"It's alright, I guess." It wasn't that Zhou Jinglan lacked confidence, but the way his two brothers-in-law were acting made him feel inexplicably uneasy.
After all, he is not yet officially in a position of authority and is still in the stage of pursuing someone. He is afraid of making a mistake in any way—too much or too little will not work. It is difficult to find the right balance.
“Okay, then you compete with us,” Qiao Shouyan said.
"What, big brother, I have to fight him too?" Qiao Gaoyang was a little speechless. This wasn't his job. He was better off competing with Zhou Jinglan in computer skills, but competing in this would only boost Zhou Jinglan's confidence.
"Second Brother's greatest strength is information technology, something I'm ashamed to admit I can't match. Ten of me combined wouldn't be a match for you, so please stop bullying me, Second Brother." Zhou Jinglan was particularly perceptive.
He was fairly familiar with Qiao Gaoyang's situation.
Although he wasn't particularly skilled in combat, he was an absolute genius in information technology, as evidenced by his reinforcement of their unit's firewall. Zhou Jinglan overheard many people in the intelligence team praising Qiao Gaoyang at the time.
No one dislikes hearing pleasant things, especially when said in the right context.
"You're lucky you know your place," Qiao Gaoyang said smugly, quite satisfied with Zhou Jinglan's reaction.
Qiao Shouyan also realized that it was probably unwise to let his second son compete with Zhou Jinglan in martial arts.
It seems he'll have to do it himself.
“Then spar with me,” Qiao Shouyan said.
Zhou Jinglan's head suddenly felt like it was going to explode. It wasn't that he was afraid of sparring, but rather that in the current situation, it seemed like no matter what he did, it wouldn't be right.
Winning the duel would be disrespectful to the brother-in-law.
I lost the match. Well, now I've officially left my brother-in-law with the impression that I'm all show and no substance, making things even more difficult for me in the future.
Most importantly, he cannot refuse or run away now, otherwise he would be considered cowardly.
It's tough!
However, Zhou Jinglan was also prepared. He knew from the beginning that pursuing the little goddess would not be easy. His only advantage was his sincere heart and his unwavering passion.
“Okay, brother, but may I make a small request?” Zhou Jinglan asked.
"you say."
"Can we stop here? After all, I'm looking forward to going on a date with Xinruo. If this gets all dirty and looks bad, I'm afraid Xinruo won't want to come with me," Zhou Jinglan said.
We've already said it's just a friendly exchange, so given the current situation, we definitely can't go all out.
"Alright, let's stop here and have a friendly exchange," Qiao Shouyan said.
They're all soldiers; they have that much basic manners.
Moreover, Zhou Jinglan was particularly skilled. After sparring with Qiao Shouyan, they could both feel each other's strength. Then, Zhou Jinglan lost to his brother-in-law by a slight disadvantage, which saved face and also allowed him to demonstrate the strength he was supposed to show.
"As expected of my elder brother, it seems I need to learn more from him in the future." Zhou Jinglan conceded defeat by a narrow margin.
Qiao Shouyan could sense that if Zhou Jinglan worked hard, he might not be any worse than himself.
The sparring session just now made him acknowledge Zhou Jinglan's strength.
"You're being modest; you really do have some skills," Qiao Shouyan said.
Even someone as critical as Qiao Gaoyang had to admit, after watching the exchange, that Zhou Jinglan was indeed quite skilled, even more so than they had previously known.
"Zhou Jinglan, don't be so smug."
Although he acknowledged it to a certain extent, Qiao Gaoyang still had no intention of giving Zhou Jinglan a kind look.
Someone's trying to take his sister away, and he's still giving them the cold shoulder. Don't even think about it!
"Second brother, I'm not proud of myself," Zhou Jinglan said shamelessly. He didn't care whether the two of them agreed or not; he was going to call them that anyway, following Qiao Xinruo's lead.
"Second brother, second brother, what second brother? I told you not to call me that!" Qiao Gaoyang was furious.
"Calm down," Qiao Shouyan seemed much more normal than Qiao Gaoyang. He stopped him first, and then said to Zhou Jinglan, "You've barely passed this test today."
Who cares if it was forced or not, the important thing is that it passed, and that's enough.
"Thank you, elder brothers. I know it's because you're kind-hearted that you didn't make things difficult for me and even went easy on me, which is why I was able to do it so easily—" Zhou Jinglan was interrupted by Qiao Shouyan before he could finish speaking.
"Make it clear, I didn't hold back. You have the ability yourself, but you've only gotten through today's hurdle." Qiao Shouyan wasn't buying sweet talk.
Zhou Jinglan's sweet words had no effect on him whatsoever.
It would only make him think it's flashy and frivolous.
"You want to pursue Xinruo, you want to gain the approval of our whole family, you want to marry Xinruo, let me tell you, there are many more and more difficult tests waiting for you in the future. If you can't pass the tests, don't even think about entering our family," Qiao Shouyan said, his attitude quite serious and firm.
“Yes, the tests to come won’t be as easy as today!” Qiao Gaoyang added.
Zhou Jinglan immediately became much more serious, abandoning his previous deliberate flattery.
His desire to be with Qiao Xinruo was very firm and resolute, so no matter how difficult the road ahead or how many trials awaited him, he would not give in or admit defeat.
"Big brother, second brother, don't worry, I will definitely work harder and take all future tests seriously, striving to gain your and Xinruo's entire family's approval, so that you can trust me," Zhou Jinglan said earnestly.
"No, can't you understand human language? I told you not to call me Second Brother—" Qiao Gaoyang was about to explode again, jumping up and ready to roll up his sleeves and start a fight.
Qiao Shouyan felt ashamed, so he simply carried his second son home.
"Brother, don't stop me! This kid is really pushing his luck. I'll teach him a lesson today!"
"That's enough," Qiao Shouyan said disdainfully.
Zhou Jinglan silently thanked his brother-in-law, feeling that he was much kinder than his second brother-in-law. At least when he called him "elder brother," his brother-in-law didn't turn sour. Could this be considered as having already won over one of them?
Forget it, he shouldn't be so optimistic.
Qiao Xinruo, along with her sister and sister-in-law, had been watching from inside the house the whole time. She knew everything that had just happened at the door.
"This Zhou Jinglan is quite determined, Xinruo. You have good taste," Meng Yingxin praised. "If a man wants to pursue someone, he has to be a little thick-skinned. I saw Gao Yang was furious when he called him 'Second Brother,' hahaha!"
Qiao Xinruo also wanted to laugh. When she first heard it, she was mentally criticizing Zhou Jinglan for being too familiar, but today she just found it funny...
That's it, she's definitely heading in the direction of falling for him.
"That's strange. This week, Jinglan calls you 'Big Brother' and 'Second Brother', but when he met me at Qiaorentang, why did he call me 'Dr. Su' instead of calling me 'Sister' like Xinruo? Is this some kind of preferential treatment?" Su Yueya crossed her arms, looking very dissatisfied.
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