The two elders still hoped to have grandchildren. These thoughts were almost laid bare. In the discussion, the two elders inevitably talked about the children of Xie Li’s few cousins and expressed their fondness.

This was almost completely opposite to some of Tang Man’s intentions. She currently had no plans for childbearing. Even getting engaged was like forcing a duck onto a perch, let alone something like childbearing. For a woman in her early twenties, this was a completely unconsidered area.

Xie Li didn’t notice the thoughts hidden in Tang Man’s sigh, but smiled and grunted, saying in a low voice, “They do love me very much.”

So when he mentioned that he had fallen in love with someone, had plans to get engaged, and secretly brought up that future children might not take the Xie surname, they fell silent for a night but still expressed support for his decision. It was so difficult to accept that even his father’s face showed a sense of decline because of his decision.

For their generation, the man marrying into the woman’s family was still something unspeakable.

Especially for his father, who cared about face, this would almost become gossip among neighbors and acquaintances for decades to come, a very embarrassing matter. The only son was going to marry into the woman’s family. Who knows what people outside would say about their family behind their backs?

Tang Man’s gaze fell on the book in her hand, an elementary school Chinese textbook. She couldn’t imagine that such a book would be placed on the bookshelf in Xie Li’s room. It should also be the handiwork of Xie Li’s parents.

The handwriting in the book was still a bit immature but earnest. The characters were a bit loose but quite neat. One could already see the kind of strokes hidden within.

Tang Man laughed, suddenly finding it interesting. She flipped a few more pages and found that although there were notes on every page, the book was very clean. There were no doodles or other traces on any of the pages. If it weren’t for the yellowing edges of the pages, the book would look quite new.

Perhaps most people’s temperaments have already set the trajectory for their future development since childhood. No matter how much they try to break free, they can’t escape a specific circle. Some omens of future personalities can be seen from some secret corners.

Xie Li became increasingly embarrassed as he watched. Although he had prepared himself for these immature pasts to be exposed to Tang Man, he still felt a bit uncomfortable, or rather, there were many complex emotions like shyness and unease.

With an unchanged expression, he pulled the book out of Tang Man’s hand and naturally put it back on the bookshelf. Meeting Tang Man’s gaze, he lightly coughed and told her to find a seat first, then asked what she wanted to drink. He went out to bring in two cups of fruit drinks.

Tang Man said, “A cup of warm water is fine. I can’t drink cold drinks recently.”

Xie Li paused for a moment, realizing something. He raised his hand to touch his earlobe, nodded, and grunted softly to indicate that he understood.

He left the room. Tang Man stood by the window, leaning on the windowsill. She could see people coming and going downstairs and some small shops across the street. After watching for a while, she turned around, leaned against the windowsill, and examined Xie Li’s room, trying to find some of Xie Li’s secrets from these daily corners.

She sat in front of the desk. Since the host was not present, she didn’t touch anything but scanned the surroundings. Her gaze settled on a photo placed on the desk.

Judging from the youthfulness of the face in the photo, it should have been taken in high school.

The boy in the photo was wearing a school uniform, standing under a tree. His hair was neither long nor short, just revealing his forehead. However, his gaze towards the camera was very calm. She even saw him holding a book in his hand.

What a tender Xie Li.

Tang Man couldn’t help but pick up the photo frame and walk to the windowsill, examining the person in the frame under the sunlight from outside.

This was Xie Li in high school.

She found it hard to imagine Xie Li’s high school life. The boy in the photo looked like a well-behaved child, a good student, the kind who only read the books of sages and worthies.

But he should have also been a popular figure. Good-looking people are always more popular no matter where they are. In terms of appearance, Xie Li in high school might have been a well-known student in the school.

Tang Man’s mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts. In the end, she simply sat on the windowsill.

Looking outside, she could still feel the heat when she reached out. It was the temperature that summer should have. This summer came quite quickly. It seemed that the plum rain season was also approaching. In their area, summers were always rainy, humid, and sultry, with many insects, making people irritable and impatient.

The door was quickly pushed open from the outside. Xie Li walked in carrying two cups of boiled water and handed one to Tang Man. He glanced at Tang Man’s face, hesitated for a moment, and still asked in a low voice, “Does your stomach hurt?”

He hadn’t noticed the photo frame that Tang Man had placed beside her.

Tang Man took the boiled water. Hearing this, she looked at Xie Li for a while, couldn’t help but smile, tilted her head, and asked with a smile, “Xie Li, a girl not being able to drink cold drinks doesn’t necessarily mean she’s on her period. It could also mean that her period is about to come.”

“You thought I said I couldn’t drink cold drinks because I was on my period?”

Xie Li’s ears turned red instantly. Since he was a student, he had only focused on reading the books of sages and worthies and had little contact with females. Perhaps the most contact he had was with those partners at business events, but even then, there was a certain social distance in their interactions. It could be said that he severely lacked knowledge in certain aspects of females.

“Hmm.” However, he still nodded and brought up this topic with Tang Man. “In college, a roommate’s girlfriend seemed to feel very uncomfortable during her period. Once, she was in so much pain in the middle of the night that she called my roommate and said she wanted to go to the hospital, so it left a deep impression on me.”

“Really?” Tang Man took a sip of boiled water and covered the window a bit before saying, “Then her body must not be very good. People with cold constitutions always feel uncomfortable during their periods. I sometimes feel uncomfortable too, but I can endure it.”

She brought up this topic very naturally, and gradually, Xie Li also became natural. He glanced at Tang Man, walked a bit closer, looked at the person sitting on the windowsill for a while, and then took a small step back.

Tang Man smiled, “What are you doing?”

Xie Li laughed, “Just wanted to take a look at you.”

Tang Man raised her eyebrows and said with a smile, “Then you can get even closer.”