I can't let him ruin our kitchen.
The next morning, when Jiang Hailang arrived at the Foreign Languages University, Lin Xiaoran was taking graduation photos with her classmates in the school's stadium.
He stood to the side, holding the enormous bouquet of roses, smiling as he watched her leap across the track, sit cross-legged on the lawn, and flash a victory sign from the stands…
When everyone was tired from playing and sat down to rest, Lin Xiaoran turned to look at him, and Jiang Hailang came forward with flowers in his arms, handing her the roses with a smile.
"Congratulations on your graduation, baby."
"Wow..." The students behind me exclaimed in amazement, envy, and gossip.
Lin Xiaoran smiled and accepted it. "Thank you."
According to incomplete statistics, the bouquet of roses she held was probably the largest bouquet received by all graduates this year.
Moreover, everyone else received ordinary bouquets of a few different flowers to celebrate graduation. She, on the other hand, received only bright red roses; anyone who didn't know better would have thought the person who sent the bouquet was proposing.
Rich people can really be capricious.
The girl from her dorm leaned closer, rested her chin on Lin Xiaoran's shoulder, and whispered, "When did you get such a handsome boyfriend? I've never heard you mention it."
When we were taking pictures, the students noticed Jiang Hailang, who was tall, handsome, and holding a striking bouquet of roses, standing to the side.
I just didn't expect him to be looking for Lin Xiaoran. This man is at least a hundred times stronger than Yan Chao, isn't he?
Lin Xiaoran also whispered to her classmate, "This is my boss, not my boyfriend."
Then, as if nothing had happened, she turned her head and smiled back at Jiang Hailang, who had been watching her.
"Xiaoran".
"Eh."
Hearing someone call her from behind, Lin Xiaoran subconsciously answered, but when she turned around, she saw Yan Chao. No wonder the voice sounded familiar.
Yan Chao had already approached. "I'm sorry about the last gathering."
He was referring to the time at the party when his new girlfriend, Zhu Ting, deliberately targeted Lin Xiaoran.
Lin Xiaoran laughed, "It's okay, I didn't suffer any loss anyway."
On the contrary, she even teamed up with Jiang Hailang to make Zhu Ting look bad.
Lin Xiaoran took two steps forward and linked arms with Jiang Hailang. "My boyfriend doesn't mind either, right?" she said, turning to look at Jiang Hailang.
"Mm." Jiang Hailang nodded with a smile, and then pulled down the hand that was holding his arm, gently taking it in his own.
Lin Xiaoran asked Yan Chao, "By the way, didn't your girlfriend come to the graduation ceremony?"
You know perfectly well what you're asking. If Jiang Hailang comes, people will say Lin Xiaoran has good taste, finding such an excellent boyfriend. But if Zhu Ting comes, people will only say Yan Chao is a gold digger.
After all, no matter how much Lin Xiaoran called Jiang Hailang a greasy old man, she was still a high-quality young man only a few years older than him. Zhu Ting, on the other hand, was a middle-aged woman whom Yan Chao could call "Auntie."
Of course, if it's true love, age, background, race, and even gender are not issues.
Yan Chao left dejectedly.
Lin Xiaoran scoffed at his retreating figure, wondering if he would dare to try and make his presence known to her again.
A few days ago, Yan Chao even asked another classmate to subtly express his desire to get back together with her.
The gist of it is: his relationship with Zhu Ting is just a charade; he only wants to use Zhu Ting to secure his position in the company. Once he's stable, he'll immediately break up with Zhu Ting and go find Lin Xiaoran. He wants Lin Xiaoran to give him some more time, considering their years of relationship.
Lin Xiaoran felt nauseous at that moment. Even if she didn't have a new boyfriend now, she wouldn't want to have anything to do with someone like Yan Chao anymore.
Before Lin Xiaoran could look away, Jiang Hailang respectfully greeted her, "Hello, Auntie."
When she turned around, her parents had already walked up to her side by side.
Lin's parents are both teachers at a foreign language university. After saying goodbye to the other graduates and taking photos, they came to see their daughter.
Unexpectedly, among a group of classmates dressed in black graduation gowns, who were supposed to be hard to recognize, their own daughter stood out from afar.
Not only was there a huge bouquet of fiery red roses, but she was also holding hands tightly with a tall, handsome man.
Lin's mother smiled and replied, "Hello, Hailang."
When Jiang Hailang came to Lin Xiaoran's house for her birthday last time, he told her that calling her "President Lang" was too formal, and that she should just call him "Hailang" from now on.
Lin's mother then introduced Jiang Hailang: "This is Xiaoran's father."
Jiang Hailang quickly greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Uncle."
He had wanted to greet them first, but he was afraid of making a mistake and feeling awkward.
"So you're Jiang Hailang? I knew it..."
Before Mr. Lin could finish his sentence, "A man of great talent and ability," Mrs. Lin gently nudged his arm.
They can talk about it privately, since Lin Xiaoran and Jiang Hailang haven't acknowledged their relationship yet, and it's not appropriate for them to judge Jiang Hailang by the standards of choosing a son-in-law.
Last time, Lin Xiaoran said that Jiang Hailang wasn't her boyfriend, and that she had someone else. Turns out, her real boyfriend didn't come to the graduation ceremony today, but Jiang Hailang did.
Jiang Hailang spoke up at the opportune moment, offering, "Shall I take some photos of you with your uncle and aunt?"
"Okay." Lin Xiaoran picked up the professional camera from the ground and handed it to Jiang Hailang. She added, "Don't take a bad picture of me."
After posing for photos from several different angles, Lin's father called out to Jiang Hailang, "Why don't you take some pictures too?"
"Okay." Jiang Hailang smiled with delight, as if someone had bestowed upon him unparalleled honor.
Lin Xiaoran's classmate, quick to notice, stepped forward and took the camera, taking on the responsibility of photographing the "family of four." Jiang Hailang stood ramrod straight beside Lin Xiaoran, as if afraid of ruining the beautiful scene of her graduation photo.
After taking a few more photos, Lin's parents tacitly left the camera's view and stood behind the classmate who had helped take the photos, watching Lin Xiaoran and Jiang Hailang across from them, who were still enthusiastically changing poses for photos.
The graduation activities ended close to noon.
Lin Xiaoran took off her graduation gown and stuffed it directly into Jiang Hailang's hand, while she herself held her graduation cap and fanned herself with it.
It was the middle of summer, and wearing this outfit all morning was really hot. Jiang Hailang then took the graduation cap from her hand and started fanning her.
The two stood in the shade, waiting for Mr. and Mrs. Lin to finish talking to the classmates who came up to say goodbye before walking over to them.
Lin's mother took the initiative to invite, "Hailang, why don't you come over for lunch?"
Jiang Hailang readily accepted: "Okay. Thank you, Auntie."
Mr. Lin went to the morning market early in the morning to buy meat and vegetables, just waiting to come home at noon to cook a delicious meal to help Lin Xiaoran celebrate her graduation.
But after inviting Jiang Hailang over at noon, Mr. Lin felt that something was still missing, so he insisted on going to the nearby supermarket to restock.
When Mr. Lin returned home, he found that the three people had all squeezed into the already cramped kitchen.
Jiang Hailang felt he had to do something to show his abilities; even if he couldn't cook, peeling a few cloves of garlic would be helpful.
He reached out his arm to Lin Xiaoran beside him, and Lin Xiaoran immediately understood and rolled up his shirt sleeves for him. Jiang Hailang then reached out his other arm as well.
Mr. Lin placed the newly bought groceries on the kitchen counter and jokingly asked with a smile, "When did our Xiaoran learn to cook?"
“I’m doing this to keep an eye on him.” Lin Xiaoran pointed at Jiang Hailang. “You don’t know, the last time he invited me to his house for dinner, the steak was burnt and the noodles were overcooked. I can’t let him ruin our kitchen.”
Mr. and Mrs. Lin exchanged a glance and laughed. "Alright, you two can both go out now. There's no room for so many people in the kitchen."
"I told you not to come in and cause trouble." Lin Xiaoran tugged at Jiang Hailang's shirt sleeve and pulled him out of the kitchen.
Jiang Hailang smiled and squeezed her hand back, "Baby, you can't embarrass me like this. What if your aunt and uncle have a bad impression of me?"
"No, my parents don't have high expectations for my friends. Li He and his friends can't cook, but they still come to my house to freeload all the time."
As Lin Xiaoran spoke, she opened the cabinet next to the TV wall in the living room and took out two vases. Jiang Hailang's flowers were too big, too big to fit in a single vase.
Haha, I actually came up with a rhyme out of nowhere.
Lin Xiaoran handed a vase to Jiang Hailang, and together they untied the bouquet on the coffee table, cut the flower stems with scissors, and then put the flowers into the vase one by one.
Afterwards, she held up her phone in one hand, made a victory sign with the other under her chin, took a selfie with the vase of roses she had arranged, and posted it on her WeChat Moments for the Nth time today.
Jiang Hailang immediately went to his WeChat Moments to like the post and commented: "The baby is so beautiful."
Hotel colleagues also gave it a thumbs up at different times, and some even commented below: "Haha, witnessing Boss Lang catching fish."
A table full of delicious food was set on the table in less than an hour. Jiang Hailang and Lin Xiaoran sat facing Lin's parents on one side of the rectangular table.
Jiang Hailang raised his glass first and said, "Uncle and Aunt, you've worked hard. I'll toast you with a beverage instead of wine."
Lin's parents had to go back to school to work in the afternoon, so they couldn't drink alcohol at noon. Therefore, only a few drinks were placed on the table.
The four of them raised their glasses together, thanking Lin's parents for their hard work in preparing lunch, and congratulating Lin Xiaoran on her university graduation.
Jiang Hailang had worked his way up in the sales industry and had attended countless dinner parties, making him well-versed in table manners and etiquette. Because he was naturally charming and likable, Lin's parents got along very well with him and even invited him to their home for dinner whenever he had time.
In the afternoon, Lin's parents went back to school, leaving only Lin Xiaoran and Jiang Hailang at home.
Jiang Hailang asked, "Shall we go out and have some fun?" He had also taken a day off today, just like Lin Xiaoran.
Lin Xiaoran, however, sat on the sofa with her laptop and opened it. "Later, I still have a report to finish."
Jiang Hailang, as comfortable as if he were at home, took a cup from the kitchen cabinet, poured water, and placed it on the coffee table in front of Lin Xiaoran.
"Call me when you're done, I'm going to sleep for a while," Jiang Hailang said, bending down to lie on the sofa.
Lin Xiaoran nodded and glanced at him; old people really do like to take afternoon naps.
Jiang Hailang didn't wake up until after 3 p.m. Lin Xiaoran had finished her work and was sitting on the sofa playing on her phone.
He got up and moved closer to Lin Xiaoran, resting his head on her lap.
Why didn't you wake me up?
"You're sleeping so soundly, I can't bear to wake you. After all, you work hard every night elsewhere."
As soon as Lin Xiaoran finished speaking, the sound of winning the game came from her phone.
Jiang Hailang took Lin Xiaoran's phone and threw it aside, then took her hand in his own and played with her delicate fingers.
Lin Xiaoran pulled her hand away and patted him. "Stop taking advantage of me. Didn't we say we were going out to play? Get up."
Jiang Hailang chuckled at her words and sat up from the sofa. "Your aunt and uncle are really carefree. Aren't they afraid something might happen if they leave us, a lone man and a lone woman, at home?"
“Don’t worry, I grew up surrounded by boys and nothing ever happened to me, so they have confidence in their daughter.” Lin Xiaoran said as she reached out to pull Jiang Hailang. “Come on, let’s go to that arcade near my house, I’ve wanted to go for ages.”
After having a great time at the arcade for a few hours, the two went to the hot pot restaurant that Lin Xiaoran had recommended. She and her boyfriend had eaten there a few days ago and thought the food was pretty good.
Just as I finished ordering, I heard a male voice coming from behind the high chair: "Lingling, happy birthday."
A birthday greeting was followed by cheers from the other guests at the table behind. Lin Xiaoran frowned, got up, and walked around the back of her chair to look. It wasn't that she was curious about someone else's birthday, but rather that the voice she had just heard was all too familiar.
Sure enough, the two people kissing by the dining table behind her were none other than her boyfriend, Wan Wei, who had claimed he couldn't attend her graduation ceremony today because he was on a business trip.
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