Seeing his grandmother, Li Weiyu, the villain, reported first: "Grandma, An An has found a girlfriend. My parents are going to beat me. I'm so miserable!"
His grandmother only scolded her eldest son: "Yu'er is already a young man in his twenties. How can you still hit him casually? If a girl he likes sees this, wouldn't she be scared away?"
Li Weiyu looked triumphantly at his parents.
When Tian Jing told her mother-in-law about her nephew's dating philosophy, Li's mother raised her fist and hit Li Weiyu:
"You brat, if you're so stingy, don't even think about getting married. No girl would want to marry such a petty man."
Being hit by his grandmother, Li Weiyu dared not run: "Grandma, my mom and dad said we earn our own money and spend it ourselves."
"If I don't save early, how will I live later?"
Li's mother increased her force: "So if you can't afford a wife, don't get married."
"Okay."
Li Weiyu agreed readily, which choked his grandmother. She hit him again: "You weren't just waiting for me to say this, were you?"
Li Weiyu resolutely denied it. Although he had considered having a daughter, he couldn't give up the happiness of being single. If An An and Hou Xiaojie really got together, he would be the one the whole family would rush to marry. Even his little cousin was actively looking for a partner:
"No, I really think it's hard for me to support a family with my abilities."
Seeing his grandmother raise her fist again, he quickly changed the subject: "Grandma, who is County Magistrate Li? My mom said he's from our clan."
Instantly, Li Weiyu's grandmother's lightly raised fist shot up higher, and then smashed heavily onto Li Weiyu's back:
"You selfish child, you don't even know about the big events happening in the family."
"Ah?" Li Weiyu was hurt by the blow. His grandmother's punch was really strong: "Grandma, what big event happened in the family? Sister Lili didn't inform us either!"
Li's mother's fists rained down: "Your Sister Lili is busy with the company and still cares about the family. You just go to work and get a decent salary, and you're still blaming your Sister Lili."
Li Weiyu felt like crying but had no tears. Why did he get worse the more he spoke?
If he had known, he would have gone with his cousin to be a third wheel.
Li Weili came out of the room holding her daughter: "Yu'er, you woke Xuanxuan up."
"Oh no!"
The rain of punches that had just stopped on Li Weiyu's body started again.
Grandma, didn't you say I've grown up? Didn't you say you wouldn't hit me anymore?
After beating her grandson, Li's mother felt relieved and turned to take her great-granddaughter and dote on her.
Li Weiyu was speechless.
Tian Jing called Zeng Jingrong: "I ran into Matvey at the top-floor restaurant of xx mall in Kyoto. He said he's here on business and that you know about it."
"Yes, I know."
"Who is his partner?"
"No one, he's looking for the Lan family, the family that found the holder of the Ginseng Vitality Pill prescription. His target is the Ginseng Vitality Pill. The Lan family won't cooperate with him."
Tian Jing frowned. How far had the Ginseng Vitality Pill fermented to attract even foreign espers?
"Has there been any feedback from Matvey's investigation?"
Zeng Jingrong shook his head: "It's still the same superficial information as before. We haven't found anything about the laboratory or the formula."
Tian Jing warned: "Tell the team members to be careful. Esper experiments are usually focused on the generation and upgrading of abilities. If any team member falls into their hands, they will never return."
Zeng Jingrong's tone was serious: "I understand. At the beginning of next month, Mr. Sun will come to treat Jingchu. Come and take a look."
"Okay!"
Hanging up the phone, Tian Jing fell into thought. She hadn't seen the laboratory in the post-apocalyptic base with her own eyes, but the purpose of the laboratory experiments was indeed the two she had told Zeng Jingrong.
She was not surprised by the existence of foreign laboratories, but they could not extend their reach into China.
Zeng Jingchu's matter had not yet been resolved, and now they were targeting the Ginseng Vitality Pill...
When it got dark, Chen An returned. He returned his aunt's bank card, handed a clothes bag to his little cousin, and then happily announced to his family: "I have a girlfriend."
Li's mother, distracted by Yu'er, had forgotten to ask about An An's girlfriend. Now that An An had announced it, she took the opportunity to inquire.
After finding out who her grandson's girlfriend was, she looked at her daughter-in-law in surprise: "Tiantian, if that girl works in the company, she should have known An An and Yu'er's identities long ago, right?"
Li Weili couldn't help but laugh. Her grandmother's thinking was too much like those suspicious old ladies from wealthy families:
"Grandma, if Yu'er and An An hadn't met Mom and them today, Hou Xiaojie would never have known about my relationship with Yu'er and An An. They never went to my office to look for me, nor did they tell outsiders that they lived on the top floor."
Li's mother was still uneasy: "An An, how did you and Hou Xiaojie meet?"
Chen An leaned against his maternal grandmother and said: "We were in the same department before. When she first joined, she was a general assistant in our department. I thought I'd pursue her after she officially became a member of the department, but then Sister Lili transferred her to be her assistant."
Li's mother asked her daughter and son-in-law: "You saw her. What do you think?"
Li Min shook her head: "Except for the first impression, I don't have any other impression."
Chen Suozhu looked at his younger son: "If he finds a wife himself, it's his own feeling, just like Xiao Fu. If the relationship doesn't last, no one can help."
Thinking of the trouble her eldest grandson had caused after the new year, Li's mother stopped worrying about it.
...
Chen Fu, who was being discussed by them, was entertaining an old classmate at that moment.
Tong Xinhua brought a few classmates to the restaurant for dinner, and Chen Fu had to entertain them. After drinking a few rounds, he returned to the kitchen to continue his work.
After eating and drinking, the classmates left one by one. The restaurant was about to close, so he went to the private room to urge Tong Xinhua to leave.
Seeing him come in, Tong Xinhua, slightly drunk, pointed to the chair beside her and called him to sit down: "Chen Fu, can you chat with me for a bit? Just like that day we met again, when I advised you."
Chen Fu silently sat opposite her.
Tong Xinhua looked at Chen Fu, her voice filled with sadness: "Chen Fu, I caused my father's downfall. I begged him to organize the expedition."
"That day we met on the street, I recognized you at first glance."
"Do you know why I lent you my homework to copy? Do you know why I pointed out the wrong problems you copied?"
"Because I like you. You refused to attend class reunions, and you refused to let me visit you in the Ku Mountain. But I missed you. For these more than four thousand days and nights since you dropped out of school, I have been constantly thinking of you."
"At that time, I was a minor and could not make my own decisions. My father was transferred, so my whole family left Ling County."
"When we met again, I saw your unhappiness, I saw your dejection, and my heart ached. I wanted to replace her, but I knew it was immoral. I tried hard to control myself, but feelings are not something you can control if you want to."
"I arranged a class reunion, and you didn't want to attend. I wanted to hold the class reunion in Ku Mountain, but you refused again."
"I actually only had one small wish: to see you and see if your mood had recovered."
"So I pestered my father to organize an expedition to Ku Mountain for inspection. Just this small request led to trouble."
"Why was the person inquiring about the nursery among the expedition members, my father had no idea. All the blame was put on him, leaving him speechless."
"Now your maternal uncle has become the county magistrate. I hate it! I hate myself, and I hate you!"
Tong Xinhua cried like pear blossoms in the rain, stood up, and rushed towards Chen Fu, raising her small fists to hit him:
"It's all your fault, it's all your fault. If I hadn't met you again, the feelings I suppressed for more than ten years wouldn't have resurfaced."
Chen Fu remained silent, letting her hit him.
Tong Xinhua cupped his face and turned it towards herself: "Look at me, and ask your conscience, does your conscience ache after knowing that your maternal uncle became the county magistrate?"
Looking at Tong Xinhua, who was crying like pear blossoms in the rain, Chen Fu's eyes flickered, but he still remained silent.
"You?" Tong Xinhua shook his head: "Speak!"
Chen Fu remained silent.
Tong Xinhua lowered her head: "I'll make you speak."
Saying this, she pressed her lips onto Chen Fu's thick lips.
Chen Fu froze for a moment, then reached out and pulled her into his arms forcefully, turning from passive to active.