After lunch.
It's already midnight.
The weather lately has been unpredictable, sometimes good and sometimes bad.
The sky was once bright and sunny, but now it has turned into a dark and gloomy place.
Standing outside the dining room, Zhang Youye looked up at the sky, where even the gaps in the clouds were filled with a dark blue hue.
It looks like it might rain.
He shook a cigarette out of the pack, put it in his mouth, lit it, and slowly paced down the corridor with his head down while taking out his phone to call his aunt, Zhang Ningying.
On the phone, he reminded his aunt to take good care of the flowers and plants in the yard, and if the rain got heavier, to have her help move them back inside, and not to try to be strong by herself.
"Okay, Auntie understands."
The woman's voice on the other end of the phone was light and gentle, like a spring breeze in March, giving people a sense of comfort and ease.
"Are you settling in well at the Shu family's? I saw the video of you and Yiyi singing in front of the mall. Looks like your second uncle was right, now only Yiyi can keep you in line, right?"
Having left the corridor, Zhang Youye casually exhaled a puff of smoke, a cigarette between his slender fingers, and sat relaxed on a stone bench in the courtyard.
"Auntie, do my dad and second uncle have any opinions on the marriage between our two families?"
"Don't worry," Zhang Ningying explained with a smile, "Your dad and second uncle don't have those kinds of nonsense opinions."
"They had already discussed it with the old man, otherwise why would the old man let you live in the ancestral home?"
Perhaps thinking of a deceased friend, Zhang Ningying's eyes dimmed, and she continued to ask, "How have you been getting along with Yiyi these past few days? I've seen the girl's picture; she's really beautiful and looks a lot like her father."
After a moment's thought, considering that the Qin family had been secretly eyeing the Shu family, Zhang Youye did not reveal the whole story of the two getting their marriage certificate, but only told his aunt.
“It’s great. We get along very well, and I can tell that she’s happy too.”
Nodding, Zhang Ningying gave earnest advice.
"That's good. You're a boy and you've never been in a relationship before, so you'd better control your temper. If you make Yiyi cry, you'll see what I do to you."
Only when facing Shu Yi does Zhang Youye, this unruly cheetah, turn into a cuddly little kitten.
"Auntie, if I dare to make her cry, I'm afraid I'll punish myself, let alone ask you to deal with me. So, don't worry about it."
Amused by her nephew's witty remarks, Zhang Ningying chuckled and gave him a few words of advice before hanging up the phone.
After putting away his phone, Zhang Youye got up from the stone bench and went straight to the Moon-Sweeping Hall.
I had been chatting and drinking tea with the old man in the Moonlit Hall for a long time when my phone rang again. I picked it up and looked at it.
It was a call from my cousin, Zhang Huaiyi.
"Hey, this is really strange. Why are you calling me all of a sudden?"
On the other end of the phone.
Leaving my aunt's villa, I walked through the vast garden, which was comparable to a palace, and gestured to the butler beside me to prepare some food to take to my room.
Zhang Huaiyi then called Zhang Youye.
The familiar, languid tone reached his ears, and Zhang Huaiyi's expression remained indifferent as he lazily curled his lips.
"I'm going back to Jingnan."
"Hey bro, wanna find a place and grab a drink?"
As members of the same bloodline in the family, Zhang Youye and Zhang Huaiyi grew up together. They were equally good-looking and had always had a close relationship.
When Zhang Youye got into trouble, his second uncle sent him abroad under the guise of studying so that he wouldn't be affected.
Thinking that his cousin was outwardly refined but inwardly full of wicked schemes, Zhang Youye hurriedly asked a question.
"When did you get back? Did you graduate?"
"I just got home, and I just left my aunt's place."
As he spoke, he turned around and took a shortcut. Just then, a gust of autumn wind blew past his ear, and Zhang Huaiyi slowed down.
"Are you at the Shu family's? Let me wash up and go check on things at my dad's place, then I'll come find you."
Glancing at the old man beside him, Zhang Youye put down his teacup and gave a stern warning.
"Why don't you come over after dinner? The Shu family is having a get-together today, and the old man has some important business to discuss. Come over after dinner, and I'll introduce you to your future sister-in-law while we're at it."
"What? You've already categorized yourself as a member of the Shu family?" Zhang Huaiyi asked with a light laugh.
"Is that not allowed? Your sister-in-law will be part of our family sooner or later. What's wrong with me, as her husband, just listening in? Alright, I have something to do. See you tonight."
After saying that, Zhang Youye hung up the phone.
After sitting and listening for a long time, Shu Qiyi finally couldn't hold back and hit him with his cane.
She was still scolding him.
"You brat, look at how pathetic you are."
"You're already this smug before my granddaughter has even married you. If she really did marry you, wouldn't you be strutting around like crazy?"
Rubbing his sore calf, Zhang Youye raised an eyebrow and said casually, "Grandpa, I'm practically your grandson-in-law, can't we talk this over? Don't hit people with your cane anymore, it hurts a lot, okay?"
"Discuss what?!"
If it weren't for Wei Bo stopping him from behind, Shu Qiyi would definitely have picked up his cane and given him another blow. He braced his palm on the dragon head of the cane and regained his composure.
"You brat, we should get down to business."
Continuing their previous conversation, Zhang Youye frowned slightly, pondering for a long while.
He then picked up the teacup lid from the table and unconsciously fiddled with it between his fingertips.
"Sir, I have no objection to holding the cocktail party at our hotel, I'm just worried..."
He waved to interrupt Zhang Youye's hesitant words, as if he had seen through everything, and Shu Qiyi spoke calmly.
"Don't worry, I've already discussed this with Uncle Yiyi. Calling Uncle's family over today is just to inform the others."
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