Upon hearing this, Zheng Xinghe said, "Why don't I go?"
Not bad, this young talent is quite attentive.
Zhao Jiujiu found people more and more pleasing to the eye the more she looked at them. "You must be traumatized from driving on these country roads today. You should take a good rest."
After saying that, Zhao Jiujiu pulled Daiying away, and also sent the two men away.
Once they left, only Shen Wuqiu and Zheng Xinghe remained sitting in the living room.
The atmosphere was a little awkward.
After a two-minute silence, Zheng Xinghe broke the silence first, "I've heard my dad talk about you a lot, and seeing you in person is definitely better than hearing about you. Miss Shen is even more outstanding than I imagined."
"..." Such polite words are somewhat hypocritical, and Shen Wuqiu is not impressed by them. "Mr. Zheng is really good with words."
Zheng Xinghe nodded: "I'm just telling the truth."
Shen Wuqiu smiled, lowered her eyes, and carefully considered her words. "Adults are all quite busy. Why don't we finish this quickly?"
"Hmm?" Zheng Xinghe raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised by her bluntness, and his gaze towards her held a hint of amusement. "How do you plan to finish this quickly?"
Shen Wuqiu looked at him and said, "To be honest, I haven't considered marriage. Of course, I don't mean anything by it; I'm just afraid of taking up Mr. Zheng's time."
"To be honest, I haven't considered this issue yet." Zheng Xinghe also looked at her: "Of course, I don't mean anything by it, I'm just afraid of causing trouble for Miss Shen."
Shen Wuqiu found this person's words quite interesting and extended her hand to him, "In that case, you are welcome to come to my home as a guest."
Zheng Xinghe shook hands with her very politely, saying, "It's my honor."
"It is an honor for me that Mr. Zheng is willing to visit our remote mountain village."
Zheng Xinghe smiled, but did not answer her directly. Instead, he said, "Miss Shen seems to be afraid that we might get involved in other things?"
"Really? Mr. Zheng is overthinking it."
"To be honest, this is a bit frustrating. It seems like I've always been the one keeping people at arm's length, but I never expected to be sitting on the sidelines with Miss Shen today."
Shen Wuqiu didn't mind his narcissistic words. To be fair, Zheng Xinghe was indeed one of the best men she had ever met in her life.
On the contrary, she somewhat appreciated his witty and humorous way of speaking.
"Is Mr. Zheng mocking me for being blind?"
Blind as a baton—that's a brilliant counterattack.
"..." Zheng Xinghe was caught off guard and paused before saying, "Miss Shen's words are quite interesting. Of course, if Miss Shen looks down on me, that is definitely my problem. It must be that I am not as good as the cinnabar mole in Miss Shen's heart."
Shen Wuqiu lowered her eyes and, as if possessed, added, "It could also be a white moonlight."
"Huh?" Zheng Xinghe didn't understand.
Shen Wuqiu smiled and said, "It's nothing."
Zheng Xinghe didn't press the matter further. He glanced around discreetly and asked casually, "By the way, where's your friend?"
"Um?"
After Zheng Xinghe finished speaking, he realized he had been too forward. "It's nothing, I was just asking casually."
Having made things clear, Shen Wuqiu found Zheng Xinghe much more agreeable and was even able to show some hospitality. "There's not much to do in the countryside, but the scenery is quite nice. Would Mr. Zheng like to go for a stroll?"
Zheng Xinghe nodded and stood up. "It's a good opportunity to familiarize myself with the road conditions."
Shen Wuqiu also stood up, "Then I'll have my younger brother accompany you out for a stroll."
Zheng Xinghe had no objection to this.
He was willing to come here simply because he was curious about what kind of woman his father praised so highly, so he took advantage of this holiday to come and see for himself.
Shen Wuqiu did not disappoint her, but at most she admired him; she couldn't develop any other feelings for him.
After Shen Wujun took Zheng Xinghe out, Shen's father couldn't wait to know what his daughter thought:
"Qiuqiu, what do you think? You think Xiao Zheng is pretty good, right?"
Shen Wuqiu said calmly, "He is indeed a very nice person."
Mr. Shen immediately became interested, "I knew it! Old Zheng is a good man, and his son can't be bad either..."
Shen Wuqiu interrupted him: "However, we just think he's a nice person. We don't have any other thoughts, so please don't try to match us up and make things awkward for everyone."
Mr. Shen frowned. "So it was all a gradual process, not some pressure to get married..."
"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, I have no plans to get married."
"Are you really going to spend your whole life with that girl Gu Lingyu if you don't get married?"
"..." Shen Wuqiu paused, "You're really getting more and more outrageous."
Mr. Shen said angrily, "Look at all these children you have now, you need to find someone to look after them, right?"
"If you're worried about this, then spending your life with Gu Lingyu is a good option."
"..." I should have known better than to blurt that out. After a moment of annoyance, Mr. Chen said, "They're still young and don't understand these things. When they grow up, they'll probably get married and have kids. They won't be so clingy to you and listen to your orders anymore."
Shen Wuqiu remained calm and composed, saying, "Oh, then we'll talk about it when she gets married and has children."
"You..."
Shen Wuqiu was too lazy to listen to his rambling. "I promise you, as soon as Gu Lingyu gets married, I will get married immediately too."
"..." What is all this nonsense? Unable to argue with her, Mr. Shen could only return to the kitchen in frustration to chop pig's trotters.
Su Yunzhi glanced towards the hall and asked him, "What did Wuqiu say to you? Why are you so angry?"
Mr. Shen didn't respond; instead, he took his anger out on the pig's trotter with all his might.
Su Yunzhi didn't care about the pig's trotters, but she was worried about the cutting board. She had just bought it and spent a lot of money on it, so she pushed him away with her butt. "Alright, alright, I'll do it myself. You're going to chop the cutting board to pieces."
Mr. Chen said irritably, "This piece of wood is so broken, I'll just buy you a new one if it breaks."
"Fine, so I'm your punching bag. You didn't get any satisfaction from your daughter, so you're taking it out on me, aren't you?"
Mr. Shen glanced at her secretly, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I'm not taking my anger out on you... I'm just worried. I think Old Zheng's son and Qiuqiu are a good match, but who knew she would be so stubborn?"
"Your daughter is just like you," Su Yunzhi teased, then her tone softened considerably. "I think Wuqiu really doesn't care about this. You see, every time we bring it up, she doesn't want to listen. You can't force things. I think it's best to let things take their natural course. Besides, Old Gu and his family don't treat Wuqiu like an outsider."
Mr. Shen was still wary of Gu Junshan and his wife: "They're still waiting for Qiuqiu's baby, so they definitely won't show their true colors."
Su Yunzhi scoffed at him, too lazy to argue with him.
The couple worked all afternoon to prepare this sumptuous dinner.
To Shen Wuqiu's surprise, when it was time to eat, the cat actually came downstairs on its own.
As soon as Zhao Jiujiu saw her, she couldn't help but tease her, "Look at our little Lingyu, her lips are so pouty you could hang an oil bottle on them. Tsk, are you still angry? Come sit with your aunt, your aunt will peel shrimp for you."
Gu Lingyu pouted, moved a plastic stool and squeezed it into the gap between Shen Wuqiu and Zheng Xinghe, "Make way, the seat next to my sister is mine."
"Nonsense." Daiying stood up and scolded her. In front of everyone, she couldn't let them know that her daughter was such an ill-mannered person.
“It’s alright, let her sit here.” Zheng Xinghe stood up and offered her his seat, his attitude very friendly, even a little enthusiastic. “You can sit in this chair.”
Gu Lingyu pushed aside the chair he had been sitting in and put her own plastic stool in it, saying, "I'm not going to sit in the chair you've been sitting in."
"..." Zheng Xinghe was embarrassed for a couple of seconds, but still had a smile on his face.
Daiying stood up and moved her seat aside to make room for him. "Xiao Zheng, I'm really sorry, my daughter has always been a bit wild, please bear with her."
Zheng Xinghe didn't stand on ceremony and sat down next to Gu Lingyu.
After everyone was seated, Mr. Chen urged everyone to start eating.
Halfway through the meal, a commotion of gongs and drums and shouting erupted outside:
"Damn it, you've ruined all the chickens I painstakingly raised..."
A note from the author:
I was touched to see some of you lovely ladies worried about my health because I update so late. So, I'll be a good reader and try to update earlier in the future so you don't have to stay up late with me.
Chapter 58 Vinegar Essence
Rural areas are different from cities. Although everyone's lives are better now than before, and there's no longer a worry about thieves targeting your home every now and then, it's still common for one neighbor to lose a chicken or for another neighbor to lose some vegetables from their field.
In this remote mountain village, with so few things to offer, everyone knew that the person who stole the sheep was definitely not an outsider; nine times out of ten, it was someone from their own village.
Those with a better temper would simply accept their bad luck, but those who couldn't tolerate even the slightest injustice would refuse to suffer the loss and would bang a gong and curse loudly in the yard, making a scene known to the whole village.
Even if you can't get the things back, you should still verbally abuse the other party until they can't feel at ease.
The commotion outside was so loud, it sounded like the shouting was happening right outside their own yard, that no one eating there could ignore it.
As the host, Mr. Shen was already a little embarrassed, but Su Yunzhi, after listening for a while, had to interject, "Judging from that voice, it sounds like Hua Zi's wife..."
Mr. Shen glared at her, stood up, smiled at Uncle Zheng and the others, and said, "Sorry, I'll go out and see what's going on. You guys continue eating."
Uncle Zheng waved his hand, understandingly saying, "That's how it is in the countryside. It's the same where I live. If someone steals two lettuce plants from the field, they'll curse for half a day."
Zheng Xinghe added, "A lively and bustling atmosphere makes life feel more real."
"Scholars are different after all." Mr. Shen was truly a father-in-law looking at his son-in-law; the more he looked at him, the more pleasing he became.
Gu Lingyu pursed her lips and muttered to herself, "Sweet talk, what a flatterer."
She spoke softly, so her father didn't hear her, but Shen Wuqiu and Zheng Xinghe, who were sitting on either side of her, did.
Shen Wuqiu wasn't sure if the others had heard her, so she secretly tugged at her hand under the table. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zheng Xinghe looking in their direction, so she gave him an apologetic smile.
Zheng Xinghe remained calm and didn't seem to mind Gu Lingyu's mutterings. Instead, his smile widened, and when he saw her looking over, he quickly looked away.
In Zhao Jiujiu's eyes, this turned out to be Shen Wuqiu exchanging flirtatious glances with him, so she chimed in, "Not all scholars are so eloquent. Little Zheng, tell me honestly, haven't you won the hearts of quite a few girls?"
It was another opportunity to kick someone while they were down, so Gu Lingyu quickly added, "Of course, otherwise why would they know all these sweet words?"
"Ayu," Daiying scolded again, "What's wrong with you today? Why are you so rude?"
"Auntie, it's alright," Zheng Xinghe quickly smoothed things over. "Girls are only cute when they're innocent and straightforward like this."
Gu Lingyu scoffed and secretly rolled her eyes in her heart, thinking that if she said a few good words for her, her sister would marry him.
dream.
"However, I still have to clarify one point: I have never used my sweet talk to make a girl happy."