Chapter 9
What kind of person is Zhuang Zhuohua? After their first meeting, Iris wondered if someone would give her the nickname "Madam Cool." Perhaps influenced by her older sister Ella, Iris had always admired such decisive and efficient people. But despite liking her, Iris was still very nervous about meeting the parents. Even though Zhuang Zhuoyuan had taken her to the market beforehand to familiarize her with her future wife, Iris was still incredibly nervous when they entered the elevator.
"Don't worry, baby," Zhuang Zhuoyuan said, his hands full of things, only able to rub his chin against Iris's hair. "My sister just looks cool, but she's actually very easy to get along with. Besides, she had a great first impression of you, so hurry up and show her the courage you had when you told her you wanted to pursue me!"
"I!" Iris gasped, then quickly deflated. "I can't! I'm so scared! BB, what should I call her? Calling her 'Madam Zhuang' seems too distant, but if I call her 'elder sister,' which is only the second time we've met, will she not like it? Maybe I should compromise and call her 'Sister Zhuo Hua'?"
Iris hooked her arm around Zhuang Zhuoyuan's, pulling him almost to one side. It was the first time Zhuang Zhuoyuan had seen her so nervous, and he found her utterly adorable, even more so than when she'd blushed and greeted the neighbors at the market. He gave up struggling, shifted everything to his right hand, and used his left to embrace her: "BBBBBB, calm down, take a deep breath. Come on, think about whether you trust me or not?"
“Of course I believe you,” Iris replied without hesitation.
Zhuang Zhuoyuan nodded in satisfaction: "That's right, listen to me, call her 'elder sister'. You have the ring now, this is proof of the change of address, you'll be full of confidence."
Iris looked at the ring on her hand, then at Zhuang Zhuoyuan, frowned and blinked, and finally hesitated before asking, "Then BB, you'll have a ring too. When you meet my parents later, will you dare to call them Daddy and Mummy directly?"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was taken aback by the question. He really wanted to brush it off with "That's a good question," but seeing Iris's expectant eyes, he straightened his chest and gave her enough confidence: "No problem."
“Okay!” Iris nodded vigorously. “Then I’ll let you video chat with my Daddy and Mummy in a few days!”
"ah?"
"come on!"
The elevator arrived at the floor just then. Iris clenched her fist, gave Zhuang Zhuoyuan a reassuring look, then took a deep breath and stepped out the door. Zhuang Zhuoyuan, however, was still reeling from the sudden arrangement. This pressure transfer method was really a bit over the top, wasn't it?
Regardless, seeing his family sitting together peacefully for a meal filled Zhuang Zhuoyuan with joy. He lost both his parents at a young age and had relied on his sister for over a decade. He had always longed for family life, and now that Iris had come to visit, he began to feel that this part of his life was being filled little by little.
“BB, come on, have another piece of fish. You heard it too, Uncle Wu from the boss said this fish is especially fresh. Sister, you should eat more too. You've been busy investigating cases lately, and you've lost weight.”
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was busy serving food to the two women. Iris and Zhuang Zhuohua, who were sitting on opposite sides of the table, looked at the small mountain of food piled up in their bowls, then exchanged a glance. They both saw smiles in each other's eyes. At the same time, they picked up their chopsticks and, with remarkable tacit understanding, put the top piece of crispy pork back to Zhuang Zhuoyuan: "You're the one who ate more!"
Zhuang Zhuoyuan was overjoyed. It seemed that there would be no more sister-in-law issues in their family in the future.
Zhuang Zhuohua is usually a slow starter, and it's difficult for most people to quickly break through her social barriers. But Iris is an exception. At least tonight, her acceptance of Iris has been unusually rapid, exceeding even Zhuang Zhuohua's expectations. Although their relationship isn't exactly intimate yet, and Zhuang Zhuohua occasionally feels uncomfortable with Iris's affection, she has virtually no objections to the changes in address and the idea of living together. She has to admit that there is indeed a certain affinity between people, and Iris and their family seem to be a perfect match.
After dinner, Zhuang Zhuoyuan washed the dishes as usual. After finding Iris had settled into her new environment and clearing the table, he felt comfortable leaving her and his sister in the living room. Knowing Iris's ability to take the initiative, he wasn't worried about them running out of things to talk about: "Baby, chatting is okay, just remember not to go overboard! There will be many more opportunities for you to get up close and personal with your idol, Madam Zhuang, but tonight you have a date with Dr. Pun. If you need to prepare anything in advance, be sure to keep track of the time!"
“Okay!” Iris, holding the other rabbit Zhuang Zhuoyuan had brought back from the toy store, happily gave an “OK” sign. Watching their interaction, Zhuang Zhuohua began to think that chatting for two or three hours with someone she had only met twice wasn’t impossible after all. She took a sip of water, momentarily forgetting the topic she had prepared, but fortunately, Zhuang Zhuoyuan had made a good start, so she followed up by asking, “I heard from A-Yuan that you’re going to study folklore at university?”
"Yes!" In a good mood, and thinking about the adventure that night, Iris became excited. "My job doesn't require me to be in the office, so I have a lot of free time. When I was getting information from another witness in the previous case, I found many of his ingenious ideas very appealing, so I took him on as my assistant. He told me about his major, and I thought that Hong Kong would be my second hometown in the future, so it would be best if I could understand it in depth. Therefore, I asked him to help me contact the head of his department, and I got permission to participate in the online written test and online interview before the deadline, and finally successfully enrolled."
"I see." Zhuang Zhuohua nodded. She knew folklore was a niche major, with a relatively low entry barrier compared to other disciplines, but Iris's ability to gain admission with high scores in just a few days was evident. However, if she was just a nominal consultant, then regarding the salary…
“Iris, you can consider this part-time study. If you have any questions about tuition fees, you can talk to me and A-Yuan.”
Hearing this, Iris felt that Zhuang Zhuohua and Zhuang Zhuoyuan were truly siblings, both equally worried about her financial situation. However, remembering that this was Hong Kong, she understood their concerns: "Sister, don't worry, I'm not that poor. I had income from writing novels, publishing books, and selling copyrights before. Although I'm only nominally affiliated with Shanfeng now, they still pay me a salary. In addition, I have some small investments, so tuition and living expenses won't be a problem. You and Ayuan don't need to worry too much about me; I won't let myself suffer."
"That's good." Zhuang Zhuohua smiled slightly, looked down at Iris's outstretched hand, thought for a moment and then took it. "I know you came to Hong Kong because of Ah Yuan. Now that you call me 'elder sister,' we are family. I will definitely take good care of you. You can tell us anything."
"Thank you, sister." Iris stepped forward and hugged Zhuang Zhuohua. After many years, she finally felt loved by her sister again. Although no one could replace Ella, she cherished every bit of love she received. She sincerely hoped that Ella was just as happy in places she couldn't see.
The "Midnight Date with Pandora" was actually the Folklore Department's welcome party. Traditionally, they would lead freshmen through the locations where these ghost stories originated, using the ten most bizarre campus tales as a theme. While telling each story, they also wanted the freshmen to experience what it's like to study folklore and get familiar with the campus environment.
Seeing the students around him screaming in fright, Zhuang Zhuoyuan felt that the most important purpose of Professor Pan's welcome party was probably to scare people. He hadn't heard many campus ghost stories during his own school days, but this was a novel experience. However, to be honest, the department's tricks were rather childish; they could only frighten these ivory tower youths, and probably wouldn't have any effect on anyone even slightly braver.
Iris remained calm throughout, listening, observing, nodding, and then moving on. Remembering her past "feats," Zhuang Zhuoyuan was already prepared to come back next year. Watching her scare people was definitely more interesting than listening to her stories; perhaps they could even team up to prank the freshmen then.
The student council president was telling the story of the school janitor finding the key when Iris, who had been listening attentively, suddenly hugged Zhuang Zhuoyuan. Zhuang Zhuoyuan looked down and saw that she was smiling and didn't seem frightened at all, so he secretly asked a question.
Iris whispered in his ear, "Don't you guys all like to take girls to see horror movies just for that 'hug' time and time again? You probably can't get a hug from someone as brave as me, so I'll give you one for free, so you won't feel too unsatisfied."
Zhuang Zhuoyuan smiled helplessly. What kind of "sense of accomplishment" was this? But this sudden turn of events was quite amusing. He stared at Iris, slightly raised his hand, and asked, "Could we do it again?"
Iris really likes Zhuang Zhuoyuan.
Zhang Zhanchao stood to the side, glancing at the other freshmen and then at them, hesitating whether to cough twice to remind his boss. While everyone else was in a chaotic frenzy, their peaceful existence was truly out of place and drew attention. But looking around at everyone, and seeing that even Dr. Pun hadn't said anything, he instantly abandoned the idea of disturbing them. After all, interfering with someone's romance was a sin against heaven, and compared to his boss's lotus lanterns and the campus lotus pond, it really seemed rather ordinary.
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