Chapter 321

Ji Wanmei dodged his hand to the side and whispered, "It tickles."

Lei Tingjun stopped his movements; he hadn't been deliberately teasing her.

A few strands of wet hair clung to her neck, and Lei Tingjun, worried that she might be uncomfortable with them, took out his hand and picked them up for her.

His hair was wet and stuck to his skin, making it difficult to brush off. It took Lei Tingjun quite a while to finally get it off.

Ji Wanmei lowered her head, unable to see what was behind her, and thought he was gently stroking the skin behind her ear, a shiver ran through her body.

Lei Tingjun plugged in the hairdryer and started drying Ji Wanmei's hair.

Ji Wanmei's hair was very long, black and shiny, and very smooth, as thick as seaweed.

Lei Tingjun's fingers passed over, and the touch was excellent.

He turned on the medium-level heater and gently blew warm air on Ji Wanmei's face.

"Your hair is beautiful," Lei Tingjun said suddenly as he was blowing on it.

Ji Wanmei smiled without turning around, then suddenly remembered something and said, "My hair is probably inherited from my mother. My mother also has a head of thick, black hair."

Lei Tingjun knew that Ji Wanmei's mother had also passed away many years ago.

But judging from her calm tone, she seemed to have let it go, so I said, "Then your appearance must have been inherited from your mother."

“That’s right.” Ji Wanmei’s eyes held a hint of nostalgia. “My mother was very beautiful, and my father fell in love with her at first sight.”

“In my father’s study, there is still a photo of my mother when she was young. My father takes it out to look at it from time to time.”

Lei Tingjun listened quietly, but his hands did not stop. He carefully and gently helped Ji Wanmei to rub her wet hair with the nozzle of the hair dryer.

“My parents met when we were sent to the countryside as educated youth. My maternal grandfather had already pulled some strings to prevent my mother from going and suffering hardship, but she secretly ran away without telling him. She went to a remote town in southwest China, where she met my father, who was also a college graduate sent to the countryside.”

"Back then, among the educated youth sent to the countryside, my mother was the most beautiful girl in the surrounding area, and many male educated youths secretly admired her. But she was stubborn and only fell for my father."

Lei Tingjun had never heard Ji Wanmei mention these things.

It turns out that her parents had such a romantic past.

“Your father must love your mother very much,” Lei Tingjun said with certainty.

If he didn't love her, how could a young, middle-aged man stay by his wife's side for over ten years?

Putting himself in Ji Wanmei's shoes, Lei Tingjun knew that if he were to encounter a situation similar to Ji Xingguo's, he would stay by her side and protect her daughter until the day he died.

Therefore, Lei Tingjun deeply admired Ji Xingguo.

He is talented, principled, and has strong beliefs. Most importantly, he is unwaveringly loyal to his wife.

It is because of a good father like him that Ji Wanmei was able to raise such an outstanding daughter.

Although Ji Xingguo never acknowledged Lei Tingjun, Lei Tingjun never held a grudge or blamed Ji Xingguo.

On the contrary, he felt that as a father, it was appropriate to be strict, even harsh, with his daughter's partner.

Only a man who can withstand a father's rigorous tests and gain his approval is truly qualified to marry such an outstanding daughter.

It's not just any man, like Yang Zhiping.

“Yes, my dad loves my mom very much,” Ji Wanmei said. “Actually, they went through a lot of hardships before they finally got together.”

“My maternal grandfather was also very opposed to my mother and father being together.”

Ji Wanmei turned her head, glanced at Lei Tingjun, reached out and touched his face, and said, "I may not have told you, but my maternal grandfather... was actually from a prominent family. With such a background, the family education was rigid and traditional, emphasizing matching social status. My mother was the daughter of my maternal grandfather's first wife, so naturally she had to find a suitable son-in-law."

“But my father was just a young man from an ordinary working-class family who got into university through his own efforts. He fell in love with my mother when they were sent to the countryside as educated youth. But after they returned to the city, they were met with strong opposition from my maternal grandfather.”

Lei Tingjun was indeed quite surprised. He had thought that Ji Wanmei's parents were in love and that their marriage was a natural progression.

Unexpectedly, her maternal grandfather also objected.

"And then what happened? How did your grandfather agree?" Lei Tingjun asked.

Ji Wanmei smiled, her expression full of pride: "You would never guess. My mother eloped with my father."

"Elopement?" Lei Tingjun was indeed very surprised.

Ji Wanmei nodded, turned around, and let him continue drying her hair: "Yes. My mother left a letter for my grandfather. She said that if my grandfather did not agree to her being with my father, she would sever her father-daughter relationship with him. My grandfather was so angry that he almost fell seriously ill."

Lei Tingjun was deeply moved. No wonder Ji Wanmei had such a strong and independent spirit. It turned out that her mother had always been a woman with her own opinions and ideas.

Ji Wanmei continued, "However, it's also because my mother and my maternal grandfather didn't get along very well when she was young. In my maternal grandfather's generation, before the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the world was quite chaotic. It was not uncommon for heirs of large families in the Republic of China to marry two or three wives. My maternal grandfather married a second wife and had a daughter."

"My maternal grandmother died of depression because of this, so my mother blamed my maternal grandfather for not being close to him as a father."

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