The atmosphere at the dinner table became slightly bizarre.
With one sweeping remark, the old master had completely capsized the siblings’ boat.
Liu Fan stared blankly at the old man. By saying Lin Wanshu had exercised poor judgment in making friends, did the old man mean her?
The corner of Liu Yuning’s mouth twitched repeatedly. He was only thirty—since when did he become an old stalk of celery and an old toad? Who exactly was the biological grandchild here?
Lin Wanshu silently chewed on the tender, savory rib in her mouth, completely at a loss for how to respond. Maybe I should just pretend I didn’t hear anything?
“Wanshu, when are you heading to your unit for your internship?” Liu Guoxing brought up another topic.
“Grandpa, I’m leaving the morning after tomorrow. The other students are heading straight there from school; I only managed to request a few days of leave.” Facing the old master, Lin Wanshu answered honestly.
“Leaving the day after tomorrow already…” The old master was clearly reluctant to see her go. “Who knows when you’ll get your next vacation.”
Lin Wanshu just smiled and didn’t reply.
The old master then asked about the fun things happening at her university, and dinner ended on a pleasant note amidst their conversation.
The two redundant siblings at the table just stared at each other. Throughout the meal, the old master didn’t utter a single syllable regarding their respective marriages.
After dinner, he insisted on playing a few more games of chess with Lin Wanshu before finally letting her go.
His eyes darted toward his grandson, who was sitting on the sofa sipping tea. “Yuning, go drop Wanshu off.”
Without a word, Liu Yuning set his teacup down, silently stood up, and picked up his jacket draped over the back of the chair.
……
They rode in silence all the way.
The car made two turns and drove onto Xing’an Road.
“Student Lin.” The man in the driver’s seat finally spoke.
“Hmm?” Lin Wanshu responded, her body instinctively tensing up. Was he finally going to ask about Liu Fan and Zhang Rong? If I voluntarily come clean, can I plead for leniency?
“Regarding today’s matter, I owe you a favor. If you need anything in the future, just speak up. As long as it’s within my power, I will definitely help.”
A favor?
Lin Wanshu let out a hollow laugh. Tonight at the Liu residence, besides playing chess with the old master, she had only eaten a meal—she hadn’t done anything else. She hadn’t pleaded for Liu Fan, nor had she blocked any blind dates for Liu Yuning. Where did this favor come from?
As long as he wasn’t settling scores with her, she was practically laughing to herself!
To her surprise, he didn’t mention a word about Zhang Rong the entire way. The car soon arrived at the entrance of the Textile Factory Worker Community.
“Just park here, I can walk in myself.” Lin Wanshu pointed toward the courtyard gate.
Liu Yuning brought the car to a smooth halt by the roadside and turned off the engine. Turning his head, he caught sight of a familiar figure, so he called out to Lin Wanshu just as she was about to get out.
“Student Lin, does that brat live in your courtyard?”
Lin Wanshu looked inside. Zhang Rong happened to be coming out of a house carrying a basin of water. He splashed it into the center of the courtyard, then turned back inside.
“Uh… yes, he’s my neighbor.”
Great! This guy didn’t show his face earlier or later, and just when it looked like they were going to get away scot-free, he just had to pop out…
“Grandpa was right. You still need to be cautious about making friends, Student Lin. That brat is no good. Neither you nor Xiaofan should associate with him ever again!”
Lin Wanshu: That’s it?
Yes, that was it. Having delivered his piece, Liu Yuning waited for Lin Wanshu to step out before hitting the gas and driving off.
……
The moment Lin Wanshu walked through the door, her mother, Song Lianying, pulled her over and spoke in an anxious, hushed tone.
“Did you go to the Liu family’s house?”
“Is Liu Fan’s brother back?”
“Zhang Rong got beaten up. Do you know who did it?”
“It was Liu Fan’s brother! He’s in the military and highly trained.”
“But still, how can someone from the military command just beat people up whenever they want?”
“Everyone in the courtyard is saying that the Liu family treats their children like treasures, but the moment they date someone, they beat the guy within an inch of his life. If they look down on him, they could just say so, why resort to violence?”
“With their noses in the air like that, they should just marry within the military compound! Since they look down on us ordinary citizens, why bother leading people on in the first place?”
Song Lianying mimicked the gossipy tone of the aunties in the courtyard perfectly. “You’re so close with Liu Fan, do you know what happened?”
Lin Wanshu was stunned. So, after taking a beating, Zhang Rong had returned to the courtyard to spread rumors that the Liu family looked down on regular folks?
“Mom, you can’t just repeat those rumors!” she quickly corrected her mother. “That brat Zhang Rong is a scoundrel himself. He actually has the nerve to go around badmouthing others and twisting the truth!”
Hearing this, Song Lianying realized that they really couldn’t just take the Zhang family’s word for it.
“Liu Fan dated him for six years, and Zhang Rong’s family hasn’t made a single move to propose or formalize things. Mom, if that were your daughter, would you be happy?” Lin Wanshu countered.
“Of course not!” Song Lianying replied without a second thought. “The attitude of Zhang Rong’s parents… I honestly don’t even know what to say about them.”
“Just because their son managed to date a girl from the military district compound, those two have been incredibly arrogant. Every day they tell people outside that they aren’t in a hurry, and that the girl’s side should be the anxious one.”
“They even said that once her belly gets big, the girl’s family will have to beg them to marry her into their house. Listen to that, is that how decent people talk?”
“Now that he got beaten up today, I suppose things are over between him and Liu Fan? Good riddance, honestly!”
Lin Wanshu’s eyes widened. She usually kept her head buried in her books and never listened to neighborhood gossip. She had absolutely no idea that Zhang Rong’s family held such a repulsive attitude.
She absolutely had to advise Liu Fan—a man like that, from a family like that, was a hard pass!
……
The moment Liu Yuning returned home, he was called into the study by the old master.
“The Lin girl is indeed a one-in-a-million good girl.”
“But the two of you aren’t a match. You’ll go on your blind dates tomorrow as planned. The ones Grandpa picked for you might not compare to the Lin girl, but they’re more than enough for you.”
Before his grandson could even sit properly, Liu Guoxing bombarded him with a lecture. “Your taste isn’t bad; you just lack a bit of self-awareness. It’s not your fault, you’ve just gotten used to being coddled in the military and actually started thinking you’re something special.”
“Grandpa… who exactly is the biological child of the Liu family?” Liu Yuning felt completely helpless. He knew his grandfather adored Lin Wanshu from the bottom of his heart, but he hadn’t expected him to be this biased.
“Of course you are!” The old master glared at him. “However, our Wanshu isn’t someone an old man like you should be daydreaming about. Grandpa doesn’t approve of this, go find someone else.”
Hearing this, Liu Yuning wanted to laugh. Find someone else? He would, but not right now. What he needed to do now was solve this ten-day blind date nightmare once and for all.
“Grandpa, how am I an old man at thirty? Besides, didn’t you say that even if there was a twenty-year age gap, as long as it’s a woman and I bring her through the door, you’d make the marriage happen?”
“Well, too bad, I’m a stubborn man. I’ve already brought the person back. If you can’t secure this match for me, I’ll just stay a bachelor for the rest of my life.”
“At any rate, I won’t be going to tomorrow’s blind date. Going would just be a waste of time, so go ahead and cancel it yourself.”
As if he had completely made up his mind, Liu Yuning’s attitude was incredibly firm, leaving the old master no room to argue as he promptly turned to leave the room. Less than a second later, he poked his head back in.
“However, regarding my sister’s marriage, I will take charge and pick a husband for her this time. As for her current state of mind, pull some strings at the military district and send her to the female soldier boot camp to train for three months before letting her come back.”
Bang.
The door slammed shut, leaving the old master alone in the study, gnashing his teeth in frustration.