Chapter 17 A Tangle of Love in the North City 02 Meeting the Parents

As the car approached her home, Lin Tingyue noticed her parents standing at the door, looking around.

"Yueyue's back! Let Mom take a good look..." Qi Yin was so happy to finally see her daughter that even her husband couldn't squeeze past her. She pulled Lin Tingyue around and asked, "Why do you look thinner?"

“Going to the countryside is to support national construction, not to enjoy a life of luxury. Of course you’ll lose weight, and you’re even a bit tanned.” Lin Yao also stared intently at his daughter, while the elderly couple ignored Yu Xingzhou, who was carrying luggage behind them.

Lin Jinwen reminded them at the right moment, "Alright, you two can go in and take your time. I'll take Xiaozhou upstairs to put their luggage away first."

Qi Yin then glanced at her son-in-law. She was satisfied with his appearance, but the thought of him toiling in the fields in the countryside made her satisfaction vanish with a wave of her hand. Lin Yao, on the other hand, wasn't as averse to him as his wife, but he felt that the boy was too handsome and might attract unwanted attention.

The Lin family owns a two-story building. The upper floor is for living, and the lower floor contains the living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and a study, which can also be used as a guest room when necessary. Currently, it seems adequate, but it's uncertain how much space will be available once the families have more children. However, Lin Jinwu and his wife live year-round in the family compound of the military unit where he is stationed, only returning to the main compound during holidays. Lin Tingyue has gone to the countryside in Northeast China, so now only the elderly couple and Lin Jinwen live at home regularly.

Only Lin Tingyue and her parents, who had been staring at her, remained in the living room on the first floor. Not knowing what to talk about, she casually said, "My older brother and the others haven't come back yet."

Qi Yin waved her hand and said, "Never mind your older brother for now. Tell us how you've been doing these past few months in the countryside."

"That's how I'll live, working in the fields and teaching at the village primary school."

Lin Yao's expression turned serious. "Why didn't you become a teacher? That kid wouldn't let you have a chance?"

"I didn't want to go myself. I thought it was too noisy. What if they assigned me to a first-grader? Then I'd have to clean up their mess." Lin Tingyue didn't want to talk about what happened back then. Although Xu Xingyi had caused some trouble, her parents already had a bad impression of Yu Xingzhou. If they knew that she originally ranked third and even gave up her teaching position, they would probably glare at her like bullets...

"That's still better than you working in the sun every day, isn't it? Look how rough your hands are. Back home, we never let you do heavy work." The old mother felt so sorry for her, and as she spoke, she pulled her into her arms and hugged her. Lin Tingyue was a little flattered.

She suddenly understood why the original owner had that personality. If it were her, she probably would have been raised to be spoiled and arrogant. But she envied her. Unlike her previous life, her parents didn't have much affection for each other. In addition, they were busy with work, so she grew up like a weed for a few years. When she reached school age, she was required to study. Even if she got good grades, she would not receive many words of praise.

The parents here think their daughter is perfect and can't bear to see her suffer even a little. It's just that she went too far this time, and the parents want to make her suffer a bit to wake her up. Otherwise, they would never have let her quit her good job and go to the countryside.

"I'm sorry, Mom and Dad, I hurt you before, but Xingzhou and I are getting along very well now, so it can be considered a blessing in disguise."

"Hmph, if you were a poor girl from that village, he might not treat you so well."

Knowing that it would be difficult to change her mother's prejudice against Yu Xingzhou in a short time, Lin Tingyue stopped arguing and got up to get the prepared wine and tea. "Xingzhou bought these. I don't know if you two will like them."

Qi Yin didn't move, she just kept watching her, while Lin Yao went to unpack the Moutai.

"Yueyue, I feel like you've changed a lot. Were you bullied in the countryside?"

Lin Tingyue's heart pounded, but she said calmly, "Mom, you're overthinking it. With our family's status, if we moved out, people would be terrified. Would they dare to bully me?"

“You’ve been away from home for a year and it seems like you’ve become distant from us. You used to be so affectionate with us.”

"Uh... isn't it because there's no one I can act cute with outside? Besides, I'm married now, shouldn't I act like an adult?" Lin Tingyue felt her brain was overloaded and prayed that the two people upstairs would come down quickly.

“My little sister has become more sensible. Mom, you used to worry that her personality would easily offend people, but now that she’s grown up, you feel like people aren’t as close to you anymore.” Lin Jinwen was leaning against the upstairs railing at some point, looking like he had been listening for a while.

Lin Yao put down the bottle of wine, looked up and said, "You talk too much. Come down and help wash the vegetables and cook."

"Okay."

Aunt Sun, who usually cooks and cleans for the Lin family, went back to her hometown for the holidays. She hasn't gone back in previous years, but this year her daughter-in-law gave birth, so she had to go back to see the baby. She probably won't be back until after the Lantern Festival. So now the two men in the Lin family either cook for themselves or eat at the cafeteria. The reason is simple: Qi Yin is a terrible cook. Nobody likes her cooking; it's a miracle if they don't get diarrhea from eating it.

Yu Xingzhou finished packing his things and came down to help. Lin Tingyue didn't want to be idle, so she took a fruit knife and peeled an apple.

Before the skin was even finished being peeled, someone arrived.

Qi Yin slowly went to open the door, but her expression turned sour as soon as she saw who it was.

"I heard that Yueyue was back as soon as I got off work, so I stopped by to see her."

"Aunt Shu." Although she didn't particularly like her son Xu Xingyi, Lin Tingyue still greeted him politely.

"Alright, now that you've finished watching, hurry back and cook for your husband, Mr. Xu." Qi Yin ruthlessly shooed the guest away.

"What's the rush? Speaking of which, didn't Yueyue get married? Did she bring her boyfriend back this time?" Shuerqin came to see what kind of man the Lin family's daughter found in the countryside. If he wasn't as good as her son, there might still be some room for negotiation. And if she could get a divorce and remarry into their family, that would be a second marriage. Wouldn't she be able to control him then?

"Xingzhou, come here for a moment." Lin Tingyue called out towards the kitchen, and Yu Xingzhou hurriedly came out.

"Let me introduce you. This is Xu Xingyi's mother. You can call her Aunt Shu."

"Hello, Aunt Shu."

"Good, good, this child is really handsome. Our Xingyi is no match for him." Shuerqin finally understood why Lin Tingyue chose this country man. Few children in the compound could match his looks. She originally thought that the Lin family's children were already the most handsome, but she never expected that there would be people better than him.

The news that Lin Tingyue had brought her husband from the countryside back to the compound spread like wildfire, and it was obvious who had leaked it. However, she herself didn't care, and instead openly led her husband around the compound to familiarize themselves with the surroundings.

The compound was a self-contained system, a small society in itself. Lin Tingyue had never been in such an environment before, so she naturally found it novel. Moreover, the conditions here were much better than in the village.

So she asked Yu Xingzhou, "Where did you live when you were a child?"

"It was also a family compound arranged by the school. My father is a university teacher."

As the two walked and talked, they suddenly heard a clear female voice calling her.

"Oh my! Lin Tingyue, it really is you!" The person who came over had a trendy short haircut and jogged over in a few steps. Behind him were a few men and women, all of whom had grown up with the original owner in the compound, but their relationship was just so-so.

"They said you brought your boyfriend home, and I didn't quite believe it. Isn't he just too good-looking?"

"Otherwise, she must have some advantages, otherwise how could she give up on Xu Xingyi?"

"Yeah, hurry up and introduce your partner to us!"

Lin Tingyue wore a polite smile, but in reality, she was still searching her memory bank for the names of these people.

"Hello, my name is Yu Xingzhou."

"Even your name sounds so nice, are you really from the countryside?" the woman who greeted you first asked.

“I grew up in Beicheng when I was a child, and later I went to the Northeast.”

"No wonder, I knew this kind of demeanor couldn't belong to someone from the village."

With everyone talking at once, Lin Tingyue's head was buzzing, so she made an excuse that she had a stomachache and needed to go to the toilet, and quickly left with Yu Xingzhou.

When the two returned home, only Lin Jinwen was sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper; their parents were not there.

Lin Jinwen glanced at it and then looked away. "Back so early?"

Lin Tingyue walked over and rested her hands on the back of the sofa. "When I'm out and about, I'm practically a movie star. Every time a group of people come, they try to interview me. How can I not come back early?"

"They're quite good at patting themselves on the back."

"Are you hungry? Should I go cook something?" Yu Xingzhou was a little reserved and wanted to find something to do.

Lin Jinwen: "My parents went to see old friends, so they probably won't be back for dinner tonight. Let's just have something light for lunch and go see a movie tonight."

What movie?

"This is an insider video; I guarantee you've never seen it before."

Lin Tingyue didn't understand what "insider films" were, so Lin Jinwen explained to her that there were films from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas that were not publicly available, and that quite a few people actually wanted to see them.

After explaining, Lin Jinwen suddenly added, "But there's one more person coming along."

"Who is it? Do I know them?"

"Qin Hua, your future second sister-in-law."

"Why don't you two go see it together? Why do you want us to be third wheels?"

Lin Jinwen was speechless for a moment, then suddenly said seriously, "Little sister, in this family, isn't your second brother the best to you?"

Lin Tingyue thought this question was difficult to answer, since only Lin Jinwen was here. However, she remembered that her second brother had indeed protected her a lot, so she couldn't lie and nodded.

"I'm going to tell you a secret, but you can't tell anyone else in the family except your brother-in-law."

Generally speaking, such words are mostly useless, but Lin Tingyue can guarantee that this secret will not be leaked from her. "Okay, go ahead and say it."

"Actually, for the past few months, Qin Hua and I have been pretending to be dating..."

Lin Jinwen turned 26 last year after his birthday. In this day and age, people of that age should already have children, so his family has been trying to find him a wife for the past two years. At first, he could refuse on the grounds of his career, but after Lin Tingyue got married without his consent last year, Qi Yin couldn't sit still anymore. She was always afraid that the last unmarried person in the family would suddenly bring home someone she didn't like, and she insisted on interfering in his marriage.

So Qi Yin took a liking to Qin Hua. Although she herself was plain-looking, she had the kind of appearance that elders liked, which made her look like she was blessed. Her father was a minor leader in the logistics department, and her mother's family was in business. Their silk shop was among the first to join the public-private partnership and is still open to this day.

Their family background was indeed unsuitable for marriage to someone from a similar family. The Qin family was just right, especially since Qin Hua was an only child. Many families were openly or secretly envious, wanting to take advantage of the woman's family line and even want to marry into the Qin family. But the Lin family didn't care about that; they just wanted the other family to have simple relationships. The Qin family also felt that it was good to have a powerful family, and that their daughter wouldn't suffer if she married into the family and could enjoy a good life.

The problem is that both sets of parents are satisfied, but the two parties involved are not, especially since Lin Jinwen had a childhood sweetheart before...

She vaguely remembered this childhood sweetheart; her name was Xu Ruofeng. She and Lin Jinwen were classmates in high school. In high school, she took the initiative to pursue him and won him over. However, after graduating from high school, Lin Jinwen went to join the army. When he returned a few years later, he happened to be attending his ex-lover's wedding. So he remained single until his childhood sweetheart was divorced because she couldn't have children. The two then got back together, which made their parents sick, and they eventually eloped.

The current plot is that Xu Ruofeng, who is already divorced, still wants to come back to Lin Jinwen, but Lin Jinwen is not willing. So he makes an agreement with Qin Hua to pretend to be dating. He pays for it, and Qin Hua plays along. This way, they can avoid their parents' pressure to get married and also make Xu Ruofeng give up on going back to his ex.

Lin Tingyue tentatively asked, "Why don't you accept Xu Ruofeng?"

“She’s already betrayed me once, why would I go out of my way to let people keep killing me?” Lin Jinwen glared at his sister. “Besides, it’s been years, I’ve long since let it go.”

"Oh, you'd better be."

"Forget about that unlucky person. The focus now is on your future sister-in-law. This girl is completely unreasonable. If I hadn't said that it was you two who insisted on dragging me to the movies, and I didn't want to be a third wheel, I wouldn't have been able to get her to come out."

"A homebody?"

"What is a 'homebody'? I feel like I've heard that term come from her before..."

Lin Tingyue's brow twitched. Could it be...?