As soon as the door was pushed open, Zhong Xuyang immediately stood up and respectfully greeted Liu Yan, "Hello, Auntie."
Seeing her son so nervous for the first time, Shen Manli stood up and greeted Liu Yan and her daughter, "Sister Yan, you're here. Come in and sit down."
Liu Yan stood at the door, stunned. She hadn't expected Shen Manli and her son to be so welcoming.
The Zhong family's machinery factory is one of the largest in the area. In terms of family background, Xiao Yao would be marrying up if she married into the Zhong family.
Zhong Xuyang's gaze quietly settled on Xiao Yao beside him. Her hair had grown long, and she had changed to a new hairstyle. Her long, straight black hair was both pure and charming. She wore exquisite makeup, with red lips and white teeth, and her eyebrows and eyes were like paintings. She wore a black, high-necked, knitted long dress, and the close-fitting fabric outlined her exquisite figure.
The fact that she dressed up so carefully meant she was seriously going on a blind date and preparing to be with someone made Zhong Xuyang's eyes darken.
"Why are you standing? Come in and sit down." Seeing that Zhong Xuyang's eyes were glued to Xiao Yao and he couldn't take them off, Shen Manli had no choice but to take the initiative to greet him.
Zhong Xuyang snapped out of his daze, walked to the seat next to Shen Manli, pulled out the chair, and gave Liu Yan a gentle, ingratiating smile. "Auntie, please sit down."
Liu Yan had seen Zhong Xuyang's photos before and thought he was really handsome at first glance. Now that she had met him in person, she found that Zhong Xuyang was not only tall and handsome, but also polite and gentle in his speech and manners. The more she looked at him, the more she liked him.
Shen Manli was both surprised and amused by her son's attentive manner. She introduced him, "Sister Yan, this is our son, Zhong Xuyang. He arranged all the food at the hotel today. He was worried that you wouldn't be able to find a private room and even wanted to go down and get you."
Liu Yan looked at Zhong Xuyang with the same eyes a mother-in-law would have for her son-in-law: "Xuyang is truly handsome, considerate, and sensible. Whoever marries him will be very happy."
As she spoke, she turned to look at Xiao Yao, wanting to give her a look and ask her to introduce herself. However, Xiao Yao stood there blankly, as if her soul had left her body, completely unaware of her eye contact and not hearing her call.
Liu Yan awkwardly tugged at Xiao Yao's hand, which brought Xiao Yao back to her senses, but she was clearly not listening to them and looked completely bewildered.
Seeing her daughter rudely spacing out on her first blind date, Liu Yan could only pretend to touch her forehead and ask, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Xiao Yao paused for a moment, then understood and nodded in agreement, "My head hurts a little."
Seeing this, Shen Manli asked with concern, "What's wrong? Did you catch a chill? Sit down and have a cup of hot tea."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhong Xuyang walked over to Xiao Yao with a glass of warm water. "This water has been cooled for a while, so you can drink it now."
Xiao Yao stared at the glass of plain water for two seconds. She couldn't sleep if she drank tea, so she rarely drank tea and only drank plain water when it was hot.
Finally, he took the water glass, bowed his head to thank Zhong Xuyang, and did not look at him.
Zhong Xuyang glanced at her face, and whether it was from the cold or from seeing him, her expression was not good. "Go and sit down first."
He stood close, his breath brushing against her ear, and Xiao Yao was so startled that she took a step back and pulled her mother to sit down.
Shen Manli silently observed the two of them. When she saw Xiao Yao dodging Zhong Xuyang and the disappointment on Zhong Xuyang's face, she understood what was going on.
Last month, Zhong Xuyang suddenly asked her to help him find a blind date, which surprised her.
She wasn't in a hurry for Zhong Xuyang to get married. First, she knew about the unpleasantness between her son and Lin Wenwen; Lin Wenwen's wedding invitation had even been delivered to their house, which infuriated her, and she didn't want to pressure Zhong Xuyang into marriage now. Second, Zhong Xuyang was a very opinionated person, and he didn't like her interfering in his marriage.
Unexpectedly, he took the initiative to suggest going on a blind date, but the blind date was Xiao Yao, whom he had chosen.
She asked him what his relationship with Xiao Yao was, and Zhong Xuyang simply said they were schoolmates, without saying anything else. Now it seems that their relationship is not as simple as Zhong Xuyang said.
Xiao Yao was still deep in thought after sitting down. She never expected that her blind date would be Zhong Xuyang. He didn't seem surprised at all, so it seemed that he already knew. She wondered what he was up to.
"Your daughter is so beautiful, is she still in school?" Shen Manli asked Liu Yan, pretending not to know Xiao Yao.
When Liu Yan heard someone praising her daughter, she immediately beamed with joy. "Oh, not at all. She graduated a few years ago. She was doing well working in the factory at home before, but suddenly she went to work in another city. I don't know what she was thinking."
Shen Manli seemed to realize something, "Oh? You used to work in Yun City?"
"Yes, they just left last year."
Zhong Xuyang went to other places several times last year, not for tourism or business trips, and he wouldn't say where he went when asked. Shen Manli now guesses that Zhong Xuyang probably went to see Xiao Yao.
"It's a good thing that the child is adventurous and hardworking." Shen Manli looked at Xiao Yao and asked, "I wonder what kind of work she's doing now?"
Xiao Yao snapped out of her reverie and saw Shen Manli smiling at her.
This was the first time she had met Zhong Xuyang's mother. She had heard Zhong Xuyang say before that his mother was a strong woman who worked hard with his father to develop the family factory into what it is today. She had thought that Shen Manli would be more assertive, but she was surprised to see her smiling so warmly.
Xiao Yao returned a sweet smile to Shen Manli and introduced herself, "Hello Auntie, my name is Xiao Yao. I currently run a garment factory with a friend in G City."
Shen Manli's smile remained unchanged as she looked at Xiao Yao with a slightly scrutinizing gaze. Xiao Yao had a pure and youthful appearance, especially when she smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescents, making her particularly endearing.
Hearing that she owned a factory, and thinking about her own entrepreneurial experience, Shen Manli felt even closer to Xiao Yao. "When I was young, I co-founded Zhongxu with Xuyang's father. Running a factory is actually a very hard job. I didn't expect that you, Xiao Yao, would be so young and have such ideas."
"I don't really have any ambitions. I just want to have my own business. Running a factory is really tiring, but it's quite fulfilling to see the factory gradually get on track."
Shen Manli nodded in agreement. "Then you and our Xuyang have something in common. He's managing our family's factory now, and he's doing a pretty good job. You two can get to know each other and exchange ideas." As she spoke, she patted Zhong Xuyang on the shoulder.
While Xiao Yao was talking to Shen Manli, she could actually sense that Zhong Xuyang was staring at her, but she deliberately avoided looking at him.
Following Shen Manli's introduction, she slowly raised her eyes.
The moment her eyes met Zhong Xuyang's, her heart skipped a beat.
Zhong Xuyang has typical peach blossom eyes, and when he stares intently at someone, he looks particularly affectionate and moving.
"Hello, my name is Zhong Xuyang, nice to meet you."
This was the first time he had formally introduced himself to her, and Xiao Yao was in a daze, as if they were really meeting for the first time.
She nodded slightly and said to him, "Hello, my name is Xiao Yao."
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