A pair of future in-laws finalized the purchasing agency business in a few words.
Li Zhengguo and Yu Jinghai exchanged a smile and quietly began unloading the goods.
Xiao Wang and Xiao Xia arrived in their car and helped with the unloading.
What seemed like a small amount in the car filled almost the entire courtyard once unloaded.
Tian Jing pointed to the sacks and boxes one by one, explaining what was inside and roughly how many pieces or how many catties there were.
This was so Shen Jianrong could have a clear picture of how to divide everything.
"Wait, I'll get paper and pen."
Shen Jianrong fetched paper and a pen from beside the telephone on the living room coffee table, making notes and calculations for the division.
The nanny from the kitchen came out with a basket because Xiao Xia had said the old leader wanted these fresh vegetables.
The vegetables were indeed fresh, as if just picked from the vine.
Shen Jianrong portioned out enough of each vegetable for two servings to ensure there would be plenty.
After calculating, she asked Xiao Wang and Xiao Xia to load the portion for the old man into the car.
Seeing the car Xiao Xia had driven, Shen Jianrong understood why she and her husband hadn't noticed her father's arrival.
It was an ordinary jeep driven by a military officer; how could they have paid attention?
With her father's childish personality and a nod to the sentry at the gate, he could easily slip in unnoticed.
After storing their own portion in the pantry by the kitchen, Shen Jianrong smiled sheepishly at Tian Jing, who was helping her.
"In our family, when we divide things, we have to be fair, or there's trouble."
"Especially my elder sister-in-law, she always thinks we're ganging up on her."
"Ah, the endless troubles. You'll understand when you meet her. They'll definitely be here tomorrow."
"Come, I'll take you to the guest rooms."
Li Zhengguo and Li Weibao carried their suitcases, following Shen Jianrong and Tian Jing up to the third floor.
There were four guest rooms on the third floor in total.
Shen Jianrong settled Li Zhengguo and his wife into the larger guest room with a private bathroom.
Li Weibao was in the smaller guest room next to it.
The other two guest rooms were moderately sized and shared a bathroom in the corner of the small living area with this smaller room.
After settling them in, Shen Jianrong told them to rest and that they would be called down for dinner.
Tian Jing nodded, "Sister Shen, you go ahead. When it's time for dinner, have Ziyu call Xiao Bo, and we'll come down."
"Okay." Shen Jianrong hurried downstairs, needing to check on the progress of the dishes being prepared in the kitchen.
Closing the door, Tian Jing threw herself onto the soft mattress.
"I'm really a bit tired."
"Then why don't you take a nap?" Li Zhengguo was unpacking and arranging things from the suitcase.
"No, I'll meditate for a while."
With that, Tian Jing closed her eyes and sat in meditation.
Li Zhengguo's movements became lighter.
...
On the first floor, after checking the dishes in the kitchen, Shen Jianrong returned to her father's side and sat down. "What do you plan to ask Tian Jing to do?"
Old Master Shen turned, "That's classified. Don't ask."
"Go tell Xiao Xia to send my things back and put them away, then switch back to my car and drive it over."
"I'm staying tonight, and your elder brother and the others will all be here tomorrow."
Shen Jianrong acknowledged and went out.
Old Master Shen said to his granddaughter sitting beside him, "Ziyu, you must treat your future parents-in-law well."
"They are truly my saviors. Without them, I wouldn't have made it back."
"Even if your mother and your two uncles and aunts had returned, they would never have reached their current status."
"There wouldn't be you, let alone the comfortable life and enviable position you have now."
"I can't say this to your two uncles, and you know what your two aunts are like."
"Fortunately, you are about to marry into the Li family. Fulfill my wish to repay this life-saving debt."
"I will," Yu Ziyu nodded. "Uncle Li and Aunt Tian are people who don't care about fame or fortune. They live a practical life and want practical things."
"What they want is the happiness of their four children."
"I've promised to help Li Weihao and Li Weixin find girlfriends."
"Hmm," Old Master Shen nodded. "Pick good girls for them. They are all children who dedicate themselves to the team."
"Oh, and that Li Weili, she's caught the eye of that arrogant young man from the Gao family. See if you should warn him."
"Gao Mingxiu?" Yu Ziyu was surprised. "Didn't he say all women are like dirt in his eyes?"
"Who knows what he's thinking?" Old Master Shen told his granddaughter what he knew.
It turned out that Gao Mingxiu had always excelled in his studies.
However, due to certain reasons, he didn't get into Peking University for his college entrance exams and ended up at Jiao Tong University.
Gao Mingxiu, with his proud and arrogant nature, felt it didn't matter where he studied; what mattered was the person studying.
At Jiao Tong University, Gao Mingxiu's academic performance was indeed outstanding, and he was quickly recommended for postgraduate studies.
Gao Mingxiu proudly told the university staff that he didn't need a recommendation; he would take the postgraduate entrance exam.
Indeed, in the first semester of his senior year, he successfully passed the master's entrance exam for that year.
After two years of master's study, Gao Mingxiu took the doctoral exam and also passed.
While it sounds easy, Gao Mingxiu also needed to self-study some courses.
Naturally, the library was a place he frequented.
Because of his handsome appearance, many girls would confess their feelings to him.
Gao Mingxiu found it annoying and looked down on these superficial girls.
Over time, his temper became very aloof.
Li Weili went to the library to find research materials and casually chose a quiet spot, but it happened to be opposite Gao Mingxiu.
He thought it was another girl trying to strike up a conversation.
To his surprise, Li Weili just quietly flipped through her book, not even looking at him until she left.
Later, when Li Weili went to the library again, she still chose the spot opposite Gao Mingxiu.
Li Weili didn't know that the spot opposite Gao Mingxiu was a minefield, and most girls didn't dare to sit there.
Because once ordinary girls sat there, after seeing his appearance, they would lose their focus on studying and just stare at him. He would then use all sorts of elegant yet hurtful words to taunt them until they left with their faces covered.
Li Weili was simply looking for a quiet place with fewer people, guided by intuition.
As time passed, Gao Mingxiu realized that Li Weili wasn't playing hard to get; she genuinely didn't notice him.
Instead, he found Li Weili interesting and started talking to her.
Li Weili found him annoying and told him to shut up.
Seeing that Li Weili didn't blush or act flustered like other girls after seeing his face, Gao Mingxiu's interest grew even stronger.
Slowly, starting with conversations in the library, he began to target Li Weili's classes and the interest groups she formed.
Li Weili was attracted to his knowledge, but she purely regarded him as a senior schoolmate.
"...This kid actually went and confessed, and after failing to win her over, he got his parents to fully support him."
"Now, I hear he's learning culinary arts and various home economics classes."
"It's all because Li Weili looks down on him, saying she wants a husband who can do housework and is family-oriented."
"His parents couldn't refuse him, and his grandfather and uncles couldn't either, so they just let him do as he pleased."
"What's most outrageous, do you know? Li Weili said she wanted to find a live-in son-in-law. Not only did he sell himself without batting an eye, but he also sold his parents."
"He told Li Weili that his parents said they wanted to retire and find a scenic place to live, and he would move in with his parents into the Li family."
"Your Grand Uncle Gao was so angry he almost had a stroke. I heard your Third Uncle's wife intends to make a move against Li Weili, wanting to drive her out of Kyoto."
Yu Ziyu suddenly stood up, "I'll go visit Second Uncle Gao's family."
"It's useless," Old Master Shen shook his head. "Your Second Uncle and his wife also support your Third Uncle's wife's intention to move against Li Weili."
"You should go talk to Mingxiu directly."
Yu Ziyu sat back down, "Grandpa, you don't understand young people today, and you certainly don't understand this kind of arrogant young man."
"When the pride they've built from being pursued by the opposite sex is ignored by another person who doesn't play by the usual rules, they feel that this person is trampling on their pride and self-esteem."
"To reclaim their pride and self-esteem, they must win over this person, or they would rather die."