When Xie Li appeared in her life, he first appeared as an adult, and almost at first glance, he was removed from her aesthetic.

Even later, when her aesthetics changed a bit, Xie Li had always existed in her life as a subordinate of her father and as her friend. Perhaps because they were too familiar with each other, they lacked the attraction between men and women.

So she seemed to have never had any opinion of Xie Li. Even when she guessed that he had feelings for her, she mostly only speculated about the pros and cons of the matter.

Her being with Xie Li was roughly equivalent to childhood sweethearts who had known each other for more than a decade getting together. Because they were too familiar with each other, they lacked the excitement needed in a romantic relationship.

However, one difference in being with Xie Li was that when they interacted before, he interacted with her in a working state. Now, there was more of a private state, so there was also a sense of unfamiliarity.

All in all, it wasn’t that difficult to interact as a couple, and there was even an indescribable tacit understanding most of the time, which Tang Man liked.

Xie Li wasn’t as clingy as Si Jiahe or as controlling as Du Henian. He showed great tolerance, and it would be very relaxing to date someone like him.

She liked this sense of ease.

At least for Tang Man now, she didn’t resist getting engaged or even married to Xie Li that much. She could even tolerate the series of troubles that came with getting engaged to Xie Li, partly for the sake of interests and partly because of who Xie Li was. If she had to choose someone to marry in the future, Tang Man felt that Xie Li was very suitable.

In the end, Tang Man didn’t go to Du Henian’s apartment to retrieve the belongings she had left there. Instead, she had Du Henian mail them over.

Of course, Du Henian never responded, and the luggage left in his apartment seemed to be forgotten. Du Henian didn’t bring it up again, fearing that Tang Man’s next sentence would be to throw it all away.

Tang Man didn’t bring it up either, and neither did Xie Li. They tacitly forgot about this matter without any prior agreement.

Xie Li generally wouldn’t actively mention people like Si Jiahe and Du Henian in front of Tang Man. These ex-boyfriends held a different position in Xie Li’s heart.

These were the only two who could be with Tang Man for two to three years. To be able to stay with Tang Man, who was quick to lose interest, for so long, there must be something different about them. He was wary and jealous of it.

However, that’s a story for later. On this night, just as Tang Man was about to fall asleep, she received a call from Bei Ling.

The other end was silent for a long time. At first, Tang Man thought the person had dialed the wrong number, so she couldn’t help but glance at the screen and found that the call hadn’t been hung up.

She was hesitating, not knowing the reason when a voice finally came from the other end of the phone, calling out, “Senior.”

Very abruptly, an invitation was made, asking if she had time this week to go out for a meal together.

Tang Man hesitated. If it were before, she might have agreed, but now that she had decided to get engaged to Xie Li and had promised him to maintain a one-on-one relationship, Bei Ling’s invitation became a trouble.

She fell silent for a few seconds.

Bei Ling seemed to have sensed something and also became a bit quiet. Then, just as Tang Man was about to refuse, he said with a laugh, “I heard that Senior is engaged?”

Tang Man didn’t respond.

The breathing on the other end paused for a moment before becoming somewhat calm again. “Is it true?”

Tang Man grunted in a low voice.

“Yes, I’m engaged.”

Bei Ling’s voice instantly became strained. He stared at the night in silence for a long while, feeling as if he was in a very long tunnel, unable to see where he came from or where he was going. He asked with difficulty, “Can I ask who that man is?”

“I’m just a bit surprised that even Senior has a day when she wants to get married.” And it was so sudden, so unexpected.

Hearing the voice on the other end, Tang Man pursed the corner of her lips and lowered her eyes. “There’s nothing to be surprised about. When you meet the right person, wanting to get married is the most normal thing.”

“The person is someone you know, it’s Xie Li. When we get engaged, you can come and have a drink if you have time,” Tang Man said.

The other end fell silent, only grunting after a long time, barely audible, saying, “So it’s Assistant Xie.”

He thought of Xie Li and furrowed his brows, quickly relaxing them. The initial feeling of oppression upon hearing the news of Tang Man’s engagement dissipated quite a bit.

He didn’t believe Tang Man’s words about meeting the right person.

Over the past ten years, he hadn’t seen any sparks between the two. For Tang Man, liking someone was aimless, with a casual and love-at-first-sight wonder. If there was no progress in the relationship within a month, Tang Man wouldn’t give any unusual attention to that person in the future.

Tang Man didn’t hear clearly. She was about to speak when a somewhat disappointed voice came from the other end, “It seems the meal Senior promised me before won’t happen now.”

Tang Man had her phone on speaker. She turned on the bedside lamp, got out of bed, turned on the humidifier, thought for a moment, and still said, “I’ll still treat you to the promised meal. How about next week? I happen to have time and need to go to the school. We can have a meal together when I have time.”

Promises made should be kept. Tang Man hesitated for a moment, thinking that she needed to go to the school next week to handle a document, so she did have time. It would be more reasonable to have the meal near the school, not too intimate.

Bei Ling grunted, his voice subtly becoming more cheerful, seemingly a bit happier, until he set a rough time with her before hanging up the phone.

Because of this call, Tang Man had a rare case of insomnia that night. Her dreams were bizarre and illogical. When she woke up, she could only feel an indescribable sense of oppression. She couldn’t remember the specifics of the dream, so she could only attribute it to pre-engagement syndrome.

For a casual woman, getting engaged was undoubtedly a shackle in life, and it was inevitable to have some fear in her heart.

Although she didn’t feel much in her daily life, sometimes the fear in her heart might not even be felt by herself.

This week also passed very quickly, at least much faster than she had imagined.

On the weekend of this week, Tang Man unusually got up very early and rarely wore a relatively casual and ladylike outfit, a green knee-length dress, with long hair. Although she still looked a bit cold, she was much more gentle. The older generation always preferred women who were a bit more gentle.

Xie Li came over after nine o’clock, dressed quite casually, looking very homely. His hair was neatly combed on his forehead, making him look much more obedient. He wore a pair of black-framed glasses, looking much younger. In the past few days, when going out with Tang Man, he basically had this look.

This way, standing together with Tang Man, they looked like they were in the same age group.

She had previously asked Xie Li if they should buy some things when visiting for the first time. After all, for the first visit, out of etiquette, they should bring some gifts. However, in this regard, Old Tang and Madam Yang couldn’t give her any experience at all. These two didn’t have the step of meeting each other’s parents back then, but directly skipped it and got married because of pregnancy.

However, Xie Li didn’t let her worry too much and took care of all the gifts by himself, only informing her so that she had an idea and wouldn’t be clueless.

The car drove into a residential area, a bit old. There were many elderly people in the community, and there were also some children gathered downstairs. The atmosphere of life was strong, and it was suitable for retirement.

Xie Li parked the car downstairs, got out, opened the trunk, and took out the gifts inside. Tang Man got out and lent a hand. As soon as she stood up and walked a few steps, she saw a few aunties walking over from a distance, followed by playful children. Seeing them, their steps stopped, and their gazes swept over Tang Man a few times before looking at Xie Li behind her.

Curious smiles appeared on their faces as they asked, “Xie Li, are you bringing your girlfriend home to see your parents?”

Hearing this, Tang Man’s gaze lightly passed over the few aunties, her expression unchanged. She directly took a small step back, pushing Xie Li forward, hiding half of her body behind him.

Before coming, she had already made basic mental preparations. In old residential areas, the surrounding neighbors were usually acquainted. Xie Li was the kind of good kid in the eyes of aunties within a hundred miles. Once he appeared, he was bound to be the focus of attention, and his love life was enough to be the subject of enthusiastic concern from various relatives.

She had gone back to her maternal grandmother’s home a few times before, and almost every time, she would be pulled by the sleeve by the aunties in the alley and talked to for a few words. They would look at her kindly, and the next moment, they would eagerly introduce her to a boyfriend.

However, no matter how many times she experienced this, she couldn’t get used to it.

Fortunately, her maternal grandmother was a relatively open-minded woman. She never said anything to her, even knowing about her rich love life. She would only say, “Just don’t follow in your mother’s footsteps.” She wouldn’t say more. Otherwise, their family wouldn’t be able to raise such an oddball like Madam Yang.

After all, her maternal grandmother was the kind of formidable woman who, even if her daughter Madam Yang cheated, had an affair, or had a mistress behind Old Tang’s back, would still pretend to scold Madam Yang a few words in front of others, but privately, she would teach Yang Qing with the aura of a rolling pin, “Since you did this, how could you let the man find out?”

This was also the backbone for Madam Yang to resolutely ask for a divorce when Old Tang cheated back then.