"How are you adjusting to this place?" Guan Li asked Xia Lu, taking her hand with a smiling face.
"It's... It's okay..."
The woman barged in as soon as she entered, directly seating herself on the sofa and casually pulling Xia Lu to sit beside her.
"Madam, please have some tea." Zhang Ma quickly brought out a pot of rose tea.
"Madam...?" Xia Lu looked at Guan Li in surprise.
"Oh, there were a lot of people at the wedding yesterday, you might not have noticed me," Guan Li laughed heartily, "Let me officially introduce myself, I am Zhou Mingchen's mother, and also your mother-in-law."
"Why have you come?" Zhou Mingchen walked over, displeasure written on his face.
Guan Li stood up, "You just got married, I as a mother should come and see, right? No one has lived in this house for so long, I can help out if anything is missing~"
"Nothing is missing, you can go back now."
"How can that be," Guan Li put her hand on Xia Lu's shoulder, "I just met my daughter-in-law, we should have a good chat."
"Right?"
Xia Lu looked at the woman in front of her.
If she hadn't introduced herself, Xia Lu would never have guessed this woman was Zhou Mingchen's mother; her skin was firm and delicate, her figure shapely; her attire showed no sign of her age. If asked to guess, she would have thought she was no more than forty.
"Hmm…" Not sure if it was Guan Li's aura influencing her or just a desire to temporarily escape the dreadful fate of cleaning, Xia Lu nodded.
"What do you two have to talk about." Zhou Mingchen folded his arms across his chest, "I have to go out today, I have things to do."
"That's perfect, you go out and I'll stay here to accompany my new daughter-in-law and bond a bit." Guan Li smiled squintingly, "Go ahead with your work, let's go, Xia Lu, let's go upstairs."
"Mr. Zhou, then... I'll be going now then~" Qiu Cheng placed the files on the coffee table, "Since the lady is here, I won't transfer them for you."
"Wait a second."
"Mr. Zhou, is there something else?"
"Yes, come with me to a place." Zhou Mingchen took the red bean soup that Zhang Ma handed him, held it in his hands, walked to the door, and tossed the car keys to Qiu Cheng, "You drive."
***
"I'm really sorry, coming here uninvited makes me seem quite the fool," Guan Li crossed her legs and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
"Not at all..." Xia Lu said with a smile, and took the opportunity to pour her another cup of rose tea.
No matter what, Guan Li was still her biological mother, while she was just a wife by agreement.
"Actually, our relationship isn't very good, as you saw just now."
"By the way, he probably didn't tell you, but I also live in this complex."
Xia Lu's eyes widened.
"It's less than 100 meters away from this house. You can see it from this window right here."
Guan Li stood up, walked to the window, and pointed out a nearby house to Xia Lu.
It really was very close.
"I, you see, divorced Achen's father quite early, remarried after a few years, and then lived abroad until a few years ago when I came back."
"Originally, I bought the house here because I hoped to be closer to him. After all, I hadn't been by his side since he was a child, so I owed him somewhat. Who knew this kid was so stubborn? I had just moved in, and he had moved out again," Guan Li said helplessly, shaking her head. "I am now a family person myself and can't be chasing after him all day long, right?"
"Mhm." Noticing that Guan Li was looking at her, Xia Lu quickly nodded in agreement.
"But now things are better since he has you, and he has moved back in. Our family relationships will surely improve."
"What do you usually like to do? I can join you; I have a lot of time and I'm just bored~" Guan Li grabbed Xia Lu's hand and caressed it repeatedly.
"I… don't really have anything I like that much."
"How about this? I'll make a plan. Today, let's go shopping first, then head to the beauty salon, and later, we'll go for tea. I know a very nice restaurant that I've always wanted to try."
Guan Li spoke enthusiastically about this plan.
"But I don't know if Zhou Mingchen would mind me going out like this…"
Xia Lu wasn't deliberately dampening her spirits, but the conversation from this morning still unnerved her.
"Has he been that strict with you?" Guan Li laughed, "That really sounds like his father."
She picked up a teacup, sipped some rose tea, and then wiped away the lipstick mark on the cup's rim with a napkin.
Afterwards, she stood up, opened the wardrobe, and pondered for a couple of seconds.
"I've got a solution."
"Look, you don't even have a decent outfit in this wardrobe. You are Mrs. Zhou now; you will have many functions to attend. How can you do that without nice clothes? Isn't this reason good enough?"
"Yes," Xia Lu nodded, "Auntie, oh no, mom, you're really smart."
"Of course, this is also one of the results of my past wits and battles," Guan Li said proudly, laughing.
"What kind of person was Zhou Mingchen's father?"
Xia Lu hesitated for a moment, but still asked.
"Well," Guan Li rested one hand on the table and the other on her cheek, thinking for a while, "actually, his father was not a bad person. The only thing was he had a strong desire for control which I, being someone who enjoys freedom, wasn't used to. Initially, when we were together, I felt he was very manly and secure, but eventually, it just wasn't the same. At its core, we were incompatible."
"Is that so…" Xia Lu felt like she was glimpsing her future fate.
"And what about him now? Did he attend the wedding yesterday?"
Guan Li looked at Xia Lu, hesitating, then shook her head, "No, his father has passed away."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Realizing she had misspoken, Xia Lu quickly apologized.
"It's okay, I don't really feel much about it anymore. But Achen has always been brooding about it. His father died suddenly at the time, and I was abroad, unable to return immediately. To think about it, our relationship started to really deteriorate from that time," she explained.
"Wouldn't have thought his fate to be so tough…"
"Yeah, it might be because of that he tends to be more reserved. Actually, our extended family gets along very well, and I've always hoped that Achen would step out of the shadows soon. After all, even without his father, he still has us, his big family, but I've never been successful in helping him."
"It looks like this tough task will be yours to take on in future."
"What? Me?" Xia Lu was quite shocked.
"Yes, you are now the person closest to Achen. Think, to have captured his heart so quickly that he married you in such a grand fashion, his feelings for you must be very deep. So, do not let down my expectations."
Xia Lu smiled awkwardly; it seemed her position in this family would indeed be challenging.
One was a husband married by agreement, the other a mother-in-law with high hopes. God knows what other people were waiting to meet her.