When Liu Yuning returned home at noon, the housekeeper had just brought the food to the table.
He had barely taken a seat at the table when the study door was violently flung open from the inside.
“So you still remember to come home for dinner?”
Liu Guoxing was so angry his nose was practically lopsided, and he pointed straight at Liu Yuning, barking at him instantly.
“Get over here!”
Liu Yuning set his chopsticks down, wiped his hands, and walked slowly into the study.
As soon as he stepped inside, the old man slammed the door shut behind him with a resonant bang.
“You’ve certainly grown some nerve, Liu Yuning!” Liu Guoxing dropped back into his seat, throwing out this single line.
“The Wang family already called me! They said when you met with their girl today, you brought another female comrade along with you?”
The more the old man spoke, the hotter his anger flared. Behind the desk, the hand he pointed at his grandson was actively trembling.
“What do you think you’re doing? Slapping them right in the face? Huh? Every bit of my dignity has been completely thrown away by you!”
“Is this how a proper man handles things? Huh?!”
Liu Yuning stood in place, remaining silent.
He had anticipated that the Wang family would touch base with his grandfather, but he hadn’t expected them to be this fast, let alone twist the story into this narrative.
“If you already had someone in your heart, why didn’t you say so earlier? Did you absolutely have to wait until I stuck my face out for them to slap?” Liu Guoxing slapped his palm heavily onto the desk. “Hiding and keeping secrets, what are you playing at trying to look deep and profound? If you ask me, you’re just a coward!”
A coward?
To a military man, that specific word was the ultimate insult.
The peak of Liu Yuning’s brow twitched slightly, and he raised a hand to pinch the tail of his eyebrow.
This was truly fatal.
If he hadn’t pulled Lin Wanshu to act as a shield today, he feared the consequences would have been even harder to clean up than this.
Looking at his grandfather, who was practically smoking from fury, a sudden thought turned over in his mind.
Instead of meeting twenty different girls, rejecting them twenty times, offending every single one of them, and forcing his grandfather to lose face twenty more times…
It would be much better to just let this misunderstanding continue.
Settle all the trouble in one single shot.
Since Lin Wanshu could help his sister with a matchmaking date, it shouldn’t be too hard for her to help him out once either, right?
Helping one was helping; helping two was still helping…
As long as he could smoothly survive these ten days of leave, worst-case scenario, he would just wait another three to five years before coming back to visit family next time.
“Speak up! Did you turn into a mute?” Seeing him remain silent, Liu Guoxing’s anger surged even more. “Who is that young girl?”
“Grandpa, I didn’t bring her there. It was just a chance encounter. We are old friends who have known each other for so many years; shouldn’t I say hello?” Liu Yuning countered.
“You… you actually dare to admit it! Splendid, just splendid!” The old man’s mustache twitched in anger.
“Fine, fine. I had absolutely no idea that you possessed a female comrade in Yongcheng whom you’ve known for years.”
“Of course I do. It’s just that she’s a bit young, and I was afraid you wouldn’t agree, so I never dared to bring her up,” Liu Yuning fabricated smoothly on the fly.
“Heh~ You think this old man is that easy to fool?” The old master didn’t buy it.
“Young? How young? A middle schooler?”
“No, not that young. There’s an eight or nine-year age gap.”
Hearing this, Liu Guoxing almost laughed. “What kind of gap is eight or nine years? Twenty-one or twenty-two—just like your sister, basically an old maid!”
“The key issue is that she is far too outstanding. She might not necessarily look twice at a rough, old military man like me.”
“Hah~ In this entire city of Yongcheng, is there a single female comrade my grandson isn’t good enough for?” The old man felt genuinely slighted by this statement.
He, Liu Guoxing, was the Commander of the Yongcheng Military District. His son and daughter-in-law were martyrs who had also held vital positions during their lifetimes. His grandson, moreover, had achieved brilliant feats at a very young age, rising to the rank of regiment commander.
“Bring her back here for me to see! I want to look for myself and see what kind of outstanding girl can make even my grandson say he doesn’t dare to punch above his weight!”
“She didn’t say that herself; it’s just my own perspective,” Liu Yuning clarified.
Dragging her in to act as a human shield was one thing, but he couldn’t go framing her under a bad reputation.
“Meaning, this is still just your one-sided wishful thinking?” Liu Guoxing planted his hands on his hips, completely unconvinced once again.
This brat was clearly trying to pull a fast one to use someone as a shield!
Trying to show off his sword skills in front of a master? This kid was still far too green!
“Let me tell you, you must give me a proper account for today’s matter! Either you go make a proper apology to the Wang family girl and continue your matchmaking dates, or you bring that supposedly outstanding female comrade right in front of my face!”
“Regardless, before this leave of yours ends, your marriage must be finalized! Otherwise, don’t even think about returning to the military!”
“A total coward—what kind of troops are you even leading? You might as well transition out of the military early, and Grandpa will arrange a job for you right here at the veteran compound as a front gate security guard.”
Siss~
Liu Yuning sucked in a breath of cold air.
Look at that—the old man was truly dead-set this time.
Using a single phone call to yank him back home, implying that he was getting old and if Liu Yuning didn’t return to visit family this time, he would consider himself as having no grandson. Fine, he had dug an enormous pit just waiting for him to leap into.
“Grandpa, I can bring her back for you to look at. I believe you will definitely like her,” Liu Yuning said calmly.
“But whether she and I can make it work still depends on her feelings. If you can help me persuade her, I will absolutely say nothing more and submit a marriage report immediately.”
Liu Guoxing stared intently at his grandson, scrutinizing how many ounces of truth were in his words.
First she was young, then she was too outstanding and he was afraid he wasn’t good enough. No matter how he listened to it, it sounded like an evasion tactic.
What kind of man was he? He was an old fox who had lived long enough to become an expert. How could he fail to read his grandson’s little scheme?
However, he had been driven completely mad by that phone call from the Wang family today. Right now, he just wanted to hammer Liu Yuning’s marriage down securely, avoiding any complications that a long delay might bring.
“Hmph,” the old master snorted through his nose. “When your grandfather steps in, there is no matter that can’t be settled!”
He picked up the tea beside him, which had already gone cold, and took a massive gulp.
“Then it’s a deal. But the young lady is quite young. You mustn’t be so fierce like you are right now and scare her away.”
Liu Yuning raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth nearly curling upward.
“What kind of youth is an eight or nine-year difference? Even if she were twenty years younger—as long as it’s a female and she’s breathing, you bring her back to me, and I can secure this match for you!”
The old master slammed his teacup heavily onto the desk.
“Tonight it is. Invite the girl over to the house for dinner. As for the rest, Grandpa will handle it!”
“But let me lay down the ugly truth first—if that girl turns out to have a bad character, or if you just randomly pulled someone in to make up the numbers, I possess a pair of sharp, piercing eyes to see right through it. When that happens, you will behave yourself and go down the line for every single matchmaking date!”
“Fine, you handle it. In that case, I’ll have to trouble you to make a phone call to cancel this afternoon’s matchmaking session.”
Liu Yuning let out a quiet sigh of relief and turned to leave.
What he needed to do next was to convince that little brat to help him navigate through this crisis.
“Hold it!” Liu Guoxing called him back again. “What about your sister? How did she do today?”
“Still at the restaurant.”
“Hmph, she’s exactly the same! Not a single one of you can run!” The old master grunted.
“Go out, and pick her up while you’re at it, saving her from going out to mess around blindly again!”
“Understood, Grandpa. I’ll head over right now and personally keep an eye on her matchmaking date.”
Liu Yuning pulled the door open and walked out.
He didn’t know where Lin Wanshu lived; he still needed to track down his sister to find out!
Returning to the dining room, he wolfed down the remainder of his unfinished meal in a matter of seconds, and then headed out the door.