After the wedding banquet, Meng Zhehan had to go back to Province D to work. Before leaving, he went to take a look at the Xu family’s new courtyard as he had some things he needed to discuss with Xu Yulin and Liu Jianye in person.

She carried a big bag of gifts for Wang Cuixi, including some fruit snacks, malted milk and other supplements.

Driving to Hongshun Hutong, they saw a whole row of brand new walls. That should be it. Laughter could be heard faintly from the open courtyard gate. Meng Zhehan got out of the car and walked to the door. He saw Xu Yuting coming out. He took the things with a smile and pulled him in. He shouted all the way, calling out "Mom" and "Brother", telling them that Brother Zhehan was here.

The laughter in the main room stopped. Wang Cuixi and Xu Yulin came out, greeted them warmly, and invited Meng Zhehan to come in and sit down.

Meng Zhehan politely declined. He heard the woman's laughter and knew that there must be many female guests in the house. Only then did he remember that Meng Tao had told him on the phone that Xu Yulin had a girlfriend and was planning to get married. So maybe the girlfriend would come to visit today. This was awkward. He had come here without knowing the situation and it would be awkward for him to stay for long.

When Wang Cuixi heard that Meng Zhehan had just come in and said goodbye without even having a sip of tea, she was not willing to let him go. She just held him back and insisted that he stay for dinner.

Meng Zhehan had no choice but to say that he had made an appointment with Taotao to go to Shen’s house for lunch.

Wang Cuixi smiled and said, "This is easy. Just ask Yu Ting to go over and pick up the whole family. I went out early this morning to buy a lot of vegetables, including fish, meat, and a big fat lamb leg. Taotao gave me the supply tickets yesterday. I'm a pretty good auntie. Wait for me to taste it? It's rare for you to meet Yu Lin and Jian Ye, so you should have a couple of drinks!"

Meng Zhehan: "Aunt, let's drink next time. You see, today is... inconvenient, right?"

"It's okay! We'll have two tables for men and women to eat later, you can drink yours."

Wang Cuixi lowered her voice and said, "There are Yulin's boyfriend and some of her elders inside. They are here to see how our family is doing. Let them see that we are so aboveboard!"

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Xu Yulin was speechless. It was just a meeting between two relatives, but he had to make it a big deal.

He smiled at Meng Zhehan and said, "Let's go to the west room for tea and kill two more plates of it."

Xu Yuting stuffed the bag that Meng Zhehan brought into Wang Cuixi's arms and said cheerfully, "Then I'll go pick up Xiao Huahua and Bao Bao right away. I haven't seen them for a few days. I miss the little ones so much!"

Wang Cuixi: "Go over there and call Jianli. You two should be careful and don't be rash!"

"I know, I know!"

Xu Yuting jumped out of the door. Meng Zhehan stretched out his hand to stop him, but Xu Yulin stopped him and asked him to go to the west room. "Jianye will be here soon. I heard from Yuting and Jianli that Taotao will go to Heilingzi Village and then Hongsong Town for the Double Ninth Festival this year. To be honest, we are... If Jianye and I had a few days off last year to replace Jianli and Yuting, the journey would have been smoother."

Meng Zhehan: "Just say whatever you want to say. Why are you beating around the bush when you are one of us?"

Xu Yuting laughed: "You are very familiar with our boss, aren't you? I don't have any other requests, I just want you to help say a word and assign us a job over there, so that we can go to Hongsong Town with you. You know, Jianye and I also grew up there, and we never had the chance to go back, and we miss that place very much."

"Okay, I'll call Chu Xiao when I get back. If he doesn't have any other tasks for you two for the time being, then I'll give him a suggestion, and then you can follow me to Hongsong Town."

"Thank you, Brother Han."

"I also want to tell you today that you two should be mentally prepared: at the beginning of next year, your units will have several vacancies for direct promotion to the next level and for further study at Beijing's top colleges. Based on your usual performance, you are fully qualified, but the others are not bad either... There are too many people and too little porridge, you know, the competition is fierce, I will be watching here, you should also pay more attention during this period, be careful not to be tripped up by others. It would be a pity to lose this opportunity, and you will have to wait a long time, the key is to get older."

Xu Yulin's expression became serious, his eyes sparkling: "Yes, I understand, thank you, Brother Han!"

Meng Zhehan patted his shoulder and stood up: "You can talk to Jianye later. It's really unfortunate today... I'm leaving first. I have to go to Taotao and tell her not to come over. You should hurry up and do what you need to do. Don't let others think you are neglecting me."

Xu Yulin: "It's really okay. My mom invited two aunties from the neighborhood to accompany her. I'm not needed. It's actually quite awkward for me to be there. How can I interrupt when women are talking?"

Wang Cuixi assigned him a task, but he felt that with so many women around, he was worried that the chopping and slicing wouldn't be done well, so he just took it back home and processed it after it was done.

Since Liu Jianye came to accompany him, Meng Zhehan pushed Xu Yulin out. Xu Yulin was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and went to the kitchen to help, but was driven out by Wang Cuixi again. He scratched his head and had to go into the living room.

About forty minutes later, the sound of dogs barking was heard outside the door, and Xu Yuting and Liu Jicheng brought Meng Tao, her son and Xiao Wangcai in.

Meng Zhehan and Liu Jianye were playing chess. Liu Jianye's chess skills were not as good as Xu Yulin's, and he was badly beaten by Meng Zhehan. Xiao Yunhai came and saved him. Meng Zhehan was busy holding his nephew and let him go.

Meng Tao complained to Meng Zhehan: "We were having so much fun playing in the yard, but we were kidnapped by these two people for no apparent reason. They directly picked up Xiao Yunhai and ran away, and Xiao Wangcai followed too. I had to come."

"So annoying? Punish them to work in the kitchen."

The kitchen really needed some help, so Liu Jianye brought the two guys over to act as fire cats.

Meng Tao said: "I thought you went back to Province D today."

Meng Zhehan held his nephew in his arms and gave instructions to Xiao Wang, saying with a smile, "The flight is at 6pm. How is it? Shen Yu is not at home now, do you want to go with your brother?"

"No, he called me last night and this morning, and he just said that he wouldn't let me go with you."

"Hey, is this guy a pervert? He traveled a long way and is very nosy."

"He said he would take me somewhere when he came back, so let's just listen to him for now."

Meng Tao smiled and changed the subject: "Did Brother Yulin invite you to dinner today?"

"No, I came here on my own to see their new yard, but I came at a bad time."

Meng Zhehan lifted up his nephew who had been sliding down and wanted to play with Xiao Wangcai, and lowered his voice: "I didn't know Xu Yulin was going to invite someone today, and they didn't let me leave, and brought you here... What is this for us, brother and sister? Are we just joining in the fun?"

"I was wondering why you brought us here without saying hello. So you're here. I knew they had a distinguished guest today, so I didn't mention it to you yesterday. But you came here without even calling me."

"Yesterday I was thinking of sending you home after dinner, but I didn't expect you to run so fast. It was already late at night when I finished my social event, so why would I call you? I left home early today on purpose, planning to come and see the new yard, and then go find you for lunch."

"Now you know what it means when plans can't keep up with changes, right?"

Meng Tao smiled and said, "It doesn't matter. We are here now. We are the brothers and sisters of Brother Yulin. We can just be the man's relatives and friends. His girlfriend must have brought people with her, and they are the woman's relatives and friends. When the relatives and friends of both parties meet, they each serve their own masters. We need to carefully weigh and observe each other to see if they are suitable for each other."

Meng Zhehan: “…”

I was amused by my sister's novel statement.

(End of this chapter)