Chapter 59 Indulging Your Arrogance Zhou Huai
Liang Jingzhuo and Xie Qingci arrived just before the banquet began.
Ms. Zhuang had left home early in order to see Xie Qingci sooner, but she was surprised to find that the two children had not arrived by the time she got there.
Seeing that it was getting late, I called Liang Jingzhuo to ask if they had set off yet.
I didn't answer at all, and I don't know what I was busy with.
Lin Lexin also arrived early in the morning. Upon meeting Ms. Zhuang, she sweetly greeted her, "Auntie!"
Although Zhuang Shuying doesn't have a daughter, she's a complete doting father. Seeing the little girl's sweet smile, even her anger towards Liang Jingzhuo subsided considerably. She smiled and replied, "Lexin, you're getting prettier and prettier! Your aunt almost didn't recognize you."
Since starting university, Lin Lexin has been quite busy with her studies and sometimes misses family gatherings. Zhuang Shuying hasn't seen her for a while.
Lin Lexin chuckled, then turned around and began scanning the room with her eyes, asking, "Where are my brother and sister-in-law?"
Zhuang Shuying put her phone into her handbag and replied, "He's not here yet, you brat. I called him and he still didn't answer."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Lin Lexin exclaimed happily towards the entrance of the venue not far away, "They're here! They're here!"
Someone at the door greeted Liang Jingzhuo. He stopped and exchanged a few words with the person, then gestured to Xie Qingci beside him, "My wife."
The other party immediately smiled ingratiatingly and said, "Yes, I know, hello Mrs. Liang."
Xie Qingci smiled and nodded in response.
As they continued walking into the venue, a figure in a little dress came running over. The girl's expression was lively and cheerful. She quickly called out to Liang Jingzhuo, "Brother!" before turning her bright eyes to Xie Qingci beside him.
"Hello, sister-in-law, I'm Lin Lexin." She then pointed to Liang Jingzhuo and added, "His parents are my uncle and aunt."
Xie Qingci recognized her.
That day at the karaoke bar, because Lin Lexin's gaze was so blatant, she looked back at her several times and smiled, replying, "Hello."
Lin Lexin blinked and looked at Xie Qingci's face. "Auntie is right, you are prettier in person than in photos."
After saying that, he felt that the praise wasn't enough, so he continued, "No, it's ten times better looking!"
Xie Qingci smiled and said, "Thank you."
Liang Jingzhuo glanced at the person in front of her who was still about to continue chattering and interrupted her: "Aren't you tired of talking? Drink some water."
Lin Lexin rolled her eyes in exasperation, but remembering that she still had her concert tickets in his hand, she gave a fake smile and said, "Not yet. You really care about my brother."
Zhuang Shuying also walked over from the venue. She couldn't hide her joy when she saw Xie Qingci. She took Xie Qingci's hand and said to Liang Jingzhuo, "Your father just said that you should come and see him. The joint venture partners of several projects are also here today. Go and meet them."
Liang Jingzhuo didn't speak, but glanced at Xie Qingci.
Noticing the gaze directed at her, Xie Qingci turned to look at him, smiled slightly, and nodded, saying, "Go ahead, Mommy Lexin and I will wait for you here."
Liang Jingzhuo then turned around and, guided by the waiter, went to find Liang Junshi.
Today's wives don't need Zhuang Shuying to socialize at all; they all come to her as soon as they enter the venue.
They said they wanted to meet this daughter-in-law whom Mrs. Zhuang was extremely satisfied with.
Hsieh Ching-Tzu was not shy and greeted the ladies present one by one, introduced by Chuang Shu-Ying.
As more and more people arrived, Zhuang Shuying had to go and entertain them, leaving Lin Lexin to play with Xie Qingci for a while.
Lin Lexin was more than willing, nodding hurriedly, "Don't worry, Aunt, I will definitely take good care of my sister-in-law."
Zhuang Shuying smiled and patted Xie Qingci's hand, telling her not to be shy and to leave whenever she got tired, as Uncle Zhong would be waiting outside.
Xie Qingci nodded in agreement.
After Zhuang Shuying and the other wives left, Lin Lexin took Xie Qingci to the bar, saying that the pastry chef they had invited today was very famous in Hong Kong, and that reservations were usually required.
Hsieh Ching-Tzu isn't particularly fond of sweets, but on Lin Le-Hsin's recommendation that it was "really delicious!", she tried a piece of Basque, and the taste was indeed quite good.
During their casual conversation, Lin Lexin mentioned their chance encounter in Jingzhao last time, saying, "I didn't dare call out to you, afraid you'd think I was a scammer."
As she spoke, she scooped up a spoonful of dessert and put it in her mouth, "So I told my brother."
Yeah, and then she got arrested.
Xie Qingci smiled and suddenly called out to Lin Lexin, "Lexin."
Lin Lexin took a sip of juice through the straw, looked up when she heard this, and said "Hmm?"
Xie Qingci said seriously, "If we run into each other again without warning, you can greet me, but please let me know first and then tell your brother, okay?"
That's really scary.
Someone who was clearly on another continent suddenly appeared in front of her, and she was caught talking to Ke Meng and the others about her "white moonlight" from her student days.
Lin Lexin looked blank for a moment, then instantly understood. She glanced at him and said with a mischievous smile, "I know."
Then, turning to look at Liang Jingzhuo, who was socializing in the venue, he said, "Did you hire a male escort the other day? I'm telling you, there's a super handsome one at that place! I'll recommend him to you next time you go!"
?
Xie Qingci was stunned for a moment. What was all this about?
"no……"
Lin Lexin didn't seem to care about it. "It's nothing. Dating and getting married don't stop me from looking at handsome guys! It's just looking, what's wrong with that? My brother shouldn't be that petty."
After saying that, she smiled and continued, "Let me tell you, my brother was a good boy when he was in school."
Really……
Xie Qingci didn't speak, but looked up at the person in the center of the hall.
He recalled that just before leaving the house, they had kissed in front of the mirror in the dressing room. Lost in thought, he remembered the past and asked her who they were talking about that day—who had a good figure, was young, and was expensive.
Being so vengeful, how can you be petty?
Moreover, what does the term "good boy" have to do with him?
Thinking of this, she suddenly felt a surge of heat rising up her face. She slowly looked away, took a sip of her iced drink, and tried to calm the inexplicable heat rising on her cheeks.
"Where is he a well-behaved boy?"
I recalled some scenes from last night, which had absolutely nothing to do with this word.
Lin Lexin laughed and counted on her fingers, "Leaves home on time, returns home on time, attends extracurricular tutoring classes on rest days, has no female classmates with whom he has any ambiguous relationships, at most plays basketball and tennis with male classmates, and rarely even plays video games."
Xie Qingci recalled his entire wall of medals and honors, "Extracurricular tutoring? Does he need to take that too?"
Lin Lexin nodded: "Of course! Horse riding, swordsmanship, taekwondo, critical thinking class, French, Chinese, German... a whole bunch of random things, I don't know how he manages to handle it all. I took French and German classes at the same time before, which led to me mixing the two languages in two classes for a while, neither German nor French, which left the teacher speechless. Later, we had to split the classes into different year classes to avoid the blunders from happening again."
Xie Qingci laughed, suddenly gaining a deeper understanding of the adjective "humanoid processor".
-
As Liang Jingzhuo finished his social engagements and was looking for Xie Qingci, Lin Lexin suddenly appeared right under his nose and took a glass of champagne from a tray held by a waiter passing by.
He glanced at the person who should have been next to Xie Qingci and asked her, "Where is Xie Qingci?"
Ms. Zhuang was socializing with other wives, which left only Lin Lexin and Xie Qingci together, but now she appeared in front of him alone.
Lin Lexin took a sip of her champagne, glanced sideways, and then gestured to the lounge area not far away, "Over there, it seems my sister-in-law ran into an old classmate. They're catching up, and I can't just stay there, can I?"
Liang Jingzhuo looked in the direction indicated.
Xie Qingci stood by the wine tower, talking to a young man standing opposite her.
The other person was quite tall, almost completely obscuring her. She could only see her slightly curved lips curving into a smile from their slightly offset stance, and she could not tell what she said.
Liang Jingzhuo glanced at the person standing opposite her. He had his back to her, so she could only see his back and not his face.
Lin Lexin crossed her arms and looked in that direction as well, recalling the scene of their chance encounter. "They must be classmates who are very close. My sister-in-law seemed quite surprised just now."
After saying that, he turned around and added, "He's quite handsome."
She and Xie Qingci were just about to wander around the venue when suddenly someone came out from behind them and called out to Xie Qingci with a smile in a very intimate tone.
She felt it couldn't be as simple as just being an old classmate.
"With your looks, wouldn't your sister-in-law have had a lot of boys chasing after her in middle school? If you ask me... hey! Bro, where are you going?"
Before he could finish speaking, the people around him had already walked over there.
Xie Qingci never expected to run into Zhou Huai here.
It had been more than three years since they last met. At first, when Zhou Huai called her, she didn't recognize him until the person in front of her, with a gentle smile, introduced himself: "It's me, Zhou Huai. Long time no see."
She seemed to snap out of her daze, quickly regaining her composure, and replied with a smile, "Long time no see."
Then, remembering that he should be in London right now, she asked, "You... went back to China?"
Zhou Huai smiled at her and nodded, "Yes, I just came back recently, and I came with my mentor to participate in a project."
Xie Qingci glanced at the name tag on his suit jacket; it indicated he was a special guest at tonight's banquet, likely related to some Liang family project.
She smiled and nodded, "It's fine." Just as she was about to end the small talk and call Lin Lexin to leave together, she realized that the person who had been standing next to her a moment ago had disappeared.
He looked around.
Zhou Huai spoke again: "How's university life going?"
She looked away, then turned to the person in front of her and smiled politely, "It's fine."
While there's nothing wrong with old classmates catching up, the premise is that it's just a genuine old classmate relationship, and her current status is somewhat inappropriate. Just as she was about to say goodbye, a dark shadow suddenly loomed over her.
He paused before speaking, then turned to look at her.
Liang Jingzhuo walked to her side and stood still. He glanced at her first, then turned to look at Zhou Huai opposite him.
Are you done with your work?
He responded with a "Mm".
After saying that, he continued, "And who is this?"
Despite the seemingly ordinary tone, Xie Qingci inexplicably felt a chilling pressure emanating from the man, “An… old classmate.”
After saying that, she introduced him to Zhou Huai: "This is my husband."
Zhou Huai was not surprised by this. He had been working with his mentor on the project team recently and already knew about the marriage. He smiled and extended his hand first: "Hello, President Liang, I am Zhou Huai, Dr. Campbell's student."
Dr. Campbell was a programming expert specially hired by the Nightmare Project team, and he was accompanied by several of his most promising students.
Liang Jingzhuo knew Dr. Campbell, but had no recollection of Zhou Huai. He paused for a moment, then reached out and grasped the hand the other offered. "I didn't see you at the celebration banquet."
Liang Jingzhuo has always had a good memory; he can remember important events and people almost instantly. He didn't see Zhou Huai at the celebration banquet on the day the Nightmare Project ended.
After gently clasping his two broad hands together, Zhou Huai smiled and replied, "At the time, the teacher needed me to go back to London to process some data, so I left after the launch ceremony."
Liang Jingzhuo nodded, not particularly interested in whether the person in front of him had attended the victory celebration banquet.
Turning to Xie Qingci beside her, she said softly, "Are you tired? Should we go first?"
Lin Lexin stood not far away, craning her neck like an ostrich, occasionally peeking in, but she was too far away to hear what the three people were talking about.
Xie Qingci smiled and shook her head, "Not yet, I can go with Mommy later."
Liang Jingzhuo didn't refute, nodded in agreement, then nodded slightly to Zhou Huai before leaving with Xie Qingci.
Xie Qingci glanced at the hand holding hers, then looked at the silent profile of the person beside her, "Um... let me explain, it was purely by chance."
She thought that someone as smart as him should have figured out that Zhou Huai was the senior she had mentioned before.
Liang Jingzhuo turned his head and glanced at him, his expression frank and open. "I know."
Not angry?
Xie Qingci observed his expression.
He continued, "Why do I need to explain myself in normal social interactions?"
Xie Qingci nodded. "That seems to be true."
It was just a greeting; there's really nothing to be angry about.
When Zhuang Shuying finished her social engagement, she turned around and looked for Xie Qingci in the venue.
She turned around and saw Liang Jingzhuo leading Xie Qingci toward her. She smiled and went to greet them, calling out to Xie Qingci, "Xiao Ci, we can go now. Do you want to play a little longer?"
Xie Qingci wanted to ask Liang Jingzhuo for his opinion, but then she remembered that he wasn't going back to the Liang family mansion with them today, so she replied, "Okay."
Zhuang Shuying smiled and agreed, then took out her phone and called Uncle Zhong, asking him to bring the car to the door.
After hanging up the phone, she glanced at Liang Jingzhuo and asked, "Aren't you going home today?"
Knowing that he has a morning meeting tomorrow, it will probably be too late to go back.
"Then I'll take Xiao Ci around tomorrow, and you can pick her up after dinner at Banshan tomorrow night?"
Ms. Zhuang's questioning tone caused Xie Qingci to look at the person next to her as well.
He glanced over, paused for a moment, and replied, "Okay."
Zhuang Shuying picked up her bag and took Xie Qingci from his hand. "Then I'll take Xiaoci and leave first. Remind your dad to drink less alcohol. If he comes back reeking of alcohol, I'll make him pay!"
"Um."
-
Hsieh Ching-Tzu left first with Chuang Shu-Ying, while Lin Le-Hsin waited for her mother. So she made plans with Hsieh Ching-Tzu to go shopping together the next day.
After saying that, he glanced at Ms. Zhuang and asked, "Aunt, you don't disagree, do you?"
Zhuang Shuying tapped her forehead and said with a smile, "You two go ahead, your aunt will reimburse the expenses!"
Zhuang Shuying had originally planned to take Xie Qingci sightseeing tomorrow, but she didn't force herself into the young people's circle; people of similar age would always have more to talk about.
Lin Lexin replied with a grin, "Yay!"
He secretly decided to go to Liang Jingzhuo's place later to extort some more money. If she hadn't reminded him, his wife would have been coveted by another man!
Having arranged to contact Lin Lexin the next day, Xie Qingci followed Zhuang Shuying out of the venue, with servants on both sides bowing respectfully to them.
Uncle Zhong drove the car to the red carpet in front of the door, got into the car on the porch, and greeted Xie Qingci with a smile, "Hello, Miss Qingci."
Xie Qingci always greeted Uncle Zhong with a smile, so she smiled back and replied, "Hello, Uncle Zhong."
On the way back to Liang Family Mansion, we encountered a traffic jam. Uncle Zhong mentioned that he hadn't been to Jingzhao for a long time. He wondered if the area around Fushun Hutong was still very congested and if there had been any improvement.
Previously, the area near Fushun Hutong was under municipal maintenance, turning a two-way street into a one-way street, which caused traffic paralysis. The maintenance has now ended, but the road conditions have not improved much.
Xie Qingci replied with a smile that it had only improved slightly and was still very congested.
Uncle Zhong mentioned that he had just accompanied Liang Jingzhuo to Jingzhao, and for the first time, they were stuck in traffic for an hour over a mere fifty meters, a scene he had never witnessed before.
Xie Qingci laughed and said that this was indeed the case during peak periods, and the situation could become unpredictable if municipal maintenance was also involved.
Zhuang Shuying listened and laughed along, then remembered something more important and turned to Xie Qingci, saying, "Xiaoci, your father and I are thinking of going to Jingzhao this Spring Festival to discuss the wedding with your parents. Jingzhuo said you don't plan to have a wedding before you graduate, but I checked the other day and the venue needs to be booked in advance. Do you think we can confirm the time first? We can make adjustments if there are any changes later."
Some popular venues are indeed in high demand, and Chinese people pay attention to auspicious days and times for weddings. There are only a few days a year suitable for marriage, and if they clash, there's no way to change the date.
Xie Qingci thought about the wedding shoes she had ordered that afternoon and suddenly felt that the wedding was really just around the corner.
She nodded and replied, "Okay."
When they returned to the Liang family mansion, Duozai was still awake. Upon seeing Xie Qingci, it excitedly circled around her. Xie Qingci gave it the toy she had brought, and the little dog was very happy.
Before returning to my room, I had some bird's nest porridge with Ms. Zhuang at the kitchen island and we chatted for a while. Aunt Ali would occasionally chime in with a few words, and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
As we were getting ready to go upstairs to our room, Duozai, clutching its little toy, wanted to go with Xie Qingci.
Zhuang Shuying grabbed it in time and said sternly, "Let your sister rest well. You sleep with Mom tonight."
After Xie Qingci left last time, Liang Jingzhuo said that Xie Qingci was not sleeping well.
Ms. Zhuang knew all too well what Duozai's sleeping habits were like at night, and knew that he would definitely disturb Xie Qingci's rest, so she forbade Duozai's desire to come along.
Hsieh Ching-Tzu actually wanted to say it was okay, since she would be sleeping alone tonight anyway, and it wouldn't hurt to bring one more child along.
But in order to entice Duo Zai to stay, Auntie Ali made an exception and gave him an extra piece of dried meat.
The puppy's eyes lit up at the sight of food, and it forgot its original motive for chasing after the food. It skipped and hopped along with Aunt Ali.
Zhuang Shuying said reproachfully, "You little glutton."
He then instructed Xie Qingci to tell the household servants if there was anything missing, as Liang Jingzhuo had not been back to live there for a long time and he wondered if there was anything lacking in the daily necessities.
Xie Qingci agreed, said goodnight to Ms. Zhuang, and then turned and went upstairs.
It was the same bedroom Liang Jingzhuo stayed in when she last came to Hong Kong Island. The bedding had been changed, but it was still in warm colors.
Liang Jingzhuo did not return to stay during that time, and many things remained exactly as they were when she left last time.
After taking a shower and changing into her pajamas, she glanced at the time as she lay down on the bed. It was already past the time when Aunt Wen was still awake, so she decided to call her again during the day tomorrow.
After replying to a few messages from Ms. Zhou, Mrs. Zhou, Ke Meng, and Duan Siyu, I turned off the lights, put down my phone, and prepared to go to sleep.
Xie Qingci fell asleep very quickly today because she went to bed too late last night and was fast asleep.
She was half-asleep, half-awake from the sound of running water. She thought it was raining outside, but she was too sleepy to open her eyes.
The noise soon stopped, the rain seemed to have stopped, and the surroundings became quiet again.
As she drifted off to sleep, the bed behind her suddenly sank a little, followed by a rustling sound, and then an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her firmly into a hug.
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Author's Note: I'm not sure if there will be any [yellow hearts] tomorrow, just be sure to check back on time [kiss][kiss]
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