Chapter 458 Self-Inflicted Humiliation

That wasn't a friendly look from an elder; it was more like a disdainful scrutiny.

Even so, Zhou Zhenxing maintained the proper decorum, even subconsciously straightening his back even more.

Seeing that her parents didn't speak, Zhuo Lanyu immediately said, "Dad, Mom, Brother Zhou specially picked out gifts for you."

As he spoke, he gestured for Zhou Zhenxing to hand over the gift.

Seeing her daughter's expectant look, Li Sanglan finally spoke up, "It's good that you've come. You soldiers don't have much money, why bother buying gifts?"

Zhuo Lanyu said to her mother in a coquettish tone, "This is Zhou Ge's kind gesture."

Li Sanglan then had the housekeeper take the gifts, saying, "Please come in and sit down."

Zhuo Dongsheng didn't say anything, and turned to go to the sofa.

Next, Zhuo Lanyu introduced Zhou Zhenxing to several other elders.

Zhou Zhenxing greeted everyone, and then sat down at Li Sanglan's invitation.

"I heard that Comrade Zhou has become a company commander at such a young age?"

The first person to speak was Zhuo Lanyu's uncle, Li Zhihua.

Li Zhihua, in his forties, had an exceptionally sharp gaze.

Zhou Zhenxing replied, "Yes."

Li Zhihua continued, "She's quite promising for her age. But my Lanyu is also very outstanding; the boys who pursue her are so numerous they practically wear out the threshold of the Zhuo family's house."

Zhou Zhenxing affirmed, "Lan Yu is indeed very outstanding, and it is my blessing to be with her."

"It's good that you think that way. Don't think that just because you're a company commander now, you can rest easy. You still have to work hard to climb the ranks so that you can be worthy of Lan Yu." Li Zhihua reminded him earnestly, genuinely believing that Zhou Zhenxing's current status was not worthy of being the Zhuo family's son-in-law.

Zhou Zhenxing could easily tell that he was proud of his status, but when faced with the gaze of his elders, all he could do was remain humble and polite.

"I will continue to work hard."

Zhuo Lanyu noticed the tension in his voice and knew how strong his pride was, so she immediately stated, "Uncle, I like Brother Zhou as a person. Even if he were a beggar, I would still like him."

"Zhuo Lanyu, do you know what you're saying?" Zhuo Dongsheng, who had been silent until now, finally spoke, clearly very dissatisfied with his daughter's words. His voice was as stern as could be. "Are you trying to make the Zhuo family a laughingstock in the entire capital by marrying a beggar as a daughter of the Zhuo family?"

Zhuo Lanyu was just using a metaphor; Zhou Zhenxing was not a beggar at all.

But in Zhuo Dongsheng's eyes, Zhou Zhenxing was no different from those other people; none of them could satisfy him.

Let alone just being a small company commander, all the women he introduced to the Zhuo family before were better than Zhou Zhenxing.

If she really liked soldiers, she could have chosen any officer, from battalion commander to regimental commander, or even higher-ranking officer. But she just happened to pick this one... a divorced man!

The already tense atmosphere became even more strained after Zhuo Dongsheng made his statement.

Zhou Zhenxing was not entirely unprepared. Although Zhuo Lanyu kept telling him that her parents didn't care about status or position, how could a family of Zhuo's not care?

Perhaps he really shouldn't have come today; he's only brought shame upon himself!

Zhuo Lanyu's eyes instantly reddened, and she looked at Zhuo Dongsheng with a wronged expression.

They clearly agreed on everything, so why did they suddenly change their minds?