Chapter 21: The Two Families Meet

The next day.

A gentle breeze, with light rain.

Wang Zhao didn’t go to the library, but studied at home instead. She hadn’t read for several days, but after adjusting for a few minutes, she got into the rhythm.

Early this morning, her aunt and uncle arrived at their home from the hotel. After the family finished breakfast, Wang Xuechun had to go to work as she was a teacher.

Although the school was on holiday, the high school seniors she taught didn’t have a break today. Education in Jiang City was always rigorous, especially at Wang Xuechun’s key high school, which had one of the top college admission rates in the city year after year.

Shortly after Wang Xuechun left, Wang Zhao’s father also went out with her aunt and uncle. The three were being mysterious, and it wasn’t clear what they were up to. Wang Zhao asked once, but Zhang Ke was vague, only mentioning something about meeting an old friend. As for who this old friend was or where they were meeting, that remained unknown.

The reason Wang Zhao didn’t believe this was because Zhang Ke had an extremely thin social network.

After living together for three months, the family of three had become somewhat familiar. Based on Wang Zhao’s observations, she found that Zhang Ke’s daily routine was limited to two points – the market and home. As a house husband, he spent nine out of twelve hours a day at home. In three months, he hadn’t gone out to meet friends even once.

So, where did Zhang Ke’s old friend come from? And to bring her aunt and uncle along? It was even more unlikely that they were going to meet an old friend of all three of them.

However, unable to get answers, Wang Zhao didn’t press further. With all the adults out, Wang Zhao and Wang Jing were left at home. The refrigerator was stocked with fresh vegetables and meat. Before leaving, Zhang Ke had told Wang Zhao that they should prepare their own lunch at home today, or they could eat out if they didn’t know how to cook. He was taking a day off.

Given this, Wang Zhao had to take on the responsibility of looking after her high school-aged cousin.

Her cooking skills were poor, but if she took Wang Jing out to eat, her father might scold her if he found out. Adults were always like this – you could never take what they said at face value, as their words might not reflect their true thoughts.

After some consideration, Wang Zhao decided to fry three simple home-style dishes. The names of these dishes won’t be mentioned due to their humble nature.

When it was time, the siblings sat at the dining table to eat. Wang Zhao was a considerate person. In this unusually silent atmosphere, she took the initiative to speak first: “Do you have any problems with your homework?”

“There are a few math and physics problems I can’t solve,” Wang Jing thought for a moment and said, “But I can search online later.”

Nowadays, almost every student makes good use of search engines.

Wang Zhao nodded.

Wang Jing then glanced at the woman across from him, and with a slight smile said: “Sis, if there’s anything I don’t understand after searching, I’ll ask you.”

“Alright.”

After finishing the meal, Wang Zhao put all the dishes in the dishwasher, then returned to her room. In the afternoon, she went out briefly. Li Zhenguan had just called, saying her car had been returned and was parked downstairs, asking her to drive it into the parking lot.

It wasn’t until evening that Wang Zhao’s father and his group returned home. At this time, Wang Xuechun hadn’t returned yet; she had evening self-study sessions tonight and had to supervise the students’ exams.

However, when Wang Zhao washed up and changed clothes to go out the next day, she realized that the family took this meeting very seriously. Wang Xuechun, who had returned very late last night, had somehow managed to do her hair and put on makeup, without wearing glasses.

Her aunt and uncle were also dressed very formally today. As for her father, needless to say, he was also wearing a well-fitted and appropriate outfit. Although it wasn’t a suit, it was clearly very formal.

This made Wang Zhao stand out even more. She was dressed the same as usual, with no difference from other days – a white shirt as an inner layer, a long coat on the outside, brown casual pants, and a pair of casual shoes on her feet.

Whatever was comfortable worked for her.

However, she was tall and slender, good-looking, and looked stylish no matter what she wore. For a moment, Zhang Ke’s mouth twitched a few times, but he still didn’t say anything.

Wang Xuechun went out to buy breakfast. For a family of six, various bags and boxes filled the entire dining table. In fact, their meeting time with the Li family was set for 11 am, just in time for lunch. It was only around 8 am now, so there was no need to be in such a hurry.

However, this was Wang Xuechun and Zhang Ke’s first time meeting the in-laws, and even the aunt and uncle were nervous. So they got up very early, starting to prepare and style themselves as soon as they opened their eyes.

Wang Jing, on the other hand, slept soundly. He came out yawning and opening his door about ten minutes after Wang Zhao, shuffling out in his slippers. He had finished two test papers yesterday, only going to sleep at 11 or 12, and even then had some insomnia. He was woken up by the noise in the living room this morning.

As soon as he came out and saw a living room full of people, he was startled. His parents were also dressed very formally, making him wonder for a moment if he had woken up late.

Breakfast was already laid out on the table. Wang Zhao called everyone over to eat. Chinese breakfast was known for its complexity. Wang Xuechun had basically bought a bit of every type of breakfast food, spreading it out on the dining table – a diverse and eye-catching spread.

It was clear that today they were very excited, or rather, nervous.

Wang Zhao only took a bowl of plain porridge and ate two steamed dumplings before stopping. She left the rest for the others to continue eating breakfast while she returned to her room.

The behavior of her mother and the others had actually made her emotions slightly unsettled, so she sat at her desk to calm herself, reviewing a set of questions she had done last night.

Compared to the matter of marriage, the civil service exam next month was actually more important to Wang Zhao, and she had invested more energy and time into it.

In this sense, she was actually a self-interested person, or rather a realist. Her romantic cells were practically non-existent, and the probability of emotions dominating her reason was only about one percent, an extremely low probability event.

Perhaps it was because Li Zhenguan still seemed like a responsibility to her, a historical legacy product of the original body. Thus, the time and energy she invested in him were far less than in other matters.

After getting to know her for a long time, one would discover that Wang Zhao had an extremely strong sense of possessiveness and control. The label attached to Li Zhenguan still belonged to the original body, not to her, Wang Zhao, so the emotions and care she gave were always below a certain baseline.

However, not everyone knew these things. Even Wang’s parents might not understand much about Wang Zhao’s true personality, because this child didn’t like to open up. From childhood to adulthood, she had never been called to the principal’s office, and on the few occasions of parent-teacher meetings, Zhang Ke would always be the envy of many parents.

She had always been placed on a certain pedestal, known as the good student, the high achiever from a prestigious school.

Too many positive labels made it easy for people to overlook this person’s true character, because too much was covered by these labels.

After finishing breakfast, Wang Zhao read for a while until it was past nine o’clock. Then there was a knock on her door. It was Wang Jing, who curiously glanced around her room, his gaze immediately drawn to her bookshelf.

“Sis, Aunt asked me to call you. She says we should get ready to leave,” the young man said, leaning against the doorframe without entering, just standing at the entrance.

Wang Zhao removed her earphones and closed her book, noticing Wang Jing’s gaze. She smiled and said, “Most of the books on this shelf are law-related. If you’re curious, you can come in and take a look.”

“Really?” Wang Jing wasn’t quite sure and hesitated, looking towards the person sitting by the window.

“Of course,” Wang Zhao affirmed.

Most of the books had been read many times. Since she had transmigrated to this time, she had flipped through these books once. They were all ordinary books, with no secret papers tucked inside, nothing that needed to be kept confidential.

“But we’re about to leave now. You can take a look when we come back in the afternoon,” Wang Zhao said. “I’ve read all these books, and some of them are even textbooks from Jiang University’s law school.”

A huge smile flashed across Wang Jing’s face, and he showed his teeth as he said a word of thanks to her.

Wang Xuechun and the others were already prepared, just waiting for Wang Zhao. Because there was only one car at home, which couldn’t fit six people, she had already called for a car downstairs. She let her mother and aunt take the taxi, while Wang Zhao drove her father, uncle, and Wang Jing.

Halfway there, Li Zhenguan sent a message saying that they had already set off and would arrive in about forty minutes. On holidays, the roads in the city center might be congested, so it would actually take at least fifty minutes to get there.

“Sis, when I meet your boyfriend later, what should I call him?” Wang Jing, sitting next to her, suddenly asked while waiting for the car. “Should I call him brother-in-law or just brother?”

Wang Zhao smiled: “Just call him Brother Zhenguan.”

Her father in the back seat also nodded with a smile: “Yes, you should call him brother. After your sister and Zhenguan get their marriage certificate, then you can call him brother-in-law. At that time, let the two of them give you a big red envelope.”

Talking along the way and getting stuck in traffic, they finally arrived at the restaurant.

This restaurant specialized in Shandong cuisine. Because some people in both families preferred light flavors while others preferred heavier tastes, she and Li Zhenguan had discussed and decided on this restaurant. Shandong cuisine was known for its salty and savory flavors, a authentic northern cuisine that they should all be accustomed to eating.

She and Zhenguan had also agreed on the menu, just waiting for both sides to arrive before ordering.

Wang Zhao parked the car and directly led her father and the others upstairs. Wang Xuechun and her husband also got out of the car shortly after, and were led into the private room by the waiter.

About half an hour later, the Li family arrived at the restaurant and were led into the private room by the waiter.

The atmosphere in the room immediately became lively. Wang Zhao and Li Zhenguan introduced people, and both sides began shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries. Wang Zhao wasn’t very comfortable with this kind of scene. She initially frowned slightly but then maintained a smile, watching from the side as the parents from both sides exchanged greetings.

She and Li Zhenguan sat in the outermost seats, with Wang Jing sitting next to her.

“This is my cousin, Wang Jing,” Wang Zhao said to Li Zhenguan beside her after arranging for the waiter to start serving the dishes. Then she turned to Wang Jing and said, “You can call him Brother Zhenguan.”

Wang Jing had expressed curiosity about Li Zhenguan in the car, but now faced with the other’s smile and eyes, he became shy. He lowered his head and softly called out “Brother Zhenguan,” then lowered his head, burying his entire face.

This child was somewhat introverted when meeting strangers.

Li Zhenguan smiled and said, “Hello.” Then he turned his gaze back to Wang Zhao, his eyes bright and shining, like twinkling light.

He seemed very happy today. Visibly happy.

Wang Zhao suddenly thought. Was it just because the two families were meeting?

However, under her gaze, Li Zhenguan lowered his voice and asked, “When you went back the day before yesterday, did you have a headache when you woke up the next day?”

That day, Wang Zhao had drunk a few glasses of wine at Li’s mother’s persuasion. Although she had later drunk a bowl of sobering tea and rested upstairs for a while, Li Zhenguan still couldn’t help but ask out of concern.