After dinner, the two tidied up and soon it was time to head out to visit Shi Nanbei’s grandmother. Grandma Shi lived in Shuangliu, which was over an hour’s drive from Longquan. Since they were going to visit an elder, Zhao Xunyin took things very seriously—she even called the young assistant from yesterday to come drive them. And so, the three of them set off together to visit Grandma Shi.
Speaking of Shi Nanbei’s grandmother—she was quite the legendary figure. Now a retired professor from the University of Electronic Science and Technology, she had once been part of the research teams behind national engineering projects. She had given the best years of her youth to her country before returning to Chengdu, getting married, and having children. From the outside, it all looked like a peaceful, stable life.
But only looked that way.
Grandma Shi was from Chongqing, known for her fiery temper. Even at seventy, she was full of energy—the kind of elder who could “break your legs in a minute,” as Shi Nanbei put it.
After retiring from the university more than a decade ago, she’d been invited back by several colleges for reemployment, but she refused them all. “I’ve worked half my life already,” she said, “Now I just want to enjoy it.”
But barely had she begun enjoying her retirement when Shi Nanbei’s unreliable parents decided to go off and “enjoy life” themselves—leaving their daughter in Grandma’s care. Furious, Grandma Shi had never quite forgiven them. Even now, at the mere mention of Shi Nanbei’s parents, this dignified old professor would start cursing.
Well, she was a Chongqing woman after all—and no amount of age could dull that fire.
“By the way, how did you even meet my grandma?” Shi Nanbei suddenly asked during the drive. She remembered that when they’d first met on that blind date, Zhao Xunyin had said it was her grandmother who introduced her. But her grandma had never cared for celebrities—her last favorite actor was the heartthrob Zun Long from last century. For her to be a fan of Zhao Xunyin? Even Shi Nanbei herself found that hard to believe.
“Just met her, that’s all.” Zhao Xunyin said casually, idly playing with Shi Nanbei’s soft, fleshy hand like a toy.
“Tell me!” Shi Nanbei puffed up instantly, her voice turning adorably fierce.
Zhao Xunyin only smiled. “No comment.”
Shi Nanbei: “…”
Shi Nanbei pouted for a while, curiosity gnawing at her until she finally gave in. With no dignity left to lose, she leaned into Zhao Xunyin’s arms and hugged her, coaxing sweetly, “Please, good wife, tell me?”
“Please, pretty wife-jie”
The assistant in the front seat: “…”
She really couldn’t watch this anymore.
Didn’t this girl just complain a few days ago about Zhao Xunyin being too old? And now she’s calling her wife—even wife-jie?
Pick a side, girl!
“What do I get in return if I tell you?” Zhao Xunyin asked with a sly smile, sounding every bit like a cunning fox.
Shi Nanbei thought hard, then declared heroically, “I’ll treat you to hotpot!”
Zhao Xunyin: “…”
Did she, an award-winning film queen, look like someone who’d be bribed with hotpot?
“I don’t like hotpot,” Zhao Xunyin rejected mercilessly.
That, of course, offended the devout hotpot enthusiast Shi Nanbei to her very soul.
“Hotpot is amazing! Why don’t you like it?”
“Then why don’t you eat bitter melon when it’s so good for you?” Zhao Xunyin countered.
Because she had heard from Grandma Shi herself about Nanbei’s infamous hatred for bitter melon—the same kid who once ran away from home just to avoid eating it, and was nearly beaten half to death when Grandma dragged her back.
“She actually told me,” Grandma had once complained to Zhao Xunyin during a video call, “that bitter melon has no benefits whatsoever.”
“Nanbei really hates bitter melon that much?” Zhao Xunyin had asked, amused. Even though she wasn’t in Chengdu often, she stayed close with Grandma Shi—calling or video chatting whenever she wasn’t too busy. Through those talks, she had learned quite a bit about Nanbei’s childhood.
She remembered Nanbei being such a well-behaved little girl—nothing like the mischievous brat her grandmother described.
Back then, whenever Zhao Xunyin fed her, Nanbei would always eat obediently and then cling to her leg afterward, cooing in a milky voice, “Jiejie more!”
Hard to believe that sweet little girl had turned into such a handful.
“Yes! I told her so many times that bitter melon helps reduce heat. She eats so much spicy food—what if she gets too overheated?” Grandma had grumbled. “And do you know what she said? She asked me who said bitter melon was good.
I told her, ‘the doctors.’ And she said, ‘Then those doctors are quacks! When I grow up, I’ll become a doctor and tell every kid who hates bitter melon that it’s useless!’”
Grandma loved her obstinate granddaughter dearly, but she could only sigh. “With that restless butt of hers, a doctor? I’ll believe it when I see it!”
When Zhao Xunyin heard that back then, she’d laughed out loud. She didn’t take it seriously—it was a child’s nonsense, after all. But years later, when she learned from Grandma Shi that Nanbei had actually gone to medical school after her college entrance exams, she had been stunned.
Who would’ve thought that stubborn little girl would really follow through?
The question pulled Shi Nanbei out of her daydreams. She fell silent, contemplating her lifelong enmity with bitter melon.
After a long pause, she remembered her earlier question. “You still haven’t said how you met my grandma!”
Zhao Xunyin smiled and pulled her into her arms. In her younger years, she never understood why older people in her circle always ended up falling for lively, youthful girls. But now that she had actually married one—she understood.
Cute, spirited young girls truly were treasures to people like her.
Just look at Shi Nanbei—so adorably fierce, it made her heart melt.
“I used to live next door to your grandma,” Zhao Xunyin said, her gaze softening with nostalgia. Back then, she’d been a high school student. Her family had moved to Chengdu due to work, and she’d transferred schools temporarily for two semesters. The place they stayed in happened to be right next to Grandma Shi’s.
“You lived next door to my grandma?” Nanbei’s eyes went wide. She had never heard this before. “When was that?”
If only she’d known earlier—she could’ve bragged about that for years.
A movie queen, living next door to her grandma! What a flex!
“Around sixteen, seventeen, maybe eighteen years ago,” Zhao Xunyin said thoughtfully, then smiled down at her. “You were only three back then. You used to cling to my leg and call me ‘jiejie.’”
Nanbei froze, utterly stunned. After a long silence, she asked, “Don’t tell me you liked me even back then?”
Zhao Xunyin: “…”
The assistant in front: “…”
Can’t watch this. Absolutely can’t.
Zhao Xunyin laughed and lightly patted Nanbei’s lower back. “What nonsense are you spouting? You were just a baby!”
Nanbei, however, looked dead serious. “But I was really cute when I was little—you know that, right?”
Zhao Xunyin: “…”
Why was this girl always praising herself?
After a moment, Zhao Xunyin sighed and admitted honestly, “Yes. You were very cute.”
Hearing her wife’s acknowledgment, Nanbei lit up instantly, swinging her feet happily while sitting on Zhao Xunyin’s lap.
“At that time,” Zhao Xunyin continued, “your grandma was still teaching at the university. I was terrible at physics and had done horribly on a test. I was sulking downstairs all afternoon when your grandma recognized me and brought me to your house.”
Back in her student days, Zhao Xunyin had been proud and brilliant—a polite, striking girl who was adored by everyone at school. Over time, that attention made her arrogant. When her parents moved her to Chengdu for work, she transferred schools at the peak of her teenage pride.
Her parents were always busy, leaving her alone with a housekeeper. Over time, the emotional distance grew. She didn’t want to go home, nor talk about her feelings with anyone.
Her teenage gloom deepened, day by day—until she met the woman who would become one of the most respected elders in her life: Professor Shi Yu, Nanbei’s grandmother.
The professor came from a scholarly family. Her temperament was calm and refined, her manner gentle yet firm. As a keen observer of people, she quickly saw through the lonely exterior of the girl living next door.
Back then, little Nanbei was still living with her parents, visiting Grandma only on weekends—giving the old lady plenty to worry about between the two of them.
At first, Zhao Xunyin didn’t like the little one at all. But toddler Nanbei, a budding face-lover from birth, couldn’t resist following a pretty sister around. The more Zhao Xunyin ignored her, the more determined she became to stick close—following her everywhere and calling, “Jiejie! Jiejie!” And if Zhao Xunyin showed even the slightest kindness, she’d immediately reach up with chubby little hands and demand,
“Jiejie, hug.”
She wasn’t even three yet—just a tiny, round bundle of affection, begging for love.
But back then, sixteen-year-old Zhao Xunyin was in full teenage rebellion mode—nowhere near as patient or gentle as she was today.
“Not hugging you.” She’d often cross her arms coldly and stare at the little thing before her.
So no, that jiejie was never gentle at all.