As he pulled over his vehicle into his usual parking spot, Qi Zheng could not help but notice that there were a few familiar cars parked in front of the residence as well.
He alighted from his vehicle and stared at the black car for a long time. A deep sigh escaped him, knowing who had come to visit the house.
Qi Zheng took the grocery bag in the passenger's seat and finally entered the house.
The sound of chattery and laughter could be heard as soon as he pushed the door open.
He walked into the living room and heaved with relief when he did not see his grandfather. Instead, his cousins, Feng An Yu and Qi Ming Wei were seated in the living room.
Noticing his appearance, the two men stopped chatting.
"Qi Zheng, you're back," Feng An Yu smiled.
"Why are you two here?" Qi Zheng shifted his gaze between the two men.
"Your parents invited us to have dinner over," Qi Ming Wei said.
"As for me, I happen to be visiting when I run into Commander Qi," Feng An Yu said. "Then, your mother asked me to stay for dinner as well."
His brow furrowed. When his mother told him that she planned to invite a few guests to their house, Qi Zheng did not expect that his cousins will be on the guest list.
Qi Zheng turned to Qi Ming Wei and spoke, "Commander Qi, you seemed a little free recently."
The corner of Qi Ming Wei's lips stretched into a smile. "I'm still on vacation. My wife is pregnant. Of course, I need to spend my time with her."
Qi Zheng looked away. He was too lazy to pay attention to this cousin.
A few months ago, Qi Ming Wei got married and since then, he won't stop force-feeding everyone around him with dog food.
Qi Zheng craned his neck to look around. "Where is Grandfather?"
"He should be with your dad in the study," Qi Ming Wei said with a shrug.
He let out a long sigh and finally realized that he was still holding the bag of groceries that his mother had asked him to get.
"You guys stay here. I need to send these groceries to the kitchen before that empress gets furious." Without waiting for their answer, Qi Zheng turned around and headed to the kitchen.
He glanced at the bag of groceries and saw the packet of vegetables on top of the bag.
Qi Zheng recalled the strange event at the market earlier and chuckled.
He was confused about the type of parsley and decided to ask the old lady who was standing not too far away from him.
Qi Zheng did not expect that the grandmother would try to introduce him to her granddaughter and tried to set them up together.
It was an embarrassing situation for both of them.
He did not know how to react.
Fortunately, the woman then pulled her grandmother away, saving him from that awkward situation.
Qi Zheng recalled the woman's horror expression again and smiled.
However, why does it feel as if that woman was a little familiar? It felt as if he had seen her face before...
"Qi Zheng, you're back."
The voice snapped him out of his thought. Qi Zheng looked up and saw that his mother, Feng Jia Li was looking at him.
His mother walked over and grabbed the grocery bag from him.
"Did you get the things that I asked you to buy?" Feng Jia Li asked.
"Mmm..." Qi Zheng nodded as he watched his mother go through the grocery bag.
Feng Jia Li took out the parsley from the bag and smiled. "Hey, you got the right parsley. I was still worried that you might get the wrong item again."
The last time she had asked her son to buy some ginger, her son had brought back a bag of galangal instead. She was in dire need of some ginger, but could only stare at the bag of galangal helplessly.
"Mom, I asked around this time," Qi Zheng said. "A kind grandmother showed me which one I should get."
Feng Jia Li heaved a sigh. "At least, you are smarter this time."
The corner of his lips began to twitch.
At this time, a slender woman with long hair walked over to them.
Qi Zheng glanced at the woman's slightly protruding stomach and greeted Qi Ming Wei's wife. "Sister-in-law, hello."
Yang Ran replied to him with a nod before turning to the elderly woman beside her. "Auntie Feng, is there anything that I can help you with?"
"No need." Feng Jia Li waved her hand. She was looking at the younger woman's bulging stomach anxiously. "Yang Ran, you are now pregnant. Just stay there and accompany me to talk. The auntie will help me to prepare the dishes."
Now that he had accomplished his mission, Qi Zheng found that he no longer have a reason to stay around in the kitchen. "Mom, I'm going to look for my Dad in his study."
"Go. Go." Feng Jia Li waved her hand. "Tell your father and grandpa to stop playing chess. Dinner will be served soon."
Qi Zheng nodded. He turned around and headed upstairs to look for his father.
Taking a deep breath, Qi Zheng knocked on the door and entered the study quietly. When he walked into the room, his father, Qi Zi Mo was staring at the chessboard with a deep frown on his face.
Noticing his presence, Qi Zi Mo started to look at his son as if he was looking at his savior. He blinked his eyes a few times, hoping that his son would catch his distress signal.
Qi Zheng heaved another sigh.
His father was already a middle-aged man, but he was still afraid of his own father.
But then again, everyone who had met his grandfather would grow scared when they saw his fierce look. Moreover, his grandfather was someone who had been in the army for years. The air around him was naturally different.
Qi Zheng faked a cough to get his grandfather's attention. Seeing the old man raise his head to look at him, Qi Zheng flashed a smile and greeted, "Grandfather."