Routine
It seems that people should be honest. If she had been more honest just now, maybe she could have escaped this party, but she missed the opportunity and can only take one step at a time and see what happens.
"Do your parents have anything they particularly like? Like paintings and calligraphy, antiques, jewelry, etc."
Uncle Zhou and Aunt Zhou both come from upper-class families. They have a wide range of knowledge and are well-informed. What good things have they not seen? Jiang Xiao couldn't think of anything special at the moment, so she could only pin her hopes on Zhou Qishen, hoping that he could give some advice.
Unexpectedly, Zhou Qishen didn't take it seriously at all. Instead, he raised his eyebrows playfully: "Do you really want to spend money on my parents?"
Jiang Xiao's kindness was taken for granted, so she curled her lips and said, "Then I really won't prepare anything, I'll just go alone?"
Zhou Qishen didn't comment: "Yeah."
Jiang Xiao felt a little frustrated and snorted, "You said that."
"Yes, yes, I said it." The person next to him just smiled, his voice was lazy and seemed to be filled with helpless doting.
*
Zhou Qishen had just returned to the old house and had just stepped through the door when he was called to the study by Mr. Zhou's assistant.
Taking the elevator directly to the study on the sixth floor, Zhou Qishen stood at the door, frowned and hesitated for two seconds, but finally raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Not long after, a deep voice came from inside: "Come in."
The study is decorated in a Chinese style, with a spacious space and an exquisite layout. The floor-to-ceiling bookcase and extra-long desk are all made of rosewood. The simple tones are heavy and steady.
Behind the desk, Zhou Zhengkang was sitting on a leather chair, looking down at a stack of documents intently.
Even though he is over seventy years old and his face is covered with wrinkles, his rich experience and outstanding temperament make him still look energetic and his charm is as good as before.
Hearing the noise, Zhou Zhengkang looked up at his youngest son and said, "I have to use some tricks to make you willing to come back."
As he spoke, his sharp eyes narrowed slightly, showing his intimidation without being angry, and it was obvious that he had been dissatisfied with his actions for a long time.
Zhou Qishen put his hands in his pockets, his stern face expressionless, as if he had expected that he would use his health as an excuse to trick him into going home, and said without any emotion: "Since you are fine, I will leave first."
Zhou Zhengkang paused holding the pen, annoyed by his indifferent attitude. He snorted with a half-smile and a strong nasal sound burst out: "Why are you leaving? I haven't finished my words yet."
The father and son looked at each other in silence for a few seconds. Zhou Zhengkang first asked about some matters related to the company, and then naturally inquired about Zhou Qishen's private life, and pointed out from the perspective of a father:
"Your mother and I are not old-fashioned people. We don't care about matching up with each other, and we didn't force you to get married. But you are already in your thirties, and you don't even have a woman by your side. How can we not be anxious?"
"You are my most outstanding son. It's good for a man to work hard for his career, but you should at least mention the schedule for important life events such as marriage and having children, right? Otherwise, your mother will keep nagging me every day, and my ears are almost callused."
The last sentence is the problem. Zhou Zhengkang had four marriages and had five children in total, three sons and two daughters. Except for Zhou Qishen, all of them were married and had children, so he never begged the younger generations to carry on the family line.
But Zhou's mother, Su Miwan, only has Zhou Qishen as her son, so naturally she hopes that he will get married and have children as soon as possible.
But Zhou Qishen was a cold person and didn't care much about his family. He moved out of the old house after graduating and returning to China. Su Miwan couldn't find anyone else, so she could only settle for the second best. She complained to Zhou Zhengkang every day, and after a long time, he naturally became unhappy.
"Speaking of which, that brat Zhou Qi is better than you. Even though he's a bit of a mixed-up guy, at least we don't need to worry about him finding a partner, unlike you..."
As soon as these words were spoken, Su Miwan, who was eavesdropping outside the door, immediately became unhappy.
Zhou Qi is the second son of Zhou Zhengkang. He is not very old and is just a junior this year. However, his private life is very chaotic. At the beginning of the year, he had to pay to negotiate a leave of absence from school and return home because he got a girl from the same school pregnant.
But after returning to China, he was still not honest under his parents' noses, and he hung out in various places of entertainment all day long. Two days ago, he held a party in the apartment with a bunch of friends, making the place smoky and chaotic, so he was reported to the police station by his neighbor.
All he thinks about is spending money and having sex with women. He's a complete bastard.
The so-called "partners" he usually looks for are just sex partners, and he changes them when he gets bored. How can they be serious romantic relationships?
I don’t know what Zhou Zhengkang was thinking. He actually compared her chaste son with that brat Zhou Qi?
Zhou Qishen remained silent. Suddenly, he thought of something. His eyes curved slightly, as if he was smiling, but his eyes were not smiling. "How about saying that Zhou Qi has some of your father's demeanor back then? Ha, a playboy."
Zhou Zhengkang's face immediately became gloomy when he heard such blatant sarcasm.
Talking about the past, he couldn't help but think of the time when he was confused and couldn't resist the temptation and had several one-night stands with women outside.
After the matter was exposed, he knew he was in the wrong and had been trying his best to make amends to Su Miwan and Zhou Qishen, mother and son. However, no matter how hard he pretended to be indifferent, quarrels could not be avoided. In nearly half a year, he had hardly a single day of peace.
In order not to affect the child, he deliberately sent Zhou Qishen, who was only seven years old at the time, to learn Chinese painting.
But as smart as Zhou Qishen is, how could he hide such a thing? From then on, Zhou Qishen, who learned the truth, began to drift away from him, which created a knot in the hearts of both father and son that was difficult to untie.
So many years have passed, even his wife has forgiven him, but for some reason, Zhou Qishen just can't let go.
"It's okay that you didn't understand me when you were young, but now you've grown up. As a man too, how could you not understand..." Zhou Zhengkang held his forehead and sighed, as if talking to himself.
Zhou Qishen's face became uglier and uglier as he listened to his shameless words. He could no longer tolerate it and interrupted him, "I'm leaving."
After he finished speaking, he left the study without waiting for Zhou Zhengkang to speak.
Zhou Zhengkang looked at his back and narrowed his eyes. As the head of the Zhou family, he was born at the commanding heights of power. Everyone obeyed his orders and dared not disobey him, except for his youngest son.
He has a rebellious personality and is extremely cunning. The older he gets, the harder it is to control him. From small choices of profession to big decisions about companies, every step deviates from the life trajectory he has set for him.
Zhou Zhengkang had been hegemonic and tyrannical all his life. How could he tolerate anyone challenging his authority?
Even if this person is his biological son, it won't work.
However, the younger generations of the Zhou family who were of the right age all trusted Zhou Qishen, an elder who was like a brother to them. No one could be used to check and balance him. After going around in circles and choosing, he could only set his sights on the illegitimate son of the eldest brother.
He just hoped that the other party would live up to his expectations.
*
As soon as Zhou Qishen came out, Su Miwan, who was outside the room, noticed the unhappiness and indignation on his face. She felt so distressed that her eyes immediately turned red. She couldn't help but called out with a choked voice, "Xiaoshen."
Zhou Qishen slowed down his pace, turned around and looked at his mother. Seeing that she was about to cry again, the veins on his forehead jumped and he forced a smile: "I have something else to do, so I won't stay."
His tone softened a bit, but was still tense.
Su Miwan did not force him to stay overnight as usual, but just followed him silently along the corridor, wanting to see him out personally.
After getting into the elevator and no one was around, Su Miwan pursed her lips and spoke in a softer tone, "That matter should have been put to rest long ago. Your father is old and can't stand the torment. There's no need for you to be angry with your father all the time."
Zhou Qishen stared at the elevator door in front of him with his eyelashes slightly drooping. Yes, it was time to let it go. Even his mother could let it go. Why did he keep holding on to this matter?
It is obvious that he is not the main victim, but his mother is.
Just as my father said, he is already in his thirties, is there anything he can't accept? It's just cheating, not a serious crime like murder or arson. A few words of moral condemnation will be enough. What else can be done?
But the scars burned into his heart could not be healed easily. He still remembered the ferocious faces of his parents when they quarreled, and the lamp that accidentally broke at his feet.
The fragments cut his skin and also tore apart his once happy family.
So later, no matter how hard they tried to maintain peace in this family, only two words popped up in his mind: hypocrisy and disgusting.
Thinking of the past, Zhou Qishen raised his hand and rubbed his sore brows. He didn't want to put his mother in a dilemma, nor did he want to be forced to compromise and pretend to agree. He could only remain silent and wait for Su Miwan to get tired of talking, and then she would naturally stop talking about this topic.
Just as he thought, Su Miwan stopped talking, perhaps knowing that continuing would not change anything, and then brought up the matter that worried her more: "Well, let's not talk about this. What I care about most now is your marriage..."
The elevator door opened on the first floor, and Zhou Qishen took the opportunity to interrupt her: "Mother, I have already made arrangements for this matter."
Su Miwan followed him out of the elevator, muttering in frustration: "Why don't you tell me what your plans are? If you keep dragging it out, you'll become an older bachelor, don't you know? Your age will make you disliked by women... Wait, what do you mean you have plans?"
After talking to herself for a while, Su Miwan suddenly reacted. Her usually gentle face froze for a moment, and even her gentle voice became a little excited: "Whose girl is this? Do I know her?"
Su Miwan quickly went through several suitable candidates around Zhou Qishen in her mind, but still had no results. Suddenly, she thought of something, "Could it be the girl who called you husband on the other end of the phone that night?"
Zhou Qishen pursed his lips, as a sign of agreement.
"I said, no wonder..." Su Miwan had an expression of "as expected", her eyebrows were full of joy, and she hit her son's shoulder unhappily: "Then I asked you later, why did you say I heard it wrong? Don't you want your mother to know?"
"Well, I don't want to." Zhou Qishen answered bluntly.
The child has grown up and has become more independent. Su Miwan pouted in frustration, but she did not argue with him. What made her most curious now was who the girl was who had taken her son away.
So I couldn't help asking, "How old is that girl? What's her family background? Is she a local?"
Zhou Qishen paused, turned his head helplessly, and looked at Ms. Su, who was excited and eager to ask questions.
"Okay, okay, I won't ask you." Su Miwan clapped her hands quickly, indicating that she would not ask any more questions. After a while, she smiled and joked, "Look at how you protect me. I just asked a few more questions, didn't I?"
"No wonder you didn't want to meet any girl I introduced to you before. It turns out you already have someone you like, but you kept that person very secret, without letting anyone know."
"I won't interfere in your love life, but if it comes to the stage of discussing marriage, you have to bring them to me as your mother for my approval, right?" Su Miwan smiled so much that her eyes narrowed into a line. She didn't force him to meet the girl right away.
Although Zhou Qishen never said it explicitly, she knew her son better than anyone else. The reason why Zhou Qishen resisted love and marriage was more or less due to them as a couple. Now that he finally had the urge to get married, he couldn't let her extinguish it.
So you can't be too hasty about meeting the parents, you have to take it slow. Especially girls are thin-skinned and will definitely have a lot of concerns. It doesn't matter if you meet them earlier or later, as long as the two of them are doing well, that's better than anything else.
Zhou Qi thought deeply for two seconds, but did not agree immediately. He gave an ambiguous answer: "How about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" Su Miwan thought for a moment that she had misheard. She didn't expect her son to be so easy to talk to today.
Zhou Qishen frowned: "No?"
"Of course, of course, you can come anytime." Su Miwan was no match for him and agreed immediately. As she spoke, she had already started to think about tomorrow's arrangements. It was the first time she met her son's girlfriend, so she had to prepare some gifts or something.
Besides, tomorrow is Zhou Zhengkang's eldest son's birthday party, so she has to be careful not to steal his limelight. Most importantly, she also heard that he plans to bring the illegitimate child back tomorrow...
Anyway, with Zhou Zhengkang in charge, she doesn't need to worry too much. What she needs to focus on most now is the girlfriend that Zhou Qishen mentioned.
"Where did I put my pair of jade bracelets..." Su Miwan muttered to herself, and suddenly thought of something. She grabbed Zhou Qishen's arm and asked, "Does my daughter-in-law have any dietary restrictions? What dishes does she like to eat? I can ask the kitchen to prepare them for her."
"Don't eat onions, garlic, and cilantro, and don't eat greasy food. Just go for a light and low-fat diet."
Seeing that he opened his mouth without any hesitation, Su Miwan couldn't help but feel more satisfied with the girl. What her son likes is more important than anything else. Since he can remember the girl's taste, it means that he cares about her.
"It seems that she is a girl who loves beauty." Su Miwan smiled and paid attention to her diet and body management, which is quite similar to her.
Unconsciously, they reached the front door. Su Miwan didn't say anything more. She patted his shoulder lovingly and was about to let him go: "I won't delay you from returning to your residence. I'll send you a message when I think of something. You must remember to reply, so that I won't neglect you invisibly."
"Got it." Zhou Qishen nodded, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, then he took the car keys handed to him by the doorman, got in the car and left.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
