After breakfast, the Li family members all returned to their rooms to wash and dress up. It was their first time visiting their in-laws, so they had to be presentable.
They put on new clothes, opting for their cloth shoes instead of high heels and leather shoes.
They styled their hair into neat, high buns, feeling much more comfortable and at ease than their previous appearance.
They loaded the prepared fruit gift boxes, milk powder gift boxes, health product gift boxes, and expensive cigarettes, alcohol, and tea into the cars.
Three cars drove out of the villa area.
Of course, the Li family only had two cars; the third one was the seven-seater car they had gifted to Ziyu.
Li Weibao and Yu Ziyu drove this car ahead to the Yu family's home.
At the Yu family's residence, a red carpet was laid out five meters from the entrance, with small archways and vines on either side.
The roses on the vines had been removed by Shen Jianrong, leaving only vibrant three-colored roses.
As Yu Ziyu got out of the car, she found the grand display set up by her mother amusing. "Mom, Dad, Grandpa, we're back."
Shen Jianrong hurried out of the living room, pushed her daughter aside as she ran into her arms, and pulled her son-in-law in to ask about her daughter.
For instance: Was Ziyu obedient? Did she throw any tantrums?
Li Weibao smiled and replied, "My family and I are very satisfied with Ziyu."
Shen Jianrong was relieved. "What about your grandmother and your parents?"
"They're behind us, arriving shortly."
As soon as her son-in-law finished speaking, Shen Jianrong saw the two cars slowly approaching.
She pushed her son-in-law back again and called out to her husband, "Jinghai, come out to welcome our guests."
Yu Ziyu held her husband's hand and explained, "My mom is just like this."
"I know," Li Weibao didn't feel neglected. "Mom is treating us as family, she's very casual."
"She's eager to welcome my family; she considers Grandma and Uncle as honored guests."
Yu Ziyu's eyes crinkled as she smiled, "No wonder Mom and Dad like you so much, you understand their temperaments."
Li Weibao lowered his head and whispered, "I understand your temperament even better."
Yu Ziyu's face flushed. "Be serious with me."
Li Weibao looked innocent. "I am being serious, what are you thinking?"
"You're terrible~" Yu Ziyu playfully glared at her husband.
"Heh heh," Li Weibao chuckled, raising his hand to pat her head. "Alright, alright, let's be serious."
Outside the courtyard gate, Mother Li was warmly welcomed out of the car by Shen Jianrong.
Yu Jinghai also enthusiastically greeted Li Liguo and Chen Suozhu.
Although the two simple country men were a bit awkward with the grand setup, after days of "intensive broadening of horizons" training, they could at least put on a calm facade.
Shen Jianrong led Mother Li to the entrance and then called out to her daughter and son-in-law, "Come and escort your grandmother inside."
She was truly a handful; she still needed to teach her the etiquette of managing a household.
Yu Ziyu and Li Weibao escorted Mother Li inside. Shen Jianrong then turned to welcome Ouyang Meihua and Li Min.
Li Min waved her hand. "In-law, please don't be so enthusiastic, it makes my skin crawl. I'll help my sister-in-law carry things."
Shen Jianrong was aware of Li Min's personality; she was a woman who didn't bother with polite pretense.
She led Ouyang Meihua into the courtyard gate and told her daughter to entertain them. Then, turning back, she saw Tian Jing and Li Min carrying several gift boxes from the trunk.
She was surprised. "Why did you buy so many things?"
Tian Jing pointed to the cigarettes and alcohol. "These are Ziyu and Xiaobo's return gifts. These fruits and milk powder are the gifts my mother-in-law asked us to buy for our first visit."
Since they couldn't bring local specialties, they had to buy some showy items.
However, the fruits and milk powder were acceptable and practical. The health products were purely for appearance.
"These two children, they didn't even bring their return gifts themselves," Shen Jianrong complained about her daughter and son-in-law.
Tian Jing explained to her son and daughter-in-law, "The two children didn't understand. They thought since they were coming together, they'd put it all in one place."
"No! I have to teach Ziyu properly." Before this, Shen Jianrong thought her daughter was quite good.
After getting married, her shortcomings were immediately exposed. Her daughter didn't understand many etiquettes and rules.
Xiaobo is a man, he doesn't need to understand these things, but a woman must learn these household rules.
"No rush," Tian Jing said indifferently. "We can teach her as we go. It's hard to teach through theory alone."
Shen Jianrong helped carry two gift boxes and, upon hearing Tian Jing's words, couldn't help but chide, "You're spoiling her again."
"Heh heh," Tian Jing chuckled. "Fine, I won't spoil her, you can teach her yourself then."
Shen Jianrong carried the gift boxes into the living room and truly lectured her daughter.
Yu Ziyu quickly moved away from her husband and went to learn from her mother.
After the gift boxes were carried in, Tian Jing pointed to the carpet and the archway vines and asked, "You brought all of these back?"
"Yes," Shen Jianrong nodded. "When we left the canteen the day before yesterday, someone asked if we wanted these things."
"I thought, since they were going to be discarded anyway, it would be better to reuse them, so I took some back. The rest, I gave to others to play with."
"I heard they replanted these archway vines in their yard, hoping they would grow and become a bonsai. "
"I told you this type of vine is suitable for bonsai, didn't I? Hahaha."
"That's good," Tian Jing nodded. "After you're done showing off, after lunch, I'll help you plant them in the yard."
"That's great." Shen Jianrong lowered her voice and said, "Plant them in intertwined five rings for me, and I'll be able to brag to the heavens."
Tian Jing shook her head. "Intertwined is not possible, but creating a sense of visual depth by placing them side-by-side is possible."
Shen Jianrong nodded. "The effect of visual depth will do."
The two mothers-in-law entered the living room as they chatted.
In the living room, Mother Li was engaged in conversation with Old Master Shen.
Yu Jinghai was alone with Li Liguo, Chen Suozhu, and Li Zhengguo.
Li Weibao accompanied his aunt and uncle.
Yu Ziyu served tea and water to everyone.
Seeing the two mothers enter, Li Weibao asked his aunt and uncle to be entertained by the mothers and went to help his wife.
Shen Jianrong was very pleased; her son-in-law was more sensible and perceptive than her daughter.
After sitting for a while, Li Zhengguo asked if the kitchen needed any help.
Yuan Jiyong was a man, so it wouldn't be appropriate for women to help in the kitchen. It was more suitable for men.
Yu Jinghai wasn't capable of kitchen tasks and didn't know if help was needed.
Li Zhengguo went directly to the kitchen to see.
Yuan Jiyong was about to start working, but this was a guest today.
Li Zhengguo waved his hand. "Don't worry about the details, I'll wash and cut vegetables."
As he spoke, he referred to the menu posted on the wall and took out the required ingredients one by one to wash and prepare them.
Li Liguo and Chen Suozhu also couldn't sit still and went to help in the kitchen.
Shen Jianrong pointed at her husband. "I told you, and you didn't believe me, but now you see?"
"Never mind going into the kitchen, you don't even know how to scrub a pot or wash dishes. I really don't know how you took care of my father all those years."
"Jianrong!" Old Master Shen gently admonished his youngest daughter. "Men also need to be taught by women. Who is to blame if you didn't teach him?"
"You just keep protecting your son-in-law." Shen Jianrong feigned anger, then asked Li Weibao, "Xiaobo, can you cook?"
Li Weibao glanced at his father-in-law. Should he tell the truth?
If he didn't tell the truth, and it was discovered later, his mother-in-law wouldn't let him off:
"Mom, my elder brother and I can both cook, we're just not very good at it."
Yu Ziyu lowered her head and snickered.
Her husband's cooking skills were actually quite good, even better than hers.
"Cough, cough, cough." Yu Jinghai coughed a few times and asked, "Didn't you join the army at fourteen?"
The father-in-law was not easy to fool, what to do?
Li Weibao looked at his wife.
Yu Ziyu stepped forward to protect her husband. "Xiaobo and my elder brother started helping with the fire from a young age. They learned just by watching."
"Dad, you're a chauvinist. Cooking would be beneath your dignity."
"Mom is right. You spent a few years in the countryside, you couldn't possibly not know how to scrub pots and wash dishes."
"I won't expose you, and you dare to bully my husband? Unforgivable."
The Li family members pressed their lips together, holding back their laughter.
The granddaughter stood up to defend her grandson-in-law, and Old Master Shen couldn't continue protecting his younger son-in-law.
Yu Jinghai pointed at his daughter. "Daughters always favor their husbands. Just two days ago, you were still Dad's sweet little cotton-padded jacket, and now you've changed."
"Hmph!" Yu Ziyu snorted. "Before, you weren't bullying Xiaobo either."
"Fine, Dad can't argue with you." Yu Jinghai conceded. "I'll go to the kitchen now to learn. I hope I can still learn."