Wesley chased Erica around the living room. She begged, "Dad, please stop chasing me. Please!"
This was a day in the life of Erica—being her father's smelly socks.
A few minutes later when Erica realized that she had nowhere else to go, she opened the gate and ran out of the house.
Wesley ran after her and didn't stop until she was out of sight. He took the feather duster and walked towards the foreigner. When Wesley waved the duster in front of him, the young man immediately raised his hands, gesturing surrender and said, "I'm sorry! I'm very sorry!" Then he disappeared from the Li family's living room as fast as he could.
That evening, Erica sat at the main gate of the Li house, cupping her chin, and lazily shouted, "Dad, let me in! Mom let me in! I'm going to die out here if you don't let me in!"
A moment later, the gate squeaked open and revealed Wesley standing in the doorway.
"Dad!" Erica jumped to her feet and looked at her father expectantly.
What her father said next was just the words she had been hoping to hear. "Come in," he said.
"Really?" A sudden burst of happiness made her feel ecstatic.
"Yes," he confirmed.
She ran towards her father and hugged him tightly. "Dad, I knew you still love me."
Wesley tried his best to suppress his giggle and said, "Just get inside. Your mom's waiting for you in the dining room with pork ribs. Your sister will be back soon."
"Boohoo..." Erica hugged him harder and burst into tears, wailing like a spoiled child. "Dad, even if I'm a pair of stinky socks, I'm your stinky socks. You can't just throw me out."
Wesley sighed and pulled Erica away from him. "Don't be so dramatic. Go inside and have dinner. Then, go straight to bed. I don't want you staying up late!"
"Why not?"
"I'm taking you back to Y City tomorrow!"
Erica's eyebrows shot up in bewilderment and she immediately pleaded, "Dad, no!"
See? She knew she was just a pair of unloved, smelly socks to him!
Erica walked into the dining room and picked up Ethan from the baby chair. She kissed him so many times that the baby's cheeks started showing a tinge of pink. Blair didn't want her daughter disturbing the baby, so she pushed Erica into the bathroom.
Fortunately, Erica had come back at a good time because Yvette was supposed to bring her boyfriend home to talk about the engagement with her family.
Earlier, Yvette had mentioned nothing about her boyfriend, and thus, Erica had never met her future brother-in-law.
Wesley and Blair, however, had met the man and they were quite convinced that he was going to be their future son-in-law.
As soon as Erica came out of the bathroom, Yvette stepped into the house.
With Wesley's and Blair's hospitality, Yvette led her boyfriend into the dining room.
Yvette's boyfriend, Remus You, was the second son of the You family, a literary family from A Country who valued education very much. He had majored in Aerospace Dynamics Engineering from The A Country University of Technology. And now, he was studying for a doctorate in The Y City University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Yvette introduced Erica to Remus You. "I mentioned this one to you before. My father's undisputed rival—Erica Li!"
"Sister!" Erica said as she shook Yvette's hand discontentedly, feeling embarrassed.
Remus You smiled and politely greeted Erica, "Nice to meet you, Erica. I've heard a lot about you."
Erica then secretly observed Remus You, scanning him with her eyes. He was wearing an expensive navy blue casual suit. With black short hair and chiseled features, he exuded an aristocratic aura. Erica immediately deduced that he must have been from a rich family.
She thought he was a fine-looking young man and a good-enough match for her sister. "Nice to meet you, too," Erica said. Then she pretended to be tough and warned him, "Be good to my sister! Don't bully her! Otherwise, you'll regret it!"
Remus You was amused by her pretentious sophistication. "Sure, will do!"
Blair reminded her, "Rika, don't be so rude. Remus had chased your sister for three years. He will be nice to her. Right, Remus?"
Remus You hurried to reply, "Yes. Don't worry, Erica. In fact, I'm the one that always gets bullied..." As soon as he said that, Yvette shot him a warning glance to shut him up.
Wesley watched the whole scene unfold with his own eyes. Yvette was never a menacing child, but when he saw how she managed to frighten Remus with just a single glance, Wesley knew that this man would love and care for his daughter.
However, people could always change in the blink of an eye. At present, Remus You was fine in all aspects, but there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be any problems in the future. Nonetheless, Wesley had his eyes on the young man.
Everyone took their seats at the dining table and the atmosphere was harmonious.
Remus You was good with children and everyone noticed it when they saw him with Ethan.
They were all watching TV in the living room and eating sunflower seeds. When Yvette left to go to the bathroom, Erica jumped to her seat and sat next to Remus You. She leaned closer and murmured, "When are you two getting married?"
Remus You replied without hesitation, "I want to get engaged as soon as possible, and then get married by the end of this year. I mentioned it to your sister, but she said she would ask for the permission of your parents."
"And then?"
"Then I decided to come here and meet your parents. To be honest, I will try my best to get their approval so I can marry your sister as soon as possible!"
Erica giggled and said, "That's just what I wanted to hear!" Every word from him indicated that he wanted to marry Yvette. Erica was convinced that he was a good and upstanding person. Then she raised her voice and said, "Here, have some sunflower seeds, future brother-in-law!"
Remus You was startled, wondering why Erica was being so supportive of him.
Sure enough, just as Yvette had told him before, Erica was a bag full of tricks and weird ideas.
After seeing Remus You off, Erica persuaded Yvette to join her to sleep in their mother's bed. She brought baby Ethan with her as well.
Wesley had seen this sort of thing happen before, but this time, he kicked Erica out of the door. "You're a married woman now. How can you still be so attached to your mother? If you need to hug someone, call Matthew and ask him to keep you company. Don't come to my wife!"
Still, Erica managed to squeeze into the room. She held Wesley's arm and pleaded, "Dad, I love you the most. Considering the fact that I married Matthew for you and moved to Y City with him, you should sleep on the couch tonight. Please! You're the greatest dad in the world!"
Wesley squinted his eyes at her and said, "Why don't you sleep on the sofa?"
"Dearest father, do you have the heart to let your sweet daughter sleep on the couch?"
"Of course I do."
Erica pouted her lips and feigned anger. "Dad, if you keep acting like this, I'll get angry with you."
Wesley snorted, "You're getting more and more stubborn. Matthew must have been spoiling you too much."
Erica muttered, "He doesn't spoil me. He always makes me angry!"
As soon as Blair made the bed, Yvette slipped into the bed and said, "Rika, if you keep talking to Dad, there won't be any space for you in bed here."
Erica ran past Wesley who was blocking her way, climbed into the bed and lay down next to Yvette.
Yvette quickly covered her with the quilt while Erica put Ethan in bed as well.
Blair shook her head with amusement and looked at Wesley with a smile on her face. "If you don't want to sleep on the couch, go and sleep in Gifford's room."
Wesley snorted and left the room angrily.
In less than two minutes, Wesley walked back in the room with a quilt and a pillow in his hands while Blair and his daughters giggled at his misery.