Chapter 18 The Sudden Appearance of Cousin Wang Jing

Under Zhu Xishan’s puzzled gaze, Li Zhenguan smiled slightly, his eyes falling behind the other person, indicating to go inside to talk.

There were quite a few people at home today, and with many eyes around, it wouldn’t be good if others overheard him saying something inappropriate while standing in the corridor.

Zhu Xishan didn’t think much of it. His cousin had always been so obedient since childhood. To be honest, when he suddenly said he wanted to go on the blind date in his place, it startled him. But at that time, he didn’t want to meet the blind date either, so in a moment of confusion, he agreed to Li Zhenguan’s offer.

He moved aside, letting Li Zhenguan enter before closing the door.

This was the guest room, with a simple design and furniture arranged uniformly. Zhu Xishan told Li Zhenguan to find a seat anywhere, then asked what he wanted to talk about.

Li Zhenguan said, “Cousin Xishan, I hope you won’t go looking for Wang Zhao anymore. I heard everything you two said in the kitchen.”

As he said this, his expression remained as gentle as ever, appearing exceptionally obedient.

So Zhu Xishan didn’t think much of it, but instead furrowed his brow, “Did Wang Zhao say something about you?”

For both adults and children, people who like to tattle behind others’ backs are always difficult to like.

The smile on Li Zhenguan’s face remained. He hated stupid people who couldn’t understand, but he also disliked smart people who meddled in others’ affairs. Both types were troublesome, and clearly, the Zhu Xishan before him was currently both.

He looked at Zhu Xishan seriously, with a gentle smile on his face, and slowly repeated what he had just said: “Cousin, I mean you shouldn’t go find Wang Zhao privately in the future.”

He said this very slowly, his bright eyes staring at the man opposite him. If one looked for too long, it was like falling into a whirlpool of unfathomable depth, capable of drawing in one’s spirit.

Zhu Xishan finally noticed something off about this sentence. He stared at Li Zhenguan for a while, but still couldn’t help saying, “Zhenguan, Wang Zhao may have a cold face, but her heart might be hard too. You might suffer greatly in the future if you keep this up. A young man should always love himself a bit more. Chasing too hard is not good for business.”

Unlike Li Zhenguan, who was still a student yet to enter society, he had been working for several years and had gone through a relationship that led nowhere. He had realized that most women, or rather most men, would ultimately consider compatibility or seek partners from better social classes.

When men and women reach their mid-twenties, they often date not for the sake of love itself, but for a specific outcome. It’s no longer as innocent and pure as during student days.

Such relationships often involve many considerations, and Wang Zhao had reached that age where she would consider more factors. However, his cousin Li Zhenguan still had the naive view of love typical of a teenager.

The essence of marital relationships is a material economic relationship. When two people get married, it’s a transition from romantic love to familial love. Wang Zhao clearly didn’t seem to love Zhenguan that much, at least not nearly as much as Li Zhenguan loved her. One-sided passion rarely lasts until the end; they simply didn’t have the ability to withstand the risk of decades of mundane daily life.

“Maybe so,” Li Zhenguan’s smile remained unchanged, though he was actually getting a bit impatient inside.

In his view, whatever Wang Zhao did to him was between the two of them, whether she treated him well or poorly, it was for him to bear. Even if Wang Zhao didn’t love him now, so what? In the end, it would only be him, Li Zhenguan, who would marry her, bear children for her, and lie in the same grave.

So what did any of this have to do with Zhu Xishan? He didn’t like having other people interfere and dictate the relationship between him and Wang Zhao.

However, some people thought Li Zhenguan was stupid and foolish, a love-struck idiot, easy to deceive, unable to hold onto a woman, and likely to suffer in the future. They always wanted to play the role of a meddling fool in front of Wang Zhao.

Even after Zhu Xishan had said so much, Li Zhenguan still maintained a smiling, unconcerned expression. The occasional furrowing of his brows seemed more like impatience. Only then did Zhu Xishan notice a glimpse of his cousin’s true nature, unlike the personality he had in mind.

So he didn’t say anything more, as saying too much would only annoy people. But in his heart, he decided to mention it to his father, to have his father talk to his uncle properly. Otherwise, Li Zhenguan would surely suffer in the future.

In Zhu Xishan’s current view, Wang Zhao was clearly an ill-intentioned person who deliberately got Li Zhenguan pregnant to become a son-in-law of the Li family. After all, from previous inquiries, Wang Zhao’s family was just an ordinary middle-class family, certainly not comparable to the merchant Li family.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that marrying Li Zhenguan could save twenty to thirty years of hard work. Moreover, the Li family not only had influence in the business world but also some political influence.

Most of the older generation in the Yang family were in politics. One of Yang Jin’s aunts was even a deputy mayor of a prefecture-level city, with potential for further promotion. Several elders in the family held positions at the provincial level, though most were about to retire. Yang Jin’s generation had mostly married ordinary people, with only Yang Jin marrying a businessman, which could be considered a political-business alliance.

Although the Yang family wasn’t as influential as before, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. With the remaining resources focused on one or two descendants, if they proved capable, it wasn’t impossible for them to reach central government positions.

After warning Zhu Xishan, Li Zhenguan was about to leave, but after taking a step or two, he remembered something minor and turned to look at the man behind him.

Zhu Xishan was now around twenty-five years old, about the same age as Wang Zhao, which was why the matchmaker had introduced them to each other.

The Yang family genes were all good. Li Zhenguan and Li Zhenwei were good-looking, and naturally, Zhu Xishan was no exception. However, compared to Li Zhenguan’s delicate features, his features were slightly more subdued, with an extremely gentle and proper appearance. He would certainly be considered handsome out in the world.

Moreover, he was very much the type that fit Wang Zhao’s aesthetic preferences, otherwise Wang Zhao wouldn’t have agreed to meet him at that time.

Li Zhenguan looked at Zhu Xishan for quite a while, until the other was about to get goosebumps, before sweetly saying, “Cousin, since that’s the case, you should delete Wang Zhao’s contact information too, to prevent you from finding her again later.”