After hanging up, Li Zhiyi went back to looking at the three-piece bed sets.
Her focused expression as she picked through the options already gave her the air of a devoted wife and mother.
"Is your mom on her way?"
Li Zhiyi turned to Lin Jiang in surprise.
"How did you know?"
"The caller was your mom, so I figured it out."
"You’re so smart," Li Zhiyi said softly. "I won’t dare misbehave around you anymore. You’d find out in a heartbeat."
"You can still misbehave. Just be ready for the consequences."
Rising lightly onto her tiptoes, Li Zhiyi whispered in Lin Jiang’s ear:
"Then you can punish me by spanking my butt."
Seeing no one was behind them, Lin Jiang gave her a sneaky pat on the rear.
"We’re in public!" Li Zhiyi muttered, lowering her head, too embarrassed to even look at Lin Jiang.
"You didn’t even tell me your mom was coming. You definitely deserve a little punishment."
"It’s just that you’re so busy with work. I didn’t want to waste your time. I can greet them myself."
"Busy or not, you have to get your priorities straight. Your mom is coming, so of course I have to be there to greet her."
Lin Jiang said seriously,
"But what about you? Your mom is on her way, so why are you here buying this stuff? Aren’t you worried about running out of time?"
"My roommate is out of town on business for a few days, and my parents are staying at my place tonight. We don’t have any extra blankets at home. I happened to know you opened a noodle shop around here, so I decided to come over and do some shopping."
"Oh, I see. What time do your parents get in?"
"They’re coming by high-speed rail. We still have an hour and a half, so there’s plenty of time."
The high-speed rail from Beijing to Zhonghai takes about five hours. It wasn’t a long trip, and it was much more affordable than flying.
"Are your parents here to sightsee? We could just get them a hotel. It’d be more convenient."
"They’re not here to sightsee," Li Zhiyi said. "My third aunt lives in Shencheng City, and my cousin is getting married. We’re all going to the wedding together. They just stopped by Zhonghai on the way to see me. They’ll fly to Shencheng City the day after tomorrow."
"My eldest aunt and my cousin are coming too, but they’ll be staying in a hotel. My parents will just stay with me. It saves a little money, hehe."
"It’s not like I’m short on money."
"You shouldn’t waste money, no matter whose it is. We have to be frugal."
"That’s my girl. Give me a kiss."
"Mwah."
After they picked out what they needed, Lin Jiang paid. Then the two of them drove to the high-speed rail station.
After parking the car, they walked into the station.
A lot of people were waiting at the arrivals gate. Li Zhiyi was on her phone, tapping out messages with an impatient look on her face.
"They’re driving me crazy."
"What’s wrong?"
Li Zhiyi’s pretty face grew cold. "My brother-in-law is coming to the station too. He told me he’s setting me up with someone and even brought the guy with him. It’s so annoying."
"Your brother-in-law? He’s in Zhonghai?"
"He lives in Beijing but comes to Zhonghai for work all the time. The guy is his business partner," Li Zhiyi said, exasperated.
"This is driving me nuts. I just want to block all of them."
"What’s there to be upset about? You think I’m going to lose to this so-called blind date of yours?"
"Of course not. You’re the best," Li Zhiyi said, beaming.
"So don’t worry about it. This is nothing," Lin Jiang said, pulling out his phone.
"We’ll have to get dinner later, right? I’ll book a private room now."
"Thank you. I’ll make it up to you."
"You’re getting more and more charming."
Just as they were talking, an announcement came over the station’s PA system, heralding the train’s arrival.
Passengers began to file off the train.
Li Zhiyi’s parents weren’t particularly old and walked with a vigorous stride.
Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Li Zhiyi took after her mother.
Traveling with the older couple was a younger mother-and-daughter pair: her eldest aunt, Huang Chunli, and her cousin, Bi Xiaoyun.
The group, carrying two suitcases and two backpacks, followed the crowd toward the arrivals gate.
"Aunt Chunying, Zhengyang and the others are already here. They’re waiting just outside."
Bi Xiaoyun wasn’t very tall, but she was quite attractive.
She wore a pair of very short denim shorts, and as she walked through the crowd, she drew more than a few stares.
"’They?’ Who else is with Zhengyang?" asked Li Zhiyi’s mother, Huang Chunying.
"Didn’t we say we were going to introduce Zhiyi to a boyfriend? Zhengyang brought his friend. We’ll all have dinner together later so they can get to know each other," Bi Xiaoyun said matter-of-factly.
"Just tell Zhengyang and his friend what you want to eat later. Since we’ve made it all the way to Zhonghai, we have to try some of the local specialties."
"What? Nothing’s even been decided yet, and he’s already brought the guy here?" Li Jianshu said, sounding a little reluctant.
"Besides, Zhiyi told me she already has a boyfriend. Bringing someone else over... that doesn’t seem right."
"We grew up together. Don’t you think I know what she’s like? She definitely just made up a boyfriend to stop us from nagging her about getting married. You can’t believe a word she says."
"Xiaoyun’s right. Zhiyi said she had a boyfriend a few years ago, too, but she never brought him home for us to meet. You can’t believe her."
The speaker was Li Zhiyi’s eldest aunt, Huang Chunli. She had short hair, was very thin, and had a face that said she wasn’t someone to be trifled with.
Huang Chunying thought about it. ’That does sound about right.’
Every time they told her to find a boyfriend, she’d either say she wasn’t in a hurry or that she already had one.
’But after all these years, I’ve never met a single one. She’s probably just stringing me along.’
"But meeting him just like this... isn’t it a little sudden? I’m not even prepared, let alone Zhiyi."
Huang Chunying was still reluctant, her tone tinged with resentment.
She resented them for arranging this without her consent.
"The thing is, it was a rare opportunity," Bi Xiaoyun said. "Zhengyang’s friend’s family owns a company, and he finally had some free time, so I set it up."
"Besides, with things like this, you can’t just let Zhiyi do as she pleases. If we wait until she’s ’ready,’ it’ll be God knows when. You have to be decisive. Who knows, maybe they’ll meet and just hit it off."
Since it was already a done deal, Li Jianshu and Huang Chunying didn’t argue any further.
"So what does this guy do? How old is he?"
"He’s a year older than Zhengyang. His family owns an engineering company that does landscape architecture," Bi Xiaoyun said with an air of importance.
"Well, in that case, he sounds like a decent prospect."
"Of course! Zhiyi is my cousin; I wouldn’t introduce her to someone subpar."
"It’s not just about his prospects. You have to see if the two of them can actually get along."
More than financial status, Li Jianshu cared about whether they would be compatible. That was the true foundation of any relationship.
"Don’t worry, Uncle Jianshu. He has a great personality. Anyone Zhengyang recommends is sure to be reliable."
"We’ll see what he’s like first," Li Jianshu muttered.
In the time it took them to have this conversation, the four of them had walked off the platform.
Li Zhiyi spotted them immediately and led Lin Jiang over.
"Mom, Dad, Auntie, Cousin! You must be exhausted after being on the train for so many hours."
"It was fine. We’re not too tired."
Li Jianshu replied, as everyone’s eyes landed on Lin Jiang.
"Zhiyi, and this is...?" Li Jianshu asked tentatively.
"My boyfriend, Lin Jiang," Li Zhiyi said breezily, linking her arm through his.
Bi Xiaoyun’s expression changed.
’She actually found a boyfriend this handsome?!’
The four of them were taken aback to learn that this was Li Zhiyi’s boyfriend.
Bi Xiaoyun sized Lin Jiang up, a pang of bitterness in her heart. ’He’s even more handsome than my husband.’
"You brought your boyfriend, why didn’t you tell us beforehand? I’m completely unprepared," Huang Chunying said.
The old saying "the more a mother-in-law sees of her son-in-law, the more she likes him" proved true for Huang Chunying.
Putting everything else aside, just based on his looks and aura, he was a perfect match for her daughter.
"He’s usually busy with work, so I didn’t plan on asking him to come. But when he heard you were arriving, he insisted on coming to meet you, so I brought him."
Li Zhiyi was clever; she knew exactly what to say to please her parents.
This would also help create a good impression of Lin Jiang in their minds.
"We’re not that important. You young people should prioritize your work. If you’re busy, you should be at work, not making a special trip to come get us."
Seeing Lin Jiang take such initiative showed he truly cared for their daughter, which naturally made them, as parents, very happy.
While Li Zhiyi and her parents were laughing and chatting with Lin Jiang, Bi Xiaoyun’s expression soured.
The blind date Zhengyang had arranged was his business partner—and more importantly, his client.
’I was hoping to use this chance to get closer to him, which would make business easier in the future. I can’t believe this happened the moment we met.’
’Isn’t this just a slap in my own face!’
’If this causes a conflict, how is Zhengyang supposed to do business with him?’
"Is that really her boyfriend? Couldn’t she have just grabbed some random guy to put on a show for us?" Bi Xiaoyun whispered.
"I’m not so sure. After all, they look pretty good together," Huang Chunli said.
"If that’s true, then this whole blind date was for nothing. Zhengyang will be caught in the middle, and he’ll have no way to explain this to the guy."
"This is getting complicated."
Huang Chunli also knew that the man her son-in-law, Zhengyang, had set Li Zhiyi up with was his business partner.
’Their livelihood depended on this guy. If this went sideways, future business deals would become difficult.’
"Let’s just wait and see. Maybe he really is just someone she hired to fool us."
"Mm."
As they spoke, Bi Xiaoyun looked around and said,
"Zhengyang came too. Where’d he go?"
Just as Bi Xiaoyun was about to pull out her phone to call him, she heard someone shout.
"Xiaoyun!"
Following the voice, the group turned to see two men jogging toward them.
One of them was tall, about the same height as Lin Jiang, and dressed in casual wear. It was Bi Xiaoyun’s husband, Zhang Zhengyang.
Beside him was a chubby man a full head shorter, his face covered in acne, walking alongside him.
The man’s name was Sun Hongfeng. He was Zhang Zhengyang’s business partner—or more accurately, his client—and the man he intended to introduce to Li Zhiyi.
The pair gradually slowed to a stop, their expressions hesitant as both of them sized up Lin Jiang.
Seeing how he was standing with Li Zhiyi, a bad feeling welled up inside them.
At the same time, Li Zhiyi’s parents were sizing up Sun Hongfeng.
Their expressions were grim.
Although no one had stated his identity, judging by the situation, they knew this must be the man intended for their daughter.
But with his looks, and his age... he wasn’t a match for their daughter at all!
"Zhiyi, and this is...?" Zhang Zhengyang asked tentatively.
Li Zhiyi tightened her grip on Lin Jiang’s arm and said proudly,
"He’s my boyfriend, Lin Jiang."
Both men’s hearts sank. Sun Hongfeng’s face, in particular, just fell.
He had seen Li Zhiyi’s picture before and was completely smitten. He had even been dreaming of this day.
He never imagined she would show up today with her boyfriend in tow.
’Then what does that make me?’
’The clown?’

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