41: Chapter 41 The Farewell Party at the Host Family: Michael: I think my fiancée wants to eat him.

"Yu Bai, are you done with your call? I want to sing you a song I just learned before dinner."

Chloe Thompson's voice came from the doorway, carrying a hint of deliberately concealed excitement and an imperceptible tremor.

Yu Bai turned around, and his eyes lit up slightly.

Chloe had clearly dressed up carefully today—wearing a black cropped sequined fishtail top, paired with denim hot pants that revealed her straight, slender legs.

The rebellion of rock and the tension of sexiness blended wonderfully on her; her long golden hair hung loosely over her shoulders, and her lake-blue eyes were exceptionally bright in the fading daylight.

Anyone could see that as Yu Bai had officially been promoted to the first team and made his debut in the Premier League, his life in this warm host family had already entered the countdown.

"Sure."

Yu Bai replied, put away his phone, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

Chloe immediately stepped forward, naturally reached out to grab Yu Bai's wrist, and led him into the house.

"Hurry up, I've already had Liam tune the instruments!"

This scene fell precisely into the eyes of Liam Scott, who was holding a guitar with a bitter and deep-seated look on his face.

"!!!"

Liam felt like his back molars were about to shatter.

Doesn't he have legs of his own?! Does he really need you to hold his hand?!

And Yu Bai! You're a man, damn it! A seventeen-year-old grown man! Being led around like that by a girl, can't you resist just a little, just a little, just a little bit?!

Where is your masculinity?! Where is your Premier League star image?!

He was screaming internally, but he still had to force himself to maintain the indifference of "I'm just a heartless accompaniment machine."

"Liam, get ready," Chloe said, pressing Yu Bai into the most comfortable armchair in the living room, then turned to order her partner, her tone brooking no argument, "I'm going to sing for Yu Bai."

Liam took a deep breath. The frustration in his chest, mixed with thick jealousy and grievance, made him uncharacteristically tough for once, and he stiffened his neck: "I refuse."

He regretted it as soon as he said it, but words once spoken are like spilled water.

Chloe's face changed instantly, and those beautiful eyes narrowed with the "Queen's disdain": "Then get out of my house right now."

She enunciated every word, mercilessly, "If I didn't need you to accompany me today, do you think you'd have the qualifications to sit here and eat with my big star?"

Liam: "..."

That hurts, man. But… what she said was the truth.

The band was supposed to have a small gig at a bar today, but as soon as Chloe heard that the family was throwing a celebration party for Yu Bai, she canceled it without a second thought. It was he who had been thick-skinned and made every excuse to come along.

He called it "the band can't break up," but in reality, he was just afraid that his family's fresh little cabbage would be gobbled up by this suddenly popular "Premier League wolf pup," Yu Bai.

Liam: The clown is me.jpg

"Fine… fine."

Liam wilted, resigned himself to his fate, picked up the guitar, and tuned the strings.

Yu Bai leaned back in the sofa, watching the daily "clash" between this pair of funny partners, and the smile at the corners of his mouth deepened.

This kind of lively, slightly childish bickering actually diluted some of the sadness of parting, making him feel warm.

Everyone else was busy with tonight's "farewell dinner," each with their own thoughts.

Grandma Margaret sat on the rocking chair by the window, her reading glasses perched on her nose, her knitting needles flying as she knitted a dark blue wool hat. The ball of yarn rolled back and forth at her feet.

"This is a gift, but who it's for is a secret for now."

She always said that, but the cunning smile at the corners of her mouth betrayed her—over the past few days, she had frequently used "measuring the size" as an excuse to hold a tape measure to Yu Bai's head, muttering seriously: "Oh, my old friend's grandson, his head seems about the same size as yours..."

The whole family smiled tacitly, and no one went to expose this lovely old lady's "secret."

Uncle David was busy in front of the barbecue grill in the yard, sweating profusely as he flipped the sizzling lamb chops and sausages with skilled hands.

He was the best at barbecuing in the whole family, and he grilled the hardest.

Recently, there were more and more rumors about Yu Bai moving out. David knew clearly that this "treasure boy" who had fallen from the sky and brought him countless surprises and topics of conversation, it was only a matter of time before he left this home.

There was nothing much he could do; he just wanted to grill more of his favorite meat for Yu Bai before he left, so that no matter where this child went in the future, he could remember that in this home in Enfield, there was an uncle whose grilled meat was especially delicious.

Mrs. Susan was in the kitchen, carefully processing ingredients while looking at a recipe on her tablet, trying to replicate a dish of "stir-fried pork."

To learn how to cook Chinese food, she secretly ran to a Chinese restaurant to "learn the ropes" and even joined a local Chinese housewife exchange group.

Ever since Yu Bai was promoted to the first team, she had started suffering from insomnia, often dreaming at night that Yu Bai was packing his bags and smiling as he said goodbye to them.

The night she watched Yu Bai's Premier League debut, she stared at the white figure on the TV, and tears fell without warning. She turned her head and asked David: "Yu Bai… is he about to leave our home?"

Even now, whenever she thought about this boy who always gave her a clean smile whenever they made eye contact was about to move out, she couldn't help but feel her eyes getting hot.

She treated Yu Bai as a family member from the bottom of her heart, and she was full of reluctance to let him go.

She hoped Yu Bai would fly higher and further, but she also selfishly hoped he wouldn't leave this home, which had grown accustomed to his presence, so soon.

Emily Clark—Michael's fiancée who worked in investment banking—had clearly undergone a "full-firepower" level of dressing up today.

A deep V-neck haute couture suit with a perfect cut highlighted her curves, and her makeup was exquisite enough to walk a red carpet.

Even Michael Thompson couldn't help but mutter to himself: I don't think you dressed this formally on the day I proposed to you, did you?

After finishing the salad, she walked over naturally, sat down on the wide armrest of Yu Bai's sofa, and leaned slightly towards him, carrying the faint scent of high-end perfume.

"Yu Bai," Emily smiled like a flower, her voice soft and sweet, "let's exchange contact information. Believe me, you'll be using me soon. Don't forget, I work in investment banking, and what I'm best at is helping people manage assets and plan wealth."

She blinked, full of implication.

Yu Bai smiled. He didn't feel disgusted by this obvious social signal of "investing in the future," but instead found her straightforwardness a bit cute.

He took out his phone, added her readily, and said half-jokingly: "By the time I really earn enough money to need professional financial management, Miss Clark should already be a very powerful financial expert in the industry. It would be just right to ask for your help then. That's a great proposal."

Upon hearing this, Emily laughed until she shook, and she leaned towards Yu Bai as if she had no bones, almost pressing against his ear, and whispered, her warm breath brushing against Yu Bai's earlobe:

"Tell big sister, in your China, are all handsome boys as sweet-mouthed and good at talking as you?"

Yu Bai felt his ears heating up uncontrollably. He tilted his head slightly, keeping a decent smile on his face, and didn't take the bait of this ambiguous remark.

Michael Thompson took all of this in, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

The last time he saw Emily display this level of "allure" and initiative was probably when they first slept together.

She was quite a handful that night.