188 Agreement
Li Wei and Luo Da had reached a private agreement, and everyone was happy. They sat together by the headboard, talking, and seemed to be getting along very well.
The negotiations in the living room were finally resolved with three votes in favor, one wavering vote, and one vote against, and the old man forcefully made the final decision.
Needless to say, the three votes in favor went unchallenged. The one vote that wavered was indeed from Li Wei's dear father, Li Zhaoxing. Li Zhaoxing had always thought highly of Luo Da, but he was wary of the children's young age. He had no other objections, after all, he had long seen through Luo Da's seemingly honest and simple nature in front of the elders and realized that he was shrewd and considerate in his dealings with others. More importantly, he had always been good to Xiao Ming. If they were both in college, he would have no objections.
Therefore, after careful consideration, Li Zhaoxing wavered under the dual pressure of his father-in-law's authority and his wife's henpecked nature.
Needless to say, Li Wei's mother, Cheng Min, was among those who opposed it.
It wasn't that Cheng Min actually had a problem with Luo Da, but rather she was worried about interfering with Li Wei's studies. She always felt that boys and girls were different; boys were more focused and could concentrate fully on their studies, while girls couldn't. Once they had something on their minds, it would inevitably take away from their energy, making it difficult for them to fully concentrate on their studies. If Luo Da were her son, she wouldn't have much of a problem, but the issue was that her daughter was a girl, and she always felt that she would be at a disadvantage. Therefore, for her daughter's sake, Cheng Min firmly opposed the relationship.
Grandpa Cheng was practically the head of the Li family, and Cheng Min's resolute opposition was intentionally or unintentionally ignored. With so many outsiders present, it was naturally inappropriate for Cheng Min to contradict her father. Besides, even if she did, it was uncertain whether anyone, young or old, would listen to her.
The draft law on early romantic relationships has been passed, but there are still a few important caveats.
So, when Li Wei and Luo Da, who was chatting animatedly and getting a little restless, were called into the living room, they saw their mother, Cheng Min, with an icy expression, saying to the two who were standing without being offered a seat: "Listen, you two, we've decided not to interfere with your relationship for the time being. However, we hope you know what's good for you. Firstly, we hope you won't do anything to embarrass us parents and let us down. You need to be more mindful of your behavior. Do you understand what I mean?"
Li Wei was still a little confused and somewhat incredulous. Luo Dayi immediately perked up upon hearing that they wouldn't interfere with their relationship, and readily agreed to everything else, showing that knowing when to yield is the mark of a wise person.
Cheng Min gave the two of them a cold look and said, "Secondly, we hope that you can maintain your current academic performance and not decline. I will compare your rankings and scores every midterm and final exam. If I find that you have slipped, you should be more self-aware and cut off all contact with each other. Do you think you can do that?"
Luo Da nodded vigorously again, expressing his determination to the leader: "Yes, Auntie, we can definitely do it. Please, elders, watch our actions. If we don't do well, you don't need to say anything. I will stay far away from Xiaoming!" These are all small matters.
Li Wei had just processed the news that her relationship with Luo Da was officially legal, and her brain hadn't even processed her mother's second instruction yet. Luo Da had already made his promise, and she looked at him, somewhat bewildered, then at her mother—one overly excited, the other icy cold. What was going on?
After Luo Da finished making his guarantee, Cheng Min nodded and ignored them. As for Li Wei, no one cared about her guarantee at all; they all clearly felt that the value of her guarantee was questionable.
Of the two, everyone in the room would think Li Wei was an innocent little lamb, while Luo Da was the Big Bad Wolf.
But is it believable that the big bad wolf guarantees it won't eat sheep?
For now, we have no choice but to believe it; what else can we do?
The happiest of all were the Luo father and son.
Uncle Luo was overjoyed and immediately invited everyone to a restaurant for dinner, seemingly to celebrate the successful blind date.
Li Zhaoxing glanced at his wife, Cheng Min, who then flung her sleeves and said, "You two go ahead, I'm not hungry. Xiaoming, come in with me!" With that, she walked straight into Li Wei's bedroom. Li Wei looked at Luo Da, who was grinning like an idiot at her. She couldn't count on him, so she could only dejectedly follow her mother inside.
It was more than an hour later when Li Wei finally emerged from her mother's long lecture and admonitions.
The living room was naturally empty. Cheng Min was furious, furious at her husband. What kind of father was he? How could he be a father like this? After something like this happened, he still had the mood to drink. How could he be so careless? As for her own father, besides sighing, she really didn't know what to say.
Seeing that her mother was quite angry, Li Wei cautiously went to make her something to eat to calm her down. However, Li Lin returned with several takeout boxes, followed by Ding Anni.
Both of them looked excited, staring at Li Wei as if she were EI, their eyes full of admiration.
Li Wei ignored the two of them, took the takeout box from Li Lin, and opened it on the dining table. She saw that it was full of steaming hot food, and hurriedly called her mother to eat.
Li Lin and Ding Anni were also sitting at the table watching. Li Lin interjected, "These are dishes that your third uncle prepared for you and Mom. They're all your and Mom's favorites, and he sent us to bring them back first. Some were ordered for you by Hua Ge, and some were asked for by Dad for Mom. Sigh, you and Mom are so lucky, sister. I don't know what I..."
After talking for a while, Li Lin's mother, who was starving, slapped her back.
"Xiaolin, you better remember this: stop this when it comes to your sister. If you want to follow her example, no way!" You little brat, you're so eager to learn bad things but not good ones. Why wasn't she this anxious when she didn't get into the top high school?
Li Lin stuck out her tongue and dared not utter a sound. She knew that if she said another word, her mother would definitely bring up her usual nagging about why she didn't focus on her studies.
She could tell that her mother was quite upset about her sister's situation and was looking for someone to vent her anger on; she didn't want to be that punching bag.
Li Wei and her mother ate in silence. Cheng Min only ate a few bites before giving up, throwing down her chopsticks and leaning against the sofa. Li Wei gave Li Lin a look, signaling her to quickly get a glass of water for her mother. She continued eating, as she was also starving.
Li Lin was quick-witted; she promptly poured her mother a glass of water and handed it to her, being incredibly obedient.
Seeing that Li Wei's mother was no longer paying attention, Ding Anni lowered her voice and said, "Sigh, so what you and Luo Jianhua are doing is legal? No way, if the school teachers find out, they'll give you a good scolding."
Li Wei swallowed her food and glared at Ding Anni: "Don't jinx it. If that day ever comes, I'll seriously suspect you're the one who snitched. You'd better keep your mouth shut, you hear me?"
Ding Anni pursed her lips: "How could I do such a thing? With our relationship, don't worry. But with so many people in the whole school, who knows who might know that you two are acting strangely? It's only a matter of time before it gets reported to the teachers. Have you thought about that?"
Li Wei put down her chopsticks and thought for a moment: "It's okay. I'll graduate in two more years. It might not be that fast. Just watch what you say. Don't ask about anything else."
"Tch, I was just reminding you. But it's for your own good, really. You don't know what's good for you. I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm going inside with Li Lin to play." Ding Anni was very unhappy that someone questioned her character, and she was even more suspicious that some people could have early relationships with their parents' permission. Why? Her parents looked at her like she was a thief, while other people could go out together like that?
After having dinner in the afternoon, Li Zhaoxing and his wife took the old man and left first.
The third senior brother has completed his historical mission and returned to the martial arts school.
Then, Uncle Luo called Li Wei and Luo Da together. Without saying anything else, he gave Li Wei a large red envelope, calling it a "meeting gift."
Then he told the two of them not to fight and to study hard, and then he left.
After seeing Luo Sanjiu off, Li Wei returned and hurriedly opened the red envelope. She felt that the red envelope was quite light, and it didn't seem like it contained a lot of money. Luo Sanjiu's personality didn't seem like that of a stingy person.
Luo Da sat there rolling his eyes. Who was being so polite just now? They'd just turned around and revealed their true, money-loving nature.
Li Wei opened the red envelope, and indeed there wasn't much money inside, because it wasn't money at all, but a bankbook. Looking at the account opening date, it was just recently deposited. Then she looked at the amount and started counting the zeros: one, two, three, four…
Luo Da couldn't stand it anymore, so he got up and went to Li Lianhui's room to find his future brother-in-law.
Li Wei felt too embarrassed to keep Luo Sanjiu's generous gift all to herself, so she secretly said to Luo Da, "Do you want some? How about I share half with you?"
Luo Da looked at Li Wei, seemingly quite pleased: "Okay, then I won't stand on ceremony, I'll take the cash."
Li Wei slammed the passbook shut: "How can you be like this? Don't you know what politeness is? You're making me feel so uneasy. I think you should keep it here. Just tell me if you need the money, otherwise don't bother."
Luo Da: If I had known it would turn out like this, why would I have asked?
Li Wei's goodwill towards Uncle Luo San increased greatly. It seemed that having a father like Uncle Luo San was truly a blessing—generous and easy to talk to. She thought to herself, "Why don't my own parents give Uncle Luo a red envelope? That way, I could keep both of them safe. One versus two—the difference is huge!"
The more Luo Da thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt, since he hadn't gotten anything. A few days later, he got Luo Da an antique jade unicorn pendant, hung it with dark green silk thread, and tied it around Luo Da's neck.
At that time, very few boys wore ornaments around their necks. Only hooligans liked to wear things around their necks. That's how it was portrayed on TV. Luo Da was a little uncomfortable at first, feeling like he was wearing something extra. But because Li Wei gave him the gift and threatened him not to take it off, he just made do with wearing it.
After a few days, he got used to it. Since it was all inside his clothes, it wasn't very noticeable normally and didn't bother him. It was only when he was practicing martial arts that it would be visible if he wore a vest or went shirtless, but no one reacted. Gradually, Luo Da got used to it.
Because he made a solemn promise to his parents, Luo Da, who was not very interested in studying before, started to study hard with Li Wei before the midterm exam.
Beauty can be found in books.
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