A healthy dose of wholesomeness

Saturday rolled around, and around 2 pm, Hao Sheng arrived at Luxia's house. Well... house wasn't exactly the right word. The tall structure that the taxi stopped at was so huge that Hao Sheng doubted for a minute. Hao Sheng questioned whether he was in the right place. Then he suddenly remembered exactly what school it was he attended. Luxia may have seemed cool and a bit down to earth compared to the rest of the other students, but she was still a rich kid through and through.

The villa he had stopped at was situated in the Aloes, which were the nicer, richer part of town. Scratch that. His apartment was in the nicer, richer part of town. Luxia's place, however, was in what you would call the best part of town. The Aloes was a place rumored to be for the rich and famous. China's top one percent. Many influential people were rumored to live here.

If it wasn't for the friendly figure waving at him from behind the gate, he would have asked the taxi driver to check the GPS properly.

The taxi driver cleared his throat. "Sorry to disturb you, but are you going to get out or what? I still have other places to be, kid. "

Hao Sheng snapped out of his musing and quickly apologised to the driver, making sure to tip him extra for the trouble, before getting out of the car with his luggage. Earlier in the week, Hao Sheng and Luxia had agreed to let Hao Sheng sleep over for the weekend instead of just getting ready at her house.

Hao Sheng walked up to the gate that was quickly opened by Luxia. She jumped to give him a hug.

"You're finally here!" Luxia exclaimed.

She got off Hao Sheng and picked up his duffel bag.

"You took too long, my parents are waiting inside," she said as she led him down the driveway and to the front door.

"Woah woah woah. I didn't know we were already at that stage," Hao Sheng joked, following after her.

Luxia rolled her eyes. "You know, I didn't mean it like that," she said. "Besides, you're not really my type".

Hao Sheng cluched his chest dramatically and let out an anguished sigh. "You wound me. I know for a fact, I'm everybody's type".

Luxia rolled her eyes again with a laugh but didn't comment further. They had reached the door. She pushed the door open and ushered him in. After closing the door, she put Hao Sheng's dufflebag down in the foyer.

"You can just dump your other bag down here as well. After quickly getting my parents, we'll come back for them," she says, pointing at the spot she left his other bag.

Hao Sheng put down his bag and was immediately pushed into a room off to the side that looked like a living room, just extra luxurious. There was a decorative ceiling light hanging down and what looked like LED lights around it. The TV was as big as a cenema screen and there were a lot of decorative little gimmicks around the room. The main attraction of the room, however, was the beautiful couple sitting on the sofa.

The woman was a pretty brunette, looking to be in her late 30's with bright blue eyes. The man looked a bit older, around 40. He had a darker shade of brown, not quite black, hair and kind brown eyes. Hao Sheng thought they should be Luxia's parents based on how similar they looked to her.

They looked up at him as he and Luxia came in. They surprisingly wore very casual clothing. The woman was the first to smile when she noticed him. She stood up and went over to him and gave him a light hug.

"Welcome! We've been so excited to host you ever since we heard you were coming," she said, grasping his hand.

The man came up behind her and put his arm around her waist with a smile. "Honey, you're being rude. You didn't even introduce yourself yet," she said lightly, with a wink in Hao Sheng's direction. He held out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Benjamin, Su Luxia's father. It's a pleasure to have you here".

Hao Sheng shook Benjamin's hand with a smile. "The pleasures are all mine, sir".

The woman looked flustered and lightly hit Luxia's father on the chest. "Don't make fun of me in front of Lulu's friends," she reprimands with a frown, but the frown doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"Well then next, maybe don't do something that just provokes me to point out", Benjamin said with a smirk.

The woman folds her arms angrily, but the corner of her lips trembled, giving her away. She lasts for a second before she cracks into a smile. Benjamin just smiles fondly back at her. From the look on Luxia's face, this seemed to be their usual banter.

She turns back to Hao Sheng with a bright smile. "Ignore him, deary. Sorry for the late introduction. I'm Diana, Lulu's mother," she said, confirming Hao Sheng's earlier guess.

"It's quite okay, Miss Diana. I think a pretty lady like you would get away with anything in my books", she said with a wink.

Luxia and her mom giggle, and Benjamin shoots him a faux glare.

"Are you attempting to court my wife? I'll have you know that it won't work. Been together for quite a while with her. She won't leave me for a little one like you," he said while waving a finger at him.

Diana says with a sly smile, "Well... I mean, I wouldn't be too inclined to say no if he were to try asking me out."

Benjamin turns to her, looking utterly betrayed, to which Diana just giggled. Benjamin grabbed her from behind, half picking her up, and started threatening to throw her if she didn't admit he was his one and only.

Luxia cleared her throat. "Well, I'll leave you guys to that. I'm going to give Hao Sheng a little tour and show him to his room", she said with a smile.

Diana and Benjamim both looked up from... whatever they were doing. Diana smiled. "Sure. Have fun you two! Just be down around 5 for dinner". "

Hao Sheng was a bit late as we already had lunch just a bit ago but atleast he'll have a little food later. In the meantime, Luxia, grab him a few snacks from the kitchen so he doesn't starve. Will you?" Benjamin said, thoughtfully.

Diana smiled. "Now there's my lovely husband. I didn't know you were this nice."

"Well... I did always want a boy and he doesn't seem too bad as a surrogate," Benjamin said with his chest slightly puffed out at the compliment.

Diana smiled mischievously and wiggled her eyebrows,

"Well, if you want a son that badly, you don't have to look for a surrogate, I can always give you another one".

Benjamin smiled, but before he could say anything, Luxia interrupted them with a cough. "We'll see you later".

Luxia then grabbed Hao Sheng and dragged him out of there. The laughter of Benjamina and Diana followed after them.

Luxia helped him with one of his bags again and led him in the direction of the stairs. "Sorry about them. They can be a bit much at times".

Hao Sheng laughed lightly. "No, it's totally fine. They seem like pretty cool parents. Good sense of humour too".

Luxia laughs as well. "Well yeah. They're pretty great".

She leads him upstairs to the 2nd floor and down the corridor to a door on the right. She opens it into a bedroom.

The room was relevantly large but not too much. There was a mini TV with a small couch opposite it, a table with a computer not too far from it, and what looked like a reading corner off to the side. To the side was a door that led to a walk-in closet, where Luxia put down his bag. There was another door leading to an en-suite bathroom.

"This will be your room for the duration of your stay," Luxia said, after letting him look around for a bit. "What do you think, is it good enough?"

Hao Sheng raised his brow. "Is it good enough? If it isn't good enough, then what is?", he says with a laugh.

Luxia gives a pleased hum. "Good, I'm glad you like it. Now let's go! I still need to give you a tour of the house".

With that, Luxia gave Hao Sheng an extensive but entertaining tour of the house. The house was just as big as he'd imagined, with a lot of cool rooms around it. There was a game room. A movie room, complete with its own popcorn machine. They even had an observatory.

After the tour, Luxia quickly stopped by the kitchen for some snacks and then led Hao Sheng to the final destination of their little walk. Her bedroom.

Luxia let him in and closed the door. She sat on her bed and laid out all the snacks on the bed next to her. She then patted the space next to her expectantly and gave Hao Sheng a look.

"What? Don't tell me you're freaking out because this is your first time in a girl's room," she teased.

Hao Sheng immediately approached her and smirked.

"No. I'm just worried your dad is going to bust in here and try to fight me because I'm in his precious Lulu's room," he said, taking off his shoes and sitting down.

Luxia gasped exegeratedly. "First of all, only my mom calls me Lulu's. Second of all, both my parents would be fine with you being here because they know you're not my type".

Hao Sheng sticks his tongue out. "How dare you? I thought we'd already established that I'm everyone's type."

Luxia giggled. "Sure, whatever you say".

And like that, the afternoon flew by with Luxia and Hao Sheng just talking and watching movies. Soon, the sun started going down. After getting a call from Benjamin, Luxia and Hao Sheng made their way downstairs for dinner.

They sat down and got to eating, while occasionally chatting with Diana and Benjamin.

"I just gotta say, I'm really glad you made friends with my Luxia. You are her first friend in a while and, despite what she tells you, she was quite glad to have met you too," Diana said.

"MOM!" Luxia exclaimed, her face flushing.

"What? It's true! She couldn't stop talking about the friend she made at school, and I couldn't wait to meet you. Now that I have, I see why she likes you so much".

Luxia buried her head with a groan, looking like she just wanted to disappear.

Hao Sheng couldn't resist the urge to tease her, so he didn't. "Oh I didn't know you felt that way about me, Lulu~".

Luxia lightly slapped him in the arm. "Oh shut up. I know you love having me as a friend as well".

Hao Sheng smiled. "That I do. Which kind of surprises me, because I know you're an amazing person. Why am I your first friend in a while?", Hao Shebg asked, but that seemed like the wrong question to ask because everybody at the table suddenly got quiet and the mood was kind of somber.

A sad look flashed on Diana and Benjamin's faces before they tried to cover it up with a light smile.

"Oh, it's just that Luxia was a sickly child and so she didn't go out much because of all the treatments and the medication she had to take. As a consequence, she didn't really have any friends. She wasn't able to get out of bed for more than a few days at a time before she got sick again. It was only until recently that she got better and was able to go to a normal school and socialise," Benjamin said quietly.

Diana's eyes got a bit red. "She was such a strong kid. I am proud of her for fighting like that. Which is why I want her to be happy".

"Mom..." Luxia said, looking quite sad herself.

Hao Sheng immediately regretted asking the question and changed the topic to a less sad one. The dinner continued and nothing more happened.

After dinner, Luxia and Hao Sheng returned upstairs and continued to just hang out until around 8, when they decided it was time to get dressed for the party.

Hao Sheng left Luxia and went to his own room to get dressed. He chose something simple. He wore black jeans with a white collared shirt and a black wool sweater over it. He topped it off with black boots and a black jacket.

He put his phone in his pocket and made his way downstairs to the living room. Luxia wasn't ready yet, so he just sat down and waited for her. He wasn't alone for too long, however. A few minutes later, Luxia's father came in and sat down next to him.

He silently handed Hao Sheng a pair of keys. Hao Sheng looked down and saw that they were car keys. Hao Sheng looked back up in surprise.

"I heard you could drive from Luxia. I can't have my baby taking some random taxi this late, so driving is going to fall on you. Don't fuck up. You are going to have my daughter in the car. You can screw up at any time except now. Take care of my daughter, Hao Sheng". Benjamin sternly stated. The laughter and jokes Hao Sheng had grown accustomed to seeing in his eyes were nowhere to be seen. He was being one hundred percent serious. Benjamin was not only referring to making sure of Luxia's safety at the party. He was referring to that even after that, to just take care of her as long as they were friends.

Hao Sheng nodded solemnly. "I promise to take care of your daughter, sir".

Benjamin looked him in the eye as if he was looking for something. Seeming finding it, he nods and places a reassuring on his back.

Just then, the sound of heels approaches, and they turn to see Diana coming in with Luxia.

"You weren't threatening the poor bit, were you, Benny?", Diana asked with a huff.

Hao Sheng laughed. "No, no. It's nothing like that. We were just having friendly chat".

Diana narrowed her eyes, but before she could say more, Luxia interrupted.

"Forget about him! Focus on me. How do I look?", she asked as she spread her arms out dramatically.

Luxia was in a black frilly skirt with a black shirt, a leather jacket, and black boots. Another thing to note was that she was in all black. A fact that did not escape Diana's careful notice.

"It looks to me that you guys decided to go matching...", she drawled, to which Hao Sheng laughed.

Luxia pouted. "That's not what I meant... "

Hao Sheng got up, followed closely by Benjamin.

"Alright, I think it's time we get going," he said with a clap. He turned to Benjamin and Diana. "We got a curfew?"

Diana laughed and waved him off.

"No worries," she said, "just have fun and don't drink too much."

Luxia stood there speechless after being ignored. Hao Sheng smiled and put his hands on her shoulders, slowly steering her in the direction of the garage.

He made his way to one of the cars and opened the door for her and guided her in, closing the door once she sat down. He went over to the driver's side and got in with one last wave to Diana and Benjamin.

As he started the car, he said to Luxia, "Don't worry. I think you look amazing. Let's go enjoy ourselves".

With that, he drove off. It was party time.