After returning home, Lin Yi’an changed into her loungewear and went to the back garden to check on the flowers she kept. Whenever she wasn’t home, Aunt Wang would come by from time to time to tend to the flowers and plants in the yard.
Hearing a car pull up outside, she walked out and saw Zhou Mingshi striding in. The first thing that caught her eye was the vivid bouquet of red roses cradled in his arms.
She smiled. “More flowers?”
Walking over, Zhou Mingshi handed them to her. “I saw a flower shop on the way and got out to buy a bouquet.”
“They’re beautiful.” Lin Yi’an accepted them with a smile, then led him inside.
Seeing the bouquet in her arms, Ye Lingzhi stepped forward to take it. “I’ll arrange them in a vase.”
After the two of them sat down, Lin Yi’an said, “Dinner will be a little while yet. Have some fruit first.”
Zhou Mingshi nodded.
Lin Yi’an had always preferred simple, light meals, and so did Zhou Mingshi. Their eating habits were remarkably alike. After spending a few days with her, he had already begun to enjoy sitting down and sharing a meal with her.
Summer rain arrived without warning. It had been sunny just moments ago, but by the time dinner was over, thunder rumbled across the horizon. Before long, raindrops came pelting down with a loud pitter-patter.
Aunt Wang and the two assistants were having their meal in the smaller dining room nearby, leaving the two of them undisturbed.
Listening to the rain outside, Assistant Chen suddenly recalled a familiar saying: ‘A rainy day is a day to keep your guests. Will you keep them? Yes.’
The thunder grew louder, and the rain poured even harder. Lin Yi’an walked over to the window and looked outside. “The rain’s so heavy. Why don’t you stay here tonight? We have plenty of guest rooms.”
Even with a car, there was no such thing as absolute safety in a thunderstorm.
Zhou Mingshi said, “As you wish.”
Assistant Chen and Assistant Ye had just walked out when they heard him say that. Zhou Mingshi looked up at Assistant Chen and said, “The rain’s too heavy. We’ll stay here tonight.”
Lin Yi’an said, “When we first moved in, we prepared pajamas for my eldest and second brothers, but they’ve never stayed here, so the clothes have never been used. You can make do with those tonight. Tomorrow I’ll have someone prepare a few sets of clothes for you to keep here, just in case this happens again. It’ll make staying over more convenient.”
Zhou Mingshi said, “I’ll have Assistant Chen bring them over tomorrow.”
Lin Yi’an nodded. “That works.”
The two of them spoke at an unhurried pace, discussing everything calmly and reasonably. Even the usually talkative Assistant Chen found himself moving more quietly, afraid of disturbing them.
Seeing that he had nothing to do, Ye Lingzhi called him into the pharmacy at the back to help organize the medicinal herbs. They had all been shipped over from Changping.
Ye Lingzhi had been Lin Yi’an’s assistant for four years. She wouldn’t dare claim expertise in everything, but she recognized almost every medicinal herb there was.
She even knew a little about dispensing prescriptions, slicing herbs, stir-frying them, and preparing them through roasting.
Once they reached the pharmacy, Assistant Chen said, “Who would’ve thought we’d suddenly get a thunderstorm?”
Even the heavens seemed unable to stand the pair’s painfully slow pace any longer, giving them a little push. It had successfully kept President Zhou here for the night, secured him a guest room in Miss Lin’s house, and even laid the groundwork for future overnight stays. Their relationship had taken another step forward.
Compared to other couples, this kind of progress could hardly be called progress at all. But for two people who never rushed anything, it was a tremendous leap.
Ye Lingzhi said nothing. She simply picked up some medicinal herbs and showed him how to slice them.
Listening from beside her, Assistant Chen couldn’t help asking, “You even know how to slice medicinal herbs?”
Ye Lingzhi replied, “If you spent every day by Sister Yi’an’s side, you’d know how too.”
The rain continued throughout the night, finally clearing by morning. After breakfast, everyone headed off to work.
Over the next few days, Zhou Mingshi was extremely busy and didn’t ask Lin Yi’an out for dinner. Still, unlike before, when they could go one or two months without contacting each other, they now exchanged text messages every day to greet one another, occasionally chatting for a few moments as well.
On Friday, as soon as Tan Qingwen returned from her business trip, she invited the Lin family to have dinner together the following day.
Lin Yi’an naturally accepted with pleasure.
After settling on a time for the gathering, Tan Qingwen called her son. “Are you free tomorrow?”
Zhou Mingshi asked, “You’re back?”
Tan Qingwen replied, “I just got back. I’ve invited your Aunt Wang and Yi’an to dinner. Would you like to come too?”
Looking completely at ease, Zhou Mingshi said, “Since you’ve already made the arrangements, wouldn’t it be a bit inappropriate if I didn’t show up?”
Tan Qingwen laughed. “Then come along. I bought some things for you and An’an while I was away. How about I bring them over for both of you tomorrow?”
Zhou Mingshi smiled. “Yi’an is your future daughter-in-law. If you want to give her gifts, just do it. She won’t be embarrassed.”
Tan Qingwen hesitated. “…There are quite a lot.”
Zhou Mingshi asked, “What did you buy?”
Tan Qingwen counted them off. “Dolls, clothes, shoes, jewelry, handbags, cosmetics…”
“…” Zhou Mingshi immediately sat up straighter. “Pick two clothing items, two pieces of jewelry, and two handbags. Keep everything else for now. We can talk about it later.”
Tan Qingwen sighed regretfully. “All right.”
Zhou Mingshi added, “As for me, don’t give me anything except watches, cuff links, and tie clips.”
Tan Qingwen replied, “Got it.”
Lin Yi’an’s eldest brother, eldest sister, and father were all tied up with work, so only Wang Yuehua and Lin Yi’an came to the dinner.
When they arrived at the hotel, they happened to run into Zhou Mingshi and Tan Qingwen as they stepped out of their respective cars.
Lin Yi’an smiled as she called out, “Aunt Tan!”
Meanwhile, Zhou Mingshi greeted Wang Yuehua.
Tan Qingwen responded with a smile. After greeting Wang Yuehua, she walked over and took Lin Yi’an’s hand. “An’an, I picked up a few things for you while I was on this business trip. They’re all in the car. I’ll give them to you after dinner.”
She had always been thoughtful. Since she’d prepared gifts for her future daughter-in-law, she naturally hadn’t forgotten the rest of the Lin family.
Smiling softly, Lin Yi’an said, “I prepared a gift for you too, Aunt Tan.”
Tan Qingwen hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise. “What is it?”
Lin Yi’an said, “Mingshi mentioned that you like paintings…”
Tan Qingwen’s eyes lit up. “So it’s a painting?”
Lin Yi’an nodded. “It’s in the car. I’ll give it to you after dinner.”
Although Tan Qingwen was curious, it wasn’t the right place to open gifts, so she didn’t press further.
Wang Yuehua watched with a smile as her daughter and future mother-in-law interacted so warmly.
As they walked into the hotel, Tan Qingwen said, “Why is it so noisy? If I’d known, I wouldn’t have picked this hotel.”
Wang Yuehua replied, “We’ll be in a private room. The noise won’t bother us.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than a pleasantly surprised voice rang out behind them.
“Second Brother? You’re here for my mom’s birthday banquet too?”
The group turned around. It was Zhou Jia.
“We’re here for dinner,” Zhou Mingshi replied.
She only then noticed Lin Yi’an and the others standing beside him. The moment her gaze landed on Tan Qingwen, she instinctively shrank back a little. Unwilling to give up, she asked, “My mom’s birthday banquet is being held at this hotel. Second Brother, would you like to…”
“Jiajia, what are you doing? Hurry over and help greet the guests.”
A large number of guests had arrived all at once, and Zhou Mingyuan was already overwhelmed. He hadn’t expected his younger sister to be slacking off.
Zhou Jia glanced at Zhou Mingshi again before running over to Zhou Mingyuan. “I saw Second Brother.”
Zhou Mingyuan asked, “Second Brother’s here?”
As he spoke, he looked up. He didn’t spot Zhou Mingshi, but he did see Zhou Mingshi’s mother, Tan Qingwen. Frowning, he asked, “Second Brother and his mother came to the hotel?”
Zhou Jia nodded. “Lin Third Miss and her mother are here too. They’re probably meeting here for dinner.”
Zhou Mingyuan said, “Out of all the hotels they could’ve chosen, why did it have to be this one? If Second Brother wasn’t willing to come back for Mom’s birthday banquet, then why come here for dinner today of all days? There’s no way it’s that much of a coincidence. You can say he didn’t do it on purpose, but I don’t believe it.”
Zhou Jia said, “That can’t be, can it? Second Brother doesn’t seem like someone who’d do something that childish.”
Although she and her second brother had never been close, he had been outstanding ever since he was young. He had been one of the most admired figures at school, someone everyone looked up to. So many people liked him that once they learned she was his younger sister, they would deliberately try to get close to her.
Sometimes, she couldn’t help wondering why she and her second brother hadn’t been born to the same mother.
She understood his personality well enough. He simply wasn’t that kind of person.