With Zhou Cheng’s rare day off, Grandmother Zhou, missing her grandson, had them come to the elderly couple’s home for dinner.

This place—since Zhou Yi married Yuan Han, Old Master Zhou had forbidden Zhou Yi from setting foot here again.

The old master didn’t want to see Zhou Yi either.

When Xia Xiaolan came, both elders were very warm to her. No wonder Zhou Yi sometimes felt unbalanced when facing Xia Xiaolan!

Tonight, it wasn’t just Zhou Guobin and Guan Hue’e who were present.

Zhou Wenbin and Jiang Hong, Zhou Cheng’s aunts—the Zhou family had already gathered once during Spring Festival, and now, because of Zhou Cheng, this was their second family reunion.

This wasn’t just Grandmother Zhou favoring her grandson. As Zhou Cheng rose through the military ranks, his status in the family continued to grow. With him at the center, everyone united to help the Zhou family prosper long into the future!

Su Jing thought Zhou Cheng had changed.

His cousins felt the same way.

With Cousin Zhou Cheng now a battalion commander, the younger generation didn’t dare act casually around him. After calling him “Brother Zhou Cheng,” they all gravitated toward Xia Xiaolan instead.

Xia Xiaolan had to again become the children’s leader. Fortunately, Zhou Cheng’s two female cousins were easy to get along with—both Cheng Min and Gu Siyan were quite familiar with her.

Aunt Zhou smiled and asked Xia Xiaolan, “What’s the story with that ring on your hand?”

The ring—Xia Xiaolan had put it on after leaving school.

Zhou Cheng had told his parents about the proposal, but the rest of the Zhou family didn’t know yet!

But the Zhou family wasn’t foolish; Little Aunt Zhou was just the first to ask, while others had probably guessed.

“Sister Xiaolan, that ring is so pretty!”

Gu Siyan chirped.

Cheng Min nodded too, “Yes, it’s so sparkly.”

Xia Xiaolan smiled at Zhou Cheng. Zhou Cheng raised his glass at the dinner table, “While all the elders and younger siblings are here, I have something to announce—good news. I’ve proposed to Xiaolan, and we’re preliminarily planning to marry after she finishes her senior year!”

Grandmother Zhou couldn’t contain her joy, “Really?”

Earlier than she’d expected!

She had known that Tsinghua’s Architecture program was a five-year course and thought she’d have to wait at least two and a half more years before seeing Zhou Cheng bring his bride home.

With this suddenly moved up by a year, how could Grandmother Zhou not be happy?

At Grandmother Zhou’s age, even the most open-minded elderly woman would hope for the younger generation to marry early.

Only because Xia Xiaolan was so outstanding did Grandmother Zhou feel embarrassed to say such things; otherwise, she would have pressed them to get their marriage certificate already.

Zhou Cheng was her favorite grandchild, and she was blatantly biased. Being able to see Zhou Cheng marry and have children would let the old lady die content—speaking of great-grandchildren, she already had one, Zhou Yi’s daughter.

But it held a different meaning for the old lady.

She didn’t approve of Zhou Yi’s marriage, dulling even the joy of having a great-granddaughter.

She had to wait for Zhou Cheng and Xiaolan’s child—both of them were so good-looking and especially intelligent, how outstanding would their child be?

The old lady was thinking quite far ahead!

“Don’t say ‘preliminarily planning.’ If you two have decided, then set the date, let me count the days and have something to look forward to!”

Zhou Cheng didn’t want to disappoint the old lady, but he couldn’t put all that pressure on Xiaolan:

“Grandmother, Xiaolan has just accepted me, but I haven’t yet gotten approval from her family. That’s why it’s preliminary planning—we have a plan first, then let me work towards it gradually. How’s that?”

Ah?!

Xiaolan’s family hadn’t approved yet? The old lady almost blurted out asking why.

Her grandson was handsome and driven in his career.

While the family might not provide much help, they weren’t a burden!

Most importantly, he was devoted to Xiaolan—what could her family possibly object to?

Children always see themselves as excellent.

Fortunately, the old lady still had some sense and didn’t ask right then.

“Enough, young people have their plans, why are you worrying? Zhou Cheng knows what he’s doing! Besides, if he wants to marry Xiaolan, her family won’t agree easily. Everyone treasures their daughter; they have their standards for testing a son-in-law.”

Old Master Zhou settled the matter.

What kind of son-in-law a daughter’s family wants has no fixed standard.

Some families hope for a successful career, wanting their daughter to share in her husband’s glory.

Others think their daughter is already outstanding enough—finding an equally outstanding son-in-law is fine, but so is finding someone who can spend more time with their daughter.

Zhou Cheng was excellent in every way, except he couldn’t be around for long periods.

Marrying a soldier was honorable, but who saw the hardships of a military wife?

Still, Old Master Zhou had a special respect for Xia Xiaolan. If Zhou Cheng could marry this outstanding girl, everyone would be happy. If he couldn’t… it wouldn’t be Xia Xiaolan’s fault, nor could they blame her family—it would mean Zhou Cheng hadn’t done well enough!

“Zhou Cheng, you’ll have to work harder and show Xiaolan’s family what you’re capable of. Your aunt is waiting to drink at your wedding!”

“Second Aunt hopes that day comes soon too!”

Zhou Cheng’s two aunts smoothed things over, and the atmosphere quickly reached its peak. Zhou Cheng raised his glass, and all the Zhou family members drank.

The old master was actually very happy too—usually forbidden to drink by his health doctor, tonight he made an exception for a small glass.

Jiang Hong, once the family’s most argumentative member, though worried about Zhou Yi’s situation tonight, didn’t show any displeasure. She sincerely congratulated Guan Hue’e: “His aunt is right, let Zhou Cheng work harder. If such a good daughter-in-law gets away, any other girl Zhou Cheng finds just won’t be quite the same!”

Guan Hue’e didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Elder Sister-in-law, do you think I would make things difficult for Xiaolan? Look at how stubborn Zhou Cheng is—if Xiaolan doesn’t marry him, I suspect he’ll stay single forever.”

Having come this far, Guan Hue’e no longer doubted the feelings between Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiaolan.

She might not be certain about how much Xia Xiaolan loved Zhou Cheng, but Zhou Cheng’s feelings for Xia Xiaolan were definitely at the point of marrying no one else.

The Hong Kong gossip had made Guan Hue’e quite uncomfortable—a normal person’s unavoidable emotions.

But that was long past.

Why should she create obstacles for Xia Xiaolan? It wasn’t as if she couldn’t marry anyone else and had to cling to Zhou Cheng—neither deaf nor mute, not playing the meddling in-law, if Zhou Cheng found Xia Xiaolan’s interactions with other men acceptable, Guan Hue’e wouldn’t add fuel to the fire!

Xia Xiaolan finally met Gu Zhengqing and needed to discuss the “Eagle Fledgling Launch” project progress. After dinner, however, Jiang Hong found her first to ask about Zhou Yi’s situation.

“Zhou Yi is alone in Shenzhen, can she handle Yuan Han? What if that Yuan fellow persists shamelessly and persuades Zhou Yi to change her mind again… Xiaolan, I just can’t feel at ease.”

Xia Xiaolan could understand Jiang Hong’s anxiety.

But she was more optimistic than Jiang Hong:

“Sister Zhou Yi saw Yuan Han with another woman with her own eyes—ahem, I think no matter how much Sister Zhou Yi loved Yuan Han before, she still retains some of the Zhou family pride in her bones. She won’t take this man back. Rather than worry about Yuan Han, you should worry more about Ye Xiaoqiong’s situation.”