Zhou's mother made a teasing remark, her tone tinged with a hint of sourness.
"Mom~"
Zhou Shiyang blushed instantly and said awkwardly, "I do like Yaqing very much, but Yaqing only has feelings for me. I'm very happy that she agreed to let me visit her family tomorrow for the New Year.
"You think that girl is sending you a signal, right?"
Zhou's mother's face was full of smiles.
Zhou Shiyang nodded: "Ya Qing is definitely willing to officially date me, so she agreed to let me go to her house to pay New Year's respects to her elders!"
"Okay, since you like her, your mom and dad will naturally support you, but you have to treat the girl well!"
Zhou's mother gave her instructions.
"I will."
Zhou Shiyang said, "I had a good impression of Yaqing when I first met her in Qiaoxingtun. Now that I can officially date her, I naturally cherish it and treat her well with all my heart."
After hesitating for a while, Zhou's mother finally asked the question that had been bothering her: "What was the deal with her previous boyfriend?"
"Zhou Shiwei is such a big mouth!"
Zhou Shiyang expressed his disdain for his cousin Zhou Shiwei, and then said, "Mom, all you need to know is that Yaqing's ex-boyfriend was a scumbag."
"Aren't you going to say more?"
"Zhou's mother asked."
"That's Yaqing's private matter, and I shouldn't be the one to say it, but Mom, if you really want to know, I can tell you, so you won't misunderstand your future daughter-in-law."
Zhou Shiyang's expression turned slightly serious. He said, "Yaqing is very naive. She always puts her ex-boyfriend first... As a result, when he learned that there had been a change in Yaqing's family, he broke up with her and deliberately distanced himself from her. He then started dating the daughter of the village headman..."
When Zhou Shiyang didn't continue speaking, his mother seemed to be deep in thought. She then asked, "Was that girl from a well-off family when she was sent to the countryside?"
"I heard from Yaqing that her father was the chief engineer of the steel plant's R&D department, and her mother was also an intellectual before she retired due to illness. Their family lived in the villa area of the steel plant."
After a pause, Zhou Shiyang continued, "The winter before last, Yaqing was brought home from Qiaoxingtun by her sister-in-law and second brother. At that time, her family had recovered from their low point. In a correspondence last year, Yaqing mentioned that her father was also serving as the deputy director of the steel plant."
Zhou's mother: "How many people are in that girl's family?"
Zhou Shiyang: "Mom, are you checking our household registration?"
"What do you mean by checking household registration?"
Zhou's mother rolled her eyes at Zhou Shiyang and said, "I was just asking around. Didn't you mention our family situation to the girl? For example, how many people are in your family and what they do for a living?"
"Yaqing never asked me these questions; I only mentioned them briefly in my letter."
Zhou Shiyang said calmly, "As for how many people are in Yaqing's family, she did tell me when we met at noon today."
"Then why don't you hurry up and tell me!"
Zhou's mother urged him on.
Zhou Shiyang felt rather helpless. He shook his head with a smile and said, "Yaqing's mother passed away the year before last. Now, besides her father and her, there is her eldest brother and sister-in-law, as well as two younger brothers and two younger sisters. By the way, Yaqing's sister-in-law gave birth to twins last year, which means they have two new members in their family."
"More people than our family."
Zhou's mother had three sons. Zhou Shiyang had two older brothers, both of whom were married. Zhou Shiyang's eldest brother and his wife currently have a son and a daughter, while his second brother has no children yet.
In terms of population, Zhou Shiyang's family was indeed smaller than Qin's.
Okay, this only refers to Zhou Shiyang's father's branch of the family.
If we include Grandpa Zhou and his wife, Zhou's father's brothers and sisters, and their respective family members, then the Zhou family's population is undoubtedly much larger than the Qin family's.
As an aside, Zhou's father is the head of an important department in Beijing, and Zhou's mother works at a hospital in Beijing, holding a similarly high position. As for Zhou Shiyang's older brother and sister-in-law, they all have very good jobs.
"Compared to our entire Zhou family, Yaqing's family doesn't have as many members as ours."
Zhou Shiyang said with a smile on his lips.
"You're right."
Zhou's mother nodded, and then asked, "I just heard you say that the girl's sister-in-law gave birth to twins. Does that mean that their family, or her sister-in-law's family, has a twin gene?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Shiyang paused for a moment and said, "Ya Qing's younger brother and sister are twins, but her sister-in-law gave birth to twins."
Zhou's mother was overjoyed, thinking that after Zhou Shiyang got married, he might be able to give her a pair of granddaughters or grandsons who looked exactly alike.
Well, she would be just as happy to have twins, a boy and a girl!
"What does that girl's sister-in-law do?"
Out of curiosity, Zhou's mother asked Zhou Shiyang.
"doctor."
Zhou Shiyang said, "Mom, please stop referring to Yaqing as that girl."
Zhou's mother rolled her eyes at Zhou Shiyang again and said, "Okay, okay, may I call your girlfriend Xiao Qing or Qing Qing?"
"Anything is fine."
Zhou Shiyang smiled and said, "Mom, Yaqing said that her sister-in-law's medical skills are very good. Before the New Year, she was seconded to the military hospital in Beijing to perform surgery on several important senior doctors."
"..."
Zhou's mother was stunned.
"Mom, did you hear me?"
After waiting for a while without his mother speaking, Zhou Shiyang couldn't help but raise his hand and wave it in front of her eyes.
"Could Xiaoqing's sister-in-law be named Song Lan?" Before Zhou Shiyang could respond, Zhou's mother continued, "It must be Comrade Song Lan! Recently, major hospitals in Beijing have been organizing their medical staff to watch videos of Comrade Song Lan performing surgeries."
Each hospital also sent key personnel to the General Hospital of the Military Region to observe Comrade Song Lan performing surgery. I originally had the opportunity to go as well, but unfortunately, I caught a severe cold the day before and had to stay home to rest the next day, so I had to give up the opportunity.
At this point, Zhou's mother's tone was full of regret.
"Yaqing didn't mention her sister-in-law's name to me."
As Zhou Shiyang spoke, he noticed that his mother was clearly agitated, and he couldn't help but ask, "Mom, you seem to admire Comrade Song Lan, whom you mentioned, very much?"
"Of course!"
Zhou's mother said, "Comrade Song Lan is very skilled in both traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Not only am I impressed by her medical skills, but many experts in Beijing are also impressed!"
Zhou Shiyang: "But we're not sure right now that Yaqing's sister-in-law is the Song Lan you mentioned, Mom."
Zhou's mother glared at her: "What are you saying? Based on what you said earlier, I can confirm that Xiao Qing's sister-in-law is Comrade Song Lan. If you don't believe me, you can call Xiao Qing to confirm it."
"This...isn't appropriate!"
Zhou Shiyang hesitated.
"You don't know Xiao Qing's home phone number, do you?"
Zhou's mother raised an eyebrow.
"I……"
Zhou Shiyang genuinely didn't know the Qin family's landline number. He hadn't asked Qin Yaqing, and Qin Yaqing hadn't told him either. So, he was naturally stumped by his mother's question.
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