hao Ren didn’t answer directly. As a matter of fact, only Zhao Yanzi herself knew how bad her English was.

  “Um…take it slow. Has she been doing well in school?” Zhao Hongyu continued to ask.

  Hao Ren was stunned for a moment as he thought she was asking about the time when Zhao Yanzi skipped class. He tried to think of a reasonable response but didn’t know how to answer.

  Zhao Yanzi was trying her best to send him signals. She held onto her chopsticks tightly and curled her lips, giving him a threatening look.

  “Oh, what I mean is, do you think she is putting more effort into studying English?” Zhao Hongyu added.

  Hao Ren looked at Zhao Hongyu as he realized they didn’t know about her skipping class yet. He was relieved and said, “Um, the knowledge points have been enhanced. She has probably been paying more attention in class.”

  “Um, that’s good,” Zhao Hongyu nodded with a smile.

  Zhao Yanzi secretly breath out as she thought Hao Ren would tell on her. However, Zhao Guang caught all of her expressions. He kept on eating without getting involved in their conversation.

  “Not only her English, but her other subjects also aren’t that good,” Zhao Hongyu said after a moment, “Midterms are in a few days. I hope her grades get better by then. So, if it is not too much to ask, can you tutor her on other subjects too?”

  Hao Ren certainly couldn’t reject the “mother-in-law’s” request. He nodded and said, “Ok, I will try my best.”

  “English is her weakest subject. You don’t need to tutor her specifically on other subjects. Is it ok if she comes to you with questions she can’t do?” Zhao Hongyu asked softly.

  “No problem.” Hao Ren said. Although he was stuck with an annoying little fiancée, he couldn’t complain about having such an understanding “mother-in-law”.

  “We love everything about Zi. It is only her attitude towards studying that bothers us. Her grades have always been one of the worst in her class, and we are always embarrassed when we attend the parent-teacher meeting,” she said.

  “So that is why…Zhao Hongyu doesn’t want to be embarrassed as a parent. Even for the charming Zhao Hongyu, it was hard for her to be proud of her daughter when Zi has such bad grades,” Hao Ren thought, “Hehe, even the Dragon Tribe suffers just like any other parents in the world.”

  Zi’s little face blushed. Her lips pouted as she tried to defend herself, but she came u
p with nothing. Except for her excellent PE grades, she was amongst the worst students in all other subjects.

  “Sorry for the trouble,” Zhao Hongyu apologized softly when she realized that she had been asking a lot of him.

  “That’s ok,” Hao Ren laughed. He would do his best to tutor Zhao Yanzi just for the sake of Zhao Hongyu.

  Relaxing classical music was being played in the room, and even the heavy rain couldn’t disturb the cozy atmosphere. Zhao Guang had always been a man of few words as the head of the household. Zhao Hongyu, on the other hand, had a charming smile on her face as if she was satisfied with where life was headed.

  Zhao Yanzi frowned and pouted. She was probably coming up with ways to deal with Hao Ren’s “invasion” into her life.

  Time passed by quickly as dinner reached an end.

  “You can go help Zi with her school work in my studio after dinner. I’ll go make the bed in her room so that you can rest well tonight,” Zhao Hongyu said gently to Hao Ren.

  “Phew…!” Hao Ren immediately spat out a mouthful of soup.

  43 Passed the Probation Period

  Not only did Hao Ren not know what to say, but Zhao Yanzi also looked at her mother dumbfoundedly.

  Zhao Hongyu smiled as she explained, “What I meant was, you can sleep on Zi’s bedroom floor tonight. Zi’s bedroom is big enough. Besides, she also has her own washroom, and it’s more convenient.”

  “Mom!” Zhao Yanzi whined in dissatisfaction. No guy had ever slept over in her bedroom before.

  Zhao Hongyu was about to say that Hao Ren wasn’t a stranger, but Hao Ren wiped the soup from his lips and said voluntarily, “Zi is a girl after all. It’s not convenient for me to sleep in her bedroom. How about I sleep in the living room?”

  Zhao Yanzi turned her head around and looked at Hao Ren without saying anything. She initially thought that this “dirty” uncle would seize the chance and sleep in her bedroom to make her feel uncomfortable.

  Hao Ren also had his own ideas. On the one hand, he didn’t want to provoke Zhao Yanzi too much even with her parents’ support. On the other hand, before they properly confirmed their relationship, he should still keep some distance from Zhao Yanzi. Otherwise, he might not be able to be able to get away from her if he wanted to in the future.