At this moment, Han Yulan had taken a day off to prepare at home. It was her son's first time bringing his girlfriend home, and regardless of whether she was satisfied or not, proper etiquette was essential. In families like theirs, even if they weren't satisfied with their partner, they wouldn't want to embarrass her.
On the way home, Gu Yanxiao was giving Xia Liang a ride when she asked, "What do your parents do at the county committee?" Gu Yanxiao replied, "My dad is the county party secretary, and my mom is the women's director." Xia Liang was surprised, "I didn't expect you to be dating a second-generation official!" Gu Yanxiao didn't hear what she said and asked, "What did you say?" Xia Liang said, "Nothing, just ride your bike seriously." Gu Yanxiao, in a playful mood, deliberately swayed the bike from side to side, startling Xia Liang, who quickly grabbed his waist. This made Gu Yanxiao laugh heartily. Xia Liang, annoyed, punched him twice on the back. After laughing enough, Gu Yanxiao said, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. Hold on tight, let's go home." With that, he seriously rode the bike home with Xia Liang.
Upon arriving at the Gu family home, Xia Liang was greeted warmly by Aunt Wu as soon as she entered, saying, "You've arrived! Come in quickly!" She even offered Xia Liang shoes to change into. Xia Liang initially mistook her for Gu Yanxiao's mother, but then she heard Aunt Wu say, "This is Aunt Wu. She's been with us for many years. Her cooking is delicious; you must try it later." Xia Liang nodded and greeted Aunt Wu with a smile, "Hello, Aunt Wu." Aunt Wu smiled back, "Don't be so polite. Come in and sit down. Director Han has been busy all day." She then led Xia Liang to the living room. The Gu family's house was much larger than many modern homes; after all, it belonged to a county party secretary. The house was over 100 square meters, with four large bedrooms. The master bedroom was for Gu's parents, the second bedroom for Gu Yanxiao (though it was empty for most of the year), and the smallest room was reserved for Aunt Wu. Sometimes, when it rained, she wouldn't go home and would stay there instead.
Just as she was about to sit down, she heard a greeting from behind: "Yanxiao, has Comrade Xia arrived?" Xia Liang turned around and, oh my! It was an acquaintance. Before she could even speak, Han Yulan across from her recognized her too. Wasn't this the little girl who stabbed the human trafficker with a knife on the train that day?! She was actually her son's girlfriend! She had told Wang Hongxia before that this girl was a person with personality and ideas, but she never expected that she would be her son's girlfriend. If that was the case, she had absolutely no objections to her son dating her. She had been worried that her future daughter-in-law was from the countryside and that her thinking wasn't very progressive, which might cause problems in the future. But now she had no need to worry at all.
Han Yulan greeted Xia Liang first, "Comrade Xia, it's great to see you again. Don't be shy, make yourself at home and sit wherever you like." Xia Liang nodded reservedly, "Okay, Auntie." Gu Yanxiao asked in confusion, "You two knew each other before?" Han Yulan replied, "We met, but didn't know each other well. Last time, I went on a business trip with your Aunt Wang, and Xia Liang happened to be on the same train. She was targeted by human traffickers and almost kidnapped, but luckily she was brave and resourceful." Gu Yanxiao was even more puzzled and turned to Xia Liang, asking, "When did this happen, and how..." "Why didn't you tell me?" Xia Liang, seeing his pale face, quickly recounted the whole story to comfort him, "I was just afraid you'd worry. Besides, nothing serious happened, and I even did a great job; the factory rewarded me with a bicycle ticket." Gu Yanxiao's face darkened further after hearing this, but he didn't dare show it too much, afraid of frightening Xia Liang. He turned to his mother, Comrade Han Yulan, and asked, "Mom, why didn't you help A-Liang back then? If she had been kidnapped, you would never have had a daughter-in-law or a grandson in your life."
Han Yulan “......”
Summer coolness "..."
Han Yulan, not wanting Xia Liang to misunderstand, said, "I happened to be in the restroom with your Aunt Wang at the time. When we came back, we saw a crowd gathered there, and realizing something was wrong, we called the police." Xia Liang smiled and thanked Han Yulan, "Thank you, Auntie. If it weren't for you, I might have been taken away by human traffickers. After all, everyone around believed I was her daughter, and the one I stabbed even wanted to subdue me and hand me over to the traffickers." As she spoke, Xia Liang laughed and continued, "Later, I even ran into him in the provincial capital. He blushed deeply as soon as he saw me, and..." He apologized to me, saying he was also deceived by human traffickers. Actually, I was very angry at first, but then I realized his intentions were good; it's just that human traffickers are too cunning. If I shifted the blame onto him, would anyone dare to stand up for what's right? If everyone is afraid to take responsibility, if everyone turns a blind eye, then society will become indifferent, and I don't want to see that kind of scene. Indeed, in later generations, many people with impure hearts have caused society to become indifferent. Being extorted for tens of thousands of yuan after helping an elderly person is commonplace; helping others only brings trouble. Gu Yanxiao, who was initially very angry, softened his expression after hearing her words. He moved closer to her and held her hand. Although his voice was calm, a hint of lingering fear was revealed in his eyes: "It's all my fault. If I could always be by your side, you wouldn't have experienced this." If he didn't have a special profession, could he always be by her side? Xia Liang knew he was getting stuck on this, so she took his hand in return. Her gaze pierced through Gu Yanxiao's eyes, and her tone was warm and comforting: "This isn't your fault. Even if you weren't a soldier, we couldn't be inseparable. Although we're dating, we're independent individuals. It's impossible for me to, and I don't want to, be tied to you all the time. If we have difficulties, we can help each other. If we have problems, we can discuss and solve them together, instead of relying on you for everything." Gu Yanxiao held Xia Liang's hand tightly and remained silent for a long time.
In Han Yulan's mind, if Xia Liang, her prospective daughter-in-law, could be rated 70 points before, she was now a perfect 120. She wasn't just satisfied, she was extremely satisfied. Even if Xia Liang wasn't her son's girlfriend, she was happy to befriend this young woman. She didn't say anything, just smiled and went to the kitchen to help Wu Ma prepare the meal. Because Xia Liang was coming, they had prepared extra dishes. Wu Ma definitely couldn't handle it all by herself, so she helped out. Dinner would be ready when Old Gu returned.
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