“Andrew, I—” Then he cut himself off and started over. “Look, you’re a good kid. But Jing-Jing’s my only child. Her mother and I are very protective of her—her mother more so than me—and when it comes to Jing-Jing, I defer to my wife because she knows our daughter best.” Does she? “And look at what her nurturing has done so far! Jing-Jing is living up to her name!”

He cleared his throat by coughing into his fist. “I don’t know what Jing-Jing’s told you about… other suitors, but you have to understand that we just know certain families well. And we haven’t met yours—hadn’t even met you until two days ago! I’m sure you’ve noticed I’m older than my wife”—I hadn’t, and Jing-Jing hadn’t mentioned it either—“and so for me, at this point in my life, I just want to make sure she’ll be okay.”

“I understand,” I forced myself to say.

He gave me a curt dip of the chin. “Good. So… I know yesterday may have been a bit awkward for you”—a bit?—“but if you care for Jing-Jing, then you should want her to consider all her options. We don’t want her to miss out on something great, you understand?”

Something great? Was he serious?

I was about to nod (what the hell else could I do?), but then I heard Hey-o, boys and girls, and my belly flamed. The idea of someone like Jing-Jing having to deal with that…

I sat up even straighter. “Shǔshú, I hear you, but I’m completely confident that Jing-Jing shouldn’t be considering Hongbo.” I dared to say his name even though Mr. Wang weirdly hadn’t. “I’m not sure I’m the best for her—I’ll certainly try to be good enough—but she deserves so much better than that spoiled jerk who knows nothing about her despite them growing up together. I don’t care how much money he has; Jing-Jing deserves respect and someone who truly sees and cares for her. That, at the very least, I can do.”

Mr. Wang’s head slid back in shock, but he had an approving frown on his face that implied he’d underestimated me. I hadn’t been thinking about types and categories when that came out, but of course Category 1 Mr. Wang would love how I was defending Jing-Jing and talking her up.

He nodded once, twice, thinking, and then he leaned forward. “Well, answer me this, Andrew: Have you ever shadowed your parents?”

I didn’t know where he was going with this, and thus I didn’t know what my answer should be. To stall, I tilted my head to the side, throwing him a questioning look.